It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since I first set sail and fell in love with Valheim. As a fan of survival crafting and all things Norse, it’s one of the best experiences out there in both regards. And while it still feels fairly familiar at the outset – and somehow it’s still calling itself “early access,” whatever that means anymore – it’s gotten a mountain of patches since launch, with a list of changes that would take longer to read than the rambling tangent about some side character’s great-grandfather in a viking saga. From new biomes and new bosses to crafting and combat improvements, the version of Valheim you can download today cuts like a blade that developer Iron Gate has been sharpening winter in and winter out.
All of that still holds true today, except that the world has gotten much bigger and just about every system has been improved on in some small or large way. Except greydwarves. They’re still annoying as hell. But we’ll get to that.
Good news for melee builds
This revisit is based on the opt-in beta patch announced at Gamescom 2025, known as the Call to Arms update, and that’s fitting because it’s brought some of the most significant changes to combat yet. Trinkets are a new equipment slot that lets you build up adrenaline by skirmishing – basically a super meter if you’re familiar with fighting games – with different effects at full adrenaline for different trinkets. They’ve also added a “perfect dodge” that makes it possible to run a melee build without a shield, as long as you’re good at timing enemy attacks. And perfect blocks no longer cost stamina, which makes that build way more viable too. Finally, the reign of the stealth archer may be coming to an end! Well, probably not entirely, but at least it won’t be so far ahead of other playstyles. Just like nearly everything else that’s changed in Valheim over the years, combat is the same system that’s always been here but just a bit better and deeper.
We finally get (killed by) bears!
The mascot for this patch, though, is the lumbering bear enemy. Why did it take this long to put a bear in the viking survival game? I don’t know, but I’m glad she’s here now. Sitting somewhere between greydwarves and trolls in terms of difficulty, bears add some much-needed enemy variety to the early areas where most people end up spending a majority of their time anyway. And collecting bear parts lets you build a new weapon and armor set that really lean into the super-aggressive melee playstyle. I’m worried that these items will be completely underpowered in the mid-late game, but it’s nice for the first leg of your adventure to be able to go full berserker.
Journeying through mist and flame adds mythological flair
In the bigger picture, Valheim has become a much more complete saga since I originally reviewed it. Two additional biomes, the foggy Mistlands and burning Ashlands, have been added along with their attendant bosses, but I haven’t been able to check the latter out yet on this fresh save I made for the patch where I’m about 25 hours in. As a matter of fact, even with well over 100 hours in Valheim overall across multiple playthroughs, I’ve still never seen the Ashlands – added just last year – at all, actually. The world is huge! And that’s very exciting. There’s still a bit left to go on the roadmap, with one major boss and one biome still missing, but it’s much closer to the finish line than it is to the start.
Even in my initial Early Access outing, I said I could barely tell this is an Early Access game, and that’s only become more and more true. The amount that’s already here could take you months to chew through playing off and on like I do. The final 1.0 release might be out already by the time you finish the Ashlands if you start today. The sheer amount of time it would take to even run into a proverbial Under Construction sign puts them out of reach of what most of my playthroughs have even come close to accomplishing. And I have to ask: if it takes 60-plus hours for me to even notice something isn’t finished, is it really unfinished at all? Or am I just waiting for an expansion to come out? It kind of feels more like the latter.
Swamps are still a bummer
Every new area has fresh enemies, unique survival challenges, new recipes to discover, and a strong theme. Higher-level biomes pull in more mythological elements that really remind you you’re not in Kristiansand anymore. Moving from the Black Forest into the Swamps is still a rough transition with how much more unforgiving the terrain, enemies, and status effects become – right at the same time that travel distances are becoming an issue, and before you can unlock portals. It’s no surprise to me that that’s where a lot of my runs have ended. Plus, who likes a stinky poison swamp anyway? It’s definitely my least favorite biome, even in the latest patch. But it’s worth getting through to see what comes after it.
Greydwarves are still annoying as hell
Greydwarves in the Dark Forest remain annoying little pests that come to bother you all the time and present very little combat challenge. If we could craft a trinket that scares away lower-level enemies, I think that would be great. Remember the Morrowind mod that added a belt that would zap cliff racers out of the air? Are Valheim players too young to remember Morrowind? You know what, don’t even answer that. I don’t want to know.
Mining feels less grindy, but maybe that’s just character development on my part
Gear progression feels a lot less grindy now as well. I haven’t compared the numbers to see how much of that is actual changes to ore drop rates and carry weights and how much it’s just that I’ve gotten used to how time-consuming it is. I no longer feel like I’m spending hours and hours teching up from stone to bronze. And while I was initially annoyed by the lack of realism in the fact that repairing items doesn’t cost crafting mats… I have to admit I was wrong. It’s a great little quality-of-life feature that I don’t have to go hunt down extremely rare materials to keep my best gear nice and shiny. It’s good to know that once I craft something, it’s mine forever.
