The core of any Marvel media is its story, and dare I say, this is one of the most tightly knit narratives Insomniac has ever told, with an emotionally charged yet grounded approach that gives its characters plenty of room to shine. We would obviously like to avoid major spoilers so you can experience the story for yourself, but a brief synopsis is in order. After spending years trying to leave that part of himself behind, Logan is inevitably pulled back into the life he wanted to escape when a new threat begins targeting mutants on a terrifying scale.

"At the centre of it all is Wolverine himself, played by Liam McIntyre, who does an exceptional job portraying the character, capturing everything from his anger, grunts, and screams to his emotional lows and quieter moments of sadness with impressive precision."

His return to Team X places him in the middle of a conflict driven by Bolivar Trask, whose campaign against mutantkind quickly turns deeply personal, forcing Logan to reconnect with old allies and confront unresolved parts of his past. The journey takes him across several corners of the world, from Canada and Japan to Madripoor, giving the story a constantly shifting backdrop while keeping the focus firmly on Logan and the people caught up in the conflict.

It may sound like your go-to superhero plot on paper, but the way the in-game characters come together, backed by excellent performances, turns it into a gripping and emotionally charged story filled with action, drama, and betrayal. At the centre of it all is Wolverine himself, played by Liam McIntyre, who does an exceptional job portraying the character, capturing everything from his anger, grunts, and screams to his emotional lows and quieter moments of sadness with impressive precision. Hugh Jackman will probably always be Wolverine to me, but McIntyre comes remarkably close here and delivers a genuinely excellent performance.

Logan’s friction-filled relationship with Victor is also handled well, while characters like Essex and Mystique benefit from strong performances across the board, although the real highlight, as expected, is the dynamic between Jean Grey and Wolverine, which Insomniac absolutely nails. This is a banger of a story and easily one of the strongest reasons to experience Wolverine for yourself.

It’s not a great Wolverine experience if the story isn’t there to back it up, but a Wolverine game without great combat would be nothing short of insanity, and thankfully, Insomniac’s pedigree in this department shines through once again. The violence here is absolutely through the roof, with Wolverine’s brutal, borderline unhinged temperament translated brilliantly into every encounter, making him feel every bit as savage as the character demands.

His claws are naturally the main attraction, and every parry, slash, slice, and vicious takedown carries real weight, helped considerably by some excellent DualSense integration that makes every impact feel that much more satisfying.

"The Technique system is then amplified by Adaptations, which function more like passive buffs, offering benefits such as reducing incoming melee damage, restoring health after successful parries, or increasing the timing window for pulling them off."

You can lunge at enemies from a distance, leap over obstacles while closing the gap, and use objects placed around the battlefield to create some genuinely stylish and savage moments. There are launch points that let Wolverine hurl himself into enemies, opportunities to set his claws on fire for additional damage, and environmental kills that can be downright vicious. Whether you are kicking an enemy directly into a furnace, smashing them against nearby objects, or using the surroundings dynamically to finish them off, combat constantly finds new ways to make Wolverine look and feel absolutely lethal.

Speaking of brutal kills, Wolverine also features a Rage Meter that gradually fills as you keep inflicting damage on enemies, and once it reaches Tier 3, you can unleash some absolutely jaw-dropping attacks that see Logan quite literally tearing through anyone standing in his way. It is quite a spectacle to watch and, more importantly, rarely gets old. That is not all either, as progressing through the game also unlocks powerful area-of-effect attacks, allowing Wolverine to damage multiple enemies across a wider area and giving combat another layer of crowd-control options when encounters become more chaotic.

As is typical with Insomniac’s superhero games, progression is handled through a relatively straightforward system, with players earning XP as they progress and using it to unlock skill points, referred to here as Technique Points. There are roughly two dozen skills to unlock, allowing Wolverine to perform swift multi-target strikes, restore his health by pressing a specific button, deliver drop kicks, execute stealth takedowns, and unleash special moves like Tornado Spin, among several others. The Technique system is then amplified by Adaptations, which function more like passive buffs, offering benefits such as reducing incoming melee damage, restoring health after successful parries, or increasing the timing window for pulling them off.

For example, Tornado Spin can rip through several enemies at once and quickly build Rage, while the right Adaptation can further enhance that playstyle by making Rage easier to capitalize on and giving Wolverine more staying power in prolonged fights.

Insomniac has handled Wolverine’s healing mechanic quite intelligently by tying it to the Rage Meter. If Logan’s health is depleted while there is still Rage available, that meter is consumed to restore his health and allow him to regenerate. If there’s no Rage left, however, Wolverine will die, which does feel a little odd given the character’s abilities. On the lowest difficulty setting, the game removes that restriction entirely, allowing Wolverine to regenerate automatically whenever his health bar is emptied. It’s a fair compromise overall, balancing Wolverine’s famous healing factor with the demands of a video game.

Suits and claws also return, with a decent amount to unlock throughout the game, some requiring materials to craft, others unlocking naturally through the story, while a few are tied to challenges found behind Nightmare Doors, which we will explain shortly. It is genuinely fun seeing and unlocking designs pulled from Wolverine’s rich history, and interestingly, there is also a small progression element tied to them, as crafting more suits gradually provides additional health upgrades.

"The mission pacing also deserves plenty of credit because the game rarely keeps you in one location for too long, constantly pushing you forward into new environments and situations as more of the story begins to unfold."

Wolverine is not an open-world game, and frankly, I don’t think an open-world based on the character would necessarily work. Instead, Insomniac has built a focused, largely linear experience where you move from one mission to the next without being constantly distracted by meaningful side stories or activities. It allows the developer to maintain a much tighter narrative pace, while the level design itself becomes one of the biggest reasons why the experience works as well as it does.

This is very much a globe-trotting adventure, and the way traversal and exploration are handled can vary quite significantly depending on the mission you are playing. One mission may give you a larger section of Madripoor to move through, letting you track enemies using Wolverine’s senses and discover a bigger area to explore, while another in Canada may place a much heavier emphasis on climbing, platforming, and stealth. Traversal is an important part of the overall experience as well, with Wolverine feeling nimble and surprisingly fast as he slides across ziplines, clears huge gaps, scales obstacles, and generally pulls off the kind of larger-than-life movement you would expect from a superhero.

All of this eventually comes together in some spectacular set pieces, whether you are involved in intense story sequences, taking on a massive Sentinel, or speeding through multiple encounters on a bike. The mission pacing also deserves plenty of credit because the game rarely keeps you in one location for too long, constantly pushing you forward into new environments and situations as more of the story begins to unfold.

As noted earlier, there are no traditional side missions to tackle, but Nightmare Doors provide some optional activities, ranging from taking on multiple waves of enemies to parkouring through a level and reaching a designated destination. They are also tied directly into the progression system we discussed earlier, as completing them can unlock Adaptations while also revealing additional story fragments from Logan’s past.

"I obviously cannot go into the later bosses without spoiling anything, but the early encounters against Omega Red and the Sentinel are damn good, even if the occasional QTE does pop up every now and then."

Most of these challenges essentially offer more of the combat and traversal already found in the campaign, but they provide a worthwhile reason to spend some extra time away from the main path. They may not dramatically change the overall experience, but they are a decent addition to what is already a spectacular game.

Speaking of enemies, you should not expect a huge amount of variety here, with most of the regular opposition largely divided between Cyborgs and Sentinels of different shapes and sizes, and that is unfortunately about it. It never detracted too much from the experience for me because these enemies can still be extremely dangerous when they gang up on you, although I can certainly see the lack of variety becoming an issue for some players.

Where the game really makes up for it is with its boss roster, which is spectacular, while the battles themselves are, as you would expect, cinematic showcases packed with scale and spectacle. I obviously cannot go into the later bosses without spoiling anything, but the early encounters against Omega Red and the Sentinel are damn good, even if the occasional QTE does pop up every now and then.

If there is one area I wasn’t particularly happy with, it would be the stealth sections. To be clear, the game never forces you into either a stealthy approach or an all-out assault, but there are a few levels where stealth is clearly encouraged, and I found those moments pretty underwhelming. I get it, Wolverine is more of a brutal predator who uses stealth when the situation demands it, but even then, these sections could have been handled better. Hiding in tall grass and picking off unsuspecting enemies works well enough, but it is definitely time for Insomniac to move beyond some of these basic stealth mechanics and introduce a little more depth.

"Insomniac’s take on the angry mutant may very well represent the character’s pinnacle in terms of presentation and story-telling."

