Of course, his conversation with Polygon went on to elaborate on there being enough depth to the many experiences the studio is aiming to bring to the table, all of which are rooted in the eras they’re set in, which should feel eccentric enough.

“When we began researching the eras we wanted to depict in this title, we found that the world of several decades, or even a century, ago already felt striking and unusual. The differences in values and common sense from that time are, in themselves, surprising and fascinating. So rather than deliberately creating situations solely for laughs, we felt that simply allowing players to encounter the social norms and values of the era could be an incredibly surprising experience.”

That makes sense when you think about the game’s opening act sees Makoto stow away on a ship with a smuggler played by none other than Snoop Dogg before facing prejudice in Japan. We’re hoping to see more of those moments in a game whose cast is as intriguing as its premise. It’s nearing its January 15th, 2027 release on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, so we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Rain and Lasswell’s valiant fight against Umbra and the Sworn Six is a battle for the ages, thanks to the Visions system bringing so many of the series’ noble heroes to your aid. It’s a major part of why this one has been a pleasure to review, and the trailer below is proof of its potency as a title that could have you obsessing over it when you’re not actively under its spell.

There’s a free demo that lets you play up until the end of the game’s first chapter in case you’d like to try it before you pick up a copy. Of course, your progress carries over to the full game if you decide to see the story through to the end. In the meantime, check out one of the hidden bosses Final Fantasy 7 fans will recognise, especially with Final Fantasy 7 Revelation out next April.

AdHoc Studio has dropped a couple of welcome announcements to celebrate the milestone, starting with iOS and Android ports on December 9. Pre-registrations open soon, with the first four episodes free to all and the rest locked behind a $19.99 purchase.

But that’s not all, as Deluxe Edition have something to cheer about. A new update adds over 16 hours of cast and crew commentary in a new Commentary Mode, so you can hear what the likes of Laura Bailey, Aaron Paul, and many others thought about their time on set.

There’s also a new Storyboard Mode that lets you experience the game in its original “storyboard animatics”, which is a novel way to encourage another playthrough. For our part, we probably would have just agreed to one even without the new stuff.

That’s a testament to the lasting appeal of a game that left quite the impression on us when we reviewed it. The trailers below should highlight why.

While it’s hard to believe it’s already been more than three weeks since we joined Dylan in the franchise’s latest story, it has managed to sell one million copies as of October 15, 2026. That’s quite a milestone for Remedy, which has since pointed out that Resonant is the fastest-selling game in a history that spans thirty-one years. That’s no small achievement, and if you haven’t tried out Resonant for yourself yet, it’s possible you don’t see what the fuss is all about.

We can tell you it’s well-deserved, though, and that Manhattan’s streets are very adept at making you want to return to them anytime you get a moment to yourself. Here’s why we think so.

Pushing Boundaries

It’s probably a good idea to look at Resonant’s success through the lens of the game whose title it has just managed to take for itself. Alan Wake 2 was at 1 million sales in December 2023 and 1.3 million by February 2024. That’s about three months to get to its first million and another couple of months to get a further 300,000 copies.

Looking at that trajectory, it’s clear that Remedy’s previous heavy hitter had a reasonable number of takers, but it’s certainly among the more popular games out there. But pit that against a mere three weeks for Resonant to take its spot, and the assertion from CEO Jean-Charles Gaudechon that Remedy “always believed that Control deserved an even bigger audience”, and the milestone begins to bear more significance.

It showcases a plan to make Control more accessible and universal, giving it a sort of appeal that’s built for the long term. We’re going to revisit that a little later in this one, but for now it’s important to remember that Resonant is a title that’s aimed at bringing in new audiences even as it aims to retain existing fans of the franchise it represents.

That’s interesting enough, but the real fun is in how it goes about achieving that.

Bold Gambits

It’s probably a good idea to address the most obvious change between Resonant and its predecessor, a change of protagonist aside. Dylan’s skill set doesn’t involve guns in a new combat system that’s centered on giving you all the power you want against enemies that are going to have you getting creative in how you use it.

