Latest Features
Poll Are You Sold on PlayStation Portal?
Another way to play?
The officially named PlayStation Portal is Sony's own dedicated remote play device, allowing you to stream your PS5 to what we think is a slick-looking handheld. Boasting an eight-inch 1080p screen alongside DualSense selling points like adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, actually sitting down with one of these things would...
Round Up What Was Announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023?
All the PS5, PS4 reveals
Gamescom Opening Night Live remained relatively lowkey this year, with host Geoff Keighley promising mostly updates on announced projects rather than reveals of brand-new ones. As such, it's probably not much of a surprise if you didn't tune in live. To get you up to speed on all the event's PS5, PS4 announcements, please...
Preview The RPG High Will Endure in Granblue Fantasy: Relink
Our first impressions of the PS5 demo
With Baldur's Gate 3, Final Fantasy XVI, and next month's Starfield in its back pocket, the RPG genre is on something of a tear at the moment. Enthusiast gamers could be losing 100 hours of their free time to a number of different universes right now, and the best part is there's always another enticing...
Poll Was Gamescom Opening Night Live Any Good?
Did Keighley deliver?
The main thing Geoff Keighley was doing in the lead-up to his Gamescom Opening Night Live event was tempering fan expectations rather than raising them — a rare change in approach for the host. Although, this is a video game show, so someone out there was still probably expecting to see Half-Life 3 and Bloodborne 2. The...
Live Watch Gamescom Opening Night Live Right Here
Assassin's Creed! Cyberpunk! Alan Wake 2!
Looking to watch Gamescom Opening Night Live? While the curtain has barely closed on E3 2023 – an event Sony barely took an interest in – it’s now Germany’s turn to host a convention PlayStation has decided not to attend. The pre-show press conference, scheduled to get underway from 11AM PDT / 7PM...
Guide What Time Is Gamescom Opening Night Live?
Dates, times, and what to expect
What time is Gamescom Opening Night Live? The end of the summer means it's time for Gamescom, Europe's largest video game exhibition. Held as always in Cologne, Germany, the enormous convention gets started each year with a kick-off showcase named Opening Night Live, put together and hosted by the one and only Geoff...
Poll What PS5 Game Do You Most Want to See at Gamescom Opening Night Live?
A lot to choose from
Airing tomorrow night at the time of writing, Gamescom Opening Night Live should prove to be a decent show — provided your expectations are kept in check. As per organiser and host Geoff Keighley, this year's event will focus on games that we already know about, rather than surprise announcements. Now, that may not sound...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 490
About to go big
Gamescom begins next week, and you better believe the release schedule is about to absolutely explode as well. The summer months may have been slow and dreary, but things are about to get busy, folks. Aaron Bayne: I'm away on a trip with the lads this weekend, but you better believe that if I get a moment, it'll be spent on Elden...
Poll Is 'Live Service' Becoming an Excuse to Release Unfinished Games?
We'll fix it later
It feels like the term 'live service' is more divisive than ever. With Sony seemingly jumping on the bandwagon in search of its own money-printing machine — with titles like Fairgame$ — the live service model is under constant scrutiny here on the web. And when one of these games goes under, boy do you hear about it. Achieving...
Hardware Review JBL Quantum 910P - High-End Price, Middling Audio
Flashy headset fails to impress
With Dolby Atmos support making its way to PS5 in an upcoming system software update, it’s never been more important to have a quality pair of headphones. With Sony already offering up its own brilliant set of cans in the form of the Sony INZONE series, it might be a little daunting to move outside the Sony...
Poll Did You Buy Red Dead Redemption's PS4 Port?
Dead eye to eye
Out now on PS4 (and PS5 via backwards compatibility, of course), Red Dead Redemption rides again. Rockstar's open world western was a game that helped define the PS3 generation, and 13 years later, it's still held in extremely high regard. It is nice, then, to see such a classic finally be unshackled from last-last-gen hardware —...
Hands On Red Dead Redemption PS4 Port Seems Solid, But Should Be So Much More
A remaster, but only just
The source of much criticism since its announcement, Red Dead Redemption — the freshly released PS4 port — admittedly isn't as half-arsed as we feared it would be. But at the same time, it's far from the remaster that such a beloved PS3 classic deserves. We've ran through the open world epic's opening hours in order to...
