Fans have always felt that Dragon Age: Origins’ mage class was more complete, perhaps even more dominant, than the game’s other two classes, the rogue and the warrior. But why was that? Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has said it’s mostly about second edition Dungeons & Dragons.
In a recently published video, Darrah explained why the mage in BioWare’s much-loved 2009 role-playing game ended up feeling so much better to play.
“It’s actually I would say more because the design space that Dragon Age: Origins was being built into was heavily influenced by second edition D&D,” Darrah, who worked at BioWare from 1997 to early 2021, said.
“So in that case, the reality is mages and rogues were less… they were thinner classes, they were simpler classes. And the mage was the stronger, more fully implemented, more fully considered class. Much more complicated, much more in terms of spells and such.”
Dragon Age: Origins was not designed to be played with Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rules, but rather it was built on a custom system that was heavily influenced by the design principles of the 2nd edition era of D&D.
Darrah also said Origins’ more grounded tone affected the abilities of the warrior and the rogue, which in turn had more grounded abilities than in subsequent games in the fantasy franchise.
“Also, of all the Dragon Ages, Dragon Age: Origins is the most grounded. It’s the one that’s worrying the most about everything making perfect sense within the overall lore of the game. So, warriors and rogues in Origins basically don’t have talents, or they don’t have talents or skills that violate physics.
“Whereas, as we move into Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition and Veilgard, you get a lot more things that are not really possible for someone to physically do.”
There’s plenty of agreement with Darrah’s assessment from fans, particularly on his point about Origins’ more grounded setting and tone, but also on how important mages were to the game’s story. Morrigan, a mage party member, ended up one of the most popular in Origins. That was in part because she was powerful, but there were also… other considerations.
Of course, this unbalance was rectified for subsequent Dragon Age games, as Darrah points out. But following the failure of Veilguard and the layoffs that followed, fans often point to Origins as the kind of Dragon Age they would love to see BioWare return to one day.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The announcement that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would be making its way to the Switch 2 in 2026 came as a very pleasant surprise during the recent Gamescom festivities.
Whether you’ve played through the game before or simply seen the odd trailer here and there, we can probably all agree that The Great Circle looks pretty spectacular – particularly in its environmental design. So just how will a game like this run on the Switch 2?
With Borderlands 3 and its divisive story in the rearview mirror, developer Gearbox Software is driving full speed ahead to Borderlands 4 and the totalitarian planet of Kairos.
The long road to the launch of a fourth mainline Borderlands game had a bumpy start. While plenty fell in love with Borderlands 3 and its improvements to the looter-shooter series’ gunplay, others still struggle with its joke-fueled story and reliance on toilet humor. It will have been almost exactly six years since its launch when Borderlands 4’s September 12, 2025 release date arrives. Now, fans are on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how Gearbox spent its time.
We caught up with Gearbox narrative director Sam Winkler, lead writer Taylor Clark, and managing director of narrative properties Lin Joyce to learn more about why the team decided to create a more grounded story for Borderlands 4. Along the way, we found out how the elusive Timekeeper can stand toe-to-toe with Handsome Jack, how controversial characters like Ava could still have a future in the series, and we even learned how the upcoming DLC will fit in with Borderlands 4’s main campaign.
IGN: Gearbox has been very clear that Borderlands 4 will feature a more grounded story and tone. How did the conversations to shift the tone begin, and is this the direction the team has followed from the beginning of development?
Sam Winkler: Those conversations started as early as the conversations of, ‘Hey, what the hell does Borderlands 4 look like?’ Even before Borderlands 3 was shipped and out the door. Something I like to remind people is that the devs are often the first fans of a game and also the first critics. I think that we had some own internal critiques about the tone and the level of humor present in Borderlands 3.
[It’s] something that we already were starting to address in the DLCs for Borderlands 3, but we wanted to really make that a central point of Borderlands 4. So, as we had these very large conversations of, in world context, ‘Where is this? What does it mean? Why are we doing this next big, monolithic game with a 4 in its title?’ [we said], ‘How are we also going to evolve the storytelling, the humor, and the characters, and what we want to do with them?’
Taylor Clark: I came aboard a lot later than Sam. I’ve been on the game for a couple of years, and it was definitely something from the moment that I came on board, when I was talking to Sam, the grounded tone was a priority. Grounding the humor in the world, he made it very clear that if I tried to put a meme in the game, he would come to my house with a baseball bat [laughs]. So, it was definitely in the brief from the beginning to make the tone fit the world.
Winkler: I don’t want to swing the needle too hard on that front. I am not anti-meme. In fact, hey, exclusive: There’s a specific meme in this game, and I feel justified putting it in because I accidentally created it. Yes, I didn’t mean for it to become a meme, but it became a meme, and it’s in the video game. That is all I’m going to say.
IGN: We can’t know what meme it is?
Winkler: Look, I have a couple of Know Your Meme pages that credit me, and I will let you do any journalistic dirty work that you need to.
Clark: It does not involve a Skibidi Toilet.
Winkler: It does not. Yeah, there are toilets in our game. I’ll say that.
Clark: Where else would you get ammunition?
Winkler: Exactly. In Borderlands, only toilets and washing machines.
IGN: No Skibidi Toilets, though.
Clark: No. No.
Winkler: None.
IGN: I think some people are going to be really happy to hear that. I’m wondering if you can compare the tone in Borderlands 4 to some of the previous games. It seems like the team definitely wanted to have a more grounded tone than 3, for sure. So, how would you compare the tone or joke frequency to something like 1, 2, or even spinoffs like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands?