A melee-focused combat system is an immediate departure from the controlled chaos of Jess’s third-person shooter perspective, and it’s a welcome change for a number of reasons. Of course, Manhattan cannot be disregarded thanks to how well it serves its role as a stage that seems to evolve over the course of the game, responding to Dylan’s growing abilities with obstacles and threats that seem tailored to bringing out effort to stop the Hiss to a premature end.

Working in tandem, the combat, story, and Manhattan are pillars that prop up an experience that can be quite addictive irrespective of whether you’re a returning fan or a total newbie. As an entry point, it’s easy to pick up, although there is quite a bit of depth to its combat system once you really begin to engage with it.

The same can be said for the traversal system and the way Manhattan often feels like a world that’s testing your ability to navigate it as much as it tests your ability to deal with the many threats that stand between you and your next goal. It’s time to get into how each facet of the experience earns your attention and retains it with aplomb.

Many Paths To Progress

Dylan’s use of the Aberrant is certainly a big change, as we’ve established, but does it manage to justify its inclusion in Resonant? That’s a question we’re happy to answer with a yes, as this is a combat system that’s so wildly fun almost right off the bat.

It isn’t too long before you get access to one of three Primary and Secondary weapons in the game, and their drastically varying combat styles are an immediately enticing few hours of mixing and matching their moves until you find a combination that works. The Aberrant’s ability to weave itself into varying shapes is certainly a great addition to a game that needs Dylan to be a versatile presence on the battlefield.

We still stand by our opening choices of Strike and Extend, the dual blades and staff working well to keep us fast on our feet and able to keep our enemies at a distance from which we could strike from a position of strength. Of course, there’s something to be said in favor of using stone fists and a giant hammer to just pummel your enemies into oblivion. That both options are present and viable is a testament to a combat system that values a flexible approach and a fun one.

Having smooth animations flow into each other, and moves that encourage free-flowing combos are certainly strengths in Resonant, and the result is a combat system that makes you feel powerful almost instantly.

Dylan feels like a powerhouse, and that feeling is only exacerbated when the game pits you against any of its bosses. They’re formidable threats, yes, but that’s not because of the narrative merely framing them that way. They feel as imposing as they do on the virtue of Dylan having to work for control of the fight against them, which the game’s grunt enemies often feel ill-equipped to do once you get some momentum and a good build going.

With skill trees that are quite expansive, and the addition of finishers and more weapons in each category a little while later, Resonant is certainly addictive as far as its combat is concerned. You find yourself chasing that next upgrade just to see what it does, and whether it gives you enough reasons to work it into your combos from time to time aside from the visual reward that pulling off each move gives you by default.

But Dylan’s fancy moves are not the only reason Resonant is having its players return to it even as new ones step onto Manhattan’s streets.

A World Built To Entice and Enthrall

Our reasons for engaging with Manhattan can be summed up by a series of memorable firsts. We’re not going to forget that glowing vending machine that we had to chase down and beat up to get rewarded quite generously for the effort.

That first Fault, and the thrill of getting a new way to engage with the world and its many varied environments, was another one to remember. That both of these occurrences came at a time when something equally compelling already had our attention, and that it was pure curiosity that forced the detour, is an indicator of a world that’s good at reeling you in.

The franchise’s penchant for the unusual gets a whole new canvas to paint on, one that’s now the size of a city instead of a house where the walls seemed to limit the Hiss’s ability to get creative. Manhattan almost feels like the long-standing antagonist has also reached the pinnacle of its character arc, and the many levels that have you switching orientations, perspectives, and more are all ways in which the game can be quite spellbinding as far as its world is concerned.

Equally captivating is the way Dylan navigates it all. He runs on walls, or uses a sort of Glide to stay airborne and access areas that other FBC operatives might not be able to reach. His use of the Aberrant isn’t just tied to his fighting style; it’s woven so effectively into the way he navigates the world that it’s handled very deftly, and the result is a game in which getting around can be as fun as chasing down a new mystery and picking as many fights as you’d like on the way there.

The Beginnings Of Momentum

Dylan’s been great at giving the Control franchise stronger legs to stand on, but how far are they going to carry it? Selling a million copies as quickly as it has is no mean feat, but that has to be measured against whether it has helped the game recoup its costs, or at least come close to doing so.