The building system could still use some work
Building is one area where I think other survival crafting games have kind of left Valheim behind, mainly in terms of how fiddly it can get. I know part of this is that it’s meant to be fairly realistic, and I respect that. But the variety of structural building pieces, especially early on, is still kind of disappointing. And it remains a massive pain to work on rooftops or anything high up due to how stairs, ladders, and slopes behave. As unrealistic as it is, I find myself wishing for something as simple as Minecraft scaffolding, which lets you ascend up to whatever height you need just by holding jump. I know we can’t have Dune: Awakening-style hovering in fantasy Scandinavia. Maybe I could send a raven up there to help me place stuff? Just some ideas.
One of the best survival crafting games ever has only gotten better
I adored Valheim when it was roughly half the adventure it is now. The world has gotten so much richer and the progression so much deeper in the four years since, while even mechanics I was interacting with on my first day of a new playthrough have improved in small and subtle ways. If it doesn’t lead the pack for the whole genre outright, it’s at least very close to the front, howling gleefully as its charming, low-res 3D art style beckons me into calm meadows and foreboding dungeons. I haven’t ever really stopped playing it for more than a handful of months at a time since it launched in early access, and the idea of starting a new world always gets me excited even if I know the first few verses of the saga by heart at this point.
Taking your Steam Deck on the go this Summer? You’ll probably know all too well just how quickly the battery drains, and while we’ve seen recent deals on some sizeable options like the AOHI Future Starship, this one is a bit more compact.
We knew that the Switch 2 had gotten off to a pretty strong start, but according to recent numbers from Circana’s Mat Piscatella, Nintendo’s new console is doing remarkably well in the US.
In a post on Bluesky, Piscatella confirmed that Switch 2 sales have now surpassed 2 million in the US. Not only that, but the console is currently outpacing the original Switch by 75%. 75%! That’s wild. According to Nintendo’s most recent financial release, the console surpassed a total of 6 million sales worldwide in the seven weeks following its launch.
We know, we know… we’ve been silent for a while. It takes a lot of time and energy to make marketing materials like trailers, and we’re trying to focus all our efforts on finishing Judas.
But we also miss the days of having a more direct relationship with you, the gamer, so we thought, “Why not start releasing some dev logs?”
Through these, we hope to communicate more frequently to update you with new details of what we are working on, without spoiling too much of what Judas has in store. The goal is to keep this pretty lo-fi, meaning more frequent updates than before, but not necessarily always with fancy trailers and super polished final imagery. (Though there will be more of those as well!)
Want to Rent-A-Deputy?
Feature update: Villainy
We’ve just finished a major milestone: Villainy. Villainy is a central feature of Judas. When you play BioShock or BioShock Infinite, the villain is always going to be the villain. Fontaine, Comstock — they’re always going to be the bad guys. In Judas, your actions will attract members of the Big 3 to you as friends. But ignore one of them enough, and they become the villain. From there, they will get access to a new suite of powers to subvert your actions and goals. The clips below demonstrate just a little bit of the feature.
This is just one example of how the Big 3 can retaliate. The more dangerous and character-specific stuff will be kept a secret, for now.
Eventually, you’ll have to make decisions about who you’re going to focus your energy on… and who you’ll wind up alienating.
But… be careful not to rent one when Tom is pissed off.
A focus on character
One of my personal favorites of all time is Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor because of the emergent gameplay made possible by their Nemesis System. The system allows you to develop small relationships with multiple orcs. However, their goals were a little different than ours, because there are so many different orcs and they don’t have time to develop them into characters.
In Judas, you’re going to get to know these characters intimately. We want losing one of them to feel like losing a friend. We want to play with that dynamic, and we want that choice to be super hard. The Big 3 are all going to be competing for your favor and attention. They can bribe you, save you in battle, talk shit about the other characters, and share with you their darkest secrets. But eventually, you’ve got to decide who you trust and who you don’t.
In BioShock Infinite, there was a lot of energy invested into developing your relationship with Elizabeth. By the end of the game, you knew everything about her, her abilities, her hopes and dreams.
But the truth is she knew almost nothing about you, the gamer playing Booker. In Judas, the Big 3 observe you as you play, and they have feelings not only about how you approach combat, hacking, and crafting, but most importantly your interactions with the other two characters.
As part of the Villainy Milestone, we also completed the biggest Judas playtest yet, where new players experienced this feature firsthand. Every time we test, we learn so much, and we love having that level of knowledge when working on the game. The testers shared tons of valuable feedback on the weight of decisions and how it impacted outcomes, their interest in learning more about character motivations, and how moments where the Big 3 helped — or turned on them — changed their future decisions.
New Key Art
Another thing we’re excited to be able to share is… this:
We’re really happy to finally show this off. I have always personally been a huge fan of Drew Struzan’s work and that era of movie posters. The style is great at presenting films that have a big cast, like Star Wars. And Judas has a big cast. Outside of the lead roles, there’s likely going to be more than one hundred speaking parts… If you look closely, there’s probably some details you might be curious about. Let’s just say there’s some stuff in this game that we’re not going to talk about right now, but everything here is relevant.
