The A Plague Tale series has become one of the finest in video games since the first game, A Plague Tale: Innocence, released back in 2019.

Its historical background, immersive and deeply compelling yet bleak and miserable narratives, as well as its memorable characters and robust mix of stealth action and survival, are perfect for thoughtful, enjoyable, and deeply memorable experiences.

As a result, with the third and latest game now out in the wild in the form of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — there's never been a better time to celebrate the bleak and gripping series with a quiz.

As a long-time A Plague Tale fan, I've crafted the quiz below just as Amicia did with her ammo: deliberately and with great thought and care. It's somewhat hard to get three excellent video games' worth of trivia into a short quiz, but I think I've picked some more straightforward teasers and some deep-cut brain ticklers to appeal to fans of all kinds of the series.

Best of luck, and let us know how you get on!

What did you make of our A Plague Tale quiz? The right balance of more obvious questions and tougher ones? Let me know in the comments, and come back for more quizzes soon — and also let me know what other video game quizzes we could do!

It’s been eight years since I last played a match in Heroes of the Storm.

For the majority of my late twenties, though, it was the MOBA my group of friends and I played night after night. Sure, everyone else was on League of Legends or Dota 2 as they were deemed to be the superior games in the genre, but we enjoyed our home in Blizzard’s crossover brawler, battling away as iconic faces such as Thrall, Jim Raynor, Tracer, and Diablo himself.

I fondly remember the nights spent playing HOTS, and our group would regularly reminisce about the hours we spent together on the game. We’d retell the same stories of the incredible plays and frustrating losses that we would experience every session — and never tire of joking about all the times someone would overextend in mid lane.

However, in that time between my last game and now, and following Blizzard’s decision to put the game into maintenance mode in July 2022, I had fully moved on.

But suddenly, that all changed. At this year’s BlizzCon, the opening keynote presentation kicked off with a surprise that no one could have anticipated. Heroes of the Storm is getting a new hero: Xal’atath, the Harbinger of the Void.

Cue a flurry of messages in the group chat, a Robin Williams ‘what year is it?’ gif, and exclamations of “we’re so back.” The game’s subreddit, a near-dormant sanctuary for players still fighting away in the Nexus, exploded back to life as well. The passion and excitement were reactivated in an instant — and I felt the same too.

A surprise return

Naturally, I had to reinstall the game, and over the past week I’ve dived in for a couple of hours nearly every night. I’ve amazed myself at how quickly I’ve picked it up again and how much I’ve remembered about each map, hero, and the flow of a game. It’s felt so good to be back, and it’s reminded me why I think it’s such an unsung hero in the MOBA genre.

See, Heroes of the Storm strips out a lot of the more, let’s say, hardcore aspects that were found in a lot of the top MOBAs of the time.

There’s no last-hitting creeps to get extra resources, no shop at which to spend gold to build your character, experience is shared team-wide to (theoretically) keep everyone on a level playing field, and there are generally fewer secondary features to think about during a match.

That led to some thinking that Heroes of the Storm is a ‘dumbing-down’ of the MOBA, but I’d argue that the game isn’t lacking in complexity.

One way is with the talents that are earned as you level. These allow you to build your character in a chosen way, adapting your strategy to your strengths and countering the team composition you’re facing.

Surprising depth

The main gimmick, though, is that rather than playing in a single arena over and over again, HOTS offers several maps that feature different main objectives. These require you to prepare and be ready for those moments when you need to defend an area, escort a payload, or gather scattered resources.

Achieving these gives you a temporary boon that works towards destroying your opponent’s home base, or Nexus. That might be a giant bone golem that lays siege to any structures in its path, or a barrage of missiles that directly attack buildings. At one point, a player could take control of a massive plant abomination to root enemies in place and smash up the other team’s defences.

These objectives add dynamism and give players a direction to move towards at regular intervals throughout a match. They also encourage more teamfighting, which I find is the most exciting and enjoyable part of any MOBA, where positioning and smart engagements are rewarded over repeatedly clicking on a creep at just the right time to build a pot of gold.

While I can appreciate there’s a skill to farming creeps efficiently in the opening phases of a Dota 2 or League of Legends game, I’d rather not be spending my time doing that. I’m also not a huge fan of the downtime in those games, going back to buy items and fiddling around in menus to buy a bigger sword or stock up on wards that you scatter across the map to give vision.

In comparison, Heroes of the Storm is a game of near-constant action, with matches that generally last a glorious 20 minutes or so. Sometimes shorter if you go on a tear, and sometimes longer if things are tight, but rarely too long that it starts to feel like a slog — especially in those painful situations where you can see the writing’s on the wall in the first 15 minutes.

This is all before I’ve even dug into the roster, which is a joy for any Blizzard fans and anyone who loves to have a diverse range of fighting styles at their fingertips.

As well as its satisfying selection of tanks, assassins, brawlers, and supports to master from across WarCraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and more, Heroes of the Storm has fun experimenting with all sorts of characters.

Abathur is a classic: a creature of the Zerg who hides in the backlines, but can assimilate with other players anywhere on the map to provide support. There’s Cho’Gall: a two-headed ogre who has its movement controlled by one player and abilities controlled by another — cue chaotic attempts to work together. And there’s the Blizzard deep cut, The Lost Vikings, who challenge you to control three different characters at once, almost bringing the stress of a full RTS experience to the game.

It’s these new and fascinating ideas in its map and hero design, as well as a focus on the more thrilling aspects of a MOBA, that make me think Heroes of the Storm has always been such an underrated gem.

I’m hoping this new spotlight on the game not only brings back a lot of old fans like me, but also introduces it to an entirely new audience so Blizzard sees reason to release heroes and updates in the future.

When the original Steam Deck was first announced back in mid-2021, it was a revelation. Valve proved that handheld gaming PCs could be cost-effective and still powerful enough to run demanding software at playable framerates. The first-generation Deck would ship in February 2022, with the Steam Deck OLED model later innovating with a larger, prettier screen, improved refresh rate, and a superior battery in November 2023.

The Steam Deck impressed at the time with its respectable semi-custom AMD APU complete with its four-core (eight threads) CPU clocked between 2.4 and 3.5 GHz, and 8 RDNA 2 Compute Units clocked at 1.6 GHz.

In short, the hardware inside meant that pushing the best PC games to 30 FPS (and above in some cases) at its native 1280 x 720p resolution was a possibility, but the competition has proven that it's time for Valve to go back to the drawing board if it wants to stay competitive.

That's because the Steam Deck is now fairly underpowered when compared to the best PC handhelds on the market. The competition have Full HD (1080p) displays (or better), and feature vastly superior hardware in the form of AMD Ryzen Z1/Z2 or Intel Arc G3 APUs that run rings around the previous-generation frontrunner. So, what does Valve need to do to ensure the Steam Deck 2 can compete if, and when, it launches?

1. A 120Hz Full HD (1080p) OLED display as standard

Both the Steam Deck LCD and Steam Deck OLED models feature a native resolution of 1280 x 720p with either a 60Hz or 90Hz refresh rate. Considering when the former was launched, this was an acceptable trade-off for providing playable framerates. However, every competing product in the oversaturated space has since eclipsed this, meaning the Steam Deck 2 absolutely needs a 120Hz 1080p display at a minimum to be viable.

You only need to look as far as the biggest rivals from back in 2023; the Steam Deck's panel was passé less than a year after the hardware debuted, as evidenced by the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. Both devices could confidently be called true Steam Deck rivals. The first-generation ROG Ally had a 7-inch 120Hz 1080p panel, whereas the original Legion Go had a 144Hz 8.8-inch QHD+ screen.

I'll always argue that anything above 1080p on a display as small as seven or eight inches ultimately results in a waste of resources, and it seems hardware companies got the hint in 2024. More than two years ago, the MSI Claw A1M launched with a 7-inch Full HD screen, as did the Zotac Zone, Asus ROG Ally X, Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, Lenovo Legion Go S, and Lenovo Legion Go 2, as well as recent releases such as the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. There's no need for Valve to look to 1440p (QHD), but the company needs to get with the times to avoid being left behind; lacking a decent screen would kill the Steam Deck 2.

2. A semi-custom AMD Zen 4 and RDNA 3.5 APU (or better)

It's never been Valve's style to throw standardized components into its hardware. While the competition was comfortable using the AMD Ryzen Z1 or Z2, or gave Intel Arc graphics a go, the Washington-based company had to go a different route. We saw this with the semi-custom APU inside the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED, but this design philosophy has since been repeated with the recently released Steam Machine.

Valve's living room PC features a semi-custom AMD APU that utilizes a six-core (12 threads) Zen 4 CPU and an RDNA 3-powered GPU with a total of 28 Compute Units and 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. This home-console rival was said to offer "six times the horsepower" of the Steam Deck, and the tech could act as the perfect blueprint for what should be inside the Steam Deck 2.

Now, considering the portable nature of a Steam Deck successor and the lack of an active cooling solution, combined with the price tag (I'll get to that further down the page), it's unlikely that the Steam Deck 2 will be as powerful as the Steam Machine, but it could close the gap. The Steam Machine uses around 170W of its total power draw when plugged into mains, with 110W dedicated to the GPU, 30W for the CPU, and the rest of the components (RAM, fans, SSD, etc.) accounting for the other 30 to 60W of draw.

When plugged in, the Steam Deck OLED draws a maximum of 45W (or 15V at 3000mA). When on battery power, Valve's handheld draws anywhere from four to 27W depending on the task at hand. Obviously, battery life has to be a huge consideration here as well, so we aren't going to see upwards of 100W for a handheld. Today's competition, chiefly the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, can provide 30-60 FPS in High settings in 1080p in either 17W or 35W on battery, but that comes at its own (literal) cost.

That's the power potential, but what about a close approximation of how a semi-custom RDNA 3 or RDNA 3.5-backed APU could perform inside the Steam Deck 2? Well, the closest we can get is with the performance jump from the AMD Ryzen Z2 compared to the Z1. At lower TDPs, the Z2 offers a generational leap anywhere from 4W to 40W, offering playable framerates of at least 30 FPS in 1080p, which is the only standard requirement for a Steam Deck Verified game in 2026. In particular, the Z2 Extreme features 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units with a total boost clock of up to 2.9 GHz and 24GB LPDDR5x-8000 memory; Valve could use something similar.

3. A sub-$1,000 / £1,000 price tag

When the Steam Deck was first revealed and distributed, it was sold at a loss. Prior to the original model's release, Gabe Newell said this decision was "painful" but "critical" for the hardware to break through to the market. Affordability and competitive performance took priority over outclassing the competition, and that was the core appeal of the Steam Deck, especially in the early years.

Well, it's nearing the end of 2026 now, and hardware companies (including Valve itself) have not learned from this example. The Steam Deck was successful because it was an affordable and powerful entry point into PC gaming, but that's a reality that's (unfortunately) becoming harder to remember as time marches on. The ongoing RAM crisis has meant the Steam Deck OLED shot up in price by 50%, and sales are also plummeting, and consumers have already begun to argue that handheld gaming PCs are back into the unaffordable niche product they were pre-2021.

To course-correct, Valve needs to offer the Steam Deck 2 for less than $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$2,000, at least for its base and mid-range configurations. We've seen growing backlash from gamers against rising prices recently, particularly with the eye-watering MSRPs of the new Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 (starting at $1,299.99 / £1,299.99) and the aforementioned MSI Claw 8 EX AI's shocking $1,799.99 / £1,399.99 entry point. To remain competitive, Valve needs to undercut the competition here, even if it means sacrificing some superficial features and maybe even peak performance.

In other words, Valve needs to remember why the Steam Deck succeeded in the first place: it was powerful enough and affordable enough to make everyday people consider PC gaming. It's a tall order given we're currently in one of the worst times in the computing industry in recent memory, where the price of GPUs, RAM, SSDs, and anything else that uses memory are skyrocketing with no signs of slowing down. Even if the Deck 2 is originally sold at a small loss, it would go a long way to prove that Valve can be pro-consumer again, as it lost favor with the Steam Machine's so-so performance for the price tag.

4. TMR sticks and mechanical buttons

Now that we've covered a prospective Steam Deck successor's price tag, specs, and screen, it's time to talk about ergonomics. While both versions of the Steam Deck are comfortable in the hand for long play sessions, the actual buttons and sticks leave a lot to be desired. Likely due to a price constraint, the handhelds utilize the standardized potentiometers, with physical parts that can cause wear and tear over time. If left unchecked for long enough, it can eventually lead to stick drift, which can be frustrating (and expensive) to repair.

Magnets are the way to go, then. It's tough when weighing up what would be the better technology for the Steam Deck 2's analog sticks, as both Hall Effect and TMR (Tunnelling Magnetoresistance) have their pros and cons. However, it's TMR that pulls ahead in this case for a couple of key reasons: it's more sensitive, accurate, and (thankfully) cheaper to implement now than a couple of years ago. There's a reason why so many of the best PC controllers on the market are already using TMR, so Valve would be missing an open goal if it cheaped out unnecessarily here.

TMR sticks and magnetic sensing technology as a whole are far superior and lead to fewer points of failure, ensuring longevity. It's essential for a handheld like the Steam Deck 2. Modern PC controllers, such as the Scuf Envision Pro 2 and the Scuf Omega, have led the charge with microswitch buttons and D-pads.

They not only provide instant actuation for more precise inputs, but they will also last longer than a pure membrane alternative. It's not just about immediacy and feel in the hand, but also about how this design decision could influence long-term use. Ideally, you would want a Steam Deck 2 to feel as good as the day you bought it, even five years afterwards.

5. A bigger and more efficent battery for longer (or more demanding) sessions

Any good portable device, whether it's the best phone or a Steam Deck successor, lives and dies on how good the battery life is. The original Steam Deck featured a 40 Wh (or 5200 mAh battery, whereas the Steam OLED bumped things up to 50 Wh (or 6,470 mAh). That netted you anywhere from two to 12 hours depending on the kinds of games you were running, with indies at low brightness yielding better playtime than a AAA release at full brightness would. On average, though, around two to four hours is considered the standard.

That's fine, sure, but Steam Deck rivals have since included larger batteries with longer average playtimes, and this is something Valve can directly address. For example, the Asus ROG Ally X has an 80Wh battery, meaning it can last anywhere from four to six hours of playback of intensive games played at 25 to 30W under the right conditions. That's a battery size increase of 60%; considering how many more lithium-ion batteries are being made in a compact or portable form factor, it means that this component cost could be cheaper than in 2021/22, and a larger battery could be among the top features of the successor device.

Ultimately, we want the ability to sit down and play our games on the sofa or on the move for longer, so offering a bigger battery with a superior lifespan would give the Steam Deck 2 the edge it would need. If Valve can bump the resolution up, tighten the ergonomics, increase the horsepower, and keep the costs down, then the second-generation of its handheld could be the best on the market.

Charles Cecil wants to make one thing clear: “I'm not anti-AI.”

The veteran British developer behind the legendary 1996 point-and-click game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars speaks to TechRadar about AI's divisive role in modern game development - and, in particular, how it was used in the upcoming remake of the sequel, Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged, due out in 2027.

The original, a commercial success selling 759,000 copies, sees American tourist George Stobbart team up with freelance journalist Nicole Collard to track a mysterious Mayan stone across Paris, London, and Central America. This remake doesn't use AI, and, according to Cecil, there's a very good reason for that.