I completed the game on PS5 Pro using the Performance Pro mode with advanced ray tracing enabled, and performance was excellent throughout. I noticed a few very minor drops here and there, but overall, the experience was remarkably smooth, while load times, as expected, are incredibly fast. Visually, the game is absolutely stunning, with fantastic character models, richly detailed environments, impressive visual effects, and accompanying sound design that all come together to deliver top-tier production values; I mean, just look at the detail in Wolverine’s innocent face.

There are also some rare bugs, however, such as Wolverine’s animations not always translating correctly when he gets stuck in a corner, along with one instance where the game simply refused to progress and forced me to reload a checkpoint. None of these issues stopped me from enjoying the experience, though, and given how minor they are, I would expect a patch to iron them out fairly quickly.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Wolverine, and while the complete campaign can be wrapped up in roughly 20 hours, the journey is consistently memorable and packed with moments that stick with you. We haven’t had a truly great Wolverine game in what feels like forever, with 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine immediately coming to mind, but Insomniac’s take on the angry mutant may very well represent the character’s pinnacle in terms of presentation and story-telling.

It’s violent and surprisingly heartfelt, and about as close to the definitive Wolverine experience as you could hope for.

Welcome home, bub.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project PHYSINT,” PlayStation Studios said on X. “We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game.”

The company added that its relationship with Kojima remains strong following “three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation,” and said it looks forward to continuing its close collaboration with Kojima and his independent studio in the future.

Kojima provided considerably more detail about what had happened behind the scenes. According to the developer, Kojima Productions was unexpectedly informed in mid-June that PlayStation Studios would cancel PHYSINT.

“As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project,” he said on X.

For Kojima Productions, however, abandoning PHYSINT wasn’t an option. “PHYSINT is an important project both to me personally and to Kojima Productions,” Kojima continued. “Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner.”

That search eventually brought Kojima Productions to Xbox, with whom the studio is already developing OD.

“In the course of seeking advice and pursuing negotiations with people across many fields, we found in Xbox a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future, and we have decided to team up with them once again.”

Xbox has now formally confirmed that it will publish PHYSINT as part of an expanded relationship between the two companies.

“We’re honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on PHYSINT. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox,” Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said. 

Kojima also confirmed that the agreement takes his studio’s relationship with Xbox considerably further than its existing work on OD. “This expands our relationship with Xbox beyond OD. As we move forward with the development of PHYSINT, we remain committed to redefining the action-espionage genre for players around the world.”

The partnership isn’t limited to those two games either. Xbox says it will also collaborate with Kojima Productions across film and television, expanding the relationship beyond traditional game development and publishing.

Kojima, meanwhile, has reassured fans that the title remains in active development. “Please rest assured that development of PHYSINT, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward.”

Delta was also a great way to bring the beginnings of Big Boss’s acclaimed character arc to a modern audience, along with the themes of loyalty, duty, and a soldier’s devotion to a cause that would define his journey. Well, the story now continues with Master Collection Vol. 2, which brings a couple of important chapters for both Solid Snake and Big Boss to players who might not have had the chance to enjoy them when they were originally released all those years ago.

"When viewed as part of Konami’s broader effort to make Metal Gear’s most important stories readily available on modern hardware, MGS4 is arguably the linchpin of Vol. 2."

We’ve got Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, receiving its first-ever re-release as a fascinating non-canon adventure starring Solid Snake, alongside Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and a collection of digital books and other extras. In terms of overall content, it’s definitely lighter than Vol. 1, but it might be more about quality rather than quantity with this one. It’s the first time anyone’s going to play Guns of the Patriots on anything other than a PS3, marking the end of 18 years of exclusivity with the aged platform.

We’ve already spoken at length about why that’s a big deal before, but this one’s legacy as the concluding chapter for both Solid Snake and Big Boss is something that’s relevant here. When viewed as part of Konami’s broader effort to make Metal Gear’s most important stories readily available on modern hardware, MGS4 is arguably the linchpin of Vol. 2. It was already an excellent game, blending stealth, action, and cinematic storytelling in ways that remain shockingly distinctive even today.

The new 4K/60fps presentation is immediately noticeable if you’re a franchise veteran, finally freeing MGS4’s visuals and performance from the limitations of the PS3. The higher resolution and smoother frame rate provide an immediate boost to image quality and responsiveness, even if the underlying assets naturally still show their age in places. You might find the graphics a tad dated if you’re picky, but it’s definitely a serious upgrade over the PS3 version. Loading times have also been dramatically reduced, which makes a surprisingly large difference to the overall experience. More importantly, the infamous act-by-act installation sequences from the PS3 release are gone entirely, meaning there are no lengthy waits while Snake sits around smoking before the next chapter begins.

The original game was a very polished experience already, and giving it this current-gen boost makes Vol. 2 the best place to play MGS4 today. Veterans certainly won’t miss those installation screens, and moving between major sections of the game now feels dramatically faster and less intrusive (although there is a secret way to actually bring it back!). That faster pacing also complements a campaign that constantly moves between stealth, enemy encounters, and lengthy cinematic sequences.

Solid Snake’s biggest enemy in this one is his own aging body, and he is once again confronted by his arch nemesis: Liquid Ocelot. Fortunately, he’s got a bunch of tools at his disposal to aid him, but with his own body working against him in the field, staying alive isn’t going to be as easy as it once was for the legendary soldier. Tools like OctoCamo and FaceCamo help him stay hidden, while the multifunctional Solid Eye remains one of the game’s most useful pieces of equipment.

"It is worth noting that Metal Gear Online 2 is not included, so this isn’t a complete preservation of every component that shipped with MGS4 on PS3."

MGS4 still packs a punch on the stealth front, and can even stand toe to toe with most of its modern counterparts if it comes to it. The story gels well with the gameplay while also taking the franchise forward towards its conclusion, although it has a plot that was designed with long-term fans in mind. You’re going to want to do a bit of homework if you’re diving into this one blind, and want to get the most out of the story. The included Metal Gear Solid 4 Database can help fill in some of those gaps, with sensitive information remaining hidden until you’ve progressed far enough to avoid spoiling major revelations.

MGS4 also offers a surprisingly decent range of PC settings including but not limited to DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 renderers, 30, 40, and 60fps caps and FXAA. We reviewed the collection on an RTX 3080 Ti paired with a Ryzen 9 5950X, and performance was fine at 4K with the game running at a largely stable frame rate.

Konami has even updated some of MGS4’s platform-specific jokes for the new release, including newly recorded Otacon dialogue surrounding the game’s famous disc-swapping codec call. It’s a small touch, but one that shows Konami’s surprising attention to preserving the spirit of the original. However, it is worth noting that Metal Gear Online 2 is not included, so this isn’t a complete preservation of every component that shipped with MGS4 on PS3. It is a shame that such a beloved online world wasn’t given a new lease on life within this collection.

Guns of the Patriots features phenomenal voice acting and choreography in its famous, exposition-heavy cutscenes. Nostalgia’s certainly a part of this one’s replay value but it also works well as a showcase of great presentation in video games that holds up remarkably well even after all these years.

The same can be said for Peace Walker, which began life as a PSP title before receiving an enhanced HD console release on PS3 and Xbox 360. It has often been described as the true bridge between Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid V, and there are plenty of reasons for that. Its narrative significance cannot be overstated, as it lays much of the groundwork for Big Boss’s transformation and the events that eventually lead into Metal Gear Solid V.

"It’s quite easy to recommend Master Collection Vol. 2 to both veterans and newcomers alike."

Having Peace Walker alongside MGS4 also makes thematic sense, allowing Vol. 2 to explore two very different stages in the lives of Big Boss and Solid Snake, but that’s certainly not the only good thing about it. It expands on ideas explored in Portable Ops with the Fulton recruitment system and a much deeper base-building loop, systems that would later become fundamental to Metal Gear Solid V.

Its balance between gameplay and storytelling remains among the strongest in the franchise, particularly compared with the far more cutscene-heavy MGS4. When you combine that with an almost overwhelming amount of weapons and items to unlock, and a bevy of side operations outside of the main story to engage with, this one could keep you busy for even a hundred hours of gameplay. Online play also returns, with Co-Ops supporting up to four players and Versus Ops accommodating up to six, although the lack of cross-platform play is disappointing. Peace Walker also benefits substantially from Vol. 2’s presentation upgrades, running at up to 4K/60fps while offering multiple visual modes. The digital screenplay books are a nice touch, but I know I’m not going to revisit them beyond that first look. They’re still nice to have in a collection that’s going to be a trophy item to some of its buyers.

