"Things at the manor start going wrong quickly, however, with Caroline waking up to the distant screams of her sister."

While the studio put forth a valiant first effort with Tormented Souls a few years ago, it’s now back with generally higher production values with the sequel, and along the way, there have also been plenty of improvements made to what already served as a great foundation. Right from the start, Tormented Souls 2 brings with it improvements to visuals, audio, level design, and even the story, which picks things up shortly after the events of its predecessor.

Once more taking on the role of Caroline Walker after the events of the Wildberger Hospital, you, along with your sister Anna, are invited to stay in a manor in the remote Chilean town of Villa Hess. However, the horrors experienced by both sisters haven’t completely left them behind; Anna is still haunted by visions of incredible and gruesome violence, while Caroline is simply trying to make sure that her sister can live peacefully and put the Wildberger Hospital behind them. Things at the manor start going wrong quickly, however, with Caroline waking up to the distant screams of her sister. On walking out of her room, she spots her sister being dragged down the hallway.

"Generally speaking, there isn’t really much more to the plot of Tormented Souls 2 aside from “evil cultists are bad and you must escape.”"

The plot for the rest of the game is essentially laid out right in front of you when you find Anna; the manor is inhabited by crazy cultists, as well as a malevolent being that lives in the shadows and can quite quickly kill things caught in the darkness. After getting knocked out as part of some strange cult ritual, Caroline wakes up covered with knives that had been stabbed into her. She pulls them out, sets out to find Anna, and ultimately, wants to leave behind the manor and Villa Hess as a whole.

Generally speaking, there isn’t really much more to the plot of Tormented Souls 2 aside from “evil cultists are bad and you must escape”. The story does, however, improve on its predecessor in one major way: its characters are overall much better written and voice acted. Caroline and Anna are both able to express an impressive range of emotions, and the voice acting is suitably horrified and frantic rather than sounding (more often than not) bored. Along with this, there are also more characters you get to meet and interact with, ranging from sinister cultists that might not have your best interests at heart, to some of the citizens of Villa Hess, and even potential allies.

On the gameplay side of things, Tormented Souls 2 wears its influences right on its sleeves. Taking several pages from classic horror games like the first three Silent Hill titles, Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, and Resident Evil 3, Tormented Souls 2 makes effective use of the classic trope of fixed camera angles to maximise the horror and atmosphere. Among other things, the fact that you don’t have full control of the camera goes a long way in making you actually afraid to turn around corners, even if you might have the tools to deal with whatever enemies are lurking there. Some of the Silent Hill influences also come into sharp display thanks to the fixed camera following you down long hallways, as well as the presence of the “other world” that you sometimes have to travel through.

"Despite the obtuse camera angles and the deliberately rough combat systems, Tormented Souls 2 still manages to feel quite good to play."

Similarly, even the minimal HUD pays homage to the horror classics, like your character’s health being displayed only through the inventory screen, and even then only through a heartbeat line that starts degrading as you take damage. Even Caroline herself starts showing evidence of damage she’s taken, coming down to a slow limp if her health is too low.

This, alongside the combat feeling appropriately clunky leads to Tormented Souls 2 feeling like a classic horror game. Even when you have a gun, you’re not going to get to manually aim the thing at enemies’ weak points. Rather, you’re encouraged to either avoid as many enemies as you can to preserve your constantly-dwindling resources like healing items and ammo, or make use of traps to take out particularly troublesome foes.

Despite the obtuse camera angles and the deliberately rough combat systems, Tormented Souls 2 still manages to feel quite good to play. Caroline is a responsive character, and you even get the option to go with tank-styled movement like those old horror games if you use a controller. Items that might be needed to solve puzzles or serve other utilities can be hotkeyed to the right analogue stick as well, making it easy to quickly switch between using your lighter as a light source to travel through a dark hallway and your chainsaw in case you need to take down an enemy.

"The level design and presence of puzzles essentially go hand-in-hand."

Inventory management is also a big part of the gameplay here, and you’ll often find yourself juggling between key items to progress through the game, from keys and puzzle pieces, to documents with important story elements, and even your arsenal of makeshift weapons and any materials you might find to craft and upgrade them.

Speaking of which, the level design and presence of puzzles essentially go hand-in-hand, and fans of not just classic horror titles, but even the more recent Resident Evil games will find themselves right at home in this regard. The manor you start out in is quite large, and the map you find shortly after starting the game ends up playing a major role in helping you navigate. Along the way, you’ll also run into plenty of paths that have been blocked off and need you to solve puzzles, which in turn can range from simply finding the right key, to figuring out the precise order of bells to strike to accomplish your objective.