Clark: The way that I’ve always talked about it, personally, was that, in Borderlands 1, 2, and 3, we were on Pandora, right? Pandora was a wild west. It was a place where corporations were stabbing each other in the back for supremacy. So, there was a lot of antic energy in that place, and with those villains that we were dealing with, it made a lot of sense to have more zany, like, gun-slinging jokes, you know? Hip-firing jokes tone.
Kairos is a different place. Kairos is a totalitarian planet ruled over by this dictatorial figure known as the Timekeeper, who sits far above it all. In this context of global oppression, the Whac-A-Mole joke style didn’t make as much sense. So, a lot of it had to do with making sure that the tone fit the stakes of the world, and that the humor was rising organically out of situations, out of character moments, rather than the wild west feel of the first games.
Lin Joyce: I will let Sam talk to the contrast, too, in the mandate between 3 and 4, but I will double tap too, that what we were looking for is that the humor in Borderlands 4 works at the level of Kairos and the characters. We weren’t making jokes that would only land for the player.
It was a gut check, ‘Is this as funny to the characters and their lived experience as it is to the player? Can we do both?’ That situational comedy and context helped us also keep the tone grounded, and the comedy then has purpose. But Sam can talk about the frequency between Borderlands 3 and 4.
Winkler: I mean… I went back and played every single Borderlands game. 1, 2, Pre-Sequel, [Tales from the Borderlands], everything like that. Just to observe, not just the tone of humor, but also the vectors of humor, right? I think people talk a lot about our humor from the perspective of people chatting in your ear. But I was really struck by, for example, in Borderlands 1, most of the NPCs didn’t have a ton of actual audio to say.
It was pretty sparse on that front, and a lot of the humor came out of situations. Comedic, usually darkly comedic, circumstances, but also the way things were named, the text in the mission accept, that sort of thing. I think that contributed a lot to players’ perception of Borderlands 1 as having a more dark, grounded tone, is it is a quieter game, and a lot of the humor stems situationally and organically.
So, that was something that we tried to work with the design team, the mission design team, and everything like that, to say, ‘Hey, we can have heavy moments. We can have grounded moments, but we can also have wacky circumstances that arise out of the players’ actions and the NPCs that come at them.’ We wanted to make sure that humor wasn’t just some sticker that we’re slapping on something, you know what I mean? The other thing is that, with design shifts, our mentality to humor had to shift as well. With Borderlands 4 going into this seamless, explore-to-your-own-tastes gameplay experience, we could not control where the player was going to go next.
We couldn’t always script people’s open-world exploration, [and] that allowed that space to just be naturally filled. Whether it’s through combat dialog or player characters, or just silence and soundtrack and ambience and mood. It just inherently changed our approach to it.
IGN: One of my other questions is, ‘Why should players who have been with the series for 16 years not be worried about this shift?’ But I think that kind of answers it. It still feels and sounds like it’s very Borderlands.
Clark: For sure. It is unmistakably Borderlands, but we’re constantly tweaking the dials of certain factors to make the tone match the game that we want to create, and to respond to our internal and external feedback.
Joyce: At no point did we say, ‘Let’s stop being funny in Borderlands. Let’s not do that anymore.’ It is still a Borderlands game made by a Borderlands team, many who have been here since 1.
Clark: We’re not making an arthouse Borderlands game [laughs].
Winkler: But, also, it’s a big game, right? It is not a monolith. There are areas of our game that are more serious. There are areas of our game that are more humor-filled. There are characters that don’t take things as seriously, in a diegetic way. For the players who have been long-time franchise fans, I think they’re going to find flavors that they’re looking for all across Kairos. If they play one side mission or interact with one character that doesn’t quite vibe with them, there’s probably another one not too far off that they will vibe with.
IGN: For the sake of comparison, are there any other stories from across movies, books, TV, or games that the team feels are similar to the tone that you guys are going for? Are there any particular inspirations that you can point to?
Joyce: There have to be so many. We’re constantly throwing around, ‘Have you seen…? It’s a little like that.’ But now that you’re asking it directly, I’m like, ‘Which one…’
Winkler: I don’t want to use it as a straight comp, but a show that I’ve been really inspired by has been Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is very, very much a comedic show. It has wacky energy to it, but it works, and it works really well — it just won a Hugo Award — because it takes its characters seriously. It takes its circumstances seriously, and if something is wacky, there’s usually someone there to point out, like, ‘This is wacky and super unsafe, and it shouldn’t work that way.’
It is a project that is clearly made out of love for Star Trek and the characters in the story, rather than some sort of parody of it. I think that on Borderlands 3, in our worst hours, it sometimes felt like parody, and that is where we edged into a red line, I think, for a lot of fans and for myself, personally. So, we wanted to look towards other media that could balance that. [That] could balance both humor, levity, and authentic character storytelling that takes itself seriously.
IGN: One character I did want to ask about from Borderlands 3 that I didn’t particularly mind at all but others had a problem with is Ava. She’s a character that a lot of fans associate their dissatisfaction with Borderlands 3’s story with. With so many other memorable faces back for Borderlands 4, can fans expect to see her show up, too? If not, is there any room for her to return in the future?
Winkler: I don’t think we’re going to answer any questions about characters that we haven’t shown off yet. I think the only thing that I will say is, I am not a huge fan of removing or killing off characters off-screen unless it absolutely has to happen. We don’t forget about characters, and we want to make sure that storylines are completed. That’s it.
I hear all the complaints about Ava. I had some issues with how we were able to portray her. We were unable to show some of, I think, her more heartfelt moments in the base game of BL3. We used the Director’s Cut to show off what Maya’s funeral could have been and what the relationship between Ava and Lilith could have been. We didn’t have that opportunity in Borderlands 3, but it’s the kind of thing that I still believe in and that I would love to address again some other time.
