After weeks of discovering new layers and playstyles, I have no idea how to summarise Rise of the White Sun, except perhaps “It’s 1920s China! Good luck!” Playable factions include major political blocs, conventional military behemoths, petty warlords, peasant uprisings, foreign stooges, and multiple communist cells (particularly in the recent DLC). There’s even a police chief, and my inevitable favourite, the angry mountain lady who cares for none of that, and only wants to raid everyone’s cattle.
This is an absurdly rich and complex grand strategy wargame. But where that usually means an unmanageable deposit, White Sun’s greatest design strength is fitting its possibilities into a framework where they feel comprehensible, and remain manageable at any scale.
I’m gonna put my hands up here. I’d never even heard of G-Mode’s Kuukiyomi series before – not once have I ever had it mentioned to me.
And I’m puzzled, because judging by the official description of KUUKIYOMI 4: Consider It — now that my attention has finally been drawn to it by Daan Koopman and the positive social media reaction you can see below! — it seems like something I was destined to play. It’s right up my silly little street, this stuff.
Aspyr unveiled Deus Ex Remastered at this week’s State of Play, debuting a new teaser trailer showcasing how the 25-year-old masterpice has been updated with character models with better lip-sync animations and ragdoll physics.
But while fans were delighted to see the classic game getting a facelift, including reimagined lighting, dynamic shadows, water physics, particle effects, and new textures, the refreshed visuals aren’t impressing everyone.
“Upgraded visuals from 2000 to 2005,” said one commenter on the YouTube trailer. Another added: “There are FREE mods available right now that make the original game look better than this, while being more faithful.”
“The amount I wanted this until I saw screenshots… oh my god that is rough. Loses the charm of the original but also still looks bad and dated,” suggested another person on Bluesky, while someone else said: “Just what I’ve always wanted… the original Deus Ex but weirder looking.”
Many fans are pointing out how “blocky” the visuals look, suggesting it looks “not cohesive and unfinished.” In fact, I struggled to find comments from fans pleased with the visuals at all beyond this pragmatic player: “I don’t care how it looks, I’m hyped.”
“Visually it looks really bad. The extremely simplistic, blocky level design clashes with high(er) quality textures and models like a ‘realistic’ 512×512 Minecraft texture pack,” suggested one fan. “The lighting isn’t great either. Very hard lights and shadows, lots of crushed blacks in the screenshots. Maybe some form of ambient occlusion would help, but I don’t think the levels were designed with any form of realistic lighting in mind.
“I can’t imagine this being worth the money, unless good controller support is a must. An unofficial remaster already exists in the form of Deus Ex Revision with vanilla maps and soundtrack.”
Aspyr’s recent credits include Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, Knights of the Old Republic 2, and Tomb Raider IV-VI.
And while it makes sense that Embracer, owner of the Deus Ex franchise, Eidos Montreal, and Aspyr, would pick one of its own studios to handle the remaster of a game it also owns, some had hoped Nightdive Studios, the company behind the well-received remasters of Doom 64, Quake, System Shock, and Turok, would take on Deus Ex eventually. Indeed, Nightdive staff had expressed their desire to remaster Deus Ex one day. Alas, it wasn’t to be, leading Samuel Villarreal, lead engine developer at Nightdive Studios, to tweet:
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Payday 2 developer Starbreeze has admitted it “messed up” when it introduced a premium subscription service alongside hiking the price of its $100 DLC bundle by 50%.
The subscription — launched earlier this week — bundled “full access to more than 65 DLCs, packed with heists, weapons, and cosmetics… for a low monthly cost” of $4.99 per month, or $19.99 for six months. At the time, the company said it allowed players to “explore Payday 2’s massive content library at their own pace, mastering the art of heisting one crime at a time” and the subscription — available via Steam — can be canceled at anytime.”
Starbreeze did not, however, warn players thinking of buying the Payday 2 Infamous Collection that it had quietly increased the price from $100 to $150 at the beginning of September, just a few weeks before it launched the subscription. Fans slammed the developer for “trying to slip [the price rise] under the radar.”
