Category: New

Annual sports games are always caught between two expectations: newcomers want a convincing reason to buy in, while returning players want meaningful improvements without having to relearn everything they enjoyed about the previous game. NBA 2K27, published by 2K and developed by Visual Concepts, largely takes the latter approach. This is not a radical reinvention of the series, and Xbox players coming straight from NBA 2K26 may initially wonder where the big changes are. The controls, presentation and overall structure remain immediately familiar, but the more time spent on the court, the clearer it becomes that Visual Concepts has concentrated on the small details that determine whether virtual basketball actually feels convincing. Continue reading “NBA 2K27 review (Xbox)”

KONAMI’s Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 arrives with a rather different proposition from its predecessor. Where the first volume packed in a large number of games and variations, this follow-up is much more focused, bringing together Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and the Game Boy Color curiosity Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. That makes it a smaller collection on paper, and at its asking price there is certainly room to argue that KONAMI could have gone further by including games such as Portable Ops or the Metal Gear Ac!d titles. But there’s also no getting around the importance of its main attraction: after spending almost two decades trapped on the PlayStation 3, Metal Gear Solid 4 is finally available on modern hardware, and that alone makes Vol. 2 a significant release for fans of the series. Continue reading “Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 review (PS5)”

IRON GUARD: Day Zero brings Xlab Digital llc’s VR-born tower defence game to PlayStation 5 as a substantially reworked flat-screen experience rather than a straightforward port. Set after a crash landing on a seemingly abandoned planet, the game quickly establishes that its terraforming machinery has gone rogue, leaving players to defend their base and critical infrastructure against increasingly aggressive mechanical forces. It is a perfectly serviceable science-fiction premise, and the isolated planetary setting gives the action some atmosphere, but the narrative never develops into a particularly compelling reason to keep playing. Mission briefings and radio chatter provide context between the waves, yet the writing and voice work can feel rather flat, making the story little more than functional motivation for the defensive action. Continue reading “IRON GUARD: Day Zero review (PS5)”

BioEden takes a refreshingly optimistic approach to the management genre. Rather than asking players to conquer, exploit or simply expand across another procedurally generated world, Broken Arms Games’ strategy game is about repairing the damage that has already been done. As a Keeper working under the watchful eye of the Cosmic Collective, the goal is to clean up polluted planets, recycle the debris left behind by earlier civilizations and eventually create environments capable of supporting extinct animal species once again. It is a simple premise, and the narrative surrounding the Collective and its Guilds never develops into something particularly compelling, but the central idea is strong enough to carry the experience. There is something immediately satisfying about being handed a filthy, lifeless landscape and gradually turning it into a healthier, greener world. Continue reading “BioEden review (PS5)”