The Witcher 3 Remastered is bringing a fresh new take on an RPG that’s eleven years old at this point, and making the attempt right in the middle of a bevy of new games that have been competing for our attention, while GTA 6 looms large on the not-so-distant horizon.

It isn’t getting an empty runway and is up against some stiff competition, but we think Geralt’s a seasoned veteran who’s more than up to the challenge of holding his own against them. Let’s dive into why, beginning with that September 29 release date.

Timing As Precise As A Witcher’s

For the remaster to come out at a time when a bunch of great games have had a bit of time to taper off their initial explosions, and an October release calendar that’s fairly generous in the amount of time it affords it to cast a spell on its players, Remastered is playing its cards right as far as choosing its moment is concerned.

That release date is significant because it showcases confidence from its developers, as well as strategic considerations that make sense to those of us who have allowed our time in White Orchard and Velen to pull us to Novigrad and Skellige in the bargain. That window of opportunity in October, being as wide as it is, can only be good news for a game that’s easily captivating in its original form, coming with a slew of improvements to make it feel new.

The confidence part of things comes from choosing to release the game at a time when there are several great ones in play to divide player attention. It means CDPR is happy to allow the likes of Logan, Dylan, Simon, and even another beloved IP to take a shot at Remastered, and is optimistic about Geralt’s adventure striking enough of a chord to keep us tuned in despite them.

It’s a good idea, then, to think about why that’s the case.

Marvel’s Wolverine

Let’s talk about Marvel’s Wolverine, which has now been out for a couple of weeks and has overcome a bit of criticism to cement itself as another great PlayStation exclusive. Logan’s as seasoned and grizzled as Geralt, and probably operates along similarly grey moral lines, but he has the advantage of being in a brand-new AAA release from Insomniac, following in the shoes of an already successful IP.

He’s got massive production values bringing the world around him to life, while his story and combat have kept players on their toes since they began their look into the character’s latest chapter. The launch window attention Wolverine received has allowed it to show off its value proposition with aplomb.

But Remastered’s got advantages like longevity on its side. There may be Wolverine players who are already done with the story and most of its side content, and possibly waiting for a new game to sink their teeth into. Against this one, Remastered doesn’t necessarily need a bigger launch, and could allow Geralt to just have players stay with him longer than they need to with Logan.

Control Resonant

It’s time to bring the clock a little closer to when Remastered’s hitting the shelves, and Remedy’s altered version of Manhattan is definitely a threat to The Continent thanks to its new-gen presentation, the brand-new story and premise that automatically allow for some truly bizarre memories with the game, and a well-reputed studio behind it.

Factor in a combat system that’s just sublime, and a technological appeal that the game’s world creates space for, and you have a game that’s as fascinating as Geralt’s adventure, with the distinct edge of modernity and Remedy’s penchant for making you meet the unexpected.

But that comes with a price, and that’s literally a point in favor of Remastered since it’s a free upgrade. It’s easy to imagine a player with a copy of The Wild Hunt deciding to give the remaster a go while they save up to pick up a copy of Resonant once they’re done.

For some, the familiar might carry enough of an appeal to delay taking on Dylan’s fight against The Hiss for a while. But there’s another contender in this particular fray which released right alongside Resonant.

Silent Hill: Townfall

As another September 24 release, you could argue that this one’s appeal is directed at an entirely different audience, but there’s the consideration that this one’s definitely turning eyeballs away from Remastered, and for good reasons. But as a game that’s heavily focused on psychological horror, we believe it’s the perfect way to weave in one of The Witcher 3’s strengths.

Where Wolverine brings superhero action, Control lends a bit of the paranormal to its gameplay, and Townfall uses horror, Remastered has the advantage of a title that has all of this and more.

There’s the open-world, exploration, RPG progression systems, a very potent choice-based narrative, monster hunting, and so much more. Its appeal as a “main game” that you just lose yourself in cannot be denied.

Speaking of main games, there’s another September release that’s coming out right alongside Remastered that deserves a look.

Minecraft Dungeons 2

The obvious appeal of a much-awaited sequel in a gigantic franchise is evident here, and all we need to focus on is how each game targets very different audiences with distinct experiences on offer. It’s going to come down to personal tastes as far as its appeal against Remastered is concerned, but we’re once again drawn to the appeal of something that’s free for many players versus a title you need to pay full price for.

Budgets are then a variable to consider, especially in a month where it’s very likely that potential players might already be stretched too thin, having picked up some of the other enticing offerings that the month had to offer. Either way, launch comparisons with Dungeons 2 are tricky when it’s two vastly different titles vying for their players’ attention.

A Long Road Ahead

It’s all fine and dandy to think about games that already had their time in the spotlight and Remastered’s potential to overshadow them thanks to a later release date, but October isn’t letting up on the pressure, and is sure to test the new version’s staying power.

The month’s hitting fast and hard with Ace Combat 8 on the 2nd, and Gears of War: E-Day and Star Wars: Galactic Racer out on the 6th. That’s evidence that Remastered isn’t just competing against September’s lineup, but against October as well, with brand-new AAA titles trying to pull players out of the Continent’s spell almost as soon as it begins to take effect.

But can they succeed against a title that has such an addictive open-world structure coupled with details that just gnaw at you till you resolve them? From the old lady who needs help retrieving a frying pan from some alleged ruffians to some truly memorable, and even macabre stories to uncover on The Path, abandoning a playthrough once you get started in The Wild Hunt isn’t something you do easily.

But Remastered’s potential for retention is going to be further tested by two other major releases in the month.

Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen

Perhaps the most direct competitor to Remastered, Dark Arisen’s RPG trappings, world design, and quests, combat, and the appeal of entirely new additions to a title that did quite strongly when it first came out are all points in its favor.

Those systems are well utilized in a world that’s every bit as dangerous as The Continent, in an adventure that may not tell a story of the same size and scope, but is definitely good enough to warrant a look from players that Remastered might be hoping to hold on to for a while longer than its October 9 release date.

But Remastered does bring familiarity and nostalgia to the table, and the same budgetary constraints that give it an edge over other titles continue to hold thanks to it simply needing players to hit download and get started.

But Geralt’s combat prowess has yet another test waiting at the end of the month.

Phantom Blade Zero

October 29 is a date many action fans have marked on their calendars, and with Remastered already out for a month by then, we have to think about whether it can be appealing enough to players who’ve been eagerly waiting for this one to sink a few more hours into it once its novelty has worn off.

But given its vast breadth and the sheer scope of the narrative threads it puts on you, a lot of players might likely be far from done with it, and perhaps in too deep to satisfactorily extract themselves from the experience long enough for a new game to take root in their minds.

It’s not guaranteed, but we can’t deny that it’s a very strong possibility with a remaster of a game that’s already sold 65 million copies, is free for existing owners, and is bringing a list of changes that are nothing short of a labor of love from a team that has continued to add to it over a decade after it was first sent out in the world to carve its legacy. And it’s got enough reasons to enjoy a strong presence in modern gaming in its latest form.

Expecting The Unexpected

With launches across all available platforms and the new Switch 2 version, its expansions, all of its improvements, and Battle.net presence, The Witcher 3 Remastered is definitely a welcome addition to a very intense calendar of releases.

But it’s also got something else up its sleeve as the foundation for Songs of the Past and The Witcher 4, and its appeal as the first step in that direction is something to consider when you think about its potential success this year. When viewed through that lens, and with the scope of it feeling fresh enough to replicate its magic from years ago factored in, all the remaster might need is for players to hit download.

But then there’s GTA 6 a game against which every release the year has offered us so far pales in comparison to. But that one isn’t going to release on PC yet. And The Wild Hunt is kind of the perfect game to have as a secondary one that you’re chipping away at when you decide to game on another platform. We’re under no illusions that GTA 6 is going to lose players to anything this year, but with Remastered getting 51 full days before it releases, we think it’s a fantastic window for Geralt to leave a lasting impression on players old and new.

It’s definitely ironic that a game that’s nearly eleven years old has the potential to dominate the conversation ahead of this generation’s biggest release, especially when it’s competing against some truly fine ones. But we don’t think the question here should be whether Geralt’s adventure overshadows the competition.

Rather, we think it’s more about whether The Witcher 3 Remastered can be the game people continue playing right up until GTA 6 arrives. From where we’re standing, it’s poised to achieve that goal pretty well, and that’s a win in and of itself in our book.

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.