AI don’t think so

“I think AI has its place,” Cecil says. “It's just not relevant in our games because we want human animation, human characterization and human expression, and that's much better done by humans.”

A perfect example of that lies in the game's hand-drawn art, all of it redone for Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged.

This hugely labor-intensive process encompassed roughly 55,000 frames of animation, more than the 30,000 of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars’ 2024 remake.

“George opens the newspaper and kind of just glances at the screen,” says Cecil, referring to the actions of the game's protagonist in an early scene. “He's looking at the viewer, and that's what human beings do. That is not something that AI can do.”

In low-res, eyes were just dots on a face. In high-res, eyes are windows to the soul and therefore have to be animated with precision and intent. Where applicable, artists were free to add flourishes, using their own interpretation to fill in the gaps.

For instance, the painting of Professor Oubier hanging on the wall in the rapidly burning study was always too pixelated to see clearly. Now, however, you can make out exactly what he looks like in 4K, at 36 times the original resolution, all while a visibly uncomfortable George jostles his rope bindings.

Developer Revolution Software didn't stop there. The team redrew scores of items that never really made much sense. Take the poison dart, which now looks less like a playing dart and more like something shot out of a blowpipe.

Human revolution

Despite the decision to abstain from AI use for the most part, it wasn't entirely absent. AI was used for the initial round of upscaling before artists added detail by hand, with backgrounds scanned as black-and-white layouts for them to build on using the originals as references. AI was more of a tool than a creative device.

“We experimented with AI for the first one, and we used AI to upscale and then redraw the characters. And as I say, it can upscale, but it can't put any character in.”

That's largely thanks to the luxury of time. The first game needed to be made in a year or risk cancellation. Revolution Software sprinted to the finish line, but made a few shortcuts along the way.

One oversight was 40 voice lines that were recorded and packaged in the game's files but never used. Now, in Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged, fans can finally hear them (one line involves George asking the Parisian waiter about the tequila worm in his pocket).

Another infamous example occurs in the Game Boy Advance version. “You have a choice to go to Spain or Syria,” says Cecil. “If you do one, you can finish the game, and it's fine. If you do the other, it takes you there, but you can't then finish. There's a bug that doesn't allow you to finish…It's an awful, awful bug. I mean, it's absolutely shocking.”

An AI might have spotted such mistakes, but then again, you could argue mistakes are what give art humanity. If nothing else, they make for a great story.

But the remake is far from a bug-fixing exercise. Instead, it's an opportunity to make the game better. Where most remasters seek to preserve the subject, Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Reforged is almost an act of excavation.

“All of these things we now have the time to do,” says Cecil. “Because what Revolution has done for the last 15 years is we've self-published all our games. And I can decide when we’re going to spend a little bit more time getting this, right? Is it worth it?”

The devs found time to add features, too, like a new three-tier hint system that actively monitors your progress and feeds you steadily more obvious tips so you're not stuck for too long. The final tip tells you outright what to do. Thankfully, purists can turn it off.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch 2 players get four different control schemes: touchscreen, gamepad, one Joy-Con 2 detached and used as a mouse, or a versatile combination of everything.

Plus, there’s something Cecil has personally wanted to add for 30 years: a beautiful, detailed map of Paris. This is used to aid player navigation instead of having them rely on clunky icons. With everything in the game, these feel like choices made by humans, not AI.

“We've really gone out of our way to produce something that, in my view, is completely future-proof, because people were playing the first one 30 years ago, and millions and millions of people have played that game. And my ambition is that in 20 years' time, a fourth generation will be playing again.”

“Going forward,” he continues, “people are going to seek out human-crafted art. You know, there's going to be that sense, because obviously we all have a human connection with each other.”

Control is easily one of my favorite games of the last decade or so, and I've played through it a few times and secured the Platinum trophy on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

As a result, I am incredibly hyped for Control Resonant, the upcoming sequel from the masterminds over at Remedy Entertainment, and have created this short quiz in celebration of the first game — and to test fellow fans' knowledge.

Ranging from, I think, pretty straightforward questions to one or two deep cuts, and with some questions that are bound to revive some brilliant memories of the first game, I've tried to balance my Control quiz for everyone, from long-time fans and re-players to those who played the first one at launch and have patiently waited for the sequel since.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on!

How did you find my Control quiz? Too easy? Too tricky at points? Too short, perhaps? Let me know ion the comments as well as what other quizzes we should do, and check back in the future for more trivia tests on fantastic games.

September has been an absolutely mega month for games, and we're barely past the halfway mark!

With the weekend just hours away, you're probably wondering which new games are actually worth your money and attention. That's exactly why I've put together this little personality quiz, which is designed to match you with a recent release that you are almost certain to enjoy!

Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list of all the latest games, and there are sure to be some big releases that I've missed. Still, I've tried to include a wide range of genres from platformers to horror games and open-world adventures so that many different tastes are catered to.

What result did you get? Do you agree with my recommendation? You can let me know in the comments and share what you'll be playing this weekend.

How do you approach a sequel? Do you refine the predecessor’s mechanics and stick with the main character? Well, Control Resonant chucks those out the window.

Instead of an open-zone map like the first game, Resonant goes full open-world. You play as Dylan Faden, old protagonist Jesse’s brother, who was (mostly) freed from the Hiss’s evil influence towards the end of the last adventure.

Now, Jesse has disappeared somewhere in an otherworldly Manhattan, and it’s his job to find her.

Like brother, like sister

Control Resonant’s story is markedly improved over its predecessor. The sibling bond between Dylan and Jesse provides an emotional anchor to latch onto. Learning about their childhoods through the main missions was engaging enough and made it much easier to follow this time around. It kept my attention in ways that Control didn’t.

The small cast of support characters also smartly keeps the character development focused mainly on Dylan. Zoe De Vera is assigned as Dylan’s handler, and I like how their relationship starts off rocky with her viewing him as just a tool to fight the Hiss. But as the story progresses, Zoe starts considering Dylan as more than that, asking him personal questions about his favorite music.

Emily Pope returns from the first game and acts as an important linchpin for Dylan to discuss Jesse. As Emily helped Jesse throughout the entirety of Control, Dylan can confide in Emily, giving him hope he’ll eventually find his sister. These powerful relationships make Resonant a less lonely trip.

As someone who’s fascinated with sci-fi and the occult, Resonant plays around with common tropes to great effect. In one particularly memorable main quest, Dylan is tasked with figuring out what happened to a missing crew, and its implementation of time dilation and alternate timelines really had a grip on my attention. It’s moments like these that make Resonant’s story emotionally satisfying, but narratively absorbing too.

Go big or go home

Going from Control to Control Resonant feels similar to how Final Fantasy 7 Remake transitioned to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It’s a high-risk endeavor, as creating an open world can add a lot of unnecessary bloat compared to a more streamlined experience.

Thankfully, Resonant’s exemplary art direction and traversal mechanics make its distorted version of Manhattan a treat to run around in. Rather than the brutalist architecture of the first game that took place entirely indoors within the Oldest House, Resonant doubles down on the more kaleidoscopic and parallactic aspects in the open world.

As part of the main quests, you’ll also be given objectives to find “Faults,” which are areas where remnants of Jesse could be residing. While they’re not very combat-heavy, they offer a lot of story exposition exploring Dylan and Jesse’s background. At the very end, you’ll be awarded a new way for Dylan to move around.

These include being able to shift his gravitational orientation around so the wall next to him becomes the floor, or the intriguing take on the traditional grappling hook, which looks more like an invisible magnet pulling Dylan by the waist.

Control Resonant is also reminiscent of Elden Ring, in that you’re able to tackle tough side bosses called Resonants all across the Big Apple. By defeating them, Dylan is able to unlock more of his offensive move kit. You’re incentivized to go for it, as it’ll give you more options to fight against the Hiss and other enemies.

You only need to take out a few to advance the story, but afterwards you can actually complete it without taking the rest of them on if you want. This open-endedness comes in handy if you get stuck on a certain story boss. You can explore more, get stronger, and return later.

There are also plenty of other interesting activities to tackle, and these often bring a more down-to-earth tone to Resonant’s paranormal twists. In a multi-part side quest, Dylan is trying to help a girl find her way home from an alternate dimension. And he has to play “spot the difference” with different taxi cabs to take the right one back. There’s another side quest where Dylan helps a colleague find their invisible cat, which ends up in the cat actually helping out against a mini-boss fight in a humorous conclusion.

These side quests reflect Dylan’s altruism and the guilt he harbors for his actions from the first game, allowing him to redeem himself in small, yet meaningful ways. They also reward massive amounts of EXP and useful ingredients to unlock new skills and abilities.

Close quarters combat

As opposed to the first game’s third-person shooter gameplay, Control Resonant is a melee-focused action game. It’s an interesting switch-up that certainly helps this sequel differentiate itself.

The basic gameplay loop you’re going for is to stagger enemies and then perform an execution. Doing that causes Dylan to temporarily enter Dominance, which astronomically ups his attack power and allows him to kill enemies quicker. It’s a gratifying process that’s just as exciting as it looks cool.

The big issue here is that it’s incredibly difficult to falter enemies when you first start out. Dylan’s weapon, the Aberrant, can morph into different forms for both his light and heavy attacks. At the beginning, you can pick one form, and the rest you can create later on with the proper drops and materials.

If you’re like me and picked a heavy weapon choice that didn’t fit your particular playstyle, then you’re going to have a tough time. You can use limited reset points to rechoose your points and abilities, but the fact that it’s not free feels like it’s discouraging experimentation, especially at the start before eventually unlocking everything.

After initially selecting the spear as my heavy weapon and being disappointed, I reset my build and opted for the slow but powerful hammer instead. I found that it fit my approach much better, and suddenly I was enjoying it more. Beforehand, combat felt like a slog as enemies seemed to just be damage sponges, as it took forever to falter them.

A little later on, after defeating the giant fire Resonant, I unlocked the ability to cloak my weapons in flame, increasing both the damage and falter output. Now even my light weapon attacks with the multi-target scythe-like glaive inflicted a decent amount of stagger. I was able to enter Dominance faster, and the combat became more frenetic, explosive, and most importantly, fun.

It just takes a while to get to.

Should I play Control Resonant?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Control Resonant has an impressive suite of accessibility features. These options include text, subtitles, colorblindness adjustments, and toggles.

It also has an Assist mode, which lets you change gameplay parameters to your liking. For example, you can change how fast Dylan’s Power meter replenishes, which lets him fire off special abilities. You can also make him invincible.

There’s even an option to OHKO enemies with just one attack, and it works on bosses too. None of the options disable Achievements either.

How I reviewed Control Resonant

I played 25 hours of Control Resonant on Xbox Series X with the standard Xbox Wireless Controller on my 1080p LG Sharp TV, finishing up the main campaign while completing some side quests.

After witnessing the ending, you can go back into the open world once again to mop up any remaining collectibles and quests.

First reviewed September 2026

• Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson tells fans not to worry about support for the game ending because of Diablo 5
• He says that even though the team is excited for Diablo 5, "we're going to be making content for a long time"
• Gibson says, "The end is not nigh"

Not to worry, Diablo 4 fans! Despite the announcement of Diablo 5, Blizzard swears it will continue supporting the popular action-RPG "for a long time."

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon, game director Brent Gibson quickly put concerns to rest and stated outright that players don't need to worry about the game's future, even though the studio is already working on the sequel.

"If you're wearing the sign in the middle of Times Square that says 'The End is Nigh', the end is not nigh," Gibson said. "We have a lot coming," he added before acknowledging the Amazon class pack, coming to Diablo 4 in 2027.

"The train isn't stopping," he continued. "One of the things that I love about our world is we're not a series of games. We are a universe. We are even adding to Diablo 2 with that of the Warlock. It's one of the few franchises where we have the luxury to continue to play, and we know our communities are there multiple communities that make us a whole."

Gibson reiterated that if you're a fan and you're worried, "don't sweat it," because even though the team is excited about Diablo 5, "we're going to be making content for a long time" and "we've got a lot of things coming," including the Netflix adaptation.

"The train is not stopping," he said. "Hold on tight. Gone are the years of waiting 10 years for more content, right? So it's a great place to be at."

Diablo 5 is slated to launch in 2029, so there are few years to wait. In the meantime, Diablo 4 fans can sink their teeth into Season of Hell's Legacy, the game's 15th season, which arrived on September 15.

• Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson says it's "liberating" that there are no expansions to work on or have the narrative tied to
• The team will continue the game's story through seasons instead
• Diablo 4 - Season of Hell's Legacy is the game's latest update

Blizzard has confirmed that Diablo 4 won't receive any more expansions, as it will continue the game's story through seasons, something the team is glad about.

BlizzCon 2026 has officially wrapped, and there were plenty of announcements for fans across the board, including the huge reveal of Diablo 5, slated for a 2029 launch, as well as Diablo 4 - Season of Hell's Legacy, the game's 15th season and the centerpiece of Blizzard's 30th Anniversary celebration for Diablo.

"Amid the dead rising from Pandemonium, the lost soul of the legendary Horadrim Deckard Cain returns with dire news," the questline description reads. "Three dark wanderers have returned, each leaving a trail of death in their wake. Confront them and delve into the nightmares of their horrific past. Only there can you defeat the Prime Evils that torment them and lay their souls to rest."

No additional expansions are planned at the moment, and although Lord of Hatred was the big conclusion of the overarching narrative, the team will now use seasons to continue the game's story, presumably until Diablo 5 is ready for launch.

The game will likely be supported for a good few years to come, just like Diablo 3, but the new direction the team is working on removes the constraints it had before.

"I think it's liberating," game director Brent Gibson told TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon. "So we completed the story, but the butterfly effect can take us anywhere, you know? And we've got season 15 with all the events of pandemonium leading to someone else taking the mantle of death," before teasing, "Who is it? I'm not going to answer that today."

He added, "But it allows us to be really creative with all the pieces that we have, now that we hit the beat that we were all looking forward to with confronting Mephisto. So, I say it's liberating."

• Guild Wars 3 will have "significantly less UI in general" for an MMORPG
• ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson says it will better showcase combat and the game's open world
• He says combat UI elements, like debuffs, will be represented visually instead

Although it's a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), ArenaNet has confirmed that Guild Wars 3 will have a minimal HUD, partly because the game is also designed for console.

During a guided presentation at Gamescom, attended by TechRadar Gaming, studio head Colin Johanson showcased an early build of the game and its HUD, saying that it is subject to change throughout development and the team intends to have "significantly less UI in general."

In other MMOs, whether it's World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 14, the main HUD is typically littered with UI elements from quest lists, buffs and debuffs, action bars, and whatever else the player chooses to add for themself.

For Guild Wars 3, ArenaNet will considerably tone down these elements in favor of a cleaner HUD, which Johanson said will better showcase combat and the game's open world. Additionally, console users wouldn't be able to hover over these UI features.

"I think one of the things that you traditionally see in MMOs is there's a huge number of icons all over the screen that are used to communicate combat status and things that are going on," Johanson said.

"And we very intentionally designed this, one, because it's also on console and it's a lean-back experience where you can't hover over icons to read everything, to provide an experience that doesn't require having a massive amount of information in the UI. But two, we also think that's just a better combat experience if we can show more of the things happening in the world."

Adding to this, the studio head said that during battle, conditions traditionally communicated through the UI, such as cold attacks, won't appear as "stacked" debuffs on the HUD, so players will see the effect instead.

