In the run-up to a show like Gamescom, my inbox becomes a blazing trash fire. Inundated with requests to see everything from phenomenal-looking indies to Barbie Horse Ride and Rescue, literally thousands of game demo invitations charge into my mailbox, waving their banners and blowing their trumpets in a bid to attract attention.

One game that successfully breached my email defences was Chronicles: Medieval. Revealed during Summer Games Fest, this impressive real-time strategy (RTS) not only promised massive, strategic top-down battles blended with third-person combat – but narration from beloved homegrown actor Tom Hardy. And who was I to turn down battering virtual knights with Tom Hardy?

Tom? Hardly

"So, unfortunately, as much as we love him, Tom is not a part of the game.” Sam Millen, lead producer at Raw Power Games, tells me, sheepishly, as I ask him about the Bane actor’s involvement, “We do have the incredible Lars Mikkelsen in the game, acting in a chronicler role - taking a voiceover role during character creation and during parts of the game. Sadly, Tom Hardy was only part of the trailer.”

After ten emails and two press releases mentioning the BAFTA-winning actor, it turns out it was all a Trojan Horse-esque ruse to get me in the room. While hardly an auspicious start to my behind-closed-doors preview, thankfully for its Danish developers, Chronicles: Medieval's absurdly ambitious gameplay soon wins me over in spite of its misleading marketing, breaching my defences and ensuring a total coverage victory.

Chronicles: Medieval is an impressively nerdy history epic. What I didn’t expect, however, was just how deep the game’s roleplaying elements go. Slated for an Early Access launch in 2027, Raw Power Game’s debut mixes gargantuan troop battles that would make an eight-year-old blush with a vast, explorable world map. In this rags-to-riches tale, players start out as a lowly peasant and build their standing through questing, diplomacy, and, of course, combat.

From campsites to castles

“You start off without owning any land. You're just out in the wild.” Explains Millen, “Maybe you have a couple of men you grew up with in the town who walked together and decided to join you as you embark into the world.”

Drawing equal inspiration from Civilization, Heroes of Might and Magic, and Mount & Blade, the game’s 1313 AD map spans from the Pyrenees to Poland, and the British Isles down to Northern Italy. Yet while this could have been a broad Age of Empires-esque offering, Chronicles: Medieval revels in the specificities. Players can zoom all the way down to inspect individual sub-regions and see the individual lords that rule them.

“Each culture - England, France, HRE [Holy Roman Empire] - has different army trees: levies, household troops,” says Millen. “You're going to be able to upgrade your troops as they get experience…then you'll potentially take troops from being levied infantry to being cavalry, progressing up those paths."

There’s a heavy dose of Crusader Kings here, too. You can buy tavern intelligence to reveal the map, recruit mercenaries, or bypass combat entirely if you’d rather play that way. Despite its trailer's combat focus, the pair sell me Chronicles as a true sandbox. Whether you want to become a wealthy peaceful merchant, a feared bandit, or even claim the English crown through political backstabbing, the choice is yours.

"It's a sandbox, so you can do whatever you want to do in the world.” says Millen, “There's no linear narrative that you're set off on. If you want to become the best merchant in the world and become incredibly rich from just selling goods, you can absolutely do that.”

Boots on the ground

As a sea of hundreds of troops forms up along a hillside of gently swaying grass, Millen zooms in on each soldier individually, explaining the historical significance of their crests, weapons, and surroundings. In other words, this is a game built by massive history nerds, people who are deeply knowledgeable about the time period they’re depicting and passionate about getting it right.

Supporting up to 2,000 total troops on the battlefield, forces are drawn from three distinct unit categories: household troops, peasantry, and mercenaries. The pre-battle prep begins in classic top-down fashion, as Millen manoeuvres his various units, placing archers at the rear, pikemen at the front, and sending a troupe of covert cavalry up around the tree-shaded hillside to flank the French forces on the other side of the plain.

Once the battle commences, you drop straight into a third-person action-role-playing game (RPG) perspective, sending your commander charging into battle. As if he’s in a fully fledged action RPG. As Millen’s militia gallops towards the advancing enemy horde, he sends four of them flying with his poleaxe. Dismounting and unsheathing his blade, he parries sword blow after sword blow with impressive fluidity. Here, enemies have posture meters, parries require precise timing, and every weapon swing carries weight.

"When you start out, you have low proficiency, so your attacks are slower, and you don't have combos,” says Senior Game Designer Gareth Bourn, “But over time, you unlock a lot of these skills — including leadership skills.”

While cleaving heads on the battlefield will rile up and inspire your troops, if the tide of combat starts to turn in the enemy’s favour — or you take a particularly nasty hit from an enemy - your leadership skills will determine whether they leave you high and dry.

Mace swings and morale

"The troops have their own minds.” says Millen, “You take morale hits if you die — but they're going to keep fighting for their lives until the point where their morale dips, either because they're losing or because they've already taken a hit from seeing their commander die. If you're a great leader. They want to stay with you and fight to the death longer… They can pick up your injured body, take you back to a settlement, and you can recover, rest, get your health back, replenish your troops, and fight another day.”

As commander, you can still tell units to advance, hold, etc. In the thick of combat, keeping a hands-on tactical element amidst the manic melee. Yet as if to prove that this game’s show-stealing battles aren’t its only parlour trick, players can choose to bypass them entirely. "You can even auto-resolve battles if you want,” says Bourn, “But every time somebody clicks auto-resolve, I shed a small tear.”

While Chronicles: Medieval’s ambitions are impressive, these aren’t just lofty 1.0 goals. I'm surprised to learn that when it hits Early Access, Chronicles: Medieval will also include a four-player co-op campaign map alongside custom battle modes. The duo tells me that full sieges — complete with trebuchets, crumbling walls, and battering rams - are slated to follow shortly after, with full console support and robust modding tools planned for the official 1.0 release.

Part intricately detailed Total War-esque historical battle simulator, part player-choice-driven RPG, much like a ragtag group of bannermen holding off a king’s army, Chronicles Medieval punches far above its weight. Developed by a hundred people in Copenhagen, this ambitious RTS could well give Microsoft and 2K’s Age of Empires and Civilization a run for their money.

While it might have been a false Hollywood bluster that got me in the door, it's the admirable ambition, detail, and potential that have kept me thinking about Chronicles: Medieval since. If Raw Power Games can deliver even half of the features they’ve promised, this could be a very special RTS indeed.

As the entire gaming industry rearranges its calendar to avoid Rockstar’s impending juggernaut, another long-gestating title has quietly emerged from the shadows – 1666: Amsterdam.

Hitting Steam Early Access in August this year after 13 years of development hell, this tale of kittens and covens is the brainchild of Assassin’s Creed 1 & 2 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time director Patrice Désilets.

Revealed during 2026’s Summer Games Fest, this tale of sorcery and witchcraft immediately turned heads. As a hooded wiccan soared across thatched rooftops and ducked and weaved her way between soldier-ridden canals, crimson curses and talking cats teased an exciting, thematically unique-looking adventure. Yet despite its refreshing spin on open-world traversal, this time-bending tale took its first steps into existence all the way back in 2011.

"It’s been a long journey,” reflects Désilets with a warm but weary smile, sitting opposite me in a brightly-lit cardboard office, erected in the business area at Gamescom. Picking up the controller to proudly show off his gothic adventure, he takes one of the game’s dual protagonists for a covert stroll down a packed Amsterdam canal street, before shaking off her civilian disguise and raining hex-induced havoc on the screaming populace.

Once championed as THQ’s Assassin’s Creed beater, the inspiration for 1666 first took hold on a 2011 holiday to the Dutch capital. “Walking around, seeing the houses in Amsterdam. It’s really a level design city,” recalls Désilets, ”I could picture an Assassin’s Creed there…there's a facade, and all the mystery. Then I passed a building inscribed with ‘Anno 1666.’ and immediately I thought, 'What if I do a game about the Devil set in Amsterdam?'"

The Devil’s in the details

Originally envisioned as a cinematic Satan simulator, 1666: Amsterdam was meant to be the more gothic-feeling spiritual successor to Désilets’ 2010 smash hit game, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

Thanks to his previous pedigree, publisher THQ was in, and so he spent the next two years crafting what we’ll affectionately call ‘The Devil’s Creed’. Yet like many deals made involving the devil, it soon appeared that Désilets Lucifer-staring epic was afflicted with a thematically fitting curse. “I started working on it for two years, then THQ went bankrupt.” Désilets recalls.

With THQ then suddenly snapped up by his old employers, Ubisoft, Désilets found himself briefly back at the Assassin’s Creed publisher, who almost immediately let him go – leaving poor old Lucifer trapped in development hell. Fiercely fighting his former employers for the rights back, Désilets eventually regained custody of his demonic baby in 2016. “…we got everything back…the 3D, all the concept art, and some animation,” Désilets grins. Yet in the years that had passed, something had changed for Désilets.

Despite having grafted to reacquire his IP, as time passed, Désilets no longer found himself excited about writing a game starring the devil’s apprentice. The reason? He was put off by a certain hit 2016 TV show. “Lucifer, the TV series, came out, and meanwhile, I'm like, 'Is it really the subject matter I want to attack?” shrugged Désilets. While Désilets had fallen out of love with the devil, he still found himself drawn to the idea of an evil-infested 17th-century Amsterdam. “What if there was a witch hunt going on in Amsterdam in 1666?” Désilets posited, as a new story unfolded before his eyes, “The only thing that I really kept was this idea of also doing 1999 [a dual time period alongside 1666], playing off two sides of the same coin: reflection and duality. That's when I pitched it to my team in January 2020, and [I] rewrote almost everything.”

Processing phobias through polygons

Thanks to being forced into remote work during the pandemic, retooling 1666 took the team at Panache six long years. While the initial Satan Sim was a Désilets-led project through and through, with his newest studio having previously made the 2011 survival game Ancestors, he’d grown to trust his team at Panache, letting their ideas help remould his 2011 original prototype in unexpected ways. “It’s funny, because it’s really a team game, yet in some ways, if we go back to my original PowerPoint, it's crazy how similar it is.”

Yet for all its violence, hexes and history, there is a familiarly agile, gravity-defying protagonist at the centre of Panache’s latest. "... I feel like I'm always doing the same game ... about traversal…” laughs Désilets, “the cat is my way to play with verticality [here]... Even in Ancestors, where you were an ape in a clan, it was still this sheer pleasure of going around a 3D world. Once I analysed myself: 'Why is this always in my fucking games?' "Because I've got vertigo! In real life, I can't climb – so maybe that’s why [you climb in my games]. Don't ask me to climb anything. It's a joke in my family.”

While soaring across canals as an agile Wiccan - or darting across rooftops as a black cat - provides the vertical thrills that Désilets physically can't enjoy in real life, 1666 departs radically from the traditional Assassin's Creed formula in one surprising way. “Each time you fail, there's a reshuffle of your abilities. You must continue your investigation with a different set - that’s where the roguelite element appears,” explains Désilets. “You might fail as a fighter and come back leaning towards witchcraft, so you have to think differently. You go through the challenges the way you want - it's your game, man. If you want to spend six hours in a row being the cat, I don't care.”

Swapping polish for collaboration

“You're not supposed to do [Early Access] with a narrative game,” shrugs Désilets, “But we're giving you roughly between 10 to 15 hours' worth of narrative-driven, open-world-ish content... [and] our goal is to have 1.0 by the end of next year, with console releases at the same time.”

For Désilets, the old way of shipping a game was done out of necessity, not choice, with the Assassin’s Creed veteran always wishing that he had more player feedback and additional time to refine his art.

“There was a time in game development when the game was finished... There was nothing you could do — no patches. That time drove me crazy.” Says Désilets . “Now... give me feedback…and then I can tweak. This is what game making is all about: having a dialogue. Yes, I can make a really badass character like Altaïr, but if you take the pad and make him turn around in circles, the badass character is gone because you're the one finishing the game. It's a co-creation.”

Narrative-driven games usually rely heavily on cinematic polish to pull players in, making 1666’s rough-around-the-edges Early Access release a peculiar sight. Yet in an industry plagued by ballooning budgets and sweeping studio closures, launching a single-player adventure this way might not just be an anomaly- but a canny survival strategy.

“I do my games with my team a bit in a bubble,” says Désilets when I ask him about the precarious current state of the industry. “I'm not always in those conferences. I'm not totally sealed off from what's going on, but you walk around, there’s an energy here…that reminds me of the old times... and lots of quality new games. Maybe we can attract new gamers into what people liked in 2007 when they first played Assassin's Creed. It's got that vibe, right?”

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says a musical score is "an emotional vessel"
• He explains that it's his duty "to represent the story in the most beautiful light possible"
• Alanko adds that the music "must be able to exist by itself, without the game and the story"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko thinks of a game's musical score as another way to tell the story, and it's his job to do that, even if he sometimes takes some creative liberties.

"In my thoughts, a score is what one might call an emotional vessel - or a tray for the story," Alanko told TechRadar Gaming in an interview about Remedy Entertainment's latest action game. "My duty is to represent the story in the most beautiful light possible, to help drill the ideas and the vision into the heads of those who experience the events."

The composer compared it to his band, where on stage it's his role to help the soloist "be the best version of themselves and showcase their talents in the most elegant way possible," saying that the "Same applies" to a video game.

"What I do is a series of deep bows towards the story; I love the story; it’s an honour for me to make it even more approachable and beautiful," he said. "But… it must be able to exist by itself, without the game and the story. Otherwise, it’d be just a pointless collection of noodling. I carry the responsibility of respecting both the story creator and especially those who enjoy the story."

Alanko went on to liken what he does to a customer service business, but added, "Trust me: I wouldn’t do anything just to please others; I do this to please myself. Simple as that."

"If I don’t like what I do, nobody else will, and, just to be clear and precise, I do really enjoy what I do," he reiterated, "my self-confidence is in very good shape that way (laughs). If something moves me, there’s a good chance it might move someone else, too."

While Alanko believes that it's a composer's job to translate the Remedy's story to the audience with his talent, he admitted: "I sometimes offer the story in a different light, as contradicting the on-screen events can be really delicious."

"It’s a very human feature to make errors, to have a sudden twist of a knife in your side in the middle of the most heroic event, as if someone reminded you of your mortality and how different the outcome would be if this-or-that happened," Alanko added. "A bit like memento mori. It makes you humble; it makes you human."

You can play Control Resonant now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

Mass-Effect-a-likes are a lot like interstellar buses: you wait ten years for one to arrive, and then two warp into view at once.

Unveiled at this year’s Summer Game Fest, both The Expanse: Osiris Reborn and Exodus look set to capitalise on the gaping hole left by BioWare’s beloved MIA franchise. Yet where Exodus’ Matthew McConaughey-starring project left Gamescom to rave reviews, in my infinite wisdom, I ventured into the far reaches of the outer rim to investigate the other Mass Effect-inspired epic: a sci-fi action-adventure based on the hit TV show, The Expanse.

With nine books to its name and six seasons of acclaimed television, Osiris Reborn was, I wagered, the candidate most likely to deliver a deep, narrative-led role-playing game (RPG) experience. Yet after an hour and a half spent sneaking across space stations, blasting soldiers, and fleeing stalking mutants, it turns out The Expanse isn’t really a narratively rich Mass Effect revival at all. It’s a so-so sci-fi Gears of War.

“We start the game from the Phoebe incident... It's set between Season 1 and Season 2 of the TV series... within the first two books,” explains Natalia Turina, lead level designer, as I pick up the controller and take my first steps.

Put into the space boots of the player protagonist and her twin, J, I join the duo as they infiltrate a space station owned by a shady private military corporation, Protogen. After a recent shipjacking by their crew, the duo has snuck deep into enemy territory with one vital task — delete the shipjacking’s virtual evidence from Protogen servers, and get the hell out.

Less normandy, more office bureaucracy

Thanks to its rich source material, I went into my demo expecting a deftly written, choice-driven world. Yet while the fiction of The Expanse promises a glimpse into a complex future, playing Osiris Reborn feels like traveling back into console gaming’s beige-looking past.

After slowly inspecting the busy cargo ship undercover, I duck and weave between armed enemy forces without arousing any suspicion, eavesdropping on ship personnel before heading to the ship’s computers.

As I pretend to be shipping a piece of intergalactic cargo and helmet-clad guards stare me down with assault rifles cocked, this should be a masterclass in tension and subterfuge. Instead, as I’m tasked with walking back and forth between computer terminals, I’m not immersed in the universe’s knotty politics — I’m bogged down by the minutiae of intergalactic shipping logistics.

“For choices in an RPG to feel meaningful, you need to believe in this world,” says Turina. “Every space needs to make sense — what is this place, how does it operate? This is why we spend so much time on the environment.”

It’s an answer that makes sense on paper, yet while rich in detail, there’s nothing exciting about the lore nuggets that I uncover. Well, I guess I certainly know how intergalactic shipping containers operate. After some more perfunctory dialogue, my cover is blown. Luckily, just as the alarm sounds and the station is alerted to our presence, I’m saved by an ambush. As a squad of a rival militia faction breaches the airlock, the formerly mundane depot erupts into a hail of gunfire.

A world stuck in the Xbox 360 era

Thankfully, combat fares a bit better than the world-building. Part Gears of War, part Binary Domain, there’s a retro 2010 feel to its firefights — for better and for worse.