But while the “official” data isn’t out yet, Xbox sources reportedly told The Verge that pre-orders for the game are “heavily skewed” to PS5. Keep in mind that the sheer number of pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 – which Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called “unprecedented and astonishing” could ensure that the Series X/S is still getting a hefty amount. But even if we assume “heavily” means 70 to 30, it’s still incredibly underwhelming for a console whose revenue has constantly declined and is now in its most challenging period yet, with memory shortages, price hikes, layoffs, restructuring, and a clear lack of a plan.

Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball has since pushed back on the report, saying that the company is “very happy” with GTA 6 pre-orders, that the game is already breaking Xbox records, and that its share of pre-orders is matching its share of the console market. But that last point is important. It doesn’t necessarily contradict reports of a heavily PlayStation-skewed split; rather, it suggests that the disparity is broadly in line with Xbox’s existing position in the console market. GTA 6 can therefore be performing exceptionally well on Xbox while still highlighting just how much smaller its current console footprint is compared to PlayStation.

Then again, it begs another question: Why are so many pre-ordering on PlayStation 5 in the first place?

Yes, it’s the dominant console with over 95.3 million units shipped worldwide. PlayStation is also a market leader, eating Xbox’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert since 2013. But even if most of those shipments are front-loaded near the beginning of the console’s lifecycle, it’s achieved that total despite its own challenges and price hikes.

Also, for all intents and purposes, Grand Theft Auto is inexorably linked with PlayStation. Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 first launched on Xbox 360 and PS3, but the 3D era first began on the PlayStation 2 with Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas. So Microsoft could announce GTA 4 at E3, complete with then-head Peter Moore tattooing the logo on his arm in a move that was bizarre even by mid-2000s marketing standards, and follow up with a timed-exclusive deal for both expansions. It still didn’t change the fact that most players thought of PlayStation when it came to the series.

Of course, we can’t forget Sony’s marketing relationship with Rockstar Games. While we’ve only really seen limited-edition DualSense controllers, you can’t forget about previous moves, like adding Grand Theft Auto Online to PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium for several months at a time. Or the fact that Grand Theft Auto Online was free for all PS5 players with GTA 5’s Enhanced Edition back in 2022. So when Sony touts its “close partnership” with Rockstar, it’s more than just spiel.

And if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the Extended Look, which Rockstar proudly proclaimed was running on PS5. Millions upon millions of viewers saw Leonida unfolding before them with incredible depth and realism, and even if it was running at 30 frames per second, the subliminal message is already clear: You want this on PS5. The other half of that equation is that if you pick up a PS5 Pro, it will look even better (regardless of reports about whether 60 FPS will be available by launch or even shortly after).

All of this only comes back to Xbox’s problems. It’s not just the lack of high-profile first-party exclusives, and the solution – at least in the short term – isn’t to make titles like Gears of War: E-Day or Clockwork Revolution suddenly fill that void. New Xbox leadership probably thinks it’s all about leveraging its biggest franchises – Halo, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout – and pumping out as many new titles as possible.

But in this day and age where triple-A first-party exclusives take years and years to deliver, and simply commanding that they’re produced faster hasn’t really worked – especially in the quality department – you have to wonder if that’s really going to translate into increased hardware revenue. Besides, it also ignores what’s always been a massive issue for Xbox: Third-party support.

Sure, 4A Games are offering their titles on day one for Game Pass, and appearing at all the Xbox showcases, big and small. But for most, the third-party console of choice is PlayStation. It could be titles like Black Myth: Wukong, which was exclusive to the platform for a year and sold tens of millions of copies. It could be the upcoming Phantom Blade Zero, currently sitting at over three million wishlists across all platforms, and also exclusive to PS5 for 12 months. Maybe even the recently released Silent Hill: Townfall.

But even smaller releases like Falcom’s Trails series have famously avoided launching on Xbox, even if that’s more down to how its audience in Japan is primarily PlayStation-focused (with Nintendo slowly coming up). How many reports have we seen, including recently with Star Wars Zero Company, where PS5 was noted as the dominant console? How many estimates or analyses have put Xbox ahead for any multiplatform title? And as nice as other big developers have been, not a single one will make their title Xbox-exclusive. It simply doesn’t make sense, especially with the overwhelming number of PS5 players and the brand’s dominance.

If anything, Grand Theft Auto 6’s “heavily skewed” pre-orders, alleged though they may be, only expose a long-term weakness for Xbox. And before you ask why all this should matter, especially when next-gen consoles are reportedly launching next year, that’s precisely why.

While I have no doubt the biggest developers and publishers will target both the PS6 and Helix for their releases, you know which they’re favoring more. The minds at Xbox can make all these supposedly big moves, consolidating their studios, and focusing on the biggest IPs. But they’re also in the process of shutting down Ninja Theory, have already said good-bye to Undead Labs, Compulsion, and Double Fine – never mind Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush back in 2024 – and outright gutted studios like id Software. The point of these acquisitions was to deliver a diverse line-up of games, where creativity mattered, fueled by Game Pass. But that dream has long since died.

Maybe Helix’s long-term goal is to create a platform that can deliver high-fidelity visuals for PC games, and also happens to have Xbox exclusives, however sparse they may be. Pricing will be a problem; forget catering to those who already own high-end PCs. Whatever the case, it feels like time is a flat circle with this division. Not enough games, acquire a bunch of studios, still not enough games, close several studios, repeat until the division is probably spun off entirely. And let’s not forget about the developers that it signed publishing agreements with, only to leave them high and dry, such as Avalanche’s Contraband and IO Interactive’s Project Fantasy, which led to layoffs for both.

The worst part is that this isn’t an issue Xbox can solve, whether it’s dominating a significant market share with its current hardware or showing third-party studios why they should favor its platform (unless they’re Hideo Kojima, of course).

So while Grand Theft Auto 6’s popularity on PS5 may be elementary, it’s far from a sign of the times for Xbox. And if the response is to simply lean on the strength of its biggest IPs as reassurance for the future, it may risk overlooking the broader challenges reflected in those rumored pre-order numbers

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.

Sorry, “eliminations.” This time, it’s for Halo Studios, with 268 roles gone, and the once-343 Industries reduced to little more than…something. Xbox CCO Matt Booty said a “small team at Halo Studios will continue supporting the Halo community and games in-market,” which is curious because Infinite already had its last content update. Halo: Campaign Evolved, the only title ever released under the rebranded Halo Studios moniker, isn’t getting any DLC or new features (and that was before this whole rigmarole). At best, this team will probably handle bug fixes and any critical issues with either title for however long Xbox deems worthwhile. Could be for several years, could be several weeks – we don’t know.

What we do know is the next Halo is officially in the works, and it’s under Activision. Yes, that Activision, primarily known for publishing Call of Duty (and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in one of the bigger “huh?” inducing moments in retrospect). The title is “led by a new, purpose-built team that is separate from ongoing development and plans for Call of Duty,” says Booty. Now, no single Call of Duty title is developed by a single studio, so the word “led” could imply the involvement of others. The Hollywood Reporter hearing that this will allegedly be a “full-feature, mainline installment” indicates multiplayer – if Activision president Rob Kostiche proclaiming the goal to make “the greatest Halo game ever” while still catering to everything fans love about the franchise wasn’t enough indication.

Right away, the first question is “Why?” And no, we don’t mean why World’s Edge and Rare are now under the publisher’s purview as well (with the former being cut in half as part of layoffs).

Why Activision, especially considering how rundown the Call of Duty franchise has been through the years? The obvious answer is obvious enough – because Call of Duty continues to sell, against all odds and increasingly terrible campaigns (though Modern Warfare 4 could mercifully fix that). But I think it’s even simpler than just handing off the first-person shooter franchise to a publisher that, for better or worse, specializes in them.

Go back to June when rumors first circulated about Xbox’s upcoming reset and mass layoffs. The Information reported at the time that the division wanted to “move faster” on creating new entries for franchises like Halo, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. We’ve already seen that with the announcement of remasters for Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Fallout 5 confirmed to be the “long-range destination”, and Fallout: New Vegas developer working with Bethesda on a brand new entry. The Outer Worlds studio is now working under Bethesda, by the way, as part of this whole reorganisation, but we’ll get back to that.

