Getting to  Japan in the Kokura era might have been tough enough, but what about when he’s seen as an outsider even by his own people? Well, that’s the question the opening act seems to set up, and possibly dive deeper into once we get into the nitty-gritty of an era where modern development often clashed with rigid traditions and worldviews. Suffice it to say, Daito’s arrival into the center of it all puts him on a path of harsh realities.

Of course, we hope the pain translates into an act that sees him take over stages with style and substance, eventually bringing performances to life as a music producer without compare. Maybe even take down some bad guys with the game’s well-tuned combat system while he’s at it. We’re looking forward to when Stranger Than Heaven drops on January 15th, 2027, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out the new trailer below for an early sneak peek of Act 1.

While the other versions are moving ahead as planned, Telltale Games has announced that the Switch version hasn’t met internal standards and is being delayed “to a later date” to ensure it delivers the intended experience. That’s still good news, since it’s always better to play a version that works as advertised, which certainly seems to be the goal here. Fabletown might be just out of reach, but it’s only going to make returning to it all the more rewarding.

Still, it’s going to be hard to stand by and watch as players dive back into a very memorable adventure or experience it for the first time with some welcome new additions. You could rewatch that nostalgia-filled trailer featuring the cast and development team to pass the time while you wait, though.

The Wolf Among Us Remastered is out later this month on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PC. Telltale is also working on the long-awaited sequel, The Wolf Among Us 2, which could finally launch in 2027 after years of delays.

https://x.com/telltalegames/status/2111155644883460160

This guide for The Witcher 3 Remastered details what to do with the critical Ciri dialogue choices, and which outcomes lead to your desired ending or epilogue.

The Five Ciri Choices

These dialogue choices made during Act 3 serve as a points system which then determine which epilogue you arrive at later. During ‘Battle Preparations’, ‘Blood on the Battlefield’, and ‘Final Preparations’, they are:

Drink Or Snowball Fight

When Ciri is distressed after the Battle of Kaer Morhen, lifting her spirit with a snowball fight serves as a positive outcome, while relaxing with a bout of drinking is a negative outcome.

Audience With Emhyr The Emperor

While you can skip the visit to Emhyr entirely for a positive outcome, if you do go, turn down his huge monetary reward for the same effect, with accepting obviously being a negative outcome.

Accompany Ciri Or By Herself At The Lodge Of Sorceresses

Allowing Ciri some free rein when she has to confer with the Lodge Of Sorceresses has a positive outcome, while hovering over her will have a negative one.

Ciri’s Laboratory Tantrum

Allowing Ciri to wreck Avallac’h’s Laboratory is seen as a positive, while attempting to rein her in is a negative.

At Skjall’s Grave

If Geralt offers to go with Ciri to the grave then this becomes a positive outcome, while declining to take her there is a negative one.

The Three Epilogues

A simple majority of positive outcomes is enough to guarantee either one of the two good endings. However, determining which one you get is based on that critical decision to visit the Emperor or not.

The Witcher Best Ending

If you choose to skip visiting the Emperor, as well as have at least two other positive dialogue outcomes with Ciri, you will get what is considered to be the best epilogue to the game.

The Empress Good Ending

If you do visit the Emperor, while having at least three other positive dialogue outcomes with Ciri, you will get this good ending.

The Bad Ending

A simple majority of negative outcomes with Ciri’s dialogue choices will lead to this, the absolute worst possible epilogue to the story.

Those are all three endings to The Witcher 3 Remastered, and which choices to make them in order to arrive at them.

This guide lists the three Backers in Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and what to expect when selecting them.

The Hutt

This Backer is the easiest to please, and is all about simplistic, straightforward challenges that are relatively safe to achieve. These include performing jumps, overtaking other racers, using the Ramjet, and merely being in first place for a while, if not necessarily finishing there.

The Pirate

A riskier Backer, but still presenting a moderate set of challenges such as using the Afterburner, and spending time in last place, which can synergize well with needing to slipstream consistently over the course of the race. Other dangerous plays that will impress the Pirate include redlining almost to catastrophic explosion of your racer, and triggering system malfunctions in those of your opponents.

The Broker

The most demanding of the three Backers, the Broker will have you take on dangerous tasks such as spending time at exceptionally high speeds through persistent use of both the Ramjet and the Afterburner, and remaining airborne for extended periods of time. Ultra-aggressive combat maneuvers and use of abilities to takedown opponents are also looked upon favorably.

