Nintendo has kicked off the new year with a brand new update for its ‘Nintendo Music’ app. It’s celebrating Rare’s Donkey Kong Country series once again with the released of the third game’s tracklist.
All up, this soundtrack includes 40 tracks and has a runtime of 1 hour and 14 minutes. You’ll be able to listen to the iconic intro and title screen music, Funky’s music, Jungle Jitter, bonus time, Treetop Tumble and much more.
The collaboration between PlayStation Studios and Columbia Pictures was announced during Sony’s CES 2025 press conference. Columbia Pictures produced the successful 2022 Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan.
Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games’ hugely popular post-apocalyptic adventure starring machine hunter Aloy. No timeframe for the film’s release was announced.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The US Department of Defense has classified Tencent, a major investor in several big video game companies, as a Chinese military company.
The report from Bloomberg states that Tencent alongside battery maker CATL have been added to a list that classifies them as Chinese military companies. The designation itself does not carry any legal consequences such as sanctions, but inclusion on the list is not ideal for companies looking to conduct business in the United States.
As a result, while there is no immediate impact to what this designation means for Tencent, this is still a company that owns Riot Games, and has heavy investments in a variety of other game companies including Epic Games, Larian Studios, and FromSoftware. There are also reports that say Tencent is in negotiations with investing more into companies like Ubisoft.
Tencent has told Bloomberg that this designation is “clearly a mistake” and both Tencent and CATL will be pushing to remove their names from the Department of Defense’s list. Previously, Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi was added to the same list in 2021 and then removed from it a few months later.
In a statement to The Verge, Tencent’s Danny Marti says that the designation “has no impact on our business” but will still be working to remove themselves from the classification.
In a one pager published by the Department of Defense, the US government cites Military Civil Fusion, or MCF, a startegy it says the Chinese government uses to combine civilian research and commercial success to further advance its military, hence why the US government has a list of Chinese companies it suspects as working with the Chinese military, something companies like Tencent and Xiaomi deny.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
Xbox is ringing in the new year by taking yet another step toward its promise of making everything an Xbox: by announcing it will add the Xbox app to LG TVs later this year.
In an Xbox Wire post today, Xbox announced it’s partnering with LG Electronics to bring the Xbox app to LG smart TVs in 2025. What this means is that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to play games on supported LG TVs without needing a console, using cloud gaming tech. And yes, that includes Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Xbox already implemented this feature on Samsung Smart TVs back in 2022, and added Amazon Fire TV devices to the mix last year. With the expansion to LG TVs, Xbox expands its TV presence even further amid an ongoing ad campaign focused on showcasing the ability to play Xbox on any device. This campaign, using the slogan “This is an Xbox”, positions TVs, laptops, phones, consoles, and other devices as Xboxes thanks to the combined powers of the Xbox app and Game Pass. LG makes several of the best TVs for gaming, including our overall favorite, the LG G4.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
No, you’re not misreading the headline — video game peripheral maker Hyperkin has released a brand new Guitar Hero controller. In 2025. For the Nintendo Wii.
Announcing the news on New Year’s Day (spotted via GameSpot), the Hyper Strummer is a retro controller that’s based on the company’s previous model and compatible with all Wii entries in the Guitar Hero — from Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock to Warriors of Rock — and Rock Band 2 and 3. We’re not forgetting the first Rock Band, don’t worry, the controller will not work with the first game in the series.
PlayStation 5 users are torn over how to treat their precious console between gaming sessions, with 50% choosing to turn it off completely and 50% choosing to put it in rest mode.
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s vice president of game, product, and player experiences, Cory Gasaway, told Game File that the Welcome Hub feature, which debuted last year, came as a result of discovering this even split in player habits.
“We gained a lot of insights about how players interact with their PS5 system between play sessions,” Gasaway said. “A small example is we had an internal hypothesis that far more people would put their console into rest mode than fully shut it down each time between their play sessions.
“As it turned out, it was actually about 50/50 between the two options for all our players. So, what that meant was for about 50% of our users, when they booted up, if they were in the US, they were landing on our Explore page. Those outside the U.S. would land on the page for the last game that they have played.”