IGN: In typical Borderlands fashion, Gearbox has free and paid post-launch DLC in the works. A lot of it, by the sounds of it. We don’t have to get too into specifics; I know a lot of that stuff is still very much in development. But will that same grounded tone carry over to the DLC? Will the team take the opportunity to show us some of the less grounded corners of Kairos?
Clark: Just like the last question, I think we are limited in what we can say about the post-launch content that we’re working on. I think it’s safe to say that the plan is for the tone to be consistent between the products.
Winkler: I’ll say this: the best thing about Borderlands extra content, like full campaign DLCs, or some of the live events that we’ve done — we did the holidays and stuff like that in previous games — is it allows us to explore different tones and different corners of the Borderlands world and do different genres and everything like that. So, I would expect that same level of creativity and exploration from where we go in the future.
Joyce: I would extend it to be… I would look at the DLC content and call it complementary, right? It complements the base game. It is going to be different, but complementary. Or, if you prefer a different metaphor, the pieces of attire will be coordinated to make a nice outfit, really. You pick which metaphor you like better there.
Clark: It’s tough to talk about in vague terms. We’d love to talk about it more.
Winkler: Especially because some of it we don’t know yet. It is in active development. Borderlands 4 is getting stamped onto DVDs somewhere and… actually [laughs] I think it’s Blu-rays. But in the meantime, we are cooking on that next group of content, and we know a whole bunch of it. We’re actively working on it, but some of it is still in development.
IGN: How long do you think it will take to complete Borderlands 4’s main campaign, and then how long will it take to complete the main campaign plus all of the side content?
Clark: This came up some in prior interviews. The answer that I and Chris Brock, our lead producer, gave on this was to point out that, while we can’t say a specific number, we can say that, when we got together to do a playthrough together — Sam, me, Lin, a bunch of others, our creative director, Graeme [Timmins], Randy Pitchford — when we were doing work, doing play throughs of this stuff, and to evaluate how it was going, playing through the entire main campaign took us days and days. It took a long time. It is a meaty piece of content.
Winkler: And that was a straight line. That was doing basically no side content.
Clark: That was scaling damage to 10,000% and just mowing through stuff.
Joyce: The other anecdote I could probably give there, safely, is, I meet every week with Andrew Reiner, our global creative executive officer. Last week he said, ‘I’ve started, I’m going to say, the million-teenth run of the game.’ He’s like, ‘This time, the goal is 100% it.’ I was like, ‘How long have you been playing?’ All week. ‘How far have you gotten?’ Still in the first zone [laughs].
Winkler: That’s a very good factor, and going back to what I said, the seamless world allows players to have a little bit more choice about the order in which they take on the story. We have seen play testers want to go through the mainline, so they’re bouncing around between the different zones and seeing all sorts of the game.
We’ve also seen testers who are just like, ‘I’m going to go into this zone. I’m going to see everything I can possibly see. I’m going to scrape the barrel, and then I’m going over to the next zone.’ One player’s first 15, 20 hours could look very, very different from another player’s.
IGN: It’s a big Borderlands game.
Winkler: It do be big.
IGN: For so many people, Borderlands villains are the reason a lot of folks show up for this series. Obviously, Handsome Jack is one of the all-time great video game villains. I’m wondering, because there are so many theories about the Timekeeper, specifically, and I don’t want to know what it is, but does this character have any identity past that Timekeeper name? Is there some mystery, some intrigue you want to build up with him?
Joyce: You ask great questions [laughs]. To what degree can we answer them is a tough one.
Winkler: The Timekeeper is like an onion. He has layers… No one’s used that before, right?
Clark: I think the answer is yes. Is there a mystery to him? Yes [laughs].
Joyce: We could talk about, certainly, how we approached crafting him and writing him. That’s another angle into answering your question. The timekeeper, one of the things that makes him different and keeps an air of intentional mystery around him, is that he is not in your face at all times. He sits in his high tower with a view of the entire planet, and his prerogative is to keep the entire planet under order.
So, when we first show up, the Vault Hunter is mildly of interest, but he’s got many other things to do. So, we also have to, as players, over time, gain his attention more and more. That was a very different way to approach writing a villain into a Borderlands game than we had done before. And I’ll let Sam and Taylor run from there.
Clark: I think we, as creative people, are always challenging ourselves to not repeat ourselves, to have characters who are appreciably different, who have different kinds of stories and have different kinds of things to say in each entry. The Timekeeper is appreciably different from the prior villains in the Borderlands series. He is a new frontier, I think, as a character.
IGN: One of the things I see pop up so often is comparisons to Handsome Jack. It always goes back to him. The theories go back to him. It’s a bit mind-boggling, almost, at this point, to be more than a decade removed from that character, and still it’s brought up. What kind of pressure does the team feel, if any, to continue creating villains as impactful as him, specifically? Did that pressure ever influence the direction you’ve taken for the Timekeeper?
Winkler: Oh, I mean, how could it not, right? Imagine working on Star Wars, and you have to come up with something as scary as Darth Vader. Handsome Jack is a gaming icon, and I was a fan of Borderlands 2 before I set foot in Gearbox, so I had that thought in my head as well.
Something I really, really liked about Borderlands 2 was, as you’re going across Pandora, pretty much everyone you meet has been screwed over by Handsome Jack in some way. Their life is measurably worse, or they’re under threat, or they know someone who died because of Handsome Jack. That was really inspiring for the Timekeeper, for us to be able to show a villain, not just through phone calls where he says, ‘Hey, you’re a dick,’ while you’re while you’re going through trying to collect guns, but also how everyone you meet has, in some way, been affected by him and is living under his totalitarian rule.