Generally speaking, however, the level design is actually quite a bit more linear than the largesse manor would indicate. Sure, there are plenty of hallways to go down, but most of them are simply either just dead ends, or have a door that is locked from the other side, which means that you’ll find a puzzle elsewhere to unlock this door as a shortcut. Getting out of the manor doesn’t help matters either, since Villa Hess and the other areas of the game are also similarly linear. This isn’t a bad thing, however, as the design of the game’s maps go a long way in making sure you’re constantly making forward progress in some way. It also helps that the maps are certainly quite helpful.

"Sound is another area where Tormented Souls 2 punches well above its weight class."

We reviewed Tormented Souls 2 on PC, where the game was able to run just fine. With maxed out graphics settings and a resolution of 2560×1440, we were able to get a rock-solid frame rate of 60 FPS. The PC, for context, runs on an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, an AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU, and 32 GB of DDR-6000 RAM. Maxing out the visual settings was certainly a treat, since the game features some downright gorgeous locales and vividly detailed hallways in the manor as well as the rest of its areas.

Sound is another area where Tormented Souls 2 punches well above its weight class. Along with the great voice acting mentioned earlier, the title also has a great, atmospheric soundtrack that enhances the horrors of the creeping shadows and sinister cultists that you have to deal with throughout your time with the game.

All in all, Tormented Souls 2 is a great example of just what a sequel should be. It takes the strong foundations of the original and builds on them quite well with more polished level design and gameplay, as well as a more focused, albeit simple story that gives you plenty of excuses to run around a sinister manor and its surrounding village. Fans of horror as a whole as well as classic games in the genre alike will find plenty to enjoy here, even if it might not be the most original game out there.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The story in Tormented Souls 2 revolves around protagonist Caroline Walker travelling to the town of Puerto Miller to try and get help for her sister Anna. However, as the trailer describes, bringing the Walker sisters to Puerto Miller turned out to have been a trap, and now Anna has been captured by a twisted cult headed up by Mother Lucia. It is now up to Caroline to brave the horrors presented by the town to get her sister back.

Tormented Souls 2 is slated to take place after the events of the first game, with Caroline still reeling from what she endured at Wildberger Hospital. It is during this time that Anna is discovered to be suffering from an unknown affliction that causes her to cough blood, makes her eyes go black, and causes random bouts of unconsciousness.

On the gameplay side of things, Tormented Souls 2 is heavily inspired by classic survival horror games like the seminal Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. As she explores the town of Puerto Miller, Caroline will have to get her hands on some weapons to make sure that she doesn’t become prey to the horrors roaming the town. To accomplish this, Caroline can get her hands on makeshift weapons like nailguns to fight her way through the town.

Tormented Souls 2 will once more see the return of Caroline being able to traverse to alternate realities, especially once she gets to Villa Hess. Using her abilities from the first game, Caroline can step into the ‘Other side’ and witness ‘replays’ – memories that were stored in video tapes. The actions that Caroline takes in these replays and in the Other side will also end up having an effect in the real world.

Among the adversaries that Caroline will face in Tormented Souls 2 include the Iron Maiden – described as a hulking behemoth and cruel disciplinarian that makes use of a giant crucifix and is equipped with a heavy plated mask. There is also the Harvester – a fusion of metal and flesh, armed with a buzzsaw and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

Tormented Souls 2 will also feature an in-depth story that, according to Dual Effect, includes several layers of twists and revelations that players will have to peel off to fully understand what’s going on.

The title was originally announced all the way back in 2023, and right from its first trailer, the studio had confirmed that Tormented Souls 2 would be using a similar old-school style of fixed camera perspectives to amplify the horror. The original Tormented Souls, on the other hand, was released back in 2022 on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

"Beyond the Ice Palace stood out to us as a beloved gem with a dedicated fan base, making it a natural choice for revival, building on and expanding the game."

What motivated the decision to make a sequel to Beyond the Ice Palace, over three-and-a-half decades on from its release?

We approached Elite with a proposal to breathe new life into one of their classic titles. Beyond the Ice Palace stood out to us as a beloved gem with a dedicated fan base, making it a natural choice for revival, building on and expanding the game!

Given the long gap between Beyond the Ice Palace 2 and its predecessor, how do you, as developers, identify which parts of the original experience you want to retain and sort of try and emulate, and which parts you need to shed and reinvent as you try and deliver a game that modern audiences will enjoy?