The Welcome Hub was therefore developed long after the PS5’s release for these players who do not use rest mode, something Sony didn’t believe necessary until it looked into these stats. It arrived in September and essentially lets players customize their homescreen with different widgets and bits of useful information.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Typically over the holidays, thousands of people will look in their stockings or under the tree to find brand new Nintendo games waiting for them. But this year, a number of Nintendo Switch fans are claiming they unwrapped a far less pleasant surprise on Christmas morning: instead of a Switch cartridge in their game box, some are claiming they found a single googly eye staring at them.
Over the holidays, a number of posts popped up across Reddit and Twitter/X from individuals claiming their seemingly sealed, brand new Nintendo Switch cases contained a googly eye and a black piece of plastic instead of the actual game cartridge. Why a googly eye? The running theory is that the googly eye will rattle if you shake the Switch box, similar to how the box rattles with an actual game inside. And the black plastic around the side fools individuals trying to look through the cracks on the top or bottom to see if the outline of a game is visible without unwrapping it. Without these items, someone might be tipped off that a game has been stolen from the package, but this method ensures that no one notices the crime until they open the case.
It’s unclear at the moment how or why this is happening, on what scale, or at what point in the distribution process. Games reportedly impacted included Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Party Jamboree, Echoes of Wisdom, and others. The reports also seem to go back several months, though there’s been a higher influx of them recently likely due to more games being purchased over the holiday. And all of them seem to include a googly eye and the same black piece of plastic, though at least one person is claiming to have only gotten the plastic, no eye included.
IGN reached out to several individuals claiming they had received googly eyes instead of games over the last year and a half, but no one we spoke to had taken a video of them unwrapping the shrink wrap and discovering the eye, as they (understandably) didn’t know they were unwrapping a googly eye to begin with. As long as all these reports remain unconfirmed, it’s always possible this is just some sort of viral prank. Still, through our conversations with the individuals claiming they were impacted, all seemed to be legitimate accounts. A few had return receipts or were able to direct me to specific Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target store locations where googly eyes had been acquired, all located in the western United States. One person said they purchased their googly eye game online. Timeline-wise, googly eye claims went back as far as June 2023, though most took place in the last six months.
In an effort to confirm these reports, I tried to reach specific stores where googly eyes were allegedly found. One of the Reddit posters claimed in private messages with me that they had returned their googly eye box to a specific Wal-Mart store, so I gave them a call. I was unable to get anyone to answer the phone at the store for over an hour despite calling various different departments. When I finally reached someone in a completely unrelated department, they transferred me to Loss Prevention, who upon hearing what I was calling about offered to have me speak to a higher manager, before hanging up the phone entirely. Multiple calls back to the same departments did not glean any further responses. I tried a second Wal-Mart location identified by posters, where I eventually reached an employee in electronics who had never heard of this happening. However, the incident taking place at their store allegedly happened months ago, and would have been handled by returns and not electronics, so their lack of awareness wasn’t much of a debunking.
A very similar scenario unfolded when I tried to reach a specific Target location where someone claimed to have successfully returned a googly eye game. Repeated calls to relevant departments went unanswered, until I finally reached someone in an unrelated department who transferred me to Guest Services. Guest Services then directed me to Target’s corporate media line, which I have already contacted and did not receive a response from. All told, I spent about three hours on a Friday afternoon calling various big box stores, but learned absolutely nothing about googly eyes.
With the direct route failing, I reached out to Nintendo for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication. I also reached out to Target and Best Buy corporate for comment on this story, but similarly did not hear back in time for publication.
Wal-Mart corporate PR did get back to me on Friday, but the PR representative I spoke to seemed baffled. They told me over the phone that the company had not heard anything about this, and we spent the better part of the afternoon going back and forth over email trying to investigate. The representative said they’d look into some specific stores where googly eyes had been reported over the weekend and return to me with a statement by first-thing Monday, but IGN did not receive any further response to our inquiry by our deadline. We’ll update if that changes.
