Watch Dogs Legion on PS4 and PS5 is also worth trying out, as are Dishonored 2 and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, even if they’re PS4-only. Marvelous’s Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin on PS4 is also a good addition, providing farming and side-scrolling hack-and-slash action. Other PS4 farming titles include Rune Factory 4 Special and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town.

The latter allows downloading the game and its Expansion Pass Set or streaming the base experience. Fans of Tomb Raider can experience the entire modern trilogy with Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration and Shadow of the Tomb Raider playable on PS4.

Those who want some horror can check out The Evil Within 2 on PS4 and the action RPG Thymesia on PS5. There’s also Bus Simulator 21: Next Stop on PS4 and PS5, which is its own horror when things go wrong. Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Rain World, and Conan Exiles round out the PS4 offerings, while Lake and Soundfall are playable on PS4 and PS5. Stay tuned for more details on the PlayStation Classics available with Premium shortly.

Bethesda wanted to put Dishonored on pause, and according to Colantonio, Deathloop was originally intended to be a small project for Arkane to learn and keep busy until the chance to work on a bigger game came along.

“Bethesda wanted us to do something,” said Colantonio. “They didn’t quite know where we were going after Dishonored. ‘Do we want Dishonored 3? I don’t know, let’s make something simple and short before, and let’s see.’”

Colantonio also revealed that Deathloop‘s multiplayer features might have been a result of the studio wanting to learn how to develop and release multiplayer games.

“And then [Deathloop] became a big thing, over the years,” Colantonio continued. “That was the funny thing: ‘Nah, we don’t wanna do Dishonored 3, but if you can pitch us a small game, something that maybe has multiplayer so we can learn multiplayer, something that maybe has microtransactions, maybe something with a lot of recycling, like a roguelike.’”

The studio’s experience with Prey: Mooncrash also helped the studio in figuring out some of the roguelike aspects of Deathloop, and Arkane and Bethesda wanted to recycle assets and other parts of the game in development.

“Almost everybody in the world was into some sort of roguelike,” said Colantonio. “So it felt like, ‘Yeah, maybe it’s the way to go, you recycle gameplay, you take some of the elements of the world and remix content constantly.’”

Colantonio has since left Arkane, having left the studio around the time Deathloop was released. He currently heads indie studio WolfEye Studios, which developed Weird West.

Deathloop is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The game is also available through PC and Xbox Game Pass. For more details about the time-loop shooter, check out our review.

“Yes indeed, we envisioned Deathloop to be happening in the future, after Death of the Outsider,” said Bakaba, as caught by PC Gamer.

Bakaba went on to talk about how the studio left a few hints and Easter eggs throughout Deathloop that players could link to the Dishonored games.

“There are a lot of clues in the game, actually,” said Bakaba. “There are some that are abused. One of them is really spoiler-y, so voila. But there are a lot of small things, and some that were under people’s noses all the time, but people are just figuring out.”

According to Bakaba, one of his favourite hints in Deathloop is the Dunwall Tower from Dishonored as a logo on the Heritage Gun.

Deathloop was released on PC and PS5 last year. It has now made its way on to Xbox Series X/S, and as a result, is now available on PC and Xbox Game Pass. For more details, check out our review.

There have been exceptions, of course- there always are. Bethesda Game Studios, for the most part, seems immune to this curse, with Fallout and The Elder Scrolls consistently selling gangbusters- and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. Even Fallout 76, despite its horrendous start, is doing well for itself now, while Starfield looks set to be another massive game. Outside of BGS though, most other Bethesda-published titles have been commercial failures (to varying degrees).

That’s a streak that has been going on since the early years of the PS4 and Xbox One generation, and though the fault obviously lies with the publisher, it’s been morbidly fascinating to witness these commercial flops, because Bethesda has messed things up with all of them in different ways. After seeing decent initial success with the likes of The Evil Within, Dishonored, and Wolfenstein: The New Order, most subsequent Bethesda-published games haven’t enjoyed the sort of sales that they should have (with the exception of maybe RAGE 2 and Wolfenstein: Youngblood, which were both average at best and deserved their low sales).