Ultimately, your selection of Backer acts as a sort of difficulty modifier by determining the nature of the challenges you are expected to undertake, in order to satisfy their whims.

Those are all three Backers and which one is recommended for your particular style of play in Star Wars: Galactic Racer.

This guide for Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is all about tracking down each of the Beorcan’s Twinned Keys.

First Beorcan Twinned Key Location

The key can be found on B1F in the Beorcan Stronghold, but to get there from 1F you will need to use the hole in the ground on the eastern side of the map.

Descend the ladder and simply open the chest to acquire the first Beorcan Twinned Key.

Second Beorcan Twinned Key Location

The second key is also to be found on B1F of the Beorcan Stronghold. This time, use the southernmost of the four holes in the ground. After descending the ladder into the basement, pass through the corridor, and then ascend a second leader that leads up into a gated area.

Crack open the chest here to acquire the second Beorcan Twinned Key.

Using The Beorcan Twinned Keys

Head to the western edge of the Beorcan Stronghold to find a large, barred gate. Unlock it with the Twinned Keys to get:

• 3x Abandoned Supplies (Rare)
• 1x Hound’s Scent Pouch
• 1x Liquid Vim
• 3x Lvl 3 Spoils
• 1x Treatise of Fortuity
• 1x Treatise of Advertence
• 1x Wakestone

That is everything there is to know about finding both of the Beorcan Twinned Keys in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen.

Sophia is far more capable in direct combat than Amicia was, but vulnerability and danger have always been central to A Plague Tale. How did you make the player feel powerful enough to enjoy the new combat without losing that sense that Sophia is constantly in danger?

CARA: I think the key was to make Sophia feel capable without ever making her feel invincible. Amicia has to face violence later in her life, and she survives it; Sophia, on the other hand, was born into that world. She’s a plunderer, she learned to fight from a very young age, and we wanted the player to feel that through the gameplay.

But being good at fighting doesn’t mean you’re safe. Sophia can take on enemies directly, but she’s still vulnerable. She can be overwhelmed, surrounded, or caught off guard, and the world around her remains dangerous.

From a narrative perspective, we wanted that vulnerability to come from the character herself. Sophia is confident and capable, but still young. She can be impulsive, she can take risks and sometimes her confidence gets her in trouble.

So the feeling we wanted wasn’t “I’m playing a powerful warrior”, it was more, “I know what I’m doing, but I still need to be careful.” That balance was really important to us.

David : Our guideline was “every hit counts” and “the dagger wins the fight”. It was a way to be sure Sophia stays vulnerable, like her opponents, but also that her style of fighting was not about brute force but about being sneaky, directly connected to her plunderer background. The overall goal was to deliver a combat style as close as possible to the storytelling, and the general grounded tone of the series.

Because players who experienced Requiem already know the woman Sophia eventually becomes, what challenges did writing a prequel present when it came to giving her journey meaningful stakes and surprises?

CARA: That’s actually one of the things that made the writing particularly interesting. We didn’t want to simply create a ‘young Sophia’ who would have the same characteristics, but just younger. We needed to capture something of her, whilst also revealing a person who was still finding her way.

Because we already know the woman she becomes, we could pull on those psychological threads and ask ourselves: what happened to her? What experiences shaped her beliefs, her behaviours?

Her relationship with violence is a good example. In Requiem, she tells Amicia that she refuses to kill or even fight. So we could ask ourselves why someone who grew up among plunderers would draw such a strong line there. Maybe it’s because of trauma, or maybe because she’s already seen — or even experienced — that darker side of herself and absolutely refuses to go back there.

So the challenge wasn’t really about hiding where Sophia would end up. It was about making players understand how she got there.

Sophia and Theseus have very different styles of combat and movement. How did you make both characters feel mechanically distinct without effectively having to build two separate games?

David: We wanted Theseus to feel like a gladiator fighting against other gladiators involving armor and heavier weapons. We also needed to avoid making players lose their bearings during these sequences, as they are too short for them to learn entirely new gameplay mechanics. As a result the pacing is slightly slower to give more weight, and even though the gameplay is the same, the animation team did awesome work to make it feel different thanks to a new set of animations, very iconic, with this typical gladiator flavor involving a sense of show tied to the nature of the “Minos Games” she is participating in.

Minotaur’s Island exists across two vastly different historical periods. How did you design the locations so that players can recognise echoes of the same place across both eras while ensuring each version still feels visually and mechanically distinct?