All in all, it’s quite easy to recommend Master Collection Vol. 2 to both veterans and newcomers alike. The main draw is certainly Guns of the Patriots, but Peace Walker and Ghost Babel provide enough additional value to make the collection feel worthwhile rather than like a vehicle for MGS4 alone. Vol. 2 may be lighter on games than its predecessor, but the quality and historical importance of what it preserves make it a must play for action-stealth players.

One can only hope that a subsequent volume featuring Portable Ops, The Twin Snakes, Ground Zeroes, and The Phantom Pain, complete with the elusive Episode 51, is currently being considered by Konami. Such a release would be a genuine dream for the fanbase and the ultimate conclusion to Konami’s fantastic Master Collection initiative.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Note: Varun Karunakar contributed to this review.

So, why am I talking about Elden Ring in a review of Mortal Shell 2? Because after spending the last week with Cold Symmetry’s sequel, those inspirations are difficult to ignore, particularly in the way it approaches its world and progression, albeit in a more focused and compact fashion. More importantly, though, Mortal Shell 2 doesn’t simply live in the shadow of those influences but manages to provide its own spin specifically with regards to build and progression mechanics.

"Mortal Shell 2 doesn’t simply live in the shadow of those influences but manages to provide its own spin specifically with regards to build and progression mechanics."

The most obvious inspiration Mortal Shell 2 takes from Elden Ring is its open-world approach to level design and exploration. It isn’t as big as the Lands Between, obviously, instead focusing more on being compact and dense. On the surface, it may look like just another open world, but the deeper I ventured into it, the more familiar that design philosophy started to feel. Compared to the semi-open, hub-based structure of the first game, Mortal Shell 2 now features a far more seamless and interconnected landscape, with massive landmasses that encourage you to freely explore and carve out your own path.

There are several dungeons and beacon sites scattered across the world, with many asking you to cleanse the area or track down hidden items along the way. The overworld itself is exceptionally well designed, encouraging exploration both horizontally and vertically, while rewarding you for going off the beaten path. Although some of the dungeons and beacon-related areas can feel repetitive in structure, they still manage to look and feel distinct enough, with their own assortment of items and secrets to uncover, just like in Elden Ring. All of this is backed by fantastic art direction that constantly evokes darkness, despair and eeriness, you know, the familiar trademarks of a Soulslike game.

Individual character progression remains relatively simple: you collect Gloom, essentially the game’s equivalent of souls, and use it to raise your character level. Where progression becomes more interesting, however, is in how Mortal Shell 2 ties the discovery of new weapons, Shells, and other useful items directly into open-world exploration. The game clearly wants you to actively venture out into its world, and thankfully, it gives you enough guidance to keep that exploration focused. Want weapons like the Scythe, Crossbow or Martyr’s Blade? Simply purchase their respective maps from Merrick, the merchant, and the game will highlight a general search area rather than revealing the exact location. Looking for additional Shells works in a similar fashion, with their locations becoming available through Glimpses.

"The game clearly wants you to actively venture out into its world, and thankfully, it gives you enough guidance to keep that exploration focused. "

What I like about this system is that the resources required to uncover these locations, whether Gold Coins, Glimpses or Gloom, are fairly straightforward to obtain. As a result, exploration rarely feels aimless, with my travels constantly guided by clear objectives while still leaving enough room for discovery along the way.

However, the world of Mortal Shell 2 is intriguing enough that it’s incredibly easy to get sidetracked. Since I love exploring open-world games, I unlocked all the available map locations for items and weapons, they’re fairly cheap to procure, by the way, but even with those objectives marked out, the world itself would often pull me in a completely different direction. More than once, that curiosity led me straight into locations where an intimidating boss was roaming around, catching me completely off guard. There are a dime a dozen open-world games this generation, but Mortal Shell 2 creates that urge to explore by simplifying the systems surrounding exploration rather than constantly overwhelming you with them.

Mortal Shell 2 features eight Shells, more than double what was available in the original game, and each one brings its own abilities and playstyle to the table. For those unfamiliar with the system, Shells are essentially fallen warriors that you inhabit, with each granting access to abilities specific to that character. One, for example, can turn invisible for a set period of time, while another can perform a melee attack using a mechanical hook grafted onto their arm. Some Shells are even tied to bosses that you first need to defeat, allowing you to eventually make use of attacks you previously witnessed being used against you.

Unlocking each Shell also opens up more of its individual lore, returning from the original game in the form of short playable snippets that flesh out their respective backstories. You can access more of these by increasing your bond with a Shell, which also improves its revival efficiency. In practical terms, if you’re knocked out during combat, a stronger bond means fewer melee attacks are required before you can regain access to that Shell.

Each Shell can also be upgraded further to strengthen its defining abilities. The one I primarily used specialized in invisibility, for example, and investing in that ability allowed me to remain hidden for longer periods. Other upgrades can affect aspects such as movement speed, dodging and other traits tied specifically to the Shell you choose. Altogether, it creates an engaging progression system with plenty of room for build variety, and having that many meaningful choices available to the player is rarely a bad thing.

"The general enemy roster is also fairly extensive and changes noticeably from region to region."

Mortal Shell 2 doesn’t feature an especially large assortment of weaponry, with eight main weapons alongside a similar number of sidearms. While that may come across as a negative to some players, I think it fits the more focused experience the game is aiming for, something I touched on earlier. For most of my playthrough, I stuck with The Iconoclast, a two-handed greatsword found fairly early in the game, and simply focused on upgrading it. Although I did acquire several other weapons along the way, I found it more than capable of tearing through most of the challenges the world threw at me.

The sidearms, meanwhile, add a very different flavor to combat, with one resembling a shotgun and another functioning more like a submachine gun. Beyond upgrading these weapons individually, you can also find and equip Tarstones that grant specific effects, such as inflicting Bleed, imbuing your sidearms with burn, shock or poison, or increasing melee stagger damage. Tarstones themselves can also be upgraded, further strengthening their individual effects. The result is a combat system that blends more traditional weaponry, such as swords and greatswords, with more modern-feeling firearms and status effects, creating a combination that feels remarkably satisfying to experiment with and pull off in combat.

The general enemy roster is also fairly extensive and changes noticeably from region to region, somewhat reminiscent of Elden Ring. You might come across witches dancing around a village, immediately bringing the Celebrants from Elden Ring to mind, before venturing into swamps populated by corrupted snake- and frog-like creatures capable of inflicting Poison, or stumbling upon heavily armed knights patrolling more fortress-like locations. This mix of varied enemy designs and distinct attack patterns helps keep combat encounters feeling fresh as you move through the world.

From a difficulty perspective, Mortal Shell 2 offers a couple of interesting ways to tailor the experience. The default setting, which is what you begin the game with, provides a fairly challenging experience on its own, but you can bring the difficulty down somewhat by procuring a specific seal that makes encounters a little more forgiving. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something considerably tougher, you can activate Night Mode, which drastically ramps up the challenge while also increasing the rewards you receive in return. For the sake of our own sanity, we reviewed the game on its standard difficulty, and I found it to strike a reasonable balance between providing a challenge without becoming unnecessarily hard.

Likewise, Mortal Shell 2 is packed with bosses, whether they’re roaming the open world, waiting inside dungeons, or serving as story encounters beyond the corrupted gates. Boss fights are undoubtedly among the highlights of the experience, though I never found them to possess quite the same sense of scale or grandeur as those in FromSoftware’s games. That isn’t necessarily a criticism, because the bosses themselves are enjoyable and generally provide a solid challenge, but I do think this is one area where Mortal Shell 2 could have pushed things further.

"The bigger issue is the bugs, and unfortunately, they aren’t rare enough to simply ignore. "

It’s a limitation that many Soulslikes run into, understandably given their smaller budgets and development teams, but some larger and more spectacular encounters could have elevated the experience considerably. Still, the overall enemy variety is strong, and that’s something I certainly wouldn’t take away from the game.

On the technical front, I’ve already praised the game’s art direction, but I also think Mortal Shell 2 is one of the more graphically impressive Unreal Engine 5 games I’ve played recently. There are certainly signs of roughness here and there, but overall, this is a gorgeous game to look at, with its environments and visual design doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

The bigger issue is the bugs, and unfortunately, they aren’t rare enough to simply ignore. Some regular enemies occasionally stop attacking altogether or get stuck in the environment, and I even encountered a similar problem during one boss fight where the enemy simply became inactive and stood there doing nothing. I also noticed some minor input latency on PC, although adjusting the relevant in-game settings largely resolved it in my case. These are clearly polish-related issues that could potentially be addressed through a day-one patch, but as things stand, they’re noticeable enough to occasionally pull you out of the experience. Story-wise, I found the narrative to be bland, worthless, and uninspired, but I was so focused on the action and exploration that it rarely bothered me enough to detract from the overall experience.