Now, in a statement to GameDeveloper, head of commercial Gustav Nisser admitted the developer had “dropped the ball on coordinating internally and communicating with our community properly.”
“The negative reaction makes complete sense, and the community has made it clear how the price change and its timing looks from the outside,” Nisser said. “We agree with the community, we messed up on this one, and we have reverted the price on the bundle effective immediately.”
He continued: “In hindsight we should have realized how it would seem. Since the bundle only charges for the items you don’t own, and the bundle discount is cumulative with any other discounts (i.e. discounts on the included items), the actual full price of the bundle can vary significantly.”
“Heisters – we’ve seen the feedback on the Infamy Collection pricing change that happened earlier this month, and have investigated,” Starbreeze told players on X/Twitter. “The pricing has been reverted to where it should be, and we apologize for this error.”
Starbreeze’s Haua also explained on Reddit: “I know that no one will believe me, but it was an error. Regardless, the damage has been done, and we hope that with this adjustment back that anyone who was hoping to get any DLC can do so through the collection.
“We do appreciate everyone who flagged the issue, and kept talking about it! Keep up being you, guys, and we hope that we can earn back any trust that may have been lost with this.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Another day, another Borderlands 4 update aiming to smooth out more of the performance problems which have plagued the looter shooter since launch, especially on PC. Unfortuntely, this latest patch looks to have led to an uptick in stuttering for some players, with Gearbox recommending some shader messing around as a potential fix.
In fairness to the studio, you can’t say they haven’t been working hard to get Borderlands 4 running a bit more smoothly since problems in that department became apparent, with this being the third post-launch patch targeting performance in the past couple of weeks. One of them was confusingly noteless, but hey.
From the makers of Paw Patrol Grand Prix and Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart, comes… Formula Legends, an off-brand, Formula One-inspired arcade racer. Yes, it’s certainly true that developer 3DClouds’ primary output appears to be racing games aimed at an extremely young audience so, on paper, Formula Legends might sound easy to cruise on past for those of you who are no longer eating spaghetti with your hands. However, if you’re a fan of the long and storied history of Formula 1 racing – as well as games like Art of Rally, Circuit Superstars, and Micro Machines – Formula Legends might prove to be a dark horse in the race. This colourful, toy-like arcade racer consistently impresses thanks to its charming and evolving approach to showcasing the many, many eras it represents, although the fun is punctured somewhat by a slightly laggy handling model, some annoyingly uneven AI, and its lack of multiplayer.
In case it’s not obvious by its chunky car caricatures and cartoon-adjacent art style, Formula Legends is not here to compete against the likes of Codemasters’ modern F1 series. Those games are mostly for hardcore fans who crave a realistic approach, but also tweakable enough to remain approachable for newcomers and younger players – indeed, that’s one of their real strengths. But where F1 2025 is seeking to be a credible simulation of a current elite sport, like its peers on the football pitch or basketball court, Formula Legends is still very serious about faithfully paying homage to the sport of F1 in a delightfully comprehensive way that older fans can appreciate.
Through Goes Hammerton
Taking a greatest hits-style approach to the history of the world’s premier, open-wheel motorsport, Formula Legends boasts a career mode that covers seven decades – stretching all the way back to the ’60s. On top of this, most of these decades are broken up into multiple mini-eras covering the early, mid, and late phases of these periods. The car models, drivers, and the teams they race for are constantly shaken up across each championship. Many of these championships are locked until you complete the one prior to it, but there are entry points in each decade. This feels like a good balance between giving us plenty to unlock, but also the flexibility to hop around the different eras as we choose. You won’t have to chronologically move all the way from the late ’60s to today – through 70-odd years of racing – just to unlock Formula Legends’ most modern car and driver combinations. You can do a vintage championship, head into the 2020s, and then jump back to the ’90s if you want to. All the while you’ll be unlocking new content. It’s all very well considered.