Retaining the essence of the original game feel was paramount to us. However, as we ventured into modernising gameplay, we carefully integrated contemporary mechanics to enrich the experience. We aimed to strike a balance between nostalgia and innovation, ensuring both old and new players find something to love!

What was the process like of defining the game’s visual identity? The pixel art style is a gorgeous look that seems like a sensible evolution of the original game, but was there ever a conversation to try and take the game in a significantly different direction where its visuals were concerned?

Crafting the visual identity was a journey of evolution. While the pixel art pays homage to the game’s roots, our vision matured as development progressed. Inspired by titles like Soul Reaver, we embraced a darker aesthetic, infusing the game with a more mature atmosphere while retaining its nostalgic charm.

"Crafting the visual identity was a journey of evolution. While the pixel art pays homage to the game’s roots, our vision matured as development progressed. Inspired by titles like Soul Reaver, we embraced a darker aesthetic, infusing the game with a more mature atmosphere while retaining its nostalgic charm."

In what ways would you say Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is most different from its predecessor?

The sequel introduces a vastly expanded world and gameplay mechanics, catering to evolved player expectations and delivering a richer, more immersive experience. Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is also darker in tone with gruesome bosses and sinister lore spread throughout the world… We wanted to create a game that felt mature and built upon the foundations of Beyond the Ice Palace, retaining the protagonist and the original lore.

How are you approaching difficulty in Beyond the Ice Palace 2 in terms of both combat and platforming?

Our approach to difficulty is to offer accessibility with layers of complexity. While the game remains challenging, level design ensures that even inexperienced players can progress through the adventure. We have aimed for simplicity in gameplay that unfolds into depth over time.

What can you tell us about the game’s boss fights and how varied these encounters will be?

All I can say is that there are a lot! There are the main bosses, which require players to use all the hero’s skills. But there are also plenty of unique mini-bosses and duels against very powerful monsters. For some of them, there are several ways to kill them, we can’t wait to see if players will find all the techniques to overcome these challenges!

"There are the main bosses, which require players to use all the hero’s skills. But there are also plenty of unique mini-bosses and duels against very powerful monsters."

Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is promising progression mechanics that will allow players finer control over their character and how they power up throughout their journey. Is build variety something that you’re looking to emphasize in the game, or are the progression mechanics meant more as additive, ancillary systems, with the primary focus being elsewhere?

Progression mechanics are central to the player’s journey. While it’s possible to complete the game without maximizing character stats, doing so enhances the gaming experience. Whether players prioritise character growth or focus on other aspects, the progression system offers flexibility and depth.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of Beyond the Ice Palace 2 be?

The duration of a playthrough varies based on player skill and curiosity… With numerous secret passages and hidden areas to explore! A full play time is yet to be fully defined as we are still in development but we are aiming to making a content rich game that has plenty of layers for the community to enjoy!

At the recent Future Games Show, publisher PQube and developer Dual Effect announced Tormented Souls 2. Caroline Walker, the protagonist of the first game, will be returning, and on her journey to rescue her cursed sister, will be exploring the “halls of haunting monasteries and other nightmarish locations”, according to PQube. Check out the announcement trailer below for a glimpse of what the sequel will have in store.

Unlike its predecessor, Tormented Souls 2 won’t be a cross-gen title, and won’t be coming to the Switch. It’s due out sometime in 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Set in the year 2060, Resistor sees players playing as Aster, who’s racing to win a ticket that will allow her to seek refuge within one of the cities that are still left standing on Earth. Resistor will see players recruiting a band of racers, and when you’re not zipping through races that’ll combine high-speed racing with car combat, you’ll be exploring plenty of open world areas, building up relationships with your crew members, and making choices that’ll determine what ending you get. Check out the announcement trailer below.

Resistor is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. A release date hasn’t yet been announced.

"ArcRunner’s visual style came about when we tried to imagine what would happen when two of our favourite things – cyberpunk and high-concept sci-fi – were blended together."

ArcRunner has a strikingly impressive visual aesthetic, one that instantly catches the eye. How did you land on this look for the game, and what was the process like of ensuring that the game’s technical aspects can properly bring your vision to life?

ArcRunner’s visual style came about when we tried to imagine what would happen when two of our favourite things – cyberpunk and high-concept sci-fi – were blended together. What would that look like? We also asked ourselves how these two fairly distinct genres could share some common ground – for instance how can a grimy rained-streaked cityscape exist onboard a futuristic space station – and this brought about ideas such as the rain that drenches the city actually being waste coolant from starships passing overhead.