Their circumstances are different and vibrant and their reactions to the Timekeeper… like they might be so scared of him that they don’t want to rise up in resistance against him, or they might be so pissed off at him that they do, or they have a complicated relationship with the Timekeeper when they once kind of looked up to him, but now they are in danger because of him. With the goal of making this character feel a little bit more omnipresent, a little bit always watching, we wanted that to shine through in all of our NPCs. So, as we meet new friends — and each of these zones has this big over boss that we have to, ultimately, deal with, each of those villains has a different relationship with the Timekeeper. As we’re learning about them, we’re also learning about him.
IGN: The Timekeeper will fall into place with that more grounded narrative. He’s a lot more straightforward. He’s not calling you while you’re collecting guns and telling you, ‘You’re a dick.’
Clark: Not those specific words, no [laughs].
IGN: So, what is it about this character specifically that makes him the next great Borderlands villain? What makes him stand apart?
Clark: I think that he has a gravity and an ominousness. Jack’s animosity towards us is so hot and personal, and the Timekeeper, by contrast, feels so all-powerful and inescapable. Jack just feels like one kind of gnat who’s really influential but could be swatted away. The Timekeeper feels chronic and insurmountable, like a mountain. This whole planet basically casts in his image, and I think that’s a cool mountain to climb.
IGN: We’re just a few weeks out from launch. Did the decision to switch up the tone for Borderlands 4 pay off? Is Gearbox sitting here saying, ‘This was worth it. We dialed everything correctly. We’re proud of where this is.’ Also, what were some of the challenges that the team faced when adapting to this change?
Clark: I’m personally proud of the work that we’ve done, and I think it’s paid off. I think we struck a fun, resonant balance between light-hearted moments and serious, resonant moments. We get, for the first time, I think, we get real character depth with Claptrap, of all people, for example. One of my favorite missions in the game is an emotional moment with Claptrap that, I think, really hits hard, so I’m personally very happy with where we landed.
Joyce: I agree. I think that we have succeeded with what we set out to do, and it’s even more than just about tone. This was about creating the next, right? You can come to Borderlands 4 as a new player, and this can be your first experience into an incredibly expansive world, and in that way, it needed to be fresh and have something new to offer and change perspective on our series while still maintaining that connectivity. So, if you’re a returning fan, we built Kairos for you. If you’re a new fan, we built Kairos for you. This was the goal. It took a really big world and a big game to do it. I think we succeeded there.
Winkler: I think it is going to be, ultimately, up to the fans to the fans, of course, to tell us if we nailed it or not, and I think that the best possible scenario is that we put this game out, they say, ‘This is what we wanted. Let’s go even further. We want more. We want more.’ I hope we get that opportunity. To echo what Taylor and Lin said, I’m very proud of the work that we did, and I think that we accomplished our goals, and the mark of success if being able to continue. Hopefully, we can continue, we can build back some of the trust, and yeah. Have a good one. Have a good video game.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
It’s a free and simple territory control game from hobbyist dev snow-kiss, in which you switch your tiles between rock, paper or scissors to claim those of opponents. I’m not sure the idea has serious legs, but I like how it thickens when you have more than two participants and a more elaborate board setup.
The official start of the season may be two months away, but basketball is back with NBA 2K26 hitting PS5 and PS4 September 5. The latest entry brings a new gameplay system powered by machine learning, studying today’s superstars, and fun pick-up and play options. 2K invited me to go hands-on with the game before it launches September 5 on PS5, and I’m here to share what I learned on the court.
Also launching starting on September 12 (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) and on September 18 (Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam) is the PlayStation 5 Console – NBA 2K26 Bundle. Read on for full details
Better ball
2K26 puts considerable effort into improving both sides of the floor, with notable offensive and defensive enhancements. New machine-learning technology helps capture the fundamentals of the game. While playing, I noticed players would run and get set by firmly planting their feet, instead of a gliding effect. While driving into the paint, they would also stop and accurately respond to a defender in their lane. These details add a realistic weight to the sport.
Enhanced Rhythm Shooting
You can still flick down-up on the right analog stick or simply press square to start your shooting motion, then release at the correct timing for the individual player’s shoot release. However, now the tempo of the play, like in real life, affects your shot. When a good defender bogged me down, I could quickly release my shot and intentionally release it early for a decisive bucket. With a high basketball IQ, any shot has the potential to be a good shot.
Defensive battles
Players can swing a game in their favor if the shots aren’t falling, thanks to new improvements centered around real-world tactics. Around the player’s feet, you will see new Rebound Timing Feedback as a green meter that will flash to indicate a well-timed rebound. Learning Chet Holmgren’s rebound timing made me nearly unstoppable under the rim and made me focus on an aspect of the game I had neglected before.
Collisions and interior defense both benefit from a revamped system-driven tech that allows for more real-time interactions instead of scripted mocap animations. If you want to stop a fast break or crowd the lane, players will stop, adjust, and even collide realistically. The game rewards paying attention to the action when the ball isn’t in your hand.
Arena atmosphere
The devs also upgraded the game spectacle during downtime and timeouts with new crowd variety, interactions, and on-court performances. Cheerleader routines and mascot antics are fun, but my favorite by far was the dance cam. These moments captured the feel of attending a game live and the sense of community that attending a sporting event can create.
MyTEAM updates
MyTEAM has received a significant remodel with Triple Threat Park turning Sunset Beach into a nighttime venue. Players are greeted with neon lights, fireworks, and other details that can only be appreciated after dark. Pulling cards and collecting players has also become an even bigger spectacle with dramatic reveals and added flair.
