Diablo 4 Season 15 is stuffed full of secrets years in the making, and despite the season having launched two weeks ago, players keep discovering new ones. 

Season 15, Hell's Legacy, is a major nostalgia trip for Diablo fans. It adds new dungeons, boss fights, and items from previous Diablo games to Diablo 4, as players team up with Deckard Cain to defeat echoes of the Prime Evils and harness some of their iconic powers.

But those references to previous games go far beyond a handful of dungeons and bosses. It also added a full Horadric Cube's worth of secrets. Some stem from older games in the franchise, while others are a continuation of ones added in Diablo 4 that players have worked towards uncovering for years. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MabZDgAHLA

After years of searching, Blizzard finally gave players the culmination of its secret cow-level hunt, as players who have gone through the laborious task of reaching the cow level and battling the cow king can now go even one step further to take on Moophisto, the Divine Bovine. In that same vein, players can also finally catch Mefishto, a secret fishing boss Blizzard went as far as to tease with a bizarre infomercial back when the game's Lord of Hatred expansion launched. Players were also quick to discover all kinds of new runewords and items from previous Diablo games, like the highly coveted Enigma that converts each class' evade into a teleport.

But those are just some of the secrets. Players can also visit Old Tristram (complete with Diablo 1 NPCs like Griswold, Wirt and Adria) by finding all of Deckard Cain's journals, and even take on an Uber Prime Evil boss encounter there like in Diablo 2. For those who like their secrets silly, Diablo 3's Whimsyshire is now in the game after being teased as part of the cow-level quest, complete with hundreds of colorful killer teddy bears and unicorns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1QzrbZHR3g

One of the coolest secrets in the seasons is the next phase of the Lucky Coin questline that players have been scratching their heads about since Diablo 4's launch. In Season 15, the last of these lucky coins can now be found. By converting each coin into a special jewelry item, equipping them, and going to Lorath's old house, a portal opens to an all-new Echo of the Horadrim boss fight, where players take on the tormented souls of Lorath, Neyrelle, and Donan.

That might seem like a fitting end to the season's secrets, but nearly all of these secrets lead to even more puzzles for the community to solve. There still seem to be some secrets involving the cow level, as one piece of the cow-themed Bovine armor set is still missing. Players have fished up a teddy bear head that appears to be a reference to a quest from Diablo's Hellfire expansion and may be linked to Whimsyshire.

The Horadrim boss encounter rewards players with a Horadric Coin, the purpose of which is still a mystery. Players have discovered a secret sheep level as part of the cow level, one that rewards an item called Map of the Stars that looks to be a reference to a deleted quest in Diablo 1. The quest item's description even states, "Oh for hell's sake, what now!?," seeming to imply there's still plenty more mysteries to keep Diablo 4 secret hunters busy.

Diablo lore expert Loatheburger has a great breakdown of the season's remaining secrets, including one that may involve salvaging a certain number of Stone of Jordan rings in order to summon a special Diablo boss fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y4gj1KkjBQ

After a disappointing Season 14, Hell's Legacy looks to have put Blizzard's ARPG back on the right footing with its crowd-pleasing theme and a giant heaping of content ripped from older Diablo games, even as players are becoming stronger than ever with a Mythic Unique trick that might not be intentional.

Though Diablo 4 won't receive new expansions as the focus shifts to the development of Diablo 5, due to release in 2029, it will continue to receive new seasons long into the future, Blizzard has said. The Amazon will be added as a standalone class DLC in the first half of next year.

The main voice actor cast for upcoming soulslike Valor Mortis has been revealed, and its star-studded lineup features the surprising addition of a name better known for fronting a black metal band.

Adam "Nergal" Darski will play the role of Captain Raphael. If his impressive growls and screams in Behemoth are anything to go by, players can expect a pretty dramatic rendition of the character.

It's not his first rodeo, surprisingly. He also voiced The Black Cat in 2022's Blacktail and was the narrator for Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in 2018.

https://youtu.be/JWD4BN8KUZ8

He's joining an impressive roster of voice actors, including Baldur's Gate 3 and Expedition 33's Jennifer English as The Shrike and Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Crimson Desert's James Alexander as William Dowsett. Napoleon Bonaparte will be played by Vincent Cassel, who has starred in the Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen films as François Toulour.

Mars Lipowski, who is best known for portraying Sobieslaw "Gromsko" Kosciuszko in the Call of Duty franchise, will take on the role of Lucjan Skawinski. Will De Renzy-Martin, who played Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker, will portray James Stewart. Finally, Yvan Chamouiseau will step into the shoes of Louis Moreau.

Valor Mortis is a first-person action soulslike from the developer of Ghostrunner. Set in an alternate 19th century Eastern Europe, Napoleon's endless war has led to a supernatural plague. You'll follow William, played by Alexander, as he fights to survive against his former comrades who are now undead monsters.

Valor Mortis is set for release on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on October 13, and will be priced at $40 because this fall has a jam-packed release schedule, the developer admitted recently. It was originally scheduled for launch on September 24, but due to how busy September was, it was delayed by a few weeks.

If you're a fan of The Witcher franchise, you're getting a lot of new stuff over the next few years, starting this week with the launch of The Witcher 3 Remastered.

Here's what's on tap for The Witcher over the next few years:

2026

The Witcher 3 Remastered, which includes a bevy of technical and graphical updates and improvements, releases on September 29. The long-awaited remaster, which is free for people who already own the game, includes a reimagined skill system, an expanded photo mode, improved combat, and a new transmog feature. Check out GameSpot's in-depth breakdown of what's new in the remaster to find out more. Just be aware, the graphical overhaul isn't necessarily an entirely positive one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oEdB5S2d3U 2027

After that will come a new expansion for The Witcher 3, Songs of the Past, in 2027. The expansion was originally targeting a 2026 release, but it was pushed to 2027 to make it as good and polished as possible.

Songs of the Past takes Geralt on one last ride “before passing the torch.” Players will venture to the location of Letten, home of Geralt's friendly bard companion, Dandelion. There is a new main quest called "A Bed of Thorns" where Geralt will meet up with Lilla, who appears to be a potential love interest for Geralt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwVa3RPBtvo

Also in 2027? That's when The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski said he plans to finish the next entry in the novel series, telling the next Geralt of Rivia story.

At the Copernicon event in Torun, Poland recently, Wiedzminlandia reported (via Redanian Intelligence) that Sapkowski said he plans to finish the book by the end of 2027, but it's unclear how soon after that it may actually release. Sapkowski's plans could change, but in any event, a new book is coming, and fans of The Witcher may be excited about that.

2028

Then in 2028, CD Projekt Red plans to release The Witcher 4. The game doesn't star Geralt, but instead focuses on Ciri and makes her the playable character. Geralt is set to appear in the game, however.

Given The Witcher 4 is coming out in 2028, it likely won't be a on a disc for console due to Sony's decision to end support for physical media. There will be some kind of physical version of the game, however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c1rokekgnY 2029 and beyond

CD Projekt Red previously outlined an ambitious plan to release a new trilogy of The Witcher games within a six-year window that begins with The Witcher 4's launch in 2028. If that schedule holds, fans can expect The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 to launch by the end of 2034. That's a lot of Witcher games in a relatively short amount of time. CD Projekt Red is known to delay most of its big games, so there is definitely no guarantee that the plan will hold.

Other Witcher projects

Beyond all of these projects from The Witcher franchise, CD Projekt Red is believed to be working on a multiplayer Witcher game. The game has undergone numerous changes over the years, and the developer has never shown it off.

Additionally, CD Projekt is working with Scopely on a new mobile game based on one of its franchises. It's not confirmed that it's The Witcher, however; another candidate could be Cyberpunk.