Technically we leverage a lot of Unreal’s lighting and reflection systems to give the impression of atmospheric neon-soaked areas while still keeping the game performant. We come from a background of creating our own engine from scratch and that base has certainly helped us get the most out of Unreal Engine’s amazing graphical capabilities.

Given ArcRunner’s nature as a roguelite experience, how much of an emphasis does it place on things such as story and storytelling?

Considering ArcRunner’s fast-paced action and roguelite nature, it didn’t make a lot of sense to slow the player down with too much lore. Instead, we have a strong central narrative combined with a lot of environmental storytelling and cutscenes at key points to keep you directed at your goal. We wanted to give the feeling that you’re more of a relentless weapon aimed at a target than on an emotional journey. We don’t want to give too much away but there may also be a surprising twist at the end!

What can you tell us about ArcRunner’s three playable classes? Heavily significantly do the three differ from each other in terms of the playing style they enable?

Each of the 3 classes is very distinct: The Soldier is a more traditional “tank” with increased durability, an energy shield that can block and deflect incoming fire, and a range of augmentations that centre around absorbing and redirecting damage. The Ninja is more of a stealthy damage-dealer with a lethal Energy Katana, invisibility cloak and augmentations such as holographic decoys. The Hacker is our “cyber mage” who concentrates on syphoning energy from enemies and then unleashing it with a range of devastating abilities. We’ll also be adding new classes after release and we’ve got some great ideas for these.

"Considering ArcRunner’s fast-paced action and roguelite nature, it didn’t make a lot of sense to slow the player down with too much lore. Instead, we have a strong central narrative combined with a lot of environmental storytelling and cutscenes at key points to keep you directed at your goal."

How many weapons will the game feature? How much will the weapons differ from each other in terms of abilities and play styles?

Currently we have over 20 distinct weapons in the game, and each weapon has a solid tactical function with many able to be combined together for added damage and effect. For instance, the Cold Fusion Gun freezes and slows enemies and makes them brittle and more susceptible to damage from other weapons, while the Disc Thrower fires deadly plasma discs that rebound from solid surfaces into nearby enemies.

How is ArcRunner approaching difficulty? What should players expect from the design and variety of the game’s enemies and bosses?

Being a roguelite we’ve spent a great deal of time and effort fine-tuning the difficulty curve, and we’re aiming for tough but fair. Each Zone features a complete set of unique enemies to fight with their own attack styles and weaponry – but each one can be successfully countered and dispatched with the right tactics. Each Zone also has its own randomised mini-bosses and ends with an epic boss fight against the zone’s Guardian. We don’t want to give too much away about these, but each one is completely unique and requires different tactics to fight and survive.

How much do the four playable zones in the game different from each other in terms of design and their visual style? How did you go about ensuring that each zone feels unique, especially given the game’s utilization of randomization systems?

Each Zone in ArcRunner is a different part of the Arc space station and its visual style, enemies and even atmospheric effects reflect that. The City is a grimy, rain-soaked metropolis filled with neon signs and holograms, while the Starship Docks are darker and more industrial in nature. The affluent open-air starscrapers of Eden are a stark contrast again – filled with waterfalls and carefully cultivated foliage. After ascending the Dorsal Elevator players must fight through the almost Tron-inspired Core where the robots and machinery that drive The Arc are manufactured.

The game uses a directed procedural generation system to give new level layouts each playthrough, but we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that the levels produced are still fun to play and don’t end up becoming dull, empty and lifeless.

Progression can be a tricky thing to balance for roguelike games in particular. What is ArcRunner’s approach to progression, and how does it balance short-term run-based upgrades with longer-term overarching ones?

In ArcRunner you start each new run in the Cryochamber in a fresh android body. After clearing a level, you enter the Autodoc where you can choose one of four randomly selected Augments to install – or alternatively upgrade a previously installed Augment. With over 30 unique Augments this leads to some very different playthroughs and combinations.

Completing a level also rewards you with Nanites – our meta-currency – which you can spend in the Cryochamber on permanent upgrades at the start of your next run. Extra Nanites can also be earned by completing random challenge areas scattered throughout the Arc and by defeating bosses and mini-bosses.

"Currently we have over 20 distinct weapons in the game, and each weapon has a solid tactical function with many able to be combined together for added damage and effect. "

Given the fact that ArcRunner also features 3-player co-op, how does the game’s difficulty scale based on how many players are playing together?