For all intents and purposes, giving Halo to Activision seems like a plan to consistently produce new games. Given that Call of Duty is the publisher’s biggest revenue earner, year in and year out, it makes even more sense to leverage its other big flagship shooter, multiplayer and all. That’s probably why it didn’t pass this off to, say, id Software. Besides the latter facing extensive layoffs and being nowhere near the same size to put out another DOOM: The Dark Ages, it takes years to produce new games. Competitive multiplayer for a casual audience also isn’t in its wheelhouse.

Of course, this reorganisation is more than just a fancier term for layoffs while reducing management layers and ensuring multiple studios function under one roof. It’s also more than just a leaner model with fewer publishers, or even a uniform development model that only specialises in potential hits rather than niche endeavors. See: Hellblade developer Ninja Theory now in consultation for a “proposed closure” after prior agreements fell through, even though other “paths” forward are being explored.

Besides effectively undoing so many of the acquisitions over the course of a decade, it’s also Xbox prioritising products above all else. Which would seem like a good thing to most gamers. After all, Halo Studios/343 Industries has dropped the ball consistently on the franchise, and many fans demanded an overhaul in leadership. The mixed player response to Campaign Evolved doubtless contributed to that as well, even with positive critical acclaim. The fact it’s taken five years for the studio to churn out a remake – not even a fully-fledged, full-priced title – which seemingly failed to set the charts on fire was probably something that Spencer’s regime could tolerate. Not this one, though.

Xbox leadership has also made clear that it wants to cultivate more console exclusives – even if this current generation is lost, then perhaps for Project Helix down the line. That doesn’t just mean giving existing IP to other, seemingly more competent studios. It means establishing a reliable pipeline for the future.

But the focus on products is to the exclusion of everything else. Look no further than Gears of War: E-Day’s story director being laid off, or Halo Studios’ cinematic director Josh Daniels, who was promoted and then laid off in short order. And while Xbox says Turn 10 and Playground have been “consolidated” into a single studio, the former was little more than a support studio after last year’s mass layoffs. This is little more than the remaining employees becoming Playground employees.

It’s also leadership essentially saying you can work for years and years, even on high-profile projects it’s demanding you churn out, now at a rapid pace, and remain expendable. Is the project a success, even with the stagnant Game Pass cannibalising sales? Layoffs. Is it a failure for any number of reasons? Layoffs. Is your studio under another’s leadership because it would make communication easier? Believe it or not, layoffs.

If you’re going to focus on a handful of major franchises, when do you stop jettisoning worthwhile talent? Does the “plan is the plan until it isn’t the plan” include changing your approach on a whim? If the goal is to release Halo titles more regularly, and one of the biggest criticisms for years is the amount of contractors cycled in and out, how will this constant churning of talent work?

It almost reminds me of Bungie, ironically enough, coming out recently and saying that it’s not done with Destiny, and how it wants to explore new stories and worlds…right after Sony laid off the overwhelming majority working on the franchise. I know it’s hard to believe, but game developers – or really anyone – aren’t exactly keen to work at places where a guillotine constantly lingers over their heads. It also makes you wonder if this is the fate that could befall Gears of War if E-Day isn’t a massive success by Xbox’s standards. Another IP to the Activision factory, and call it a day with some layoffs on top. Same with inXile if Clockwork Revolution doesn’t pan out, perhaps. To the Fallout and Elder Scrolls mines you go.

Maybe this new regime really likes clean slates. Maybe it’s getting rid of its most experienced, most expensive employees for the sake of cheaper talent – such is the focus on output. At least for Halo, the sheer amount of money at Activision’s disposal means it can throw as many resources as feasible to create a new game. What will happen if it flops? Well, maybe another big reset and consolidations, and even more layoffs.

Everything may appear more uniform and less muddled in terms of infrastructure, but the fact remains: No one and nothing is safe. Xbox probably thinks the bigger picture is worth these changes, and that if nothing else, it’s cutting spending to tidy up its fiscal reports at the end of the year. Whether that translates into good games or not is ultimately irrelevant.

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.

But what if there’s more to the story than that? With Songs of the Past already on its way and a Ciri-focused sequel rapidly becoming more than just a blip on a distant horizon, you already have three years of Witcher content, all of it telling new stories or giving us fresh ways to enjoy old ones we know and love.

Why does that make us sit up and take notice? Because we believe it’s a strategy from CDPR, as it sets up a new chapter for a franchise that made it a household name. The Witcher 3 Remastered matters more than you think, because it’s set to define what players old and new should expect from a modern Witcher game.

A Lasting Legacy

It’s important to consider why a new set of expectations matters so much to the Witcher franchise as a whole. Without Remastered in the picture, Ciri’s upcoming adventure will have had to follow a game that’s nearly thirteen years old. That’s more than a decade of evolutions that help power experiences that would far outstrip anything a last-gen title can manage, no matter how great or how adored across the board it is.

But that’s changed now, and The Witcher 4 is now going to be compared to a title that’s been modernized and potentially has hours upon hours of playtime from a new set of players who might not have played it the first time around. Factor in all of the seasoned Witchers who are going to return to The Continent for one last romp through it with Geralt, and you have a legion of fans whose memories of the revamped combat, progression, presentation, and UI are now fresh, their expectations from the franchise now recalibrated.

We say that after thinking about what drove our playthrough of the original release of The Wild Hunt, and what could feel different this time around. Our time with it then laid out a gameplay loop that wove in an intense story, well-written quests, intriguing characters and choices that influenced their arcs, and, of course, The Continent and its many monsters into the mix.

But engaging with all of that could feel clunky from time to time, a facet of the experience we already discussed as a major area of improvement in Remastered. You could look at the new release as a way to improve on the original’s mechanical vocabulary.

The question to ask in relation to The Witcher 4, then, is this: is it going to be measured against the original release of The Wild Hunt, or a new and improved version of it that’s still relatively fresh in everyone’s memory? Can Ciri hold a candle to the man who taught her so much of what she knows, and whom she respects as a friend, father figure, and mentor?

Well-Travelled Shoes To Fill

CDPR has already confirmed that Geralt’s going to be in the new game, and that his new role isn’t going to overshadow Ciri’s story. But the studio’s assertion that Songs of the Past will have him return for one last adventure before passing the torch to his adoptive daughter is significant.

That’s because it means she isn’t competing with a version of Geralt that’s over a decade old, but one that’s fresh in the minds of the same players who are now filling her shoes. CDPR getting us to join Geralt not once, but twice, before Ciri takes over immediately has us wondering if the person she’s grown to be can manage to have her story judged on its own terms instead of being compared to one that has cemented itself in modern gaming’s history.

It’s also worth considering that The Witcher 3 hasn’t exactly been dormant all these years, with a current-gen version, which could be solid reasons for players who might have only enjoyed the base game to consider another stint on The Path, alongside a brand-new expansion.

That immediately reshapes the audience that The Witcher 4 must then please, turning them from a crowd of veteran Witchers to one that has potentially experienced the base game, returning fans of the franchise who might know more about it from its source materials instead of just being informed by the games, and people who discovered its magic through Remastered.

That’s a tough crowd in any situation, and it becomes a considerable risk in some regards, a facet we’re getting to in just a minute. Let’s talk a little about Songs of the Past first.

A Well-Planned Effort

As an expansion that’s falling squarely in the middle of Remastered and The Witcher 4, Songs of the Past isn’t just an opportunity to show off Letten, or perhaps cap off Geralt’s story with a memorable closing adventure. It’s also a chance for The Wild Hunt to build on the foundation that Remastered is now laying out.

For all of the great additions that are coming to The Continent, there’s no denying the fact that it’s still largely the same game underneath. It’s the same exploration loop with a lot of great bells and whistles layered on top of it. But its mechanical improvements are still new ways to enjoy an old game at the end of it

But if you think about its changes as a foundation upon which the future of the franchise is now being built, Songs of the Past becomes an expansion that builds on it, ushering in Ciri’s story while giving us more insight into Geralt, and hopefully even a look at how his relationship with our new heroine has evolved since the ending of the base game.

It makes Remastered less of a retrospective celebration and more like a new Path for Geralt and Ciri to travel on, one that ends in a sequel that could truly benefit from the groundwork it’s laying out. But what if things turn out another way?

We know we just said that Remastered is still the same adventure, but is that going to matter once you set foot in White Orchard? It’s quite hard to resist the pull of the world that Geralt’s a part of in The Wild Hunt, and it’s harder not to feel a void when you finally roll the credits on it. That sentiment hasn’t been eroded by time, and making the original game so much better can set expectations that Ciri might find hard to meet.