To wrap things up, Mortal Shell 2 is an excellent Soulslike that gets so much right that its minor, albeit noticeable, shortcomings never managed to detract from the larger experience. Hopefully, some of the technical issues I encountered will be ironed out through post-launch patches, but even in its current state, there’s a lot here to appreciate. More importantly, Mortal Shell 2 feels like a significant step forward for Cold Symmetry, laying down a strong foundation for an even bigger and grander sequel should the studio ever decide to take the series further.

This game was reviewed on PC.

A year later, Hangar 13 has returned to the game with a new DLC, Man of Honor, which adds two more chapters to Enzo’s journey alongside additional content for Free Ride mode. There’s quite a bit here that fans of the original will appreciate, but let’s start with the elephant in the room: the story expansion.

Man of Honor takes place after Enzo Favara has earned his place within the Torrisi crime family. Rather than going further back into Enzo’s past, it fills in an earlier period of his time as a soldato while introducing Ennio Salieri, a character who will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played the first Mafia. Don Torrisi and Salieri have some history, and when the latter comes to him looking to settle a personal matter, the Don gives his approval and ropes Enzo and Cesare into helping him. Salieri’s ultimate goal is simple: earn enough money to leave Sicily behind and start a new life in America.

"There’s quite a bit here that fans of the original will appreciate"

As a result, Man of Honor places much more emphasis on Salieri than Enzo, with the latter essentially serving as the vehicle through which the expansion sets up Salieri’s future. The voice acting and cutscene direction are, as you would expect from a Mafia game, solid throughout. Salieri comes across as sharp, selfish and quick-witted, someone more than willing to use others to get what he wants, and that side of his personality is reflected throughout the expansion.

I won’t go too deeply into the story beyond saying that it’s a decent, if ultimately straightforward, tale built around one of the Mafia’s most fundamental rules: you don’t cross the Don. It wraps up rather quickly and respects your time, with a conclusion that is largely satisfying, even if much of what happens is fairly easy to see coming.

Lasting around two hours, Man of Honor feels, from a gameplay perspective, like a direct continuation of the base game. It delivers some excellent set pieces, including a chase sequence, several stealth sections, and action-heavy moments that eventually erupt into outright combat. If what you wanted was simply more Mafia: The Old Country, then Man of Honor provides exactly that, which also means it carries over both the strengths and shortcomings of the base experience.

Combat remains effective, though relatively simple and straightforward, while stealth once again follows the “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” approach. Even traversal remains familiar, whether you’re travelling on horseback or driving classic vehicles. Coincidentally, these are all things I enjoyed about the base game, so returning to them a year later was surprisingly satisfying. That said, if you didn’t enjoy The Old Country the first time around, there’s little here that will change your mind. This is an expansion rather than a major reworking of its mechanics. But for players who loved the base game, it provides an engaging afternoon’s worth of familiar Mafia gameplay without overstaying its welcome or pretending to be something radically different.

That is, until the compulsory instant-fail stealth sections come into play. There’s one particular set piece during the concluding events of Man of Honor where you simply cannot be detected, because the moment an enemy spots you, it’s an instant game over. Look, I get it, sometimes a game needs to impose a strict no-detection requirement, but the systems built around such a restriction also need to be engaging enough to justify it.

Take Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, for example, where the mechanics support those restrictions by giving you plenty of tools and gadgets to experiment with and work around different situations. In a game like Mafia, however, a section like this feels forced because the stealth mechanics simply aren’t deep enough to make that kind of limitation particularly enjoyable, and it ultimately pulled me out of the experience. Fortunately, this specific sequence only lasts for several minutes, but in an expansion this short, I still think it’s worth pointing out.

I also came across a few minor bugs here and there, including one during a chase sequence where Enzo’s animations suddenly went haywire and became stuck. It wasn’t anything game-breaking, but it did stand out, especially since I don’t recall encountering similar issues during my time with the base game.

Once you’re done with the story, Man of Honor also expands the game’s Free Ride mode with a number of Salieri-related missions, where he essentially acts as a quest giver to Enzo from his warehouse. To be transparent, I hadn’t experienced Free Ride before this since it was added after the game’s original release, but Salieri’s side tasks give the mode a little more narrative weight, especially since they provide additional background on his motivations and just how desperately he wants to make his way to America.

"Lasting around two hours, Man of Honor feels, from a gameplay perspective, like a direct continuation of the base game."

Again, these tasks largely follow the structure of missions from the base game, whether that means stealth-based infiltration, procuring valuable items, stealing vehicles, or completing the kinds of objectives you’ve already encountered throughout the campaign. The expansion also adds more weapons, knives, clothing options, and various items with effects that can influence combat encounters out in the field.

I like what Hangar 13 has done with Free Ride here, because it makes the world feel more worthwhile to explore by giving you more reasons to engage with it. My only question is whether some of this content could have been integrated more naturally into the story itself, which would have made the overall experience feel more connected. Regardless, Man of Honor improves Free Ride by making its existing world denser with engaging activities rather than simply increasing the size of the map.

For what it’s worth, Mafia: The Old Country – Man of Honor costs $9.99, which I think is a fair price for the experience it offers. There’s a reasonable argument that the expansion could have focused more on Enzo’s backstory rather than inserting a side story into the base game’s narrative, but I do feel that Hangar 13 is making an effort to connect The Old Country to the larger Mafia timeline, and so far, that approach is working well.

I appreciated Enzo’s characterization in the base game and would still love to see more added to his story if Hangar 13 has further content planned. As it stands, though, Man of Honor is a reasonable expansion of the base-game experience, sticking closely to what already worked rather than trying to reinvent it, and for an add-on of this size and price, that’s all it needs to do.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The answer is a resounding yes, and that goes beyond simply letting our excitement for what’s new blend with the nostalgia of what already feels familiar. The original Halo was always a legendary title, and it continues to retain that quality in its latest iteration aside from a few quirks. Master Chief returns to one of his earliest chapters, bringing with him many of the mechanics and refinements introduced in later games, along with a few entirely new additions. A flamboyant movement system has been added which works well with returning strengths such as solid grenade physics, shield management, melee attacks, and a rather infectious combat rhythm that continues to be quite catchy despite its familiarity and age.

"Master Chief returns to one of his earliest chapters, bringing with him many of the mechanics and refinements introduced in later games, along with a few entirely new additions."

The movement’s probably the best starting point to outline everything that works in this excellent remake, and sprinting is a feature that stands out instantly. It’s the first indicator that had me thinking about how much of the gameplay loop from the original had been switched up to accommodate it. The original version’s maps didn’t support swift traversal mechanics, but the faster encounter pacing now makes an aggressive approach feel like a viable strategy, and I soon found myself weaving in melee attacks to sustain forward momentum.

It’s great, then, that none of the locations I was tearing apart felt too small to adversely affect my obsession with carving the quickest possible path through them, my foes be damned. Sprinting feels so naturally woven into the original game’s design in Campaign Evolved, and simply makes traversal feel better paced by its presence. The early level structure remains quite familiar, but some of the later ones have some genuine surprises in store for you, with revamped enemy encounters and expanded traversal routes to make them exciting.

Of course, it also helps that vehicular movement improvements blend more seamlessly into the gameplay loop. The Warthog handles considerably better this time around, and vehicle controls in general feel more responsive than they ever have in previous iterations of the game. The classic ragdoll physics are still here too, and they’re so ingrained in Halo’s identity at this point that I probably would have noticed immediately had they been missing. Of course, I’d been looking forward to the newly player-controllable vehicles ever since they were revealed, and finally taking control of a Wraith proved exactly why.

Its heavy armor and devastating firepower make you feel like an overwhelming presence on the battlefield, but with enemies constantly trying to reclaim their vehicle, you still have to stay mobile and be smart about when and where you use its cannons. There’s no denying the power trip, though, and hijacking enemy vehicles quickly became another part of the gameplay loop that I found myself looking forward to whenever the opportunity arose.

Between exploring different places on foot and in vehicles, you can bet that I got into quite a few scraps along the way, and one of the things that stood out was the enemy AI. It remains as impressive as it was back in the day, with enemies coming at you with excellent coordination. They flank you the moment an opportunity presents itself, and retreat if things aren’t going their way. That’s especially true of the Elites, whose shields already make them a pain to deal with.