We’ve gone for a tailored approach in co-op where each zone’s enemies will not only scale in strength and damage but also add new attacks as more players join. Bosses and mini-bosses will also add new attacks as well as gain additional supporting enemies the more players are present. Another major difference is that in co-op play you can be downed and revived by team-mates leading to some great clutch situations!

WIll ArcRunner support cross-play for its co-op?

We’re currently looking into cross-play and this may not be a feature at launch – but is certainly something we’d like to add.

Do you have any plans to support ArcRunner with additional post-launch content, such as new zones or classes?

We’ve got great plans for free post-launch content including new classes, new zones and new weapons – more on that very soon!

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS. How much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Both platforms provide excellent performance, and provide a great base for developers to create the next generation of games – the additional TFLOPS do help with some graphics calculations, giving us a little more breathing room from an optimisation standpoint to focus on other areas that need our attention and giving us a little more budget to add some effects at higher qualities.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth

The extra bandwidth is incredibly useful – it allows us to increase loading speeds, take advantage of lower memory pressure and optimise our game to perform well under load – that said, the Xbox’s speed is still great. Both consoles benefit from a good amount of RAM operating at very fast speeds, so provide great benefits for level streaming and large texture sizes.

"We’ve gone for a tailored approach in co-op where each zone’s enemies will not only scale in strength and damage but also add new attacks as more players join. Bosses and mini-bosses will also add new attacks as well as gain additional supporting enemies the more players are present."

Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X boast Zen 2 CPUs, but there is a difference in the processors of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

The benefit of the additional performance on the CPU in the Xbox Series X is a nice plus. It helps especially with core engine simulation, such as physics and other critical work. The difference between a 3.5GHz and 3.8GHz isn’t much in practice though, so it mostly benefits in providing a more stable framerate, especially when tackling single-threaded tasks.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60 FPS console. Do you think it will be able to hold up for the more graphically intensive games as this generation progresses?

The Series S is a fantastic console – newer titles will need to make concessions and optimisations to ensure it runs at the same frame rates as the Series X and PlayStation, but it is by no means out of the running. It still performs competitively on various current generation titles, and a lot of excellent work from teams across the industry regarding optimisation and QA ensures that the end-user experience isn’t compromised.

What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? Do you have plans for any specific optimizations for the device?

We absolutely love the Steam Deck and we will be fully supporting the hardware either at launch or directly after. It’s a fairly powerful little piece of hardware so we don’t think any serious compromises will be needed to give players a great experience.

Just reading through Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s descriptions make it sound absurd in all of the best ways. You get a dog that can use guns, and the setting is named Distokio—because it takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian Tokyo. There’s even a progress bar tracking humanity’s extinction levels. It’s all fairly absurd, but in an entertaining, earnest way. Whoever thought up these ideas likely thought that they were the best ideas ever, and that’s awesome. Sadly, a lot of these ideas are bogged down by an antiquated interface, a surprisingly predictable story, and dull level design.

"It’s all fairly absurd, but in an entertaining, earnest way. Whoever thought up these ideas likely thought that they were the best ideas ever, and that’s awesome. Sadly, a lot of these ideas are bogged down by an antiquated interface, a surprisingly predictable story, and dull level design."

Despite looking at the vast open desert in front of you in the first hour of the game, it’s quite easy to get tired of it all rather quickly. There’s only so much one can go around fighting giant ants, after all. And a large part of the game is spent in that desert. Of course, it certainly doesn’t help that the desert doesn’t really allow for much in the way of exploration. There are a lot of invisible walls, and sure, some of them are to encourage players from getting out of their tank to explore on foot, but others are purely there just because there’s nothing beyond those invisible walls.

A key selling point for Metal Max Xeno Reborn is the fact that you get a highly-customisable tank early on, and more vehicle options later. And despite the terrible menu designs, it’s actually quite fun to play around with different loadouts for your tank once you get around to unlocking new guns and slots to put them in. Managing to use the tank’s cannon on an enemy before they can see you is quite satisfying.

Speaking of vehicle customisation, the level offered here is quite impressive. Be it tanks, buggies, or even school busses, driving around murdering enemies with missile launchers duct-taped to your vehicle’s roof doesn’t really get boring. Sadly, a lot of these aspects are poorly explained, and trial-and-error is often the best way to go.

Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s strongest suit is its combat. It uses a twist on the classic turn-based JRPG combat formula. So here’s how it works: if an enemy spots you, a bar starts filling up at the top of the screen. You can quickly use your own weapon to fire an opening salvo, kicking the fight off in earnest, or just back off and ignore the enemy altogether. Once combat starts, an adaptation of Final Fantasy’s Active-Time Battle system kicks in, letting you attack only once a tiny circle in the corner of the screen fills up. All in all, it’s a pretty fun system, especially since it features free movement even when it’s not your turn. The only real knocks against are the absurdly-slow aiming of the tank’s guns, and the low difficulty, even early on.