David: It was a huge challenge. To summarize, we had to make it readable that Sophia, during the Middle Ages, was exploring ancient ruins and, at the same time, playing Theseus in the same places, but 2,500 years before. Our chance here was that we, contemporary players, tend to forget how colorful and clean these places were when they were built, so we played with that idea: ruins in Sophia’s time are like we know them; paint and ornaments are gone or washed out, and the colors of the stone and the materials are the only remaining visible things.

As we wanted to avoid the “guided tour” feel, we tried to bury them as much as possible, as the island had been abandoned for 2,000 years. Then, for the Theseus period, we made everything clean and neat, and gave back the very saturated colors used at that time on these buildings.

Ultimately, it was a very interesting journey for the whole team to dive into this historical subject.

Leni accompanies Sophia during portions of her journey. Companion characters can sometimes give puzzle solutions away before players have had a chance to think for themselves, so how have you balanced making Leni useful without having her become an automatic hint system?

CARA: We wanted to leave that control to the player. When Leni has something useful to say, the player can choose to interact with her and ask for a hint. If they don’t want one, they can simply ignore it and figure things out for themselves.

So Leni never automatically gives the solution away. That way she can still be a helpful companion without taking away the feeling of discovery.

You’ve said that the Macula manifests differently in Resonance. Beyond what that means for the story, did this new interpretation also allow you to create gameplay mechanics or situations that simply wouldn’t have been possible with the rats in Innocence and Requiem?

David: Yes, we knew that, at least in a Medieval setting, it would have been hard to keep the light vs. rat mechanics fresh, both visually and in terms of gameplay. We also needed something more dynamic and interactive than the rats to match the more action-adventure mood of Resonance, compared to Innocence and Requiem, where the rats are quite often used as puzzle elements from a gameplay perspective.

The new manifestation of the Macula in Resonance is closer to a blind and deaf creature, only able to detect recent motion as if it were a scent. As a result, these sequences give more freedom of action to the player, permanently wondering what the best next move is, knowing that it can switch from stealth to a chase and vice versa at any moment.

How much will Resonance change or deepen our understanding of the Sophia we eventually meet in Requiem, and can longtime players expect it to recontextualize any elements of the wider Macula storyline?

CARA: I definitely think players who know Requiem will see Sophia differently after playing Resonance. You get to see where some of her strength comes from, but also where some of her emotional defenses come from. She’s not born as the very controlled and confident woman we meet later. She has to become that person.

As for the wider Macula storyline, yes, Resonance adds another piece to the puzzle. In particular, Resonance confirms that the Macula can manifest itself in different ways; this gave us the opportunity to explore another aspect of this phenomenon. So hopefully, longtime players will come away with more questions as well as some answers.

The PlayStation Store lists Resonance as PS5 Pro Enhanced. What specifically can PS5 Pro players expect in terms of resolution, image quality, ray tracing or frame rate compared to the standard PS5?

David: PS5 Pro gives players the opportunity to play with the best resolution and graphical settings at 60 fps.

What are the targeted resolution and frame-rate modes on PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S? Will players have a choice between quality and performance modes?

David: Players have the choice between two modes (on PS5 and Xbox Series X): Native and Performance. PS5 and Xbox Series X run in Quality mode at native 1440p, upscaled to 4K at 30 fps, and in Performance mode at native 1080p, upscaled to 1440p at 60 fps. Xbox Series S is limited to 30 fps, or 40 fps on 120Hz displays, at 1080p without high-end performance mode toggles.

On PC, your recommended specifications currently target 1080p/60 FPS at Ultra without upscaling or frame generation. What support can players expect for technologies such as DLSS, FSR or XeSS, frame generation, ultrawide displays and unlocked frame rates?

David: Resonance supports DLSS 4.5/5 depending on the hardware. FSR is also fully supported, providing an alternative for non-Nvidia users. XeSS, Intel’s upscaling technology, is also supported. Regarding in-game Frame Generation, we support both Nvidia and AMD cards. Framerates are fully uncapped, allowing high-refresh-rate monitors to run well past 60 FPS depending on your GPU. Ultrawide displays are supported natively.

Resonance supports DualSense haptics and adaptive triggers on PS5. How extensively are those features being used—for example with sword combat, parrying, traversal or the Minoan sphere puzzles?