Much like Commander Shepherd before me, I sprint between cover, deploy a drone, and blind-fire into a series of heavily armoured mercenaries, swapping between an assault rifle and shotgun. As I toss grenades at advancing militia and shatter glass over crouching enemies, I’m told players are free to change their specialisms on the fly, tweaking their tactical approach as needed via extensive skill trees.

It’s all functional lizard brain stuff, but while enjoyable, I worry that the combat [so far] doesn't feel dynamic enough to truly elevate it from the Xbox 360 era of cover shooters — let alone compete with modern peers.

Character interactions also struggle to hit the mark. When I encounter a lone marine — his hardened status signalled primarily by relentless swearing — our protagonist and her companion accept him as an ally almost immediately, despite being deep in enemy territory and under fire from multiple forces. It’s a jarring, immersion-breaking moment that once again highlights the quality of BioWare’s dialogue.

For all the granular detail painstakingly poured into Osiris Reborn’s lavishly rendered environments, its characterisation and dialogue currently feel paper-thin.

Running from horror, missing the tension

A late-demo pivot sees me being stalked by a Protogen-developed experimental mutant who broke containment amidst all the gunfire. Whoops. Impervious to bullets, the creature forces me into a frantic sprint down half-lit corridors. Where in Resident Evil or Dead Space this would be an exercise in sphincter-clenching terror, blending eerie exploration with a heart-pounding chase sequence, here the pursuit lacks any real tension. From the creature’s unconvincing AI to a complete lack of cinematic flair, I merely felt like I was running from A to B, meekly jogging toward a doorway to trigger the next cutscene.

As shiny as Owlcat’s mix of cover shooter and RPG is, I came away from my hour-and-a-half Osiris Reborn demo feeling fairly underwhelmed. Mass Effect won hearts not just through its worldbuilding, but through the strength of its writing: sharp wit, genuine heart, and moral dilemmas that stayed with you long after the credits rolled. It’s why during its ten-year absence, fans of BioWare’s space opera have been pining for a franchise to fill that galaxy-sized hole. So far, it sadly doesn’t look like Osiris Reborn is up to the task.

While I’m told the full game will feature wider exploration and more side missions and roleplaying, what I saw left me concerned that Osiris Reborn is less a Mass Effect spiritual successor and more a pale imitation.

Owlcat Games may borrow the same core Mass Effect ingredients, it appears to cook them together with none of the same skill or soul; its blend of corridor walks, light puzzles, and chest-high cover shooting feels closer to Kane & Lynch than Knights of the Old Republic.

With the full game not due out until next year, there is, of course, still time to refine the formula. Here’s hoping that the final adventure lives up to the title — expanding its source material’s beloved universe and, with any luck, helping its RPG aspirations be reborn.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance promises a fresh expedition into the skies, with players summoned there by the resurgence of ancient dragons and the promise of upgraded weaponry. At Tokyo Game Show 2026, I went hands-on with this upcoming expansion, getting up close and personal with the downloadable content's (DLC) interconnected aerial archipelagoes and battling against two brutal monsters with the use of the brand-new Boost Bracer.

The demo opens in a camp, with the reliable Alma serving up two important quests: Hunt the Alpha Araketa, a level 2 monster, and Slay the Teostra, a level 5 monster. Before jumping straight into the hunt, though, it only felt right to check things out at home first. The camp itself is a visual marvel in keeping with the high standards set by the base game — something here about how it looked; check demo vids online.

The demo is keen to focus on gameplay, though, and understandably offers little in the way of non-player character (NPC) chatter. Still, I was pleased to find a small jump across a ravine hides a barrel-rolling side game that, while unnecessary, was a fun side activity nonetheless. But I digress; it was finally time to break some monster parts.

Falling with style

The first expedition dropped me on a jagged island floating high above any visible Earth, where I was set to track the Araketa. The design of the space lands somewhere between James Cameron’s Pandora and the ruins of a medieval coastal castle. Rocky structures hang in the air above my eyeline, with aggressive tree roots tunnelling through them and disrupting their typical form.

As I came upon an unnervingly empty open area, I spied what looked like petrified dragon wings and tails buried in the white rubble, the blistering blue sky illuminating the stone and casting a dusty screen — so much so that I could almost feel my throat dry up as I stepped through the chalky stone.

Eventually, I spotted the Alpha, but it wasn’t alone. Typical of head honchos, the beast had two underlings, identical in species but much smaller in size.

New to Monster Hunter, the Araketa is a wyvern with a smooth, stone-like exterior painted with what looks like a turquoise-and-yellow platter pattern. Unlike a typical dragon-faced beast, the Araketa features a bulbous, boulder-like head, two wings with sharp claws at the back, and a long, winding tail. While beautiful, the most important note is that all three of these extremities are used in combat.

As I entered the battlefield and alerted the trio to my presence, the Alpha let out an ear-splitting screech before taking battle formation. As one of the underlings jumped up into the air, the Alpha and the second monster flew towards me at a startling pace. In no time, their attacks began, the younger creature attempting to headbutt me with its hammerhead, while the Alpha flanked me from behind.

Diving side to side, the Alpha then took its turn, digging its claw into the earth and performing a spin attack that knocked me off balance. As I regained my footing, the third skybound monster, which had been suspiciously absent, used its momentum to swoop down and take a swipe, too. It was overwhelming, but exhilarating.

My weapon of choice for this battle was the Insect Glaive, which proved useful for platforming around their bombardment. Thankfully, as I started to feel overwhelmed, I remembered I had a new tool to flex: Boost Driver attacks.

Another new addition to Monster Hunter Wilds is that players now wear a Boost Bracer, which enables weapon-specific special attack types. At the bottom of your screen, you’ll see a gauge with three charge slots. As you attack the monster, these slots will illuminate light blue, indicating you have charge. When in position, you can press R1, circle, and triangle in tandem to unleash a visually striking brutal attack.

For the glaive, this saw my character throwing his body into a series of explosive shifting sweeps. Beyond the spectacle and boosted damage, the upgraded moves did well to reset momentum, and I was particularly pleased to see I didn’t need any specific resources to harness its power.

As the battle drew to a close, I had just enough time to look around and take in the ambient wildlife of the new biome, spotting all kinds of creatures from rocky-backed alligators to fluffy, chicken-like birds.

Among the structures, I also got to experience the new wind mechanics mentioned in the marketing material and made use of my Seikret to dive across them, which was fun if not a little rigid — perhaps I’ll have more control in the full release.

The belly of the beast

The second quest sent me to a wholly oppositional location. Instead of blue skies and white rock, I was met with sludge and volcanic ash plumes rising from various organic chimneys dotted across the horizon. This area was composed of tones of grey, occasionally disrupted by orange or red illuminations.

The castle ruins had also been swapped out for what looked like giant pots, akin to Elden Ring's Iron Fist Alexander if he fell into some wet tarmac. Unlike the ambient wildlife of the first area, there was little more than Sisyphian dung beetles here, continuously rolling a solitary ball up a hill.

Descending to the bowels of the cave system, I spotted my prey, slumbering amongst fire and brimstone. Unlike the Araketa, the Teostra isn’t new to the franchise, with the elder dragon appearing in Monster Hunter World and long before that in Monster Hunter 2. However, it is the beast's first appearance in a long time, and he’s packing some serious heat this time around.

Before I could begin my barrage, a pop-up on screen alerted me to an unskippable step — if I didn’t drink a cool drink, I would lose health during the fight, presumably from boiling alive in my own skin. I’m happy to report that ignoring this message was a silly mistake, and it wasn’t long before I fainted and was forced to make the descent again.

Salve applied; I dove headfirst into what already appeared to be a complicated fight. Double my height, the Teostra’s feline form was blazing, its attacks involving a mixture of fizzing fire bombs and cat-like swipes. When used in tandem, it became steadily overwhelming, and I was pleased I had my attention-stealing Palico to draw away some of the heat, both literally and metaphorically.

To keep from burning alive, I leapt in and out of its proximity, buckling its back legs and taking huge swaths of damage — safe to say, in the twenty minutes I had to win, I was not successful. Thankfully for the sake of my pride, as I returned to the camp a loser, I noticed the player next to me was struggling against the Teostra as well; even with a different weapon and impressive dexterity, they failed to kill the beast in the time allotted.

It’s clear Monster Hunter: Wilds Ascendance intends to escalate the hunting in the base game, enabling players to wield powerful tools in environments designed to genuinely test their preparation and survival skills. As someone who dropped off the base game after hitting credits, this expansion provides more than enough reason to kit back up and head into its refreshed, uncompromising world.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is releasing in 2027.

Sometimes the old ones really are the best, and Gears of War: E-Day is unapologetically retro. This third-person cover shooter could have easily fallen out of a time machine straight from the Xbox 360 era, were it not for its incredible graphical fidelity.

If you’ve played any Gears of War game, then you know exactly what to expect going in: intense combat encounters as human soldiers fight a desperate war against an invading mutant menace. Does E-Day reinvent the series? Not at all, though it does make some small changes by introducing somewhat more open levels and refining the weapon upgrade system introduced in Tactics.

That's far from a bad thing, though. Gears of War is an acclaimed series for a reason. Mowing down waves of baddies is still as fun as it ever was twenty years after the release of the first game, even if the story campaign feels a bit drawn out at times in between the bombastic set-piece moments, and the suite of competitive online multiplayer modes offers plenty of reasons to hone your skill and keep coming for more.

Back to the very beginning

E-Day does plenty to appeal, even if you haven’t played a Gears game before. It’s a prequel, set more than a decade before the events of the first game’s story, so it doesn’t require any prior knowledge to understand. It takes place on the titular ‘Emergence Day’, when the evil Locust army first emerged from underground and began its full-scale invasion of the series’ fictional Earth-like world. The story is a relatively small-scale one, focusing entirely on the initial first few days of the war in the city of Kalona.

The campaign is extremely strong in its opening hours, which really dial in on the more horrific and brutal elements of the franchise. Although still an experienced soldier, long-time protagonist Marcus Fenix faces a then-unknown threat that he and his companions, a ragtag group of his friend, a fellow soldier, Dominic Santiago, along with strangers Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, are completely unprepared for.

There’s a real sense of chaos as the Locust tear through the city streets, with civilians running in panic, cars crashing, trains derailing, and huge sinkholes starting to tear up the floor. Weapons are limited at first, but you steadily gear up as the story unfolds. Experimenting with new assault rifles, snipers, shotguns, grenade launchers, and so on as you unlock them leads to a satisfying feeling of progression, further enhanced by a steady stream of unlockable upgrades for each and every one of them.

These range from basic stat buffs to more in-depth overhauls that fundamentally change how the weapons operate and can be paired together in interesting ways. The slow-to-reload lever-action Gnasher shotgun, for example, becomes an entirely different beast when you outfit it with a full-auto firing mode and the ability to replenish shells when stowed. It’s supremely enjoyable to experiment and, even without any upgrades, all of the guns are suitably punchy with satisfying sound effects that make each shot a joy.

E-Day introduces a small handful of large, more open environments to explore, with short side missions here and there. There’s plenty of guidance, and you’re always being funneled towards the next objective, so it doesn’t ever feel like you’re in a true open-world, but there are still plenty of collectibles to hoover up.

Their placement isn’t sophisticated, and you can easily find most of them without straying too far from the beaten track, which does seem like something of a missed opportunity.

Beauty in destruction

Luckily, you don’t need much encouragement to really take your time soaking in each and every environment, as they are absolutely gorgeous. This is without a doubt one of the most graphically impressive games ever released, with a level of fidelity that is simply leaps and bounds ahead of other recent releases.

The detail is truly staggering, with everything from sweeping views across the city to the individual items on sale in an abandoned convenience store realistically rendered and beautifully lit. I constantly found myself stopping to zoom in on every little thing, impressed with the sheer number of references to in-universe history.

All of this helps Kalona really feel like an actual place in a way few other video game settings do. The layout of its roads and public transportation network is totally believable, and your journey feels truly grounded, as you move through the game – even later on when the streets have been reduced to near-ruin.

There are some definite low points, though. This is by far the longest Gears of War campaign, taking me roughly 25 hours to complete while chasing every collectible and optional side mission, and a few hours in the middle should have been shaved off. Encounters are well-balanced in the opening and final acts with a good variety of foes and plenty of cover, but there are some sequences near the midpoint that just involve facing off a steady stream of overly tanky enemies in quite small arenas.

The shooting is so compelling that pumping them full of bullets for minutes at a time isn’t a dealbreaker; their removal would just have created a much tighter overall experience.

Continuing the fight

A Gears of War game wouldn’t be complete with a suite of multiplayer modes, and E-Day is no exception. The player versus player (PvP) deathmatch mode is excellent, challenging two small teams to face off and rack up kills with weapons from the campaign. Simplistic, yes, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly fun to blast away at others.

The player versus environment (PvE) games are more complicated, with 12 players divided into four squads tackling multiple objectives in a large open space to earn currency to spend on upgrades and defensive gear.

Bizarrely, the teams don’t interact with each other that much aside from the odd shared boss fight, so I don’t really see why the format needs 12 players, though any excuse for more of the strong combat is a good thing. There’s also a more traditional wave survival mode, which I can see becoming a favorite among friends looking for something more casual.

Throw in a wealth of unlockables, and you have a recipe for a good time even if, like the story campaign, it’s not anything revolutionary.

Should I play Gears of War: E-Day?

Play it if…

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Gears of War: E-Day has a wealth of accessibility settings, found in the dedicated accessibility menu. There are multiple menu narration options alongside the ability to customize the size of UI text, enable subtitles, show speaker names, and fully tweak subtitle background color and opacity.

Distinct content filters are present for gore, profanity, and online chat content, plus visual settings such as a color blind mode, high-contrast mode, and navigation aids.

How I reviewed Gears of War E-Day

I played Gears of War: E-Day on my Nvidia RTX 4090-powered gaming PC. With this rig, it could easily hit a rock-solid 75 frames per second (fps) at ultra settings while playing at 1080p and using Logitech peripherals: the newly announced X3 Superstrike mouse, Pro X2 Rapid keyboard, and Pro X3 Lightspeed headset.

I played the game for over 25 hours, during which time I completed the campaign and saw the vast majority of side content. I also dived into the multiplayer modes for a few hours to check them out and compare them to other online games.

First reviewed October 2026

Fuse Games' Star Wars: Galactic Racer isn't what I anticipated. A fun Star Wars racing game that lets you take part in a series of high-octane relays across the galaxy? Sounds great; you had me at "Star Wars." But a heart-pounding roguelike sweat-fest that had me squeezing my DualSense wireless controller in a death grip and yelling at my monitor as Kestar Bool once again beat me in the final race by the skin of my teeth? Not what I was expecting!

Galactic Racer takes place after the fall of the Empire and during the New Republic Era, where the lawless and ex-pilots of the Outer Rim take part in the unsanctioned, high-stakes Galactic League. You play as Shade, a faceless human cargo pilot recruited to the league and who has a major grudge against the oppressive Bool family, particularly Kestar Bool, the guy who also happens to be the reigning champion of the Galactic League. Shade, for reasons you'll discover as you progress the campaign, has a long history with Kestar and is dead set on beating him, and you feel that rivalry grow after every attempt at completing the tour.

This particular Star Wars tale is contained without the bigger stakes we often see in the movies or TV shows, and while it's not a sweeping cinematic experience like Star Wars Zero Company or Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, with not much exploration in the way of character depth for Shade as the playable character, it's simple yet effective; Galactic Racer is first and foremost a racing game with an emphasis on replayability, buildcraft customization, and a tailored progression system.

A race across the stars

The freedom to choose how to proceed through the campaign is a core feature I greatly enjoyed, and players must first complete the qualifiers, then the main Galactic Tour. There's no randomized track selection; instead, a clever system of branching paths lets you choose a route and compete in races that fit your preferences, minimizing the risk of losing your League Tokens, which let you race in the first place.

There are standard races that present a variety of gripping courses, and you can come in first or 12th place; Field Tests, which I did find a bit repetitive and not as challenging after completing them numerous times; Mystery Encounters; and Eliminator races, an event where the driver in last place is disqualified until only the top three pilots remain, plus you'll lose a League Token, which makes it the riskiest race in the bunch.

Roguelikes can be hit or miss for me, but Galactic Racer's run-based structure offers an exhilarating and chaotic gameplay loop that excels at providing a highly engaging, heart-pounding experience despite the rinse-and-repeat system.

Even after beating my fellow racers and making it all the way to the finals, only to fail miserably, the notion of having to replay the entire process after losing should've been off-putting. Instead, I found myself not only eager to improve, but excited to get back on the track with the knowledge and skills I'd gained from previous runs, a feeling that not many roguelikes can achieve.

The game has a learning and difficulty curve due to its roguelike framework, and it may not be for everyone, but it's purposefully designed to make you become the best racer in the galaxy, since you likely won't be a winner straight away.

More often than not, you'll smash headfirst into an obstacle or fly off a cliff because you didn't drift in time, so it's incredibly satisfying how the game makes you feel like you're gradually improving after every run.

At the beginning of each tour, you choose a loadout, including your vehicle, Favours that provide a competitive edge, and a Racer Style, an additional preset that dictates your speeder's behaviour and active perks and feels more personalized to your playstyle.