"The new prequel bonus missions set roughly a year before the main campaign do deserve a bit of discussion, with Chief and Sergeant Johnson teaming up to investigate something that leads into the campaign; they feel like well-crafted stories that are fleshed out, instead of tacky add-ons or low-effort DLCs."

Enemies dodge your grenades, try to commandeer your vehicles, and use their wits instead of merely relying on superior numbers or larger health bars. That makes them a potent catalyst that brings out the most chaotic outcomes that stem from your efforts to deal with them en masse. A single grenade explosion is a great source of some seriously amusing ragdoll physics if you can manage to get one to go off in the middle of a large group. Trust us.

We’re not getting into story spoilers in case this is going to be your first time with this one, but the new prequel bonus missions set roughly a year before the main campaign do deserve a bit of discussion. With Chief and Sergeant Johnson teaming up to investigate something that leads into the campaign, they feel like well-crafted stories that are fleshed out, instead of tacky add-ons or low-effort DLCs. They bring context, some excellent banter between Chief and Johnson, and feel like classic Halo. There’s nothing more I could have expected of them, and that makes me very happy indeed.

Of course, cooperative campaign is now on board, and it’s more than just dumping a four-member squad into the old 2001 maps, but has been subtly redone with corridors, pathways, and room sizes getting alterations that avoid bottlenecks, making them great to guide a four-player Fireteam through. It all retains the atmosphere of the original game, and with enemies putting up quite a good fight, things were a lot of fun. The crossplay support is seamless, but you’re going to need a Microsoft account to facilitate it. It is what it is, I’m afraid.

Campaign Remix is another addition that I found quite interesting thanks to how it undermines your familiarity with the original campaign. You could, for instance, completely change weapon placements and enemy positions via the Adaptation and Reload options, negating the knowledge you’ve carried over the years, or the muscle memory you cultivated as you acquired it. With randomized weapons and enemies, you’re forced to switch tactics in places you might have otherwise sailed through, and it’s a superb way to make you stay on your toes.

Armistice is another fascinating option, as it removes all conflict between enemy factions, and that immediately changes something that I realized I relied on far too much in the original game: taking advantage of enemies fighting each other. It was such a natural advantage that felt like free damage to me, and I never questioned what things could be in its absence until now. They’re pretty darn chaotic and challenging to boot, and a passive approach isn’t really an option when every hostile you see is now trying to make a meal out of you.

The resulting campaign is one where you’re going to need adaptability, often going against your own trained instincts in familiar places if you’re a returning veteran. It also helps make the same mission feel different on subsequent playthroughs, which adds a lot of replay value in tandem with the expanded role that Skulls now throw into the mix. For those who are unaware, they’re a returning feature with a different implementation. They’re now tucked away in obscure corners of maps, and finding one permanently unlocks a gameplay modifier that you toggle on or off before hopping into a mission.

"It feels strange but weirdly good to say it: I played Halo: Campaign Evolved on a PlayStation 5 Pro."

They’re a curious bunch, with ones like Perspective giving you a third-person view, Speed Limit that turns off sprinting for those of you who like a more methodical approach, and of course, the Floor is Lava, which is exclusive to Campaign Evolved and does exactly what it says on the cover. They’re really fun to find and mess around with, and bring further variations into a gameplay loop and campaign that could otherwise become repetitive after some time with it.

It feels strange but weirdly good to say it: I played Halo: Campaign Evolved on a PlayStation 5 Pro. We will be diving into the graphical improvements it brings over the other two console versions in detail in another of our articles, but the results from my time with it are very positive. It’s absolutely gorgeous, with the new lighting and textures bringing familiar scenes to life in ways that were not possible when those scenes were originally written and crafted.

The environmental density, architecture, materials, character models, facial animations, atmospheric effects, and the readability of every scene on display were top-notch, making this one a very visually pleasing addition to a potent lineup this year. The game’s mysterious aesthetic has largely managed to remain intact in the light of its shift to Unreal Engine 5, while all-new animations and updated cinematics work well with the remastered soundtrack and rebuilt sound design. It all comes together to sustain the spectacle of the original while modernising it to make it a superb visual direction for the future.

I can see some of you preferring the original version’s look and feel, but as a remake that aims to usher in a new era for the franchise, Campaign Evolved is exactly where it needs to be on the visual front, making the most of current-gen hardware to make Halo look and feel as good as anything I’ve seen recently. However, on the PS5 Pro, I just couldn’t bring myself to play in Quality mode, which locks the game to 30fps. For a first-person shooter, that simply didn’t feel responsive enough, and I found myself switching to Performance mode almost immediately.

And it is what I would recommend, although I did see a few instances of frame drops during intense scenes such as ones involving explosions. They were an oddity rather than a regular occurrence, though, and the frame rates were fine for the most part. All in all, Halo’s PlayStation debut makes good use of what the console has to offer, and the PS5’s SSD made the load times go by in the blink of an eye.

Coming to the combat, Bungie’s excellent balancing of weapons in the original version has translated well into the remaster’s combat system. The Assault Rifle’s as good as it’s ever been, and I quickly picked up a Sniper Rifle that’s now even more useful thanks to improved draw distance and visual details in the places I used it in. No matter the weapon I had in hand, returning or new ones, they were all great to use and felt suitably weighty in my controller as I let off shot after shot at enemies that were quite vicious in their effort to end my campaign. But with weapons that felt this good to use, denying enemies the chance to gain the upper hand became an enjoyable part of the experience in itself, as I used every tool in my arsenal to stay one step ahead of even the most cunning foes. Of course, the Legendary Difficulty was quick to humble me, with difficulty spikes that were reminiscent of the original game.

"The lack of competitive PvP is a bummer, and immediately sets the remake apart from the original. Campaign Evolved cannot replace it on that front, but does it really need to? "

Every enemy gets a bump to their tactical thinking, their health, and damage resistance, making them quite a challenge. It’s probably worth noting that health packs are gone, and you’re now left with a single bar of health that recharges on its own over time. It makes for a more involved combat loop where you’re actively trying to maximize your effectiveness in the field before you’re forced to fall back. It’s sort of a contest for the momentum of a fight, and if you have your enemies doing the same, you know you have the advantage.

Of course, the lack of competitive PvP is a bummer, and immediately sets the remake apart from the original. Campaign Evolved cannot replace it on that front, but does it really need to? I believe both games have their own spaces, and the remake’s longevity isn’t going to be a factor as long as Skulls and Campaign Remix are a part of it. Plus, the $49.99 USD price tag works in its favor, placing it comfortably below the cost of a full-priced release and helping set more reasonable expectations for what’s on offer.

The lack of PvP and those minor performance issues do not take away from the fact that Halo: Campaign Evolved is one hell of a remake, and a very welcome step in the right direction for the franchise and Xbox in general. If the rest of what the brand has planned on the remake front is as good as this one, we say bring it on! It’s been a joy to see Master Chief in action, and a very interesting time watching him go to work on a PlayStation.

It’s definitely been worth it, and Halo fans should find plenty of reasons to jump back into the fray, regardless of which console they’re playing on.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Note: Varun Karunakar contributed to this review.

Well, last week, Activision quietly shadow-dropped the original Call of Duty: Black Ops and its sequel, Black Ops 2, onto the PlayStation Store for both PS4 and PS5. There was no major showcase, no extended marketing campaign, and barely any advance warning. Under normal circumstances, the releases might have passed unnoticed, but the sudden arrival of two entries immediately caught people’s attention. At first, the news sounded genuinely intriguing. These are Call of Duty games that many players (unfortunately) would have wanted on modern PlayStation hardware for years, especially with their campaigns and other gameplay features intact. For a brief moment, it seemed like Activision had delivered an easy win. After all, how badly could anyone mishandle two old games? As it turns out, quite badly.

Let’s begin with the most obvious problem: the pricing, which is frankly atrocious. Each game costs a staggering $39.99, while its respective Season Pass adds another $29.99 to the bill (PS Plus subscribers get a discount). Purchase both titles alongside all of their DLC at the standard price, and you are looking at roughly $140 + in total. That would already be difficult to justify for newly released games, let alone two titles that originally launched in 2010 and 2012. Activision is effectively asking players to spend premium money on games that are nearly a decade and a half old, without bundling their additional content or offering the kind of substantial modernization that might soften the blow. These are age old games, certainly, but nostalgia alone does not magically make that price reasonable. A round of applause for such remarkable generosity, everyone? No? Fair enough. Let’s move on.