There’s one thing we’re sure you all want to know: when is Judas coming out?!?!
While we wish we could give you an exact date today, we’re not quite ready to finalize that. As you know, release dates have a way of slipping by, and we’d like to avoid having to change the date after we announce it. But we know Judas is not really a game until the players get their hands on it, and that’s a day everyone on the team is working toward.
Crystal Dynamics has laid off an unknown number of workers following the cancelation of Perfect Dark by Microsoft.
In a statement on LinkedIn, Crystal Dynamics confirmed the layoffs, but did not specify the number of people impacted.
“Today we made the very difficult decision to part ways with a number of our talented colleagues as the result of evolving business conditions,” the statement reads. “This decision was not made lightly. It was necessary, however, to ensure the long-term health of our studio and core creative priorities in a continually shifting market.”
The company also confirmed that Tomb Raider, still in development, was unaffected by the decision.
While the statement does not explicitly mention Perfect Dark as the reason behind the layoffs, multiple former workers have posted on social media whose posts and profiles suggest that was the game they were working on. These layoffs seem to be a delayed reaction to Xbox canceling Perfect Dark, which Crystal Dynamics was working on with The Initiative, earlier this year. The Initiative was shuttered at the time of the cancelation, back in July.
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.
Ghost Story Games must have sensed that we were becoming antsy about Judas, the upcoming game from BioShock creator Ken Levine that’s touted an impressive-sounding “narrative LEGOs” approach. The studio has dropped the first of seemingly multiple Dev Logs today, with this one talking about the game’s complex, Shadow of Mordor-like “Villainy” system.
Levine has been alluding to the game’s Shadow of Mordor inspirations ever since he first teased Judas waaaaay back in 2017. At the time, he said that he wanted to do a more ambitious version of the game’s Nemesis system, which allowed players to form relationships with orcs they fought and developed them into characters with motivations, special abilities, and more. It’s a system that’s been praised industry-wide, but few if any games since have included a similar feature.
Originally, Levine talked about the concept of “radical recognition,” essentially the process of a game recognizing player accomplishments or failures or other activities as often as possible, and reacting to them. He elaborated more in an interview we did with him last year, explaining the game’s “Big Three” trio of main characters and their relevance to the plot and relationship to the player. Judas revolves around making choices to help or hinder these three characters, which in turn will change their relationship to the player.
Today’s Dev Log elaborates even further. As the blog explains, the Big Three’s ebbs and flows are part of a system Ghost Story is calling Villainy. While in most games, the story’s villain is set from the beginning, in Judas, player choice guides who the villain will be. Players can befriend and interact with all three members, but inevitably, one will end up being neglected or refused, and that character will become the villain. Once that happens, they gain new abilities and will begin to take action to subvert the player’s goals.
In Judas, you’re going to get to know these characters intimately. We want losing one of them to feel like losing a friend. We want to play with that dynamic, and we want that choice to be super hard. The Big 3 are all going to be competing for your favor and attention. They can bribe you, save you in battle, talk shit about the other characters, and share with you their darkest secrets. But eventually, you’ve got to decide who you trust and who you don’t.
Ghost Story says that the Villainy system marks a new development milestone for the team, which also incorporated the team’s biggest playtest yet. The blog also notes that the game will likely have over one hundred different speaking parts due to a big cast of characters. And while unfortunately, the studio isn’t ready just yet to lock in a release date, it did drop this new Judas official art by Drew Struzan:
Judas is planned for release on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation at an unknown later date.
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.
Christophe Gans’ Return to Silent Hill is hitting theaters in January 2026, just in time for the 20th anniversary of the original Silent Hill movie. This is good news, given that Silent Hill still ranks as one of the better video game movie adaptations to date. 2012’s Silent Hill: Revelation? Not so much.
Cineverse just released a short first teaser for Return to Silent Hill, offering a glimpse of the many horrors Jeremy Irvine’s James Sunderland will face as he navigates the town in search of his missing wife.
Given that so much time has passed since Gans last set foot in the moody town of Silent Hill, you might be wondering how this sequel is connected to its predecessors. Is it a direct continuation of Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Revelations? Which game is it adapting? Here’s everything you need to know before Return to Silent Hill hits theaters.
How Return to Silent Hill Connects to the Other Movies
2006’s Silent Hill stars Radha Mitchell as Rose Da Silva, a woman who brings her adopted daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) to the remote, abandoned town of Silent Hill in order to get to the bottom of Sharon’s recurring nightmares. Sean Bean also stars as Rose’s husband Christopher, who attempts to rescue his family even as they become trapped in a hellish other dimension.