"A key selling point for Metal Max Xeno Reborn is the fact that you get a highly-customisable tank early on, and more vehicle options later. And despite the terrible menu designs, it’s actually quite fun to play around with different loadouts for your tank once you get around to unlocking new guns and slots to put them in."

Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s biggest problem is its presentation. Its menus feel like they weren’t really adapted particularly well for the PC. Buttons are gigantic, and a lot of information is nebulous at the best of times, lacking any real way to expand on, for example, what a stat means. PC games often have tooltips, and it’s a shame that Metal Max Xeno Reborn doesn’t make particularly good use of it. The tutorialisation is also quite poor, throwing big walls of text on the screen rather than presenting the finer points on how to play the game in a more interactive way.

Aside from the menus, Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s opening chapters are also incredibly boring. Not only are you going to be roaming around in the desert for hours, you’re also going to be killing a lot of ants. Ants and broken-down tanks make up for the bulk of the enemies in Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s opening hour. Even the story does little in the way of giving you much of a direction aside from “most humans are dead. Why don’t you go check in on some camps?” It isn’t until you get some sidekicks that the earnestly-stupid writing starts becoming quite endearing.

Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s gameplay structure might feel a bit too open in the beginning. Thankfully, you get used to the general openness, which allows you to spend quite a bit of time doing just about anything you want, from advancing the main story, to engaging in sidequests, to even just hanging out in your tank. It has a day-night cycle which, in the long run, doesn’t really amount to much more than maybe a few enemy placements being different.

"Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s gameplay structure might feel a bit too open in the beginning. Thankfully, you get used to the general openness, which allows you to spend quite a bit of time doing just about anything you want, from advancing the main story, to engaging in sidequests, to even just hanging out in your tank."

Of all the sidequests Metal Max Xeno Reborn offers, however, the bounties might just be some of the most fun activities. Essentially, you get a list of optional boss fights you can partake in at your leisure. In fact, the first time you come across a Bounty target—around the time when the game tutorialises the concept—you’re advised to retreat, and maybe come back to fight it when you’re stronger. A lot of the uniqueness I was hoping to see in enemy designs ultimately ended up with the Bounties, which while great, leaves the rest of the game worse off. The studio could’ve distilled the game down to just the vehicle customisation and Bounties, and I can make an argument that it would end up being an all-round superior game.

Thankfully it’s still a lot of fun kitting your tank out to fight specific Bounties. The Bounty list provides some hints to how you might approach the fight. One Bounty, for example, is said to be weak to electricity; better load up on some electric beam cannons. Another Bounty, basically a highly-armed drone, needs you to have anti-air weapons to fight it effectively. There are a fair number of Bounties, and honestly, they might just end up being the highlight of the game.

In terms of performance, the PC version runs quite well, which shouldn’t be altogether surprising considering the fact that Metal Max Xeno’s original release platforms also included the PS Vita back in 2018. It isn’t a particularly beautiful or demanding game, so high frame rates are almost a given. The graphics options, while quite anemic, provide at least a passable level of customisation. When it comes to being able to play with a keyboard and mouse, however, even the Steam page recommends using a controller instead, stating that keyboard and mouse isn’t supported.

"In terms of performance, the PC version runs quite well, which shouldn’t be altogether surprising considering the fact that Metal Max Xeno’s original release platforms also included the PS Vita back in 2018."

Metal Max Xeno Reborn is an absurd game, but it’s one with a lot of good ideas that ultimately work out, even if the cost of these ideas were a lack of general polish. The tank would undoubtedly feel better to control on a keyboard-mouse combo rather than a controller, at least in combat, and scaled-up PS Vita textures might not be the prettiest look. Metal Max Xeno Reborn is, however, saved thanks to its competent combat, a sincere attempt at telling a story that tries to have depth, interesting side characters, and surprisingly-fun optional bosses. And it has a dog that can use guns.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The game’s received plenty of praise and attention since its launch, and soon, it’ll be coming to more platforms so that more people can dive in and see what the fuss is about. PQube has announced that Tormented Souls will be launching for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch sometime in early 2022. Though an exact launch date hasn’t been officially provided, the game’s listing online for retailers such as GameStop and Funstock do mention February 25 as a release date.