"We've built a multiplayer combo system in this game to replace that, where every player is capable of having most professions can have cold in their builds," he explained, "and if you start stacking cold on an enemy, you can see their animations slowly start to slow down, and cold start to spread across them. And multiple players can work together. If you get enough cold stacked on an enemy, depending on its size, it'll freeze into a solid block of ice. And so all of that happens in the world, rather than just a little UI icon down at the bottom of the screen that says frozen or not.

"It's really interesting. In testing, we're seeing people's eyes are now watching the actual combat that's happening on the screen instead of just staring at the UI the whole time, which is just a much better experience."

Johanson added that "the constraint of the controller" has encouraged ArenaNet to "create a version of combat" that's still a better experience on mouse and keyboard as well.

"That's been really, really awesome for us. There's a lot of stuff that just won't be on the UI because it doesn't need to be used," he said.

Guild Wars 3 is in active development, with a beta period scheduled for Fall 2027.

• Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely says the team is "trying to make it for everyone who loves Diablo" for specific reasons
• He says the team used "deferred complexity" to help balance the game's systems for endgame players and campaign lovers
• Narrative director Jennifer Hepler says there are like-minded developers on the team who are "passionate advocates" and are creating the content for these fans

Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely has said Blizzard is making a sequel for all fans, but it has to find the right balance for players who love the series for specific reasons.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon 2026 after the game's reveal, Shely explained that the team isn't trying to make a Diablo game "for every human on Earth" or "literally everyone" but is "trying to make it for everyone who loves Diablo, and people who love Diablo love it for specific reasons, and those reasons are knowable."

He and the team know some fans play Diablo and are most interested in the storylines and exploration, while other, more hardcore players spend time with the complex systems that come with itemization, designing builds, and racing to the endgame.

"We can talk to players and understand why individual players or groups of players love Diablo and what they love about it, and from what game they associate with Diablo," Shely said, "and so that allows us to tailor our systems and experiences, campaign and progression in a way that can be satisfying to different kinds of talent players."

This is where the developer brought up "deferred complexity," an idea the team used to help balance the game's systems for those who enjoy taking their time, while also delivering on "our commitment to have a complete end game for those players at launch." This means that some complex systems have been moved to the endgame.

"By deferring some of the complexity of the systems and itemization later into the endgame," Shely said, "we can deliver the depth and mastery elements that our players who love the endgame enjoy without overwhelming our players who are enjoying spending a lot of time in the campaign and exploring the world."

Narrative director Jennifer Hepler added that all types of Diablo fans are represented on the development team; she said they are like-minded, "very passionate" about the series, and understand what players enjoy most.

"People who love campaign are working on campaign, and the people who love systems are working on the end game," Hepler said. "And so every group of players has passionate advocates on the team who are not only speaking for them but are actually creating the content for them."

Diablo 5 is in development and is slated to launch in Spring 2029.

• Guild Wars 3 is the first game in the series to launch on both PC and console
• Studio head Colin Johanson says it will allow the game to "reach a much wider group of players" on PS5 and PC
• ArenaNet wants new players to take their first plunge into Guild Wars with the upcoming game

Guild Wars 3 will be the first game in the MMORPG franchise to launch on both console and PC, and ArenaNet thinks it will encourage newcomers to take their first steps into the Guild Wars series.

"With us bringing the game to console for the first time, [and] with us launching on Steam from day one on our own platform, we can reach a much wider group of players," said studio head Colin Johanson during a guided presentation TechRadar Gaming attended at Gamescom.

Speaking about the game's setting, which takes place 1000 years before the first Guild Wars game in the ancient land of Orr, Johanson explained that the game will appeal to hardcore fans who have been eager to learn more about the lore for years.

Exploring this highly anticipated era means ArenaNet could welcome new players with no Guild Wars experience, since the game is essentially a prequel and newcomers won't be required to play the first two games to understand what's going on.

"Everyone's going to learn it all together, and if you're a big Guild Wars fan, you'll know what some of the species are and some of the characters or some of the locations," the studio head said. "But for the most part, everybody is on equal footing."

The direction also means the studio could draw more players by launching the game on both PC and PlayStation 5; it's unclear right now whether the game could eventually get an Xbox release as well.

"We really wanted to have an invitation for everybody to come play Guild Wars 3 together and feel like this could be their first Guild Wars game that they haven't played before," Johanson added.

Guild Wars 3 is now in development and doesn't have a release date, but a beta is scheduled for Fall 2027.

• Take-Two Interactive says GTA Online support will continue after Grand Theft Auto 6 has launched
• The publisher's latest comments suggest that an online experience associated with GTA 6 is still a long way off
• Fans speculate that GTA 6 Online could be a separate, paid title

Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that Rockstar Games will continue supporting GTA Online after the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6, suggesting the title's rumored online experience could be a long way off.

During the Take-Two shareholder meeting on September 17 (via ResetEra), it was reported said that "GTA 6 is a single-player title and is due to release this November. We will continue to support GTA Online after GTA 6 release and beyond."

While we already knew GTA 6 is launching as a standalone single-player experience, it's speculated that the game will eventually receive an online mode, similar to how GTA Online released soon after GTA 5.

The language used during the shareholder meeting suggests fans shouldn't expect an online experience associated with GTA 6 anytime soon, if it indeed exists, as Rockstar will continue supporting its current money-making machine for the foreseeable future.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier during a discussion about GTA 6's pre-order period and earned revenue, Take-Two "have not talked at all, and they are not planning to talk anytime soon, about what the new GTA Online will look like."

Despite Take-Two's avoidance of the topic, and the publisher's latest comments, fans believe this could mean GTA 6 Online could be a separate, paid service.

"Looks like the next variant of GTA Online is nowhere near ready as Schreier already reported," the original ResetEra poster said. "And it's a high likelihood they will launch it as a big standalone title, whether F2P or for like $30. They will want to give it all the resources and spotlight it will need and not be an "add-on" this time."

Others support the standalone concept, while others believe it could be another $70 experience.

"I wouldn't be shocked if it costs $70 or more lmao," one user replied.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S,

• Rockstar Games has announced 'Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album'
• The official soundtrack features 34 original tracks, and the first six can be listened to today on all major streaming services
• The 'Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album' - Limited-Edition Vinyl has already sold out, but a separate exclusive vinyl and CD are still available for pre-order

Rockstar Games has announced 'Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album', GTA 6's official soundtrack that will launch alongside the game.

The upcoming soundtrack album is now available to pre-save on all major music streaming services, and will be released on vinyl and CD, including three exclusives available only for pre-order here.

Featuring 34 original tracks that "capture the electric energy of Grand Theft Auto 6’s world of Vice City and Leonida", the album features "a genre-defying roster of the most exciting artists in the world", with tracks from artists like Yung Lean, Travis Scott, PinkPantheress, Morgan Wallen, Keith Richards, and more.

As a small teaser, Rockstar has also released the first six singles featured on the album. We'll list them below.

• Yung Lean – That's It (feat. Future & Metro Boomin)
• Travis Scott – RHYNO (prod. by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) 
• CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, PinkPantheress, Fred again.. & Etienne de Crécy – Sexy Magic  
• Morgan Wallen – Last Thing You Need  
• Rauw Alejandro – Macacoa 2000  
• Keith Richards – Bright Lights, Big City 

Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album - CD costs £10.99 / $19.98, while Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album - Vinyl costs £44.99 / $49.98.

Then there's the more expensive Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album - Limited-Edition Vinyl priced at £108.99 / $124.98, featuring two transparent magenta discs filled with blue liquid, exclusive new artwork, and packaging designs.

Unfortunately, this edition quickly sold out after its announcement, and it's unclear whether more stock will be available. All editions are expected to ship November 20, one day after GTA 6 launches.

Rockstar noted that "exclusive vinyl disc colorways, each featuring unique new art" will also be available at Blood Records, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Urban Outfitters, and indie retailers.

"Stay tuned for more details about the music of Grand Theft Auto 6, including the dynamic score, the next evolution of in-game radio, and more," the studio said.

• ArenaNet says Guild Wars 3's ancient Orr setting will interest longtime lore fans and newcomers
• Studio head Colin Johanson says the game is "very much for our fans" who are invested in the game's lore
• He adds that the game is also for new players, and they won't need to play the first two games to understand what's going on

ArenaNet has confirmed that Guild Wars 3 takes place 1000 years before the first Guild Wars game in the ancient land of Orr, which it believes will interest both hardcore fans and new players.

Speaking at an exclusive preview TechRadar Gaming attended at Gamescom, where we saw a guided presentation exploring the game's new momentum system, studio head Colin Johanson shared additional details about the game's setting, where players are a Veil Warden.

Johanson explained that much of Guild Wars' history and lore originates from ancient Orr, and he knows fans "care deeply" about it and have been asking ArenaNet for more, so it felt like a natural direction for the sequel.

"Some of the themes from Guild Wars 1 all tie back to moments in this timeline before the gods disappeared from the world," he said. "In Guild Wars 2, the ruins of Orr are raised from the bottom of the ocean by a giant undead dragon, and players get to visit the remains of what Orr was 1000 years in the future, and players have been asking us for over a decade to see what Orr was like before the gods left, before it was destroyed, and so this is very much for our fans to give them something to get excited about."

However, while Guild Wars' setting might seem lore-heavy, the studio head confirmed that "it's also for new fans" and that newcomers won't need to play the first two games to understand what's going on.

"This period of time has about two pages of recorded history that we've ever released outside of the studio," Johanson said. "We have a lot more internally that we haven't shared, but our fans have only seen a tiny amount of info about what actually happened in this timeline and setting, which means it's the perfect time for new people to come join the Guild Wars franchise because you don't have to have played Guild Wars 1 or Guild Wars 2 to understand what's going on in the story."

He continued: "Everyone's going to learn it all together, and if you're a big Guild Wars fan, you'll know what some of the species are and some of the characters or some of the locations. But for the most part, everybody is on equal footing."

Guild Wars 3 doesn't have a release date yet, but a beta is scheduled for Fall 2027. The game is launching on PC and PlayStation 5.

• Fable will have a 60fps performance mode on Xbox Series X
• Playground Games associate game director Craig Littler says it didn't want to compare the PC and Xbox versions
• However, he adds that "It will look great wherever you go"

Playground Games is being a bit cagey about Fable's graphics settings across PC and console, but has confirmed the Xbox Series X version will have a 60fps performance mode.

Fable has been in development for a very long time, but fans can finally expect the fantasy role-playing game (RPG) to launch on February 23, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

While there have been plenty of trailers and, most recently, new gameplay footage showcasing the game, Playground has yet to share the PC specs and how Fable will run on console.

However, during a Q&A session at Gamescom attended by TechRadar Gaming, associate game directors Will Kennedy and Craig Littler did reveal that the game will look "great" on all platforms.

"What we will say is that our approach to all platforms is really the same, in that we want the game to look great wherever you're playing it, and for it to be appropriate for the platform later on," Littler replied when asked to elaborate about the console edition graphics settings.

Without giving away too much, the developer then confirmed that the Xbox Series X version will offer a 60fps performance mode, but said, "I don't really want to get into the like in terms of what PC versus Xbox will be like."

"It will look great wherever you go," he added.

In the same interview, Playground also confirmed that Fable will take up to 20 hours to beat, but promises the game's life systems offer "limitless" replayability.

• Diablo 5 will tell stories of the past, present, and future, the latter of which Blizzard calls "terror forming"
• Players can visit biomes that are taken over by Diablo's Dread Commanders
• Narrative director Jennifer Hepler says these biomes can change depending on who's in charge, and "it's a whole new experience" every time you revisit them

Blizzard has confirmed that Diablo 5 will tell stories involving the past, present, and future of Diablo's takeover of Sanctuary, which will visually affect explorable biomes.

The next installment in the isometric dungeon crawler series has been announced and will find players back in the mortal realm of Sanctuary. However, humanity has fallen into an apocalypse and the land has been conquered and reshaped by Diablo and his army.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon after the game's reveal, senior game director Joe Shely shared how different Sanctuary will look to players and said they will travel across the Western continent, seeing all different biomes that have been overrun.

Shely said Diablo 5 has "three stories that we're telling" within this changed world: the stories of the past, the time when Diablo took over and when he and his Dread Commanders emerged into Sanctuary, and the "desolation" of the present.

"There are no people around," he said. "There are very few survivors. Occasionally, you may find a human to add to your caravan, and they can bring something to support you."

There's also the future, which is being actively turned into an outpost of hell by Dread Commanders, something that the team has dubbed "terror forming."

"We call it terror forming because these Dread Commanders will actually transform the environment, transform the biome into a version of hell that relates to personal powers and powers at station," Shely explained.

Players will be able to revisit these occupied areas, and if a different Dread Commander is stationed there, "it's going to look totally different."

"The procedural world gives us a lot of levers to pull for that," added narrative director Jennifer Hepler. "You can go to a place, and it is under the control of the Dread Commander of Undeath, and it's going to be full of zombies and things like that. And then later in the game, you could return there, and it's either been reclaimed by humanity or taken over by a different Dread Commander, and the environment will be totally different as a result of that.

"So each time you go somewhere, it's a whole new experience and just constant new discoveries."

Diablo 5 is in development and is slated to launch in Spring 2029.

Indie games have arguably become a cornerstone of PC gaming, even more so with modern-day entries becoming huge hits such as Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades 2, and a superhero surprise from developer Adhoc, Dispatch.

In comes Blackwood, a cinematic third-person action indie, set in New York in 2012. You play as Anton Blackwood, an ordinary DVD store owner by day and an assassin by night, taking on contracts and dealing with the challenge of balancing two lives at once.

After playing two hours of Act 1 (the only one available so far) during my short preview at Gamescom 2026, I can see Blackwood's promise. It's quite evident what developer AttritoM7 Productions is aiming for with its gun-fu style gameplay, heavily focused on explosive, cinematic enemy takedowns, intense gun fights, and stylish maneuvers.

Blackwood is very clearly inspired by classic martial arts and gun-fu movies, notably John Wick, and even borrows elements from classic games like Dead to Rights and Max Payne. Players can either choose to challenge enemies in a gung-ho play style, rushing out and executing different takedowns you can pick before setting out on a mission.

A more tactical approach is also possible, staying in cover and strictly going for headshots only (fitting for a John Wick-styled game), which would perfectly suit the hardest game difficulty.

Blackwood nails enemy takedowns, which is easily the one aspect that will keep me coming back to replay missions I can once Act 1 is complete. (Video Credit: AttritoM7 Productions)

The takedowns swiftly shifting straight back into gunplay are where Blackwood absolutely shines, and I can't go without stressing how impressed I am with what AttritoM7 developers were able to pull off there. In so many sequences, I was instantly taken back to those iconic moments in John Wick movies, where Keanu Reeves pulls no punches.

Ultimately, what holds Blackwood back is jankiness in combat, especially during hand-to-hand encounters. During multiple scenarios, there are bugs and stiffness in certain animations from Anton and enemies that I couldn't ignore.

Controlling Anton can be a struggle sometimes, as certain button prompts are unresponsive while in cover, and since enemies can flank the player, that unresponsiveness can lead to some pretty frustrating deaths.

The weapon recoil feels great, and I can see that AttritoM7 designed Blackwood's gunplay to have players make every shot count — which is especially important, since preparing for missions requires you to purchase ammunition with dirty money earned from fulfilling contracts.