Galactic Racer offers three vehicle types — landspeeders, speeder bikes, and skim speeders, as well as podracers during select missions — but in the end, I personally favored the speeder bike; its compact agility, vectored thrust, and kinetic burst felt incredible as I sped across dunes and whizzed around tight corners on slippery glaciers.

If at first you don't succeed...

When I started, I absolutely sucked. I frequently collided headfirst into walls and mismanaged my abilities, but the roguelike structure works so well that my muscle memory began kicking in the more I played; by the end of the game, I was hardly crashing and knew the tracks like the back of my hand.

It's no smooth ride; every choice shapes your prospects, and the challenge of not only trying to win while overcoming planetary effects like lava or acid, and outplaying your fellow pilots, takes the stakes even higher — it's a testament to how well the roguelike framework works and how brilliantly designed the courses are.

The game puts a huge emphasis on customization — the build possibilities are endless — and the system stands out against the competition as you gradually update your vehicles by applying upgrades, installing parts (and making sure they're not damaged), and unlocking new power-up abilities; there's an abundance of them, and they make a world of difference in close-call encounters and improve your odds of a podium position.

Not to beat the dead tauntaun, but seriously… this is podracing! Playing on the base PS5, Galactic Racer is a visual and audio feast, offering a gorgeously smooth experience at 60fps, while sweeping you up in the frenetic action.

The speeds you can reach are ridiculous when you have the right upgrades, and there's nothing more gratifying than going to the maximum with your Ramjet and executing perfect landings and sharp corners without crashing your speeder into a million pieces.

The best of the best

Racing is at the soul of the campaign, and it's a damn good time, but the game also allows you to interact with other pilots; they aren't just random racers, but fully written NPCs with unique personalities and playstyles, and I loved how Fuse represents these characters on and off the track.

You'll build rivalries, learn their backstories, and discover random encounters with multiple dialogue options, which also come with rewards and consequences, making the lawless world you're competing in all the more real.

With Kestar Bool, for instance, I chose to insult him after he tried to swindle me out of some credits, and since he basically runs the show, my speeder was sabotaged; it exploded at the start of the next race, and I lost two speeder upgrades in the process, putting me at a huge disadvantage for the rest of the tour. This is such a unique feature and a significant factor in the game's progression system that drives home the competitiveness among your opponents.

Jakku and Crait are probably my favorite out of the six available planets, which are all stunningly authentic to the Star Wars universe and a joy to experience from a brand-new perspective as a fan; the scale of their set pieces, whether it be the underbelly of a Star Destroyer skeleton or kicking up red salt in crystalline caverns, creates a sense of awe alongside the game's competitive atmosphere as you maneuver through various routes.

Fuse has designed a riveting racing game with creatively constructed tracks that compel you to keep playing even after a major fumble. At first, it's all about mastering the track — which corner to take to put you ahead, when to speed up or slow down — and the game does a great job of making each one distinctly different. Soon enough, however, these races get pretty aggressive, to the point where they'll turn into outright battles as your opponents try to ram you off the course (screw you, Griff Halloran).

Alongside the campaign, players can unlock Sebulba's storyline, a side activity where you play podraces from his past; it's a neat addition to the main story that offers up some amazing tracks while also providing additional backstory on the guy who had it out for little Anakin Skywalker. Surprisingly, Sebulba became a standout in the storyline, and I appreciate that Fuse didn't simply throw him in for the sake of nostalgia.

The game also offers other side activities like Scenarios that let you play as each racer, an Arcade feature, both worthwhile additions for after you complete the campaign, and a proper multiplayer mode. During the review period, I had access to several multiplayer sessions, a standard online PvP experience featuring quick race modes and Tours with 12 players and crossplay enabled.

From what I was able to play, I enjoyed the multiplayer as much as the campaign, and it has a lot of potential if Fuse plans on updating the game post-launch; it feels just as entertaining and competitive as the story, with extra unlockables and missions that incentivize you to keep playing after the campaign. While I didn't get to play too much due to time constraints, I already know I'll be sinking more hours into it, and I'm particularly excited about trying out the Podracing Tour mode at launch — it was locked during the review period — because I couldn't get enough of it in the campaign.

Should you play Star Wars: Galactic Racer?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility Features

Star Wars: Galactic Racer offers a ton of accessibility features in the form of your typical settings across visuals, audio, and subtitles. There are also some great controller remapping options, which can be adjusted to your preferences (these make a huge difference on the track), toggleable controls, and more.

How I reviewed Star Wars: Galactic Racer

I spent almost 30 hours playing Star Wars: Galactic Racer on the base PlayStation 5 with my Gigabyte M32U gaming monitor and my Sony WH-CH520 wireless headphones for audio.

First reviewed October 2026.

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says he typically finds his inspiration by looking at Remedy's "gorgeous" concept art
• He reveals that he has synesthesia, which allows him to "hear" music by looking at these pictures
• Alanko says there's a "transparency culture" at Remedy, which helps prepare the team for a new project

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has revealed that he has synesthesia, which allows him to find much of his inspiration by looking at Remedy's concept art.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Alanko, who also composed music for the first Control game and other Remedy titles, shared his process for creating the music fans hear in Remedy's sequel.

"You wouldn’t believe, but quite often everything starts a little like that old Simpson yelling at a cloud meme, but in my case it’s more staring at the clouds instead," Alanko joked, adding that it's really about thinking and trying to find an interesting approach.

The composer went on to talk about the "transparency culture" at Remedy, revealing that every time the studio births a new game concept, it "has a habit of telling the whole company about it" in the form of a well-rehearsed presentation, and Control Resonant's was no different.

"That, by the way, separates Remedy from many others; the amount of detail and level of depth is unparalleled," Alanko said. "Very unique. One would think they already have everything ready, albeit we’re only taking the first steps."

When discussing what helps his composer mind come up with ideas, he explained that he typically leans toward Remedy's concept art, because they "tell a story, and they usually are really, really beautiful."

Alanko shared that he has synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon that causes sensory crossovers, such as tasting colors or feeling sounds, and in his case enables him to hear sounds when looking at pictures.

"Those pictures have a 'sound' in my head, and following those intuitional sources often bring me a few melodies, harmonies… a feeling, actually," the composer explained. "To be able to hear music requires the background concept story as well as a presentation, and the pictures. I rely heavily on that. Plus, as a composer, I’ve always been an outsider and felt like I’m just watching everything from a distance, an observer, if you like.

"That feeling combined with the ability to 'hear' pictures - synesthesia, to be exact - are my go-to tools at the ground zero point."

Control Resonant is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

New details about Grand Theft Auto 6 have emerged ahead of the game's launch, courtesy of an exclusive cover story by Game Informer, confirming even more gameplay features and immersive systems that will bring Leonida and Vice City to life.

There's a lot to unpack, from an expansive open world to an array of side activities to engage with, and the ability to post on social media and doomscroll, but I've put together the top five things that stood out.

1. A map bigger and better than ever before

GTA 6's world, which consists of six primary regions including Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia, and Mount Kalaha National Park, all culminates in a massive open world that Rockstar Games has ever created "by some degree," according to Rockstar North co-studio head Aaron Garbut.

Essentially, it's twice as big as GTA 5's world, and is more dense, populated, and interactive.

"This new world is different," Garbut said. "We obsessed about every part – the rooftops, the alleys, the internals and everything in between to the point we hit a critical mass with the numbers of our interiors, and you start to feel the buildings are more real inside and out. This world is a cohesive whole with the density of content and a hand-crafted quality to every bit."

2. An improved weather system

GTA 6 will bring realism to the next level and offer a brand new "re-engineered" dynamic and localized weather system, and players will experience everything from hot, sunny weather to rain showers, lightning storms, and more. Puddles will also remain on the ground after the rain passes, realistic rainbows will appear in the sky, and lighting will change depending on the situation.

"We have re-engineered our weather system to make everything much more localized and persistent, and really wanted the world to feel dynamically solid and achieve a sense of scale we haven't felt before," said Rockstar's VP of art for lighting and rendering, Owen Shepherd.

"The world features new fully dynamic cloudscapes that roll across the map; these give us a broad spectrum of weather from the clear blue skies of a Miami winter to the vertiginous cumulonimbus clouds with sporadic lighting that you see most afternoons in the Floridian summer and autumn."

3. Sooo many animals

Similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 6 will feature a wide variety of animals, including dogs you can pet, with Rockstar confirming 170 animal species in total.

Many of these are Leonida-native species that have never appeared in a Rockstar Games title, including over 60 bird types, more than 30 land mammals, various fish, reptiles, and more.

Rockstar vice president of dynamic art Michael Kane revealed that the game will feature creatures like flamingos, pelicans, and alligators; these are just a few of what players will encounter.

"Florida has a diverse animal ecosystem that we wanted to faithfully include across the different biomes in Leonida – urban and rural environs, aquatic life both inland and ocean, and the wetland habitats like the swamps and Everglades," Kane said. "The animal art and population teams are incredibly passionate about delivering animals that are accurately researched and look visually correct in every respect, alongside the supporting movement and animation to bring them to life."

4. More authentic NPCs and a passion for fashion

As we've seen from the trailers and gameplay presentation, GTA 6 will have a ridiculous number of handcrafted non-player characters (NPCs)— with over 600,000 animations combined—and will bring a new sense of realism to Vice City.

Rockstar has previously confirmed that the studio established a new Los Angeles-based team of writers, directors, and producers to focus solely on realizing non-player characters; according to Kane in Game Informer's interview, it was a "huge artist-driven effort" to make them "authentic and representative in service to both the story requirements and so that the entire Leonida map feels visually diverse and believable."

NPCs will now have different heights, skin and body types, individual features, with Kane adding that Rockstar "paid a crazy amount of attention" to making culturally correct tattoo styles that fit Leonida's diverse communities and regions, with hair and fashion also being heavily considered.

"We’ve been able to really go hard on that with creating the biggest range of garments and accessories we’ve ever made – supported with rich, realistic materials," Kane said.

"That surfacing includes color, patterns and branding that are both area-appropriate, but also tied to context (states of dirt/weathering and fitment) for the characters themselves and their social situation and how they inhabit Leonida. Shoes, sneakers, and colorways that we know carry cultural weight as items – likewise watches, sunglasses, or hats."

5. Robberies and the wanted system

As we've seen in the gameplay footage, players can take control of either Lucia or Jason. This applies across the game, including for heists and robberies.

However, alongside a six-star Wanted system, Rockstar has introduced a new "Heat" system that means cops can gather information on the co-protagonist's appearance, including their clothes, hairstyle, and the vehicle they're driving.

Changing Lucia and Jason's appearance and ditching their vehicle can help players lose cops, but separating the pair can give them a better advantage by splitting the cops' attention.

However, getting arrested will result in a "Busted" screen even if the other protagonist gets away, so players need to think carefully about their escape plans.

• 007 First Light update 1.3.0 and the game's first free Extended Operations downloadable content (DLC) is now live
• The DLC adds New Game Plus, Photo Mode, a new mission, a difficulty level, and the long-awaited Valhalla Protocol
• A host of other gameplay improvements and bug fixes also arrive with the patch

007 First Light's first major free downloadable content (DLC) has officially rolled out, delivering all-new playable content and huge improvements across the board.

With Update 1.3.0, IO Interactive has launched the Extended Operations DLC, which includes some of the most highly requested features fans have asked for since the game's release earlier this year, including New Game Plus, Photo Mode, and a brand-new "00" difficulty level "for those ready to show they’ve truly earned the number."

The new Jungle Heist mission is another new addition to the game, where players return to The Pearl villa in Vietnam to recover special documents, as well as the long-awaited Valhalla Protocol, where players drive the Aston Martin Valhalla once more in an action-packed side activity.

"Take the wheel of Bond's most heavily armed ride and cut loose on the open road, with machine guns and missile launchers at your command," IOI said in the patch notes. "In TacSim you will now find the new Activity, which brings you to the scenic landscape of Slovakia, where you can show off your best driving skills and aim for the highest score."

More TacSim weapons, like the Storm 12 Gauge and Squire Marksman Rifle, have also been added, and three new Bond outfits are now available, alongside a new IOI Account reward, The Grey Standard outfit, which players can claim until November 1, and a separate Twitch Drop outfit available from today until October 16.

To celebrate seven million game wishlists, players can also meet the newest member of the MI6 HQ personnel, Jack the Bulldog, "a distinguished and charming resident offering support in the form of his presence," and yes, you can pet him.

Extended Operations also "brings over 700 fixes and improvements to the game," which covers everything from crashes and progression blockers to "refined weapon handling animations across the arsenal," and more.

• CD Projekt Red originally wanted to add Geralt's silver chain to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but there were technological constraints
• Songs of the Past game director Jakub Rokosz says modern tech allowed the team to finally add it in the upcoming expansion
• Rokosz says the 11-year time difference between the base game and Songs of the Past has made a huge difference

CD Projekt Red couldn't implement Geralt's silver chain in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt due to technological constraints, but modern technology finally allowed it to add the weapon in the upcoming Songs of the Past expansion.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Jakub Rokosz, Fool's Theory CEO, Songs of the Past game director, and former Witcher 3 senior quest designer, explained that the chain, which first appeared in the first Witcher game, was something CDPR originally "always wanted to bring" to the third installment.

"There were numerous conversations that we [had where we] would want to do the chain even during the base game, but it was impossible from a technological standpoint to do it properly," Rokosz said. "Back then, the way the combat, the targeting, the camera, the enemies were implemented, it would require too much of an overhaul just for one feature."

CDPR didn't have the tools to overhaul these features for one weapon; however, working on the remaster and Songs of the Past with today's updated tech allowed the team to bring the chain to life.

"When we started working on Songs of the Past and the remaster at the same time, we knew that we were going to be touching up on various things, and all of a sudden the chain became a reality," the developer said.

"Also, one other thing is that the physics and animation technology had to go a little bit forward in time. And trust me, 11 years is a lot of difference. So now we were actually able to make the animations of the chain feel very natural, very fluid, and simulated very easily. Whereas 11 years ago, we would probably have to animate it by hand, with all the animations."

Senior quest designer Despoina Anetaki added that, "from a practical standpoint," it's challenging to work with so many animations for a huge game like The Witcher 3.

"When it comes to the remaster, it's a lot of things already, so you can focus on new things, right? And this was a good opportunity for the chain," Anetaki said. "I think it's a really cool weapon."

Geralt's crossbow can be switched out for the silver chain, and players can use it on flying enemies, enemies in water, and for crowd control, with Anetaki saying she thinks fans will love it.

"It's a very versatile weapon, and I think it's gonna fulfill that butcher fantasy for a lot of people, especially those who have read the books and are imagining a badass Geralt with a chain. I think it's gonna be very good for them," she said.

Rokosz added that it was important to make sure the chain wasn't "a gimmick item" you get in Songs of the Past and wanted it to be "a very important piece" of a witcher's arsenal that can be used in the base game and previous expansions, with Anetaki saying that it is something that is "woven into the narrative."

Songs of the Past doesn't have a release date yet, but it's slated to launch in 2027.

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt lead writer Marcin Blacha has explained what it takes to create a worthwhile Witcher remake
• He says CD Projekt Red needs to "stay true to the spirit" of the original game
• However, the remake has to appeal to a new audience using modern technology

CD Projekt Red VP of narration and story director Marcin Blacha has revealed the secret to making a worthwhile Witcher remake, and it's about balancing what made the original game good with appealing to a new audience.

During a panel at Logitech Play 2026 attended by TechRadar Gaming, Blacha, who was a lead writer on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, explained that the studio needs to "stay true" to the 2007 original, but also design a fresh experience for gamers who didn't play it.

"The secret is to identify what was good in the original game, and find a way to retell it to the audience that, for some reason, cannot participate in this experience," Blacha said. "Those are two different things, and each of them is difficult on its own, because it's not that easy sometimes to recreate this experience."

The writer went on to discuss what the studio calls "Act Four" of The Witcher 1, which takes place in a rural lakeside region "that is very folklorish" and "full of beautiful landscapes," but said it's difficult to recreate that feeling again because it's a different experience for every player and can be "a little bit vague."

"To create a good remake, you need to identify what was good and find a way to recreate it using newer technology, [while] staying true to the spirit of the original game," Blacha added.

The Witcher remake is in development at Fool's Theory and will utilize Unreal Engine 5, as CD Projekt Red is currently all hands on deck making The Witcher 4, the first game in a new trilogy of Witcher games that it wants to release within a six-year time frame.

CDPR has also just launched The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, which offers a massive collection of improvements that promise an entirely new experience for the decade-old role-playing game (RPG).

• We can exclusively reveal 'Sibling Theme' from Control Resonant's official soundtrack
• The track represents Jesse and Dylan's bond and is a "subset of the origin theme"
• Composer Petri Alanko says the track "carries the emotions, as if it soothes and comforts the siblings’ dented childhood memories"

Remedy Entertainment's Control Resonant has launched on PC and consoles, and to mark the release, we've got a track from its official soundtrack to debut exclusively for fans.

The 'Sibling Theme' represents the bond between Control and Control Resonant protagonists Jesse and Dylan, with composer Petri Alanko describing it as a "subset of the origin theme," which you can now listen to on YouTube.