Meanwhile, PQube has also confirmed that a new free update will be coming for Tormented Souls on October 28, which will add a new weapon (a heavily modified nail gun that deals more damage) and a new outfit for Caroline.

Tormented Souls is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Tormented Souls evokes the original Resident Evil (and its remake) in a lot of ways, from its fixed camera angles to its haunted mansion setting (or part-haunted mansion, at least) to the moody atmosphere and quite dread it so successfully builds. Making your way through the dimly lit, creepy halls and rooms of a hospital that once used to be an abandoned mansion is done exactly the way you’d want- deliberate exploration and carefully searching environments is encouraged, and the pace is kept slow.

"Tormented Souls evokes the original Resident Evil (and its remake) in a lot of ways, from its fixed camera angles to its haunted mansion setting (or part-haunted mansion, at least) to the moody atmosphere and quite dread it so successfully builds."

Plenty of emphasis is placed on resource conservation and management right off the bat, which means running and gunning isn’t always advisable, and often isn’t even an option, and deciding when to use your healing items and when to hold on to them also adds an element of strategy. This is all typical survival horror stuff, of course, but it’s executed well enough here, and definitely deserves to be praise. Tormented Souls’ horror isn’t about sudden spikes of fear as much as it is about maintaining a constant foreboding atmosphere, which is the perfect way to utilize its setting.

Solid lighting and well-crafted decrepit environments with blood splattered across the wall and unsettling objects or paintings scattered here and there contribute a whole lot to that atmosphere. Tormented Souls’ setting definitely has a sense of place, and its fixed cameras definitely leverage that strength. Camera angles are carefully placed and serve a range of purposes- in a small room, the camera angle ensures that you can’t see too much of the space in front of you, so you never know what’s around that corner. Walking through a hallway, however, the camera might dynamically move around to give you a better look of your surroundings.

Tormented Souls also uses darkness as an actual gameplay mechanic- which isn’t a novelty in the horror genre, sure, but is used quite well here. Many of the halls and corridors and environments you’ll find yourself in will be quite dimly lit, or even completely dark, but staying in darkness for too long physically hurts you. Your tool against the darkness is a lighter, but if you have that equipped, you can’t equip your weapon- which makes treks through patches of darkness particularly tense, especially if there are enemies lurking around. The fact that you can only save the game with tapes – like Resident Evil’s ribbons – further heightens the tension. Tapes are not abundantly found, and you need to be careful about when to use them.

"Quite a few of the puzzles are really well designed, and honestly, I’m all for a deliberately paced survival horror game that’s all about the puzzles and exploration- but Tormented Souls doesn’t quite strike the right balance at times."

Another area Tormented Souls borrows a lot from classic RE and Silent Hill titles is its focus on puzzles. Careful exploration is crucial (as is backtracking, naturally), because finding items and item pieces scattered everywhere and then figuring how and where to combine or use them is how you solve most puzzles, in classic survival horror fashion. Quite a few of the puzzles are really well designed, and honestly, I’m all for a deliberately paced survival horror game that’s all about the puzzles and exploration- but Tormented Souls doesn’t quite strike the right balance at times.

For starters, the map is not the most useful, which is a cardinal sin in a game such as this one. The game also just throws a bit too many steps of different puzzles at you at the same time, and it can get a little hard to keep track of what items you have, or where a particular item needs to be used. Narrowing down things a little bit and not having too many puzzles active at the same time would probably have made for a better, more focused experience, because more than anything else, this leads to aimless exploration and trying to grapple with some obscure cues that you can’t quite make sense of without some trial and error.

Movement in Tormented Souls is also a little rough around the edges. While the fixed cameras themselves do a great job of heightening the tension, both movement and aiming can feel a little clunky and, at times, sluggish, especially in instances when the camera angle switches and your direction is suddenly changed. Trying to zigzag around enemies to just run past them if you’re trying to save ammo also always take more work than it has to, and combing through environments as you’re searching for items and resources feels a little sluggish as well. I realize that this stiff movement is a very deliberate choice on the developers’ part, since that’s what they’re trying to evoke in this decidedly old-school horror game, but they didn’t have to retain this part of that experience as well.

"While the fixed cameras themselves do a great job of heightening the tension, both movement and aiming can feel a little clunky."