The takeaway from all this, then, is just a PSA that your recently-purchased Nintendo Switch cartridge may or may not contain a game, or a googly eye. It’s unclear if this is a real problem affecting many people, a real problem affecting a very small number of people caught up in a supply chain that has poor communication and no way to confirm these things, or a joke problem invented by the internet. Fortunately though, if it is indeed a real problem, it sounds like most stores are exchanging googly eyes for games if you find yourself the victim of this weird but admittedly quite frustrating switcheroo. Hopefully they manage to catch this Googly Eye Bandit, if they’re indeed real, and save future Christmases from disaster.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
It’s not being spelt out overtly, but there is a whiff of Intel’s new Battlemage GPUs being pitched as what the Alchemist generation should have been. Those eventually grew into their PCIe shoes, but only after months of dial-shifting driver updates – whereas the flagship B580 promises Nvidia-besting games performance from the off. Even at such a stage in the current graphics generation (the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 could be revealed literally tonight, at CES 2025), there is something enticing about that proposition.
Lori WrightCorporate Vice President, Gaming Partnerships and Business Development
We’re focused on bringing more games to more people around the world, on the devices you choose to play with. Millions of Game Pass Ultimate members are already using Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) to play great games from the Game Pass catalog on various devices.
Today, we’re excited to announce our collaboration with LG Electronics to bring the Xbox app to their new LG Smart TVs later this year. This means Game Pass Ultimate members will be able to play their games directly from the Xbox app on supported LG Smart TVs via Xbox Cloud Gaming. This gives players even more choice in how they enjoy their favorite games.
Soon, players with LG Smart TVs will be able to explore the Gaming Portal for direct access to hundreds of games in the Game Pass Ultimate catalog, including popular titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and upcoming releases like Avowed (launching February 18, 2025).
Stream Your Own Game
We also recently announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can stream select games they own, outside the Game Pass catalog. This feature will also be available on the Xbox app with LG Smart TVs, allowing Game Pass Ultimate members to stream over 50 games they own, including NBA 2K25, Hogwarts Legacy, and more.
We’ll share more details on the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience with LG TV in the coming months. To learn more about Xbox Cloud Gaming and how you can play across TVs and browsers on supported devices like smartphones, PCs, and tablets, visit xbox.com/cloudgaming.
If you’re new to PlayStation (or just looking to try a new game) you’re absolutely spoiled for choice with PlayStation Plus, which will let you dive into games which helped define PlayStation over the past 30 years. There are far too many games to cover in this humble feature, but here’s an extensive selection that is available for you to enjoy right now via PlayStation Plus. Over 30 games from 30 years? Better charge up your controllers…
PlayStation
Jumping Flash | Sony Computer Entertainment | Exact & Ultra | 1995 True revolutions in gaming don’t come around too often, but when a cute looking robotic rabbit by the name of Robbit leapt onto our screens, it helped pave the way for the future. Jumping Flash holds the Guinness World Record as the “first platform video game in true 3D”, which is even more impressive given it’s entirely from a first-person perspective. A real game changer.
Twisted Metal | Sony Computer Entertainment | SingleTrac & Sony Interactive Studios | 1995
Demolition derbies in games weren’t all too common when Twisted Metal crashed onto the scene, mixing aggressive high impact driving with vehicular combat that redefined the entire genre. Between its deathmatch-style gameplay and the introduction of everyone’s favorite demonic ice cream truck driver Sweet Tooth, Twisted Metal paved the road for many others to follow.
Tekken 2 | Namco | Namco | 1996 True, the original Tekken helped set the stage for the then fresh genre of 3D fighting games, but its sequel established the series as something that could truly go toe-to-toe with its rivals. Its hard-hitting cast and tight gameplay have become a staple of the genre. Not to mention the franchise holds the world record for the longest running story in video games without reboots, retcons, or revisions – that’s a lot of people being thrown from, off or into something from a great height.
Resident Evil Director’s Cut| Capcom | Capcom | 1997 Horror has always had its place in gaming as far back as 3D Monster Maze in 1981, but it was Resident Evil which crafted the crimson blueprint for horror and all of its sub-genres, since. In particular, Capcom’s classic merged American horror movie schlock with innovative puzzles and genuinely brilliant – and now iconic – jump scares, all set against bleeding edge pre-rendered backgrounds. Survival horror has never been the same, and that’s exactly the way we like it. The original captivated and terrified players back in 1996. The Director’s Cut, featuring some gameplay tweaks, launched one year later.