Despite featuring a different director and writer in M.J. Bassett, 2012’s Silent Hill: Revelation serves as a direct sequel to the first movie. Adelaide Clemens stars as the adult Sharon, now assuming the identity of Heather Mason. When her father disappears in Silent Hill, Heather and her classmate Vincent (Kit Harington) return to the town to find him. Revelation also deals heavily with the religious cult known as the Order of Valtiel.
Return to Silent Hill is not a direct follow-up to either of those films. Instead, this film is telling a standalone story with a different set of characters. Return to Silent Hill stars Jeremy Irvine as James Sunderland, a widower who is stunned to receive a letter from his dead wife Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson), urging him to meet her in Silent Hill. James will descend deeper and deeper into the otherworldly dimensions of the town in order to find her. Silent Hill 2 Remake’s Evie Templeton will reprise her role as Laura, a young girl also caught in the web that is Silent Hill.
In short, it seems you don’t necessarily need to have seen the other Silent Hill movies in order to enjoy Return to Silent Hill. This sequel follows the approach of the games in that the spooky town itself, not the characters, provides most of the connective tissue. Most of the games aren’t directly intertwined by plot, but instead focus on different characters being drawn into the town and finding their personal demons manifesting into literal monsters. The series is not unlike Hellraiser in that regard, as the Hellraiser movies are mostly standalone horror stories linked together by the overarching mythology of Pinhead and the Cenobites.
“The script for a new Silent Hill movie that is totally independent from the two previous movies made and respects the way Silent Hill has evolved,” Gans said in 2022. “Silent Hill is a bit like Twilight Zone, the Fourth Dimension, a place where anything and everything can happen.”
Which Games Does Return to Silent Hill Adapt?
If the description of Return to Silent Hill’s plot sounds familiar, it should. This film happens to be a direct adaptation of the Silent Hill 2 game, which was originally released in 2001 and remade in 2024. Just like this film, Silent Hill 2 follows James Sunderland as he navigates the various dimensions of the town in search of his late wife.
Return to Silent Hill looks to be the most faithful adaptation of the game out of the three films to date, to the point that Gans went to the trouble of casting Templeton as Laura again. We assume the film will follow the core beats of the game, pitting James against terrifying monsters like Pyramid Head and culminating in a similarly tragic twist ending. Pyramid Head himself can be seen in the teaser, making him the one character confirmed to appear in all three films.
Neither of the previous Silent Hill movies could be considered more than loose adaptations of the source material. The first Silent Hill film may borrow liberally from the imagery and music of the series, along with a few basic plot points from 1999’s Silent Hill, but its plot and cast of characters are largely unique. Silent Hill: Revelation is sort of an adaptation of the Silent Hill 3 game, transforming Rose and Christopher Da Silva into Heather and Harry Mason. But, again, the less said about Revelation, the better.
Direct adaptation or not, it doesn’t appear that Return to Silent Hill will be a 1:1 copy of Silent Hill 2. Gans has hinted the film also draws inspiration from 2014’s P.T., the infamous demo that was meant to lead into Hideo Kojima’s canceled Silent Hills game. Does that mean the film will feature first-person sequences, a la 2005’s Doom? Or is the P.T. influence more in terms of the steadily mounting sense of dread and psychological horror? We’ll find out when Return to Silent Hill hits theaters in January 2026.
Dread Delusion developers Lovely Hellplace and their sinister backers at DreadXP have announced Entropy – a turn-based party RPG inspired by classic Japanese RPGs, which retains Dread Delusion’s fungal pixel aesthetics.
Like Final Fantasy 9, it starts with a theatre show. You play a rank thespian initially equipped with a simple prop sword. But then horrible creatures crash the stage, and it’s time to armour up your troupe and quest forth to snuff out a demon incursion. What’s the best Shakespeare line to invoke here, hmm. Ah yes: “target their elemental weaknesses!” Hamlet said that before he shanked Polonius through the curtain. No, don’t google to check, dear reader – I am in haste. Quickly, watch the below trailer.
Circana has released data for game and hardware sales for July 2025 in the US, and despite a competitive month, Donkey Kong Bananza has made a bit of a splash.
Taking You Back to School: Indie Selects for August 2025
Raymond Estrada, Deron Mann, Steven AllenID@Xbox Hall Monitors
Every Wednesday, dive into the Indie Select Hub—your gateway to a fresh, curated indie collection plus four themed spotlights that rotate weekly! You can always find this collection hub in the Xbox Store and on Xbox.com/IndieSelects.