The storytelling has to evolve an already solid offering that Remastered doesn’t really have to touch, while the quests and world that help guide that adventure along cannot stop at being engaging. They need to foster connections that keep players talking about them for years, just as Geralt’s last outing has managed.

It’s kind of a paradox, one that puts two games that should be seen as one great story in competition with each other. The more Remastered raises the bar for what a Witcher game should be, the less it removes the risk of obsolescence that would allow the next game in the franchise some breathing room.

But CDPR doesn’t seem concerned about that at all, and that’s a good thing.

Moving Forward With Momentum

We’re actually of the opinion that Remastered and Songs of the Past are parts of a wider strategy from the studio, allowing it to position The Witcher 4 as something else entirely. It can’t just be The Witcher 3 in a more modern shell, a comparison that could have arisen if Remastered didn’t already handle the job of modernizing the franchise’s previous entry.

That allows Ciri’s story the freedom to be something more, with a potentially new saga, new places to see, new monsters to fight, and new systems and design ideas that could feel unique while remaining true to the tenets that put the franchise on the map in the first place. It won’t have to spend its entire existence recreating the previous game’s magic, but can instead focus on redirecting it in new and equally interesting ways.

The Witcher 4 might be the start of a new chapter for the franchise, and we’re glad that CDPR isn’t asking us to jump into it directly after an eleven-year gap. By reminding us about why The Wild Hunt is as widely appreciated as it is, before sending Geralt off on one more adventure and handing over the franchise’s reins to Ciri, Remastered is step one of a plan that could help the franchise enter a new era of modern gaming with a strong footing.

And that’s why Remastered matters more than just prettier foliage or smoother combat. It’s an effort that puts the franchise on The Pendulum at Kaer Morhen and shows us exactly why a Witcher is to be respected, and perhaps even feared.

As an effort that changes the game that its sequel has to follow, Remastered is more than a reimagining of a widely praised game; it is one that changes it enough to make the game that follows it work hard to earn its success. That’s definitely something to look forward to, and perhaps even look back at to appreciate once it’s all said and done.

Time will tell if we’re right, but we’re willing to have faith in a team that has already cast a spell on us, and refuses to let that spell lose its potency even eleven years later.

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.

Thus, many publishers and developers enter panic mode, shifting their releases hither and yon, focusing on three months – August, September and October. That didn’t even count those still planning to launch this year but hadn’t officially announced a release date, like Fable and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. Of course, we all know what happened next. Delays to next year, further shifts within these months – like Onimusha: Way of the Sword launching earlier in September or Phantom Blade Zero being delayed to late October. Maybe that was always the plan, or perhaps they came to their senses and realized that overloading any of these dates would be a recipe for disaster.

That doesn’t necessarily mean players can afford every single release within a span of weeks. And yet, even with all those warnings about “too much of something,” we still found ourselves looking forward to the deluge. Because if the industry, which is only shipping more and more titles with each passing year, has proven anything, it’s that there can’t be too many video games.

However, the past several weeks have stood out for a different reason: Delivering one of the best stretches of releases in years. While I wouldn’t go as far as calling August or September objectively the best on their own, the quality, depth and variety of these releases have also stood out above all.

In the latter half of August alone, we had The Sinking City 2, a follow-up to Frogwares’ cult-classic investigative horror but dabbling more in survival and shooting than before. Even with mixed opinions on this shift, players and critics found the overall package good and a worthy addition to the admittedly lackluster catalogue of fun games. This was followed by the Souls-like Mortal Shell 2, which also shifted away from its predecessor by introducing an open world, albeit one that eschewed scale for denser environments that rewarded exploration.

Then there was Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, and quite frankly, what else needs to be said about the availability of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on modern consoles? It may not seem like that much of a big deal, but this game remained trapped on the PS3 for almost two decades. That you can now experience the complete story of Big Boss and Solid Snake on modern platforms, that too with visual improvements depending on the title, is nothing short of fantastic.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy was next. A great prequel and one that delivered a compelling narrative with surprisingly competent combat and exploration, so it’s a shame it doesn’t seem to have the sales charts on fire, especially after the previous two games’ momentum.

Star Wars: Zero Company fared better, quickly receiving critical praise and standing out with its player numbers on Steam. Even with the XCOM legacy to live up to – not to mention appeasing hardcore fans of The Clone Wars era – Bit Reactor pulled it off, delivering a strong narrative, meaningful characters, and some fun tactical turn-based action that somehow managed to feel fresh.

Of course, by this point, it was clear that many players were looking forward to the two heaviest hitters to kick off September – Onimusha: Way of the Sword and The Blood of Dawnwalker. Both were successful in their own right, having sold a million copies each shortly after launch, even if the only thing they really share in common is swords.

You would think the momentum would slow at some point, especially with Marvel’s Wolverine launching mid-September. But then Valheim exited early access and, surprisingly, no one, it’s still one of the best survival crafting experiences out there. Of course, Logan’s extended soliloquy followed less than a week later, and despite some flaws, it seems to have landed pretty well among PS5 players, with a 4.8 out of 5-star score on the PlayStation Store based on around 29,000 ratings.

But even with all these releases out, there was yet another surprise: Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter. As a remake of my favorite entry in the series, and one of the finest RPGs of all time, it’s currently the highest-rated new title of 2026 on both Opencritic and Metacritic. And if a sweeping fantasy epic like this isn’t enough, there’s also Control Resonant, Remedy’s fantastic action RPG that builds on everything from the original while forging ahead in exciting new directions. Silent Hill: Townfall is the first full-length title in the series to offer a first-person perspective, and has been intriguing enough for horror fans.

And even if we’re not talking about new entries, older titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 received a venerable shot in the arm with its 2.0 update and Cost of Hope. Many probably expected it to come and go, but it currently has an 86 OpenCritic score – not bad for an expansion, and even higher than some full games we’ve mentioned.

Now, I’m not saying that there haven’t been some disappointments – Halloween: The Game and Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 are a few examples that come to mind. But the past several weeks have reinforced a trend that’s really defined the year as a whole: Variety is truly the spice of life, even if the selection is overwhelming. After all, if you go further back into August, there are some fantastic experiences like Big Walk and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls to dive into (though maybe not on PC for the latter). Then you had unorthodox efforts like Iron Nest, which simulates operating a massive gun turret all on your lonesome, or ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs, which, as the name indicates, has you repairing older appliances. Both are rated “Overwhelmingly Positive” on Steam currently.

And this won’t stop any time soon. Nivalis Nights is a cyberpunk restaurant management title, but also lets you seamlessly explore its city and chat up dozens of fully voiced NPCs. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered may as well be considered a new release with the sheer number of changes and overhauls, and that’s not even accounting for Ace Combat 8, Gears of War: E-Day, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Order of the Sinking Star, and Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen – all as different as can be.

Maybe some of them are just good rather than overwhelmingly excellent. Maybe we’ll forget about them when Grand Theft Auto 6 lands and the outside world as we know it ceases to exist for however many weeks. Regardless, 2026 is a year where there’s no shortage of tastes accounted for; where the variety of releases has matched the quality surprisingly well; and a reminder that your backlog isn’t getting any smaller anytime soon.

Even if there was sheer trepidation at the number of games to look forward to in such a short space, the past weeks have proven that there too much of a good thing may not be all that bad. And as much as there’s fear about triple-A titles dumbing things down to attract the widest audience, a boatload of other releases prove just how engaging the medium can be, regardless of budget.

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.

However, we believe that’s a sentiment that’s understandable only if you haven’t dived into the experience yet and are perhaps drawing impressions from the online discourse around it. It’s a title that draws you in from its very opening, and can have you so immersed in the experience that the hours can go by pretty quickly before you realize your hands have your controllers in a death grip.

But what is it about Marvel’s Wolverine that makes it so addictive? Why is Insomniac’s version of the character so hard to walk away from? We’re here to tell you all about it, claws out and a challenging roar at the ready. Let’s go!

Feral Fighting

If you guessed that the combat is a part of the game’s allure, give yourself a pat on the back. It’s the star of the show and is the connecting thread between Logan the man and Wolverine the mask. Wolverine doesn’t simply have a combat system; instead, it’s a combat system that happens to have a great, Logan-focused story around it.