Ridge Racer Type 4 | Namco | Namco | 1999 A juggernaut amongst racing games, Ridge Racer had already established its rapidly earned credentials by the time Type 4 hit the track. So this particular entry solidified what everyone had already known or suspected with one of the best entries across the entire series. From its coin-op roots to a now expertly amalgamated engine of arcade driving and realism, Type 4 was Ridge Racer perfected.
Ape Escape | Sony Computer Entertainment | Japan Studio | 1999 Not many knew what to make of this quirky and colorful platformer when it was first unveiled, but once it was in players’ hands, everything became wonderfully clear. Introducing the possibilities of the DualShock analog controller, Ape Escape’s innovative control scheme, playful visuals and downright cuteness stole the hearts of everyone who played it, just like the peppy primates of the series itself.
PlayStation 2
Fantavision | Sony Computer Entertainment | Japan Studio | 2000 How many real-time firework themed puzzle games have you played? Chances are, when Fantavision first exploded into view, very few, if any at all. Still enchantingly novel after all these years, Japan Studio’s game was an unforgettable and spectacular showcase of particle effects on PS2.
TimeSplitters | Eidos Interactive | Free Radical Design | 2000 First-person shooters were in somewhat of a renaissance by the time TimeSplitters arrived, in no small way due to the team behind it. Free Radical Design had the pedigree and talent to skilfully refine the punchy gameplay style and split-screen multiplayer modes that they already popularized, igniting the spark of a new fan-favorite franchise.
Dark Cloud | Sony Computer Entertainment | Level-5 | 2001 Seeing the stunning looking Dark Cloud for the first time raised many questions – was it an RPG? A city builder? An action game? The answer? Yes. Inventively mixing genres with procedurally generated dungeon-crawling, Dark Cloud was ahead of its time, and a great demonstration of what PlayStation 2 could bring to our swiftly evolving medium.
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy | Sony Computer Entertainment | Naughty Dog | 2001 It’s easy to take for granted how much Jak and Daxter was doing under the hood of its bright, bold and brash sci-fi fantasy platform adventuring. But crafting an expansive and open 3D world full of puzzles, distinctive characters, and collectibles, without loading screens was no easy task. Naughty Dog not only pulled it off, but created a popular series with an incredibly dedicated audience.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus | Sony Computer Entertainment | Sucker Punch Productions | 2002
Stealth games had become a massively popular genre in the early 2000s, but very few were deviating from the military espionage formula that had helped make it so big. In crept Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, with its creative ‘toon shaded’ visuals and slick gameplay, proving it was possible to be seriously sneaky and stylish, without being solemn.
PlayStation 3
Resistance: Fall of Man | Sony Computer Entertainment | Insomniac Games | 2006
Alternate World War II history, interstellar invaders and an engaging narrative – there was plenty to enjoy in Insomniac’s fan-favorite first-person shooter. Resistance: Fall of Man impressed not just as a launch title, but as the springboard for a number of superb sequels which followed.
God of War III | Sony Computer Entertainment | Santa Monica Studio | 2010 *Note: GoW III Remastered released in 2015 on PS4
Before he became a dad, Kratos was chopping it up with the Greek Pantheon, his quest for vengeance arriving at its brutal third-part climax. Here, everything was bigger – the set pieces, violence and even the characters. The latter literally, given the immense visual spectacle of the game’s opening where Kratos fights a veritable army while on the back of the titan Gaia. The 2015 PS4 Remastered version is available to enjoy on PlayStation Plus.
Heavy Rain | Sony Computer Entertainment | Quantic Dream | 2010 *Note: Heavy Rain released in 2016 on PS4
As a striking combination of impressive visual flair and arresting interactive cinematic gameplay, very few games were doing what Heavy Rain was doing when it launched on PS3. The thriller marked Quantic Dream as a developer to watch, handily helped by a horrifyingly brilliant in-game scene where one of the four protagonists is told to choose between a selection of sharp tools and then… well, if you know, you know.
Assassin’s Creed Ezio Collection (PS4) | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal | 2016 (Includes Assassin’s Creed 2 | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal | 2009, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal | 2010, Assassin’s Creed Revelations | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal | 2011) Ubisoft’s stealth series has become legendary thanks to the deeds of one Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the protagonist of the franchise’s many entries. Capturing three of his major escapades from the PS3 era, Assassin’s Creed Ezio Collection is a series hitting its parkour platforming stride across rich open worlds and fascinating historical settings.