David: We really love the DualSense and how it really improves immersion. So the list is pretty long: in combat, a successful parry causes the DualSense to vibrate in a distinct way, mimicking the sensation of blades actually clashing, while the controller also provides feedback when Sophia draws or sheathes her sword, and naturally, when she lands a strike.

During exploration, you can feel spikes bursting from the ground or the sound of petrified ground cracking apart. Interactions such as opening a chest or using a Minoan mechanism, the prism, or the lenses all trigger DualSense vibrations.

The controller vibrates on the right or left side depending on a creature’s distance from Sophia and its position relative to the camera; this logic is applied to the vast majority of cutscenes as well.

Haptic features are also utilized with the dagger: the haptics indicate the charge time, stopping once the charge is complete. The grappling hook makes use of this too; when pulling in enemies, there is resistance up to the midpoint of the trigger, which initiates the hook’s release, at which point the resistance vanishes completely.

Finally, we also used the controller’s speaker to enhance the connection with Arianne; for instance, the stronger the resonance, the louder Arianne’s voice becomes. These are just examples of the incredible work done by the team on this topic.

And lastly, are you done with Amicia? Requiem ended with enough hints for a future, no?

David: There are several hints in Requiem and Resonance of what could be explored. And we have lots of different ideas to continue to develop the A Plague Tale universe. We just want to be 100% sure that we will bring something fresh and authentic while creating an even better experience than the previous ones. It takes time, and I can’t say any more right now.

That being said, rest assured that Amicia has been alive in our hearts since Innocence. We will see.

A new difficulty, Forgiving, has been introduced. This is the new name for Story mode, now fitting between the former and Fair, since it offers a combat assist setting that lets you focus on the narrative. You can also look forward to improvements to the camera, animations, targeting, and traversal when using Shadowstep and Planeshift.

Players can also expect dedicated FrameGen settings to improve performance. Meanwhile, directional animal petting has been added for those who want an immersive petting experience. And perhaps best of all, subtitles will be added for all dialogue, and the font size is finally increasing.

Stay tuned for more details when Update 1.1 lands next week for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. In the meantime, read our review of The Blood of Dawnwalker here. We scored it 9 out of 10, praising the storytelling, presentation and sheer sense of freedom. It sold a million copies in the first 24 hours, and there’s more in store, including New Game+.

Toy Story: Retro Roundup offers moments of both. This collection brings together a selection of games based on Pixar’s iconic animated franchise, alongside A Bug’s Life and a few additional extras too.

"Having grown up playing these games, I was curious to see how they held up nearly thirty years later."

Having grown up playing these games, I was curious to see how they held up nearly thirty years later. Now that I have a one-year-old son who also loves Toy Story, there’s an additional layer to revisiting these titles from an adult perspective. Unfortunately, while there’s plenty of nostalgia here, the actual quality of enjoyment varies wildly as you go through the different releases, and the collection’s presentation could also be smoother.

The original Toy Story for Game Boy is a particularly rough experience to revisit in 2026. The game feels very primitive. Once you settle into its rhythm, there is a serviceable side-scrolling platform game here, but the gameplay is basic, the visuals are quite ugly in widescreen, and the input lag is hard to get used to.

"These are still products of their time, and anyone expecting actual fluidity or sophistication like that of a modern platformer will be disappointed."

Seeing older games like this being preserved and made available for the current generation is great, but it’s difficult to imagine many players willingly spending much time with this version when better alternatives are available in the same collection.

Thankfully, the Sega Genesis and SNES versions are more enjoyable. After playing the Game Boy version, they almost feel modern by comparison. They’re decent enough games once you find your rhythm, even if neither version is up to par with the best platformers of the era.

These are still products of their time, and anyone expecting actual fluidity or sophistication like that of a modern platformer will be disappointed. Nevertheless, there’s enough here to make them worthwhile for hardcore Toy Story fans, particularly those interested in seeing how the games evolved as gaming hardware became more powerful.

The highlight of Retro Roundup is undoubtedly Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue on PS1. It still holds up remarkably well, offering a charming 3D platforming adventure that remains fun to play more than 25 years after its original release.

A variety of environments helps keep the game feeling fresh as you play through it, even when the actual gameplay mechanics begin to feel a bit stale. Exploring each area, completing the list of objectives and collecting hidden items provides a satisfying rhythm.

Sadly, the camera is still a nightmare to contend with. It’s one of those unfortunate reminders of how much 3D platformers have evolved since the PS1 era, and there are moments when the camera makes navigating the environment far more frustrating than it should be. Even so, the platforming feels a lot more forgiving than I remember it being 27 years ago.