However, I set aim assist to its lowest level (minimal), and it felt like the reticle was fighting against my control of the joystick — and it also doesn't help that the ultrawide field of view resolution desperately needs adjusting.

The opening street shootout was a great way to kick the game off, and I very quickly learned that enemies are unforgiving, requiring the player to be wary of a gung-ho playstyle. (Video Credit: AttritoM7 Productions)

Some of the audio in both combat and some NPC dialogue feels a bit out of place too, particularly during one of the early contract missions in a subway station. There are many elements like this, especially involving animations (notably Anton's run and other NPCs' movements), that end up impacting immersion.

Fortunately, while Blackwood isn't launching in early access, its remaining Acts will be released later for free (for existing owners), with Act 2 planned for March 2027 and Act 3 in September 2027 on Steam. Hopefully, with the release of the following content, patches can be made to significantly tweak and adjust those pain points.

Blackwood is a very promising game and has plenty of opportunity to shine among some of the best indie games available. However, it's a little rough around the edges at the moment, and a few steps away from realizing its potential.

• The PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct airs this Sunday, September 20, at 9am PT / 12 noon ET / 5pm BST
• You can catch the show live on PC Gamer, YouTube, Twitch, Steam, and many more places
• It's going to be a 90-minute show with more than 10 world premieres and will feature more than 35 games

The PC Gaming show Tokyo Direct returns later this week and will feature a whole host of gaming announcements, reveals, and developer interviews.

Airing on Sunday, September 20, at 9am PT / 12 noon ET / 5pm BST / 1am JST (Monday), it will be presented by Frankie Ward.

There's a plethora of different places that you can watch the show online, with all of PC Gamer YouTube, Twitch, X, GamesRadar+, Steam, Bilibili, eCLUTCH, Ginx, ESR Network, Kuaishou, plus many more streaming the Tokyo Direct show.

You can use the YouTube link below to set a reminder — as well as bookmark it for later, of course.

In terms of what we can expect to see in the show, we already know that we'll see more than 35 games from the likes of Devolver Digital, Firefly Studios, The Game Bakers, Total Mayhem Games, Veewo Games, and WuselFaktory, and many more.

There's also going to be more than 10 world premieres, a new trailer for Firefly Studios' real-time strategy game Stronghold 4, a release date reveal of Virtue and a Sledgehammer from Devolver Digital, and a deep dive into New Blood Interactive's retro survival horror game Tenebris Somnia.

You can watch the trailer below if you want a visual teaser for the show, too!

• StarCraft general manager and creative director Dan Hay says the series' stories and characters are "remarkably topical" today
• Hay says StarCraft and the real world are both like a "frontier"
• He adds that while StarCraft is science fiction, its "themes and characters" are very similar to "the headlines in our world"

StarCraft general manager and creative director Dan Hay has compared real-world events to the series' stories and characters, calling them "remarkably topical."

In a sit-down interview with TechRadar Gaming following the reveal of StarCraft, a first-person, open-world shooter slated to arrive in 2030, Hay discussed the CGI trailer that debuted at BlizzCon and explained that the team wanted to portray the "tension" that will come with this new story-driven adventure.

The developer also said that building the "stakes" was just as important; he couldn't dive too much into the narrative details, but Hay touched on the series as a whole and its storylines that explore "imperfect" characters, suggesting the new StarCraft will examine similar topics.

"The way in which you are a hero is that you are going to learn how to become one," Hay said. "The way in which you are a hero is that you are going to learn how to become one. So it's not perfect, right? And that's the thing about StarCraft: a lot of the characters are not perfect; they're imperfect, and even the villains are.

"They have an idea of what you think they are at the beginning of the game, and then by the end of the game, you realize, oh, they were something completely different. And I think what's powerful about StarCraft."

Hay continued, saying that when you look at StarCraft's stories and the characters you meet, they're "remarkably topical" to the events unfolding in the real world.

"When you think about our world today, and you think about what is StarCraft? It's a bit of a frontier," he said. "It's obviously a frontier. There's asymmetry in terms of factions that don't agree with each other. There's brinkmanship going on where one faction is being used against another. [In] a lot of cases, it's just over resources.

"A lot of the cases there's politics, and there's intrigue, and there are people being left behind and betrayed, and when you look at that, and then you look at the headlines in our world, it's not super far [apart] in terms of how it feels sometimes. So you feel that tension, and you felt that tension in the teaser [trailer]."

Hay concluded: "I think what's remarkable about StarCraft is that it feels real, and it feels like it translates quite easily into today. And even though it's science fiction, and even though it has this sense of being in this other universe, it feels very close in terms of themes and characters and moments that you could experience today."

• StarCraft's first-person perspective will offer a new sort of "tension"
• General manager and creative director Dan Hay says the tension is "subtly different" from the original RTS game
• Since the game is in first-person, "You have to protect yourself"

StarCraft general manager and creative director Dan Hay has explained the process of designing a new game in first-person, revealing that "tension" was crucial.

Blizzard's next StarCraft game won't be a real-time strategy (RTS) title, but a story-driven, open-world first-person shooter, which will be a fresh direction for the beloved series.

Hay, who discussed the game's inspirations with TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon, explained that because of the new perspective, this meant the team had to think carefully about how to manage a combat system, the world, and enemies of StarCraft in a new way, while still being faithful and familiar to the original RTS game.

"The combat has to feel very, very clean and dangerous and mean and dark," Hay said. "I think StarCraft does that well. The mood is dark, but also, in a strange way, hopeful."

Without giving away too many details, the developer said that the team has to make the enemies the player is fighting "feel real" while also balancing the challenge of what it's like being inside 10-foot armour that weighs 1000 pounds.

"It's because the thing that's out there is going to try and shuck me like an oyster," he continued. "The thing that's out there is going to try and just flay me open, and eat my insides. And so we have to build it in such a way that it all makes sense, which means when you move, when you attack, when you shoot, it has to feel real, and then whatever it is that's attacking you — which we all know what's probably going to be attacking you — it has to feel like it's an onslaught where you have to stem the tide, you have to figure out a way to stop that biomass from attacking you, and it has to feel real."

Hay said the "key" to designing this experience was "tension," which players got a glimpse of in the CGI trailer, adding that it's the same tension from the RTS "but it's subtly different."

In the RTS game, players would be confronted with a wall of Zerg enemies, and that would be the tension, but in StarCraft, a first-person experience, the top-down perspective is gone.

"Now your boots on the ground," Hay said. "We have to give you the tension of deployment, and you saw us actually do that in the teaser, and then we have to give you the tension of there not being a whole bunch of marines around that you can just go through. It's you. You have to protect yourself. You have to figure out how to fix your armor. You have to figure out how to push back against it.

"Every shot matters. Everything you do matters. So the tension feels even greater."

StarCraft is currently in development and is set to arrive in 2030.

• Diablo 5 will have features inspired by Diablo 2 and Diablo 2: Resurrected
• Senior game director Joe Shely says the team was able to look at Resurrected for modern inspiration because it's so recent
• He says the team can "look at it through today's lens"

Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely has said that the success of Diablo 2: Resurrected has enabled Blizzard to use the game as modern inspiration for the upcoming sequel.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon following Diablo 5's announcement, Shely shared how previous games helped the team find modern inspiration for Diablo 5.

Instead of going back 20 years and just looking at Diablo 2, the team used its 2021 remaster, Diablo 2: Resurrected, for ideas. The developer said the game was brought to life thanks to the passionate fanbase, and the continued work on it has benefited Diablo 5's development.

"Certainly we've been very happy with the response to Diablo 2: Resurrected," Shely said. "The reason that Diablo 2: Resurrected exists is because of the continued passion of players in the first place, because of the continued passion of players for Diablo 2, and so both the honor of having a game that players love and the ability to add new content to it has given us the opportunity to look at it in terms of inspiration."

Resurrected's itemization system, from weapons, loot, and armor, is one of the core features that Blizzard used as inspiration; Shely also said the game's modern features were just as important because it was created and released so recently.

"Because Diablo 2: Resurrected exists today alongside Diablo 4, we can look at it through today's lens, and not just have to go back to, you know, 20 years ago, and think about how to bring lessons forward from 20 years ago. We can bring lessons from D2, but lessons from today."

Diablo 5 is in development and launches in Spring 2029.

• StarCraft general manager says that approaching the concept of scale was one of the biggest challenges in switching to the shooter genre
• The shift from real-time strategy to an open world also introduced a huge change in perspective
• But one of the biggest individual challenges was simple

The next StarCraft game will shift to an entirely new genre, jumping from real-time strategy (RTS) to an open-world shooter. The change led to some broad development challenges — as well as some very specific ones.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon 2026, when asked about the development challenges in taking the RTS to another genre, StarCraft general manager Dan Hay gave one very particular example: "Was there a specific challenge? Doors."

Yes, doors. Literal doors.

"If you're 10 feet tall and you're wearing something that weighs 1,000 pounds, doors are a challenge, and we had to figure out how to make our doors [work in] that perspective," described Hay. "It's like, how does it all work?"

Hay went on to say that devs need to make "sure that the world feels logical" and that it "doesn't feel weird" to players.

Hay added: "You've got to be able to play with that perspective, and so from the standpoint of building the world and making sure that the world was logical, and that when I walked up to a door it [opened] and also worked for somebody who's in armor or not".

Beyond the simple challenge of doors, however, Hay did add that size and spectacle were a sticking point: "I think you got to think about scale, right? Because the moment you adjust a perspective, [everything] looks completely different to us".

Annalee Hartling, associate manager of development operations for StarCraft, went on to talk about the sense of scale being very impactful.

"When I saw the trailer, the most impactful portion of it for me was the barracks. The barracks flying in and seeing it from the perspective of every nook and cranny, not looking at it from above.

"I'm not seeing just the top of it. I'm looking at it from the point of view of it landing landing [in front of me], and those jets are going to come out, and the feet are going to come out, and they're going to they're going to touch the ground."

That sense of perspective and scale in an open-world shooter game was "incredibly powerful for a player," said Hartling. "It's emotional, it's fascinating, and it's beautiful," they continued.

StarCraft is set to launch in 2030.

• IGN asked Valve if the RAM crisis would impact the Steam Deck 2
• Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais said "not really", but added: "It's just a matter of looking at the current conditions and seeing how and when we can deliver"
• This is effectively saying that the spec won't be compromised, but the release timeframe might slide

Valve is sticking with its plan for the Steam Deck 2 in terms of ensuring that the sequel will be a proper generational leap compared to the existing handheld.

IGN interviewed Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais (along with Jeff Leinbaugh) and brought up the subject of whether the RAM crisis – which appears to be intensifying in an unpleasant manner as this year rolls on – would affect the Steam Deck 2.

When asked if the memory supply shortage had changed Valve's plans for the sequel of the Steam Deck, Griffais said "not really", adding "We've talked before about how we want to make sure there's a very delineated performance improvement for something like a future Steam Deck, and I think we're still looking at it in the same way."

Griffais continued: "It's just a matter of looking at the current conditions and seeing how and when we can deliver something like that. But from what we're working on, as far as the user experience goes and what the product that we're trying to build goes, it's very similar goals."

In other words, Valve still wants to make the Steam Deck 2 a major leap in handheld performance, and the only thing that pricier components (not just system RAM, but other elements of the device) will mean is that the "when" of the delivery timing might be altered.

So, I read this as essentially hinting that the release timeframe could be pushed back, but ultimately the spec of any Steam Deck sequel is not going to be messed with due to any component price rises.

Analysis: value is more important than timing

I think this is a sensible stance. Having clearly laid out its stall from the get-go, shortly after the launch of the Steam Deck, in terms of making the sequel a considerably more powerful handheld, Valve can't go back on that really.

Well, it could, but it wouldn't be a good look, and I think this is basically what Griffais is getting at with that key "how and when we can deliver" comment. The Steam Machine being released at a less-than-ideal price hasn't done Valve's reputation any favors, and a lot of gamers have been seriously disappointed with the end result in terms of value there. I don't think that Valve can take the risk of a repeat performance with the Steam Deck 2, as that'd further erode the goodwill of gamers.

Personally, I'd prefer Valve to wait until after the RAM crisis has (mostly) blown over before introducing the Steam Deck sequel – even if that means a long delay, and the memory shortage continues for the rest of this decade (as some are predicting). I'd rather have a performant handheld with a palatable price tag – and wait however long that may take – than something that's expensive arriving sooner.

It sounds like Valve is very much thinking along those same lines, perhaps not surprisingly given that RAM-driven price hikes have reportedly had quite a negative impact on Steam Deck sales in recent times.

• StarCraft will have the same "gritty" vibes as the original real-time strategy (RTS) game
• General manager and creative director Dan Hay says the game was also influenced by the "interstellar western" of the original
• Associate manager of development operations Annalee Hartling says watching the trailer was "emotional"

StarCraft will adopt the same "gritty" atmosphere of the original real-time strategy (RTS) game, according to Blizzard Entertainment.

If you missed it, a new StarCraft game was announced at BlizzCon 2026, but unlike its predecessors, the title will take a new turn for the franchise and is a story-driven open-world shooter.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon, StarCraft general manager and creative director Dan Hay discussed the action-packed CGI trailer that debuted at the event and revealed the team's inspirations for the sequel.

"What I loved about StarCraft, the original, was that it was gritty, that it felt like it was on a frontier," Hay said. "It felt like a western. It felt like an interstellar western. That's what it felt like to me."

He continued by reminiscing about his time playing the original RTS game, explaining that he wanted to adapt the experiences he had in the new StarCraft, including the music, characters, and lore.

"From the music, to the characters that I met, to the people that I ran into, to the moments that I had, to the entire lore of it, it felt like a gritty, sometimes dirty, [and] not ] perfect world, and it made the asymmetry of the different factions feel even better because it felt very real. Because our real world has asymmetry to it.

"And so I think leveraging that and putting that into this world was key for us."

Associate manager of development operations Annalee Hartling also shared her reaction to the trailer, saying that the moment you see the barracks flying in and touching down, not from a top-down perspective, but a more intimate angle, was "the most impactful portion of it" for her.

"Living that moment was like my childhood, you know?" Hartling said. "My early days of gaming had come alive. I'm like, 'This is what I've been waiting for.' I wanted to see that and have that emotion of, like, this barracks hitting the ground and then opening up, and I'm able to walk out and look. Oh my goodness, that is incredibly powerful for a player.

"I think, at least from my point of view, it's emotional, it's fascinating, and it's beautiful. So having that perspective of being boots on the ground down there, seeing it all happen, and then whatever else happens to be outside those doors when you come through the barracks."

StarCraft is slated to launch in 2030.

• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis experience director Jeff Adams confirms "no old code exists" for the original 1996 game
• This meant Crystal Dynamics had to build the game from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5
• Adams says the engine also allowed the studio to create its own custom tech for the "reimagining" of the classic title

Crystal Dynamics has explained why it chose to build Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis from the ground up, instead of doing anything close to a remake of the 1996 game, revealing that no source code exists.

In a Q&A at Gamescom following an exclusive presentation that TechRadar Gaming attended, experience director Jeff Adams discussed what he's previously called a "reimagining" of the original Tomb Raider game and what it meant for the development team, who built the game from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5.

"We are in Unreal Engine 5," Adams said, "no old code exists. We are basically taking it and remaking it, or not remaking, reimagining it. We are bringing it from the ground up."