The biggest change to MyTEAM is that WNBA players join the action for the first time in series history. Newcomers like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark take to the hardwood along with legends like Lisa Leslie. Attributes and Badges are identical for all players, no matter what league they hail from. Also, there is a WNBA Domination tier where your squad will be exclusively WNBA players as you challenge teams to earn Domination stars and crests.
Another first is 2v2 games in Triple Threat Park. Two half courts have been added in the middle of the street, where you can run your favorite two-person team-ups. The park also features four 3v3 courts, including a new option with a beach backdrop, and three 3v3 courts for 6-player co-op matches. These games capture the essence of streetball, featuring players calling their fouls, checking the ball at midcourt, and engaging in some lively trash talk—a great way to mix and match your favorite ball players and have some quick, high-energy games.
All-Star Team Up is now part of MyTEAM, where 10 players duke it out in 5v5 co-op matches. Take your favorite NBA or WNBA players for some very high-level play where being a good role player is the key to success. Earn individual rewards with the new Season Ladder and earn rewards as a team by winning matches. Find the right chemistry with your teammates, because for every five games you win with the same team lineup, everyone will receive rewards, even if the wins aren’t consecutive.
Discover all the new enhancements coming to the court when NBA 2K 26 launches September 5 on PS5.
Vertical Stand sold separately
PS5 Console – NBA 2K26 Bundle (Southeast Asia details)
We’re pleased to announce the PlayStation 5 Console – NBA 2K26 Bundle is launching in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand starting September 12 and is launching in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam starting September 18. Release dates and availability may vary by region, please check your local retailer for availability and release dates.
Players can feel the on-the-court immersion made possible by the DualSense wireless controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Experience NBA 2K26’s authenticity with lifelike animations, heightened player fidelity and authentic atmosphere with 4K resolution*, and enjoy shortened load times and return to the action faster with the PS5 console’s high-speed SSD.
In Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the bundle includes a PlayStation 5 console, DualSense wireless controller, and a digital voucher** for NBA 2K26 Standard Edition. In Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the bundle includes a PlayStation 5 console, DualSense wireless controller, and a disc version for NBA 2K26 Standard Edition
With a robust focus on features and the game aspects that don’t rely on the players, it’s great to play and watch. No matter your height, you should hit the court when NBA 2K26 comes to PS5 and PS4 on September 5.
*4K and HDR require a 4K and HDR compatible TV or display.
**Account for PlayStation and internet connection required to redeem voucher
The massive portable PC – dubbed the Abxylute 3D One – is actually based on a prototype co-developed by Intel and Tencent that was demoed at CES earlier this year.
Most of the time, I’m pretty oblivious to game name trends. It’s normally only when someone points out to me that all AAA games have names like ‘Chronicle of Shadows: Rebirth’, that I start to see that formula used everywhere — like when you find a trendy new pair of shoes that you swear you’ve never seen before, only to wear them out of the shop and see every other person styling them.
The way it’s usually pointed out to me is when Nintendo releases a game that rehashes a title format we’ve seen hundreds of times before. Most recently, it was the rise of the unnecessary exclamation mark, when Princess Peach: Showtime! and WarioWare: Move It! made me question whether I should be shouting their final word each time I said them. This year, it’s X games.
Metal Gear Solid: Delta is not the first remake of Metal Gear Solid 3.
In the two decades since Metal Gear Solid 3 first HALO-dropped into our hearts, Konami has reissued, remastered, and remade Hideo Kojima’s tactical espionage opus more than a few times– adding to, subtracting from, and significantly changing Snake’s adventure in the nonexistent jungles of the Soviet Union.
You can dig up the raw PS2 original that hit 2004 like a tactical nuke, or feast on the more refined and rounded Subsistence. You can enjoy it on the go, or accept some sacrifices to play it on the newest tech. And if none of those get you charged up, perhaps Delta will deliver the Snake Eater of your dreams.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy one of the greatest games ever made– but what’s the correct way to experience MGS3? Is authenticity the aim, or even achievable? Are we willing to lose some of its original truth in the name of enjoyability and accessibility? In short: what’s the real Metal Gear Solid 3?
Your mission, Jack, is to infiltrate the various versions of this virtuous masterpiece and explore the changes it’s accumulated throughout the years, for better and for worse, beginning with…
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Try to remember some of the basics of life in 2004: You’re wearing your “Vote for Pedro” shirt, rocking a Livestrong bracelet, and T9 texting your MySpace top 8 on the brand-new Moto Razr. Spider-Man 2 is at the movie theater, on your iPod Mini, and inside your sixth-generation console. Other games vying for your attention in this absolutely stacked year include a squad of S-tier sequels like Half-Life 2, Halo 2, and GTA: San Andreas. MGS3 hangs with them all.
Etched on this PS2-exclusive disc is an all-time classic. Hot on the heels of the mind-shattering Metal Gear Solid 2, Snake Eater is the platonic ideal of a prequel– an approachable action epic, with excellent voice-acting, and intricate, quirky game systems. It’s the perfect on-ramp to the Kojima experience and it easily deserves our contemporary score of 9.6.
But the game is about all you get.
The first release of Snake Eater had no VR missions, no multiplayer, and no bonus features beyond Snake vs. Monkey, a charming hide-and-seek minigame starring the titular simians of Sony’s Ape Escape series. Since the campaign itself is more than a hearty meal, no one much complained at the time, though there was some grumbling about the fixed, overhead camera carried over from MGS2.