Indie Selects is back for another month and, in honor of the new school year, we are pleased to inform you that the (definitely, absolutely real) ID@Xbox School of Independent Gamers has put together a curriculum of indie games that will give you an education in new ideas, advanced mechanics, and “having a really good time”. Here are the courses we think you should attend this month:
Platforming, Ninjas, and You with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Interpretive Loot-and-Shoot with Wildgate
The Politics of Ratshaking with, er, Ratshaker
Adrenaline 101 with Killing Floor 3
Illusionary Architecture Theory with Monument Valley 3
Advanced Communication and Coordination with Ready or Not
Here’s more on what we’ve got for you this month (in no particular order):
From the studio behind the Blasphemous series, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a new 2D action platformer that serves as a side-quel to Ninja Gaiden (NES), with all the modern-retro polish that publisher Dotemu (Streets of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge) has become known for. Players control Kenji, a student of Ryu Hayabusa (franchise main protag, former Halo 3 armor), who’s merged with a rival ninja, Kumori, to fight off a demon invasion… and maybe the CIA.
If you’re wondering whether this can capture the gratifying difficulty of classic Ninja Gaiden, well, I’d say the game is called “Ragebound” for a reason (please don’t roll your eyes). It’s hard but it feels rewarding.
A combination of compulsive storytelling and satisfying gameplay mechanics helped me overlook the hours I’ve accumulated fighting the same boss, or when navigating the unforgiving level design. The emphasis on combat mastery and skill has been a staple of the modern series, while the tight platforming, pattern recognition and frankly, punishing enemy placement has been around since its first title on the NES. Developer The Game Kitchen has done an excellent job of bridging the two eras of Ninja Gaiden – leveraging a refined, classic 2D formula as the base while interweaving the combat complexity of the later installments.
Don’t be discouraged by the promise of difficulty, though – Ragebound does a great job of onboarding new players, and the difficulty curve is pretty graceful between acts. It doesn’t feel sudden, rushed or unexpected and instead played well into the narrative. Things got harder as the situation for Kenji became worse, which made sense, so I couldn’t really be mad (even if I frequently was). Regardless of what this game put me through, I could not put it down – I recommend this to you if you’re into old-school action and gameplay, if you’re a fan of the franchise… or if you just like ninjas – Deron Mann
A NEW TWIST TO THE SIDE-SCROLLING NINJA GAIDEN SERIES EXPERIENCE
From the acclaimed team behind Blasphemous, NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound successfully unites the classic lore and gameplay of the Tecmo-developed (now KOEI TECMO GAMES) NINJA GAIDEN series from the classic era with the depth and intensity of the modern 3D entries. The best of both eras come together to create an epic and thrilling adventure.
DIVE INTO AN UNTOLD CHAPTER OF THE NINJA GAIDEN SAGA
Our story begins when Ryu Hayabusa journeys to America to honor his father’s will. While he is away, the barrier between the human and the demon worlds suddenly shatters, unleashing a terrifying army upon the Hayabusa Village, which now faces an unprecedented threat in Ryu’s absence.
To stand against this new threat, Kenji Mozu, a young ninja from the Hayabusa Village, rises to the challenge! Trained by Ryu, he fights fiercely but soon finds himself in desperate straits. Forced to tap into forbidden power, Kenji sets aside centuries of animosity and forms an alliance with the sinister Black Spider Clan, convinced that combining their souls and skills is the only way to protect the world out of the Demon Lord’s grasp!
OLD SCHOOL GAMEPLAY WITH A BRAND-NEW POLISH
Combining old-school feeling with modern precision, NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound retains the pick-up-and-play action of the classic titles, while introducing new layers of depth.
Alongside the new protagonist, Kenji Mozu, is the skilled assassin Kumori. Take control of these two powerful ninjas simultaneously and unravel their interconnected stories.
Use the Ninja Fusion to unleash devastating abilities and obliterate your enemies. NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound features impeccable mechanics that are easy to learn but hard to truly master, challenging the skills of even the most seasoned fans of the NINJA GAIDEN series!
A SPECTACULAR PIXEL ART SHOWDOWN
Step into a reimagined version of the classic NINJA GAIDEN universe, brought to life through stunning, meticulously crafted visuals. Every enemy is recreated with a level of detail that was once impossible.
The brutal, nostalgia-filled aesthetic of NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound pays homage to the past while pushing the boundaries of modern pixel art, making every battle a feast for the eyes.
Do you have what it takes to become a true ninja master?
Wildgate is a team-based PvPvE extraction shooter that throws players into the chaos of deep space, blending high-stakes spaceship battles with close-quarters crew combat. Each match features 20 space pirates called Prospectors split into squads of four. The mission? Dive into space, raid PvE dungeons for loot, upgrade your ship, outgun rival crews, secure the mysterious artifact, and make your escape through the Wildgate. The game features a variety of weapons and abilities to contend with, deadly environmental hazards, and, of course, loot worth fighting for. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Sea of Thieves and Overwatch had a baby—this is it.
From the very first match, it’s clear to me that Wildgate isn’t your typical multiplayer experience. Coordination over voice chat isn’t just helpful, but essential. You and your crew will be leaping from asteroid to asteroid, raiding different spots in pursuit of loot, upgrades, and the elusive artifact that everyone’s after. That means the faster you can be in and out, the less likely you are to run into an unexpected ambush.