"If you listen to the instruments and the harmonies, there’s more than a vague resemblance in it," Alanko told TechRadar Gaming in an exclusive interview.

"At its core, 'Sibling Theme' was originally a much more vibrant version, an instrumental version of 'The One I Once Knew', but it just felt overwhelming under intimate childhood memory-driven sections, and I toned it down, but nothing quite clicked there, until I tested the harmonies and the melody line with just an electric piano."

Alanko, who also created the music for the first game, added that "a delicate moment needed a delicate solution," and he's pleased with how 'Sibling Theme' "carries the emotions, as if it soothes and comforts the siblings’ dented childhood memories."

"The acting of the protagonists is also really one-of-a-kind when the track plays; a lot of emotions are being surfaced," he said.

In addition to our exclusive reveal of 'Sibling Theme', fans can also listen to the official soundtrack on all available music apps and YouTube, featuring 13 tracks.

"Creating a soundtrack is always a labour of love: it’s a transition into a world where dream-like events pass you by and leave their mark, maybe forever," Alanko said in a press release. "The scope of Control Resonant was well beyond everything I have been involved with, so were the emotions under the surface.

"It was incredibly intense trying to hold back tears when the twists and turns were thrown at you, and emotionally Control Resonant went deeper under my skin than I expected. Under the action, it is a story about devotion, dedication, and determination."

Control Resonant is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says it was "crucial" that the development team designed a unique roster of Operators
• Each of the 15 Operators has unique gadgets, playstyles, and progression to avoid "overlap"
• He says it would have been "impossible" not to feature fan favorites like Ash and Sledge

Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron has said that it was important for Ubisoft to design the game's Operators with unique loadouts and progression to avoid overlap.

"My team really wanted the operators to feel unique and to serve unique places," Potron told TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom. "It was part of the creative process to make sure that every Operator would serve one turf course in the experience, so we really made sure that all Operators were unique: unique gadgets, unique playstyles, unique progression. It was crucial for us, in fact, that we didn't have too much overlap with other Operators."

The upcoming turn-based tactics spin-off will offer 15 Operators in total, with Ash, Sledge, Glaz, Montagne, Doc, and Nokk confirmed so far, and you won't be able to play them repeatedly due to the game's new gameplay systems. While that's far from the entire roster fans are familiar with in the core series, Potron explained that it was also important to include "community favorites."

"We really did the operators that were impossible not to have, [like] Sledge and Ash," the game director said, adding that there are a few that he's personally disappointed aren't included.

"I love Tachanka. We don't have Tachanka; we don't have Lion." Potron said. "We had to make [tough] choices. It's part of my job to make [tough] choices."

As for the possibility of adding more Operators in the future, Potron said there are no current plans to do so, saying, "For the launch, it's not something we are digging into. We are very close to releasing a fantastic single-player experience, and so [we're] focused on the release date; shipping something amazing, and we'll see [about] the future."

Rainbow Six Tactics releases in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered's patch notes have been released
• The update will offer all-new animations and an improved skill system
• A new accessibility preset called Bard's Ballad also offers a more tailored gameplay experience

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered is officially here, and CD Projekt Red has released the long list of improvements that promise an entirely new experience for the decade-old role-playing game (RPG).

The patch notes detail a ton of upgrades, from better visuals, transmogrification, an expanded photo mode, updated textures, PS5 Pro support, and more. Some pretty impressive animation improvements that are sure to make my new playthrough feel even more immersive have also been added. Geralt's animations during combat, idling, and riding Roach have all been refined; new finishers have also been added, and ladder climbing, jumping, and vaulting are now "more responsive" and "fluid."

The skill system has also been completely rebalanced, and " Skills are now organized into a skill tree, and each skill has three ranks," while others have been renamed to better reflect their effects, and I can't wait to try out new builds.

One of the most notable additions to the remaster, included in the accessibility features, is the Bard's Ballad preset, which can be enabled when starting a new game on "Just the Story" difficulty or mid-game.

"It is designed to reduce cognitive load for players who experience mental fatigue or have difficulty concentrating," CDPR explained. "It streamlines gameplay by simplifying certain mechanics and disabling select features for a smoother, more focused adventure."

On top of that, players can customize the preset by enabling or disabling some options that I've always wanted and would normally need mods for. Those options include Vitality Regeneration Boost, Infinite Breath, Unlimited Item Durability, Unlimited Boat Durability, Faster Boats, Toggle Witcher Sense, and probably my favorite out of the bunch, Ignore Item Weight.

I typically play on normal or higher difficulties in The Witcher 3, but for my latest playthrough I'm quite eager to try out the Bard's Ballad preset for the added customization that comes with it.

There are plenty more quality-of-life, modding, UI/UX, gameplay, and visual improvements to discover in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered, which is now available and is free for current owners of the game. Players who also own only the base game can claim the two included expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, at no extra cost.

• The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 nominations have been announced
• Voting is open now until October 23, with winners to be revealed on November 11
• The nominations include some of our favorite games of the year, including Resident Evil Requiem and 007 First Light

The nominees for the 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards have been officially announced across 21 categories, with games like Resident Evil Requiem, Big Walk, and 007 First Light leading nominations.

Public voting is now live and will remain open until October 23 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET / 0:00am BST. Fans can vote for their favourite games of 2026 in 21 categories, including Console Game of the Year, PC Game of the Year, Most Wanted Game, and more.

Winners will be revealed during the ceremony on November 11, with the Ultimate Game of the Year shortlist to be announced on October 26.

"With the hugely-anticipated GTA 6 set to launch a week after our live show, the 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards is delighted to share its most diverse and creative nominees line-up yet," said Daniel Dawkins, content director of Golden Joystick Awards at Future.

"Indie hits Big Walk, Dispatch and Mina the Hollower sit alongside AAA blockbusters such as 007 First Light, Forza Horizon 6 and Resident Evil Requiem. This year, no single game dominates the field, this is one of our most open and unpredictable years yet - making your vote more influential than ever in deciding our winners. We’re thrilled to debut a new look for the Golden Joystick Awards, embracing the iconic joystick trophy that traces all the way back to our inception in 1983. Gaming has changed so much in the following 43 years, but not the creativity and determination of those who sacrifice so much to share the games we love so much."

The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 - Nominations

Console Game of the Year

• 007 First Light
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
• Forza Horizon 6
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
• Nioh 3
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Pokémon Pokopia
• PRAGMATA
• Resident Evil Requiem
• Saros

PC Game of the Year

• Big Walk
• Crimson Desert
• Escape from Tarkov
• Esoteric Ebb
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Mewgenics
• Order of the Sinking Star
• Star Wars Zero Company
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Valheim

Best Audio Design

• Big Walk
• Marathon
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Rhythm Heaven Groove
• SAROS
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer

Best Early Access Game

• Dead as Disco
• MENACE
• skate.
• Slay the Spire 2
• Subnautica 2
• WARDOGS

Best Game Adaptation

• Devil May Cry (Season 2)
• Exit 8
• Fallout (Season 2)
• Iron Lung
• Mortal Kombat II
• Resident Evil

Best Game Expansion

• Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven
• DAVE THE DIVER - In the Jungle Content Pack
• DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations
• Quake: Dawn of the Machine
• The Alters: Last Variable
• World of Warcraft: Midnight

Best Game Trailer

• Battlefield 6 x Top Gun: Carrier Strike Cinematic Trailer
• Big Walk - Release Date Announcement
• Cairn - Launch Trailer
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire | Official Launch Trailer
• Prove You're Human - Announcement Trailer
• Resident Evil Requiem - Evil Has Always Had A Name

Best Gaming Hardware

• Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE
• Razer Viper V4 Pro
• Secretlab ATLAS
• Sony INZONE M10S II
• Steam Controller
• Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II

Best Indie Game

• Big Walk
• Denshattack!
• Esoteric Ebb
• Mixtape
• Mouse: P.I. for Hire
• Order of the Sinking Star
• REANIMAL
• Sovereign Tower
• Titanium Court
• Valheim

Best Indie Game - Self-published

• Cairn
• Fields of Mistria
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Mewgenics
• Mina the Hollower
• Perfect Tides: Station to Station
• Phonopolis
• Rhythm Doctor
• The Incident at Galley House
• Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors

Best Lead Performer

• Aaron Paul - Robert Robertson III, Dispatch
• Angela Sant'Albano - Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem
• Anna Demetriou - Sophia, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• Liam McIntyre - Wolverine, Marvel's Wolverine
• Patrick Gibson - James Bond, 007 First Light
• Will de Renzy-Martin - Coen, The Blood of Dawnwalker

Best Supporting Performer

• Frankie Kevich - Zoe de Vera, Control Resonant
• Grace Saif - Diana, Pragamata
• Lennie James - John Greenway, 007 First Light
• Terry O'Quinn - Richard, Silent Hill: Townfall
• Troy Baker - Nathaniel Essex, Marvel's Wolverine
• Vic Michaelis - Runa Blask, Star Wars Zero Company

Best Multiplayer Game

• ARC Raiders
• Big Walk
• Marathon
• MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Valheim

Best Remake / Remaster

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced
• Gothic 1 Remake
• Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.2
• Star Fox
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered
• Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter

Best Soundtrack

• 007 First Light
• Crimson Desert
• Dispatch
• Lumines Arise
• Mewgenics
• Mixtape

Best Storytelling

• 007 First Light
• Dispatch
• Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
• Silent Hill: Townfall
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

Best Visual Design

• Control Resonant
• Forza Horizon 6
• Orbitals
• Phonopolis
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• Saros

Most Wanted Game

• Alien: Isolation 2
• ANANTA
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui
• EXODUS
• Fable
• Final Fantasy 7 Revelation
• God of War Laufey
• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
• Kingdom Hearts 5
• METRO 2039
• NO LAW
• Persona 6
• Resident Evil Veronica
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN
• Stuntman: Hollywood
• The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
• The Witcher 4
• Tides of Annihilation
• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
• Total War: Warhammer 40,000

Still Playing - Mobile

• Balatro
• Genshin Impact
• Honkai: Star Rail
• MARVEL SNAP
• MONOPOLY GO!
• NTE: Neverness to Everness
• Old School RuneScape
• Pokémon GO
• Roblox
• Sky: Children of the Light
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile
• Wuthering Waves

Still Playing - PC & Console

• Apex Legends
• Fortnite
• GTA Online
• HELLDIVERS 2
• HITMAN World of Assassination
• Minecraft
• No Man's Sky
• Palworld
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Warframe
• World of Warcraft
• Call of Duty: Warzone

Studio of the Year

• CAPCOM
• Frogwares
• House House
• IO Interactive
• Nintendo EPD
• SQUARE ENIX

• Fable associate game directors Craig Littler and Will Kennedy say British humour is a "crucial" part of the reboot
• They say it's presented in all systems, from story to dialogue and combat
• Playground Games made sure to steer away "from anything that's too crude"

Playground Games has said its Fable reboot will feature the series' iconic British humour across all systems, but it avoided anything overly "crude."

During a press Q&A at Gamescom, attended by TechRadar, associate game director Craig Littler said British humour "is a core part of the Fable DNA" and the decision to bring it forward into Playground's reboot "has been a crucial thing that we're always thinking about, because for us it has to be interwoven throughout the entire game."

"It's not just in the story. It's not just in the dialogue, but you even see flourishes of it in the combat," Littler said, before talking about the spell that lets players turn enemies into chickens, which he laughs about every time.

"It's hilarious," he added, saying, "We believe that the core idea of Fable is that the humor is [shown] throughout."

Associate game director Will Kennedy said that even when enemies turn back from a chicken, they'll still flap around for a while, which is visually funny but also gives players the opportunity to land some attacks.

"To us, tone is something that we're thinking about all the time and in every system, really," Kennedy said. "Any opportunity to add that fabled British tone of humor."

The directors also said the team thought deeply about how to present the humour, particularly for a modern audience; not every joke or gag will land the same for everyone, and the humor in the older Fable titles may be outdated, and they made sure not to feature anything too rude.

"For us, we've steered away from anything that's too crude," Littler confirmed, "and I think the real test for Fable when it comes to the tone is that it does just have to be funny, and that comes from really great writing, having a brilliant narrative team, and honestly the actors that we've hired as well."

Those actors include British stars and comedians like Hayley Atwell, Matt King, Natasia Demetriou, and more, with Littler saying they "really bring themselves to the role and are also capable of the sincerity that really gets to the heart of fairy tales as well. You want somebody who has that humour, but can really deliver an enormous performance as well."

He also teased some improvisation from the cast, explaining that the actors are given a solid script, but do give them "some latitude" for some improv.

"At the end of the day, they're great British comedians," he added. "Sometimes they're going to say something that's just pure gold. So yes, there is some latitude, and absolutely we reuse it when we can."

Fable launches on launch on February 23, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says Mario + Rabbids helped the team understand "the metrics of tactics"
• He says it borrowed the "DNA" of the series, and it was a different experience from working on Ghost Recon
• Potron adds that he had to change his developer habits when working on
• Rainbow Six Tactics

Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron has said the development team borrowed the "DNA" of the studio's turn-based game series, Mario + Rabbids, for tactical level design inspiration.

"Mario + Rabbids helped us shape some parts," Potron told TechRadar Gaming in a recent interview about the upcoming Siege spin-off. "The team, especially the level design team that came from Mario + Rabbids, really helped us to understand the metrics of tactics."

The game director explained that, instead of keeping in line with the series' first-person style, the team chose a turn-based tactics genre because it felt that Rainbow Six's DNA is already "tactical."

Speaking more on inspiration, Potron explained that some of the "core rules" for him as someone who worked on Ghost Recon are to design an experience that players would expect; "smoke and mirrors," as he puts it, in terms of lethality or enemy behaviors to "make the experience cinematographic," but the turn-based tactics genre is different.

"In tactical, everything is very precise," he said. "It's pure. It's like chess. So we had to change a bit of our mindset to adjust to this philosophy."

Poltron continued: "This is a bit of a paradigm shift for us in terms of habits. It's 15 years of my habits that I need to shift."

Rainbow Six Tactics launches in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

The Alien universe is incredibly rich and full of lore, and 2014's Alien: Isolation is a more than worthy addition to the pantheon of storytelling within it. It's a fantastic horror game, but also one that captures the setting, vibes, and atmosphere of the first Alien movie brilliantly well. But it's been 12 years (and counting) since it was released, and with a sequel being shown off this year, now's as good a time as any to celebrate the original.

I've spoken to the Alien: Isolation 2 developers twice this summer, and despite not being a huge horror fan, I am a big Alien fan, and it got me really hyped for the game. It also got me thinking: how much do I really remember about the first terrifying-but-excellent experience?

Well, both quite a lot, but also not as much as I thought. It turns out, so I made this quiz to see if that was the same for other players of the first game.

Good luck!

Did you survive our Alien: Isolation quiz? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments as well as any other games we should make quizzes on.

• Total War: Warhammer 40,000 battle product owner Dave Petry says the series' diplomacy will be present but "in a different form"
• He says players need to manage relationships with local forces and planetary governors to balance their reputation, renown, and suspicion
• Players will deal with planetary representatives and will have to manage their attitude towards them

Creative Assembly has confirmed that Total War: Warhammer 40,000's diplomacy system will affect players' standing with planetary governors and local forces, so they'll need to strategically manage relationships.

TechRadar Gaming recently caught up with battle product owner Dave Petry and lead designer Joy Dey at Gamescom to chat about the upcoming turn-based strategy game and what players can expect from the next installment.

Alongside a discussion about how player customization was a "must-have" in Total War: Warhammer 40,000, Petry said that the diplomacy that's a defining feature of the Total War series will also exist, especially within the Imperium, and players will be required to manage relationships with local forces and planetary governors to balance their reputation, renown, and suspicion.

"When it comes to diplomacy in 40,000, I think the focus is that the Imperium itself is an absolutely monstrous bureaucratic nightmare, effectively, and all of the arms of the Imperium need to communicate and coordinate in some fashion between one another too," Petry explained.

"So although there are going to be some factions which are extremely belligerent and extremely difficult to get on with, when you're dealing with, say, the Imperium, there are local forces and allies there that you also need to work with and get on board and make sure you get to where you need to get to. Space Marines are obviously incredibly powerful."

The developer also touched on the Astra Militarum, the largest military force in the universe, and being supported by them "means a level of negotiation with the Imperium itself and the local forces that you're fighting around."

"In a different form, diplomacy will be present," Petry said. "But when it comes to dealing with outright belligerents, they're obviously tricky points to get through."

Players will also need to deal with planetary representatives, Dey added, so players will have to manage their attitude towards them.

"There will be things they would like you to do," Dey said. "There will be things that they don't like that you do."

Petry added, "Planetary governors can be problematic, and how you manage them as a Space Marine, or in a Space Marine chapter, is kind of down to you. But it will then affect your renown or your reputation with the Imperium, and those things might not always align, which should put you in some fun spots."

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launches in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

There are many audacious and commendable feats in gaming. Taking down Consort Radahn, platforming through the Path of Pain, filling your entire Pokedex, to name but a few. However, despite personally doing all these things, one task chewed me up and spat me out repeatedly. One that, on paper, isn't all that tough at all.

The task: To get through Act One of the mammoth CRPG, Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3).