A top-down view worked great for the bases, tankers, and… struts of past Metal Gear games, but a lot had changed since the heyday of 8-bit Japanese PCs. The first release of Snake Eater can be aggravating at times, and the cramped perspective doesn’t take full advantage of the wide-open jungles of Tselinoyarsk.
Still, the PS2 original is the rare, unseasoned Snake Eater experience– and there’s nothing quite like sinking your teeth into the earliest draft of a masterpiece. It doesn’t get more authentic than this flawed but foundational text from which all MGS3 is derived.
It only took a few months for Kojima and Konami to start tinkering with the game. Like MGS2 before it, the PAL version of Snake Eater includes a boss rush mode, cutscene theater, and the “European Extreme” difficulty level– perhaps one of the highest honors ever bestowed upon a continent.
The game itself was substantially unaltered, but it would see subSISTantial changes in MGS3: Subsistence.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
The new-and-improved version of Snake Eater didn’t come as a surprise, since both prior MGS titles were followed by revised expansions. Metal Gear Solid: Integral included an entire disk of VR missions, a playable first-person view, and a bizarre photoshoot mode that has since been reborn in Death Stranding 2.
MGS2: Substance was flush with bonus content, including non-canon, largely silly Snake Tales to appease the angry anti-Raiden army. The game itself received lots of subtle refinements, though nothing near the extent of MGS3.
With MGS3: Subsistence, the Snake Eater experience is now composed of double disks, with a second DVD bursting with bonus material, as well as new ports of the original MSX games– including the first official localization of the magnificent Metal Gear 2.
And if that wasn’t enough bang for your buck, the so-called “Persistence” disc also includes a full-fledged online multiplayer mode: Metal Gear Online. Other MGS games, including Delta, would offer their own spin on the PvP formula, but this is the only release of MGS3 that includes it– though the servers have been dark since 2007.
Goodies aside, it’s the massive change to gameplay that makes Subsistence such a big deal. It’s why the rerelease has been the blueprint for all future iterations of the title, and it’s a big enough deal that one could plausibly argue that Subsistence is a remake unto itself.
The new camera makes Subsistence a strong candidate for the definitive version of MGS3.
Subsistence incorporates a brand-new, player-controlled, third-person camera system– essentially a prototype borrowed from the then in-development Metal Gear Solid 4, and a huge improvement in terms of user experience. The game now allows you to peek around corners and scope out your surroundings, without the tedium of popping into first-person. The old way is still available as an option, though not a very appetizing one– even if some of the experience is lost in the transition:
The new POV makes the game slightly easier, though nowhere near the extent to which Twin Snakes trivialized the halls of Shadow Moses.
Some cinematic setpieces originally contained bespoke camera shots and movements that go unseen with the new system. They’re still there, but you’d have to know about them to switch over beforehand.
Finally, the wide-open Soviet jungle loses just a little magic when the camera is unshackled. Without the curated, limited angles of vanilla Snake Eater, it’s easier to see past the illusion of a sprawling wilderness and recognise the region for what it actually is: a series of surprisingly small rooms connected by loading screens.
Issues aside, the new camera makes Subsistence a strong candidate for the definitive version of MGS3. It’s almost purely additive and, unlike future releases, it’s content-complete. Our more granular review scale of the era deemed the upgrade worth two whole tenths of a point, and many others would agree that it’s the better game over the original… But is it the same game?
The enhanced rerelease is a Kojima tradition at this point. Even Death Stranding has a “Director’s Cut,” although Kojima himself disagrees with that label– he prefers the term “Director’s Plus.” His expansions exist to supplement the original, not cast shade on or replace them– even though in several cases, the vanilla versions are no longer commercially available.
Subsistence is the smoothest way to play MGS3, and it’s probably the camera the game should have shipped with. The thing is… it didn’t. The first release of Snake Eater remains Kojima’s uncompromised vision– and so does Subsistence. It’s up to you if you want to endure an aggravating camera in the pursuit of historicity, sans the temptation to switch to the better system.
Subsistence remained the final word on MGS3 for five years, until another version brought Snake Eater into a new generation. Most of it, anyway.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD
Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection was released in November of 2011, the same day as Modern Warfare 3, making for one interesting midnight at Gamestop. The Collection contains updated ports of MGS 2 and 3, plus a brand-new big screen version of the PSP-exclusive Peace Walker, all in glorious 720p.
Snake Eater HD is based on Subsistence, incorporating the free camera while offering higher resolution, native 16:9 widescreen support, and 60 frames per second performance. The HD collection was also the first opportunity for XBox owners to experience MGS3, although that came with a massive caveat.
Back in the optimistic early years of the millennium, console manufacturers went kind of crazy with controllers. It was a big period of innovation, leading to the abandonment of wires, built-in rumble, buttons shaped like beans, and controllers modelled after TV remotes and chainsaws. Pressure sensitive buttons were an evolutionary dead end of this era.
In addition to analog sticks and triggers, the DualShock 2, 3, and original XBox controllers all utilized analog face buttons that responded to pressure, meaning instead of a simple on/off state, they can report how hard they’re pushed. Not many games took advantage of this feature, but Kojima, the man who turned the sun itself into a game peripheral, gleefully stitched pressure-sensitivity into the very fabric of MGS2 and 3.
To raise your weapon, lightly press the designated Weapon Button. Let go to lower your gun without raising the alarm or spending silencer health. Push it all the way in to pull the trigger. With today’s muscle memory, it’s kind of jarring to not touch the shoulder buttons while handling an in-game firearm, but it works.
The HD Collection is the first release of MGS3 to remove content from the game.