Great combat, a solid world and story, and interesting ways to keep players engaged in their moment-to-moment gameplay are great things to have when you’re seeking to build a game that’s going to effectively grow your existing player base. On that front, it’s easy to see Resonant as being especially effective at that goal.

The story’s no slouch either, and while we did point out that the combat does take a while to open up in our review of the game, it remains potent enough to keep you invested in it up until that point. When you think of it as a complete package, Resonant is indeed off to a strong start, and might just help Remedy take control of a bigger audience later down the line.

As a first step, it’s given its makers a rather large one to work with. And it has done so by being an entertainer we find very easy to recommend if you’re looking for a title to get lost in.

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.

As a result, the PS5 topped unit and dollar sales for video game hardware last month. It also contributed to a 12 percent increase in overall spending year-over-year at $362 million, though total hardware sales dropped 3 percent. Year-to-date spending is still 9 percent behind 2025.

The news is less sunshine and rainbows for Xbox. While year-on-year spending on the Series X/S dropped 2 percent, unit sales fell a staggering 27 percent. The total Xbox “ecosystem” has also fallen to a new all-time September low, according to Circana’s Mat Piscatella, beating last year’s record.

As for the Nintendo Switch 2, it hung in there, with spending down 12 percent and unit sales down 14 percent year-on-year. You’d have to think it will see a much bigger boost in October and November with the upcoming launch of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, but time will tell.

It’s currently the 11th best-selling game of 2026 to date, but more impressively, its full-game dollar sales were the highest for a Sony title in its launch month since Helldivers 2 in February 2024. While sales numbers have yet to be revealed, it may be performing far better than most think.

Of course, the chart is full of other new titles for September, including EA Sports FC 27 in second, followed by The Blood of Dawnwalker in fifth, WARDOGS in sixth, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword in seventh. Halloween: The Game somehow claimed eighth while Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve debuted in ninth.

Perhaps the least surprising news is NBA 2K27 is now 2026’s best-selling game to date in the US, beating Resident Evil Requiem. It’s somewhat expected since the basketball title debuted in third place last August based on early access sales alone. If that isn’t a testament to the craze behind it, we don’t know what is.

It’s all the more vindicating since the developer decided to delay Valor Mortis out of September, avoiding Silent Hill: Townfall, Control Resonant and the previous weeks’ heavy-hitters. Even with the delay, it still had to contend with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, Gears of War: E-Day, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen and more to kick off October.

Also, it isn’t necessarily one of 2026’s most acclaimed titles. Despite averaging a respectable 78 Metascore from 52 reviews (check out our review) and a 78 percent “Mostly Positive” rating on Steam, it’s far down the list of best-reviewed games.

But it all worked out. As for the studio’s current plans, it released a hotfix last week to address various crashes and reduce error logging that could affect performance. It’s also working on an unnamed major story DLC for release in 2027. Other features for Valor Mortis, free or otherwise, have yet to be detailed, so stay tuned for more updates.

For those of you looking to get every possible bit of information you can before you accept that hefty launch price tag, there’s new information that you could find useful. For those of you with a copy of the game waiting for the pre-download windows to open, you’re still going to like what you see here, so let’s jump right in.

1. Carry Your Tunes With You

The radio has always been a fun part of GTA, thanks to Rockstar’s penchant for satire that’s blended in with some well-curated songs to keep things moving along. Well, we finally get to use our phones to keep listening to music that was blaring in the car in GTA 6. Yes, both protagonists can use headphones and earbuds while using their phones and exploring on foot.

It’s a nice touch that could allow the developers to sneak in even more of their tongue-in-cheek takes on the real world while also letting us have more control over our listening experiences. It’s also quite immersive when a smartphone behaves like a smartphone too.

2. On-Demand Podcasts

If you’re the type who prefers to be a bit more productive on the road or perhaps on a walk, Rockstar has confirmed that on-demand podcasts are going to be a part of the audio selection on offer.