When asked to talk about how effective Unreal Engine 5 has been for the team, Adams explained that it enabled them to "have our own custom implementation for physics in the engine," which means engineering their own features, custom physics, and general upgrades; this made Legacy of Atlantis a true, modern reimagining.

"Unreal creates a really great sandbox platform for building a game, but when we're making a specific type of experience, we're going to have things that we really want to target and get to a right fidelity level where we're happy with it," the developer continued.

"So while things like Nanite and Lumen [UE5's technologies that offer realistic graphics capability] allow us to make a beautiful game environment, there might be some things that we're saying, 'Hey, we wish it could do this a little bit better.' That's when we'll break out and say, our engineers will create something custom that helps solve that issue, so that we can make sure that we're delivering an authentic Tomb Raider experience on Unreal."

He added that Lara Croft's long braid, which reacts to her movement, is "a perfect example of that."

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches on February 27, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

• Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons has a smaller spell set, each with multiple uses, for controller accessibility
• Invoke studio head Dominic Guay says this also means the combat won't slow down if there were a spell wheel
• He says there's also a bit of "resource management" to spells, and players will need to blend melee and magic combat

Invoke Studios has confirmed that Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons has a smaller spell set, with each spell offering multiple uses, rather than a large variety, mainly for controller accessibility.

That's according to studio head Dominic Guay, who told TechRadar Gaming in an interview at Gamescom that a smaller spell set opened up new playable opportunities, making combat more approachable on a controller while also keeping the action fast-paced.

This meant abandoning a classic spell wheel and narrowing its spell options, so they're all accessible on the gamepad.

"The breakthrough for us, it started with making direct access to these spells on the controller," Guay said. "A lot of games in the past where you had powers or spells, you had a lot of stuff to select from, and that's cool, and that was even our first reflex. But when you do that, you slow things down, and there's a limit to going through a wheel and choosing powers. There's a limit to that."

He added, "By making everything accessible on a controller, we started playing with our spells a lot more."

During the same interview, Guay explained why the team chose a warlock protagonist, saying "creative magic" was central to the story and gameplay.

The studio head also said it was a challenge to manage the game's magic system because, when you consider Dungeons & Dragons, "it can do everything," and Invoke needed to pick its spells wisely.

"Instead of adding like 100 spells, we thought, let's have less, which makes sense for a warlock also," he continued, "and let's make them more multiple-use cases, connect them, one to another. Connect them with some enemies. The way these enemies behave in a challenge."

Spells, which are anchored to magic objects, tomes, monsters, and more, also have their own upgradeable skill trees and can be used alongside melee combat. This creates a "rhythm," with Guay explaining that players can't just stick to long-range spells and will need to go into close quarters with enemies, which works well for protagonist Kaatri, a warrior-turned warlock.

Players can use spells to set up enemies, giving them an "advantage" for critical hits, and there are various ways to do this with different types of enemies.

"There's a bit of resource management too. You can't just do spells forever," Guay said. "There's a point where you're going to be low on ability to cast spells, so you're going to have to get in there at some point."

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons launches in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

• StarCraft is making a shift from the real-time strategy genre to the open-world shooter genre
• The development team realised during early discussions that "we weren't talking about a game from above"
• According to StarCraft general manager Dan Hay, "it was boots on the ground every time" when the team was talking about the game

The process of StarCraft shifting from real-time strategy to open-world shooter emerged naturally from repeated team discussions about "the story we wanted to tell," as well as in-game moments, armor, exploration, discovery, and the desire to experience the world from ground level, according to the game's general manager, Dan Hay.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim, Hay went on to describe the process that will see the series' perspective change entirely in the next StarCraft game: "Every time we drew a picture or every time we talked about it, it was boots on the ground every time."

These conversations then snowballed, gathering up other game features and elements, it seems, which kept the direction of travel going towards taking StarCraft into being a shooter. "We started to talk about perspective and how that's going to work; we started to talk about the armor, and we started to talk about what could attack that armor and how it could rip it apart if it needed to.

"We would talk about things with the characters [too], and we started to very quickly realize we weren't talking about a game from above; we were talking about a game down on the ground where you felt every inch of the game," described Hay.

He added, giving a nod to the narrative in store for players when StarCraft releases, that it was obvious that the game would be "down on the ground, and that just made sense for the story."

But as well as changing the player's perspective from looking down to looking out and around, the team looked at this change for the series to embrace the open-world exploration and discovery aspects of the upcoming game.

"[We wanted to] make sure that there is an opportunity to explore. Make sure that there's an opportunity to discover. See a thing off in the distance and go — 'is that something that I saw from the first game? Is it?' And then head off to it."

StarCraft was teased with a cinematic trailer at BlizzCon 2026 and is slated to release in 2030.

Drakong Challenger: One-minute review

The Drakong Challenger takes aim at the budget controller market by offering a basic but high-performing pad. On the style front, the Challenger is very much a case of function over form. You’d be hard-pressed to tell it apart from your run-of-the-mill Xbox controller, although the green rings around the thumbsticks are one notable point of difference.

Just like that controller, the Challenger is very comfortable in the hand. It’s also surprisingly well-made, with a solid shell and planted buttons. What’s more, it’s pleasingly light, making it easy to use for long periods. All this makes it one of the best Xbox Controllers at the budget end of the sector in terms of construction.

Although there’s no software to accompany the Challenger, you can assign the back buttons quite easily using the M button. A rumble notifies you when your assignments have been confirmed, which is a useful indicator.

The Challenger impresses in action. The triggers and sticks are as smooth and precise as you would expect from their Hall Effect technology, while the D-pad and face buttons are satisfyingly damped and quick to respond and rebound. The back buttons are a little less tactile, but they suffice nonetheless.

Given how inexpensive it is, you’d seriously have to consider the Challenger over a standard Xbox controller or any other, for that matter, so long as wireless connectivity is something you’re willing to sacrifice.

Drakong Challenger review: Price & availability

• $34.99 (about £25 / AU$50)
• One month of Game Pass Ultimate included
• Good price-to-performance ratio

The Drakong Challenger costs $34.99 (about £25 / AU$50) and is available now. It comes with a USB-C cable, as well as a code for a one-month free trial of Game Pass Ultimate.

The Challenger is cheaper than the official Xbox Wireless Controller, although that gamepad has the advantage of wireless connectivity. However, it doesn’t include a rechargeable battery as standard, nor does it have customizable back buttons.

If you want something a little more feature-packed, but don’t want to spend a huge amount, the Turtle Beach Pacific Skyline is a good alternative. It has companion software that can be used to remap buttons, as well as adjust vibration intensity and thumbstick dead zones. Also, the controller itself is far more vibrant than the Challenger — and many other controllers, for that matter.

Drakong Challenger review: Specs

Drakong Challenger review: Design

• Classic Xbox controller design
• Light yet solid construction
• No accompanying software

As far as looks go, the Challenger barely departs from the traditional Xbox design. It has the same shape, size, and layout, with the only additional flourishes being green rings around the sticks and a subtle outline around the two halves of the pad. There’s no RGB lighting, despite what those aforementioned stick rings may lead you to believe.

However, all this isn’t to say the Challenger has a disappointing construction. After all, to many gamers, the Xbox controller form is comfortable and practical. And despite the plastics not feeling particularly premium, the Challenger is surprisingly solid and pleasingly light at the same time, which is always a winning combination.

What’s more, the sticks and buttons are well fitted with no play in them at all, which isn’t something that can be said about most budget controllers. The back of the handles is textured for added traction, but the improvement is marginal given how subtle this texture is.

There’s no software available to customize the Challenger, but there are two mappable back buttons. I couldn’t find information on how to map them anywhere, but thankfully it’s a fairly simple process to figure out. You simply press the M button and a back button simultaneously until you feel a rumble, then press the button you want to assign and another rumble will confirm its activation.

The Challenger has no wireless connectivity, which is a shame but understandable at this price point. The included USB cable is quite long, but it isn’t finished in a braided fabric, which is something you often find on the best gaming mice to improve flexibility and reduce drag. It does at least seem quite durable, and the connection at either end was solid in my experience, despite the small amount of superficial wobbling at the controller end.

Drakong Challenger review: Performance

• Solid and responsive buttons
• Precise and tactile triggers and sticks
• Easy connectivity to Xbox and PC

The Drakong Challenger might be a budget controller, but that’s not something you’ll notice when gaming with it, as every input is smooth, solid, and precise. The face buttons are also well damped and very responsive, rebounding quickly to allow for easy spamming when needed. The same goes for the D-pad, and despite its traditional four-pronged hat, it felt comfortable in my thumb, even when performing rolls and frantic inputs in Tekken 8.

On the shoulder buttons, the texture is subtle but noticeable, and feels quite nice on the fingers, although I’m not sure it provides much in the way of traction. The Hall Effect triggers are light but offer a surprising amount of control, which was especially helpful when accelerating and braking in Assetto Corsa. The Hall Effect thumbsticks were accurate and responsive when steering, too, as well as when aiming in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. I also appreciated their soft, grippy coating and textured rims for added purchase and feedback.

The two back buttons are easy to reach, but they don’t feel quite as tactile as the other inputs, lacking depth of travel and dampening by comparison. Also, I found them quite easy to trigger accidentally, even when I didn’t have a particularly tight grip on the pad.

Surprisingly for an inexpensive controller, the Challenger features a headset jack. The cable connection is solid, and I didn’t notice any loss in audio quality relative to connections made elsewhere.

As for the pad itself, I had no issues connecting it via the USB cable to either an Xbox Series X or to my PC, being just as easy to use with the latter as the best PC controllers.

Should I buy the Drakong Challenger?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Drakong Challenger review: Also consider

How I tested the Drakong Challenger

• Tested for several days
• Played a variety of games
• Experienced with many other gamepads

I tested the Challenger for several days, using it for a variety of games and on both PC and Xbox.

I played Assetto Corsa to test the triggers, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl to test the precision of the sticks. I also played Tekken 8 to test the responsiveness and comfort of the D-pad and face buttons.

I’ve been gaming for decades and have used a wide variety of systems and controllers in that time. I’ve also reviewed a range of them, from simple budget-friendly affairs to feature-packed premium offerings.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: September 2026

• ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson has offered a deep dive into Guild Wars 3's momentum system
• The feature offers "fluid" transitions between movement and combat, which Johanson says is a "first" for the MMORPG genre
• Players can build momentum as they move around the world and in combat to deliver powerful attacks

ArenaNet has revealed more about Guild Wars 3's newly introduced momentum system, a mechanic that blends all actions and combat abilities to ensure constant "fluid" movement.

During an exclusive presentation TechRadar Gaming attended at Gamescom, ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson showcased the studio's action-adventure MMORPG and offered a deep dive into the game's story and open world, the combat system, multiplayer design, and more.

Johanson also touched on the game's new momentum system, saying Guild Wars 3 will be the first MMORPG to offer smooth transitions between movement and combat.

"If you can picture with me for a second, movement in an MMO, you're riding through the world on your mount, and you get off your mount, and your character immediately stops moving," he explained. "And then you start moving again, and you go to glide, and you stop gliding, and your character immediately stops moving. Then you go into combat, and you use an ability, and then you move, and you'll stop moving again."

He continued: "There are no fluid transitions between movement and combat in MMOs, and Guild Wars 3's momentum system introduces the first MMO that has truly fluid movement across the entire world."

With this system, Guild Wars 3 players will be able to jump off a mountain, deploy a glider, dive, fly, or wall-run, all while carrying momentum, "creating a seamless sense of movement you'd expect to see in an action game, rather than an MMORPG."

Momentum is also part of combat; we previewed a warrior class that has a unique ability that uses their momentum and modifies their attacks when they come down from the sky. This increases damage output and the radius of attacks "based on his velocity or how much downward momentum" the warrior carries. The class can also run up walls and slam back down on enemies, delivering huge amounts of damage.

"Momentum also impacts battlefield control," Johanson said, adding that the faster the player is moving, the more momentum they have.

The environment, Johanson said, is also "part of the experience," and enemies can be knocked into walls to be stunned and damaged by building up momentum in combat, explaining that players will need to use their environment, whether it's the battlefield or terrain, to their advantage.

"This is another first for the MMORPG genre," he said.

Guild Wars 3 doesn't have a release date, but a beta is scheduled for Fall 2027. The game is coming to PC and PlayStation 5.

• Diablo 5 devs confirmed a new class for the game at BlizzCon 2026
• The Plague Knight will spread and then consume disease across the battlefield to their advantage
• Two returning classes are already confirmed as well

Three Diablo 5 classes have already been confirmed, and the developers behind the game have even shed light on a brand-new one coming to the game during the Diablo 5 — Forging the Next Era panel, which we watched at BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim.

"The Plague Knight is the first new class that will be joining Diablo 5," said Joe Shely, game director. "This is a heavily armored class; it's a walking death."

Adding more detail, Shely said, "You're going to be roaming the battlefield, spreading disease and consuming it for power." This sounds incredibly deadly, poison-y, and downright unclean.

As well as confirming that the Demon Hunter and Monk classes will be returning for Diablo 5, Shely also added that "Diablo 5 is going to launch with more classes than ever before, and I don't just mean more classes than another Diablo game at ship. I mean more classes total."

The returning classes are likely to be very well received by the community

Finishing the description of the classes, Shely reinforced the key characteristics of Diablo classes, saying that "they're approachable. You can jump in; you can immediately have an exciting time playing them. But there's also deep ARPG mastery there, and a multitude of builds to explore."

I expect more classes and more class info to drop in the coming months as we hear more about the game in the long run-up to its release in Spring 2029.

• Devs say that they're "really doubling down on darkness" with Diablo 5's setting
• This will build on Diablo 4's bleakness and darkness
• And continue to contrast the relative vibrancy of Diablo 3

After the somewhat vibrancy of Diablo 3 that some fans raised an eyebrow at, the bleak darkness and misery of Diablo 4 was a welcome change of vibes and atmosphere for many players — and it sounds like the developers are going to continue this into Diablo 5.

During the Diablo 5 — Forging the Next Era panel, which we watched at BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim, some of the game's devs spoke openly about the dark and bleak setting that Diablo 5 will have.

"I think that's really the tone, the atmosphere," said John Mueller, senior art director. "We're really doubling down on darkness, and what this means for the art team is we really get to explore all of what we learned from Diablo 4 and expand on it further. You know, that desolation that we're going to see in the world is really the setting for the survivors of this story [in Diablo 5]."

This is something that I'm absolutely here for; Diablo games thrive and are at their bleakest best when they embrace a dark and miserable tone and atmosphere, and help to cement the sense of place Sanctuary has, as well as the overarching richness of the story and narrative.

This doubling down, to the extent of embracing a setting of defeat and one where Sanctuary has fallen, already makes for a compelling starting point that I can't wait for.

However, narrative director Jennifer Hepler went on to add that in the process of "making Sanctuary so, so dark, [and] trying to double down on this darkness of Diablo winning in this apocalyptic setting; we still need to make Sanctuary a place that's worth defending."

So there's a balancing act in play here, then, with the darkness and hopelessness of the setting being somewhat offset by the devs still wanting to make Sanctuary a "place that you want to save."

This narrative conflict and tension is something I'm really looking forward to properly and fully when the game releases in Spring 2029.