The fact that actual voice acting is a feature here makes it feel like even more of an upgrade over the first Toy Story game. Many of the characters feel authentic to their movie counterparts, although it is pretty obvious which actors returned and which were replaced by soundalikes. The cast members who do return help preserve the connection to Pixar’s previously established universe, making this title feel like more than just a lazy licensed game.

"The fact that actual voice acting is a feature here makes it feel like even more of an upgrade over the first Toy Story game."

On a sidenote, this was also my one-year-old son’s favourite game in the collection. There’s something pretty special about revisiting a childhood favourite while watching your own child enjoy the same characters, even if he isn’t quite old enough to appreciate the finer points of its platforming mechanics.

The Game Boy Colour version is a different proposition altogether. It’s fascinating to see how developers once created entirely different games for different platforms rather than simply scaling down the same release. As a piece of gaming history, its inclusion is interesting. However, I’m not convinced many people were clamouring for the opportunity to revisit this particular version on modern consoles.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command on PS1 is another enjoyable inclusion, although it doesn’t quite reach the level of quality of Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue. Its art style is distinctive, and its weapon-based gameplay feels like an early glimpse of ideas that would later become familiar in games such as Jak and Daxter and Ratchet & Clank.

The Game Boy Colour version is considerably less fun to revisit. While its colour palette is pleasant on the eyes, the moment-to-moment gameplay simply isn’t much fun, making this another release that’s difficult to recommend beyond the novelty of having it preserved.

Toy Story Racer was entirely new to me, so I approached it without the same nostalgic attachment as the other games. Thankfully, I found it to be decent fun. It isn’t the best kart racer on PS1 by a long shot, but the gameplay loop is enjoyable. I enjoyed that it actually felt quite challenging to master but the Rewind feature does make it a lot more forgiving when you make a mistake, which saves you having to restart the whole race.

The Game Boy Colour version is another pleasant surprise. Its 2D perspective takes a little getting used to, but there’s still some enjoyment to be found here. Its inclusion means that not every handheld adaptation in the collection is a complete write-off.

Finally, there’s A Bug’s Life, which I had never played before. The PS1 version shares a few similarities to Toy Story 2 in terms of its gameplay, but it doesn’t quite match the same level of enjoyment. With that said, it is still a welcome bonus.

"Buzz Lightyear of Star Command on PS1 is another enjoyable inclusion"

The Game Boy Colour version is not quite as welcome. It’s another example of how difficult some of these older releases can be to enjoy today. While its inclusion here adds to the value of the overall package, the gameplay is tough to stomach in 2026.

There’s a fascinating snapshot of licensed gaming history here, but jumping between such wildly different experiences can feel jarring. Some games remain genuinely enjoyable, while others are better appreciated as historical curiosities.

One of Toy Story: Retro Roundup‘s biggest strengths is the sheer amount of content included. With the inclusion of multiple games spanning different platforms, additional material such as cool concept art to look at, and that sweet hit of pure nostalgia, there’s plenty here that makes the asking price feel worthwhile.

Rex’s Cheat Codes are also fun to play with. These allow the player to select any level from each game from the outset, removing the need to replay entire sections of a game just to revisit a specific moment. It is a simple quality-of-life improvement, but one that makes a meaningful difference when revisiting games that were originally designed around the technical limitations of their time.

The Rewind function is also a fun addition. It effectively turns these games into Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, allowing you to undo mistakes rather than being punished for every misstep. It’s particularly useful when dealing with some of the more frustrating platforming sections, and it makes the collection more approachable without fundamentally changing the original games.

Not all of the additional features are as pleasant though. The CRT filter is enabled by default, and frankly, it’s horrendous to look at. I understand the appeal of recreating the look of an old television, but making this the default experience feels like a baffling decision. My advice is to switch it off immediately and enable widescreen. Neither option magically transforms these games into modern releases, but the results are considerably more visually appealing.

"The Rewind function is also a fun addition."

It does leave me wondering whether the filter being enabled by default was a choice made to help hide the primitive feel of the original visuals. These are old games, and nobody expects them to look cutting-edge, but the collection could have added a lick of paint to make them less off-putting to play on modern displays.

The audio in places is also disappointing. Movie clips and cutscenes still suffer from compressed sound that can peak and become fuzzy. It’s a shame that this issue hasn’t been addressed, particularly when the films’ dialogue and music are such an important part of the experience.