The 'act one syndrome' brought on by the sheer volume of content and the steep learning curve of BG3 is something that just about everyone has endured at some point when exploring Faerûn.

However, I feel I have been wearing this albatross around my neck for quite some time. While watching others take second laps around Faerûn for a Dark Urge run, unburdened by this plight of mine.

BG3 has been the loud, obnoxious gnawing at the back of my mind. The bane of my backlog, and at some point, I snapped.

Operation: get act one done

On paper, it's far from a Herculean task. After all, if you really want to, you can hop off the Nautiloid and head straight for the Githyanki Crèche if you choose. But ignoring the slew of content and the abundant, overlapping 'what ifs' is just too tall a task for a completionist such as myself.

I've gone back to the BG3 well a grand total of seven times. Each time, I fell at the first-act hurdle, but for different reasons.

At first, it was simply overzealous confidence and ineptitude. There was an underlying issue in that my understanding of Dungeons & Dragons principles was severely lacking.

As a result, there were many hour-long battles that inevitably led to a full party KO and a painful restart. Poor decisions compounded with each new dialogue exchange. This culminated in a heated exchange with a deceptively powerful frog, and the first of many save files to be abandoned. RIP Ignacius, my first Tav to fall.

Then came the attempts to right that wrong. A YouTube brush-up on DND systems here and there, a few tweaks to the starting build, and it would all surely work out fine.

It did not.

There was an inevitable and foolish overcorrection, a choice to play a build that simply wasn't fun to use, especially for a novice like myself. Monks sound great on paper, as you can let your fists solve all problems. Until you’re starved for Ki and left helpless. So, with that, another save file bit the bullet. RIP Falconhoof.

You would think at this point, with so much Baldur's Gate 3 act one experience behind me, success was all but guaranteed. But then, like a pesky Kobold leering from the shadows, a menacing creature I call my wife said, in hushed tones, 'That looks fun; will you show me how to play?' Thus beginning a co-op campaign led by a D&D novice, acting as a sage for an even bigger novice.

Safe to say, this blind leading the blind dynamic was about as successful as Lae’zel would be headlining at the Comedy Cellar. So, we dug a twin grave for my wife's Tav and poor, unfortunate Arcane Michael.

It was these constant setbacks that set the wheels in motion for even more attempts to go awry. Because the dynamic shifted from a state of wonderment and curiosity to an attritional, transactional slog, as scenarios, battles, and pivotal choices repeated again and again, lacking the weight they once had.

Much like Tav, I too was infected with a parasite acting as a ticking time bomb. At some point, the tedium, or the ennui, would set in, and I would succumb to that parasite's mind control. Forcing me to exit the game, uninstall it, and relegate BG3 to the back of the backlog again.

Mercifully, this affliction doesn't come part and parcel with a tadpole insertion through the eye socket, but it’s unpleasant nonetheless.

Finding my Faerûn flow state

Returning for my eighth crack, things had to be different. So, I put those wheels in motion. I cooled off for an entire year, forgetting large portions of the opening act in the process. I researched the most fun, accessible build to play relative to the most recent patch. I even passed on some hot and fresh releases, devoting all my time and energy to breaking through.

But above all, I knew that if this was ever going to work, I would need to learn how to let go. To let decisions shape the experience rather than relying on save-scumming, embrace the rough and the smooth in equal measure, and find the mental fortitude to push on towards new and exciting things.

As someone who wants to see everything a game has to offer, ponder over every decision, min-max at every opportunity, and somehow manage to accurately roleplay while juggling all of this. I was still skeptical that it would all click into place. But against all odds, in honor of my newborn son, my Halfling Rogue, Lorcàn, was born, and before long, I could see the Shadow-Cursed Lands on the horizon.

With a streamlined build that allowed me to rely on Luck, overpowered stealth, and flexibility to multiclass. No combat encounter felt like an insurmountable task, and no conversation felt like an inevitable road to a failed dice roll. My half-pint Halfling fittingly gave me the glass-half-full mindset I needed.

Minthara and her goblins were vanquished: shoved down a chasm to their doom. The party shone a light on the Underdark's mysteries. I left that demonic frog to their own devices. But above all, the insurmountable pressure to finally leave Act One had dissipated and this is an accolade I place in my personal trophy cabinet of gaming feats.

The city of Baldur's Gate awaits, and finally, I feel that curiosity and magic again.

• Fable's achievement list has been nailed down, say associate game directors Craig Littler and Will Kennedy
• They say players won't have to do "30,000 playthroughs" to achieve 100% completion
• They want to keep the list secret for now to not "spoi the surprise"

Playground Games has confirmed it has locked down Fable's trophy list, but swears players won't have to do several playthroughs to achieve 100% completion.

Speaking in a press Q&A at Gamescom attended by TechRadar Gaming, associate game directors Craig Littler and Will Kennedy were asked about the game's achievements and whether players can expect a typically funny trophy list similar to the previous games in the series.

Although the developers confirmed the list is essentially nailed down, Plaground wants to keep it secret for now to avoid spoiling the experience.

"We'll say that we have the list, but we're not going to spoil the surprise," Littler said.

Fable is an open-world role-playing game (RPG), meaning players will spend plenty of time exploring during the game's 15-20 hour main story and interacting with over 1,000 unique non-player characters (NPCs).

When TechRadar Gaming asked whether achieving 100% completion, or the Platinum Trophy on PlayStation 5, is feasible without having to complete multiple playthroughs, Kennedy said, "It's doable," but couldn't say how long it will take.

"I will promise you, you won't have to do [something like] 30,000 playthroughs," Littler said, laughing. "We'll commit to that."

Fable will officially launch on February 23, 2027, for PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC. Playground has confirmed that the Xbox Series X version will have a 60fps performance mode.

• Alien Deathstorm was built on a new version of the Atomfall engine
• Head of design Ben Fisher says it's an "advanced" version that offers a new lighting system
• Producer Martin Willingham says this is "a must" for an action horror game

Rebellion has confirmed that Alien Deathstorm was built on a new version of the Atomfall engine, which also let the team bring the horror aspect to life.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, where we went hands-on with the upcoming first-person horror game, producer Martin Willingham and head of design Ben Fisher discussed how it's not a survival shooter with typical survival horror features; the team considers it a "dynamic" experience with sandbox elements where the player's actions can affect unscripted enemy encounters.

Willingham said the team values replayability and sandbox freedom, which means "we had to do something dynamic," and "building the encounters around the player and the player's activities means it's a different experience."

This sandbox survival experience was built on "a more advanced version" of the studio's Atomfall engine, Fisher revealed, which offered an improved lighting system and a deeper sense of realism as players explore their surroundings.

"Which for an action horror game is actually a must," said Willingham. "The tech team have just been absolute wizards with us being able to manifest and visualize that deathstorm."

He added, "We've been working on a lot of the GPU particles, visual effects, and fog system as well."

Alien Deathstorm doesn't have a release date yet, but it's coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC in Spring 2027.

Ace Combat 8, the latest installment in Project Aces' long-running arcade flight sim series, is here. Packed inside this game's cargo hold is a medley of melodrama, mission types, and a beautiful new look, but it's somewhat over capacity when it comes to cutscenes.

You'll discover this right from the off: Ace Combat 8 is the first game in the series where its cutscenes are entirely from a first-person perspective.

You step into the shoes of Rex, a pilot in service with the navy of the Federation of Central Usea (FCU). Sotoa, a nation of former nomads, has decided to emulate the Mongols of our reality and has conquest in mind, with the FCU already almost completely subjugated at the start of the game. Said shoes are likely very damp, with events kicking off on a life raft after the helicopter you were in went down.

Soon, you're back in the sky as a navigator for Jan "Rex" Cope, the original Rex, who is the mythical Wings of Theve of the game's subtitle. This strongly evokes the Ghost of Kyiv, a mythical pilot heavily propagandized early in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, but Cope soon comes a cropper and gets killed, forcing you to take over his role.

A huge part of the game's narrative is about propaganda and the role that social media plays in modern warfare. Wings, as a pilot, can't be allowed to die, so you need to fill in and lead his Joker Flight unit. The former Rex, however, doesn't disappear; his spirit serves as a near-omniscient narrator for the rest of the game's escapades.

Flying without wings

What escapades they are, too. Over the course of the game, which is significantly longer than Ace Combat 7 (with my playthrough clocking in at around 18 hours to complete all 30 missions), you'll do almost everything you could reasonably expect a pilot to do. Dogfights, close air support, attacks on enemy ships, and more.

Joker Flight will accompany you through most of it, and happily, every member has a well-fleshed-out personality. There's Ellington "Professor" Baxter, an easy-going and ever-professional former university lecturer; Tasha Severskaya, an ex-stunt pilot; and William "Noise" Coster, a taciturn musician who provides soundtracks to some of your battles.

While this lineup gets chopped and changed as you progress through the story, it's these three at your side for the vast majority of the game. They're great, and they make the entire squadron feel cohesive, and the stakes feel real when one of them gets in trouble.

The same can't be said for the wider crew of the Carrier Endurance, your home away from home. Your commander and D.D., a propaganda officer of the shadowy Enso Order corporation, are broadly cliched, and spending time with them feels tedious.

Unfortunately, you'll be watching a series of lengthy cutscenes before you're actually flying a plane, and the prologue mission is effectively another cutscene as you escape the vexatious aim of The Shadows, Sotoa's elite pilots.

There's occasionally mild participation encouraged of you, such as standing up at attention or shaking someone's hand by pressing a button. I'm genuinely somewhat surprised that the series is bold enough to give us QTEs again, after the infamous tragicomedy of the "press triangle to fist pump" moment in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.

You're not out of the woods when you're done with the first mission, though. Scattered throughout the game like little narrative landmines are cutscenes that go on for far too long and rarely give you a payoff worth your time. It feels like an Ace Combat game that was co-developed by Hideo Kojima at several points. But for all of this opera, the ending feels remarkably flat.

Without spoiling anything, the game spends hours building up a foe who then crumbles within a few minutes of dogfighting. Then it does it again! It makes the stakes feel wasted.

Cloudy with a chance of missiles

None of that matters, though, when you throttle up, break the sound barrier, and punch through the clouds in pursuit of an enemy, or dive, shrieking, towards a tank that you're about to remind about the superiority of being able to move in three dimensions. What clouds, too.

If I may digress for a moment, Ace Combat 8 has by far the best-looking clouds in any game I've played. They rely on proprietary software called Cloudly, and it leads to them feeling far more lifelike than ever before. Beautiful and light on the outside, dense in the middle, like an inverse cookie, they look and feel absolutely stupendous.

Ace Combat has always had a knack for making you feel like an ace, and this new entry is no exception. Wheeling around the sky like Maverick, pulling off impossible maneuvers in a plane like an A-10 Thunderbolt, and pulling up from a collision course at the last possible moment all fulfil the fantasy that the title promises.

Here, you are the greatest pilot to ever live. Difficulty is very well-balanced, too, with the Shadows feeling noticeably tougher, harking back to the days of facing off against enemy aces in F-22 Interceptor on the Mega Drive, if you're as old as I am.

The problem is, spectacular clouds aside, there doesn't seem to be all that much that separates this game from Ace Combat 7. It harkens back to Ace Combat 5 in a lot of ways: for instance, you can give wingmen commands again and pick their aircraft, but it doesn't seem to make a ton of difference in-game.

Missions are broadly successful or unsuccessful regardless of how you command your wingmen, while loadouts only really matter to the extent of picking roughly the right aircraft for the mission. This leads to the issue of wondering why you'd choose to play this game rather than Ace Combat 7, other than the clouds looking nicer, especially as you can buy it with all DLC for a fraction of the price.

I'm realising how negative a lot of this sounds, and that really does just come down to how cumbersomely crowbarred in a lot of the story is. Once you've been through it and are willing to skip cutscenes, you're left with a brisk, exciting, fun game. It is perhaps emblematic of both the best and worst aspects of the Ace Combat series, with a narrative that feels it has earned plaudits that it doesn't deserve, while the meat of the game is absolutely fantastic.

One key measure of this is that I've been going back to it since I beat it, unlocking new aircraft from the large Aircraft Tree and replaying missions with different loadouts. I'll likely lose a lot of hours to the multiplayer, too, because, once again, it lacks a lot of what there is to dislike.

It's a game that is infuriating in its bloviation, but when you soar above the clouds and take down enemy jets, hearing their cries of confusion over the radio, you won't care anymore. A great, gorgeous game, but one that likes the sound of its own voice just a little too much.

Should you play Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve?

Play it if…

Don't play it if…

Accessibility features

Accessibility settings are limited, but are present. The game features a colorblind mode that changes the green HUD to violet. There are also text-to-speech settings present.

In addition to these, you can also choose between two flight models: one that gives you more granular control over your aircraft and one that makes the game handle much more simply, making it more like After Burner.

How I reviewed Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

To review Ace Combat 8, I finished the entire main storyline and then went back to play several missions in Free Mission mode.

I ran the game at high graphics settings on my Nvidia RTX 4070-powered gaming PC and had a generally solid 60 fps that only dipped during particularly hectic moments. I’m yet to go online, but I'm looking forward to trying it out once the servers are populated.

I played the game using a standard Xbox Wireless Controller, which worked perfectly throughout.

• Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says the game's fatigue and injury system will encourage players to try other Operators
• Operators can go out of commission if they're injured, pushing players to shuffle through the roster
• Potron says this also reminds players that Operators are "human"

Rainbow Six Tactics won't let fans repeatedly play the same Operator like in Rainbow Six Siege, but will encourage players to experiment with the entire roster using two new gameplay systems instead.

Rainbow Six Siege fans have a favorite Operator, whether it's Ash, Smoke, Fuze, Hibana, or someone else on the massive roster. But in Rainbow Six Tactics, Ubisoft's turn-based tactics spin-off, the fatigue and injury systems will force players to try other characters across a variety of missions.

"It's a way to push players to use their tools and shuffle their roster," game director Martial Potron told TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom. "So fatigue is one way, injuries is another way."

Potron explained that Operators are human beings, so it makes sense that these special agents will be out of commission for some time if they get injured during a mission; unlike in Siege, where objective-based game rounds will reset a player's health each time.

"I think it's also a good way to remind people that Operators are humans," the director said. "A bullet is a bullet. It's very dangerous. That's why reconning is important. If you don't recon, it may happen that there is someone hidden and he shoots you, and and you get you get injured. You don't have your Operator for two missions."

He added that the fatigue system serves the same purpose and "forces players to readjust their roster" whenever they send Operators on missions; he said this may seem negative, but the game will inform players which Operators will fit certain missions.

For example, a mission that requires players to save targets wouldn't suit Ash, who uses explosives, so a more close-range or precise Operator would be best.

"So depending on who I am facing, I will also readjust my roster because they really are meant to counter other enemies," Portron said. "So there is this negative side of humanity, and there is a positive side of Operators being very good against some part of the challenges."

Rainbow Six Tactics arrives in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

• Rockstar Games has announced the Grand Theft Auto 6: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection
• The exclusive, limited-edition box of merchandise is up for pre-order now at the Rockstar Store
• It will set you back £349 / $399 and doesn't include a copy of the game

Rockstar Games has announced the Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection, a premium collector's box featuring exclusive merchandise and no game.

The Vice City Collection features "all the essentials for a good time, inspired by Leonida’s hit TV show, Macca the Gator" and is a limited-edition merch box launching November 19 for £349 / $399 (about AU$660, but no Australian availability has been announced yet).

Fans can pre-order the box exclusively at the Rockstar Store, so you better move fast if you want to secure the pricey collection. The studio also notes that GTA 6 is "sold separately."

Here's a list of everything it includes, from a cute Macca the Gator figure, sunglasses, a crossbody bag, and more goodies.

• Macca the Gator Figure
• Oakley® Frogskins™ Sunglasses
• Leonida Keys Crossbody Bag
• New Era® 9FORTY Snapback Hat
• Macca the Gator Magnetic Mirror
• Chunkee the Manatee Shot Glass
• Vice City Collectible Swizzle Spoon
• Vice City Razor Blade Keychain
• Leonida Keys Enamel Pin Set in Metal Tin
• Leonida Keys Sticker Pack in Stash Bag 
• Double-Sided Souvenir Poster with Map of Leonida

The Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection leaked earlier today, but fans initially believed it to be a new collector's edition, which would include the game.

A GTAForums post, shared by reliable leaker 'videotech' on X, discovered a listing on Rockstar Games' store website for the GTA 6: The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection.

The same leaker also attached a long list of GTA 6 merchandise, but it's now understood that the merch is included in The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection.

Unfortunately, it's not the collector's edition fans were hoping for—for now, you can only pre-order the Standard and Ultimate Editions—and it's unclear if Rockstar will announce another edition, but we're assuming not at this point.

Even more GTA 6 merchandise doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility in the lead-up to the game's November 19 release, as Rockstar recently unveiled Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, the official soundtrack that will launch alongside the game.

• Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says making the spin-off a turn-based tactics game felt like "a natural fit"
• He explains that the "DNA" of the shooter series is tactical
• Potron adds that the team already had experience with turn-based games, but "had to convince Ubisoft and the Rainbow Six team"

Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron has explained why Ubisoft chose to make the upcoming spin-off a turn-based tactics game instead of keeping in line with the series' first-person style.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Potron said making the next Rainbow Six Siege game turn-based, in the same vein as XCOM, felt like "a natural fit" for the development team.