Of course, what it means by a series of them is up for debate, but it isn’t too far-fetched to imagine a nice selection of subjects and perhaps some well-written humor and world commentary woven into it all. We’d even guess that some of them might hide clues to missions or points of interest that you’d miss if you’re not paying attention.

3. The First Six Radio Stations Now Have Names

Rockstar’s music page has listed Cocoteo FM, AfroBank FM, The Chamber 106.6, Flash FM, Dirty South Classics, and Back Country Radio as options to cater to a wide range of tastes spanning different genres.

We’re thinking that six might not be the limit of the studio’s ambitions in this area, though, and the final number of radio stations you can tune into might be higher than that. By how much is anybody’s guess at this point, but we’re choosing to be optimistic about the chance for great music to jam out to while we’re out committing crimes.

4. A Popular Cast Of Radio Presenters

Rockstar isn’t just bringing the work of talented artists to its in-game airwaves, but is bringing some of the artists themselves to the studio. Bad Bunny and RaiNoa are going to be hosting Cocoteo FM, while Lana Del Rey and Morgan Wallen are going to take you through Back Country’s playlists.

Other names include Robyn, Alex Consani, Kerry King, and Tom Araya, per Rolling Stone’s coverage of the casting information provided to it, and we’re hoping to hear other familiar voices join the fun.

5. A Lot of Homework

We found it quite fascinating that Rockstar has attempted to look at crime from two vastly different perspectives, and perhaps the most important ones in the equation. It recently told LOVE Magazine that it travelled with both law enforcement officials and gang members to get a feel for what made those contrasting sides tick, and the ways in which they interact.

That’s a lot of homework, and possibly more than a few ride-alongs that involved a lot of trepidation. We must respect the commitment, and we hope it all pays off in the final release.

6. Jason and Lucia Aren’t Perfect

That same interview with LOVE Magazine points to Jason and Lucia being “vulnerable, tough, (and) flawed, pointing to a narrative in which they’re nuanced individuals who don’t necessarily agree on everything despite being partners in crime.

They’re reportedly a combination of vulnerability and toughness, which makes sense considering they’re former criminals who continue to be on law enforcement’s radar in a life that’s pretty dangerous. Well, the risk is why the rewards are as delightful as they are, and the possibility of nuanced character interactions and development arcs is a lovely bonus.

7. Leonidas Has A Thriving Political Scene

LOVE Magazine quoted Robert Humphries, one of the game’s lead writers and the Senior Vice President of Narrative, who highlighted how Leonidas is going to feature signs of its local politics through election signs, campaign robocalls, radio discussions, political ads, and even some juicy controversies to sink our teeth into.

We’re never going to deny loving a little gossip, and we’re hoping it can even lead to some interesting quest chains where you’re helping one faction or another, or perhaps even playing both sides for your own benefit. One can always hope!

8. A “More Modest” American Dream

If you’ve wondered why Jason and Lucia might be choosing to return to the criminal world after incarceration, Humphries was quoted once again, and it was his examinations of Leonidas’s economy that were the subject of focus this time around.

It ties quite well into the personalizations of Jason and Lucia, and Leonidas is apparently going to reflect real-world problems like rising real estate costs and a lack of financial security for the average man. Having layers like that for our protagonists to interact with and perhaps even allow the narrative to lend some framing to the whole thing would be very welcome if it all turns out as we expect.

9. An Interesting Approach Behind The Scenes

You’re probably curious about how the game’s been made and perhaps even why it took so long to make it to this point. Well, LOVE Magazine’s interview coverage indicates Humphries elaborating on how sections of the game are developed with eight-week milestones in mind.

A round of evaluations then follows, accompanied by a shift in priorities for the next eight weeks based on how things shake out. Rob Nelson said it was about taking “one obsessive day at a time”, which could explain the long wait and the potential increase in quality and quantity that this one’s poised to bring to the franchise.

10. The Devil In The Details

Bloomberg’s coverage of the game points to a lot of debate about including real-world elements like manually purchasing groceries for your home, along with following recipes to cook your food. Rockstar was on the fence about balancing that kind of realism against the entertainment value it would bring, but we think it’s done pretty well from what we’re seeing.