Get to the credits, and it’s easy to feel like the entire game was designed around putting as many enemies between Logan and his objectives, and letting him cut loose with utter disdain for his foes. The stakes are too high for either side to show any hint of mercy, and the combat is suitably aggressive, brutal, and often so evocative of Logan’s primal ferocity that it just slaps.

You see it in the way Logan closes impossible distances in a single bound, his claws at the ready as he prepares to sink them into a Reaver who just took a shot at him. It’s in the way your parries are designed to fuel an aggressive approach, allowing Logan to keep attacking enemies off-balance while accruing enough Rage to bring them down.

Of course, Logan’s well-documented driving force becomes a central mechanic to the combat, and it’s a design choice that has worked very well to make Logan a brawler who feels very unique in the hands. Having to work with it during combat gives each fight a sort of escalating rhythm that is then rewarded by moves like Logan’s Barrage, which makes getting up close and personal feel like an extension of the man’s taste for melee combat.

But that connection between the character and the combat is more than just the anger that’s always bubbling on the surface. It’s in the way Logan moves, the knowledge that his adamantium skeleton lets him tank a few hits being evident in the way he throws himself into enemy fire.

He frequently gets enough of the monster he so diligently controls out of its cage to take on rapidly escalating threats, tearing through groups and even letting his objective get away from him to take on a bunch of Reavers who shoot at him, a scene that’s been around since the early gameplay showcase.

Yes, his senses are certainly enough for him to get back on the scent, but his reactive nature and the way it makes him act is just a part of his personality in Marvel’s Wolverine, rather than a story or gameplay beat that’s used just to pad out its runtime. It’s an aspect of the game that’s received critical praise, while even reviews that weren’t fully on board with the experience praised how visceral the combat could feel when you dive in.

However, combat’s only one part of the experience, and we think Wolverine has been intelligent about how it has crafted everything else to feed into the combat system, just as Logan’s rage drives him to keep pushing forward even in the direst of circumstances.

Frenetic Pacing

It’s a testament to how well Marvel’s Wolverine is paced that we ended up well into the game’s second act before we ended our first session of playing it. The pace is set pretty early on in the story, and the blood flows enough to make a river that carries the narrative along at a breakneck speed.

There’s no giant map with a bunch of distractions calling you away to cross things off yet another checklist. There’s just you, Logan, and whatever fight or set piece the story has lined up for you next, all backed up by some excellent presentation and great visual work to sell the spectacle of it all.

Wolverine has been streamlined in a way that makes its linear story a rollercoaster that you’re going to find refreshing if you’ve been experiencing any form of open-world fatigue. It’s been criticized for being too linear for some tastes (we loved it!), but it’s that very facet of the experience that makes it a solid game.

That’s also created the scope for a level of polish that helps the cutscenes and gameplay contribute equally to the feeling that we’re actually playing Logan, and not just a generic sprite with claws and an adamantium skeleton slapped on to it. We’ve talked about how he moves, but it’s equally important to consider how his enemies react to the onslaughts he unleashes upon them.

In both cutscenes and actual gameplay, enemies have visible reactions to the horrors that Logan inflicts on them in the course of a fight. Hack off a Reaver’s limb, and they’re going to stop and stare at the stump in utter horror before you end their misery with a quick and decisive blow. Their faces scrunch up in agony once Logan manages to get the drop on them, and the blood that spatters Logan and the surrounding area looks all too real when you’re squeamish at the sight of it.

Wolverine blends its story and combat system into a game where the visual feedback you’re given at all times helps make the entire thing so darn immersive it’s so easy to get into a flow state and watch the spectacle of your take on Logan unfold on your screens. The many boss fights that punctuate the journey are where things come together and present a game that’s been designed to do what Logan does best.

Take Omega Red, for instance, since he’s probably already dead at your hands if you’ve been playing the game with some form of self-discipline. He’s imposing, and already presented as being formidable enough to take Sabertooth out of the equation when you first square off against him.

And yet, the actual fight doesn’t make you hold back, but instead use Logan’s skills as intelligently as you can to ensure that you overwhelm the smug villain and take him out of the equation with deadly force. That’s something that happens in most of the boss fights you take on, and each one is going to make you stop to catch your breath; the return to reality is rather jarring after all of the simulated explosions, curses, and roars that just had you fully engaged moments ago.

You’ve probably already guessed there’s a fight with Sabertooth coming given how snarky he’s been so far, and you’re right. That one is a great showcase of how you’re expected to take advantage of mechanics other than dodges and parries. They can get you there, but at the increased risk of leaving Logan vulnerable to damage from a frankly overwhelming barrage of attacks, befitting Victor and the resentment he feels towards his Wolverine.

It’s a fight where the story and combat collide, making for a very insightful peek into Logan and Victor’s library while setting up an interesting arc for the two men in the rest of the story and beyond. There’s no better showcase of how the combat, story, and presentation bring out the feral side of its cast, and showcase fights that make use of it with a visual and design language that leans into it.

It’s evident in how Sabertooth gives in to his animalistic side, choosing to bound and leap on all fours, unleashing a feral side that he barely kept contained when Essex was an ally. He’s vicious, cunning, and a predator who is Logan’s equal, and the game isn’t afraid to present the rivalry between the two men in a manner that’s raw and considerate of their often differing points of view.

Marvel’s Wolverine brings so many moments like this to the table. But how does it sustain that momentum over the time it takes you to roll the credits on it?

Pathed Progress

We’ve seen a few critics argue that the game’s combat lacks depth and becomes repetitive, but we don’t entirely agree with that assessment. A steady stream of skills and upgrades is definitely part of what makes Wolverine so addictive to us, and while Logan may not have the sheer mechanical variety of some other superheroes, that feels entirely appropriate for the character. This is Logan we’re talking about, after all.

He doesn’t need fancy moves or gadgets. He’s a feral fighter who’s more than happy to dive into battle with his healing factor and bone claws, with the adamantium skeleton simply being a bonus to an already capable and seasoned warrior. Logan’s as old-school as they come, his violent life stripping away a need for comforts that others might cling to.

Why should a game that’s about him embody anything else? We’d argue that simplicity is a way to reinforce everything you get to use, and then let you get creative about unleashing them in the heat of battle. Wolverine understands it’s asking you to do a set of similar things for several hours, and has ensured that doing those things is a lot of fun.

As an action game and one focused on Logan, it’s definitely among the best at what it does. Like Logan, not everyone may agree with what it does and how it does it. But that doesn’t make what it has tried to make of the character any less spectacular and addictively simple. It’s been judged on whether it does enough to evolve the superhero formula.

We say it doesn’t have to, and perhaps never intended to. Logan isn’t really a big-picture guy and prefers to take action as quickly as he’s allowed to. And Marvel’s Wolverine lets him loose to do just that, while the story it has wrapped up the action in takes care of his human side well enough.

It’s made playing Wolverine feel ridiculously satisfying, and that’s a detail that’s an enormous part of why it’s going to keep Logan’s legions of fans coming back for more. If they own a PlayStation, that is.

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.

Let’s start with what we know before the game’s launch. Dylan Faden, former Prime Candidate turned mass murderer/Hiss host, awakens from a seven-year coma. He sees a Manhattan that’s suffering from a paranatural catastrophe. The Hiss, contained within the Oldest House for so long, has been set free. The Mold is doing Mold things, which means propagating uncontrollably. And then there are the Resonants – paranatural entities which formed somehow. Why and to what end?

That’s probably one of the questions that Dylan and the Federal Bureau of Control have to solve. Given everything that’s happened between the two, you wouldn’t think this to be an easy alliance at all. Remedy recently put up an image on Twitter of Dylan with the words “Murderer,” “Freak”, and “Labrat” written on it. In case that last line of “You killed my friends,” wasn’t obvious enough, the developer spells it out: “Not everyone in the FBC is a fan of Dylan Faden.” That includes Security Chief Simon Arish. Despite his “coolness under pressure,” he’s also been deeply affected by the Hiss Invasion and doesn’t trust Dylan.

What about those on his side (or appear to be)? We know about Emily, who’s now the acting co-director, and Zoe de Vera, an agent who doesn’t know about what happened in the Oldest House and must now deal with the consequences. We know that she stays in touch with Dylan during his forays across Manhattan, and their relationship seems cordial. At least for now.