But running and gunning is just half the battle, as your crew will have to coordinate piloting the ship, performing repairs, and boarding rival ships. With the right team, few things are more satisfying than hopping onto an enemy ship, picking it clean, and making a daring escape. But I’ve also been in squads that were either eerily silent or loud and chaotic – both of which can make the experience feel overwhelming or, worse, made us cannon fodder for more organized crews. You truly need to find a squad for this one.
Customization in Wildgate is impressively well-designed. Each of the characters you have to choose from, called Prospectors, have unique traits, loadouts, and a signature ability that can dramatically shift the tide of a match. Traits can include not needing to breathe, healing while aboard your ship, seeing through walls, or punching through enemy hulls, all of which can lead to some wild and memorable encounters with rival crews. The same goes for weapons, gear, and unlockable ships offering plenty of room for creative builds and min-maxing opportunities.
Wildgate’s design is layered and impressively polished, yet it still feels like it’s in its initial stages – there’s so much scope to grow from here. This could easily become a standout in the fiercely competitive extraction shooter genre as more content rolls out. If you’re a fan of the genre already, this needs to be in your queue – and if you’re a newcomer, get yourself a crew and come aboard – Raymond Estrada
Blast off into high-stakes spaceship battles and intense first-person shootouts, where no two matches are ever the same. If you want to claim the ultimate prize — the mysterious and priceless Artifact — you’ll need to improvise on the fly, whether it’s chasing down rival crews and stealing their gear, repairing your damaged ship, or scanning for precious resources.
Your ship is your home and lifeline — for you, and your prospector crew. Keep it topped up with ice, fuel and ammo so you’re ready for anyone or anything the Reach throws at you.
EPIC SPACESHIP BATTLES
Blast your enemies with hi-tech cannons and gadgets, lure them into deadly traps, or even mess with their ship… as long as they don’t sabotage yours first. When your perfect plan goes out the airlock, there’s only one option… wing it!
NEW ADVENTURES, EVERY MATCH
Stay one step ahead as you and your crew navigate the Reach — a vast, procedurally-generated map that changes with every game.
UNIQUE PROSPECTORS
Choose from a variety of daring prospectors, each with their own abilities and tools. Whether you’re a brave pilot or a clever trickster, there’s no wrong way to commit space crimes!
EXPLORE THE REACH
The Reach is a dangerous, unpredictable place, filled with deadly hazards and treasure beyond your wildest dreams. Navigate through cosmic storms, battle space vermin, and plunder alien ruins for lost caches of loot. Just make sure you beat the other prospectors to the punch, or you’ll fly away empty-handed!
OUTRUN OR OUTGUN
The Artifact is the most valuable object in the known universe. Be the first to find it, snatch it, and pass through the Wildgate, or destroy the ships of every other crew and be the last crew standing.
I still remember my first time booting up the original Killing Floor – the frantic reloads, the eerie silence before a wave, and the absolute panic when a Scrake rounded the corner. Killing Floor 2 dialed it all up: better weapons, bloodier battles, and a glorious soundtrack that made every fight feel like a metal concert in a warzone. So, when Killing Floor 3 dropped, I didn’t hesitate. I was already home.
Developed by Tripwire Interactive, Killing Floor 3 is a co-op FPS that throws you and your squad into the heart of a sci-fi nightmare. You’ll face relentless waves of Zeds – genetically engineered monstrosities that are faster, meaner, and somehow even uglier than before. The combat is crunchy and satisfying, the maps are drenched in neon and dread, and the pacing keeps you constantly on edge.
It’s everything longtime fans love, but sharper. The atmosphere feels like Doom and Aliens had a baby, raised in a bunker lit by strobe lights and soaked in adrenaline. I’ve spent hours perfecting my loadout, yelling “Cover me, I’m reloading!” with unnecessary action hero bravado , and laughing with friends as we barely survived wave ten.
Tripwire Interactive knows exactly what makes this franchise tick – and they’ve delivered a third chapter that’s as brutal and brilliant as ever. If you’ve been with the series since the beginning, Killing Floor 3 feels like a love letter to the chaos we grew up with – just louder, faster, and somehow even more fun. And if you’re new? Welcome to the party. Just don’t forget to heal your teammates. Or at least pretend you tried – Steven Allen
It’s 2091. Join up with Nightfall, the last line of defense against megacorp Horzine’s inhuman army of monstrous zeds. The future is in your hands… if you can survive long enough to reach it.
Killing Floor 3 is the next installment in the legendary action/horror series. This intense FPS puts you in the boots of a Nightfall specialist joining forces with up to five teammates to battle waves of Zeds, earn dosh, unlock skills, and build the ultimate arsenal.
KILLER CO-OP
Assemble the ultimate zed extermination squad for frenzied 6-player co-op. You can also brave the battlefield alone in tense single-player mode.