Xbox has announced its next collaboration, and it's a partnership with Prince St. Pizza for a specially branded Gears of War pizza and a $60 pizza-cutter.

Microsoft and Prince St. Pizza teamed up to make a Prototype Lancer pizza-cutter to promote this October's Gears of War: E-Day, and it's available for $60. To justify the steep price tag, Prince St. Pizza says it's a hefty metal cutter featuring a stainless steel blade and a handle that's meant to make you feel like you're wielding the iconic gun. The pizza-cutter also comes with the in-game pizza emblem. It does look pretty great, but it also looks like a real pain the butt to clean if you're a messy person like me.

If anyone is wondering why it's called the Prototype Lancer and not just the Lancer, that's the special solution the developers came up with to explain why the heck a Lancer would even be in a prequel like E-Day. In the Gears of War lore, the weapon was created a year after the events of Emergence Day. However, you can't have a Gears game without the Lancer, so the developers called it a Prototype Lancer.

Incredible.

As for the pizza itself, it's called the Emergence Pie, and it's themed around this October's Gears of War: E-Day, which is a prequel that tells the story of Emergence Day. The pizza includes spicy vodka red sauce and mozzarella cheese, along with proteins in the form of pepperoni and sausage. The pizza is also doused with spicy Italian chili crisp.

"Rugged, relentless, and built to hit hard, it’s the kind of pie that doesn’t go quietly," reads a line from Microsoft's blog post. It's also a pizza that doesn't go quietly for your wallet, as it costs a mighty $46 before taxes or delivery fees if you're getting it sent to your home.

The Gears of War pizza costs $46.

The Emergence Pie is available now through November 1 at Prince St. Pizza locations in the US and Canada. Prince St. Pizza is not exactly a household name, and there are only about 20 locations in the world in places like Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, and New York City. The single location in Canada can be found in Toronto.

Anyone who buys the Emergence Pie also gets a code to unlock a pizza emblem in E-Day.

Gears of War: E-Day releases on October 6 for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and it's available at launch via Xbox Game Pass. People can buy the $100 premium edition to play five days early.

Despite obvious evidence that Microsoft was planning to release E-Day on PS5, the company denied that it made a last-minute decision to cancel a PS5 version. The company did not deny the existence of a PS5 version, however. E-Day is not a timed-exclusive for Xbox, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has said, leading some to believe it will never come to PS5. However, Greenberg said in 2021 that Starfield was not a timed exclusive on Xbox … and then it came to PS5.

Zach Cregger's highly acclaimed Resident Evil movie had another strong showing at the box office for its second weekend, propelling the film to break another franchise record. It already broke the record for biggest opening weekend for the franchise, and now the movie has made more than $100 million domestically.

That's a new record for the franchise--before this, the biggest success domestically for the franchise was 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife ($60 million). Globally, Resident Evil has now made $196.5 million against a reported $75 million production budget (not counting marketing costs).

The highest-grossing Resident Evil movie globally is Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which made $312 million worldwide. Time will tell if 2026's Resident Evil will catch up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c

Check out the list below to see how the other mainstream theatrical Resident Evil movies did at the domestic box office.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson made six Resident Evil movies that starred his wife, Milla Jovovich, and while none of them individually did very well commercially or critically, they combined to earn over $1 billion worldwide.

The worst-performing theatrical Resident Evil movie was 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which made just $17 million domestically. It was directed by Johannes Roberts and starred Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield and Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy.

After that film disappointed, rights-owner Constantin put the franchise on hiatus and planned to keep it on ice until Cregger came to the company with a pitch for Resident Evil.

His movie is doing great, so people are wondering if there will be a sequel. That remains to be seen, and while Cregger has said he has ideas for where they story could go next, he's also said he is finished with franchise movies.

The Resident Evil movie is a huge success, but the recent lift in sales of games in the series is not completely attributable to that, according to a research firm.

Resident Evil domestic box office results

1. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) - $17,000,612
2. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) - $26,830,068
3. Resident Evil (2002) - $40,119,709
4. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) - $42,345,531
5. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) - $50,648,679
6. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) - $51,201,453
7. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) - $60,128,566
8. Resident Evil 2026 (so far) - $103,476,247

HBO has announced further casting details for the upcoming third and possibly final season of The Last of Us.

Two actors from the games are set to appear in Season 3--Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander--along with prolific veteran actor John Goodman, as relayed by Deadline.

Bailey played Abby in Naughty Dog's The Last of Us: Part II, with Alexander portraying Lev. For the TV show, however, Kyriana Kratter is set to play Lev, while Kaitlyn Dever plays Abby.

Bailey will play Elizabeth, one of the Seraphite leaders, while Alexander will portray Paco, alongside Goodman as Joey. Joey and Paco are described as "Heroes of the Highway," but that's all we know. Goodman has worked with HBO before, starring on the comedy series The Righteous Gemstones.

Bailey's performance as Abby was memorable, and controversial. She received a lot of online hate, and people even sent death threats to her newborn baby.

John Goodman previously appeared on another HBO show, The Righteous Gemstones. Many actors from the games have been on the show

Bailey and Alexander are just the latest actors from the games to appear on the HBO show, following Merle Dandridge and Jeffrey Wright reprising their characters Marlene and Isaac, respectively.

Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie in the games, played Ellie's mom in Season 1. Troy Baker, who played Joel in the games, played James on the show. Jeffrey Pierce, who played Tommy in The Last of Us, appeared on the show as a new character, Perry.

Season 3 could be its last

HBO programming boss Casey Bloys has said on multiple occasions that he believes Season 3 could be the last one for The Last of Us. However, he's also acknowledged that the question might be better answered by showrunner Craig Mazin, who is plotting out the series and previously said he needed four seasons to wrap things up. Alternatively, Mazin is reportedly considering making Season 3 one long season as opposed to wrapping things up with Season 4.

A big creative shift

In a big shift for the series, franchise creator Naughty Dog is not involved creatively in Season 3, and Neil Druckmann dropped out as a writer/director. People have speculated about what this could mean, but Druckmann, for his part, said he left the show to focus on his work on Naughty Dog’s games.

He is currently directing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and if it’s true that Naughty Dog is also making The Last of Us 3, he’s probably involved in that, too.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 is taking a different approach to its relationship with vanilla Minecraft than its predecessor did. According to the game's developers, the sequel deliberately moves closer to the mechanics and feel of the original sandbox game, in part because the Dungeons franchise is now established enough to stand on its own two feet.

Speaking to GameSpot, Minecraft Dungeons 2 creative director Måns Olson and design director Laura de Llorens Garcia explained that the team deliberately pulled the sequel closer to vanilla Minecraft during development.

"As much as Dungeons 1 tried to interpret vanilla Minecraft--and I think we did a pretty good job of it--with some of the things that we had deviated from, we decided to take them even closer to vanilla," de Llorens Garcia said.

https://youtu.be/vBNE3bKMpu8

The sequel introduces several systems that will feel familiar to players of the original Minecraft game, including four armor slots, Enchantment Books, and jumping. "I think the fact that those systems now work that way makes it feel a lot closer to base game Minecraft," she added.

However, it wasn't simply a matter of making Dungeons 2 more similar to Minecraft. Olson explained that the team had a specific reason for taking a different approach with the sequel.

"When we made Minecraft Dungeons and we did the early testing of the game, when we asked players what they thought and what it reminded them of, there were a lot of players who said, 'This game reminds me of Minecraft PvP servers,' or, 'It reminds me of Story Mode.'"

There are now separate armor pieces, like the base game.