But then even more questions. Why is Emily the “acting co-director”? Well, it’s because the director and Dylan’s sister, Jesse, has gone missing. Based on footage so far, especially for the Metro Fault, she apparently had an inkling something was coming, even if she couldn’t exactly decipher what. It’s clear she left the FBC to try and deal with it, but aside from these sequences where she and Dylan seemingly come close to interacting, we don’t know what that something is. One thing is for sure: When Jesse woke her brother, it wasn’t so that he could help, but instead, to run. From the FBC? From what’s coming? She didn’t exactly say.

That’s not even getting into the Fault itself, which seems to exist in a different plane. We see Dylan interacting with a game console and TV set to access further areas of the first Fault – it’s set up among a bed, gift-wrapped presents, and snacks. And no, we can’t explain the golden leaves, or the odd, eyeball-looking object in the distance. Which bears a pretty strong resemblance to the vision from The Lake House.

So what is it? Perhaps The Patterning. Art director Elmeri Raitanen told IGN that it’s a new paranatural threat, transforming the cityscape into this “weird algorithmic pattern.” Unsurprisingly, it’s also connected to the Resonants, who he notes to be “former persons of power at some sort of a focal point or an anchor point of this localized patterning. So this poor person somehow becomes amalgamated into their surroundings as well. So it’s not just the person, but becomes part of the environment.”

That would certainly explain the Deserter, who’s fought inside of a factory going haywire. The magma and pipes have seemingly fused with its entire being, expanding into one giant monstrous form. But the implication seems to be that this wasn’t done on purpose – instead, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ended up patterned.

However, we’ve also seen a Resonant, including the first that Dylan fights – the Medusa head-like entity that hurls rocks and cars at him – killing the Hiss. “The FBC doesn’t officially endorse the saying, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Zoe says over the radio. When they met face to face earlier, she also commented on how whatever this Altered World Event is, it’s stopping the Hiss. It’s also causing pockets of the city to disappear. Roads leading to voids with seemingly no end. Regardless, that would explain why the Hiss can’t spread any further and remain confined to Manhattan, inadvertently preventing an even bigger catastrophe.

That said, we don’t know if the Patterning – if that is indeed the same AWE that Zoe was referring to – is what’s responsible. It could just be another entity that’s doing its thing, creating Resonants and trying to spread its influence.

Which makes predicting what could happen much more challenging. One would think that Remedy is focusing on Dylan because it wants to present more of his story. After all, we don’t know much about how the FBC took him away or even what his childhood was like (which is much the same for Jesse). Part of me believes that this is being done to prepare for the future, and that maybe Jesse might meet her end, leaving Dylan to pick up the pieces. Perhaps that’s one of the more difficult decisions he has to make: Save Manhattan and thus the world, or his sister.

However, part of me is willing to believe that it isn’t quite that simple, even if Remedy outright said that Dylan would “Forge new connections, confront the deeds of his past and make impossible choices that will decide the fate of humanity.” At the very least, and based on that more recent image, we’ll see him dealing with the fallout from his Hiss-possessed days. Which should be even more interesting because he’s battling the entity head-on. How would it answer that, if it could at all?

Once again, too many questions, the what and why not neatly resolving themselves as one would like (and that doesn’t even come close to asking what Aberrant, Dylan’s weapon, even is). Even if Control Resonant is Remedy’s biggest game yet, you have to wonder how many narrative threads it’s really willing to tie up, and how many it wants to leave open for future titles. Nothing says the Hiss, the Patterning, or even the Mold need to be completely resolved, and everyone must have a happy ending (though it wouldn’t hurt for some). Because for the most part, that’s not what the franchise is about.

Instead, it’s about control, the lack thereof, the lengths its characters go to maintain it, and the deadly fallout from when they fail. With this new open-ended world, freedom is introduced as another core element, one inherently unique to Dylan, who’s remained locked away for the majority of his life. Will he embrace it and leave the FBC behind? Will he remain a slave to the past or overcome it? He’s already lived long enough to become the villain – is his next step to die as a hero? We’ll find out when Control Resonant launches on September 24th.

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.

After two successful beta periods (one that pretty much overshadowed Modern Warfare 4’s beta) and over one million wishlists, it launched on Steam last week and has sold two million copies in just five days. Furthermore, it peaked at nearly 430,000 concurrent players on the platform. Even now, it’s the third-most-played game on Steam, just behind Dota 2. And if all this wasn’t impressive enough, WARDOGS is in early access.

So what is it about the game? We’ve already seen other competitive multiplayer titles crash and burn this year, whether it’s the attempt at mashing every single genre together in Highguard or the much-hyped extraction shooter Marathon. Yet, Bulkhead has gone further beyond either of them, separately and combined.

First, it would probably help to explain what WARDOGS even is. Yes, it’s a first-person shooter with military sim aspects, which means it aims for a realistic, grounded experience. Weapons have realistic ballistics and bullet drop-off. You have limited inventory space, and besides ammo, you also need magazines to load them in, which must be done manually when they’re empty. While it’s not as realistic in terms of injuries as Tarkov, treating injuries still requires swapping to a separate item and waiting a few seconds to regain health. Suppression can affect your aim, and there’s no fancy sliding or jumping around, though going prone is very much an option.

Sounds like a cross between Battlefield and Hell Let Loose? Well, that’s one reason for the popularity – a comfortable middle ground that carries the pace of the former with the realism of the latter. But what really stands out is the sheer freedom.

WARDOGS, at its heart, is a multiplayer sandbox. Yes, it supports up to 100 players, and they’re divided into three PMCs, who fight over Control Zones that randomly appear on the map. While you score points by having the most players within the zone, its placement is random. Furthermore, there’s a Hot Zone which offers even more money if you happen to be within it.

So right away, there’s a recipe for out-and-out chaos, but that’s only the beginning. Owing to their status as PMCs, each player starts out with some spending money and can outfit themselves as necessary. Buy different weapons – no restrictions based on class and whatnot – or invest in vehicles. Load up on armor, helmets, healing and whatnot. Then set out to earn those points, hopefully netting more cash in the process.

And then we get to the real appeal of WARDOGS, which is: Do whatever you feel like. Which might inspire some confusion, because aren’t you supposed to run out and get a bunch of kills? Or even stick close to allies to heal and revive them? Well, yes, you can do that, and even get into a rocket helicopter and rain death down on enemies. You can pick up a sniper rifle and gun down enemies from afar, drive armored vehicles with machine gun turrets, and so on. But you can also not do any of that and still earn plenty of cash. You’re still likely confused, and really, it’s understandable. So here are a few more examples.

In WARDOGS, you don’t have to be good at dogfighting and whatnot. In fact, you could use a helicopter to just ferry teammates to the battlefield. The act itself earns money and XP towards one of six categories, and that’s only really scratching the surface. You could also transport supplies to help build a Forward Operating Base or F.O.B.

Let’s say you’re not particularly skilled at aiming, or need to drop a ton of explosive artillery on the opposing side when not building a SAM turret to take out their aerial units. You can purchase a hammer and build a F.O.B., creating walls and other fortifications, including doors and whatnot, for teams to hunker down in. There’s even a drill that you can build that pulls the Hot Zone to its location, so if your F.O.B. is particularly well-fortified (and maybe situated in one of the key points of interest on the map), it can be very difficult for the other sides to fight back. That is, unless they decide to attack with mortars of their own, or assault it with those previously mentioned rocket helicopters, or simply hot-drop a bunch of troops in from the air.

Feel like a more solo-heavy playstyle? Become a spotter. No, seriously. Just pick up a scope and mark enemy targets, whether it’s vehicles, other players or installations. You’ll receive cash and XP for each successfully marked target, and it requires nothing more than zooming in and hovering your mouse over them for a few seconds. Furthermore, this contributes to the Recon role. Progress enough through each of the six categories, and you’ll gain access to better weapons, armor, tools and whatnot.

And when you do, well, why not perform a little war profiteering? Buy a bunch of guns and sell them back at home base for a small markup, earning cash and Support XP in the process. Maybe you want to engage in multiple different activities, driving a respawn vehicle into the Control Zone and offering allies a way to redeploy faster without taking the long road back. Meanwhile, you’re carrying a backpack with an assault rifle for mid-range gun fights and a marksman rifle for long-range encounters. Note every dollar earned goes towards your overall bank, which carries forward into future matches.