RELENTLESS ZEDS
Brace yourself for the most lethal zeds yet. Every enemy has been redesigned and retuned with smarter AI; making them faster, deadlier, and more strategic than ever.
SURVIVAL TECH
From flamethrowers to shotguns to katanas, you’ll have an expansive arsenal at your disposal. Customize your own unique brand of bloodletting with hundreds of mods, gadgets, and skills to choose from.
DANGEROUS LOCATIONS
Drop into a variety of treacherous hot zones where you’ll have to contain the further spread of the Outbreak. Thankfully, you can use the environment to your advantage by activating turrets, fans, and other devastating traps.
MORE GORE
Our MEAT System returns to deliver even more realistic carnage. Featuring additional points of dismemberment and persistent blood, the game responds to your attacks with gruesome authenticity.
Monument Valley 3, the newest installment in the acclaimed puzzle series, has arrived on Xbox. Renowned for its serene, visually captivating gameplay, this series challenges players with clever puzzles while immersing them in stunning, artful environments. With its fixed perspectives, Persian-inspired aesthetics, and mesmerizing Escher-like architecture, this latest chapter continues to offer a soothing yet stimulating experience that’s as beautiful as it is brain-bending.
New to the series? No worries! While Monument Valley 3 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, it tells a completely standalone story. With minimal dialogue and text, the game relies on subtle visual storytelling through movement, animation, and atmosphere to convey its themes. The crux of the story is that the world is crumbling, the water is rising, and you must find a way to restore light back into the world by navigating architecture-based puzzles.
After the introduction, you’ll find yourself guiding the protagonist, Noor, to the exit of each area by moving parts of the environment around – the architecture bending reality through optical illusions. Structures that go across an axis can sometimes blend into one another, changing the structure of the environment just by altering its perspective. At times, it feels like solving a living Magic Eye puzzle – spotting the hidden path can make your eyes work overtime.
The puzzle difficulty in Monument Valley 3 ramps up nicely. Early levels gently ease you into the game’s signature perspective-shifting mechanics before gradually presenting more and more intricate challenges that will have you scanning every detail for clues. A standout new feature in this installment is the addition of a boat, which you can navigate across rising waters. This mechanic adds a new layer of complexity, especially in puzzles that require you to coordinate movement between multiple areas to progress.
Monument Valley 3 is a beautiful, bite-sized puzzler that is very enjoyable while it lasts. I would recommend it for anyone that enjoys a calm serene puzzle but won’t get frustrated when the answer is literally staring you in the face – Raymond Estrada
Set sail for adventure in MONUMENT VALLEY 3, a brand new story in the award-winning Monument Valley series.
Guide Noor, an apprentice lightkeeper, through impossible monuments, shifting landscapes, and tranquil seascapes to uncover the Sacred Light and save her home.
Monument Valley 3 takes you beyond the monuments and into the open sea. As Noor, you’ll navigate stunning, changing environments, solve mind-bending puzzles, and uncover the secrets of the Sacred Light. With her village threatened by rising tides, Noor must chart her own course—and discover her own strength—in this stunning, emotional adventure.
Sail between geometry, manipulate architecture to reveal hidden paths, and let the iconic soundtrack guide you forward. With new mechanics, breathtaking visuals, and the series’ signature charm, Monument Valley 3 is a voyage like no other.
Features:
– Defy Perspective: Rotate and manipulate the environment to reveal hidden paths, solve intricate puzzles
– Uncover The Mystery: Help Noor unlock the secrets of this ever-changing world.
– Beautiful Art: A stunning world inspired by modern design, global architecture and hand-crafted, personal stories.
– Every Update Included: Full Story is included, with brand new updates to come
Adventure awaits—will you uncover the light that guides the way?
ustwo games are proud independent developers, best known for the award-winning Monument Valley series, Land’s End, Assemble with Care and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure.
Every so often, a game comes along that defies neat descriptions. RatShaker is one of those. It’s short, strange, and unlike anything else I’ve played on Xbox and that’s exactly why it stuck with me. This isn’t the kind of game where you grind levels or chase loot. Instead, RatShaker asks you to slow down, lean into the absurd, and let yourself experience something that feels more like an experiment than a traditional adventure. The controls are simple, the pacing deliberate, and yet the effect is oddly captivating.
This is a game for players who appreciate the unconventional. If you enjoy titles like What Remains of Edith Finch, The Stanley Parable, or Don’t Touch Anything, you’ll likely find RatShaker intriguing. It’s perfect for those who value atmosphere, experimental design, and games that make you think (or squirm). If I had to pin it down, I’d call RatShaker a surreal narrative experience with elements of psychological comedy. It blends interactive storytelling with absurdist humor and a touch of eerie tension – think walking simulator meets performance art.