Round Up Baldur's Gate 3 Reviews Rate It as One of the Best RPGs Ever Made
Sitting at a ridiculous 97 on Metacritic
It's felt like Baldur's Gate 3 would be a hit for quite some time, but we didn't quite expect it to have such a colossal impact. The highly anticipated RPG isn't out on PS5 until next month, but PC reviews, impressions, and reviews-in-progress are painting a frankly ridiculous picture. Indeed, on its current...
Poll Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for August 2023?
Another 17 games added
It's time once again to weigh up another batch of games coming to PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium. 17 titles are making the jump to Sony's more expensive subscription tiers, and we'll go right ahead and say that there's a lot of variety to this month's selection. From super promising indie RPG Sea of Stars — which debuts...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 489
The beautiful gaming
A partial heatwave and the return of Premier League football should make for a big weekend here in the UK — but that certainly won't stop us from squeezing in some quality gaming sessions. Aaron Bayne: This weekend I’m heading to the Lands Between for a solid session on Elden Ring with some friends. Editing through our...
Feature Saints Row Expansion Pass Review - Is It Worth Buying?
A look at all three expansions
Is the Saints Row Expansion Pass worth buying? With the reboot's DLC plans having now come to an end, we wanted to take a look at the sandbox's additional offerings and attempt to gauge whether the aforementioned pass is worth the price of entry. With that goal in mind, we recently played through all of the Expansion...
Preview Duelling Worlds Set Lords of the Fallen Apart from Other Souls-Likes
Our thoughts after three hours of play
FromSoftware is almost certainly waiting until next year now to release Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, so in the meantime, how about a more traditional take on the Dark Souls formula? Developer Hexworks is resurrecting the Lords of the Fallen IP following its forgotten 2014 instalment with a bigger and...
Poll Will You Be Buying Red Dead Redemption on PS4?
Put 'em up
Red Dead Redemption is coming back, but not in the form many fans were hoping for. The PS4 port was announced earlier this week, with Rockstar's official press release pretty much confirming that this version won't boast any enhancements over the PS3 original. There's no mention of an improved frame rate, resolution, or updated assets. As...
Movie Review Gran Turismo - An Unexpectedly Great Racer
A Gran(d) Surprise
When PlayStation Productions launched, we’d bet money that Gran Turismo wasn’t on your TV/movie bingo card. Uncharted? Of course. Twisted Metal? Surprising but makes sense. A movie about a famed racing simulator? That one, admittedly we here at
Feature Tren Sends Media Molecule's Dreams Out in Style
The little game that could
Conversation surrounding Media Molecule and Dreams is bittersweet at the moment; the game's arrival on PS Plus precedes the developer taking a step back from its creation platform and, largely, moving onto pastures new. However, it's important to remember the studio's efforts that led us to this point. It's been supporting...
And what was the best tournament?
And just like that, another annual Evo event is over. Just in case you had no idea if was happening, Evo 2023 took place over the weekend, welcoming thousands upon thousands of fighting game competitors and spectators. Most of the tournaments were streamed live online, with the finals for Marvel vs Capcom 3, Tekken...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 488
Let's go
Another week in the can means we can all look forward to another weekend of gaming, eh? This weekend sees the return of the football league, but there should be plenty of time for PlayStation between matches. Aaron Bayne: After recording some footage for a video, I’ve caught the Returnal bug once more. I’m praying to the RNG gods in...
Poll Will You Be Muting Your PS5's Beep?
BEEP
Just in case you missed it, the next major PS5 firmware update will let you disable the console's infamous 'beep' — the surprisingly loud chirp that occurs whenever you switch your system on. In truth, we've come to embrace the beep, but this news has revealed that some PS5 players aren't too keen on it. Whether you're just not a fan of the...
Guide Upcoming PS5, PS4 Games for August and September 2023
Madden! Mortal Kombat! EA Sports FC!
Summer's usually a quieter time of the year for new game releases, but August and September seem to be packed full of new titles heading to PlayStation 5 and PS4. As always, we've been busy putting together some highlights headed to both systems over the next few weeks, as well as a larger selection of games...
Feature Best Dreams Games to Play While It's on PS Plus
All our recommendations in one place
Since Dreams launched in February 2020, it's come a long way. The game arrived with a whole host of weird and wonderful creations from the early access period, but it's been populated with a steady stream of brilliant stuff in the intervening years. We've made many recommendations on what's worth playing within...