• Total War: Warhammer 40,000 battle product owner Dave Petry says it was important to implement player customization in the game
• He says it was a "big deal" to bring those customization options from the hobby forward to the game
• Petry adds that it was "awesome" to bring in the "core" features from the hobby

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 offers plenty of player customization options, which Creative Assembly has now revealed was an essential feature it wanted in the game from the start.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, battle product owner Dave Petry, alongside lead designer Joy Dey, said player customization in all aspects was always a "must-have," as the studio wanted to simulate the same experience for fans of the tabletop Warhammer game and beloved hobby.

"The second we picked this up, we knew we had to make a big deal of being able to tell your own story within this universe to bring in your own identity and get to be part of all of it," Petry said.

The developer also told TechRadar Gaming that it worked closely with Games Workshop to ensure the player experience was as "authentic" to the tabletop game as possible. This included simulating the tabletop's combat the way that fans are familiar with.

"We're trying to create an authentic sense of the lore and the kind of combat that's there, but the love for the tabletop absolutely is present," Petry said.

As for customization, Petry told us that it was "awesome" to bring in the "core" features from the hobby, and teased aesthetic unit personalization, loadout customization, and late-game progression.

Petry also confirmed that the game will feature the actual real-life paint colors used by Games Workshop too, so fans will be able to use the same ones they know and love and recreate their real-life armies or favorites in the game.

"In terms of what you can do, not just the aesthetic customization, colors, etc, etc," he went on, "but being able to specialize your units throughout a campaign and, over that campaign, take your intercessors, specialize them towards using, say, like bolt rifle, auto bolt rifles, or stalkers, leveling them up, kitting them out in different ways, and you know potentially ultimately getting them to be like stern guards.

"All of that sort of stuff is absolutely part of that core hobby that you experience this way."

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launches in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Diablo 5's player character is the Heir of Westmarch, a fugitive from the forces of hell
• Not much is know about them apart them having a "unique bond with Diablo"
• This bond will apparently give us an "insight" into the big bad Diablo

During the Diablo 5 — Forging the Next Era panel, which we watched at the conference, Diablo 5 devs revealed a couple of key details about the player character.

Instead of stepping into the shoes of another Wanderer or similar protagonist archetype, we now know you'll play as a character known as the Heir of Westmarch.

Not much is known about the Heir, aside from them being a fugitive on the run from the forces of hell, but what is particularly interesting and exciting is that the Heir will have a "unique bond with Diablo that you find out over the course of the game, why and how it came to be", according to Jennifer Hepler, narrative director.

This will allow the Heir of Westmarch to have some form of "insight into him [Diablo], but also a unique vulnerability to what he can do to you," which will apparently give us the chance to "spend the game defining yourself in opposition to the Lord of Terror." Does this imply there's some sort of mental connection between Diablo and our hero? Or some kind of means of direct communication or even control?

To make it even more intriguing, and provide possible insight into the closeness of this connection, Hepler added, "Can you resist his influence? Can you turn his powers against him? That's what the story and the gameplay are going to let you answer." Color me curious.

Also, according to Hepler, "the story really begins when you find out that you can enter the terror realm and survive."

This paints the portrait for a really interesting starting point for the player character, and I can't wait to find out more in the run-up to the game's release window of Spring 2029.

• Diablo 5 developers confirm that Sanctuary is overrun by hell in the upcoming game and has become an "outpost of hell"
• Humanity has fallen and "some humans have been corrupted or raised to become dread commanders"
• Diablo 5 was revealed at BlizzCon 2026 with a Spring 2029 release window

After the reveal of Diablo 5 in the BlizzCon 2026 opening presentation, developers of the upcoming action role-playing game took to the stage to discuss several aspects of the game. The picture of Sanctuary that the devs painted in this Diablo 5 — Forging the Next Era panel that we watched live at BlizzCon 2026 was not cheery at all.

"All of it [Sanctuary] has been overrun. It's become an outpost of hell," said Joe Shely, game director. "There are hardly any humans who haven't bowed or become cultists." But wait, it gets worse, as "some powerful humans have been corrupted and raised to become dread commanders. They have the power of the Dukes of Hell, and anyone who has resisted gets put into a soul cage or pulled into the terror realm."

Make no mistake, the narrative and setting for Diablo 5 isn't one that's built around the risk of the forces of evil entering Sanctuary, or the danger of the spread of evil: Sanctuary has fallen, and everything is on fire.

The official Blizzard blog post describes the world further by saying, "This is not Sanctuary waiting for the apocalypse. It is already living through one. In Diablo V, humanity has fallen into ruin," and that it's a "haunting, desolate land shaped by despair, resilience, and the few survivors fighting to endure another day."

This full embrace of defeat, darkness, loss, and misery as the starting point for Diablo 5 is really interesting, and extends the aforementioned doubling down on the darkness of Diablo 4, and makes for a deeply compelling setting, and one I can't wait to explore when it releases in Spring 2029.

In quite a big surprise at BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard has confirmed Diablo 5 is in development and is on for a Spring 2029 release.

And not content with simply maintaining the previous game's darkness, threat, and edge-of-apocalypse vibes and setting, Diablo 5 looks to go fully bleak, fully miserable, and fully void of hope.

We're on the ground at BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim and watched the teaser trailer live, which was full of fire, death, and bleakness, as you can see below, and has already set the tone for the next game.

Diablo has always had a specific brand and type of darkness, and almost always soaks its world and settings in a tangible sense of misery, darkness, dread, and hopelessness. And that's one reason why I love the games.

I'm not just being gloomy. That edge-of-apocalypse threat and sense of darkness give the Diablo games an excellent atmosphere and complement the universe's rich lore, as the place of Sanctuary in the battle of good vs. evil.

Diablo 3 received a little pushback when it came out due to it being a bit colorful and vibrant (literally), and while Diablo 4 brought a strong sense of bleakness, death, and darkness to Sanctuary, this early look at Diablo 5 seems like it's doubling down on that original darkness and bleakness to return the series to its roots — as well as welcoming back the series' big bad bossman.

This seems true in both the setting and story. The trailer shows a world on fire, heroes being murdered and their bodies being gruesomely displayed, and, as Blizzard describes the game, instead of continually being on the edge, this is the first time that "players will enter a Sanctuary where Diablo has triumphed, and its heroes have been defeated."

The description goes on to say, "At the heart of Diablo V lies a defining question: what must you become when the world has already fallen?"

It sounds, frankly, awful, full of sorrow, sadness, and relentless bleakness. I can't wait.

Switch 2 players finally get to go to hell

Alongside the Diablo V confirmation and teaser, Blizzard also confirmed the long-running rumor that Diablo 4 is indeed coming to Nintendo Switch 2 — and will do so on September 15, just a few days from now.

In one of gaming's worst-kept secrets in recent times, Blizzard confirmed that the game will come to the handheld in the form of a new edition: Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection, that bundle in the base game along with the Vessel of Hatred and Lord of Hatred expansions.

It's a natural fit, with the Diablo 3: Eternal Collection arriving on the original Nintendo Switch and proving a great success and a fantastic way to play the game.

The article contains spoilers for Returnal.

I’ve always been a fan of roguelike games. One of my first PlayStation Plus downloads was an indie known as Tower of Guns, where you blast your way through the titular tower, only to start again each time you die. It hooked me immediately — I spent pretty much an entire summer holiday shooting through the tower’s many floors, only to get kicked back down to the start with each defeat.

That type of cyclical gameplay loop just scratches a deep itch in my brain. I’m the kind of player who plays carefully and hoards items for moments that may never appear. However, the high stakes of roguelike games have always given you focus, while the temporary nature of your loadout, abilities, and progress encourages experimentation.

In most story-driven games, player deaths have few consequences – dying in God of War or Control might set you back a few minutes, but you’ll typically carry on as if nothing happened. In contrast, the roguelike genre is defined by hard resets with each death. The issue is that it’s hard to tell an engaging story when you’re constantly sending the player back to square one.

But what if dying was part of the story? That’s the question at the centre of Returnal, the 2021 roguelike third-person shooter from Finnish developer Housemarque that launched as a PS5 exclusive before making its way to Windows. Crucially, Returnal makes its cycle of death and reawakening the central theme of its dense, mysterious narrative.

This summer, about a decade after downloading Tower of Guns, PS Plus delivered me another unforgettable roguelike experience with Returnal – and while I had heard some high praise for its gameplay, I wasn’t prepared for just how much its story would affect me. Keep reading for my take on why Returnal is worth returning to.

Life on loop

Returnal follows space-farer Selene Vassos, an astronaut and explorer who crash-lands on the uncharted world of Atropos. After emerging from the wreckage of her ship, Helios, players guide Selene through the jungles and ruins of Atropos, fighting through rooms of alien animals and humanoids to track the ‘White Shadow’ distress beacon she hopes to use to escape.

In theory, you can do this all in one life – but Returnal quickly makes it clear that everything on Atropos wants to kill you. And unless you’ve got the reaction times of an Olympic gymnast, something on Atropos is going to kill you. When you do eventually fall to one of the planet’s many hostile creatures, the game flashes through a series of visions before Selene wakes up at the crash site, which becomes the starting point for each subsequent run. In fact, the screen displays the message ‘Helios Abandoned’ each time you leave camp, to really set the mood.

On these follow-up attempts, you’ll come across corpses – your own corpses. Versions of Selene that didn’t make it to the White Shadow are dotted around Atropos, sometimes accompanied by voice recorders that begin to explain the planet’s war-torn history.

The core gameplay of Returnal is that of a competent third-person shooter with light movement mechanics. It’s Dark Souls meets Titanfall meets Resogun after three cups of coffee – you move quickly, shoot quickly, and dodge dozens of on-screen projectiles. The controls are tight; the game feels incredibly responsive, fast but never floaty.

Various gameplay aspects come together to make Returnal feel addictive and alive. The game offers ten satisfying weapons, each with a few dozen modifiers, and carefully designed combat rooms that are rearranged with a dash of random number generation (RNG) on each new run. About a third of the way through the game, you unlock the best grappling hook in gaming since Just Cause 3, which is naturally a huge plus.

And while Returnal can be punishingly hard – looking at the PlayStation trophies reveals just under a third of players have beaten the first boss – it’s always incredibly fun to play. Even after beating the main game, I spent a few weeks scaling the Tower of Sisyphus, the endless mode added with a free DLC in 2022.

Our Returnal review has a more detailed breakdown of the game’s mechanics, but it’s the game’s story that, in my opinion, makes it a must-play.

I was quickly hooked by Returnal’s enigmatic premise. It takes a relatively small idea – making the gameplay loop an essential part of the story – and runs with it, filling every spare moment with symbolism and intrigue.

An impossible Apollo-era astronaut stalks Selene around Atropos; Selene’s house appears in the overgrowth, seemingly plucked from its place on Earth and becoming a doorway to surreal cutscenes, and all the while Selene’s visions become infected with robotic beings and eldritch tentacles.

Mystery and mythology

Being a fan of games like Outer Wilds and Firewatch, Returnal’s approach to scavenging lore and building your own interpretation of the narrative really clicked with me. The game has a Nolan-esque way of revealing its story (only with much better female characters). Its twists and turns work their way through the player’s expectations like the tentacles that plague Selene’s post-mortem hallucinations, and many of the big twists are hinted at from the beginning.

The first comes halfway, when Selene finds the White Shadow escape signal, is rescued and returned to Earth, lives a normal life, passes away, and wakes up… back on Atropos. The second comes at the end of the game, when it’s revealed that, back on Earth, Selene crashed into a lake after seeing the Astronaut that follows her around Atropos on a bridge, her own ‘white shadow’. In the back seat, a young boy is trapped – Helios, abandoned.

YouTube essayists and Reddit commenters have spent the last five years analysing this game to Atropos and back – some theories suggest that the planet is a manifestation of Selene’s guilt over the crash, while others point to the ghostly astronaut as an avatar of her emotionally distant mother, Theia.

Others point to Returnal’s layered Greek mythology references – Selene and Theia are named for the goddesses of the Moon and sky, with Atropos being the goddess of destiny. If you’re a lore-obsessive like me, now’s a great time to explore.

To me, Returnal is a fundamentally abstract piece of art that allows its themes to resonate with one another beyond the confines of a rigid narrative structure – at times, it feels like a sort of conceptual web, tying up ideas of motherhood, trauma, ambition, and release with no prescribed interpretation. Not bad for a shoot-em-up.

In fact, I found Returnal genuinely moving. In the second half of the game, as you fight through frozen wastelands and infinite ocean depths, Selene goes totally mad, talking only in prayer and prophecy. Actor Jane Perry does a phenomenal job of making her character seem both tragically lost and genuinely enlightened. Late-game cutscenes and lore drops put the focus on how much Selene gave up to become an astronaut, again tying this story to roguelike gameplay as Housemarque links sacrifice to pushing forward.

Housemarque released its latest game, Saros, earlier this year. Like Returnal, Saros offers Housemarque’s iconic third-person bullet hell gameplay and cryptic environmental storytelling – the difference is I won’t be waiting 5 years to play it.

• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis has three difficulty-scaling options
• Players can switch between hardcore, medium, and easy across combat, puzzles, and traversal
• Flying Wild Hog creative director Michał Kuk says players can individually tweak each setting for a personalized experience

Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog have confirmed Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis will feature difficulty-scaling levels, offering players a personalized experience.

During a Q&A attended by TechRadar Gaming, following an exclusive presentation at Gamescom, experience director Jeff Adams and Flying Wild Hog creative director Michał Kuk discussed how the game was built from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5 and the game's modern features the developers were able to implement.

Legacy of Atlantis won't be a simple remake or remaster of the classic 1996 game, but a "reimagining" for current-gen platforms, which means all-new upgrades and features that weren't available in the original.

Among these are three difficulty levels across three core aspects of the game: combat, puzzles, and traversal; players will be able to individually scale each setting to their preference, giving them more control over their experience.

"With difficulty levels, we have prepared it in a way that I'm pretty sure everyone can set it for their own pleasure," Kuk said.

He explained that players can, for example, set the puzzle difficulty to hardcore if they want something more familiar to the 1996 game, or switch combat to easy or medium, and traversal, personally, to medium.

"You can adjust the game basically however you want," he added.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is set to release on February 27, 2027, for PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

• Alien Deathstorm head of design Ben Fisher says the game's engineer protagonist "felt like a natural fit" in the game's environment and narrative
• He says Rebellion wanted to match an interesting character with "interesting mechanics" and landed on an engineer
• Producer Martin Willingham says "the motive was making the player feel immersed in the experience and exposed"

Rebellion has revealed the influences behind Alien Deathstorm and explained why it chose an engineer protagonist for its first-person survival horror game.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, producer Martin Willingham and head of design Ben Fisher shared that the team was, of course, inspired by the iconic Alien movies, but also looked at the broader influence of "90s cassette futurism" to create "that gritty, grounded sci-fi atmosphere."

"A lot of the tone came from our own 2008 comic series as well," Fisher said. "That kind of broad, pulpy, accessible sci-fi storytelling."

When discussing the intention behind having Deathstorm's protagonist be a protagonist instead of a typical soldier, Willingham explained that the studio wanted to find an interesting character that matched "interesting mechanics," and an engineer "felt like a natural fit."

The perspective also enabled Rebellion to "explore the elements of the sandbox gameplay," and an engineer working to diagnose the problems within a dangerous environment surrounded by monsters worked well.

"So part of the motive was making the player feel immersed in the experience and exposed," Fisher said, "because if you're an engineer trying to survive in that situation, you're less trained than a space marine or something like that [or] some kind of future soldier.