Of course, that’s far from everything that you can do, and the sandbox nature of it all – right down to stealing an ally’s stuff before reviving them – makes it so that each match feels dynamic. There’s enough chaos due to the push and pull of clearing zones and earning points, not to mention those bunkering down in F.O.B.s and either attacking from afar with relative safety or defending their drills (or sniping perches, because why not). But when you factor in the interactions with other players, whether you’re assisting them or simply informing them to jump out of a helicopter because you don’t know how to land, it’s a feeling that mirrors some of the precious old-school multiplayer shooters. And best of all, it does this while offering a proper server browser.

Most modern games fail to truly replicate this level of enjoyment, though this isn’t to say that WARDOGS is perfect. Balance remains an ever-frail subject, but it’s clear that some weapons are far outperforming others. Hit registration is also problematic at times, and this is still a military shooter at heart. If you’re not used to that methodical style of play, then it can feel like little more than live, die, repeat (with the bonus of going further into debt).

Nevertheless, it’s something that’s clearly resonated with a large subsection of players – those who sought more from the likes of Battlefield or wanted a break from Hell Let Loose. That this is still just the beginning, with even more to come, is as exciting as it is concerning – there’s always room for unpopular changes to bring the whole thing down, as has often happened with some of the best shooters in the past. For now, however, WARDOGS stands out among its bigger-budget, triple-A competition and, in some areas, shows them how it should be done.

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.

Is it so much of a surprise, then, that a game focused on the man has equally drawn the ire of some critics for specific failings that others have instead praised? Is Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine a take on the character that translates his personality and style well enough to the video game format? Why does one critic see it as an average take on a beloved character that lacks any real soul while another calls it a game that truly brings Logan to life?

We happen to be firmly in the latter camp, but we can see where anyone belonging to the former is coming from, despite respectfully disagreeing with them. Of course, we think there are explanations for both sides of the argument, and that’s exactly what we’re doing with this one.

So, why has Wolverine been so divisive? And why did we give this divisive game a perfect score? Let’s begin cutting through the noise with our claws and explore a rather fascinating state of affairs.

An Above-Average Average

First of all, average review scores seem to hover around 78 to 80, which is an indicator of a game that has managed to entertain enough of its critics for it to count as a legitimate effort. According to some reviews, Wolverine might not blow your socks off but is still a perfectly respectable effort from a studio that knows how to handle its superheroes and has a proven track record of doing so.

So what’s wrong, you ask? Well, scores on the lower end of the spectrum, which stand at even 6/10 or lower, raise interesting questions about the experience that we think should not be ignored. Why is that? They’re indicative of a variety of factors, all of which matter to this particular examination of why Marvel’s Wolverine has managed to draw a line in the sand and place its critics and players squarely on either side of it. Are its claws really lacking the cutting edge it needs to win over players as easily as Peter Parker and Miles Morales did back when Insomniac was all about them webs?

You have to consider that Spider-Man might be having an undue influence on how Logan’s adventure is being received. Heck, even Ratchet might have something to do with it, as both franchises bring titles that are entirely different beasts, yes, but are also such an important part of Insomniac’s portfolio thanks to their success. It’s almost unavoidable to have comparisons between those games and Wolverine, but the unfortunate consequence of those comparisons is a distortion of expectations around the new game that could make them, for lack of a better term, unreasonable.

We’re definitely of the opinion that a lower aggregate in comparison to Insomniac’s past titles isn’t automatically an indicator of lower quality on Wolverine, and that an almost 80% aggregate isn’t indicative of failure, or a game that’s mediocre. We understand that all of Insomniac’s three Spider-Man games have been rated at an 85-plus. However, the situation with Wolverine does point to a game that’s different, and one that has perhaps caught a few of its players off-guard.

So, What Are The Concerns?

It’s also worth looking at some of the criticism that tackles Marvel’s Wolverine on its own terms, a distinction that becomes particularly relevant a little later. Complaints about repetitive combat and limited enemy variety are certainly fair things to raise with potential buyers, especially across a 15-20 hour adventure. The latter, in particular, is something we also acknowledged in our review, since much of the regular opposition is ultimately made up of different Cyborgs and Sentinels. We simply didn’t find that limitation particularly damaging to the experience, largely because the encounters themselves remained dangerous and entertaining, while the game’s excellent boss roster helped provide considerably more variety.

Where we disagree more strongly is with the argument that Wolverine’s progression systems fail to add meaningful depth, or that its combat becomes repetitive simply because many encounters can initially appear to demand similar solutions. Our experience was almost the opposite. Between Techniques, Adaptations, Rage, environmental attacks, area-of-effect abilities, parries, lunges, and the different ways these mechanics interact, we found a surprising amount of flexibility within Logan’s deliberately focused moveset. The depth came less from constantly introducing entirely new powers and more from learning how to combine and exploit the tools already available.

That doesn’t make complaints about repetition inherently invalid; different players are naturally going to reach different thresholds over a roughly 20-hour campaign. But there’s an important difference between identifying aspects of the combat that may eventually become familiar and arguing that the underlying systems lack depth altogether. Based on our time with the game, that latter criticism is much harder for us to agree with.

And that brings us to the other end of the spectrum, where there are complaints that Logan doesn’t bring Spider-Man’s agility to his battles, and that his adventure is far too curated to be enticing after the open world approach that seems to be quite favored among superhero titles. It’s here that we beg to differ as well, as we’d argue that these are unfair complaints that do not evaluate Wolverine as something entirely new from Insomniac.

Why is that? Well, we’ve spent a lot of time with both Logan and Peter over the years, and we can tell you that they’re very different people, with very different ideas of what makes a hero. Heck, you might even say that they have very different ideas of what a hero actually is to begin with. Why then are the two characters and their respective adventures being viewed through the same lens?

Different Men, Different Masks

While we understand the comparisons between two titles from the same studio, Logan and Spider-Man couldn’t be more different, and the variations are more than just cosmetic. Spider-Man’s powers make him supremely agile, capable of traversing vast distances very quickly, and give him a very pronounced sense of verticality in a fight, as he utilises his webs and strength to keep his enemies guessing.

Logan, on the other hand, doesn’t need to do any of that. He’s a close-range fighter who relies on brute force and his own tankiness to power through encounters, being cunning about letting his adamantium skeleton take the worst of any beatings he gets while his claws ensure he gets to heal after a fight with more than enough time to spare before he fights again. That’s always been at the core of his utility in any combination of Marvel characters, and he’s been in a lot of such teams over his many years as a superhero.

As such, Marvel’s Wolverine being criticised for not having a massive open world is a tad puzzling to us. Would having Logan climb tall towers with nothing but his claws be a suitable alternative, with a few potentially spectacular leaps spanning kilometers between rooftops the only reward? Should the game have padded out its playtime by making him bound across vast distances between objectives instead of just getting us there and letting us loose?

There are fewer elaborate travel mechanics in Wolverine because they’re not important to the experience the game is trying to present, and it’s unfair to evaluate it on a conscious design choice that’s actually correct in its approach.

There’s also the criticism that Logan doesn’t have enough power variety compared to Spider-Man, which I don’t think makes much sense. The main draw of Wolverine’s combat is his claws; he simply doesn’t have the same range of abilities that Spider-Man does. More importantly, as we noted in our review and earlier in this article, the combat is already quite strong thanks to the way its techniques and adaptations are woven together, resulting in a fast, dynamic, and consistently engaging combat system.

While we can certainly understand arguments in favor of giving Logan a wider range of moves in a game built around the spectacle of playing as Wolverine, his bag of tricks has always been relatively limited. The appeal isn’t necessarily in having dozens of wildly different abilities, but in how effectively and stylishly you use the tools he does have. That was something we felt throughout Wolverine: its combat is less about constantly unlocking new powers and more about mastering positioning, timing, aggression, and the different ways Logan’s existing moves can be combined.

Then there’s the entire controversy surrounding the scent trail, which has been held up as yet another example of developers assuming players need to be constantly guided, of the game excessively hand-holding them, and even of fundamentally poor game design. During our time with Wolverine, however, the scent trail simply wasn’t intrusive enough to warrant mentioning in our review. In terms of actual gameplay, it felt like a relatively minor issue.

Now, we get the criticism. Having such an obvious visual trail in what is already a fairly linear game can feel unnecessary, and at times it admittedly looks a little silly. But there’s also some important context here. As Insomniac Games’ Director of Community and Marketing explained, “The scent trail isn’t always on. It represents Logan’s canon mutant super senses and elite tracking ability.” It only appears when Logan is actively tracking a particular scent or sound, whether that’s a person, material, another clue, certain story moments, or a nearby collectible.