None of these problems makes the games unplayable. Technically, the collection is functionally sound, and having all these releases available on PS5 in one package is far from a bad thing. If you grew up with these games, there’s genuine value in revisiting them through a modern lens. Toy Story 2 on PS1 remains the standout, while Toy Story Racer and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command provide enjoyable diversions.

I do wonder how much appeal these games will have for younger players accustomed to more contemporary releases. My son might love Toy Story, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every game based on those characters will hold his attention.

Ultimately, Toy Story: Retro Roundup succeeds as a preservation effort. It’s great to have these games playable on modern consoles in one convenient package. There’s plenty of content here, and some of it remains genuinely enjoyable, but a little more care could have turned a fun nostalgia trip into something even more special.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

A Return to the genre’s Roots

Modern Warfare 4 2026’s multiplayer component is being pitched as a “boots-on-the-ground” with more realistic movement, hard-hitting weaponry, and a deliberate balance between speed and responsiveness designed to keep you immersed in the action. It’s a broad-strokes point to begin this feature with, sure, but it’s arguably the most important thing to consider if you’re still deciding whether this is going to be the game for you.

Movement is More Expansive and Versatile

Movement has been redesigned to minimise momentum-losing friction, while an expanded suite of manoeuvres creates unrestricted traversal opportunities. The basic idea is that you’re always in control, and your choices should feel deliberate whether you’re vaulting up a wall or hanging from a ledge. Some of the new movement mechanics include an overhauled mantle system – which we’ll explore in the next point – as well as pipe scaling, climbing jumps, hanging leans and shimmies, and a supine slide which sees you ending a slide on your back, providing an unconventional way to engage in tight spaces.

Mantling Has Been Overhauled

Instead of locking you into the transition animation, during mantling you can now steer left or right mid-mantle, pause to aim down sights, or even cancel the animation altogether to reassess your position. Further, mantles can now transition directly into a slide, while mantling momentum has been reworked to ensure there are no hard stops, allowing you to keep the pressure on your opponents. Through these changes, it seems Modern Warfare 4 wants to give you more control than ever in one of the game’s most frequently used manoeuvres.

Hipfire Bloom Has Been Removed

Looking to maximise skill-based accuracy, Modern Warfare 4 has removed hipfire bloom. Now, quite simply, shots should go where the weapon is pointed. With recoil, sway, and movement still influencing accuracy, hipfire’s removal pushes you to control your weapon rather than relying on randomised shot placement. It should change the dynamic of gunfights considerably, since the outcome of every shot is more directly tied to your input, and if you’re the sort of player who values mechanical precision, this could be one of the game’s most welcome changes.

Weapon Handling Has Been Rebuilt

Modern Warfare 4 2026 is also changing how weapons physically feel in your grip. At lower movement speeds, for instance, guns now have more pronounced physical motion, while sharp turns and direction changes affect how they settle. Weapons will also react to nearby walls, corners, and tight spaces, adjusting their position, retracting, or shifting stance in response to the environment. Tactical Sprint has been reworked to reflect stamina depletion, too, with your posture and stride changing as you become fatigued.

Visual Clarity Has Been Prioritised

Modern Warfare 4’s drive for realism isn’t coming at the cost of readability, with several changes incoming to visual clarity. Muzzle smoke, for one, now dynamically masks around your point of aim, while depth of field has been redesigned to keep your sight picture focused. These two things alone should ensure targets remain visible even during sustained fire. PC players also get an enhanced and rebalanced field-of-view system designed to maintain peripheral awareness while making sure enemies don’t appear disproportionately large or small.

Create-a-Class Integrates Operators and Killstreaks

Create-a-Class is being expanded, too. Now your loadout encompasses more than just your weapons, equipment, and Perks, with Operators and Killstreaks integrated directly into each class. What this means is that individual loadouts can be tailored towards specific roles more efficiently, matching how you want to play whether that’s with aggression, distance, or something between the two. The Create-a-Class menu layout has been fine-tuned, too, making comparisons and quick adjustments easier to execute.

There are 33 Weapons at Launch

Modern Warfare 4 is launching with 33 weapons: 24 primary weapons, eight secondaries, and one melee weapon. This should feel like a comprehensive cache already, but the game isn’t stopping there, with more than 500 standard attachments available, creating opportunities for highly specialised firepower. Together with the Create-a-Class expansions, the multiplayer offering could prove its most tactically diverse yet, although it’ll be interesting to see how Infinity Ward has balanced the sheer number of options into different combat roles.