In 2016, we had Dishonored 2- an absolutely incredible game that stands as an unmissable experience for fans of the stealth and immersive sim genres. Dishonored 2 was Arkane at its best, crafting a densely packed world that felt believable and alive, where the interacting systems and an emphasis on player choice would consistently combine to produce unforgettable and magical moments. And while it certainly sold more than most other Bethesda titles we’ll be looking at here, it ultimately underperformed.

The next year, standalone expansion Dishonored: Death of the Outsider launched, which was another great game in its own right, but barely seemed to register on anyone’s radar. Both games were victims of poor marketing- Death of the Outsider especially, which was barely even in the conversation on the day it came out. Given the critical reception Dishonored always enjoyed and how well-regarded the series was, even a cursory glance at Bethesda’s handling of the franchise will tell you that they completely dropped the ball where marketing its new releases was concerned.

And poor marketing was something that affected solid games developed by other Bethesda studios as well. Take The Evil Within 2, for instance, which is an excellent survival horror game that expanded on its predecessor in significant and meaningful ways. A survival horror title of that quality releasing days before Halloween and selling as poorly as The Evil Within 2 did is an absolute travesty. Between its announcement in June 2017 and its launch later that year in September, it saw next to no marketing. Now, thanks to the game’s poor commercial performance, there’s no telling what the future holds for the series- or if it even has a future.

Meanwhile, coming back to Arkane, other games developed by the studio haven’t been too much luckier either. In fact, 2017 itself saw another excellent Arkane game falling prey to unfortunate circumstances- and yes, we’re obviously talking about Prey, in case the painful pun wasn’t enough indication. That, too, was a game that suffered because of poor pre-launch marketing- but sadly, there were other issues that impacted it as well. At launch, Prey had several major technical issues, especially on PC, with several major outlets reserving plenty of criticism for the game on that front. Reception obviously turned around once those issues were sorted out, but that initial wave of underwhelming responses from critics combined with the aforementioned tepid marketing to once again make for poor sales.

Also in 2017, there was Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, an excellent first person shooter that had all the elements in place to build on the success of its predecessor and take the series to new heights. Critical reception was solid for the game upon launch- sales, sadly, were not. Wolfenstein 2 performed below expectations as well, and its release timing had to take a lot of blame for that. It came out on October 27, 2017. You know what else came out on the exact same day? Super Mario Odyssey. In the days leading up to that, the same month also saw the releases of games like Gran Turismo Sport, Forza Motorsport 7, Destiny 2, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and yes, Bethesda’s own The Evil Within 2. With so many massive games in proven selling franchises releasing in the span of a few days, releasing Wolfenstein 2 and The Evil Within 2 wasn’t exactly a bright idea on Bethesda’s part. Both of these, incidentally, are franchises whose future is looking murky at best right now, thanks to their recent commercial missteps.

In recent months, Bethesda has published Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, both on PS5 and PC. It’s still early days for both games, and sales figures haven’t been officially revealed for either, but early indications haven’t exactly inspired too much confidence, with both games having failed to chart with any regularity in sales charts across the world so far. Ghostwire: Tokyo, in fact, had a particularly disappointing debut in Japan, barely managing to sell over 10,000 units upon release. And ultimately, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bethesda were to come out and say that both these games had underperformed. While no stone was left unturned for Deathloop’s marketing, Ghostwire: Tokyo got the short end of the stick on that front, to say the very least. More importantly, both games are also console exclusives for a system that is notoriously hard for more people to get their hands on.

That said, even with Bethesda’s consistent track record of failing as a publisher on multiple fronts and inflicting unfairly low sales on legitimately great games- somehow, the future still looks bright. The reason for that is an obvious one, of course- for about a year now, Bethesda has been a Microsoft owned company, and all Bethesda studios have been first party Xbox studios.

Why does that matter? Well, presumably, Microsoft will be able to guide Bethesda in things such as marketing, which has been one of the biggest weaknesses for the company over the years, as we’ve discussed at length here. More importantly, however, every single game that Bethesda studios make from this point forward will launch day and date for Xbox Game Pass as well- that’s an instant boost to games right off the bat in terms of reach, word of mouth, player numbers, and in turn, success. Redfall is supposedly due out this year, and that may very well end up being Arkane’s first proper commercial success in a long time. When Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo have seen out their PS5 exclusivity periods, they will likely see noticeable surges with Game Pass releases. And who knows- if Game Pass really does bring these studios success on a level that they just haven’t been able to enjoy in recent years, we may even get to see new instalments for the likes of Wolfenstein, The Evil Within, Prey, and Dishonored again.