Olson said that this was particularly important because many younger players had relatively little experience with games outside of Minecraft. As a result, the first Dungeons needed to establish its own identity first.

"In that world, it was very important that we made Minecraft Dungeons stand out--a game that didn't feel like the base game, that felt different enough to stand on its own legs and bring something new to the table," he explained. "'Cause otherwise it could have just been a mod, you know? It needed to be something of its own."

That led the team to make some pretty significant departures from vanilla Minecraft.

"So we made a Minecraft game without mining or crafting, which sounds silly, but that's how we went about it." Olson explained.

For Dungeons 2 though, the team felt it had more freedom to move back toward vanilla Minecraft because of that identity being established for the Dungeons brand. The developers see the sequel's larger, more interconnected world as another way of bringing it closer to the main game. Although Dungeons 2 isn't being positioned as an open-world game, the the exploration has been increased compared to its predecessor.

"We did push the world to be bigger and more exploratory in this game compared to the first game and that brings us closer to vanilla," Olson said.

That philosophy extends beyond Dungeons 2 itself, as the developers have been working closely with the vanilla Minecraft team while developing The Sift--the new dimension that is introduced in Dungeons 2, before coming to Minecraft in 2027.

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie has done big numbers at the box office since it hit theaters on September 18, but has that been reflected in increased Resident Evil game sales? According to new data, a set of fresh discounts prior to the movie's release did most of the heavy lifting for a surge in Resident Evil sales, and after the film landed, there was a "modest" bump in sales.

According to Alinea analyst Rhys Elliott, Capcom discounted several Resident Evil games on September 10 and kept those savings active after Cregger's movie arrived. "Almost all the copy movement was on PlayStation," Elliott wrote. "Resident Evil 2 nearly doubled on PS5 while doing just +16% on Steam, and Resident Evil 4 jumped +77% on PS5 versus a flat 0% on Steam. RE2 and RE4 picked up another 50-65% in PS5 copies even after you strip the discount out, which makes sense: they have a mix of nostalgia, quality, and the exact Raccoon City setting the film runs around in. On Steam, the same movie effect is a much milder +11% to +14%."

As Elliott noted, the older Resident Evil games currently cost much less than Capcom charged when they first went on sale, while the latest game in the series, Resident Evil Requiem, got a 30% discount and was $49 this month before its price went back up to $70. Overall, there was higher engagement across the entire series, as the film reactivated an existing fanbase of players who already owned Resident Evil games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2sSPdSPvCU

"The movie tells an original story with a new lead, so newcomers have no obvious game to jump into," Elliott wrote. "The horror-film audience and the horror-game audience overlap heavily. Cregger is a draw in his own right after Barbarian and Weapons. An opportunity is next year's Resident Evil Veronica, which already has almost 2 million Steam wishlists. It stars Claire Redfield and, if it follows the original timeline, is set three months after Raccoon City, the event the film is built around. If the streaming release is timed to Veronica's launch, Capcom and Sony could finally build the on-ramp that most transmedia projects are missing. Still, transmedia stuff isn't having the impact it could."

In its second week at the box office, Resident Evil was dethroned by the Avengers. Ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, Disney brought Avengers: Endgame back to theaters, taking first place with a North American box office haul of $26 million for the re-release. Resident Evil dropped to second place, but overall, the movie is still doing impressive numbers.

After an opening weekend that surpassed expectations, Resident Evil has now made over $196 million at the global box office. That makes it the fourth highest-grossing live-action Resident Evil movie so far, but it still has a way to go before it dethrones the current king of that list, 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and its $312 million box office gross. Cregger's film has received critical acclaim since launch--even if people were iffy on its ending--and on GameSpot’s Sister site, Metacritic, the movie has a metascore of 79 from 51 reviews.

“By backing away from the stories and characters of the video games, Cregger dodges the giant bullet of ‘that’s not my Leon Kennedy’ and instead lets us finally experience Resident Evil ourselves, through our own eyes,” Eric Frederiksen wrote in GameSpot’s Resident Evil movie review.

When Minecraft Dungeons launched in 2020, it was difficult to know exactly what to make of it, or where it stood in the franchise as a whole. One of the world's most popular games had been transformed into a Diablo-lite-style action-RPG, taking away the mining and crafting that give Minecraft its name. In its place was something far more straightforward: kill monsters, collect loot, and repeat.

The simplicity of Minecraft Dungeons was both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness. Its streamlined gear system made it easy to understand, while its enchantments gradually introduced more interesting build possibilities. But its combat could feel a bit too basic.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 feels like developers Mojang and Double Eleven focused their efforts with those limitations in mind. The sequel is far more honed in on what happens between the battles, with expanded inventory systems, more customization options, more reasons to explore, and--perhaps most importantly--a world that actually feels connected to the larger Minecraft universe.

Dungeons felt like it deliberately separated itself from the main game, and that was partly the point. Mojang wanted to create an experience that couldn't be found in vanilla Minecraft, while still using recognizable mobs, environments, and items to make it feel familiar. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD9GtlgU8_c

Dungeons 2 takes a bold and unusual approach that not many other large franchises could pull off. Its story brings the Sift dimension, which was created for this game but is also coming to the vanilla game in 2027. The Sift is accessed via a portal--a mechanic that will feel familiar to anyone who's played Minecraft--and houses an ethereal dimension with all-new environments, friendly mobs, and enemies. The Sift's being added to the base Minecraft game makes the relationship between the two games feel far more deliberate than it did in the first installment. It also allows Dungeons 2 to feel like a bigger part of the Minecraft universe, rather than a smaller branch forging its own path.

As a result of that, Dungeons 2 made me particularly invested in its new dimension. As a Minecraft fan and veteran player, I was also intrigued about whether any of the narrative elements would be carried over to the main game. I walked around the Sift feeling like I was intruding on an unreleased Minecraft build, eager to check out the biomes, friendly mobs, enemies, and potential materials that can be found in the first new Minecraft dimension in a decade and a half. The Sift is the first Minecraft dimension outside of the Overworld that doesn't feel immediately hostile. In Dungeons 2 it's under threat, so there are hostile mobs to deal with, but the pearlescent lakes, muted blue, pink, and purple color palette, and mobs that cheekily poke their tongue out by way of greeting all lead to a very serene world, one that I'm excited to explore in vanilla Minecraft in 2027. 

By having multiple armor pieces, adding Enchantment Books, and having the ability to jump, Dungeons 2 is actually closer to the vanilla Minecraft experience than its predecessor. It feels almost unbelievable that the first Dungeons didn't include jumping, but Dungeons 2 does. This allows for a broader scope of exploration as you can hop up to hidden platforms to uncover chests, jump across gaps to reach previously inaccessible areas, and dutifully check behind waterfalls for hidden loot. It also adds the jump-attack combination, which allows for a more powerful attack that affects any enemies in range and provides another means of effectively dealing with groups of enemies.

The storyline gives you something simple to care about. Your villager friends aren't just background characters wandering around and making "hmm" noises. They want to live peacefully, yet villains lurk around every corner determined to make that impossible. Every time they attempted to interfere with the villagers' attempts to live happily ever after, I found myself increasingly annoyed at them. It's not the deepest or most emotional narrative by any means, but Dungeons 2 understands that a straightforward story and likeable characters can work in tandem remarkably well. It's a notable improvement over the first game, where the story largely existed only to give you a reason to chase down the Arch-Illager. 

That's not the only area where Dungeons 2 improves upon its predecessor. The original Dungeons had an awkward economy that felt almost meaningless. You collected emeralds constantly but were limited in ways to spend them, with many options feeling worthless. In Dungeons 2, upgrading your gear at the Blacksmith improves your existing gear's stats substantially, while rolling for new gear at the town merchant has the potential to give you more powerful items to complement your build--especially if you've used Echo Shards to upgrade the merchant so he can offer stronger gear. 