"You're going to feel more at threat. So it amplifies that feeling of being isolated, doing the best in a difficult situation."

While that's one aspect, the developer also said that the other is the added "moments of anticipation" that come with the engineer role, like the build-up you get in a horror experience while trying to complete your objective.

"You've got to slow down and observe the space, so you're not just rushing to the next objective," he added. "You're actually getting immersed in the experience, and that means that when you start hearing the roar of a distant alien, that split of attention builds up a whole load of anticipation and a load of fear."

Alien Deathstorm launches in Spring 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• CD Projekt Red and Fool's Theory say there were narrative challenges when developing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past
• The expansion is about Dandelion, but they didn't want him to "steal the show" from Geralt
• There was also "pressure" to live up to the "legacy" of The Witcher 3's previous expansions, but "pressure is what makes us better"

CD Projekt Red and Fool's Theory have said that developing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's third expansion, Songs of the Past, came with some narrative challenges and pressure to deliver.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, where Jakub Rokosz, CEO of Fool's Theory and game director on Songs of the Past, and senior quest designer Despoina Anetaki offered new details about the upcoming expansion, the pair revealed the process of developing a new story about Dandelion without stealing the spotlight from Geralt.

Songs of the Past will be The Witcher 3's final expansion and centers on Dandelion, Geralt's best friend, as the monster slayer unravels a new mystery within the bard's homeland of Letten.

Rokosz and Anetaki discussed how the expansion will "complete" The Wild Hunt's story by giving Dandelion the spotlight he deserves, a chapter that CDPR felt was missing from the base game; however, it came with some challenges in how best to center the bard without losing the focus on Geralt as the protagonist.

"The narrative challenge of Songs of the Past was the biggest challenge; we knew we wanted to do an expansion about Dandelion, but he cannot steal the show, right? Because it's a game about Geralt," Rokosz said.

"So, all of us, straight away, we discarded certain ideas because they were too overwhelming. But then, at the same time, if it's a game about Geralt, there is a very fine line between when it's about Geralt and Dandelion and when it's about you just running around Dandelion's home, right?"

The former Witcher 3 senior quest designer also said that the narrative approach was something his team at Fool's Theory spent "absolute days and weeks discussing."

He added, "So there was a very big effort put into this fine balancing of the narrative, where you are there for your friend, but it's still your adventure. But it is about him and his family's matters, you know. And your relationship with Dandelion as well."

Anetaki said another big narrative challenge was "living up to the legacy" of The Witcher 3 and its critically acclaimed expansions, Hearts of Stone and, "especially," Blood and Wine.

"It's difficult to make something that is just as good or, if not better, right?" the developer said. "So it was really important for us, if we were to make an expansion, to make sure it's a compelling story, right?"

While Anetaki acknowledged that this came with a lot of pressure, "pressure is what makes us better."

"It's motivating," Rokosz continued, "we always try to outdo ourselves, both Fool's Theory and CDPR. When you're working on a AAA game, there's always something that you want to improve, right? Even if you release a very good AAA game like The Witcher 3, you know there's something we'll improve 11 years later in it, right?

"So we always try to outdo ourselves," he added, before referencing Songs of the Past's demo, which premiered at Gamescom and showcased the many visual and technical improvements.

"Everyone always tries to improve their own discipline, right?" Anetaki said. "Cinematics. A lot of them [developers] have a background in movies, and they try to hone their craft as the years go by, make it better. Same for quest design. We never rest on our laurels. We try to always improve our craft, make stories more nonlinear, more compelling, more memorable for our players.

"Writers have a background. A lot of them have published books, so they're excellent at what they do. They always try to tell amazing stories together with the quest designers and the cinematic designers. Art always tries to push the boundaries, tries to make everything fit the narrative and look as beautiful as possible.

"There are technical challenges that we always try to overcome, so it's always a journey upwards, right? We always try to push the quality."

Songs of the Past is scheduled to launch in 2027.

• Former Rockstar Games developer Mike York says Grand Theft Auto 6's Jason "seems quite deadpan and monotone"
• York hopes Jason will show more personality, like Grand Theft Auto 4's Niko Bellic
• He also suggests co-protagonist Lucia will contrast Jason's more subdued personality

Former Rockstar Games developer Mike York has shared his thoughts on Grand Theft Auto 6's big gameplay reveal, including his initial impressions of co-protagonists Jason and Lucia.

In an exclusive interview with TechRadar Gaming, York, who previously worked on GTA 5 and GTA Online, said Jason appeared to move around "very slow and methodical," almost like a "robot" or "a Terminator," and showed very little emotion.

The developer compared the character to other GTA protagonists, such as GTA 4's Niko Bellic, a "great character" and one of his favorites in the series, who was "witty and had some great lines", and hopes GTA 6 will show Jason in a similar light.

"I hope we see more of that because right now, Jason seems quite deadpan and monotone," York said. "Rockstar usually gives us a bunch of neat characters who are funny and have their own flair. I don't know if we're going to see that with Jason, but I hope we do."

Jason will serve as co-protagonist to Lucia, his partner in crime and girlfriend — if you choose to romance her properly, that is. From the extended gameplay footage, it's clear that Lucia is much livelier than Jason, sometimes taking the lead in certain situations; York agreed that as switchable characters, Lucia could serve as the Yin to Jason’s Yang.

"I think that's what they're going to do," he said, and addressed the cutscene where the duo arrives at the Effluvia rooftop bar in the trailer.

"There's that moment in the trailer where they get in an elevator, and he says: ‘Sometimes I'm just more comfortable when I have to use a gun’. She replies: ‘Just be charming!’ Lucia's got this attitude where you can tell she's trying to break him out of his shell. She's the one that probably goes into missions gung-ho, all guns blazing.”

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Series S. Rockstar has confirmed that it will run at 30fps on consoles at launch.

• Alien Deathstorm producer Martin Willingham says the game is "not another corridor shooter"
• Head of design Ben Fisher says it's a "dynamically generated" survival horror game
• The Rebellion developers say it's a 360-degree sandbox experience

Rebellion Developments has said players can't expect its upcoming first-person survival horror game, Alien Deathstorm, to be another linear corridor shooter, calling it a "rare beast."

Alien Deathstorm was revealed earlier this year by the developers behind the Sniper Elite series and Atomfall and is described as a "visceral first-person action horror experience, where second-to-second survival hinges on responding to a monstrous, constantly shifting threat on a storm-blasted off-world colony."

TechRadar Gaming recently went hands-on with the game at Gamescom and then later caught up with some Rebellion developers, who talked more about it at length, including the concept and design influences, replayability, and player freedom.

While Alien Deathstorm may look like your run-of-the-mill survival shooter with typical survival horror features, the team considers it a "dynamic" experience with sandbox elements where the player's actions can affect unscripted enemy encounters.

Producer Martin Willingham said this means, "the horror, the tension, can happen at any time in different ways between playthroughs and between difficulty camps as well.

"For me, that's one of the most exciting parts of the game because in horror games the experience is typically kind of very, very choreographed because it has to be to build up that anticipation set of those jump scares. But it means you can only play it once."

He continued, saying the team values replayability and sandbox freedom, which means "we had to do something dynamic," and "building the encounters around the player and the player's activities means it's a different experience."

Ben Fisher, head of design, called the game "dynamically generated," where levels are played sequentially, and each has its own sandbox, adding that "It's a rare beast."

"It's not another corridor shooter," Willingham added later. "You're in that sandbox. It's 360 degrees. The action could be coming from anywhere, rather than just at the end of that corridor."

Alien Deathstorm doesn't have a release date yet, but you'll be able to play it in Spring 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

Not long into Marvel's Wolverine, protagonist James "Logan" Howlett is joined by fellow mutant and Team X member Mystique. The blue-skinned shapeshifter is eager to share a shocking discovery with him: a sinister secret hidden behind a closed door. But I ignore her request, instead continuing down the hall to soak in the game's stunning visuals.

It's the natural-looking rain streaming down a window that initially catches my attention. But beyond the pelting precipitation, I also spy equally impressive smoke, flames, and burning embers spewing from a fiery explosion – the apparent fallout of Wolverine's enemy-eviscerating entrance.

The destruction below is contrasted by beautiful moonlight above, which is occasionally punctuated by eye-pleasing flashes of lightning.

Production values as sharp as Wolverine's claws

Of course, if you've played any recent first-party PlayStation game, these realism-rivaling effects probably won't come as a huge surprise. As expected, Insomniac Games' latest superhero romp is obscenely pretty, polished, and packing the sort of production values that've come to define Sony's single-player, story-driven output.

This level of quality extends to Wolverine's characters and storytelling as well. Supported by incredibly layered, emotional performances (Liam McIntyre and Troy Baker especially stand out as Logan and Nathaniel Essex, respectively), the former features unmatched facial details and visual fidelity.

And while the game's narrative doesn't quite achieve the extreme highs of its technical and artistic excellence, it works surprisingly well, spinning an engaging tale that'll please Marvel enthusiasts while also welcoming complete newcomers into this potentially complex universe.

There are a ton of familiar characters, both friends and foes, that fans will love spending time with. But the game's pre-X-Men tale also does a great job introducing these favorites without boring the established audience or relying on exposition dumps.

In Wolverine's universe, for example, Logan and Jean Grey meet for the first time, challenging its writers to not only introduce these well-known characters to each other, but also to a potential new audience. The task is handled elegantly, however, in an early mission at Team X's HQ that sees the pair naturally sharing personal details while searching for drawings a mischievous mutant child has hidden for them.

Slice and dice with cinematic style to spare

This is a single instance, but the lengthy story often leverages these quieter, absorbing – and interactive – scenes to flesh out its nuanced characters and connect the larger story to the obscenely over-the-top bloodbaths that fill the rest of the campaign. While storytelling and characterizations certainly have their place in Wolverine, the game is, first and foremost, a visceral, action-packed power fantasy focused on showing fans what it feels like to get behind the titular mutant's adamantium death-dealers.

Of course, considering Logan is virtually indestructible and his signature retractable claws are capable of turning even a tank to ribbons, the developers also faced the daunting task of balancing the combat difficulty. How exactly do you ensure encounters are challenging and consequential when you're playing as someone who can return from the brink of death and cut through steel like it's warm butter?

Using a variety of creative systems and mechanics, Insomniac has mostly found a nice balance between allowing the beast-like protagonist to be the absolute badass you'd expect, without being ridiculously overpowered. At its core, the combat is an absolute button-mashing blast. Complemented by intuitive, snappy inputs, immersion-ratcheting DualSense effects, and environments filled with destructible items, simply shredding through hordes of enemies feels fantastic.

Reducing goons to piles of lopped limbs and red plasma is also as easy on the eyes as it is on the thumbs. Slick animations, cinematic finishing moves, and more blood and gore than you'll find on the floor of a slaughterhouse ensure every kill is as fun to watch as it is to execute.

The visual abuse Logan suffers is also a surprising highlight, as he too becomes soaked in viscera. But it goes deeper than that, literally, as his clothes become increasingly tattered, exposing ugly wounds and the highest fidelity sweat and body hair I've ever seen – enter photo mode at your own risk.

Whether you're taking on Bolivar Trask's cybernetic soldiers, chipping away at a towering Sentinel, or sinking your claws into any number of baddies and bosses we won't spoil here, slicing and dicing from behind Wolverine's shiny skewers is endlessly entertaining. But the game's attempts to deepen the combat beyond the animalistic amnesiac's rage-fueled hacking-and-slashing are a bit hit or miss.

As Logan levels up, you can invest points to unlock new moves and special abilities, dubbed "Techniques." The former are primarily flashy skills and combos that build on the character's base attacks, parries, kicks, staggers, jumps, dodges, and other core skills. Adding these to your already considerable arsenal definitely has benefits, from delivering more damage and disarming enemies to recovering some health and even flinging foes into each other.

Most of all, these moves – which require specific button inputs to pull off – inject a ton of cinematic style into your kill sprees. But more often than not, that's exactly why I used them, as their offensive and defensive benefits alone didn't feel impactful enough, especially when I could achieve similar results by spamming basic "barrage" attacks, dodging from danger, and unleashing specials as they cued up.

Those latter attacks, however, do make a huge difference. Working off cooldown timers, these devastating moves put you a button-press away from barreling through targets like a human drill, spinning through hordes with the force of a tornado, and performing other table-turning abilities.

These special attacks can be upgraded and also include a nice healing option when you're at death's door. Speaking of Logan's regenerative superpower, he also has access to "Rage," a resource he builds during combat that supports a second wind-like mechanic and – as advertised – allows him to go full-on feral, ventilating targets even more viciously than usual.

When combined with the specials – and some other late-game enhancements I won't spoil here – both the basic and rage-fueled skills make for unquestionably thrilling encounters, albeit battles that aren't as deep as their designers intended.

Snikt!-fueled style over substance

Similar sentiments can be applied to Wolverine's non-combat content as well. You'll spend most of your time in this globetrotting adventure painting cities and towns – across Canada, Japan, Madripoor, and more – plasma-red, but when not shish kebab-ing baddies, you'll retract your claws for some less violent activities.

In addition to the excellent story interludes, Logan does some investigating, chases fleeing enemies – on foot and while straddling a motorcycle – and a surprising amount of platforming.

None of these tasks are optional, and while they don't offer anything particularly special, they do deliver the occasional fun distraction. The bike chases, for example, are practically on rails, but it still never gets old slashing a pursuing vehicle's tires with your claws.

The platforming sections, meanwhile, generally get the job done, but sometimes kill the immersion when the mutant – who can often scurry up trees like a cat – suddenly can't scale a fence, crate, or wall.

Wolverine makes no apologies for being a linear, scripted action-adventure, a quality that often works to its benefit. But it can also be a detriment, like during those fickle platforming moments. This heavily directed approach does afford players some freedom, encouraging them to sniff out collectible bottles of whiskey and timed challenges accessed in Logan's creepy "Nightmare Cabin." These mini-games, unfolding in his haunted memories, also shed a bit of light on his dark, foggy past.

Whether hunting for booze or conquering these timed tasks, you'll collect DNA strand-altering "Adaptation" points, a currency that feeds another character progression path. But these passive perks don't feel all that meaningful among Logan's already considerable arsenal. Toss in the fact that these cabin-diving diversions have you partaking in the same gameplay you're already doing on the critical path – only against a clock – and they feel like an undercooked attempt at optional content.

Suit crafting feels similarly half-baked. The game contains 30-plus costumes and accompanying claws, a fantastic, fan-pleasing inclusion. But the suits are purely cosmetic, and accessed by investing the same "materials" hidden around the world.

Donning Logan with a cowboy hat or dropping him in this hyper-realistic world as his anime-inspired Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls persona is awesome, as is the permanent health bump you receive as you buy more suits. But with just the same single resource used and no gameplay effects added, calling it "crafting" is a stretch.

As a linear, single-player action-adventure, Wolverine works brilliantly, delivering a visually striking, cinematic blockbuster supported by engaging characters and emotional storytelling. It's also brimming with stylish, blood-soaked combat that kept a smile stretched across my face until the credits rolled.

When it strays from its heavily scripted path, however, attempting to layer strategic depth into its arcade-y encounters – as well as engaging, optional activities into its carefully crafted world – it does reveal some undeniable cracks in its adamantium armor.