What impressed me most was how RatShaker balances its humor and its tension. It never feels like it’s trying to be a blockbuster or a polished crowd-pleaser – instead, it leans fully into its own identity. You’re invited to play along, to laugh, to feel uneasy, and, above all, to experience something you probably didn’t expect when you pressed start. It’s the kind of game I recommend not because it’s “fun” in the conventional sense, but because it’s memorable.
You’ll finish RatShaker in one sitting. It’s roughly 1 to 2 hours, depending on how much you explore or linger. It’s designed to be brief but impactful. You might finish RatShaker in an evening, but you’ll likely be thinking about it the next day, wondering how such a simple idea managed to get under your skin in such a playful way. If you’re looking for something different, something you can’t quite compare to anything else, RatShaker won’t be easily shaken after you finish – Steven Allen
RATSHAKER – The Ultimate Solution to All Your RAT Problems!
Tired of pests taking over your space? Say goodbye to them for good with RATSHAKER, the revolutionary new way to deal with unwanted pests! Just take and shake, and RATSHAKER does the rest. No traps, no mess, no unmarked disposal barrels!
With RATSHAKER, you take control! Feel the satisfaction of watching the meter rise as you shake that rat into submission. The more you shake, the closer you get to solving your problems for good. Fast-acting, easy to use, and highly effective, RATSHAKER ensures your space stays problem-free in no time.
Developed by Void Interactive, Ready or Not is a co-op FPS that puts you in the boots of a SWAT officer called in when things go from bad to worse. Hostage rescues. Barricaded suspects. Active threats. The tension is relentless, but the game makes it thrilling, not overwhelming. You don’t need to memorize military jargon or master complex controls. Just grab your gear, trust your squad, and try not to flashbang yourself (again). So, it started with a simple plan: hop online, play a few rounds, and maybe not embarrass myself. I’d heard Ready or Not was intense, but I figured, how hard could it be? Then came the mission.
A quiet suburban house. The briefing said, “hostage situation.” My brain said, “don’t mess this up.” We stacked up at the door, flashbangs ready, hearts pounding. Two floors cleared. One room left. The hallway was silent, too silent. Lights flickered. A suspect shouted from behind the locked door. My team waited for my signal. I nodded. Breach. Flash. Chaos. Victory. Fist-bump.
Since then, I’ve spent countless evenings laughing, learning, and slowly mastering the art of clearing rooms without yelling “clear!” into empty hallways. It’s got the tension of Rainbow Six Siege, but with more breathing room and a slower, more deliberate pace. Ready or Not doesn’t ask if you’re prepared, it surrounds you with silence, pressure, and the kind of intensity that makes you lean in. And once you’re in, you won’t want to leave – Steven Allen
Become an elite SWAT commander and bring order to a city overwhelmed by chaos and corruption.
Lead a team of highly-trained SWAT officers through harrowing, high-risk missions against violent, cruel and calculated criminals to stop the city from spiralling into disorder. Equip real-world weapons and gear to tackle missions inspired by current events against Los Sueňos’ ruthless criminal element.
Every decision, from squad selection to tactical breach and engagement is the difference between life and death.
Are you ready?
FEATURES
Take Command
Ready or Not delivers an immersive SWAT experience. Equip your team with authentic weapons and gear, deploy into high-stakes, real-world inspired missions to secure locations concealing unknown criminal threats and potential civilians. Every mission demands tactical precision and situational awareness. Bullets from known and concealed threats react realistically with the environment, passing through walls, furniture and bodies. Cover your six, clear your corners, apprehend the threats and rescue the innocent.
The Weight of the Badge
Shoulder the weight of being a SWAT commander entrusted with confronting Los Sueňos’ criminal corruption and stopping it from overwhelming the city’s citizens. Every tactical decision matters, every outcome is yours to bear. Your choices in the field dictate mission success, the survival of your squad and the safety of hostages. Squadmate and hostage deaths take a profound psychological toll on surviving team members, affecting their performance or ending their careers altogether.
True Tactical Gameplay
Ready or Not is a true tactical shooter. Every mission is a high-stakes, life-or-death operation. Strategically forge your squad of elite SWAT officers, equip them with the right weapons and gear for the mission, position your team to tactically breach criminal strongholds and quickly identify and neutralize threats in tense, life threatening scenarios. Follow the rules of engagement, communicate with your team, and execute flawlessly – failure is for the unprepared.
Your Mission is the Story
Ready or Not confronts you with a raw, unflinching mirror of real-world crime, exposing the horrors of human trafficking, drug running, illegal arms dealing, militant extremism and terrorism through interwoven storylines that span multiple missions. Grapple with moral dilemmas as you’re forced to balance your duty to exercise constraint in the face of Los Sueňos’ most vile criminals.
Cross-Comradery
Team up with friends to stem the tide of crime infesting the city. Enhanced with crossplay, Ready or Not supports up to five players in a co-operative tactical experience on all platforms. Communicate effectively to increase your tactical precision, watch your squad’s back and successfully complete your mission.
– The Ultimate Solution to All Your RAT Problems!