Since the Blacksmith required rescuing in the original Dungeons, I somehow managed to miss his arrival in Dungeons 2. By the time I realized he was present in the sequel, I had already salvaged a considerable amount of gear that I probably would have kept had I known I could upgrade it. I'm undecided whether that's down to my campaign tunnel vision, or whether Mojang should have introduced him better.

There is still a problem with this system, though. In placing a maximum cap of 9,999 emeralds, I regularly found myself losing them as I wasn't watching my balance when salvaging old items to exchange for more emeralds. Then, as it can often cost in excess of 1,000 emeralds to upgrade an item, I'd find myself struggling for the currency. A cap absolutely should exist, since it's so easy to get emeralds via exploration and salvage, and is part of what led to emeralds feeling worthless in the original game. But when that cap is making you regularly lose currency that you're actively trying to spend on upgrades, it shows that the economic balance isn't quite right.

Where Dungeons 2 does excel hugely over its predecessor is in its willingness to allow you to establish a coherent build. Instead of one armor piece, you now equip a separate helmet, chest plate, leggings, and boots. This gives you more opportunities to shape your character around a particular playstyle, and I spent much of my playthrough experimenting with different combinations. I tried lightning-, poison-, and soul-focused builds, and each one changed the way I approached combat. 

The soul system was probably my biggest stumbling block. The game doesn't do a particularly good job of explaining what souls are, how you acquire them, or why you might want to build around them. I eventually worked it out through experimentation, but I shouldn't have needed to poke around quite as much just to discover something that is fundamental to an entire build archetype. Once you understand the systems, experimentation is enjoyable, but Dungeons 2 occasionally assumes that you know more than the game has actually taught you. 

A new type of equipment, Talismans, add another layer of build complexity. You can equip up to three at a time, and they grant you a passive ability--some summon other characters or creatures to fight alongside you, while others grant generous buffs to your health, attack power, ammo, and more. Amassing a decent collection of them relies on completing side quests and finding hidden loot, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it means players who rush through the main campaign are potentially missing some of the strongest tools they need to make more interesting builds.

While the first game already had plenty of replay value through its difficulty levels, repeatable missions, hidden levels, and eventual DLC, Dungeons 2 expands upon that even further. There are side quests, dungeons, repeatable boss fights, and Soul Surge activities to complete beyond finishing the campaign. Soul Surge activities are time-limited events where stronger enemies spawn in an area, rewarding higher-tier loot that you can't get through normal gameplay. As a result, Dungeons 2 feels like an ongoing adventure rather than a campaign you complete and never return to. 

It also adds a purpose to the loot system. If you're trying to perfect a poison build, getting another piece of equipment is no longer about increasing your power; it's about improving the synergy between your individual gear pieces. The hunt for the perfect item to slot into your build is pretty moreish, and Dungeons 2 gives plenty of opportunities to do that after the story ends.

However, there's a significant problem with the enchantment system. Enchantment Books are scarce, and I spent most of the main story limited to two of them for my armor pieces. You can use each book an infinite number of times, but in terms of build synergy, it's oddly restrictive. My favorite builds came way beyond the main campaign, and I didn't get that moment of feeling true satisfaction as my poison spread from mob to mob until many hours after I finished. Given the mob density throughout the story and the powerful bosses you face, it would have been more satisfying to discover a few more Enchantment Books as part of the storyline's rewards, instead of seeking them out post-game. However, being forced to explore Dungeons 2's gorgeous environments seeking out better loot is far from a terrible experience.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the biggest problem I faced. My roughly 15-hour playthrough of the main campaign was affected by a number of bugs and glitches, with one particularly persistent issue leaving a "Teleporting" label permanently stuck to my character. It wasn't merely a cosmetic annoyance either, as the bug affected traversal, at times preventing me from jumping or safely navigating the environment. Restarting my game could temporarily resolve some of those problems, but the Teleporting label itself never disappeared, meaning I completed about half of my playthrough with the intrusion. 

For a game that places so much emphasis on exploration and movement through its expanded environments, having traversal occasionally break is a serious problem. It's particularly unfortunate because Dungeons 2's environments are beautiful, and being able to properly explore them is part of what separates this sequel from the more linear structure of the original. Hopefully these issues are addressed in a patch at launch, because they undermine what is otherwise a considerably more polished sequel. 

Dungeons 2 isn't a radical reinvention, and rightly so. The first game was already an enjoyable, approachable dungeon crawler, even if it was deliberately lightweight. Dungeons 2 adds depth and connects its world to the wider Minecraft universe while adding a meaningful economy, a build system with considerably more freedom to experiment, and more post-campaign activities. 

Even though the restrictive emerald cap, scarce Enchantment Books, and technical issues dampened my experience somewhat, the difference between the titles is clear. Where Minecraft Dungeons was a charming introduction to the dungeon-crawler genre, Dungeons 2 builds a deeper action-RPG within the same familiar, blocky framework. While it doesn't completely escape the limitations of its predecessor, Minecraft Dungeons 2 is a more ambitious sequel that finally gives its loot, builds, and world the depth that was missing, even if a few rough edges remain.

Ahead of its release on February 16, 2027, Sony has announced that God of War Laufey preorders will go live on September 29. The Standard Edition will be available in both physical and digital formats, but the Deluxe Edition will be a digital exclusive. Pricing hasn't been revealed yet, but Sony typically charges $70 for a regular version of its game and $80 for a deluxe edition. We'll update this post as soon as the official prices are live.

Here's a closer look at what you get with each one.

God of War Laufey: Standard Edition

Preorder bonuses for the Standard Edition include a spiffy new "Last Wish" armor set for Faye, an elegant collection of golden leaves for Phranque the Cube to wear, and a pack of resources to help you get some early upgrades in.

• Last Wish Armor Set
• Phranque Golden Leaves appearance (cosmetic) 
• In-game resource pack

God of War Laufey: Digital Deluxe Edition

The Digital Deluxe Edition includes all the aforementioned preorder bonuses, as well as an arsenal of "Dark Alchemy" weapon skins and a matching suit of armor for Faye to don. Additionally, you can check out the game's artwork and listen to its soundtrack.

• Dark Alchemy Armor set
• Dark Alchemy Blade
• Dark Alchemy Bow scales
• Dark Alchemy catalyst
• In-Game resource pack
• Digital mini-artbook 
• Official God of War Laufey digital soundtrack

Developer Sony Santa Monica also revealed a new weapon that Faye can wield: the Serpent Bow. An enchanted weapon, it can unleash a volley of arrows quickly, or you can hold down the aim trigger to unleash a precision bolt that also strikes from a longer range. If an enemy is hit with one of these arrows, their movement or ability to strike will be impaired, and Faye can follow up with melee attacks. You can even choose between rapid-fire, explosive detonations and multi-target arrows, making the Serpent Bow a versatile tool in battle.

God of War fans can expect even more from the franchise in the future, as a new Kratos-led game is coming after it that picks up where Laufey left off. A live-action TV series is also in development for Prime Video, and while actor Ryan Hurst is no longer playing the lead role due to an on-set injury, former WWE star Dave Bautista has stepped in to take over the part.

Anyone looking to play Gears of War: E-Day has several options for which platform they choose to get the game on, and yes, Steam is one of them. While The Coalition's new entry in the Gears universe is exclusive to PC and Xbox Series X|S, PC owners can add Gears of War: E-Day to their Steam library. How does this differ from buying the game from the Xbox PC storefront or on console? Let's break it down.