Should you play Marvel's Wolverine?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Marvel's Wolverine includes an impressive suite of accessibility assists, beginning with plenty of options to tailor the blood, gore, violence, and profanity to any player's comfort level.

Beyond that, there are various difficulty settings, as well as ample gameplay assists to further tweak and tailor the challenge within those defaults. In addition to the expected inclusions for customizing subtitles, UI, and HUD elements, a huge selection of audio and visual assists are also available.

While a variety of high-contrast modes and color customizations are included, dedicated protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia selections seem to be absent.

How I reviewed Marvel's Wolverine

I spent just over 25 hours with Wolverine, completing its campaign before replaying many missions to seek out collectibles and attempt optional time trial challenges.

I played the game on my PS5 Pro using my budget TCL 4K 65" TV, with HDR enabled. For audio, I tested with both the display's onboard stereo speakers and Sony's PlayStation Pulse Elite headset.

First reviewed September 2026

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve played the original Final Fantasy 7, and the thought of soaring through the skies aboard the airship Highwind with Midgar, Junon, the Gold Saucer, and Wutai scrolling past below in this level of detail always felt like an impossible dream. Now I’m watching it unfold in front of me in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation — and it’s glorious.

I cruise around for far longer than is even necessary, just soaking it all in. It’s a moment that finally fully realises what we expected when Square Enix first announced that it would be remaking the iconic 1997 RPG.

This journey has been a long one: from the restricted but well-focused part one of Remake, through the expansive and a little more erratic part two in Rebirth, and now this monumental finale to cap off the trilogy.

After a quick introduction to the cast for this demo section that takes place at the start of Chapter 4, I’m given the controls of the Highwind. I’m told the next destination for Yuffie, Barret, Red XIII, as well as playable newcomers Cid and Vincent, is Wutai. But I don’t need to go there right now. And I choose not to.

I zoom over to see what’s changed at the Costa Del Sol: this world’s happening holiday resort and lively town. How do I make my final approach? Not by landing the airship, but by parachuting off the edge, watching the terrain and the town grow larger as I approach the ground. It’s an impressive feat that this is possible, with such huge freedom given to how and where I land.

When I reach the Costa Del Sol, it is, effectively, exactly as it was in the previous entry. Folks are soaking up the sunshine in swimwear, popping to the bar to pick up a drink, and enjoying all sorts of entertainment by the seaside. The detail and density still impress and define the approach that Square Enix has taken with the trilogy as a whole. It’s bigger, bolder, flashier, expanded, and extended. There’s just more to everything.

I step out into the outskirts of the party playground, and I’m immediately hit by how Square Enix has taken this approach in other areas of the game. Sometimes, I feel, for the worse.

The demo was not afraid to impress upon me the sheer number of side activities that are going to be available in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. Photo hunts, monster hunts, the Queen’s Blood card game, environment investigations — all of these and more popped up as soon as I landed in a new location or were added as I explored. With an AI assistant, MAI, also trying to explain them all, it almost overwhelmed me.

I get why we played this section of the game, but hot-dropping into a location while completely fresh to the game and getting barraged by all of these notifications instilled in me equal levels of excitement and dread. Yeah, there’s going to be a heck of a lot to do in Revelation if you want it, but I don’t know how much of it is going to be compelling.

What does still shine, though, is the combat. Zipping over to Wutai for a change of scenery, I ran into several monsters on the path to the village, and my muscle memory from the dozens of hours I sunk into Remake and Rebirth started to come back.

Cid and Vincent both seem like excellent new additions to the roster. I gravitated more toward the vampiric ex-Turk after a couple of battles, enjoying the rhythm of how he’s played. Effectively, you build up attacks over time, before eventually being able to unleash his ferocious Galian Beast mode to deal more devastating damage. Even against unthreatening monsters, he was very satisfying to play.

What I didn’t get to explore too much was the new FITS mechanic, which gives your characters more focus by taking on a specific class. I could see how these roles help you refine your party and add another layer to the already strong combat system. For example, Barrett could be set as a Knight in some impressive, shiny, and slightly absurd mech armor, elevating his job as a defender and protector.

Intrigued by both the new characters and mechanics, I found myself seeking more combat, so my journey through Wutai was full of distractions, including accidentally wandering into a boss monster that was about 40 levels above me and destroyed me in a matter of seconds. One of the many, many, many side activities in the region that I’ll no doubt have to return to in the full game, if I don’t get burnt out by them again.

And then, even with those doubts in my mind, I did find myself in awe of Revelation again just as quickly after seeing the scale and glow-up given to Wutai village. The pagodas and the familiar Turtle's Paradise bar have gone from half-memories of pixelated and blocky buildings to stunning and expressive environments that I could never have imagined.

Overall, there was just so much that it felt impossible to wrap my head around even half of it in just the short 60 minutes I had to play Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. I’ve barely had a chance to mention all the new pieces of equipment you have to navigate the world and interact with it.

What I want to make clear, though, is that all of these features haven’t put me off the game at all. It might not have settled some of the worries I had after tiring of the deluge of mostly throwaway content in Rebirth, but I left wanting more time with Revelation.

More time cruising through the clouds of the Highwind, more time testing how easy it is to jump out from pretty much anywhere on the overworld map, and more time digging into the combat system with new characters and how the FITS system mixes it up. And that’s before we see what direction Square Enix takes the story after the controversial ending to the previous entry.

Whatever happens, I have the feeling that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is going to be a huge game when it launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on April 8, 2027.

• Fable associate game director Will Kennedy says the game's combat system will be "faithful" to the classic RPG series
• However, Playground Games wanted to make the game "approachable" for modern audiences
• Kennedy says the game's "Style-weaving combat" offers more "breadth and depth" to achieve that

Fable's "style-weaving" combat system is designed for a modern audience, while remaining faithful to the classic role-playing game (RPG) series, according to Playground Games.

That's according to associate game director Will Kennedy during a Q&A session at Gamescom 2026, where he discussed the game's humor and how that has also been woven into the battle system by allowing players to turn enemies into chickens.

Speaking more about the design intention behind what Playground Games calls "style-weaving combat," which lets players mix and match different weapons and spells, Kennedy said the team wanted to balance what long-time fans of the series are familiar with, while making combat approachable for new players.

"When we're talking about being faithful to the classic franchise, we thought about how there was an approachability to combat there, and we knew that we wanted to be able to capture some of that for our game as well," Kennedy said. "But at the same time, we're making a game for gaming today."

He added, "We wanted there to be breadth and depth to it, so we landed on wanting to have style-weaving combat. We wanted to be able to move from move to move really smoothly and easily, and that combined with the level expression that you've got."

Kennedy explained that players can customize every element of their loadout, including ranged and melee weapons, and the four spell slots, which can be upgraded, and "by the time you play the game for even a little bit of time, you have a really broad, deep, rich suite of options to choose from."

"But being able to move so freely between the moves, and it feeling so responsive and so satisfying, is something we're really proud of," Kennedy continued, "because I think we've landed somewhere that is still approachable but has that depth that we want and so therefore is faithful but works in gaming today as well for players, which is sometimes to be proud of."

Fable is set to launch on February 23, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

Kennedy also confirmed that Fable's main storyline will take up to 20 hours to beat, but the game's life systems are "limitless."

• Fable's main story takes between 15 and 20 hours to complete
• Associate game director Will Kennedy confirms additional side content can also take between 15 and 20 hours
• However, the game's life systems are "limitless"

Playground Games has confirmed that Fable's main story will take up to 20 hours to beat, but promises the game's life systems offer "limitless" replayability.

Speaking during a Q&A session at Gamescom 2026, associate game director Will Kennedy discussed the scale of the upcoming role-playing game (RPG), saying, "So the main story obviously depends on how you play, but the main storyline is around 15 to 20 hours."

He added, "But then we've got around probably about 15 to 20 hours again of open world and side content to engage with."

While not a massive amount of hours compared to other open-world RPGs, that at least gives fans an idea of what to expect when the game releases next year.

However, it's what Kennedy said later that confirmed that, while Fable will have a good-sized story with plenty of side content, the game's life systems, like interacting with the over 1,000 unique non-player characters (NPCs), buying real estate, committing crimes, and more, will offer up even more playtime.

"Honestly, with the life systems which we [shared an] in-depth look at and showcased earlier on in the year, that's limitless, and you can engage with it as much as you want," he said.

Fable has been in development for a very long time, but will officially launch on February 23, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Steam achievements of upcoming and unannounced games have leaked
• The achievements include spoilers for games like Control Resonant, Kingdom Hearts, and Persona 6
• Valve hasn't commented on the achievements or recent prototype leak on Steam

Steam achievements for both upcoming and unannounced games may have been leaked by Valve and spotted on the third-party site Exophase.

As reported by PC Gamer, the leak includes nearly 90 games, including Control Resonant, Kingdom Hearts 4, Gears of War E-Day, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and Persona 6.

The leaked achievements are listed for each title on Exophase, including spoilers for major plot points, character reveals, and even weapon unlocks (notably for Kingdom Hearts 4), despite missing full descriptions. It's effectively created a minefield of spoilers to avoid, which is made worse since the list includes games that don't even have a release date.

It's not exactly clear how this leak occurred on Valve's end, but it doesn't appear to be a breach of the Steam platform. Instead, it may very well be an issue with Valve's API exposure, at least according to Exophase owner Mike Bendel, who claims it's a "possible screw-up on Valve's end", which makes this the second slip-up in just a few weeks.

Recently, around 12TB to 13TB of early prototypes, unreleased titles, and scrapped builds of games between 2003 and 2013 were leaked from Steam, including games such as GTA 5, The Binding of Isaac, and even some of Valve's very own games like Left 4 Dead.

It's possibly the worst spell of game leaks for publishers launching games on PC platforms like Steam, especially with the leak of builds for games like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Forza Horizon 6 before launch.

There's clearly a major security issue at hand with Steam, and until it's addressed, game leaks seem inevitable. Game achievements, while potentially spoiler-filled, are minor in comparison to the very recent game prototype leak.

Valve hasn't made an official statement on the Steam prototype or achievements leaks, but with its impact on both publishers and consumers, it wouldn't be surprising to see both cases addressed soon.

• CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 3 Remastered and its many upgrades helped realize Songs of the Past
• Game director on Songs of the Past, Jakub Rokosz, says the team had a "certain vision" for the expansion, but there were technological challenges
• He says the remaster "helped with applying optimization" to the expansion

According to CD Projekt Red, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, may not exist without The Witcher 3 Remastered and its many upgrades.

If you missed the bombshell news the Polish studio dropped during Opening Night Live, The Witcher 3 Remastered is a massive free update arriving on September 29. It offers many improvements to the base game and the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions, such as upgraded visuals, a refined combat system, new Witcher Signs, transmogrification, and more.

The remaster will essentially rework the game in its entirety, giving fans of the 11-year-old role-playing game (RPG) an excuse for another playthrough, ahead of the upcoming expansion Songs of the Past.

Now, in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Jakub Rokosz, CEO of Fool's Theory and game director on Songs of the Past, and senior quest designer Despoina Anetaki shared that without these technological improvements, their vision for the expansion may not have been fully realized.

"The stars had to align, so to say, because a few things had to happen," said Rokosz, who was also one of the original senior quest designers for The Witcher 3. "The Songs of the Past expansion and Letten itself, the area that it takes place, it had a certain vision. We had a certain vision for it, and it posed us certain specific technological challenges that was impossible to realize without the remaster changes.

"So the conditions had to grow for the remaster to appear on the horizon for us to be able to realize this, so this is actually two things meshing together to make it a reality."

The developer explained that Letten's lush vegetation, small bushes, and dense forests caused issues during development, but were resolved with the remaster's advancements.

"One of the challenges when we started prototyping the area was [that] it was impossible to ride with a horse through it, basically," he continued. "So we had to do some improvements on the horse handling side, right? So it feels more organic or more natural."

Letten also features a big lake in the middle of its map that allows players a view of the horizon, and as Rokosz explained, having this huge amount of open space where you can see fishermen fishing "posed a challenge in terms of how the engine was handling this. So the remaster helped with applying optimization."

Songs of the Past is due to launch in 2027.

• The final season of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been revealed
• It includes a Doom crossover and lots of Halloween content
• Only one new multiplayer map is being added, however

Activision has lifted the curtain on the content coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 in its final season ahead of the Modern Warfare 4 launch.

With a new game on the way, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that this update is going to be a smaller one. Still, it includes plenty of spooky Halloween content as part of the series' annual The Haunting event.

This includes a bombastic Doom crossover, allowing players to unlock loads of Doom-themed rewards in a new limited-time event pass. As usual, this pass will be divided into two tracks: a free one and a premium option.

The free track contains new operator skins for Wei Lin and Falkner, plus an adorable Mini Slayer weapon charm and a range of other rewards. Completing the entire track will grant you the Roc 20mm special weapon — a massive, almost cannon-like rifle that fires devastating 20mm rounds.

The premium track, on the other hand, unlocks the Doom Slayer himself as a playable operator in the JSOC faction. By default, he's wearing his Doom: The Dark Ages attire, but the premium track's final reward is an alternate classic 1993-style skin.

Other weapons introduced in the upcoming season include the TR41 Para Assault Rifle, which will be available at launch, and the Arcblade melee weapon added later on. There are also some new weapon attachments on the way for the VS Recon Sniper Rifle, Dravec 45 SMG, and Sokol 545 LMG.

Unfortunately, the offering is pretty sparse on the map front, with only one new one being introduced. It's called Quantum, and it looks like an appropriately ruined laboratory. There is at least also a new version of the existing Homestead map, called Bloodstead, for you to explore as well.

The cool Hordepoint mode will be returning from previous games in season too, challenging players to face off against a rival team and spawning waves of zombies.

All of this comes alongside a fresh battle pass full of new skins and unlocks, not to mention additional content for the Zombies and Endgame modes, plus the free-to-play Warzone battle royale.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is available now for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Xbox One.

• Invoke Studios head Dominic Guay says Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons' imp companion Skev provides narrative and gameplay assistance
• Skev will provide lore to the player as they explore Darkon, but can't be controlled in combat
• Guay says the imp is "his own character" with his own personal motivations

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons' imp companion Skev serves multiple purposes for the player, but was designed to be "his own character."

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Invoke Studios head Dominic Guay offered more insight into Skev and his relationship with the warlock protagonist Kaatri, revealing that the imp will assist the player as they navigate the open world of Darkon both narratively and with his utilities.

However, while Skev will act as a companion to Kaatri, Guay stressed that he still has his own motivations, including seeking out his lost master, just like how Kaatri is searching for someone too.

"We iterated a lot on him. So he actually is his own character," Guay said. "That was important to us. He wasn't born to be a sidekick. That was the mentality. He used to be the advisor to the ruler of Darkon, so in a way, he had a really important role in that land before his master vanished, and his quest is to find his lost master, and Kaatri's quest is to find someone too.

"So, he tags along, and Kaatri's kind of like, 'Oh well, he knows this place, and that's useful.' So he gives you a lot of insights as you travel around. You find new places."

The studio head said Skev will offer lore about new locations as players explore, adding that he thinks of the imp as "your unreliable guide to Darkon."

Skev won't be controlled by the player either, Guay confirmed, so he won't die in combat or get in the way, but will sometimes help in certain instances, like by picking locks.

"You can actually decide how you want to upgrade his abilities throughout the adventure," he added, "So [there's] some practical application."

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons arrives in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.