Far Cry 3 | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal | 2012 *Note: Far Cry 3 Classic Edition released in 2018 on PS4
Mixing the first-person shooter genre with an open world setting is a staple of the Far Cry series, but this sequel is where its potential became clear for its sequels. A densely crafted world of hostile wildlife, reactive human enemies, engaging missions, and smart progression systems all made for an impressive experience, elevated via an outstanding performance by Michael Mando as the game’s demented antagonist, Vaas.
PSP
LocoRoco | Sony Computer Entertainment | Japan Studio | 2006 *Note: LocoRoco Remastered released in 2017 on PS4 It’s impossible to describe LocoRoco without using the word “adorable”. Sure, its puzzle platforming, charmingly cartoony visuals and well-thought-out controls which used the shoulder buttons to help control the titular LocoRoco were all wonderful. But have you ever had colorful, wide-eyed blobs of joy serenade you as you play? Me neither.
Patapon | Sony Computer Entertainment | Pyramid & Japan Studio | 2008 *Note: Patapon Remastered released in 2017 on PS4
While we’re on the topic of song, the wonderfully compelling pata-pata-pata-pon drum beat that accompanies this rhythm-based strategy signals one of the most delightfully weird games on PSP. Its endearing uniqueness earned two sequels and a PS4 remaster, so I know I’m not alone in my admiration.
Echochrome | Sony Computer Entertainment | Will & Japan Studio | 2008
It’s not often you’ll see modern day visual and gameplay innovations in the puzzle genre, but the striking perspective changing, environment shifting mechanics of Echochrome not only achieves that feat, but remains one of the few games directly inspired by both artists M. C. Escher and Oscar Reutersvärd.
PS Vita
Gravity Rush | Sony Computer Entertainment | Japan Studio | 2012 *Note: Gravity Rush Remastered released in 2016 on PS4 Defying gravity? Just another day for Kat, a super powered amnesiac who simply wants to help the people of Hekseville and discover the mysteries of her past. Gravity Rush’s novel use of vertical based gameplay in an open world was a refreshing change of pace from other action-adventure games, turning combat scenarios into thrilling topsy-turvy capers.
Hotline Miami | Devolver Digital | Dennaton Games | 2013 – also on PS3 “Do you like hurting other people?” asks a mysterious man in a chicken mask, early on in Hotline Miami. It’s a question that sets up one of the main themes of Dennaton Games’ frenetic, punishing and utterly compelling top-down shooter. Influencing many other titles in its wake, Hotline Miami remains one of the most successful indie games of all time, with an absolute all-timer of a soundtrack. The game eventually released on PS4 and PS5, which is available through PlayStation Plus.
Tearaway | Sony Computer Entertainment | Media Molecule | 2013 *Note: Tearaway Unfolded released in 2015 on PS4 While Media Molecule made its mark with the iconic LittleBigPlanet, its step into the papercraft world of ValleyFold was as cute as it was creative. Tearaway delivered a parcel of delightfully different styles of gameplay, using the touchscreen, camera, and rear touch panel in a number of wildly inventive ways. This was mimicked via Tearaway Unfolded, an expanded version of the original launched on PS4, which used the DualShock 4 wireless controller in a similarly imaginative manner, and it’s this game that is available on PlayStation Plus.