Storytelling isn’t one of Tormented Souls’ strengths either. The story on the whole is quite forgettable, thanks to several well-worn tropes, predictable twists, and uninteresting characters. The Resident Evil fan in me did enjoy picking up bits and pieces of logs and files to get a deeper understand of the backstory and the history of the creepy hospital/mansion, but the actual content of the narrative is uninspired at best. The writing is consistently sloppy, and the completely stilted and wooden voice acting doesn’t do it any favours either. Also as much as I do think the visuals do their job of crafting creepy, atmospheric environments, they just don’t hold up very well when the game takes control for cutscenes or more directed storytelling.

It feels a little unfair to ding on the game for some of these things, because though this is clearly a small-budget production, it’s been made with a lot of love- a lot of love for the classic days of survival horror games. Tormented Souls is completely dedicated to realizing its vision of delivering a hardboiled old-school experience, and honestly, that is why it excels when it comes to its focus on exploration and resource management and its palpable atmosphere. But there are plenty of rough edges too, all of which do add up in the end. For fans of the fixed camera era of the survival horror genre, Tormented Souls is a solid trip down memory lane, but even so, it’s got a lot of room for improvement.

 This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

"The Plane Effect, despite having a particularly abstract premise, is actually a concrete metaphor for our world, our society and loneliness."

The Plane Effect has an extremely unusual and abstract premise. What prompted you to try and tackle something like this via a game?

The basic idea of every video game, narrative or cinematographic experience always comes from stories or emotions that you have inside and want to tell.

The Plane Effect, despite having a particularly abstract premise, is actually a concrete metaphor for our world, our society and loneliness.

Video games are one of the best forms of art and communication today. A medium capable of telling any type of plot, capturing the player’s attention and, thanks to interactivity, making him immerse in the story at its best.

How did you go about gamifying something as abstract? What was the process of translating what you wanted to say about these subjects into compelling gameplay mechanics?

To reproduce something abstract, first of all it is necessary to start from images and colors and try to reproduce an atmosphere that causes a certain type of emotion.

So you have a foundation for creating mechanics, puzzles and situations that best emphasize that atmosphere.

The player must always find himself lost and unaware of what is happening to him and do his best to understand, resolve and proceed.

As in life, you can only move forward when you understand yourself and the world around you.

From the sound of things, it appears as though The Plane Effect may imbibe traits of stories with unreliable narrators somewhat. Are there any ways that this manifests in the gameplay?

The gameplay of The Plane Effect involves a fairly linear logic: being able to do only what you understand is right to do. In other words, the protagonist must perform the right sequence of actions to solve the puzzles and be able to proceed.

When can we hope to play the game? Would you say COVID has disrupted the development process for the game at all?

We are working to release the game this year. The COVID pandemic had a little impact on our development timeline.

"The gameplay of The Plane Effect involves a fairly linear logic: being able to do only what you understand is right to do. In other words, the protagonist must perform the right sequence of actions to solve the puzzles and be able to proceed."

You are bringing the game to a lot of platforms – what has the experience been like in trying to work with so many different systems with such varying range of hardware capability?

We are excited to bring the game to the new generation of consoles. We think this is a great time to publish a new game leveraging this new kind of capabilities.

Will The Plane Effect leverage any extra features offered by the Series X/PS5?

Series X and PS5 provide a wonderful gaming experience with 4K resolution and the exciting ray tracing technology. We want to amaze our audience with these new capabilities and enjoy them with an amazing gaming experience.

Given the game is coming to the Switch as well, why did you decide to skip Xbox One and PS4 for this title? 

Our target is to amaze people as much as we can with our new game. The new gen consoles are the right platform to achieve this. We chose to engage the platform owners of the Xbox and PlayStation teasing them with the new title.

Did you find the Nintendo Switch constrain the game in any way, given its far weaker capabilities relative to the other consoles and PC?

We have not started porting to the Nintendo Switch yet.

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

We don’t think there will be much difference between the two consoles at this point.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. This is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this? How does this compare to Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

Leveraging the Texture Streaming technology for this could be one point of advantage for the PS5.

"Series X and PS5 provide a wonderful gaming experience with 4K resolution and the exciting ray tracing technology. We want to amaze our audience with these new capabilities and enjoy them with an amazing gaming experience."

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series X and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60fps console. Do you think it will be hold up for the graphically intensive next-gen games? 

The Xbox Series S will be a good compromise to have excellent fps performances at 4K, Xbox Series X will allow the gamers to experience 8K too.

At this time there is no planning for an Xbox Series S version of our game.

What resolution and frame rate is the game targeting to run at on PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S? Furthermore, will the game have multiple graphical modes?

The game’s target is to have more than 60 FPS at the 4K resolution on PS5 and XSX. The game will have multiple graphical modes on PC only.