We ought to note that Formula Legends is completely unaffiliated with real-life F1, so there are no licensed cars or driver names. This kind of thing comes with its own sort of charm, however: Not only does it remind me of the equally unlicensed sports games full of cheeky soundalikes I played in my youth, but part of the fun for me has been discovering the silly aliases 3DClouds has cooked up for its huge timeline of teams and drivers. This means being introduced to the likes of Osvald Pastry, Charlie Lacreme, and Luis Hammerton, and also past drivers like Dave Coulthsoft, Marvin Brubble, and Mike and Malf Shoemaker. Some of them stretch the bounds of a good pun to the point of being a bit too obtuse or confusing – and it could’ve done with one more edit pass from the development team to catch quirks like Alan Jones… I mean, Al John inexplicably migrating from Australia to New Zealand in the 1980s – but it’s cute stuff overall.
[No licensed cars or driver names] means being introduced to the likes of Osvald Pastry, Charlie Lacreme, and Luis Hammerton, and also past drivers like Dave Coulthsoft, Marvin Brubble, and Mike and Malf Shoemaker.
The cars look great, and I like how their squat frames and exaggerated features make them look like the sort of Micro Machines I would’ve climbed over every kid in my class for back in the late ’80s. They sound great too, thanks to the fact that Formula Legends’ engine sounds profoundly change for each era. Well, they don’t all sound great, because the real modern F1 is limp and wheezy compared to the primal screaming present in the age of V10s – but that’s not 3DClouds’ fault. Actually, there’s currently a sound bug that causes the engine noise for the modern cars to sometimes drop out for extended periods. It’s a fault I’m sure 3DClouds will seek to fix as soon as feasible, but it’s probably an indictment on today’s V6 turbo-hybrids that I didn’t really miss hearing them that much.
Spanning so many eras of racing has also compelled 3DClouds to get clever with how it handles the vast differences between old-school racing tracks and their dramatically refurbished incarnations. For this, many tracks have up to three different versions: vintage, classic, and modern. As with the drivers and cars, the tracks are unlicensed – but they each contain enough recognisable nods to famous corners and track segments that there’s no question which ones they’re homages to.
I really enjoy how tailored the tracks are to each era. Vintage tracks make liberal use of hay bales as their one and only concession to driver safety, and they’re largely surrounded by quaint countryside, while their modern versions are lined with curbs and wrap around areas that have since become huge, built-up racing precincts. Better yet, while some tracks evolve upon a single recognisable layout – like the circuits for Belgium or Italy (which riff on Spa and Monza, respectively) – others find themselves totally reinvented.
The vintage German circuit is an extensively long track that winds through a forest, mimicking the full Nürburgring Nordschleife that F1 cars used to race on, but the classic and modern German track is a shorter and more conventional GP circuit. Similarly, the classic Australian track has a clearly different layout and aesthetic to the modern track, mirroring the real-world differences between the Adelaide street circuit of the late ’80s/early ’90s and the current circuit in Melbourne’s Albert Park. It’s this kind of attention to detail that tells me that this is not being phoned in. There are even optional visual filters that give vintage races a warmer, old-school film tone and classic races a bright, CRT TV effect to better situate them in the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a really well-curated and crafted career mode, and you can tell the team are firm F1 fans from the commitment to these small details that’s on display.
Turn Around
The disappointing part of Formula Legends is that it doesn’t always hold up out on track. There are some circuits where I’m able to get into a pretty good groove – particularly after several laps of the layout to learn the corners. However, there are a few too many other occasions where it’s difficult to find the right rhythm without yawing side to side trying to correct my line coming out of corners. I think the reason behind this is that there’s some odd lag in the steering – like it’s not responsive enough. It makes rapid changes of direction, like chicanes, quite frustrating at times. The change of angle coming a fraction late does take some getting used to. A bit more sharpness to those controls would have been preferable.