Gears of War: E-Day PC price

Unsurprisingly, the Standard and Premium Editions of the game will cost you the same through Steam as it would through the official Xbox storefronts on PC and Xbox Series X|S, and it'll also be a day-one release for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. That works out to:

• Standard Edition -- $70
• Premium Edition -- $100

Gears of War: E-Day PC release date

For more detailed info on this, you can check out our Gears of War: E-Day Global launch times guide, but in a nutshell, the Steam version will unlock at the same time as the official Xbox versions. Owners of the Premium Edition can start playing early on October 1, while the Standard Edition unlocks on October 6. You can also check out our Gears of War: E-Day PC requirements guide to see if your rig can handle the visually impressive game.

Are there any Gears of War: E-Day preorder bonuses for Steam users? Nice.

Preorder the game, and you'll unlock the Exfil Dom Character Skin and the Exfil Weapon Skin Set in-game at launch.

Is the Gears of War: E-Day Premium Edition the same as the Xbox console and PC versions?

Yep, you'll get the exact same spread of digital goodies with this edition, which includes:

• Five days early access
• Two character skins and poses
• Death's Rendezvous legendary weapon skin set
• Emergence Omen weapon skin set
• Emergence Omen banner and emblem
• Bravo Squad signature weapon pack
• 1,000 Iron premium in-game currency
• Four seasonal customization packs

Is Gears of War: E-Day Steam Deck compatible?

Microsoft says that Gears of War: E-Day is "fully optimized" for various PC gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and Xbox Ally X devices, but we haven't yet seen it in action. The Steam Deck uses three levels to indicate compatibility with games--Verified means it should run without a hitch out of the box, Playable means that it'll require some tweaking by the user, and Unsupported means that it won't function on the Steam Deck.

It's not yet known which category Gears of War: E-Day falls into, but Xbox Game Studios titles are usually playable on the Steam Deck handheld without needing much tinkering to perform optimally.

Are any of the other Gears of War games on Steam?

If you want to build a Gears of War collection in your Steam library, you can get some of the games through the Valve storefront. The big exceptions are Gears of War 2 and 3, as these have been console exclusives since their initial release, while Gears of War 4 remains missing in action. Here's the full list of what's currently available:

• Gears of War: E-Day
• Gears of War: Reloaded
• Gears 5
• Gears Tactics

Announced today during Minecraft Live, Mojang is adding the first new dimension to the blocky sandbox game in more than a decade and a half.

The Sift is an ethereal-looking fourth dimension that was first marketed for Minecraft Dungeons 2, and it's now been confirmed that it's coming to the base game in 2027.

The Sift is a major new addition for Minecraft, marking the first new dimension since 2011's The End, where players go to fight the Ender Dragon in the end game. Speaking to GameSpot, Minecraft Dungeons 2 creative director Mans Olson explained that the team wanted to make sure that The Sift felt distinct from the Nether and The End rather than becoming another hostile environment.

"We wanted to make sure that it was different. That it doesn't feel like the ones that already exist in the game," he confirmed.

Unlike the Nether and The End, where the environments feel immediately hostile thanks to dangerous environmental hazards and angry mobs, the developers wanted it to feel like somewhere players could potentially live.

"We thought of it more as a, kind of, different Overworld ... it's this idea that it should be a place where you could see yourself living, a place that's a bit peaceful, sometimes maybe even serene," Olson explained. "We already have two dimensions that clearly scream, 'I'm evil!'"

That doesn't mean that The Sift will necessarily always be completely safe. In Minecraft Dungeons 2, the dimension is under threat from the Illagers, leaving its ecosystem in danger.

https://youtu.be/1tINxp9ZPZA

"We wanted to make sure that, although it is dangerous, it doesn't feel as hostile or as imposing as the Nether and The End," Olson said. "But rather just be an ecosystem of its own, to be rich and lush and vibrant, and provide a new color palette that's pretty different from what we've seen already."

The Sift was originally created because Minecraft Dungeons 2 needed a new dimension for its story, but the developers have been working closely with the vanilla Minecraft team throughout its development.

"When we do something new, we always look at, like, is there something there that we can reuse, or modify, or change that will suit the purpose? If there isn't, the new thing that we do, could it be added to [vanilla] Minecraft?" explained Olson. "That doesn't mean that it will or that it has to, but we want to make sure that everything could theoretically fit in there."

In terms of visuals, The Sift is a vibrant landscape made of red and orange stone, green vegetation, sculk-like elements, and pools of a hazardous liquid called icor. You'll enter the dimension either through mysterious rifts that are opening across the Overworld, in the case of Minecraft Dungeons 2, or via Ancient City portals, which seem the more likely access point for Minecraft, where players control their experience more closely.

While there are multiple new mobs in The Sift in Minecraft Dungeons 2, it's not yet been confirmed which of those will be making an appearance in Minecraft. There are Sifters, Singers, Neesters, and Sprouts to name just a few.

The Sift will first appear in Minecraft Dungeons 2, which launches September 29. It will then make its way into vanilla Minecraft in 2027.

Minecraft's next game drop will add a new underground environment to the sandbox game, along with a new hostile mob, and items that bring frosty mechanics to exploration and combat.

Announced during Minecraft Live on September 26, the upcoming game drop is expected to follow the usual drop cadence of once per quarter, releasing in December 2026. Its biggest addition is ice caves--a rare underground extension of Minecraft's existing cold biomes.

Ice caves are a new underground biome coming to Minecraft.

Ice caves will add more environmental variety to cold areas, giving you another reason to venture underground when exploring snowy regions. The caves will also contain ice crystals, which can be collected and used for decoration. Ice crystals can be placed vertically or horizontally, and they'll also produce light, giving you another way to illuminate your creations.

However, ice caves aren't entirely peaceful. A new hostile mob in the form of the Frozen Zombie will lurk underground, bringing new combat mechanics with it. Frozen Zombies can apply a stacking freezing effect with their melee attacks. If you take too many hits you'll eventually freeze, making getting surrounded by Frozen Zombies especially dangerous. They can also throw ice balls, which deal damage and knock players back.

Being hit with an ice ball will give you the Frozen effect.

To create a Frozen Zombie, a regular Zombie will need to be exposed to powdered snow. Fortunately, when killed the Frozen Zombie will drop ice balls. Although if you're not coming across any, you can also craft ice balls.

Frozen Zombies are a new variant of the existing Zombie mob.

The ice balls can be used as weapons to deal damage and knock enemies back in the same way you would be if you were hit by one. They can also be used to brew a new potion that applies a freezing effect.

While Minecraft's next update hasn't yet got a name, you can expect it to be released around late December 2026. Following that, Mojang also announced that the first new Minecraft dimension in 15 years will be released in 2027.

After Xbox laid off 1,600 employees over the summer, Microsoft's gaming division followed up with more layoffs and studio closures this week. In the wake of these events, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is taking a look at the bright side and praising Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's actions as a necessary step.

"There's some amount of streamlining the team is doing, and Asha is doing, which is great to see," said Nadella during his appearance on the Sources Podcast. He also noted that he feels "fantastic about the IP we have right now. If I look at the studios, the IP portfolio we have, and our ability to then take that and produce great games going forward, I feel fantastic."

"We have to invent the right sustainable business model that allows us to deliver gaming to more and more people," added Nadella.

Regarding AI, Nadella questioned why Western consumers are so skeptical about the technology compared to other parts of the world.