MGS3’s focus on close-quarters combat adds the wrinkle of questioning enemies at the end of Snake’s blade, where one slip of the thumb can turn interrogation into exsanguination. The slightest difference of pressure is all that stands between snagging some shiny new dogtags or splattering GRU guts on your camo and losing the precious Pigeon rank.
The pressure-sensitive controls can be inelegant at times, but they’re how the game was meant to be played– a uniquely tactile, immersive mechanic that might be forever lost to history.
The PS3 version of MGS3 HD is the last release of the game to support pressure sensitivity. Starting with the XBox 360 release of the HD Collection, Snake Eater has replaced it with a clumsy but functional scheme that involves clicking sticks, because today’s controllers are no longer capable of this level of input.
Analog face buttons are expensive, and the general apathy toward them led console manufacturers to dump them like a sack of spoiled tree frogs with the seventh generation. Today’s controllers are in their haptics and internal microphone eras, and no one has shown much interest in reviving pressure controls.
Not a lot can be done about an industry-wide decision to drop a feature, but it does mean we might never get a chance to experience the game like this again. Even emulation requires original, aging analog hardware to enjoy Snake Eater as it was intended. You really can’t know what it’s like unless you’ve actually felt it
The HD Collection is also the first release of MGS3 to remove content from the game. Every single bonus feature from Subsistence is absent save for the 8-bit Metal Gears. Metal Gear Online is gone, and so is Snake vs. Monkey– a component of Snake Eater since its first printing in 2004. Sony didn’t want their Ape Escape on other platforms, and as of Delta they still don’t. We’ll get to Konami’s clever compromise soon.
The HD Collection replaced the lethargic framerate and hazy PS2 sheen of Subsistence with smooth performance and HD clarity. Some cutscenes don’t play super well with widescreen, and some visual effects are lost in translation, but it suits its purpose as a solid, adaptable, almost archival edition of MGS3.
It’s just a shame Guy Savage didn’t make the cut.
In previous releases, after Snake is captured and imprisoned deep within the fortress Groznyj Grad, our now-cyclopic hero has the option to call Para-Medic and save his game. This, naturally, sparks a discussion about Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Snake falls asleep, and when the player loads the save again, they find themselves in a completely different video game.
Without any explanation we are tossed into a barebones, black-and-white hack-and-slash sequence in control of a hook-sword wielding anime hunk. There’s a textured warehouse environment, a horde of zombies with rudimentary AI, and even a basic “heating up” mechanic, but the action ends after just a few minutes of mayhem and Snake Eater returns to your regularly-scheduled adventure.
Snake’s nightmare, known as the “Guy Savage” sequence, is Kojima’s trademark fourth-wall trolling at its finest. It was intended as a teaser for another game the team had been kicking around at the time, using a battle system borrowed from the never-released Zone of the Enders 3.
But, beginning with the HD Collection, Guy Savage has been M.I.A. from MGS3.
We don’t really know why. Maybe the separate game engine proved too laborious to port. Perhaps Konami doesn’t want the hassle of licensing old concepts for a cancelled game. For whatever reason, we must endure the seemingly-permanent loss of Guy Savage– along with the related codec banter from your kooky crew of future global authoritarian overlords.
Cutting an entirely missable non-sequitur fantasy sequence isn’t the end of the world, but Snake Eater is less complete without it.
Imagine if Psycho Mantis no longer talked your ear off about Suikoden, or MGS4 didn’t open with surreal live-action in-universe TV shows. It’s these playful, winking moments of weirdness that make Kojima games so special, and it would sincerely be a shame if Guy Savage has joined the likes of P.T., skateboarding Snake, and Sam Bridges slamming Monsties in the catalog of Kojima content that we may never see again.
The MGS3 HD port was carried forward into the currently-available Master Collection, meaning it’s the only way to legally purchase and play the original Snake Eater on modern hardware. For that reason alone we would easily recommend it, especially since the game was actually delisted for a while over rights issues surrounding stock footage.
The best version of any game is the one you can actually play, after all, and unlike other Metal Gear titles stuck in limbo, you can own and run this extremely solid version of Snake Eater on pretty much anything. It’s not the same game that was released in 2004, but until Delta, it’s all we’ve got.
There’s one more iteration of Snake Eater to talk about before we reach the current day, though, and it’s one of the most interesting of all:
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
Until the Switch, there’s never been a straight-up port of the core MGS trilogy to a Nintendo platform. Metal Gear is no stranger to the company, but whenever the series appears on Nintendo hardware there’s usually some sort of twist.
The Game Boy Color received a meaty 2-D throwback title, the GameCube enjoyed the extremely extra Twin Snakes remake, and Snake himself dukes it out with the Super Smash Bros. on the regular. Even the NES port of the first Metal Gear game was a bespoke, albeit wildly inferior, version that spawned a Nintendo-exclusive sequel without Kojima’s blessing, prompting him to continue the series purely out of spite.
The Nintendo 3DS port of Snake Eater is no exception to this trend. Snake Eater 3D isn’t simply a portable port of the PS2 title– it’s more like a full-fledged remake. Rather than cram the HD edition onto a cartridge, Snake Eater 3D applies the art, sound, and content of MGS3 to the more modern, portable-first engine of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The differences are subtle, but quite clear in your hands.
The color scheme and character models are slightly altered, and new button prompts demystify the confusing CQC mechanics. Collectible Kerotan dolls have been replaced by Yoshi. The game takes full advantage of the 3DS’s hardware, using the onboard camera to create your own PhotoCamo, while the secondary touch screen does wonders for MGS3’s notoriously convoluted menu system.