Hands On The Expanse: A Telltale Series PS5, PS4 Gets Off to a Strong Start
Kowlting gut, bosmang
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a newly-reanimated Telltale Games' first outing since filing for bankruptcy in 2018, before reviving a year later under LCG Entertainment. Now, with many of the studio's original staff having returned in a freelance capacity, the first episode (of five) is available, and we were eager to dive...
Poll Is Twisted Metal's TV Show a Win or a Write-Off?
Calypso needs to know
It’s been a few days since Twisted Metal’s oddball television show started streaming on Peacock. While first impressions were disastrous based on a now infamous Thong Song scene showcased during Summer Game Fest, the reception to the entire first season has been much warmer overall, with reviews still largely mixed but many...
Interview How a Dreams Side Project Evolved into Media Molecule's Next Game
Talking Tren with its lead developer
John Beech Media Molecule is on the verge of launching Tren, a brand new game all about a wooden train set. It's due to be released in Dreams very soon, and after spending time playing the adorable title ourselves, we were eager to pick the brains of its creators. In order to learn more about Tren, where it came...
Poll Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Essential Games for August 2023?
Plus or minus?
Your PS Plus Essential games for August 2023 have been confirmed, and we've already seen a lot of divided opinions out there in the wilds of the internet. As per usual, we're getting three titles on the first Tuesday of the month, and they are: golfing sim PGA Tour 2K23, Media Molecule's creativity-fueled Dreams, and indie darling...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 487
Summer holidays
Another week comes to its conclusion, and while it wasn't a vintage one for new PlayStation releases, no one could pretend there's nothing to play, could they? Aaron Bayne: I'll be dipping in and out of Remnant II across the weekend, since I now have a full squad to play with it. I'm having a lot of fun with the game, but it and
Feature A Morning Inside Media Molecule
Stephen pays a visit one of his favourite devs
As you'll have (hopefully) read about recently, I spent some time at Media Molecule, playing its latest offering, Tren. This developer and its games mean quite a lot to me personally, but aside from anything else, I believe it's a team that remains one of the industry's most creative and most...
Poll Who's the Best Final Fantasy Protagonist?
There can only be one
Now that we've all had time to settle into a reality where Final Fantasy 16 exists, this is our chance to revisit a question that's reverberated around the Final Fantasy fandom for decades: just who is the series' best protagonist? Now, for the sake of this poll, we're going to streamline things and focus on mainline Final...
Preview Sony's Next Great First-Party Game Is Media Molecule's Tren, Made in Dreams
All aboard the hype Tren
Media Molecule might be taking a step back from Dreams in the near future, but it's going out on a high note. One of the team's last major contributions to its community-driven platform is Tren, a game about a wooden train set that packs the same warmth, whimsy, and charm as any of its previous works. Spearheaded by...
TV Show Review Twisted Metal - Car Crash Entertainment
Black humour
Of all the PlayStation properties ripe for adaptation, we’re going to hazard a guess that Twisted Metal wasn’t top of your list. And yet here we are, with Peacock’s ten episode series about to start streaming. We’ve watched the entire first season, and while the early trailers proved divisive, we’re happy to confirm that the...
Preview Armored Core 6 Could Give Newer FromSoftware Fans Whiplash
Our findings after three hours of play
After gaining absurd popularity in the hardcore space with its Dark Souls series and then capitalising on that with Elden Ring sales up the wazoo, FromSoftware had the Monty Python's Flying Circus thought process: "And now for something completely different." With five mainline instalments under its belt, the...
Preview Blue Protocol Might Be the Competition Genshin Impact Needs
We go hands on with Bandai Namco's online RPG
For as unfathomably popular Genshin Impact has been all these years, you could argue it's always had things a bit easy. There is nothing else quite like it on consoles, and consistent content updates along with new waifus to metaphorically marry every other month have turned a lot of fans' free time into...
Preview Tekken 8's Hyper Aggressive Gameplay Has Glorious Potential
Feeling the Heat
We only got to play it for a weekend, but the Tekken 8 Closed Network Test has us drooling over the potential of Bandai Namco's heavy hitting fighter. This sequel has been a long time coming — it's easy to forget that Tekken 7, although still quite popular, is over six years old on PS4 — and at first glance, the eighth...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Trails into Reverie?