Of course, a final verdict is going to have to wait till we’ve actually tried all of it out for ourselves, but we’re willing to concede the benefit of the doubt in this case.

11. The Potential for Distractions

For all you open-world fans out there, Rockstar’s Phil Hooker spent some hands-on time with the game, and it looks like that gameplay reveal was representative of what life in Leonidas looks like.

Hooker’s efforts to follow the road to a story mission turning into a two-hour diversion that took the session in an entirely different direction is some very familiar music to the ears of anybody who has done the exact same thing in GTA 5. The chaos is certainly back, and might be even more potent than it’s ever been this time around.

12. Constant Design Improvements

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier’s coverage of the game also included conversations with Rockstar, which brought up an interesting development tidbit. There were revisions as late as the “last few months” that changed things in Leonidas.

That’s helped, but that long delay from last year puts it into perspective, and we’re saying the same thing now as we said then. We’re glad the studio took the time to cook and create a title that hopefully realizes a vision that’s clearly brimming with ambition and great ideas.

13. Take-Two’s CEO Didn’t Take The Second Delay Very Well Initially

Schreier’s report also elaborated on how Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick, who’s quite vocal about things in the industry, reacted with disbelief to the news about a second delay. He was apparently hoping that Jennifer Kolbe, head of Rockstar’s publishing division and the bearer of the bad news, was joking.

He ultimately accepted the delay, though, and we’re glad he did. We don’t ever want another Cyberpunk-like situation on our hands again if we can help it.

14. Rockstar Shut Down Those Rumors About The Budget

The same Bloomberg report that brought Zelnick’s reaction to GTA 6’s second delay also highlighted Kolbe’s dismissal of rumors that the game cost $1.5 billion to make. While she didn’t reveal any concrete numbers, it’s still interesting to know that those rumors are nothing more than just rumors.

Of course, that only makes us all the more interested in how much was actually spent on bringing this one to life.

15. The Foundation For the Future

GTA 6 might have taken ages to make, but Bloomberg’s coverage of the game has also pointed to how that long development process might have been an investment in speedier pipelines for subsequent titles.

There is an expectation that things could move more quickly over at Rockstar thanks to the engine, tools, and production foundations that have been laid down for GTA 6. However, that’s still speculation at this point, but we’re hoping it helps speed up those eight-week milestones by enough of a margin for it to matter.

And there you have it. It’s been interesting to look behind the curtain at both Leonidas and how Rockstar has been working behind the scenes to give us a game worth remembering. It isn’t too far away now, and we hope we get to see you at another one of these lists while we wait.

GTA 2 might not seem like an obvious comparison point to Rockstar’s upcoming flagship, but look beyond Leonida’s sprawling streets and that immersive visual style, and you begin to see underpinnings in the game’s design and core gameplay that have now become a standard for the games that followed it.

It brought a very distinctive gameplay loop and a lasting appeal that were quite unique for their time, although subsequent entries in the franchise have aged its mechanics out by quite a bit. Still, those common points are a great subject for an examination of how the franchise has managed to remain as dominant as it has over the years.

It’s off to Anywhere City, which is also where our conversation begins.

A City Like No Other

You might think calling Anywhere City a rarity seems far-fetched after all the great ones in subsequent franchise titles, but as an early showcase of the distinct vibe that accompanies a GTA game, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s literally timeless, as you probably know from all the conversations about when it’s actually set.

Opinions give us a time frame that goes from as early as 1999 to 2013, conversations sparked by a deliberate ambiguity baked into the game’s own sources, and a design language that blended familiar elements with futuristic ones to present a world that felt unique while still feeling lived-in and accessible.

Of course, the game’s original manual (really wish we still had those on new games) talks of a city that’s crumbling under the strain of corporate apathy and criminal exploitation, two ends of a spectrum that you navigate quite often via the gameplay loop on offer. Anywhere City’s distinct districts and the even spread of jobs all around them meant you could see shifts in the decor as you went between them, lending variety and immersion to the experience.

Of course, a city’s streets are only interesting to video game players if there are enough things to do while you explore them. Thankfully, GTA 2’s clever approach to keeping you busy is among its strengths, and is now the early blueprint of a gameplay loop that has often baked chaos into its very fundamentals over the years.