I like playing Formula Legends from its most distant camera setting (a cockpit camera is included, but it wasn’t my preferred view) because that’s where it reminds me most of Art of Rally (and where I feel it’s at its best; a more top-down view takes the edge off the numbness in the handling model). The difference is, Art of Rally doesn’t have a gaggle of other AI cars to contend with – and it’s Formula Legends’ AI cars that are one of its key weaknesses.
It’s quite annoying how impactful even minor contact with your AI opponents can be. Essentially, any scrape with a car on the outside of you during a corner will completely overrule your steering, causing you to understeer directly into a wall or off track, and even a light touch from behind will cause other cars to immediately slow down dramatically and trap you behind them.
The inconsistent AI, which comes in just three settings (easy, normal, and hard) is a significant bugbear, especially since there’s no multiplayer mode in which to race against friends. The main problem is how much their proficiency varies between circuits. On a lot of tracks I found it entirely straightforward to keep the normal AI behind me throughout a race, sometimes pulling out to quite large leads. However, on some tracks (especially Formula Legends’ version of Monaco) they’re supernaturally quicker for no apparent reason. That should be no problem because you can just turn down the difficulty for those tracks, right? Unfortunately not: the difficulty level can’t be adjusted between races during a championship – once it’s set, it’s set for all subsequent races.
Formula Legends would be much improved with an AI system we’re able to adjust with a bit more granularity.
Formula Legends would be much improved with an AI system we’re able to adjust with a bit more granularity. Something like that could help keep the pack closer together, particularly since tyre wear, dynamic weather, and pit stops are all factors in Formula Legends’ racing. Having to think about your pit stop strategy throughout a race is a nice touch, but making those snap decisions to pit (or stay out for one more lap) would be a lot more tense if we could find a way to bring the racing closer on a more regular basis.
After much hemming and hawing, Asus and Microsoft are finally ready to talk pricing on their handheld PC team-ups, the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. It’s nothing too egregious in the King’s sterling, with the Xbox ROG Ally confirmed at £499.99 and the Xbox ROG Ally X at £799.99 – while hardly chump change, these are pretty standard prices for entry-level and premium portables respectively.
Those in the US, however, will be paying $599.99 for the ROG Xbox Ally and $999.99 for the ROG Xbox Ally X, the latter representing a big increase on Asus’ current ROG Ally X model.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance made its arrival on the Switch eShop last week, and while we think it’s got the potential to be “pure ninja gold”, there are aspects of this particular version that could use some work.
One issue was tied to the game’s resolution not being properly optimised. Fortunately, it looks like SEGA has taken player feedback on board, with the company’s official Japanese social media account revealing there’ll be a patch to address this. Here’s the announcement:
According to the game’s director Naoki Hamaguchi, Square Enix is planning to release a demo for Nintendo’s new system by the end of this year. Speaking to Inverse recently, he mentioned how it should help players who are still “unsure” if the game is right for them.
Ready to Play Anywhere? Players Can Now Pre-Order the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally In 38 Countries
Team Xbox
Starting today, players can pre-order the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally — two powerful handhelds built to take your game library with you wherever you go. They combine the best of ASUS hardware, the flexibility of Windows, and an approachable Xbox experience, so your games, friends, and progress are always within reach.
Join the Launch — Pre-Orders Now Live in 38 Countries
Launching globally on October 16, the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally offer two unique versions to match your individual playstyle. Pricing is set at an Estimated Retail Price (ERP) for each device (exact prices will be announced per region as pre-orders go live):
ROG Xbox Ally X: Available for USD $999.99 (ERP). The ultimate high-performance handheld, built for the most demanding players.
ROG Xbox Ally: Available for USD $599.99 (ERP). The essential handheld for everyone from the casual player to the avid enthusiast.
Players can pre-order their handhelds today in: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam — as well as 8 newly announced markets launching on October 16: Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Slovenia, South Africa, Thailand, and Ukraine.