"When you look at Rainbow Six, its DNA is tactical," he said. "It's just that it's first-person. The camera is placed in the eyes of the players. It's a real-time game. But if you look at all the DNA, finding the best line of sight, finding the best cover, finding the best targets, taking care of your operators, destruction... In fact, it's very tactical in a sense."

He continued, saying that when designing video games, you always imagine the "what-ifs" of whatever project you're working on, and reiterated that the idea of making a tactical Rainbow Six game "was so natural; the fact that we wanted to do that."

"It happened that in [Ubisoft] Paris we have experience with tactical shooters, but we have experience with tactical turn-based games with Mario + Rabbids, and we love tactical shooters and tactical turn-based games," Potron added.

"So in fact, it became a natural fit for the team and for the genre to try to do that, and we just had to convince Ubisoft and the Rainbow Six team."

Rainbow Six Tactics launches in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

• Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson says, "it's about damn time" the game comes to Nintendo Switch 2
• He says there were moments when the team thought it "impossible," but they managed to overcome the issues
• Gibson admits there are some "concessions," but they're barely noticeable is very happy with the result

Diablo 4 is finally available on the Nintendo Switch 2, and while porting the game to the handheld console came with some hurdles, game director Brent Gibson is quite pleased with it.

"First off, it's about damn time," Gibson said during a press Q&A at BlizzCon that TechRadar Gaming attended. "We've wanted it on the Switch for a very long time. It's a big game. I think we've had moments where [we thought] it's impossible. There's no way we could do it. But the team that took that on? Boy, did they do an amazing job."

Gibson went on to explain how the team optimized the game for handheld, admitting that there were some issues it had to work around, but overall the team delivered, and it was worth the wait.

"The concessions we had to make are barely noticeable. I'm so impressed," he said. "There are some things that we have to do for performance, obviously, but I think the expectation once you're going to handheld, we nailed it; it's locked.

"It's fluid. It's easily readable. I love the Switch's screen, and so it pops very nicely on that screen. It was challenging. But ultimately, I think it was worth the wait for how much work we had to put into getting it in there."

Blizzard just kicked off Diablo 4 - Season of Hell's Legacy, the game's 15th season, which arrived on September 15. Fans can also look forward to Diablo 5, which is slated to launch in 2029.

However, Gibson has put concerns to rest and stated outright that Diablo 4 players don't need to worry about the game's future because of Diablo 5's announcement.

"If you're wearing the sign in the middle of Times Square that says 'The End is Nigh', the end is not nigh," he said. "We have a lot coming."

• A regular leaker says the chips for the PS6 and Xbox Helix have been 'taped out', meaning the design is final for manufacturing
• The leaker claims 56 TFLOPS of power for the Xbox Helix and 40 TFLOPS for the PS6
• That compared to 16.7 TFLOPS on the PS5 Pro and 12 TFLOPS on the Xbox Series X

The launches of next-gen console hardware from Sony and Microsoft are edging ever closer, and the latest rumor doing the rounds suggests that the chips for both the PlayStation 6 and what's being called the Xbox Helix are now 'taped out' — as in, finalized for submission to chip manufacturers.

This comes from well-known tipster KeplerL2 (via VideoCardz), who also predicts 40 TFLOPS of performance for the Sony hardware and 56 TFLOPS for the Microsoft hardware. That's Tera Floating-Point Operations Per Second, or how many trillions of calculations a processor can do in a single single.

While TFLOPS gives us some indication of how powerful these consoles will be, they're not the whole story, as architecture choices and memory bandwidth will play significant roles too. That said, it seems the Xbox console may have a major edge in terms of raw power — although the Xbox Series X had a 20% edge on TFLOPS over the PS5 back in 2020 too, which didn't necessarily translate into better-looking games.

Direct comparisons with current generation consoles are tricky, as so many other variables will be changing as well as TFLOPS figures, but TweakTown reports that the PS5 delivers 10.28 TFLOPS, the PS5 Pro offers 16.7 TFLOPS (typical) and 18.05 TFLOPS (peak), and the Xbox Series X can hit 12 TFLOPS.

But how much will it cost?

Both the Xbox Helix and the PlayStation 6 are expected to be based on the AMD Zen 6 family of CPUs and the AMD RDNA 5 GPU architecture, if previous leaks are to be believed, and there has been talk of 30GB of RAM being packed inside the Sony console (no RAM predictions yet for the Microsoft one).

Judging by the ongoing discussion on Reddit, gamers aren't placing too much stock in these leaked TFLOPS numbers, as they aren't guaranteed to convert directly into gaming performance. The bigger debate seems to be over how much Sony and Microsoft are going to charge for these next-generation machines.

There are mentions of "an inevitably massive price hike" while another user is prepared to "say goodbye to affordable console hardware" in this generation. As we've already seen with the Steam Machine, the ongoing shortage of memory chips is driving up prices across the board, including in gaming hardware.

As for when we might actually see these consoles, don't hold your breath: experts say a launch before 2028 is unlikely, even if the design for the main processor chips have now been finalized. We'll just have to fill the time exploring everything Grand Theft Auto 6 has to offer in the meantime.

• Alien: Isolation 2 principal environment artist Archie Whitehead says the Xenomorph uses legacy animations that Creative Assembly designed for the first game
• He explains that the studio didn't have the technology to implement it at the time
• The sequel animations have been improved so the alien is "more responsive"

Alien: Isolation 2 principal environment artist Archie Whitehead has revealed that the game's Xenomorph uses improved legacy animations that Creative Assembly designed for the first game but didn't have the technology to implement 12 years ago.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Whitehead confirmed that working around the alien's intelligence will be a core part of gameplay—even with the added exterior environment—and if players use a flamethrower or repeatedly hide in lockers, their actions will be less effective against the Xenomorph.

But the developer said the fear of hiding from the alien isn't just about its intelligence, but about how players perceive it visually; he explained that its animations and transitions have been improved from the first game, making it scarier.

"Intelligence is about perception," Whitehead said. "It's about what the player sees. If the alien was a cube sliding around, it might still kill you; it might still be scary, but you probably wouldn't perceive it as that intelligent if it was just a rotating cube, right?

"Obviously, the model, the character, the mesh for it; it's much more improved. There's a lot of layers there that I can't talk about the specifics, but it's more responsive, more reactive. It's really, really terrifying."

Whitehead went on to reveal that the Xenomorph uses animations and transitions that were initially designed for the first game, but Creative Assembly "didn't have the technology at the time" to use them. However, they've been polished for the upcoming sequel.

He explained that he chatted with animation director Simon Ridge, who worked on the first game, and saw some legacy animations that appeared to be unused, but were "really scary" and "amazing transitions" where the alien was looking at the player.

"I was studying when the original came out, so I wasn't on the first game," he said. "So, I was coming to this as a big fan, and I was chatting to him, and he was showing me these legacy animations he had, and I was like, 'I played the original a lot of times, I don't recognize these animations.'

"The vision was there, but they didn't have the technology at the time [or] whatever exactly they needed to implement it."

He added that this is a "benefit" for the sequel coming out 12 years later instead of immediately after the first game.

"We're able to use that kind of stuff, and obviously it's still going to be polished up, and it's a new setup and everything," he said, "but it's one of the things that makes it [the Xenomorph] feel smarter is its reactivity; making it feel like it's not just looking at the player, it's not just pointing its head in your direction. You feel like it's looking at you, and that's the kind of stuff that, again, when they show it off within the team, everyone's getting chills, and it's super exciting. We're super excited to show you."

Alien: Isolation 2 will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. A release date hasn't been announced.

Tom Clancy's The Division and The Division 2 are two of my favorite online and co-op games of all time; I still play The Division 2 most months (at least) and have done so since launch.

The second game still has a committed player base and is a game that keeps on going and keeps on giving for fans who play regularly and those who come back occasionally.

It's established a rich universe full of interesting lore, gripping side stories, and compelling characters, with novels, a mobile game, DLC and expansions, and books, all playing a part in filling out its brilliant world. And with more expansions and content coming all the time — even now in 2026, more than seven years after release — there's loads to get into.

As a result, there's plenty to draw on for my bumper Division quiz, and there's sure to be some stuff in here that'll have even the most experienced players a little, well, quizzical.

Good luck and let me know how you get on!

What did you think of our quiz on all things The Division? Let me know how you got on in the comments, and let me know what else we could do quizzes on!

• Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's protagonist will offer "a new perspective to the franchise"
• Blake is a Weyland-Yutani employee, with principal environment artist Archie Whitehead saying the Japanese side hasn't been explored a lot
• Principal UI artist Laura Mauterer says Blake isn't like any other Alien protagonist and "is such an interesting character to explore"

Alien: Isolation 2 will offer a totally new perspective on the Alien franchise by telling a story from the viewpoint of Yutani employee Blake, and Creative Assembly believes players will love her.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mauterer discussed what they're most excited for players to experience in the upcoming sequel, highlighting the game's protagonist, Blake.

Blake works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a mega-conglomerate and the major human-led antagonist throughout the sci-fi series, but is employed specifically on the Yutani side of the company.

It's a viewpoint that hasn't been showcased during the horror franchise before, and something the developers were eager to explore in depth.

"Weyland-Yutani is an English-Japanese-speaking company, and it's something that the Japanese side, I feel like, doesn't really get explored that much," Whitehead said. "It's something we're trying to explore more here because Kurosaki, it's the name of the station [the game's setting], so I'm very interested in players to discover: 'How does that influence the world and the people living in it?'"

Mauterer added that Blake is "awesome" and "brings such a new perspective to the franchise in total," and her being an employee of this mega-corp will be a much different experience from the first game, where the characters were ordinary people.

"If you think back to the first game or even the first movie, it's truckers in space, right? It's ordinary people doing average things," Mauterer said. "They're not powerful. They're expendable. No one cares for them. They have to care for themselves.

"But now we have Blake, who is a very Weyland-Yutani employee, and that means that she has some power, right? But when you hear in the trailer that the Japanese voice is telling her, 'You made a mistake. This is your last chance.' She was sent to Kurosaki against her will, and she wants to do well. She wants to be there to redeem herself."

Talking more about the story, Mauterer explained how characters in the prologue will talk to Blake with respect and "you can get a sense of her standing," but all Blake is focusing on is trying to redeem herself. That's why when she heads to the crash site and accidentally unleashes the Xenomorph onto the colony, she's made yet another mistake, which the developers said will make Blake an interesting character to play.

"That dichotomy, she is such an interesting character to explore," Mauterer added. "And I think the players will really get to know her and love her in the journey; they will make out their own journey [as well]. We tell a larger story, obviously, but similar to the first game, every player will have their own way of telling the 'in-betweens' between that [main] story, and will be so interesting to see."

Alien: Isolation 2 doesn't have a release date yet but will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

• Senior game director Joe Shely confirms Diablo's victory won't take place completely off-screen in Diablo 5
• He says, "You're going to get to learn more in the game about how these events took place"
• Narrative director Jennifer Hepler teases the bond the player has with Diablo and "how that affected his ability to come in and have this victory is something that unfolds over the course of the story"

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo 5 players will get to see how Diablo conquered Sanctuary, despite how the game starts.

If you missed the major announcement at BlizzCon 2026, the next era of the long-running series is now in development and kicks off a new story that takes place after Sanctuary has already been conquered by Diablo.

"Diablo has conquered Sanctuary, a stepping stone to invading the Heavens. Now from the throne of Westmarch, he wields Sanctuary's people and souls as weapons in the Eternal Conflict," the description reads. "Diablo is no longer a distant threat waiting at the end of the journey. He is present from the moment Diablo V begins, shaping the story, the world, and your path through it."

Players take the role of the Heir of Westmarch, a fugitive with a mysterious connection to Diablo as they build a caravan of allies and travel across the scorched wastes.

TechRadar Gaming caught up with the development team after the game's announcement to ask about the decision to start the game after Diablo has already taken over Sanctuary.

It's probably a question many fans have had since watching the trailer, but according to senior game director Joe Shely, Diablo's victory won't take place completely off-screen.

"I think as we get the opportunity to share more about the game, we'll be able to sort of fill out how that works a lot more," Shely said. "One of the things about a game like Diablo, any RPG, is that you have this power progression from starting off small and becoming this powerful character. And so, in the opening of the game, you know you're on the run. Westmarch has burned. Diablo is sitting on the throne, and then as you travel through the world, you're going to get to learn more in the game about how these events took place, and it's not going to take place entirely off-screen."

Narrative director Jennifer Hepler also teased the campaign, saying, "There will be dramatization of how exactly Diablo came to power, but also there's going to be a lot of story behind his rise that is you finding out is a big part of the narrative of the game."

The developer teased that the story starts when the player finds out they can go into Diablo's terror realm and come out alive, "which nobody else can do," and finding out these answers will be a significant part of the story alongside how he came to power.

"Finding out why you can do that, what other powers you have, what this bond is between you and Diablo, and how that affected his ability to come in and have this victory is something that unfolds over the course of the story, and makes every victory that you achieve over him and his minions very, very personal," Hepler said.

Diablo 5 is in development and is slated to launch in Spring 2029.

• Rayman Legends Retold brand producer Loïc Gounon is interested in making more games in the series
• Gounon says, "The plan was that we want to restart the franchise," using the latest version of Ubisoft's engine
• He suggests that the upcoming remake could be the start of something new "if everything goes according to plan"

Rayman Legends Retold brand producer Loïc Gounon believes the series has a future and said he's interested in making new games using Ubisoft's latest tech.

The upcoming remake of the beloved 2013 hit reinvents the hand-painted 2D adventure as a full 3D side-scrolling platforming experience. It's powered by the studio's proprietary Snowdrop engine, while still utilizing the original game's UbiArt Framework.

It looks like a completely new game, though with the familiar elements that made the original a critical success, and according to Gounon, "The plan was that we want to restart the franchise" using the latest version of this technology.

"Without an engine, you don't make a game," Gounon told TechRadar Gaming. "Without a team, you don't make a game. So the initial point has been: we need to rebuild the team, and we need to adopt a new engine. As we were starting to think about that, we also considered a brand new game, but we've also been humble about what we could achieve."

The developer wasn't shy about sharing his dreams for the series, saying, "We believe that this IP has a future," and that Rayman Legends Retold could be the start of something new "if everything goes according to plan."

He also indicated the move to 3D allowed the team to build its bank of 3D assets, which sounds like something that would come in handy for any future projects.

Rayman Legends Retold arrives on December 3, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

Rayman Legends Retold looks to bring the platforming classic into the modern age, with a smattering of new levels, fully revamped visuals, and expanded cinematics featuring full voice acting for the very first time.

Released back in 2013 to critical acclaim and still beloved by fans, it's certainly an unusual choice for a remake. Where most developers opt to return to titles with obvious issues, or ones that are no longer readily accessible (Rayman Legends is fully playable on PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch 2 via backward compatibility), it's hard to think of many ways this platformer could be improved.

As it turns out, the decision was more about the future of the Rayman franchise than looking back at the past.

"The plan was that we want to restart the franchise," explains brand producer Loïc Gounon after a recent hands-on event.

"Without an engine, you don't make a game. Without a team, you don't make a game. So the initial point has been: we need to rebuild the team, and we need to adopt a new engine. As we were starting to think about that, we also considered a brand new game, but we've also been humble about what we could achieve."

In the gaming industry, remakes are often used to help new teams become acquainted with an existing intellectual property and build the skills needed to tackle development of future entries.

Just look at Metroid: Samus Returns, the 3DS Metroid 2 remake that led to series newcomer MercurySteam being given the reins for the Nintendo Switch installment Metroid Dread (and again, with the upcoming Metroid Ravenous for Switch 2).

Gounon adds that while the team behind Retold does still have some of the original Legends devs, they felt that "the balance between remaking a beloved game while bringing innovation to it was the best starting point" for everyone.

New coat of paint

One of the starkest differences between the original Legends and Retold is the shift from a hand-painted 2D look to a fully 3D art style – albeit one that largely maintains the side-on perspective. It's a move that Gounon suggests shows where the franchise is headed overall.

"Rayman started on PlayStation with a 2D game at a time when most games were 3D. Then Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 were 3D games in the rendering, but also in the gameplay. Then Origins went back to full 2D: 2D rendering and 2D gameplay," he explains.

"The thing is, when you've got a 2D engine and are in 2D rendering, it's less easy to make a 3D game afterwards. So, as part of thinking about the franchise for the future, two things that came to mind really early were that we want to go back to the adventure DNA of the franchise, and we don't want to [stop ourselves from] going towards a 3D adventure."

If you think of Legends Retold as a jumping-off point for the franchise going forward, the whole project begins to make a lot of sense.

Gounon doesn't shy away from saying that "we believe that this IP has a future" and that this remake is only the beginning "if everything goes according to plan" and it proves popular. He even indicates that part of the move to 3D was so the team could build a bank of 3D assets, presumably for future use.

Although it's clear that Legends Retold is geared towards new players, Gounon says the team has gone to great lengths to maintain the overall feel of the original game so as not to disappoint returning players. This even involves utilizing the original game engine, UbiArt Framework, underneath all the shiny new graphics powered by the latest version of Snowdrop.