The beginning and the end
Calling all Trails fans: we need your help. As regular readers may know, we have our own Best Trails Games guide, which ranks each title in Falcom's RPG series, and it's all user rated. With that in mind, we need some ratings for the latest game, Trails into Reverie — and that's why we've constructed this poll. Now,...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 486
Beta blockers
It's an uneventful weekend really, with the school holidays underway here in the UK, and no notable sporting or cultural events to mention [Whoops, completely forgot about the Women's World Cup - Ed]. We hope you have a chill one! Aaron Bayne: I didn't even know it existed a few weeks ago, but now I'm going gaga for Remnant 2 which...
Interview Double Dragon Gaiden on Modernising an Arcade Classic for a New Era
Billy and Jimmy are back again
The humble beat-‘em-up, like so many fan favourite franchises, is enjoying something of a renaissance on modern consoles, like PS5 and PS4. With the likes of Streets of Rage 4 and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge proving immensely popular on PlayStation platforms, it was only a matter of time before Double Dragon returned...
Site News Where's Our Remnant 2 PS5 Review?
It's rising from the ashes
Right about now, reviews of Remnant II will be hitting the Internet. Following up on the impressive original, this sequel is all set to expand and improve upon what Gunfire Games achieved four years ago. However, we need more time to judge the game's quality and come to an accurate conclusion. We won't have a PS5 review to...
Site News Accessibility Brought to the Fore in New Push Square Partnership
Breaking it down
PlayStation has led the industry when it comes to accessibility, with first-party studios like Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, and others all innovating to ensure its PS5 and PS4 titles can be enjoyed by more people. This has led to the Japanese giant winning a number of awards for its efforts, and later this year it’ll release...
Preview The Crew Motorfest Finally Hands PS5 Some Proper Arcade Racing
A new Horizon for PlayStation racers
The Crew Motorfest races onto PlayStation this September, and recently we were lucky enough to get extensive hands-on time with a PC build of the game. With an expansive Hawaiian archipelago to explore, various racing playlists to drift through, and plenty of sweet new rides to test out, The Crew Motorfest is...
Poll Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for July 2023?
18 more PS5, PS4, and Classic titles join
Another month brings another long list of PS5, PS4, and Classic games to PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium, but are you excited or disappointed by the July 2023 lineup? Of the 18 titles on their way next week, the headliners include It Takes Two,
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 485
Lost signals
Wimbledon 2023 comes to a conclusion this weekend, which is a sure sign we've reached the peak of the British summer. Naturally the forecast is rain. Jamie O'Neill: I've not booted up my PS3 in a while now, so presuming that everything is hunky-dory with my collection of games on its hard drive, I plan to return to Double Dragon:...
Hands On Exoprimal PS5, PS4 Shows Early Promise, But May Not Have Staying Power
Dino crisis
Capcom has been on a winning run with critically acclaimed releases like Street Fighter 6 and the recent Resident Evil 4 remake. Oddball dinosaur shooter Exoprimal always looked like a risk to its unflinching reputation, however: the publisher doesn’t have the best track-record with online shooters – just look at the dour Resident...
Site News Where's Our Exoprimal PS5, PS4 Review?
Embrace, extend, extinction
Exoprimal launches tomorrow, 14th July, on PS5 and PS4 – but our review won’t be live to mark the occasion. Capcom’s latest shooter is a heavily online co-op focused game, and while we’ve had code for a few days, the servers have only just gone live. This means outside of the various pre-release betas, we’re yet...
Plus, insight into its bangin' K-hip-hop soundtrack
With its high-octane arcade gameplay and strong Korean influences, Tiger Blade caught our attention when it was announced for PSVR2 recently. In development at Parisian outfit Ikimasho, the game sees you slashing and blasting your way through waves of hoodlums as you're tasked with stealing a...
Reaction What Happens to PlayStation if Microsoft Buys Activision Blizzard?
The question we're all pondering
Well, then – here we are. As perhaps even eternal optimists may have anticipated, US regulator the Federal Trade Commission has lost its case against Microsoft, meaning there’ll be no preliminary injunction to prevent its Activision Blizzard acquisition from closing before its 18th July deadline. And in dramatic...
Feature Your Top 10 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023 So Far
An embarrassment of riches
2023 has already been an incredible year for games no matter what current-gen console you own, and the great thing is we are only halfway through. The likes of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, Starfield, and Super