Pre-orders are available through Xbox, the Microsoft Store in the United States (ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally), ASUS eshop, and select local retailers. More pre-order opportunities are coming soon in select other markets. If pre-orders are available in your market, visit Xbox.com to find participating retailers.
The handhelds will also be available in additional markets where ROG Ally series products are currently sold, including Brazil, China, India, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Philippines, and Switzerland, and we’ll have more to share in the future.
Bringing Xbox to Handheld Gaming
Xbox ROG Ally details
One of our core goals with the Xbox Ally was to deliver a distinctly Xbox experience in the palm of your hands. With the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally, you can look forward to an approachable gaming experience that travels with you wherever you go, featuring several new and first-of-their-kind features on both devices.
Here’s what you can look forward to on your Xbox Ally handheld:
Launch directly into the Xbox full screen experience, a dedicated experience purpose-built for gaming, powered by Windows 11, and inspired by the console user experience. With new modifications that minimize background activity and defer non-essential tasks, more system resources are dedicated specifically to gameplay.
A dedicated Xbox button opens an enhanced Game Bar overlay for Windows 11, making it easy to return home, browse your library, launch or quit games, chat with friends, access ROG’s innovative Armoury Crate SE, and more.
An aggregated gaming library gives you quick access to games from Xbox, Game Pass (where available), and installed games from Battle.net and other leading PC stores.
Xbox controller-inspired grips, with ergonomics that allow you to play comfortably for longer gaming sessions.
Every Xbox Ally comes with three months of Xbox Game Pass, unlocking hundreds of games playable across devices. More information about the Game Pass offer will be shared prior to October 16. Terms and conditions apply.
Whether you love playing on PC, console, or streaming your games on the go, the Xbox Ally opens up new ways to access your Xbox library, through:
Native play, which allows you to play PC games from any store that are installed and run directly on the device. And with Xbox Play Anywhere, you can play more than 1,000 supported titles from Xbox across console, PC, and handhelds with a single purchase. Today, Xbox Play Anywhere titles are where the majority of console players spend their time on Xbox, and you can now experience those same games on the go with the Xbox Ally handhelds.
Remote play, which allows you to stream your full console library from your Xbox console anywhere in your home – all via a smooth and intuitive user experience built for handheld.
Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), which takes portability even further by allowing you to stream your Xbox library of console games to your handheld on the go. Whether you’re traveling, commuting, or just stepping out, you can pick up where you left off (where available).
Our Handheld Compatibility Program, a new Xbox initiative that indicates which games play great on handheld. At launch, thousands of titles will be Handheld Optimized or Mostly Compatible, making it easier to find games that are ready to play on your Xbox Ally.
Check out more details on additional features you can expect to experience on the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally at launch and beyond, including upcoming AI-powered innovations.
Unlock Even More with New Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally Accessories
The Xbox Ally handheld lineup is expanding with a wide range of compatible accessories (sold separately), just in time for the holidays. From ultra-fast storage options to protective gear, you will soon have more ways to customize your play experience on the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally. Starting today, players can pre-order the following accessories alongside their handheld:
Storage options to bring more of your library with you
SANDISK® microSD Card – Take your supported games with you anywhere with a high-performance storage card engineered specifically for the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally (sold separately). With up to 2TB of storage, enjoy blazing-fast downloads and up to 200MB/s read speeds for instant play, anywhere.
Seagate® FireCuda® 530R SSD – Unleash ultra-fast speeds, extreme durability, and unrivalled performance. The FireCuda 530R SSD supports Microsoft DirectStorage for seamless gaming, and is available in 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB capacities.
Protect your handheld from the elements
ROG Xbox Ally (2-in-1) Premium Carrying Case – This Xbox co-branded case fits Xbox Ally handhelds, with a water-repellent exterior, soft fleece lining, and a unique zipper. It includes a detachable pouch for a 65W charger (sold separately) and easily fits into bags to protect your device from scratches or bumps.
And this is just the beginning — more accessories are on the way. Stay tuned for more on the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally as we count down to launch on October 16!
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