One can always hope, right?

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.

Hyrule Castle – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

As part of the quest to defeat Ganon, Hyrule Castle is the largest and most intriguing dungeon in the game. There are multiple ways to enter, whether it’s through the docks, the underground or by manipulating physics and Runes enough to fly in on a rock. Various other threats also lurk en route to Ganon, including Lynels, but there’s also plenty of good loot to gather – like the Hylian Shield – if you’re brave enough. Though the Sanctum is your ultimate goal, you’re free to explore the location at will.

As is the case with any new console generation, once PS5 and Xbox Series X / S have released many developers and publishers will be remastring and touching up many of their PS4 / Xbox One games to bring them over to the newer consoles. It seems some of them might already be on their way, in fact.

As spotted on ResetEra, ratings for Wolfenstein Alt History Collection and Dishonored and Prey The Arcane Collection have gone up on the ESRB’s official website (screencaps for which you can view below, in case the listings get taken down). Interestingly enough, both ratings mention Xbox Series (as in both Series X and Series S) as the release platform.

Of course, Wolfenstein Alt History Collection is already a thing that exists (it compiles Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, and Wolfenstein: Youngblood), while all Arkane games have also been previously compiled in the Arkane Anniversary Collection (which includes Dishonored: Definitive Edition, Dishonored 2, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and Prey). Perhaps those games are getting remastered and brought over in a next-gen compilation.

It would make sense, and the timing would be right, given Microsoft’s Bethesda acquisition. Of course, that also brings up the question of whether these games will release for the PS5 (the ESRB ratings don’t mention it).

The ESRB recently rated another game for the Xbox Series X / S that hasn’t yet been officially announced- Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.

The Bank Job – Dishonored: Death of the Outsider

One of the best missions in the game by a country mile, The Bank Job sees Billie Lurk sneaking into the Dolores Michaels Deposit & Loan Bank to retrieve the Twin-bladed Knife. Entry points include via the roof (and some laudanum), through the sewers or by trash disposal. There are multiple ways to access the vault, like releasing the brakes and causing it to crash all the way down the sewers which also conveniently acts as an escape route. It’s ingenuous and a pinnacle of immersive sim gameplay.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory – Panama Bank

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory had its fair amount of action but the Panama Bank level is where stealth reigned supreme. Your mission was to steal $50,000,000 in bearer bonds, which must be done by authorizing vault access from three different panels in the building. Getting into the bank is going to be your first obstacle – the only real option is through the roof and once inside, you’ll need to deal with laser sensors, cameras, motion sensors and guards. Though Chaos Theory wouldn’t end a mission if an alarm was triggered, Panama Bank was still nerve-wracking in its own right.

Bethesda is ringing in QuakeCon 2019 early with a dedicated sale for its titles on Steam. The sale is live until July 30th and offers discounts on pretty much every major Bethesda-published title available. This includes DOOM (2016) for $7, RAGE 2 for $29.99, and Prey for $6.

Other titles include Dishonored Complete Collection at 70 percent off, which offers Dishonored 1, 2, and Death of the Outsider. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus also costs a measly $20. If you want to catch up on Arkane Studios’ awesome level design or MachineGames’ long-running saga before Wolfenstein: Youngblood releases, why not pick up both of the above?

QuakeCon will be taking place on July 26th and DOOM Eternal will kick it off with some new gameplay. Fallout 76 and upcoming updates to Nuclear Winter and Adventure Mode will also be showcased. Stay tuned for more details from the keynote when it goes live at 9 AM PT on Friday. Coincidentally, Wolfenstein: Youngblood will also be releasing on the same day for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch (PC players get it on July 25th).

Half-Life – Surface Tension

Surface Tension is many things. It’s perhaps the biggest level in Half-Life and a culmination of Gordon Freeman’s escape from Black Mesa. But the brilliance of its design is perhaps underscored by how chaotically controlled everything is. Marines are fighting aliens as helicopters, tanks and turrets litter the area. Freeman must battle all of this, surviving ambushes, navigating across cliffs and much more. It’s tense, exciting and highlights the stellar AI.