"I think we've not given [AI] breathing space," said Nadella. "In fact ... I was reading the Gallup poll on AI and it's not good in the West. What's also very interesting … it's not a uniform thing around the world. And in fact that's the thing we should ask: 'What did we get wrong in the West that these other countries may not have?' Why are people in Nigeria more optimistic about AI than in the United States?' And I think we should reflect on it and my belief here is the industry [has] to earn the trust [and] show the benefits to both consumers and enterprises and the communities. And then ... we'll be fine. But without it, just any amount of just celebrating technology for technologies sake is not working."

Prominent AI skeptic Ed Zitron has blamed Xbox's precarious position on "catastrophic mismanagement" by Microsoft and AI bets that didn't pan out. Even after the most recent layoffs, there are indications that more job cuts are coming to Xbox.

Diablo 4 players are decking themselves out in full sets of Mythic Unique gear as part of Season 15, resulting in characters that are more powerful than ever before. Whether that was Blizzard's goal, or this is simply a mistake of some kind, is currently up for debate.

It's about as big of a change from one season to the next that Diablo 4 has ever experienced. Back in Season 14, Blizzard added the "crafted" item tag to Mythic Uniques made via the Horadric Cube, Blacksmith, or Jeweler, with a limit of only one crafted Mythic being equippable at a time. Even if you had the Resplendent Sparks resource needed to make more Mythics, you couldn't use them. Instead, you had to rely on good old-fashioned luck to find natural Mythic drops without the crafted tag.

The changes weren't popular, so Blizzard walked it back mid-season, and has made further improvements as part of the latest season, Hell's Legacy. Mythics made by the Blacksmith or Jeweler are no longer considered "crafted," while ones made via the cube still are. Once again, players could have several Mythics of your own creation equipped at once, much like the previous seasons.

However, for players with more sparks than they know what to do with, there is technically a way to get around the "crafted" tag.

It takes combining three of the same Mythic Unique (not exactly an easy task) in the cube using the Recycle Uniques recipe, resulting in a new version of that same item. While the item will have all new stat rolls, the key here is that this recycled Mythic Unique won't have the "crafted" tag, letting players equip as many of them as they can create.

The result is players running around with full sets of Mythic gear, something we've never seen before in Diablo 4. This would be a huge problem and could completely break the game in many ways, if it weren't harder to do than it sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9IHlOYCrbg

Considering it costs 15 Resplendent Sparks to just create one Mythic Unique this way, it's definitely a huge time investment. To do this trick with all 12 gear slots would cost an enormous 180 Sparks, something that seems nearly impossible for an average player and would require an ungodly amount of grinding and farming. That hasn't stopped some of the game's most dedicated content creators from doing exactly that, however, as highlighted by Wudijo. 

Whether the ability to create non-crafted Mythic Uniques this way is an intentional choice on Blizzard's part or an oversight remains to be seen. Diablo 4's next update is slated for September 29, but the 3.2.2 patch notes make no mention of this trick and instead are mostly bug fixes.

Overall, Season 15 seems to have been well-received by players after the largely unpopular Season 14. The season finally added Diablo to Diablo 4, as players relive past Prime Evil encounters from previous Diablo games and rub shoulders with none other than the legendary Deckard Cain. 

Diablo 4 won't receive new expansions going forward, but it is set to receive a new class, the Amazon, in the first half of next year. Meanwhile, Blizzard is hard at work on Diablo 5, set to release in 2029, and has already revealed three of its playable classes.

No news is good news, they say. They also say that some news, however little, is good news, too, and girl, do we have some news: Ubisoft's struggling action-adventure game Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still alive despite remaining in development hell.

Ubisoft Bordeaux's lead writer and associate narrative director Rik Godwin took to Bluesky on September 22 to provide a brief update on the game.

"Odd sort of non-announcement but for the past few months I've been working on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in a support/consultant role," Godwin, who was a writer on Assassin's Creed Shadows, said. "I am allowed to say this, I checked."

It makes sense that Ubisoft Bordeaux would assist with Beyond Good & Evil 2. According to IGN, Ubisoft Montpellier, which is leading the project's development, is just south of the Bordeaux studio. And although Ubisoft Bordeaux was the lead developer on both 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage and Shadows' 2025 expansion Claws of Awaji, that studio typically operates in a support role for Ubisoft's myriad other teams.

This minor update comes nearly 10 years after Ubisoft re-revealed Beyond Good & Evil 2 at E3 2017, and nearly 20 years after Ubisoft announced the action-adventure sequel all the way back in May 2008. There have been some rumblings of progress, with Ubisoft posting hints that development was ongoing in November 2025 and January 2026. However, whatever progress that has been made has been slow at best and invisible at worst.

Although there's no release date at the moment, Ubisoft has continued to swear that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be released in due time. Just don't expect it anytime soon, and at this rate, maybe don't expect it in this current console generation.

After suing a former Reddit moderator in October 2025 for pirating Switch games, a Washington court has ordered the individual in question to pay Nintendo $4.5 million in damages.

According to a September 25 TorrentFreak report, US District Judge Lauren King ordered former r/SwitchPirates moderator James "Archbox" Williams to cough up $4.5 million in damages to Nintendo after the company accused him of operating several pirate shops to illegally decrypt and distribute Switch games to the public.

The lawsuit, which was filed in a Washington federal court in June 2024, stated that Williams had been running this racket since at least 2019, using "circumvention device" software to bypass the company's systems and gain access to over 30 Nintendo Switch games. This includes titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Williams reportedly ignored the complaint at the time, which prompted Nintendo to seek the statutory maximum of $150,000 per title in October 2025. And just this week, Judge King agreed with Nintendo's request, stating that Williams was aware of the case, as he both hired a lawyer to object to a Google subpoena and continued posting on Reddit but opted to not respond to the company's lawsuit.

In one screenshot saved by TorrentFreak, Williams called himself a "pirate" in a Reddit thread, clarifying that he--and others like him--won't "give Nintendo $50 for a game" when there are "months of releases unavailable anywhere."

It's a bit like that I Think You Should Leave skit, where Tim Robinson, in a hot dog suit, drives a hot-dog-shaped car through a suiting store and is "looking for the guy who did this." Both Judge King and Nintendo know the guy who did it, and they want him to pay a lot for his actions.

"The last factor also weighs heavily in favor of the statutory maximum penalty because NOA's complaint contains well-supported and extensive allegations that Williams knew the videogames were copyrighted but willfully undertook his copying and distribution efforts anyway," Judge King concluded in the suit. "Williams' egregious infringement activities merit substantial punishment here."

In addition to the $4.5 million in damages, Williams has also been ordered to cease all illegal distributions of Switch games through a permanent injunction. This includes barring him from encouraging others to download pirated games or bypass Nintendo's systems to do so, disabling his myriad pirate shops, and deactivating his social media accounts. According to TorrentFreak, much of this has already happened, as Williams' Discord, Instagram, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok, and X accounts are gone. Further, some of the pirate shops Williams ran were taken offline after Nintendo sent a cease-and-desist letter in March 2024.

For Nintendo, this is another win against thieves who think they can get away with pirating the company's games. According to the lawsuit, the company wanted to both stop Williams' infringing activities and use him as an example of what happens when you go up against the ever-litigious Mario maker. Be careful. Those white gloves might serve you papers.

Castlevania celebrated its 40th anniversary this week--an impressive milestone in video games and a terrifying pair of numbers for anyone who was born in 1987. Konami marked the occasion with a new video paying tribute to the original whip-slinging hero of the 1986 Famicom game, as well as all of the other influential entries in the Castlevania series over the last four decades. It's a cute little retrospective, and it might also be teasing something else from Konami, if our tinfoil-hat-speculation is right.

https://youtu.be/U9hmHw0JFUc

Right near the end of the video, Castlevania's first protagonist, Simon Belmont, takes a quick stroll past a series of non-ruined portraits in Dracula's castle. Eagle-eyed observers will note that these feature cover art from three of the 3D-era games--Lament of Innocence, Curse of Darkness, and Lords of Shadow. The fourth one is for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, which launches in October 2026. Could Konami be teeing up a new compilation that bundles together the PS2 and Xbox 360/PS3-era 3D Castlevania games?