Activision has tried to frame its new Season Pass model as a win for everyone. By allowing Season Pass owners to seamlessly matchmake with players who didn’t buy the DLC, the company avoids the fractured player base that slowly killed playlists in previous Call of Duty games. That’s an improvement but it also makes the entire business model look even harder to defend. If everyone shares the same matchmaking pool, public lobbies will almost always default to the base-game maps whenever non-paying players are present. In other words, Activision is asking its most dedicated fans to spend $29.99 on content the matchmaking system is actively incentivized not to serve. The company has eliminated the problem of dead DLC playlists, but only by creating a new one: premium maps that are effectively sidelined in everyday play. It’s a pricing strategy that feels stuck in a bygone era, charging a premium for content that many buyers may rarely experience outside of private matches or the occasional lucky rotation.

That fragmentation becomes even more concerning because the ports offer no cross-play with Xbox or PC. Instead of bringing the players under one roof, Activision has divided it by platform and console generation. For games this old, that is a recipe for longer queues, repeated opponents, and increasingly empty lobbies once the launch-period excitement fades.

The two ports are also painfully barebones from a technical standpoint. In 2026, players are being treated to a dazzling 1080p presentation, with no FOV slider, no 120fps option, no meaningful graphics settings, and no substantial visual enhancements to speak of. In other words, these are old games running at a slightly cleaner resolution, with almost none of the modern conveniences players reasonably expect from a rerelease on current hardware. Nothing ambitious, nothing transformative, and certainly nothing that justifies the asking price.

The problems do not end there. Black Ops 1 reportedly arrives without Wager Matches and Theatre Mode, while Black Ops 2 appears to have lost League Play, features that formed parts of the original experience. Players have also raised concerns about noticeable controller input delay in Black Ops 1 on PS5. Several Reddit users argue that the game feels far less responsive than they remember, with some regretting their purchase entirely. Others have taken a more sarcastic view, joking that technical problems simply make the port feel authentic to the original launch. Honestly, that reaction feels about right.

What makes the situation even more interesting, or, depending on your perspective, downright hilarious, is that these supposedly enhanced ports are currently exclusive to PlayStation. Activision is owned by Microsoft, yet Xbox players have been completely overlooked when it comes to receiving comparable native versions, technical improvements, or meaningful modernization. The existing Xbox releases remain playable through backward compatibility, but that is not the same as receiving newly packaged ports built for current-generation hardware.

It creates an incredibly strange situation in which a Microsoft-owned publisher is offering updated versions of two Call of Duty games to PlayStation users while giving its own Xbox audience practically nothing new. That is one impressive way to frustrate an already exhausted fan base, particularly after everything that has unfolded around Xbox over the past month. At a time when Microsoft desperately needs to rebuild trust and give players reasons to remain invested in its ecosystem, decisions like this only make the company’s wider strategy appear even more confused.

According to several players, the situation is even messier than it first appeared. Reports have surfaced of “Server Full” errors, crashes when leaving lobbies, failed invitations, broken party functionality, and friends being unable to join one another consistently. For games this old, these are not minor inconveniences. Not to mention hacking problems! They strike directly at the experience people are paying to access.

And what about players who already purchased the original PS3 versions? Apparently, that ownership counts for absolutely nothing. There is no free upgrade path, no discounted entitlement, and no recognition that some fans have already paid for these games before. If they want to play them natively on PS5, they are expected to open their wallets and purchase them all over again.

To be fair, some fans undoubtedly will buy this experience, and they are perfectly entitled to purchase them. However, charging this much for such a technically limited and unreliable presentation in 2026 feels deeply disrespectful. If this is Activision’s idea of thoughtful preservation and genuine modernization, then I have no hope for their future releases.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Has it achieved that feat? Well, yes and no. Yes, because there are certainly improvements that might make you feel like the three-year wait for this one was worth it. No, because some of the things that plague sport simulators continue to be a part of the experience on offer in this one, for better or worse. Let’s start with what’s good, and the fighting is definitely among the stronger parts of the entire game.

UFC 6 is at its finest when you’re in the Octagon, which is always good for a fighter that carries its ambitions and the expectations of its players. The new real-time striking system is something that’s going to stand out the minute you engage with it. Strikes feel impactful with satisfying feedback that can make trading blows feel convincingly weighty, and you almost feel your blows connect with bone-crunching intensity.

Your strikes don’t depend on canned sequences that feel like they’ve already been decided before you make contact with your opponent. Instead, the outcome of such exchanges now depends on how well you position yourself for an attack, your timing, head movements, and of course, your inputs. It lends a layer of authenticity to every match in ways that immediately make the striking system feel like one of the evolutions we mentioned.

That’s because it makes knockdowns look and feel more believable than they’ve ever been, while each fight now feels more violent and unpredictable. They look so authentic, you’re going to feel like the driving force behind your chosen fighter’s fists and feet for the most part. That’s made even better by the fact that the damage you dish out and take in return is now visible enough to be a visual reminder of how well you’re doing in a fight. The blood paints a grim picture on the canvas, while the injury system makes things quite realistic, although it felt a tad too exaggerated for my taste. Your mileage with it is going to vary, but I did think it could be taken down a notch.

Sadly, the evolution of the striking system feels like it’s actively countered by the stamina bar, which drains far too rapidly for it to be ideal at times, and that does affect the rhythm of fights. It isn’t game-breaking, but it did happen enough for it to be a noticeable annoyance. But it isn’t going to be as divisive as the new Flow State feature. It’s one of the biggest gameplay additions, and is one that could either make or break your enjoyment of this one.

"You’re constantly feeling the ebb and flow of an intense clash, and it’s quite immersive as a result."

It’s a solid idea on paper, as it gives each individual athlete a unique set of strengths that play into their real-world fighting styles. Playing to your strengths increases your Flow Meter, which in turn activates your Flow State once it’s completely filled. That opens up opportunities for finishers, recovering from a bad round, or giving you a distinct advantage in a match you’ve already been dominating, allowing you to take your opponent out of the equation far more easily than you would have without it.

It encourages you to switch things up depending on which fighter you’re bringing to the fight, which is a great way to add a dash of individuality to each athlete while also giving each fight a sense of momentum. You’re constantly feeling the ebb and flow of an intense clash, and it’s quite immersive as a result. I’m a fan, although I can see how the purists among you might end up seeing it as a gimmick rather than a meaningful addition. It’s fun, but comes at the risk of feeling cheesy, as you tend to try sticking to moves that play to your strengths instead of responding dynamically to your opponents with ones that are outside of your chosen fighter’s comfort zone.

It might have worked very well in an arcade fighter, but in something that aims to simulate a real-world sport, it can feel a touch out of place. Aside from the Flow State mechanic, there’s grappling which can feel all too close to what was on offer in UFC 5, as it brings the same stiff rhythm and that deliberate approach from the previous game that’s recognizable almost instantly. It’s got that clunky pacing that makes it feel akin to a tactical exchange instead of a fluid struggle between two fighters who have trained to the peak of their abilities.

It’s a mind game in the middle of a physical fight that doesn’t necessarily make it terrible, but it doesn’t make any evolutionary changes to merit praise. It’s functional at best, and disappointing at worst, depending on whether you liked what was on offer three years ago. Thus far, the gameplay should tell you something about why this one feels like a solid experience, but not one that justifies the long gap between releases in the franchise’s line up. Well, that extends to other areas of the game, including the presentation.

"Some fighters don’t look as close to their real-world counterparts as they should be, with a few awkward body proportions that stick out like sore thumbs showing up from time to time."

In a game like UFC 6, recreating the atmosphere and sheer adrenaline of being at a UFC event is something that’s crucial to the experience. It’s certainly authentic, with walkouts, replays, lighting,  and broadcast-style elements that all contribute to making this one sustain the quality that the franchise has been known for. But there are inconsistencies that crop up and stand out against that backdrop quite prominently.

Some fighters don’t look as close to their real-world counterparts as they should be, with a few awkward body proportions that stick out like sore thumbs showing up from time to time. They stand out against the backdrop of a generally solid experience overall, while the HUD feels far too busy in a game that’s meant to have you laser-focused on your opponent, ready to respond to their attempts to take you down. It’s an issue that works in tandem with the inaccuracies on fighters to bring down the overall presentation from what should have felt like a premium, refined take on the franchise.

However, the game’s many modes kind of make up for those little mistakes. For instance, the Legacy Mode is now a great place for you to dive in when you boot up the game if you’re new to the franchise. It acts as a great tutorial, letting you follow Chris Carter’s career complete with cinematic sequences and fights both inside the Octagon and outside of it. It’s helped along by appearances from Coach Thompson and Carter’s rival Danny Lopez, with the drama and human emotions that come with a career such as his on full display. The fact that his family’s legacy underlines his journey from the regional MMA scene to the UFC is a highlight, and it’s something I found very entertaining.