"What's a bit particular about this project is that we did not want to mess with the game feeling: all the characters reacting, the physics, etc. We knew that the muscle memory you have with a platformer — we can't mess with it. It's a constraint of Rayman, and so is the level design. There's a quality of level design that's unmatched, on par with the best games in the world, like Mario," he begins. "So we knew we couldn't mess with the quality of the level design or the game's flow and the physics.

"What we decided to do is that everything that's happening — game mechanics and flow — is powered by UbiArt Framework. UbiArt is also doing the 2D animation and 2D drawing, but as we were going 3D, we integrated UbiArt Framework game logic within the game logic of Snowdrop.

"Snowdrop is handling all the animation, the character art, the environment art, and the audio. All that new visual layer on top of the gameplay logic is Snowdrop.

"Basically, we've got the best of both worlds, meaning a great engine to make levels and gameplay, which is UbiArt Framework, and also maintaining the quality of the original game because it's the same thing running under the hood, within an engine that allows for fully-fledged 3D rendering."

A matter of taste

As with any big change, the new art direction has had its critics. "Nothing can outdo the beautiful hand-drawn style," reads one of the highest-rated comments on the original reveal trailer, but Gounon is confident that skeptics will be won over once the game is in their hands.

"Some people will always have a personal attachment to something they loved, especially when it's something super special that got 90+ on Metacritic, and it's highly subjective. That's totally okay, and to be fair, when you love something, you don't want it to change," he begins.

"I think it's natural. Then I think we will prove what 3D is bringing. I think once you start playing the game, and more people see the game, hear character voices, [watch] the fully animated 3D cutscenes, I think they will get why we are making it."

He adds that he's excited for players to see more of the game in the build-up to release and promises, "It's not a simple remake; it's more than that."

There will be a bit of a wait, however, with the game recently delayed until December 3, 2026, when it will launch for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

Playing the upcoming Cairn: On the Trail DLC with one of its creators looking over my shoulder was incredibly humbling. It had been months since I’d completed my gruelling ascent of Mt. Kami, and my skills were more than a little rusty. When Aava slipped and plummeted into the sea for the fifth time in less than 20 minutes, I was worried they’d lean over, close the laptop, and walk away shaking their head in disgust.

Luckily, I was allowed to play on, and slowly but surely I (quite literally) found my feet, more confidently and successfully finding the handholds and footholds to make progress on one of the three new challenges found in this first piece of free DLC for the excellent climbing adventure.

The one I was currently dramatically failing at features a piton-shaped rock in the middle of the ocean. You start on a wooden path surrounding this peculiar natural structure, before falling into a familiar pattern where you’re scoping out the potential routes to find a good place to climb it. It’s immediately clear, though, that these DLC environments are even more experimental than what we saw in the main game.

Rising up

“On the Trail is pretty much built on ideas and desires we had but decided not to put on Kami for the sake of consistency,” explains Emeric Thoa, creative director of Cairn.

“Because Kami is a very coherent experience, as you climb a single immense mountain, we wanted the On the Trail DLC to explore more variety in the climbing fantasy.”

That breaks down as follows. This first is the level I’m playing now, with its tough climb up a unique structure. There’s also one set in a climbing gym full of more technically demanding challenges and one on a small island featuring various perilous overhangs over the sea.

You can also now play as Marco, who is less flexible than Aava, but he has a longer reach, stronger arms, and a new climbot model.

Whoever you pick, none of the new stages sound very easy, even for veterans who have successfully reached the top of Kami.

“It’s aimed at people who finished the main game, but it’s not especially difficult,” Thoa assures me. “It’s not like you must have finished in free solo mode with zero falls playing with a Guitar Hero controller. But I would definitely recommend playing the main game before starting On the Trail.”

I would, too, considering I scored it four stars and called it ‘an extremely good and beautifully made climbing game’ in our Cairn review.

And while it was the determination to complete the climb and the satisfaction of achieving it that was a main draw of Cairn, it was also the atmosphere that was one of its strongest points.

As you ascend, you learn more not only about Aava as a character, but also about the civilization that used to live on the mountain and some of its secrets. These neat asides are a wonderful break from the intensity of the rest of the game.

“We definitely tried to keep that exploration and treasure hunt vibe that Kami offers,” confirms Thoa. “It’s a bit different as the climbing spots are smaller. So, for instance, we added an energy mechanic to replace the survival elements.

“Instead of risking your life in a huge ascent over several days, you tackle a one-day challenge, and you have to manage your fatigue and resources in order to climb the spot before getting too tired. But that’s also where exploring becomes useful, as you can find items to get you back on your feet.”

I found I needed them too, as a useful way to restock key resources such as chalk and energy to make these tougher climbs more achievable. It still didn’t prevent me from repeated failures, but I felt that same rush of stubbornness and perseverance that gripped me in the original game coming back. It’s a feeling Thoa wants players to feel when they return to Cairn.

“They should first experience the bittersweet nostalgia of coming back to the unique experience of Cairn, and then they should quite soon after find out that it’s still a game that makes your hands sweat! The thrill should still be there.”

I definitely felt it even in the short demo I had. Truth is, I’ve been keen to return to the game since the DLC was first announced, and even though a delay has meant I’ve had to wait a little longer, The Game Bakers recently confirmed that Cairn: On the Trail - Deep Water will launch on October 29 on PC and PS5.

• Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2 is still influenced by the iconic film, despite the outdoor setting
• Principal environment artist Archie Whitehead says the environment had to be showcased "through the lens of someone from the 1970s"
• Principal UI artist Laura Mauterer says the team is "not reinventing the wheel" and is still using a lot of inspiration from the first movie and game

Alien: Isolation 2 is still inspired by the first Alien movie, even though the game features a new outdoor setting; Creative Assembly had to make sure the environment felt authentic to its iconic retro-futuristic aesthetic.

Like Ridley Scott's 1979 Alien, Alien Isolation takes place inside a space station, isolating the player in a claustrophobic environment as a Xenomorph hunts them. However, the sequel features an outdoor colony world and the confines of a Weyland-Yutani outpost, giving the studio a new opportunity to expand exploration and find new ways to adapt the movie's iconic style.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, principal environment artist Archie Whitehead didn't want to spoil the setting too much, suggesting players are in for some surprises as they explore the game's outdoor mining colony, with principal UI artist Laura Mauterer explaining that the team is "not reinventing the wheel" and is still using a lot of inspiration from the first movie and the first game.

"The first movie is the lens we're looking through everything at," Mauterer said. "It's our guiding step. And when it comes to new, we're really excited about introducing new retrofitting tech," she added before using a CRT computer as an example of how it would be damaged in an outdoor setting.

"I can maybe give you an idea of our approach to it," she said. "We think about it now that you have to be indoors and outdoors; obviously, things need to adapt. I have a CRT monitor on my workstation as my third monitor; there are holes on the top in the back. Obviously, if I put that outside and it's raining, it's gonna go kaput, right? So, we need to make sure that we're adapting the things that we have seen in the first movie and in the first game to be believable in this outdoor environment. [So] it makes sense."

Whitehead added that it has to be showcased "through the lens of someone from the 1970s" because things like LEDs and LCD panels didn't exist back then.

"As an environment artist, I'm making design decisions all the time when modeling something about the shapes used; where's a vent, where's this?" Whitehead said, adding that it would be easy to add "generic" shapes, but he and the team used movie set photos and imagery to "dissect" how to build these assets players will see in the environment.

"Sometimes it feels like yogurt pots," he joked. "It's a lot of vacuum form shapes. They even had some parts of it; I think it was a bomber from the Second World War. They got some stuff from the scrapyard.

"So looking at what they had and working out how to recontextualize those things when creating a new design, and just making sure that whenever we reference stuff, we don't reference anything from beyond that point because those manufacturing techniques and those materials didn't exist yet, so they shouldn't be here."

Alien: Isolation 2 will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. A release date hasn't been announced.

• Principal environment artist Archie Whitehead says Alien: Isolation 2's custom lighting and audio tech allowed it to create a more "realistic" atmosphere
• He says just using Unreal Engine 5 wasn't enough, since the engine is "optimized for usually quite bright scenes"
• Custom lighting allowed the team to design "reactivity" in the environment

Alien: Isolation 2's custom audio and lighting technology has enabled Creative Assembly to create a more authentic atmosphere that it couldn't fully achieve with just Unreal Engine 5.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Creative Assembly principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mauterer shared more about developing the sequel with Unreal Engine 5 and the studio's custom technology, which it previously told us was an "evolution" of what fans are familiar with.

"For horror, audio and lighting are the two Powerman things," Whitehead said. "Unreal gave us a great base, but we felt that to do certain things, it [custom tech] really, really helps."

One of those things, particularly with lighting, was "reactivity," which would offer visual effects from things like weather and other environmental assets, creating a more realistic atmosphere.

"We wanted a thunderclap, like fire flickering, sirens spinning, all of that stuff," he continued. "We felt that a custom solution would give us that perfect frame response that you want in that really, really dark environment. You know, Lumens [UE5's global illumination and reflections system] is optimized for usually quite brighter scenes."

The developer explained that the team struggled with showcasing metals in the game's darker exterior environment, saying, "Metals in virtual worlds are really difficult."

He added, "The color of metal is actually just what's being reflected, right? And the problem is all of our scenes are really dark, so for the metal to behave properly, it's quite a tricky balance to strike. So that's one of the things that our lighting system helps us with."

The game's audio system has also improved, with Whitehead reiterating that it's an "evolution" of what the first game offered, but was iterated on again and again.

"Since then, it's been used for other CA projects, so it's quite mature," he said. "And it creates a kind of spatial setup of the world. And what that means is, when a sound happens in a room that is — a vent away from you or something — that sound is being reverberated around, and you get a really, really realistic response, and hopefully a really, really terrifying version of that sound."

Alien: Isolation 2 is now in development and will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 feels like the PC gaming handheld of 2026. An enhanced version of the original Xbox-branded Ally X, this is shaping up to be one of the best-looking, ergonomically fantastic, and brilliantly performing handheld games consoles — and I went hands-on with it at Gamescom last month and liked it. A lot.

Coming to it as someone who hasn’t truly jumped in with both feet to PC gaming handhelds — basically none of them play nice with my hands due to being bulky and heavy — even a short time with the newest, flashiest version of Asus’ Xbox handhelds has left a permanent mark. One that might make me a PC handheld convert.

Much will be made of its price tag and purchase options — either $1,299 / £1,299 on its own, or $2,299.99 / £2,299.99 as a bundle with the new ROG XREAL R1 glasses — but after experiencing all its enhancements and features, and seeing how games run on it, it really could be a hit.

Looks and feels the part

Even though I know that this is a similar handheld to its predecessor, this thing is a joy to hold and use from a design perspective.

The overarching form is the same as the original Ally X, but the new translucent finish is a thing of beauty. It gives it an almost see-under-the-hood kind of vibe, and does a great job of making it stand out from its largely black-and-white competitors.

The gold accents are even more fantastic in real life and up close than in pictures, too, with the rings around each thumbstick and the shine of the four small buttons on the front, as well as the ‘ROG 20th Anniversary’ plate, and the stripe down the back really popping out of the otherwise black aesthetic.

That translucent back also has an incredibly grippy feel — you won’t need to add an external case here. As someone who always has to worry about that with gamepads and phones, this was extremely welcome; the rubberised, tactile wings of the controller really are conducive to maintaining a solid grip.

The inputs remain great too, with rounded face buttons, lovely triggers and bumpers that are all a joy to interact with, as well as excellent Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) thumbsticks that offer a tangible upgrade over the analogue sticks of its predecessor. Though, I’d have liked to have seen some microswitch button tech in the X20 as a similar upgrade as well.

The star of the show, though, is, of course, that slightly bigger, but much better, screen. Offering an increase of 0.4 inches, but a huge leap up to OLED in panel tech, the new screen is vibrant and has colors that really pop and contrast. The boost to color gamut and HDR it offers makes for a genuine visual treat, and you know you’ll be covered in all situations with a brightness of up to 1400 nits to tap into.

But has the guts to match

The performance remains excellent as it was on the X20; games might never have looked better on a handheld screen.

The OLED panel is a joy to use, with fantastic colors and contrast, and the extra bump in the VRR to FreeSync Premium Pro is also welcome and a great feature. As a result, Forza Horizon 5 looks comfortably better, by a strong margin, compared to the handheld I am most used to, my PlayStation Portal, in sheer image quality and vibrancy, while getting comfortably north of 60 frames per second.

Using the TMR thumbsticks was great too: every move feels much more responsive, smooth, and instant compared to my Portal or a Steam Deck, and the extra durability the sticks offer over analog ones is superb too.

The Asus ROG Ally X20 is a fantastic bit of kit, and offers a compelling route into handheld PC gaming — perhaps one of the most complete offerings — even for me, as someone who has yet to jump in and can’t ever find the right device for the job.

So far it might be the PC gaming handheld I’ll consider buying most if I commit to going mobile. It’s not a transformation of the PC handheld experience that the ROG Xbox Ally X offers, but it’s an excellent refinement.

We're just a few weeks away from the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, the explosive next entry in the blockbuster shooter series.

The Call of Duty franchise has been around for more than two decades, with almost constant annual releases, including multiple Modern Warfare games. There's the iconic original trilogy, and a more recent set of reboots that reset the story and brought its characters and themes into the modern age

But how much do you really know about the Modern Warfare games? Can you tell your Captain Price apart from your Gaz and Soap?

I've put together this Modern Warfare quiz to test your knowledge in the build-up to the Modern Warfare 4 launch, with a rigorous selection of questions related to all the Modern Warfare titles, old and new.

How did you score in our Modern Warfare quiz? Was there anything that took you by surprise? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe share your favorite bit of Call of Duty trivia too!

The A Plague Tale series has become one of the finest in video games since the first game, A Plague Tale: Innocence, released back in 2019.

Its historical background, immersive and deeply compelling yet bleak and miserable narratives, as well as its memorable characters and robust mix of stealth action and survival, are perfect for thoughtful, enjoyable, and deeply memorable experiences.

As a result, with the third and latest game now out in the wild in the form of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — there's never been a better time to celebrate the bleak and gripping series with a quiz.

As a long-time A Plague Tale fan, I've crafted the quiz below just as Amicia did with her ammo: deliberately and with great thought and care. It's somewhat hard to get three excellent video games' worth of trivia into a short quiz, but I think I've picked some more straightforward teasers and some deep-cut brain ticklers to appeal to fans of all kinds of the series.

Best of luck, and let us know how you get on!

What did you make of our A Plague Tale quiz? The right balance of more obvious questions and tougher ones? Let me know in the comments, and come back for more quizzes soon — and also let me know what other video game quizzes we could do!

Charles Cecil wants to make one thing clear: “I'm not anti-AI.”

The veteran British developer behind the legendary 1996 point-and-click game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars speaks to TechRadar about AI's divisive role in modern game development - and, in particular, how it was used in the upcoming remake of the sequel, Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged, due out in 2027.

The original, a commercial success selling 759,000 copies, sees American tourist George Stobbart team up with freelance journalist Nicole Collard to track a mysterious Mayan stone across Paris, London, and Central America. This remake doesn't use AI, and, according to Cecil, there's a very good reason for that.

AI don’t think so

“I think AI has its place,” Cecil says. “It's just not relevant in our games because we want human animation, human characterization and human expression, and that's much better done by humans.”

A perfect example of that lies in the game's hand-drawn art, all of it redone for Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged.

This hugely labor-intensive process encompassed roughly 55,000 frames of animation, more than the 30,000 of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars’ 2024 remake.

“George opens the newspaper and kind of just glances at the screen,” says Cecil, referring to the actions of the game's protagonist in an early scene. “He's looking at the viewer, and that's what human beings do. That is not something that AI can do.”

In low-res, eyes were just dots on a face. In high-res, eyes are windows to the soul and therefore have to be animated with precision and intent. Where applicable, artists were free to add flourishes, using their own interpretation to fill in the gaps.

For instance, the painting of Professor Oubier hanging on the wall in the rapidly burning study was always too pixelated to see clearly. Now, however, you can make out exactly what he looks like in 4K, at 36 times the original resolution, all while a visibly uncomfortable George jostles his rope bindings.

Developer Revolution Software didn't stop there. The team redrew scores of items that never really made much sense. Take the poison dart, which now looks less like a playing dart and more like something shot out of a blowpipe.

Human revolution

Despite the decision to abstain from AI use for the most part, it wasn't entirely absent. AI was used for the initial round of upscaling before artists added detail by hand, with backgrounds scanned as black-and-white layouts for them to build on using the originals as references. AI was more of a tool than a creative device.

“We experimented with AI for the first one, and we used AI to upscale and then redraw the characters. And as I say, it can upscale, but it can't put any character in.”

That's largely thanks to the luxury of time. The first game needed to be made in a year or risk cancellation. Revolution Software sprinted to the finish line, but made a few shortcuts along the way.

One oversight was 40 voice lines that were recorded and packaged in the game's files but never used. Now, in Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged, fans can finally hear them (one line involves George asking the Parisian waiter about the tequila worm in his pocket).