Portraits of ruin? Nah, just some really good games.

The company isn't saying anything, and there's a good chance that the games were chosen purely because they still have some of the best cover art in the franchise. They're pretty neat, artistically! But a Castlevania collection isn't uncommon, as Konami has released a few of these in the past. The Castlevania Anniversary Collection from 2019 collected eight games spanning the first 10 years of the series, and the Castlevania: Dominus Collection bundled all three DS-era games alongside the 1988 Haunted Castle arcade game.

What Konami did confirm is that it will hold sales for select Castlevania titles, new vinyl record soundtracks for classic games are available to preorder, and Castlevania on mobile is also free for a limited time through the iOS and Android stores.

For Castlevania fans, next month's release of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse marks a major moment for the series. Following the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 in 2014, the video game series went on hiatus, aside from the two compilations released. The Castlevania animated adaptations released for Netflix proved that there was still an appetite for the IP, and last year, it was announced that the developer of The Rogue Prince of Persia--Evil Empire--was reviving castlevania for PC and console.

So far, Belmont's Curse looks like a return to the series' roots, as it follows Rose Belmont through the ruined streets of Paris on her quest to stop Dracula. The game will let you turn tough bosses into powerful allies, and a demo for it will go live on October 1 ahead of its October 15 release date. Beyond that, there's hope that we could see more Castlevania in the future, as Konami's decision to outsource development to studios like Bloober Team and Screen Burn has led to several excellent new entries that have redefined what Silent Hill can be.

It looks like it's repeating this approach with Castlevania, and a compilation of the cult-classic 3D games sandwiched between new releases would be a fun way to kickstart a Castlevania renaissance.

A Pile Of Secrets: The Hidden Gems Of The Castlevania Series View Images

I never knew I could be so enamored by clouds. There were times in my youth–typically sitting on a train or in the back of a car–when I would absentmindedly stare out the window at interesting cloud formations. Nowadays, phones, laptops, and handheld consoles tend to distract me from the world passing by, but in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, clouds are its ever-present pièce de résistance. 

For all the high-tech jets, explosive action, and melodrama at the game's core, it's the bountiful sky and its stunning portraits of a version of our planet at varying altitudes that truly grab the eye. Flying through a rain cloud as it douses the cockpit window with droplets of water never gets old, and simply cruising through the air is almost tranquil at times. 

Yet Ace Combat 8's clouds aren't mere window dressing. From gauging your altitude by the density of the clouds around you to using them as cover to break a missile lock, Ace Combat 8 uses this technology to push the series forward in tangible ways that go beyond aesthetics.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is one of the best examples of a game singlehandedly reviving a dormant series–and earning back its goodwill after the disappointment of Assault Horizon–so Ace Combat 8 didn't have to change all that much to keep the good times rolling. It stays true to the series' arcadey dogfighting roots while implementing a number of incremental improvements, making for a slightly more dynamic and intense experience as you go from sustaining heavy G-forces to unleashing a barrage of missiles. 

The story is more prominent and also personal this time around, too, strictly focusing on the members of a single squadron amid a major conflict. Set in Ace Combat's fictional war-torn world of Strangereal, the story begins as the Republic of Sotoa invades the Federation of Central Usea (FCU), quickly occupying much of the nation and scattering its military forces.

Outmanned and outgunned, the FCU relies on propaganda to keep morale alive. This is where the eponymous Wings of Theve comes into play: a legendary fighter pilot known for taking down dozens of enemy aircraft in the fight against the invading Sotoa forces. 

Except none of the pilot’s legend is true. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5irVTl0mD8

War propaganda is nothing new, of course, but this immediately reminded me of Ukraine's Ghost of Kyiv. This mythical flying ace was alleged to have shot down six Russian planes over the capital city of Kyiv back in February 2022. The Ghost's exploits quickly spread like wildfire in the media and online, but two months later, the Ukrainian air force revealed it was simply propaganda to boost morale.

It's easy to see how this might've influenced developer Bandai Namco Aces when creating Wings of Theve. But this is also an Ace Combat game, so it doesn't take long for things to get weird. Top Gun has always heavily influenced the series, so just imagine a scenario where Top Gun: Maverick opens with Tom Cruise crashing and dying, then passing his spirit on to a new pilot who adopts the Maverick callsign. 

For the rest of the movie, Tom Cruise exists as a dead guy in the new, silent protagonist's head, passing on sage wisdom and sharing his jaded thoughts on the war with a melancholy similar to the most recent Wolfenstein's B.J. Blazkowicz. Oh, and Top Gun is an anime now, too.

That is Ace Combat in a nutshell. A dead pilot narrating from inside your head might sound odd if you've never played the series before, but this kind of left-field choice is par for the course. Okay, maybe it has never gone quite this far--the Johnny Silverhand gimmick suits Cyberpunk much better--but it still fits the eccentric tone. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and the story wouldn't change all that much if it were removed entirely, yet I can't help feeling oddly gleeful that it even exists. 

Unfortunately, the basic premise doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. The pilot killed in the opening was the propagandized Wings of Theve, alleged to have shot down multiple enemies despite not opening fire on a single foe. Their famed callsign is now yours, but because this is a video game, it doesn't take long to turn fiction into fact. The Wings of Theve isn't an idea anymore; it's a real pilot who's gunning down enemies and turning the tide of war almost single-handedly, so anything interesting that might've derived from the propaganda angle is disappointingly absent.

Similarly, Ace Combat 8 lays the groundwork to comment on modern warfare in the age of social media, AI, and the mass sharing of disinformation, but all of these themes are ultimately window dressing. Social media is bad when the bad guys use it but good when the good guys do--this is the kind of social commentary you can expect.

Nuanced discussions aren't on the menu; instead, Ace Combat 8 basks in melodrama, with writing full of bold ideological statements and rousing speeches about borders, heroism, and the big blue sky. In the wrong hands, it could feel ham-fisted, but there's also a wide-eyed earnestness at play that's both endearing and optimistic. 

The new first-person perspective in cutscenes regularly features moments where you need to hit A to salute, shake hands, and so on, which veers into "Press F to pay respects" territory. Yet without Call of Duty's self-seriousness, it works in a campy sort of way. 

Humanizing touches also help the cast's pronounced personalities shine through, from Tasha Severskaya, a pink-haired civilian who's the squad's best pilot but hasn't yet pulled the trigger, to her wingman William Coster, who stays mostly silent until a mission where he learns one of the pilots you're trying to rescue used to be in his favorite rock band.

Ace Combat 8 does a good job building up your squad by delving into their unique character arcs through cutscenes and radio chatter during missions. The story has issues and is fairly by-the-numbers, but its bombast is entertaining enough, especially when it indulges in absurdity in a way only Ace Combat can. 

Where else would you face off against an ominous land battleship equipped with a railgun that can wipe out entire city blocks in an instant? Or regularly run into an evil squadron of enemy pilots that plays ominous music over the radio whenever they show up; music that gradually evolves each time they appear, eventually culminating in a pulse-racing dogfight set to some of the best video game music you'll likely ever hear.

Again, this is par for the course, whether it's a sweeping orchestral piece, a prolonged Spanish Guitar solo, or an up-tempo J-rock track. Ace Combat 8 lives up to the series' reputation for phenomenal music, adding another indispensable layer to the game's thrilling combat.