It’s also a great way to come to grips with the game’s core systems, important mechanics, and more, allowing you to take it all in before you commit to the Career Mode, which features a lot of the same training camps, the integration of social media and your need to manage your online presence, and progression systems in a way that feels natural. It’s well thought-out, and a welcome presence in the game for newbies and franchise veterans alike. That you get to unlock new skills across categories is a nice touch, lending a bit of depth to the game’s progression loop as well.

It also helps the transition to the full-blown Career Mode a lot smoother since you can get to the UFC a lot faster thanks to all the work you’ve already put in. The Career Mode itself is now expanded, with more choices, narrative events, interactions via texts and social media, better training and fitness management systems, and other progression elements, all of which feed into the illusion that your character is climbing the ranks while trying to sustain their popularity among audiences in order to further their career.

"Too many activities are reduced to merely selecting between dialogue options, which doesn’t work well when most of the choices you’re allowed to make feel flat."

All of that’s pretty exciting, but UFC 6 falls prey to a pitfall that has plagued simulation games of its nature: you’re dealing with a lot of menus for too much of the time you spend outside the Octagon. Too many activities are reduced to merely selecting between dialogue options, which doesn’t work well when most of the choices you’re allowed to make feel flat. It all feels mechanical in a way that gives the impression that you’re trying to game the system instead of navigating a range of possibilities in a way that’s fluid and organic.

Moving on to the Hall of Legends, it’s an interesting diversion that’s sure to make UFC fans feel quite happy about its inclusion. You get to move through museum-like spaces, with halls dedicated to popular fighters across the sport’s history. Those halls come with Fighting Podiums that let you step into memorable moments of a fighter’s career, taking control of them in some of the most memorable bouts of their respective careers. It isn’t going to sell more copies of UFC 6, but it’s certainly going to be a nice way to blow off some steam when the pressure of your career threatens to overwhelm you. It’s always good to look to them greats for inspiration, after all.

Fight Now is where you’re going to go if you’re looking for a quick match-up, with different settings, fighters, and categories allowing you to mix and match to your heart’s content. I would have liked to test out the online multiplayer part of the experience, but try as I might, I could not connect to the servers despite multiple attempts. I can’t comment on it thanks to that limitation. It is what it is, though.

However, I can say that I’ve spent enough time with this one to know that it succeeds where it matters the most: the fighting. However, it isn’t the revolutionary sequel that any of us were hoping for, and that’s a damn shame considering how good what’s on offer really is. As an MMA simulator, this one’s as solid as they come, and you’re going to have a good time with it. But as the latest instalment in a reputed franchise, it doesn’t do enough to set itself apart. I’d still recommend it to you, but I can’t help but wish that I could do it more whole-heartedly than I am now.

It falls just short of a generational leap, but I’m hopeful about post-launch updates ironing out at least some of its issues to make it a better rounded-out take on a simulator. It’s got the potential to be the undisputed champion, standing tall among the franchise’s greats, but it’s not quite there yet. This could be the definitive UFC experience given enough time.

But as it stands, it falls just short of true greatness.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

Note: Varun Karunakar contributed to this review.

Translating Bond to a video game was a job that the studio was then quite prepared for, with both men relying on meticulous investigations, shadowy stealth, deceptive disguises, guile, and the ability and freedom to make things up as they go along in games that support that kind of thing. Well, folks, 007 First Light is here to scratch all those itches and more. It’s also an excellent and faithful take on Bond, too.

The story is probably the best place to start, and an area where I was eager to see how IO made the switch from the brooding and often sullen personality of Agent 47 to the reckless, and effortlessly charming man that Bond is. Patrick Gibson has brought a lot of heart and personality to the role to make his take on the iconic operative one that stands out in a long list of big names. There’s a bubbling confidence to this younger version of Bond, but also hints of the iron will and discipline that make him such a cool head in heated situations.

He’s backed by a supporting cast that includes comfortingly familiar names like Miss Money penny, John Greenway, M, Q, and Dr. Seline Tan, among others. Bond and his buddies at MI6 have been handled very well, and work as characters in a story that brings a very strong narrative with just the right amounts of scale, drama, and payoff, all wrapped in a stylish cocoon that makes the entire thing a pleasing sight to behold.

Man, those cutscenes are a polished bunch. IO could have easily taken things easy on that front and we might not have blamed them given that their expertise has largely been in areas other than heavily cinematic storytelling. But First Light makes it look like they’ve been at it for years, with outstanding attention to detail punctuating a level of polish very well. Step into Q’s lab for the first time, and you’re going to feel like the whole damn thing is alive. There are smatterings of dialogue choices too, along with NPCs that are quite chatty, making the world come to life in a way that makes it special.

"If you’re the type of fan who knows about Stephen Fleming, you’re going to like how Bond’s introduced to the agency that eventually becomes the stage for his legend."

It’s a good thing, then, that the gameplay is just as competent, making you feel like a younger Bond with his whole life ahead of him: confident, capable, and occasionally reckless in exactly the way you’d expect. The narrative framing fits the format with which your objectives are handed to you. You’re a new recruit at MI6 and, as such, you’re briefed on missions before heading to a loadout section that expands as you play. Which makes sense within the larger story, and is also a great way to give you a reason to prepare for each mission in a way that lets you interpret what the legend would do. It feels like you’re learning with him, and that makes things quite engaging.

It’s all quite Hitman-ish, if we’re being honest, but the intersection between IO’s past and present is a welcome presence when it’s all presented so well. That feeling only exacerbates when you drop into levels that immediately feel like they’re built to encourage a creative approach with large spaces facilitating multiple approaches to an objective, and a lot of freedom in how you choose to get there.

While some of you might find the tutorial a tad too long, I kind of appreciated how it felt like a very cool intro to a Bond movie, one where I was controlling the main man on the beginnings of his tryst with MI6. I can’t spoil anything for you, but if you’re the type of fan who knows about Stephen Fleming, you’re going to like how Bond’s introduced to the agency that eventually becomes the stage for his legend.

Things open up with the main story missions, and you’re going to be looking for every opportunity you can find as you explore massive levels. It’s a loop that’s built around discovering new ways to be cool, and then mixing and matching stuff to see what happens. That’s a really good way to encourage you to eavesdrop, bluff, find disguises, and generally play it cool. Things get even better when your gadgets come into play, and that’s especially true if you’re trying to keep a low profile.

"Bond is just agile in a way that Agent 47 could never manage, his attacks feeling fluid while their animations convey the unbridled aggression of a younger Bond who is yet to gain the efficient precision of his older, more experienced self."

You’ve got ways to make enemies sick, deploy electric shocks, use smoke bombs, plant explosive traps, and even use the environment to get the drop on unsuspecting foes. You’re encouraged to use everything you have, gathering intelligence and then acting on it as you see fit with results that are always interesting. It comes together beautifully, and is a very satisfying part of the experience.

It’s also where any similarities to Hitman end, as the combat system on offer acts as a solid differentiator. Bond is just agile in a way that Agent 47 could never manage, his attacks feeling fluid while their animations convey the unbridled aggression of a younger Bond who is yet to gain the efficient precision of his older, more experienced self. The resulting combat is brutal while still being grounded, and you can use punches, kicks, and grabs to give your enemies hell. Slamming them into walls or smashing stuff that I grabbed from around me was all very ‘free-flowing’, if you catch that reference to the Arkham franchise.

I love how the environment has been worked into combat, though. Both Bond and his enemies can use the environment in all the ways we described, and it’s a facet of the experience that reminds you that Bond is only human, and that his body has limits. It’s what grounds the combat, and does it so well, you’re going to find yourself wanting to improve and relishing new skills when you get them. The sheer physicality that the environment brings to each fight is hard to ignore because it’s prominent, and very welcome.

It’s just short of perfect, though, with a slightly high learning curve on the controls and a clunky camera in certain close-quarters fights but things click for the most part, giving you a stylish layer of action on top of the exploration and stealth bits. There are also quite a few QTEs that I could have done without. It’s 2026, for crying out loud. Of course, your Licence to Kill is going to come into play, and the gunplay on this one is solid. It’s not trying to be The Division 2, but First Light has a nice rhythm to its cover-based shooting.

"The visuals are a stunning showcase of graphical finery, working well with the voice acting to make this one a very immersive experience."