Another infamous example occurs in the Game Boy Advance version. “You have a choice to go to Spain or Syria,” says Cecil. “If you do one, you can finish the game, and it's fine. If you do the other, it takes you there, but you can't then finish. There's a bug that doesn't allow you to finish…It's an awful, awful bug. I mean, it's absolutely shocking.”

An AI might have spotted such mistakes, but then again, you could argue mistakes are what give art humanity. If nothing else, they make for a great story.

But the remake is far from a bug-fixing exercise. Instead, it's an opportunity to make the game better. Where most remasters seek to preserve the subject, Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged is almost an act of excavation.

“All of these things we now have the time to do,” says Cecil. “Because what Revolution has done for the last 15 years is we've self-published all our games. And I can decide when we’re going to spend a little bit more time getting this, right? Is it worth it?”

The devs found time to add features, too, like a new three-tier hint system that actively monitors your progress and feeds you steadily more obvious tips so you're not stuck for too long. The final tip tells you outright what to do. Thankfully, purists can turn it off.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch 2 players get four different control schemes: touchscreen, gamepad, one Joy-Con 2 detached and used as a mouse, or a versatile combination of everything.

Plus, there’s something Cecil has personally wanted to add for 30 years: a beautiful, detailed map of Paris. This is used to aid player navigation instead of having them rely on clunky icons. With everything in the game, these feel like choices made by humans, not AI.

“We've really gone out of our way to produce something that, in my view, is completely future-proof, because people were playing the first one 30 years ago, and millions and millions of people have played that game. And my ambition is that in 20 years' time, a fourth generation will be playing again.”

“Going forward,” he continues, “people are going to seek out human-crafted art. You know, there's going to be that sense, because obviously we all have a human connection with each other.”

Control is easily one of my favorite games of the last decade or so, and I've played through it a few times and secured the Platinum trophy on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

As a result, I am incredibly hyped for Control Resonant, the upcoming sequel from the masterminds over at Remedy Entertainment, and have created this short quiz in celebration of the first game — and to test fellow fans' knowledge.

Ranging from, I think, pretty straightforward questions to one or two deep cuts, and with some questions that are bound to revive some brilliant memories of the first game, I've tried to balance my Control quiz for everyone, from long-time fans and re-players to those who played the first one at launch and have patiently waited for the sequel since.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on!

How did you find my Control quiz? Too easy? Too tricky at points? Too short, perhaps? Let me know ion the comments as well as what other quizzes we should do, and check back in the future for more trivia tests on fantastic games.

September has been an absolutely mega month for games, and we're barely past the halfway mark!

With the weekend just hours away, you're probably wondering which new games are actually worth your money and attention. That's exactly why I've put together this little personality quiz, which is designed to match you with a recent release that you are almost certain to enjoy!

Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list of all the latest games, and there are sure to be some big releases that I've missed. Still, I've tried to include a wide range of genres from platformers to horror games and open-world adventures so that many different tastes are catered to.

What result did you get? Do you agree with my recommendation? You can let me know in the comments and share what you'll be playing this weekend.

• Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's exterior setting will force players to adapt to their surroundings
• The game's Xenomorph will also adapt at the same time to both player and environment
• Things like the weather system will impact the cat-and-mouse experience, forcing players to "improvise"

Alien: Isolation 2's exterior setting will increase both tension and danger, according to Creative Assembly, because as the player adapts to the new environment, so will the Xenomorph.

Unlike the first game, where players were isolated in a space station and actively hunted by the Xenomorph, the sequel will have an expanded setting, spanning an outdoor colony world and the confines of the Weyland-Yutani outpost.

Players will once again be caught up in a cat-and-mouse experience as they navigate their new environment, but the alien's intelligence will raise the stakes.

"I think the contrast between claustrophobia and pressure versus vulnerability and exposedness, it will make the player have to think on their feet," said principal UI artist Laura Mauterer .

The game's weather system will also affect how players approach the outdoors, since storms will impact the sound of the approaching alien, and players will need to "improvise."

"The alien is the perfect hunter," Mauterer added. "It will adapt to those situations, to those environments. And you will have to adapt to our environment."

She added that it will feel like a "new experience," but the game will give players the time to understand the mechanics of the game and the world, even if they didn't play the first game.

"It's not unfair," Mauterer said. "This alien is also not cheating. If it can't see you, it can't see you, right? If it can't hear you, it can't hear you. We will give players enough time to get to grips with it. But it is an intense experience and a tough game, and that is what the community loved about [the first game]. And we will stick through to that."

Alien: Isolation 2 is now in development and will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

How do you approach a sequel? Do you refine the predecessor’s mechanics and stick with the main character? Well, Control Resonant chucks those out the window.

Instead of an open-zone map like the first game, Resonant goes full open-world. You play as Dylan Faden, old protagonist Jesse’s brother, who was (mostly) freed from the Hiss’s evil influence towards the end of the last adventure.

Now, Jesse has disappeared somewhere in an otherworldly Manhattan, and it’s his job to find her.

Like brother, like sister

Control Resonant’s story is markedly improved over its predecessor. The sibling bond between Dylan and Jesse provides an emotional anchor to latch onto. Learning about their childhoods through the main missions was engaging enough and made it much easier to follow this time around. It kept my attention in ways that Control didn’t.

The small cast of support characters also smartly keeps the character development focused mainly on Dylan. Zoe De Vera is assigned as Dylan’s handler, and I like how their relationship starts off rocky with her viewing him as just a tool to fight the Hiss. But as the story progresses, Zoe starts considering Dylan as more than that, asking him personal questions about his favorite music.

Emily Pope returns from the first game and acts as an important linchpin for Dylan to discuss Jesse. As Emily helped Jesse throughout the entirety of Control, Dylan can confide in Emily, giving him hope he’ll eventually find his sister. These powerful relationships make Resonant a less lonely trip.

As someone who’s fascinated with sci-fi and the occult, Resonant plays around with common tropes to great effect. In one particularly memorable main quest, Dylan is tasked with figuring out what happened to a missing crew, and its implementation of time dilation and alternate timelines really had a grip on my attention. It’s moments like these that make Resonant’s story emotionally satisfying, but narratively absorbing too.

Go big or go home

Going from Control to Control Resonant feels similar to how Final Fantasy 7 Remake transitioned to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It’s a high-risk endeavor, as creating an open world can add a lot of unnecessary bloat compared to a more streamlined experience.

Thankfully, Resonant’s exemplary art direction and traversal mechanics make its distorted version of Manhattan a treat to run around in. Rather than the brutalist architecture of the first game that took place entirely indoors within the Oldest House, Resonant doubles down on the more kaleidoscopic and parallactic aspects in the open world.

As part of the main quests, you’ll also be given objectives to find “Faults,” which are areas where remnants of Jesse could be residing. While they’re not very combat-heavy, they offer a lot of story exposition exploring Dylan and Jesse’s background. At the very end, you’ll be awarded a new way for Dylan to move around.

These include being able to shift his gravitational orientation around so the wall next to him becomes the floor, or the intriguing take on the traditional grappling hook, which looks more like an invisible magnet pulling Dylan by the waist.

Control Resonant is also reminiscent of Elden Ring, in that you’re able to tackle tough side bosses called Resonants all across the Big Apple. By defeating them, Dylan is able to unlock more of his offensive move kit. You’re incentivized to go for it, as it’ll give you more options to fight against the Hiss and other enemies.

You only need to take out a few to advance the story, but afterwards you can actually complete it without taking the rest of them on if you want. This open-endedness comes in handy if you get stuck on a certain story boss. You can explore more, get stronger, and return later.

There are also plenty of other interesting activities to tackle, and these often bring a more down-to-earth tone to Resonant’s paranormal twists. In a multi-part side quest, Dylan is trying to help a girl find her way home from an alternate dimension. And he has to play “spot the difference” with different taxi cabs to take the right one back. There’s another side quest where Dylan helps a colleague find their invisible cat, which ends up in the cat actually helping out against a mini-boss fight in a humorous conclusion.

These side quests reflect Dylan’s altruism and the guilt he harbors for his actions from the first game, allowing him to redeem himself in small, yet meaningful ways. They also reward massive amounts of EXP and useful ingredients to unlock new skills and abilities.

Close quarters combat

As opposed to the first game’s third-person shooter gameplay, Control Resonant is a melee-focused action game. It’s an interesting switch-up that certainly helps this sequel differentiate itself.

The basic gameplay loop you’re going for is to stagger enemies and then perform an execution. Doing that causes Dylan to temporarily enter Dominance, which astronomically ups his attack power and allows him to kill enemies quicker. It’s a gratifying process that’s just as exciting as it looks cool.

The big issue here is that it’s incredibly difficult to falter enemies when you first start out. Dylan’s weapon, the Aberrant, can morph into different forms for both his light and heavy attacks. At the beginning, you can pick one form, and the rest you can create later on with the proper drops and materials.

If you’re like me and picked a heavy weapon choice that didn’t fit your particular playstyle, then you’re going to have a tough time. You can use limited reset points to rechoose your points and abilities, but the fact that it’s not free feels like it’s discouraging experimentation, especially at the start before eventually unlocking everything.

After initially selecting the spear as my heavy weapon and being disappointed, I reset my build and opted for the slow but powerful hammer instead. I found that it fit my approach much better, and suddenly I was enjoying it more. Beforehand, combat felt like a slog as enemies seemed to just be damage sponges, as it took forever to falter them.

A little later on, after defeating the giant fire Resonant, I unlocked the ability to cloak my weapons in flame, increasing both the damage and falter output. Now even my light weapon attacks with the multi-target scythe-like glaive inflicted a decent amount of stagger. I was able to enter Dominance faster, and the combat became more frenetic, explosive, and most importantly, fun.

It just takes a while to get to.

Should I play Control Resonant?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Control Resonant has an impressive suite of accessibility features. These options include text, subtitles, colorblindness adjustments, and toggles.

It also has an Assist mode, which lets you change gameplay parameters to your liking. For example, you can change how fast Dylan’s Power meter replenishes, which lets him fire off special abilities. You can also make him invincible.

There’s even an option to OHKO enemies with just one attack, and it works on bosses too. None of the options disable Achievements either.

How I reviewed Control Resonant

I played 25 hours of Control Resonant on Xbox Series X with the standard Xbox Wireless Controller on my 1080p LG Sharp TV, finishing up the main campaign while completing some side quests.

After witnessing the ending, you can go back into the open world once again to mop up any remaining collectibles and quests.

First reviewed September 2026

• Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson tells fans not to worry about support for the game ending because of Diablo 5
• He says that even though the team is excited for Diablo 5, "we're going to be making content for a long time"
• Gibson says, "The end is not nigh"

Not to worry, Diablo 4 fans! Despite the announcement of Diablo 5, Blizzard swears it will continue supporting the popular action-RPG "for a long time."

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon, game director Brent Gibson quickly put concerns to rest and stated outright that players don't need to worry about the game's future, even though the studio is already working on the sequel.

"If you're wearing the sign in the middle of Times Square that says 'The End is Nigh', the end is not nigh," Gibson said. "We have a lot coming," he added before acknowledging the Amazon class pack, coming to Diablo 4 in 2027.

"The train isn't stopping," he continued. "One of the things that I love about our world is we're not a series of games. We are a universe. We are even adding to Diablo 2 with that of the Warlock. It's one of the few franchises where we have the luxury to continue to play, and we know our communities are there multiple communities that make us a whole."

Gibson reiterated that if you're a fan and you're worried, "don't sweat it," because even though the team is excited about Diablo 5, "we're going to be making content for a long time" and "we've got a lot of things coming," including the Netflix adaptation.

"The train is not stopping," he said. "Hold on tight. Gone are the years of waiting 10 years for more content, right? So it's a great place to be at."

Diablo 5 is slated to launch in 2029, so there are few years to wait. In the meantime, Diablo 4 fans can sink their teeth into Season of Hell's Legacy, the game's 15th season, which arrived on September 15.

• Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson says it's "liberating" that there are no expansions to work on or have the narrative tied to
• The team will continue the game's story through seasons instead
• Diablo 4 - Season of Hell's Legacy is the game's latest update

Blizzard has confirmed that Diablo 4 won't receive any more expansions, as it will continue the game's story through seasons, something the team is glad about.

BlizzCon 2026 has officially wrapped, and there were plenty of announcements for fans across the board, including the huge reveal of Diablo 5, slated for a 2029 launch, as well as Diablo 4 - Season of Hell's Legacy, the game's 15th season and the centerpiece of Blizzard's 30th Anniversary celebration for Diablo.

"Amid the dead rising from Pandemonium, the lost soul of the legendary Horadrim Deckard Cain returns with dire news," the questline description reads. "Three dark wanderers have returned, each leaving a trail of death in their wake. Confront them and delve into the nightmares of their horrific past. Only there can you defeat the Prime Evils that torment them and lay their souls to rest."

No additional expansions are planned at the moment, and although Lord of Hatred was the big conclusion of the overarching narrative, the team will now use seasons to continue the game's story, presumably until Diablo 5 is ready for launch.

The game will likely be supported for a good few years to come, just like Diablo 3, but the new direction the team is working on removes the constraints it had before.

"I think it's liberating," game director Brent Gibson told TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon. "So we completed the story, but the butterfly effect can take us anywhere, you know? And we've got season 15 with all the events of pandemonium leading to someone else taking the mantle of death," before teasing, "Who is it? I'm not going to answer that today."

He added, "But it allows us to be really creative with all the pieces that we have, now that we hit the beat that we were all looking forward to with confronting Mephisto. So, I say it's liberating."

• Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely says the team is "trying to make it for everyone who loves Diablo" for specific reasons
• He says the team used "deferred complexity" to help balance the game's systems for endgame players and campaign lovers
• Narrative director Jennifer Hepler says there are like-minded developers on the team who are "passionate advocates" and are creating the content for these fans

Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely has said Blizzard is making a sequel for all fans, but it has to find the right balance for players who love the series for specific reasons.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon 2026 after the game's reveal, Shely explained that the team isn't trying to make a Diablo game "for every human on Earth" or "literally everyone" but is "trying to make it for everyone who loves Diablo, and people who love Diablo love it for specific reasons, and those reasons are knowable."

He and the team know some fans play Diablo and are most interested in the storylines and exploration, while other, more hardcore players spend time with the complex systems that come with itemization, designing builds, and racing to the endgame.

"We can talk to players and understand why individual players or groups of players love Diablo and what they love about it, and from what game they associate with Diablo," Shely said, "and so that allows us to tailor our systems and experiences, campaign and progression in a way that can be satisfying to different kinds of talent players."

This is where the developer brought up "deferred complexity," an idea the team used to help balance the game's systems for those who enjoy taking their time, while also delivering on "our commitment to have a complete end game for those players at launch." This means that some complex systems have been moved to the endgame.

"By deferring some of the complexity of the systems and itemization later into the endgame," Shely said, "we can deliver the depth and mastery elements that our players who love the endgame enjoy without overwhelming our players who are enjoying spending a lot of time in the campaign and exploring the world."

Narrative director Jennifer Hepler added that all types of Diablo fans are represented on the development team; she said they are like-minded, "very passionate" about the series, and understand what players enjoy most.

"People who love campaign are working on campaign, and the people who love systems are working on the end game," Hepler said. "And so every group of players has passionate advocates on the team who are not only speaking for them but are actually creating the content for them."

Diablo 5 is in development and is slated to launch in Spring 2029.

• England and Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer was temporarily banned on Twitch this week
• He was streaming the upcoming EA Sports FC 27 ahead of an agreed embargo
• He responded in a light-hearted manner on Instagram, asking the streaming service to “unban me pls."

Cole Palmer, everyone’s favorite straight-talking Chelsea and England midfielder who loves his chippy-chips and a basic builder’s tea, took to Twitch earlier this week to livestream the upcoming EA Sports FC 27. There was just one problem: he wasn’t supposed to be showing off the game this early and was given a temporary ban by the platform.

As spotted by ESPN, Palmer was given early access to the upcoming football sim and decided to livestream it on Tuesday afternoon to a fairly significant audience. However, he was supposed to wait until after an official EA Sports showcase took place later that evening.

After an EA rep popped up in the chat to remind Palmer, the stream ended, and his Twitch account page was updated to show that it had been suspended.

In response to the gaffe, Palmer characteristically posted on Instagram that, ”I was only giving the people what they wanted.” He followed that up with a simple request: “unban me pls.”

Genuine mistake or not, any potential leniency from EA probably wasn’t forthcoming after he started complaining about his rating in-game during the untimely stream. EA Sports FC 27 has given Palmer an overall score of 85 out of 99 in the latest edition. He was 87 in the previous entry.

"I need a word with EA. They took two ratings off me," Palmer said during the stream.

In fairness, he did call out that he spent a lot of last year out with various injuries, which he joked had effectively left him with “one leg for 10 months last season.”

His ego also took another small knock when he saw that long-time friend and Chelsea teammate Morgan Rodgers had been given a pace score of 76. Palmer's pace rating is listed at 75. Savage.

Fortunately, his account has now been reinstated, and he’s already been back streaming as if nothing had happened, bringing an end to another hilarious aside in the footballer’s career that's already been full of meme-worthy moments. This one is my new favorite.

EA Sports FC 27 officially launches on September 25, with early access starting September 18 for those who pre-ordered the Ultimate and Ultimate Plus editions.