Flying through a rain cloud as it douses the cockpit window with droplets of water never gets old, and simply cruising through the air is almost tranquil at times.

Piloting its assortment of real and fictional jets is surprisingly simple, letting you get into the swing of things relatively quickly. Ace Combat 8 still has that classic arcadey Ace Combat style, but the planes feel slightly heavier than before--like there's more heft beneath the joystick--adding to the satisfying sensation that hits when you accelerate at full tilt and break through the sound barrier. 

The unmistakable crack of a sonic boom, accompanied by the distinctive vapor cone that engulfs your jet and then dissipates just as quickly as it arrives, is always exciting to pull off. Combine this with the way you can execute high-G turns, either to attempt to stay on the enemy's tail or dodge incoming missiles, and the act of soaring through the air is enjoyable in and of itself. 

Blowing up enemy aircraft is its own kind of reward, of course. Tougher enemies ensure that it's challenging to simply stay on their tail and achieve a missile lock-on, using tricks you would expect human pilots to use, such as dashing through clouds to break line-of-sight, launching flares, and pulling off cobra maneuvers to turn the hunter into the hunted. Some larger aircraft also have multiple lock-on targets, letting you pick whether you want to focus on, say, taking out their anti-aircraft guns first or destroying their propellers to send them tumbling out of the sky.   

Between knocking down buildings in the path of the aforementioned land battleship and shooting down suicidal drones to prevent them from destroying a space elevator, there's also plenty of variety from one mission to the next. After 30 years of Ace Combat, it feels like Bandai Namco Aces picked a few of their favorite scenarios from the series' past, while sprinkling in some new sortie types as well. 

One mission, for instance, has you flying an unarmed aircraft through a valley while avoiding detection from enemy radar. Others have you establish airspace dominance, follow contrails to locate massive stealth bombers, and take out coastal ground forces to protect your naval fleet's advance. There's a plethora of blood-pumping moments, although it does stumble into some pacing issues as well.

With 30 levels in total, Ace Combat 8 seems stretched at times. Some missions feel like filler, slightly nudging the story forward while tasking you with fairly basic objectives as though you're simply painting by numbers. They're not intrinsically bad, but these missions typically follow some of Ace Combat 8's more dramatic endeavors. 

I understand potentially wanting to break these levels up with more relaxed sorties to help you catch your breath, but it has the adverse effect of stalling the game's momentum. Fortunately, this isn't a problem as the campaign ramps up toward a particularly histrionic conclusion, yet I can't help but feel like it could've been a more tightly paced experience if a few missions were cut.

That said, I must commend some of these levels for being more open-ended, giving you the freedom to pick and choose your targets, which ties into Ace Combat 8's deeper pre-flight options. 

Before each mission, you can select your plane, its armaments, and a number of parts geared toward enhancing your mobility, weaponry, and other miscellaneous stats. You unlock all of this through an extensive Aircraft Tree, giving you new jets, weapons, and upgrades to play around with throughout the entirety of the game.

Some jets are tailored more for speed and dogfighting, while others excel at wiping out ground targets with bombs and land-based missile strikes. You can further improve these aspects with upgrade parts that enhance maneuverability, shorten air-to-air missile lock-on time, expand your bomb payload, and more. This isn't a rigid, universal system like before, either; each aircraft has a specific capacity for each upgrade type, making some of the more expensive jets feel much more powerful.

You can also outfit each squadmate with specific aircraft and weaponry, maybe balancing land-based attacks with air support, or fully favoring one or the other. However, I never noticed much difference in practice. The return of squad commands is more palpable, letting you order your squadmates to utilize their special weaponry when heavy targets appear, encourage them to be more aggressive, or demand that they fall back and support you. 

If you'd prefer having actual humans by your side, Ace Combat 8 also features the series' most exhaustive multiplayer suite so far. There are 100-player lobbies where you can customize your pilot avatar and wander around, visit the arcade to play Pac-Man, or head to a supply shop to obtain loot crates, among other distractions. 

There's also a battle pass--called the Ace Pass--with both free and premium tiers that unlock upgrades, consumables, and cosmetics for both your avatar and aircraft. We were only given a short multiplayer session to try out before launch, so it remains to be seen whether any pay-to-win aspects are at play. 

You can purchase new aircraft with an in-game currency earned by completing matches, but you're also limited by your rank, so you can't just buy the best jets right away. This seems like a good solution, but it depends on what's available if you're willing to spend real money.

Ace Combat 8's multiplayer rests on two main pillars: Co-op Assault and Co-op Warfare, which let you jump into PvE or PvP matches, respectively. Co-op Assault challenges teams of two to four players to complete a shared objective, rewarding victory to the team with the highest score. 

Co-op Warfare is similar, only you can destroy players on the other team as well, racking up points by taking out computer-controlled units and real players alike. Once again, the highest score wins, but escalating scores also raise the threat level, adding a score multiplier to each kill. The higher the threat, the bigger the swings, making for some intense matches.  

Additionally, limited-time modes occasionally pop up in lobbies. Scramble lets a team of four go head-to-head against powerful computer-controlled squads, while Emergency Sorties task eight players with defeating iconic super-weapons from previous Ace Combat games. Special PvP events also crop up from time to time, featuring four-on-four deathmatches and eight-player free-for-alls. 

Dogfights against human players are inherently fascinating, because even the best enemy AI can't possibly compare with the human mind. There's also plenty here if you'd prefer to team up with friends; the only question marks I have are centered on the battle pass and whether there are any other ways of spending real money to potentially gain an advantage. All of this remains to be seen.

Even if the multiplayer favors those with expendable cash, Ace Combat 8's single-player adventure is still worth the price of admission alone. The story could've been stronger--more introspective--but is entertaining regardless, and while there are some pacing issues with filler missions and some uneven momentum, much of the game is excellent, providing the series' signature blend of melodrama, stirring music, and thrilling aerial combat. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve picks up where Ace Combat 7 left off, underlining that the series is well and truly back to its best

Several years have passed since the last new Gears of War game was released, but at long last, that drought is almost over. Gears of War: E-Day will be one of the early highlights of October, and if you're looking to rev your Lancer up and turn back the Locust tide, you can start playing really soon. Like other big upcoming games, you'll also have the option to preload Gears of War: E-Day, so you can jump right into the fray on launch day. Here's a closer look at the timing for this new chapter in the series.

Gears of War: E-Day install size

According to the official PC requirements for Gears of War: E-Day, the game will require 115GB of storage capacity on that platform. Xbox Series X|S install sizes are typically on par with PC, so overall, you'll want to make sure you have at least 100GB of free space available on your machine. That's a pretty noticeable increase in size, as the previous game, Gears 5, required a chunky 80GB of space when it was first released back in 2019.

One other thing to note is that if you're planning to play on PC, the game requires a solid-state drive to be installed on. This is a mandatory requirement for the game to run optimally.

Gears of War: E-Day preloading times

Preloading will kick off on September 29 at the following times:

• 11 AM ET
• 10 AM CT
• 9 AM MT
• 4 PM BST
• 5 PM CEST
• 3 PM UTC
• 5 PM SAST
• 1 AM AEST (September 30)

Gears of War: E-Day early access global launch times

If you purchase the Premium or Collector's Edition of Gears of War: E-Day, you'll get a five-day headstart to play the game, starting October 1.  Early access will kick off at these times across the globe:

• 11 AM ET
• 10 AM CT
• 9 AM MT
• 4 PM BST
• 5 PM CEST
• 3 PM UTC
• 5 PM SAST
• 1 AM AEST (October 2)