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PC Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine: Master Crafted Edition” Review

 

When it comes to remakes of old video games, some stay faithful to the original, but with higher fidelity graphics and sound (think: Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft), while others redo the entire game as if it was new (think: Resident Evil 2).

It is somewhere in the middle that we find Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine: Master Crafted Edition (Xbox X|S, PC), a remake of a third-person shooter / button mashing hack & slash action game from 2011 that is neither totally faithful nor a total revamp, and yet still manages to be on par with the original…which, to be honest, was just okay.

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PC PlayStation 5 Switch Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Spine” SGF: Play Days 2025 Hands-On Preview

 

As someone who’s been writing about video games for more than 30 years, one of my pet peeves is when a game developer denies that their game is similar to or influenced by another game or a movie or a TV show. “So, your game is a sci-fi first-person shooter in which you play as a supersoldier in a mech suit…but it’s nothing like Halo? Really?!?”

It’s why I was pleasantly surprised when a representative of Nekki asked me if I wanted to see their upcoming third-person shooter Spine at this year’s Summer Game Fest: Play Days event in Los Angeles…and almost immediately said it was influenced by, and somewhat similar to, both the Batman: Arkham games and the John Wick movies.

And then I was pleasantly surprised again when she handed me the controller.

Here are my impressions of the game.

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PC PlayStation 5 Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Warhammer 40,000: Darktide: Arbites Class” DLC SGF: Play Days 2025 Preview

 

Like many recent co-op video games, the first-person sci-fi shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has consistently made improvements and fixes since it launched in November of 2022 for PC, October of 2023 for Xbox Series X|S, and December of 2024 for PlayStation 5.

But for the new add-on coming June 23rd, the good people at Fatshark are also making some major structural changes, as well as adding a fifth type of playable character, as I got to see first-hand during a demo session at this past weekend’s Summer Game Fest: Play Days event in Los Angeles.

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PC PlayStation 5 Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Pragmata” SGF: Play Days 2025 Hands-On Preview

 

A few days ago, at the Summer Game Fest: Play Days event in Los Angeles, Capcom gave me an opportunity to play the unique, and potentially divisive, upcoming sci-fi, third-person shooter Pragmata, which is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S, and PC next year.

What follows are my impressions of this game.

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PC PlayStation 5 Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Exoborne” SGF: Play Days 2025 Hands-On Preview

 

This past weekend, at the Summer Game Fest: Play Days event in Los Angeles, the good people at Sharkmob and Level Infinite gave me an opportunity to play the upcoming sci-fi, third-person, open world, extraction shooter Exoborne, which is coming to PC this year, and to PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S at a later date.

What follows are my impressions of this game.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“MANIAC” Review

 

I used to know someone who loved to play Grand Theft Auto by running around and causing all kinds of mayhem so he could see how long he could avoid being arrested.

He’s now doing 30 years to life in state prison. Seriously.

Now, I’m not saying, implying, or suggesting there’s a connection, but I am now worried about my future after playing MANIAC, a ridiculously over-the-top, top down, arcade action game that’s like the first Grand Theft Auto if you played it like a certain someone I know in the slammer.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny” (2025 Remastered Version) Review

 

Given how it uses the same fixed camera and controls as the original, you might expect the new edition of 2002’s Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) would be as frustrating to play as, well, every other recent remaster of a game from that era with the same kind of restricted motion.

You’d be wrong.

While it doesn’t feel like a modern game, the new version of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny does have solid controls, and in doing so, will delight people who fondly remember this game, and this series, while also possibly engaging those who’ve never played it but don’t mind when a good game is somewhat retro.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune” Review

 

Though it started a bit slow, Star Wars Outlaws (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) was one of last year’s better games.

And now the third-person action / adventure game is getting even better (though only slightly) thanks to A Pirate’s Fortune, an add-on for Outlaws that gives our gal Kay Vess more to do.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“DOOM: The Dark Ages” Review

 

In the first Avengers movie, Nick Fury asks a member of the Security Council, “You ever been in a war, councilman? In a fire fight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?” It’s a line that kept repeating in my head as I played — or maybe survived is a better word — DOOM: The Dark Ages (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC), a ridiculously frantic but also ridiculously fun horror- and fantasy-infused science fiction first-person shooter.

And while yes, you can say the same about 2016’s DOOM and 2020’s DOOM Eternal (and the best Call Of Duty games, the Gears Of War series, the Halo games…), there are things about DOOM: The Dark Ages that make it especially unhinged and, well, out of control.