Could Insomniac add an option to disable the scent trail in a patch? Absolutely. Could the same be done for the large, glowing collectible indicators? Of course. And that’s ultimately our point: these are issues that could largely be addressed with a couple of simple toggles. Criticizing their presentation is perfectly reasonable, but treating them as evidence of some fundamental design failure feels more than a little exaggerated.

Should the game have tried to be something else to offset the risks of such criticisms? We don’t think so, as games like Wolverine used to be a lot more common back in the day. A focused, AAA experience with a 15-20 hour playtime often brought strong pacing, as studios knew they had a limited window to make their narratives land. Memorable set-pieces continue to make us smile fondly at the thought of them, while linear progression systems came with a kind of simplicity that modern games might not have. Especially the open-world ones.

And then there’s the entire discussion surrounding the idea that Wolverine portrays Logan as too much of a “nice guy.” Of course, the game does show him being cool, compassionate, and even genuinely kind when the narrative calls for it. But that’s hardly the entirety of his characterization. At other points, he is brutal, unapologetic, distrustful of authority, prone to explosive rage, and potentially dangerous even to the people around him.

That contrast has always been an important part of Wolverine as a character. He can be protective and compassionate without suddenly ceasing to be the violent, abrasive loner people associate with him. So reducing the game’s portrayal of Logan to simply “they made him too nice,” especially without considering the full story and the circumstances surrounding those moments, feels like another criticism that is being exaggerated.

A Matter of Perspective

The dichotomy surrounding Wolverine, in our opinion, largely comes down to whether it’s being judged as a game that stays true to its character, or as a video game expected to check every conventional box before earning a stamp of approval. Viewed through the former lens, it’s a focused experience whose linearity becomes one of its strengths, allowing it to maintain a pace that keeps the excitement and adrenaline flowing and, at its best, makes you feel every bit as feral as Logan himself.

Look at it the other way, though, and its very strengths become weaknesses, just as Logan’s softer side often leads him into situations where he’s forced to hold back on his own instincts and find a different approach. But like the man, this is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be. It wants to be the best at what it tries to do, and it turns out that it does that very well.

Look, you can disagree with any review, question its conclusions, or even hilariously accuse an outlet of being handed “bags of money,” but at the end of the day, a review is still an opinion, and opinions are inherently subjective. We loved Marvel’s Wolverine because it brought Logan’s violence, aggression, and ferocity to the forefront, while ensuring that both the story and the gameplay mechanics consistently supported that characterization in a way we haven’t really seen before. For us, that execution was strong enough to earn the game a perfect score.

It made Logan his own man instead of forcing him into a Spider–Man template that we believe would not have worked at all. We’d rather spend 20 incredible hours with an exhilarating action game than a hundred hours clearing out another map padded out with things to do.

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.

By now, you’ve probably heard the news: PlayStation is stepping away from Physint. Announced in January 2024, the “next-generation action espionage game” would mark Kojima Productions’ return to the genre after Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Details were sparse at the time, but Kojima noted that Sony also did movies, and that this would be a “movie” at the same time. The tease of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group and Columbia Pictures perhaps hinted at some live-action component, if not a companion film. After all, if the man who’s accomplished almost everything in the industry has ever wanted anything, it’s to direct a movie.

Almost three years later, Sony is singing much of the same tune, noting its “great admiration” for Kojima’s “vision for the game,” and how “Our relationship remains strong after three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation,” and that it looks forward to “continued close collaboration” with him and “his award-winning independent studio in the future.” Stepping away was also considered a “difficult decision.” If there ever was the video game publisher equivalent of “It’s not you, it’s me,” this would be it.

Kojima, however, had a different take on these events. KojiPro was informed in mid-June that PlayStation unexpectedly wanted to cancel Physint. Describing it as “an important project both to me personally and to Kojima Productions,” they sought a new partner, and after much advice and negotiations with “people across many fields,” Xbox won. He then assured fans that development is ongoing and will “continue moving forward.”

As for Xbox, they’re only too happy to collaborate with Kojima on Physint. Though they’re already working together on OD, the horror game that was reaffirmed through not one but two mass layoffs over two straight years, to be safe, this only further solidifies (no pun intended) their partnership. I’d joke about Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s bit about how Kojima’s “ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox,” especially given the division’s long-standing history of shutting down studios and laying off creative developers, but I digress.

So, what a mess, right?

The one question on almost everyone’s mind is, “Why?” As PlayStation itself noted, they’ve worked with Kojima in some form or fashion for over 30 years. So why break off with Physint? What about the project ultimately crossed the line?

Well, take your pick of theories, starting with the high budget of Kojima’s games (especially given the celebrities involved and bleeding-edge tech used for extensive performance capture). It’s also worth noting that almost three years after Physint was announced, we haven’t seen any gameplay. The only concrete details are three confirmed actors and the first poster. Maybe PlayStation was looking at several more years of development and wanted results more quickly. Since it doesn’t own the studio, that risk may not have been worth taking.

Another theory is that the company is becoming more stringent with its budgets, which isn’t necessarily a given considering the production values on titles like Marvel’s Wolverine, Laufey, Intergalactic, and so on. Heck, even something like Until Dawn 2, which it’s selling for $50 instead of the usual $70, has been in development for four years (at the very minimum) and doesn’t have the production values of an indie project.

Then there’s the whole bit about how PlayStation would probably favor live-service more since it can bring in recurring revenue. Even if its plans are nowhere near as ambitious as before, I’m skeptical. Fairgame$ is still AWOL years after its reveal, and if that Project Espresso playtest is true, the head honchos cannot possibly think that it will find an audience. Horizon Hunters Gathering has reportedly been rebooted after negative feedback to the previous few closed betas, per Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, and post-launch plans have seemingly been scaled back (and that’s if the project doesn’t end up cancelled). The less said about Bungie’s Marathon, the better. PlayStation may be all reasonable optimism on the outside, but reports and actual player numbers paint a different picture.

Perhaps, then, this has something to do with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Sales numbers have never been revealed, but it’s estimated to have crossed two million last March, that too after launching on PC. PlayStation helped with that release, with Nixxes credited alongside Kojima Productions as a developer. But even if we don’t know the budget, the sheer size and scale of the project probably wasn’t covered by those sales. At worst, it fell just short of breaking even, and the publisher just can’t take on projects like that. Especially in this day and age, when it’s stressing about rising memory costs, tariffs, the next generation of consoles, and whether it can squeeze any more from its current player base.

Contrast this all with Xbox. Even though it released studios like Compulsion and Double Fine, who were pushed to make more creative games, Kojima’s name carries more weight. If any title could strike that balance between pushing boundaries and generating sales, even if it’s available on Game Pass, then it might just be OD or even Physint. There’s also value for both IPs beyond video games. With Xbox delving into more live-action TV shows and movies, whether it’s Amazon’s Fallout, the upcoming Gears of War film or the rumored Wolfenstein series, having Kojima on board would just be the icing on top.

And depending on how much Xbox values Physint, it may go even further to make it an Xbox console exclusive, shelling out more cash in the process. Sharma and crew are focused on ensuring a solid line-up of exclusives to prop up the brand, and once again, a title from Kojima would add more prestige. Almost copying PlayStation’s earlier strategy of high-quality, triple-A blockbusters exclusive to its consoles that would generate sales and serve as system sellers.

Whatever the case may be, and as bad as it feels for PlayStation fans, this may indeed have been a simple case where the economics simply didn’t make sense for Sony (and it has other exclusives that dropping one, even if it is ambitious and from a trusted name, wouldn’t hurt). And Xbox, despite being in rebuild mode, will potentially do anything to add Kojima’s titles to its catalogue. Can you imagine if rumors are true and Robert Pattinson is indeed the main character in Physint? “Imagine the cross-media promotion!” some Xbox marketing executive is no doubt exclaiming.

We may never get the full details about PlayStation’s decision, that too in any official capacity. Whichever way you slice it, and as sad as it may seem for Kojima, his response indicates that he’s going to keep on keeping on. How? In a tweet celebrating his 63rd birthday – mind you, when the deal with Xbox was close to or already finalized, he noted how the things he wants to do, and the things he has to do, have increased. The time to do them? Not so much.

“I constantly need to reassess how I use my time and how I live my life,” he said. At this point, if he can keep making his style of games, I think he – and his studio – will be alright, regardless of which way the industry turns next.

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.