I’d say the enemy AI was a tad too inconsistent for my liking, though. They’re not the brightest tools in the antagonist’s shed, but it isn’t a major flaw as the AI is serviceable. It would have been nice to see this one shoot for something like Metal Gear Solid 5 but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. The set-pieces more than made up for it, though, and they’re genuinely memorable. We’re going to be talking about many of them in future articles, and they honestly had us thinking of Uncharted. First Light might be an attractive option if you’re on the fence and part of that particular fan base.

The level of production on the set-pieces is present across the board, and it’s among this one’s best features. The visuals are a stunning showcase of graphical finery, working well with the voice acting to make this one a very immersive experience. Detailed character models, strong atmospheric effects, and an excellent level of art direction make this one truly feel like a Bond game.

That praise extends to the audio design, with sound playing a big role in controlling the rise and fall of tension in scenes. It was especially great in stealthy sections, with the game using sound so well, I found myself breathing very quietly in my chair. The game performed quite well on our RTX 3080 Ti, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, and 16 GB of RAM, sustaining a consistent 4K resolution with DLSS set to Quality. All settings were at Ultra with the exception of shadow quality, volumetric fog, effects quality, and global illumination, which were set to High.

I got 35-50 fps out of the aging RTX 3080 Ti, with drops whenever there were massive explosions. I encountered a weird moment when the game slowed down drastically when all I did was bring up my gadget selection interface, but it wasn’t anything a restart didn’t fix. I’d say your mileage may vary depending on your system but performance does feel like it’s under strain in the game’s more demanding moments.

"The few minor gripes I had melted away in the face of a game that’s as confident as its protagonist, while being a highly enjoyable trot around the globe"

You’ve probably guessed what we think about this one by now. 007 First Light is a fantastic Bond game that truly understands its source material and translates that into a great stealth-action experience for a modern audience. IO has avoided the pitfalls of making young James feel like a Hitman reskin while integrating excellent stealth, combat, and emergent mechanics that all give the game its own identity.

Its mechanics work very well with a story that puts them to use, especially during the more curated set-pieces that are brought to life by truly stunning production values and a level of polish that even a younger Bond would appreciate. It isn’t flawless but the few minor gripes I had melted away in the face of a game that’s as confident as its protagonist, while being a highly enjoyable trot around the globe, with British humor in my pocket at all times.

007 First Light sets a strong foundation for a potential franchise, and I must say that as far as origin stories for that purpose go, this one’s a hell of a start!

This game was reviewed on PC.

Note: Varun Karunakar contributed to this review.

The combat felt punchy, the graphics looked absolutely stunning, and the story seemed like something that might be right up my alley. And all of that at a price point of 25 USD? The whole combination felt almost unbelievable. Something had to give, right? Well, after playing the game, things are not always smooth for our protagonist Samson.

Let’s focus on the story first. You play as Samson McCray, a former driver who returns to his hometown of Tyndalston carrying a huge debt after a heist gone wrong. His sister Oonagh made a deal with the bad guys, and if Samson pays back the debt, their lives will be spared. Much of the plot has a serious, dark tone, as you take on jobs (more on that in a bit) to slowly pay off what you owe. Along the way, you meet quite a few characters, each with their own twists to the tale.

"There is pretty much every kind of job you could imagine here, whether it is tailing an NPC, chasing down a convoy and crashing it out, taking out bad guys, delivering items, tackling time trials, or escaping the law in a chase."

Without revealing too much, this is a grounded urban crime story very much in the vein of Sleeping Dogs, and although it never reaches those heights, Samson still has a decent tale to tell. The voice acting is decent overall, though Oonagh’s performance can be pretty corny. Samson, on the other hand, kept me curious enough to see the story chapter by chapter. So overall, the plot is decent, and while it does not do much that feels fresh, it stayed engaging enough in my experience.

The core of Samson revolves around taking on jobs, earning money for the day, progressing the story, and paying off your debt. There is pretty much every kind of job you could imagine here, whether it is tailing an NPC, chasing down a convoy and crashing it out, taking out bad guys, delivering items, tackling time trials, or escaping the law in a chase.

It is all the sort of stuff that many open games have explored in the past. As such, these missions do not bring much novelty to the table, even if they are generally serviceable. If you are interested in Samson, chances are you have already played missions like these before. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes simplicity and a sense of familiarity are all you need, and Samson generally does an okay job with its mission design. However, if you are hoping for something truly remarkable like the standout missions you find in GTA, no, that is not happening here.

Once you complete jobs, you earn cash and action points, with the latter being used to complete or retry missions. Cash, meanwhile, can also be spent on repairing your vehicle, refilling petrol and nitro, and changing tyres.

Once you are out of action points, you return to your apartment. If you hit your daily debt targets, all is well, but if you keep missing them, you receive a strike, and the next morning enemies will show up at your place to beat the socks off you. It is an interesting system because it makes missed targets feel consequential and gives players a real sense of urgency as they try to stay on track.

"Speaking of that lack of polish, the game clearly has its share of animation and bug related issues. Samson climbs over fences awkwardly, his jump feels clunky and can sometimes leave him stuck between objects, and there is clipping here and there."

Combat forms the core loop of the experience, and when it works, the game does pack a punch, no pun intended. The combat itself is simple. You can dodge, throw light attacks, land heavy punches, use objects to lay the smackdown, and even make use of the environment to take enemies out.

The enemy AI is acceptable, but nothing special, and at times foes would just stand there and do nothing. The camera can also become hard to deal with, sometimes putting me in situations where I could not efficiently track multiple enemies at once. This kind of inconsistency does hurt the flow of fights, but when everything clicks, the combat system could be brutally satisfying.

The vehicle handling is on point, but its combat sequences are no Burnout. These are simple chase encounters where you just keep ramming enemy vehicles until they go down. There is no real sense of style to them, but they get the job done.

There is also a compact progression system where you earn XP and skill points to unlock abilities such as seeing police patrols on the minimap, carrying more painkillers, or making your vehicle deal more damage to targets. Overall, the combat system is solid, but there’s a clear sense that the game needed more time in development, as the inconsistent level of polish is hard to ignore.

Speaking of that lack of polish, the game clearly has its share of animation and bug related issues. Samson climbs over fences awkwardly, his jump feels clunky and can sometimes leave him stuck between objects, and there is clipping here and there. NPCs feel stiff, both visually and from a technical standpoint. Many of them simply stand around doing nothing or engage in random animations, nonsensical activities.

Their AI is fairly basic, and most of them feel like background filler more than meaningful parts of the world. Although some of them offer Stories, which serve as the game’s side lore, most interactions with them are bland or just lead to brawling. I wish Liquid Swords had done more with them, but it is clear they were never much of a priority. It all adds up to a game that feels like it needed more time to cook.

Fortunately, Samson’s world looks amazing, and it feels like most of the game’s budget went into the streets of Tyndalston and the sheer amount of detail they pack. Made up of several districts, Tyndalston is extremely well designed, with its drab, dark, and sad aesthetic standing out in all the right ways.

Thanks to the developer’s attention to the game’s art style, the city tells a story of its own. Finding points of interest and collectibles does add a welcome sense of exploration while free roaming. The visual quality of the world is easily one of the game’s biggest strengths, and although there is no dynamic day night cycle with time changing automatically as you take on jobs, the lighting and the overall charm of the city are still impressive.

On the technical side of things, Samson is a fairly demanding game. We ran it on an RTX 3080 Ti, Ryzen 9 5950X, and 16 GB of RAM, with every setting cranked up to Ultra and DLSS set to Performance. Frame rate stability was solid. We were not necessarily aiming for 60 FPS and above given the genre, but I can confidently say that dropping a few settings likely would have pushed it to that mark.

"At times, Samson does feel built around familiar mission templates, with the developers leaning more on proven ideas than bold ones."

Perhaps Samson’s biggest selling point is its price. At 25 USD, you are getting a largely functional game, and although there are noticeable issues across several areas, the price point and what the game gets right are definitely its biggest strengths. I doubt the AI problems can be fixed through patches, since that would require considerable effort, but the technical issues I mentioned certainly could be, if Liquid Swords intends to address them.

At times, Samson does feel built around familiar mission templates, with the developers leaning more on proven ideas than bold ones. That feeling is not entirely misplaced, as Samson does not take too many risks. On the other hand, it knows what it wants to do, and it does that in an acceptable manner. Its world design, hand to hand combat, visuals, daily debt paying system with consequences, and decent story do enough to make it worth that 25 USD asking price.

This game was reviewed on PC.