The real giveaway that Snake Eater 3D is built on the bones of Peace Walker is the new movement and aiming system. Like in Peace Walker and MGS4 before it, Snake can now quickly scamper across the jungle floor via crouch walking, eliminating the need for slow crawling and tedious tip-toeing in the original versions.
Gone are the thumb-twisting weapon controls, replaced by a conventional over-the-shoulder third-person aiming system, complete with modern “aim with the left trigger, shoot with the right” scheme. The easier ability to move while aiming gives Snake far more mobility options during combat.
That freedom combined with the rather exploitable create-your-own-camo feature, on top of the free camera from Subsistence, makes Snake Eater 3D the easiest iteration of MGS3– though it’s far from the most pleasant to play. The framerate is abysmal, the resolution is miniscule, and good luck stopping the Shagohod without a Circle Pad Pro.
The distinct gamefeel and quality of life improvements can’t really make up for these massive downsides. Still, Snake Eater 3D is sui generis. There’s no other version quite like it, and it’s worth experiencing– but mostly as a curiosity, provided you have access to a 3DS with two sticks.
Besides, most of its better features have been incorporated into our final and most recent incarnation of MGS3…
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Delta actually has a lot in common with Snake Eater 3D. It too grafts the story and gameplay of MGS3 onto a brand new engine, in this case Unreal 5, with the aim of updating but strictly adhering to the classic content.
The Peace Walker-style controls carry over from the 3DS, including crouch-walking and third-person shooting. Delta also borrows from the godlike traversal of Metal Gear Solid V for some slick new additions to Snake’s moveset, although this time around, the developers are directly addressing the balance changes by tuning up the enemy difficulty in response.
Snake’s camouflage is now directly impacted by the environment around him, with a coat of mud or a refreshing bloodbath helping Snake stay hidden. The clunky healing system of the original is now enhanced by wounds and scarring that persist throughout the game, as does damage to Snake’s drip.
The UI has been streamlined and the graphics given a gorgeous, if somewhat expected, photorealistic shine– but if you’d prefer a more vintage experience, the original color filters and fixed-camera controls are available courtesy of a “Legacy” mode. Like Snake Eater 3D, Delta leaves the essential aspects of the game intact and brings the gameplay up to par with the series’ evolution.
While the original Snake Eater slithered into our hearts via a 4GB DVD, Delta weighs in at an eye-popping 100GB of Metal Gear greatness. Most of that can be attributed to high-resolution Unreal Engine assets, but Delta is also packed with bonus features both new and surprisingly old.
Can Delta become the definitive form of Snake Eater, or will there still be a place for the more awkward, idiosyncratic vintage versions?
Secret Theater has returned, while the multiplayer Fox Hunt mode serves as a spiritual successor to the dearly-missed Metal Gear Online. Even Snake vs. Monkey has reared its siren-toting head once more, though only on the PlayStation and Steam versions. Thankfully, XBox players won’t be left out this time: In place of Sony’s Ape IP, Konami is offering an exclusive Snake vs. Bomberman mode. We’re just one bad dream away from having quite possibly the most complete package of MGS3 ever.
Twenty years from now, when someone asks which version of MGS3 to play, will the overwhelming consensus be “just play Delta?”
Some fans are relieved that Delta’s ambitions are limited to a remaster, sticking to the original design, script, and hall-of-fame voice acting of a singular artistic achievement. Others are disappointed that it’s not a full-on reimagining of the scenario ala the Resident Evil remakes or Konami’s own Silent Hill 2, bemoaning the dated environments and annoying interstitial screens that come with such classic territory.
Can Delta become the definitive form of Snake Eater, or will there still be a place for the more awkward, idiosyncratic vintage versions? If the 2004 release will always be the purest incarnation, and Subsistence holds onto its title as the best, how will history look upon Delta?
Metal Gear Solid is famous for its complicated story, but ultimately it’s actually quite simple. The conflict at the heart of the series revolves around the will of the Boss– the greatest soldier in history who sacrificed everything for her country and left behind a vision of a better world. The warriors who came after her spent their lives fighting and killing each other over their own clashing interpretations of the Boss’s dream.
In the end, it’s the humble, doomed clone Solid Snake who finally unlocks the meaning of her will: Freedom. The freedom achieved by respecting the will of others. The freedom to fight for causes you believe in. The freedom not to fight at all.
There’s no “correct” way to play Metal Gear Solid 3, no “real” Snake Eater that obviates all the others. We have the liberty to choose the version that speaks to us the most, whether we desire a nostalgic trip to the days of Shrek 2 and The Simple Life, the jam-packed, fully-loaded final form of Hideo Kojima firing on all cylinders, or a fresh and gorgeous, fun and accessible new coat of paint that reminds us just how timeless this game truly is.
Everyone remembers the first animated movie that scared them. For me, it was The Fox and the Hound — probably not the first movie in Disney’s canon that anyone remembers, but it was one of my brother’s favourites, so it was on regular rotation. Which means that the bear attack towards the end of the movie has been etched into my memory. It’s a terrifying scene which probably explains why I haven’t rewatched it since childhood.
Chris Darril, director of the upcoming narrative horror-platformer Bye Sweet Carole, understands the impact of those animated movies and the effect they have on kids. It’s this, along with a healthy dose of nostalgia and passion for animation, that fuels the entire game.
It’s time to plug into another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Last time, we matched up a trio of covers for the SNES classic, Super Adventure Island, with the three regions opting for vastly different designs. The disparity wasn’t enough to drastically split the vote, mind you, as the golden Japanese variant walked away with a comfortable 76% of the votes, leaving North America with 16% and Europe with a diddly 9%.