People Pleasing Perfection

The Gang Respect system is part of GTA 2’s allure, and a great way of making its streets feel like you’re navigating a hostile world where competing factions can often cause your own efforts to achieve your goals to meet unintended consequences.

Anywhere City could very well have been called Anything City, considering how unpredictable your jobs for one faction or the other could get. An early-game mission involving the interrogation of an enemy faction member comes to mind. Picking up the unwitting and unfortunate man, while scaring more than a few pedestrians on the way to ramp up our multipliers as we made it to a destination, was part of the fun. Of course, your pockets could already be full based on how many other jobs you’ve done at the time, with the potential of an even bigger payout hinged on the success of the current job.

That trip to the gang’s HQ with our passenger in tow comes with a subsequent objective to deliver the vehicle we were using to a nearby car crusher, passenger included. A simple enough, if rather morbid, end to a job could somehow turn into a full-blown chase if you happen to nick a cop car when attempting a sharp turn, and it all can go downhill pretty quickly from there.

You could end up with no cash left, but a lot of fun memories of evasions and maneuvers that seemed so cool for a game at the time. That’s an undercurrent that has stayed with the franchise over the years, and Anywhere City is an interesting look at how things played out in its early iterations.

Of course, the missions themselves came with enough variety to keep the moment-to-moment gameplay interesting, although there are only so many variations of drive between point A and point B that any game can carry. That mission involving the snitch was accompanied by a series of textbook jobs involving deliveries of the illegal kind, and a few robberies before a full-blown gang war comes your way.

However, a bevy of other objectives helped keep things fresh, although how effective they were at staving off the monotony of repetition is something that’s going to vary from player to player.

That’s where things get interesting. You see, helping one gang over another meant being locked out of jobs and more earning potential, a facet that was quite important to in-game progression. Of course, that also meant the potential for more chaos through interactions with rival gang members on the streets, and even the aforementioned mission, which involved stealing a van, picking up some reinforcements, and driving to the location for a shootout.

Of course, gang wars and crimes are only part of the appeal.

All Roads Lead To Chaos

Anywhere City was a world in which chaos formed a part of daily life when GTA 2 was in play. Traffic collisions could result in holdups and even conflict with irate NPCs, and we’ve talked about how that collision with a cop car brought an unexpected end to an otherwise straightforward set of goals.

That the chaos you cause as you make your way between objectives is rewarded in the form of a cash multiplier, showcasing how the game’s design itself leans towards you being a complete disruption to a world in which other disruptions were just waiting to interact with yours to present the grand illusion of a disrupted order. It’s the kind of game where you stop a car in the middle of something important just because another one looked interesting. Several of those carjacking attempts might often lead to further chaos, caused by either gang members coming in to get you, or the police looking to get another criminal off the streets. Anywhere City was a place that reacted to your actions, and did that often enough for them to matter.

An area where that unpredictability becomes a tangible part of the experience is when you’re running from the police. The enemy AI on offer can seem quite easy to fool by today’s standards, but when you think about how relentless the police could seem when they were out in force to apprehend you at the time, things are different.

Cop cars could chase you down and even try to head you off at junctions. Even switching cars after killing the cops sent to nab you doesn’t help sometimes. You could be speeding away from the scene thinking you’re in the clear, only for another cop car that happened to witness the crime to follow you with renewed zeal. Things like that can throw you off your game and force errors in an experience that might otherwise seem routine on the surface.

It’s also where we began to think about the game’s limitations.

Anywhere’s Underbelly

Let’s begin with the overhead perspective. It was really cool at the time, no doubt about it. But when you consider how it was placing a sort of distance-based barrier between the world and the player in comparison to where we’re at with the franchise today, it’s a feature that’s best relegated to the fast-travel animation.

The camera perspective is a detail that might not have seemed as impersonal as it does today at the time of GTA 2’s release, but we believe it’s a part of the game that hasn’t aged well. When we think about pursuits and shootouts today, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a top-down perspective is going to be fun unless it’s from the point of view of a press or police chopper that’s showcasing some of our finest work.