Apex Attachments Modify Weapon Behaviour

Sitting above standard Gunsmith modifications are Apex Attachments, and these are capable of modifying weapon behaviour in significant ways. Unlocked and freely attached without consuming a slot once you’ve maxed out your weapon, these attachments can fundamentally reshape how your gun performs. Their effects could include a new tactical function – an aggressive close-range conversion or stealth-focused alteration, perhaps, or even something altogether more experimental.

Gunny Makes Weapon Building Easier

If you don’t fancy sifting through hundreds of attachments, then Gunny – short for Gunnery Sergeant – is here to help. This optional tool can automatically assemble useful weapon builds from the attachments you’ve already unlocked, with settings aimed at different roles such as close-range, balanced, or long-range combat. What’s more, your chosen Gunny build will continue to evolve as you unlock more attachments. It’s a shortcut to a capable build, sure, but you won’t need to spend hours experimenting in Gunsmith to get results.

Killstreaks Now Reward Objectives

If you’re the type of player who’d rather contribute to completing objectives than chasing kills, then Modern Warfare 4’s more accommodating Killstreaks have you covered. Smartstreaks now allow objective play to contribute towards your streak progression, and even though kills are still the system’s primary driver, you can now capture or defend objectives to work towards rewards.

Kill Block Changes its Layout

Encouraging you to adapt to ever-shifting layouts, Kill Block is a modular map which reconfigures between matches. This forces you to change routes, adjust sightlines, and find new spaces for cover. With more than 500 possible configurations, you’ll be consistently on your toes, even if some sections draw inspiration from already familiar games.

Combat Outpost Expands Ground War

Combat Outpost is a new large-scale, combined-arms experience coming to Ground War. It’s a mode which revolves around establishing Outposts, earning resources, and then using those resources to complete further objectives. These battles take place across enormous areas, with infantry and vehicles fighting beneath airborne Killstreaks.

6v6 Maps

Modern Warfare 4’s multiplayer component launches with 6v6 maps, including an old Soviet coal processing facility, a South Korean shopping district, with these spaces influenced by the locations visited in the game’s single-player campaign.

There are Two Prestige Paths

Finally, Modern Warfare 4 is giving you a choice in how you’d like to approach Prestige. The Classic route resets your level unlocks and Create-a-Class progression in exchange for rewards and milestones. Regular Prestige, however, appears more forgiving, allowing you to return to Level 1 while maintaining your existing Create-a-Class unlocks. Both paths aim to support your progression preference while rewarding your time and commitment.

Omni-movement Has Been Removed

And, one of those reversals is omni-movement. First appearing in Black Ops 6, the system lets you jump, skid, and zip along in any direction, but it’s been removed entirely in favour of what the game describes as a more grounded system. Yet, the genre’s gameplay philosophies aren’t looking to introduce friction where there was none before. Modern Warfare 4 2026’s movement is fluid, responsive, and unrestricted, all about keeping momentum as you vault over obstacles, scramble up walls, or shimmy across ledges.

DMZ is a Core Mode

Modern Warfare 3 2023 released without DMZ. The extraction-based mode debuted during 2022’s Modern Warfare 2, with MW4 2026 now placing it among its core offerings from launch. The mode follows the extraction form guide – get in, collect loot, complete objectives, get out, lest you want to keep your spoils. Its inclusion gives Modern Warfare 4 2026’s multiplayer experience a different flavour compared to MW3 2023, especially if you’re the type of player who enjoys extraction’s high-stakes loop over round-based matches.

DMZ is No Longer Free to Play

DMZ originally appeared as a free-to-play beta alongside Modern Warfare 2 2022. But now, MW4 2026’s version will not be offered as a free standalone experience, with access to the mode tied to purchasing the complete game. On the one hand, this could mean a smaller pool of players than the original DMZ. However, the audience it does attract could be more committed to investing in the mode over a longer time.

No Dedicated PvE Mode at Launch

Whereas Modern Warfare 3 2023 brought Open Combat and Cinematic Missions as a co-operative mode, Modern Warfare 4 2026 will be launching without a dedicated PvE experience. Whether the game will add something later down the line remains to be seen, and given the favourable reception of MW3 2023’s PvE modes, adding a co-operative element to DMZ could prove fruitful.