PlayStation 4
Bloodborne | Sony Computer Entertainment | FromSoftware | 2015
Bloodborne’s gothic city of Yharnam is not one you’d want to live in, with its terrifying beasts, cosmic horror, and otherworldly mysteries. And yet, there’s not a single one of us which would turn down the chance to return to its dark streets. FromSoftware’s classic and combat heavy action-adventure RPG stunned players on its arrival, and continues to draw acclaim via its masterful gameplay and unforgettable narrative.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | CD Projekt | CD Projekt Red | 2015
Based on the hugely popular Andrzej Sapkowski fantasy novels and steeped in Slavic folklore, it didn’t take long for The Witcher 3 to be recognized as one of the greatest games of all time. Its rich and changing open world, complex narrative and spectacular visuals still remain some of the best in the genre, as witnessed in its enhanced PS5 port, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition, which launched in 2022.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Naughty Dog| 2015 *Note: The Nathan Drake Collection released in 2015 on PS4 (Includes Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune | PS3 | Sony Computer Entertainment | Naughty Dog | 2007, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves | PS3 | Sony Computer Entertainment | Naughty Dog | 2009, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception | PS3 | Sony Computer Entertainment | Naughty Dog | 2011)
You didn’t think we’d forget about Nathan Drake, did you? Naughty Dog’s charismatic adventurer became a fast favorite with fans via his globe-trotting adventures that mixed shooting, stealth, combat, puzzles, platforming, exploration, massive set pieces, and wisecracks. This was one series that did it all, but never lost sight of the heartfelt storytelling that made it so successful. PS4’s Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection collected the first three titles.
Shadow of the Colossus | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Bluepoint Games | 2018
Shadow of the Colossus was a technical marvel when it first hit PS2 in 2005. GenDesign stunned players with an expansive world inhabited by mysterious, towering creatures. Bluepoint Games’ remake in 2018 faithfully retold the tale for a new generation while capturing the beautiful melancholy of the original. The act of climbing colossi and puzzling out their weaknesses is still a wondrous experience today. The game’s twist ending and novel commentary on players’ habits for conquest help the understated narrative stand the test of time.
God of War | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Santa Monica Studios| 2018
Heralded by a near-deafening roar of the E3 crowd on its 2016 reveal, God of War’s triumphant return signaled a new era for Kratos. While retaining the bone-crunching violence the series was known for, the thoughtful consideration of its consequences and effect on families developed the series into something which had grown up with Kratos in more ways than one.
Final Fantasy VII Remake | Square Enix | Square Enix Business Division 1 | 2020 What would any list be without a Final Fantasy game? Returning to one of the most beloved RPGs ever made could have been a massive mistake, but Final Fantasy VII Remake put all fears to rest with a stunning and well considered version of the PlayStation original, expanding its story in surprising new ways. An enhanced version, Final Fantasy VII Intergrade, also hit PS5 a year later.
Ghost of Tsushima | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sucker Punch Productions | 2020 *Note: Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut released in 2021 on PS5 Visually gorgeous and narratively ferocious, Sucker Punch crafted an open world action-adventure that felt both fresh and lived in. It captured the flavor of classic Akira Kurosawa samurai movies, blending beauty with brutality, not being afraid to let you indulge in its quieter moments. Humanity, hot springs and haikus, slicing against swords, samurai and standoffs.
PS5
Demon’s Souls | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Bluepoint Games | 2020 Remaking the PS3 action role-playing classic was a tall order that Bluepoint Games surmounted, enhancing its finely honed gameplay with new weapons, items, armour and features, while utilizing the power of PS5. Although still technically a predecessor to the likes of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls held its own in this modern revisit.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Insomniac | 2020
Leaping onto PS5 to help the console’s launch back in 2020, this new adventure captured the spirited freedom and unbridled joy of web-swinging, and its confident storytelling, spectacular set pieces and amazing combat made for an experience that fans and newcomers alike just couldn’t put down.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Insomniac | 2021 The adventures of the universe’s best Lombax and his robotic companion reached an outstanding high point showcasing the hardware grunt of PS5 via its near instantaneous portal travel and creative use of the DualSense wireless controller. Bright, breezy and offbeat, Insomniac’s bouncy shooter platformer was a delight for all.
Returnal | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Housemarque | 2021 When narrative form and gameplay function merge into a seamless whole, the result can be utterly captivating, as seen in Returnal. Taking an ever-repeating-yet-different roguelike shooter structure and encasing it within a story about an astronaut trapped in a time loop, Housemarque’s casket of mysteries is a compelling voyage of literal self-discovery.
The Last of Us: Part I | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Naughty Dog | 2022 Humanity. Trauma. Forgiveness. Naughty Dog’s powerful and haunting tale of a post-apocalyptic world stays with anyone who experiences it – and bringing it up to date on PS5 with enhanced visuals, combat, and enemy AI only made an action-adventure classic all the more essential. If you’ve only watched the staggeringly good TV series but not played the game, well, now there’s no excuse.