There’s also the approach to progression that might have been par for the course when games were grindy as part of their charm, but it definitely doesn’t work today. Losing all your hard-earned cash after a string of successes was devastating enough, but with repetition being a huge part of the game’s weaknesses, that could mean its gameplay loop could begin to feel stale after a few failures.

But, like we’ve said before, the presentation and the way side content was woven into the core gameplay loop are interesting not just because of their relative effectiveness, but because of how they show how the franchise was already moving in a direction where those disparate systems would begin to collide in ways that didn’t just address repetition, but nearly eliminated it from the equation, as evidenced by Rockstar’s work over the past two decades.

GTA 2 already had Rockstar’s distinct humor, shown in the way mission briefings were tinged with little puns and references, while the writing often came with dialogue that would incite a chuckle. That’s now been taken to new heights since then, and Anywhere’s distinct vibe has become a design philosophy that has led many of the worlds that followed it to take the open-world genre forward in interesting ways.

But as a part of a franchise that has historically emphasized player freedom, reactive streets, and unpredictably escalating chaos, GTA 2 stands as a worthy beacon of the franchise’s future success, and a testament to how its strengths and weaknesses have guided the franchise over the years.

It’s going to be interesting to see what the latest distillation of its formula looks like in GTA 6, and we’re happy that we don’t have to wait too long to find out.

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.

The hook of this update is Clampdown, a new quest preceding the anime’s events. V is contacted by King for a job that involves entering NCPD’s HQ. Things quickly go south, but it’s nothing that a Street Samurai can’t get out of.

Fortunately, you’ll have a new way to do so: Dual-wielding pistols, courtesy of the new Double Trouble perk. While it penalizes each weapon’s damage, you can mix different handguns and even fire them together (with hits refilling ammunition). It’s the perfect way to fulfil one’s gunslinger fantasies and further ups the available builds. Just don’t count on dual-wielding other weapon types – the development team already decided it would be too overpowered.

Of course, Update 2.5 is chock-full of other additions, including official support for DLSS 4.5 and up to 6x Multi Frame Generation, new outfits, new Glamdocs to customize your arm cyberware in new ways, and perhaps most appealing of all, cross-platform mods. Check out our summary of CD Projekt RED’s stream here, and or read the full patch notes here (with some details below).

Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.5 Patch Notes

Edgerunners Content

• Added a new side quest, Clampdown, set before the events of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. To unlock it, complete The Heist and two gigs for Wakako, then wait for a message from her.
• Added a new 5-piece gear set based on the character King, which can be obtained during the Clampdown side quest.
• Added a new radio station, HKGN 102.0 FM, featuring a selection of tracks from the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners series.

Show Off

• A brand-new clothing collection has arrived in Night City! 5 new outfit sets can now be purchased from certain clothing vendors:
  – Maxiwear: available in Heywood, Arroyo, Little China
  – Jinguji: available in City Center
  – NetWatch: available in Kabuki, Japantown
  – IconAmerica: available in Pacifica, Badlands, Northside
• And one more set that will hit Night City shelves just a little later…
• The NUS Infiltrator clothing set can be now purchased from clothing vendors in Kabuki and Japantown.
• 4 new TWINTONE skins for Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech are now available via Twitch Drops.
• Some of the hairstyles that were previously exclusive to NPCs are now available for V. Please note that some hairstyles are available only to feminine or masculine body types.
• Show off your chrome! You can now customize your hand cyberware. Equip your Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms, Monowire or Projectile Launch System, and visit one of 5 Glamdocs (marked with a spray paint icon on the map) to give your implants a fresh, new look. Each Glamdoc is located in a unique shop, along with their own intro scene with voiceover and animations, and offers a unique catalog of cyberware skins with customizable colors.
• Sometimes one gun just isn’t enough. The new Double Trouble perk in the Cool tree (along with four auxiliary perks) introduces an entirely new playstyle, allowing you to dual-wield Pistols and Revolvers from the Power category.
• Added frames from the Cyberpunk Trading Card Game to Photo Mode, allowing you to make your preem shots look like custom cards.
• Added new poses in Photo Mode to show off your dual-wielding prowess.