Inflation is MW4 2026’s Headline Multiplayer Mode

Modern Warfare 3 2023 introduced Cutthroat as its headline competitive mode, with three teams of three pitted against one another. Modern Warfare 4 2026’s most noteworthy new mode is Inflation, where every kill drops a cash bounty. Quite simply, the team with the most cash at the end of the round wins the match. The rules sound basic at surface level, but the emphasis here falls on staying alive to keep your collected spoils out of enemy pockets just as much as killing.

More New Modes Come to the Multiplayer Lineup

Beyond Inflation, Modern Warfare 4 2026 adds new multiplayer modes Hijack, where squads fight for control over a Data Spike, the Search and Destroy echoing Collateral, and Frontline, where you’re encouraged to seek out kills from outside your base. Meanwhile, MW3 2023’s aforementioned Cutthroat appears to be absent from MW4 2026’s lineup. So, while the upcoming game changes the multiplayer selection in meaningful ways, the fast-paced, tactical, well-received 3v3v3 matchup will be strangely absent.

Weapon Progression Is Shared Across Your Arsenal

In Modern Warfare 3 2023, unlocking an attachment for one weapon didn’t necessarily mean you could freely use it on another. Progression, instead, had to be repeated across multiple guns. MW4 2026 changes this by making weapon attachments unlockable across your arsenal. With fewer redundant unlocks, this shift should make experimenting with different weapons less of a grind, with you able to focus on your loadout rather than repeating similar unlock paths.

Apex Attachments Replace Aftermarket Parts

Modern Warfare 3 2023’s Aftermarket Parts could transform your weapons, ranging from single attachments to full-on conversion kits, augmenting your firearm’s behaviour, fire rate, and general playstyle. Modern Warfare 4 2026, instead, offers Apex Attachments, and there are a handful of progressional shifts despite sharing the same gun-altering impact. They don’t occupy a standard attachment slot, for one, while Apex Attachments also serve as the reward for completing an individual weapon’s upgrade path rather than being tied to weekly challenges.

Camo Mastery Tracks Across Three Modes

MW3 2023 offered different camouflage challenges across its various modes, meaning you’d have to work through separate objectives to earn the mastery reward. Now, in Modern Warfare 4 2026, Multiplayer, DMZ, and Warzone tie Camo Mastery into one route, with three Mastery Camos to earn in each mode for a total of nine.

Smartstreaks Change Killstreak Progression

Modern Warfare 3 2023’s Killstreaks rewarded you for chaining eliminations without dying. Modern Warfare 4 2026 echoes this structure, but chucks objective completion into the mix too. What this change gives is the opportunity for you to play the mode rather than focus exclusively on eliminations, and it could soften the higher skill demand incoming via MW4 2026’s more deliberate weapon handling and hipfire bloom removal.

Perks Are Reworked Into a Pick 3 System

In Modern Warfare 3 2023, Perks were part of a gear-based system, with Vests, Gloves, Boots, and Gear determining the bonuses available to your loadout. Modern Warfare 4 2026 reworks this approach into a simpler Pick 3 structure, where you can equip a Perk into one of three slots. Its a cleaner setup, sure, moving away from the cumbersome interconnectedness of MW3 2023’s gear system into something more straight forward.

Field Upgrades Get Their Own Slot

MW3 2023’s Vest system influenced how Field Upgrades fitted into your loadout, meaning Vest choice significantly determined your build. Now, Modern Warfare 4 2026 has given Field Upgrades their own dedicated slot, decoupled from perk-granting vests and instead sitting alongside primary, secondary, and melee slots. What this means is your operator choice does not restrict which Field Upgrade you bring to battle.

MW4 2026 Drops Carry-Forward

One of Modern Warfare 3 2023’s major selling points was its carry-forward system, which allowed players to bring content from Modern Warfare 2 2022 into the new game. Due to Modern Warfare 4 2026 changing its ecosystem, you’re simply unable to bring the previous game’s weapon progression and unlocks over in the same way. Everyone starts from scratch, then.

Last-Gen Consoles Are Left Behind

Modern Warfare 3 2023 launched across both generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, whereas Modern Warfare 4 2026 leaves PS4 and Xbox One behind to focus entirely on current generation hardware. Also, the game will be launching on Switch 2 for the first time, compounding a significant change in platform support. Last-gen users are locked out unless they upgrade, while Switch 2 owners are finally able to access the franchise at launch.