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Surprise! We finally have a release date and a subtitle - "Broken Things" - for Poppy Playtime 5: 18th February, 2026. The console release for Chapter 5 will reportedly "follow in the months ahead".
Phasmophobia developer Kinetic Games reckons 2026 will be "one of the biggest [years] in the game's history" as it moves towards the full release of the game.
January is the month that, where I live, in the south of England, everyone gets serious again. All the paraphernalia of Christmas - all the merriment and cheer and colourful lighting - is cleared away in favour of sobering goals for the year ahead. It's never something that's appealed strongly to me, making goals, but I do feel the allure of wiping a slate clean and starting again. It's like a run in a roguelike game, I like to think. Time for a new me.
The upcoming third season of HBO's The Last of Us TV adaptation will feature a new actor playing WLF member Manny.
Capcom cut an entire chapter in which you played as Ashley in the opening of Resident Evil 4 Remake.
43.8 million player votes later, the winners of the 2025 Steam Awards have been announced, with Hollow Knight: Silksong securing top prize, Game of the Year.
Silent Hill 2 Remake and Chronos: The New Dawn developer Blooper Team kicked off the new year with a mysterious word: remosdneulserorehsoovamceyerd.
Today, December 28, the Epic Games Store is giving away SKALD: Against the Black Priory for the next 24 hours. It is a 2024 retro-style RPG that looks like a lost Commodore 64 game but plays with modern mechanical polish. If you miss the giveaway window, you can still find it for 50% off on the Steam Store until January 5. For those looking for the absolute lowest price, G2A (affiliate link) currently has keys for approximately $4.20, which is a 72% discount from the standard retail price.
SKALD is a party-based RPG that leans heavily into Lovecraftian themes and gritty fantasy. You lead a group of mercenaries through a world filled with body horror and ancient, awakening gods. The combat is turn-based and tactical, but the story is the real draw here, featuring branching dialogue and dice rolls that actually matter for your survival.4 It avoids the hand-holding common in modern RPGs, forcing you to manage your party’s resources and sanity in a world that feels genuinely dangerous. It is a dense, high-quality experience for anyone who values strong writing and a specific, lo-fi aesthetic.
Beyond the PC giveaway, you should also head to the mobile Epic Games Store to claim Monument Valley 1 and Monument Valley 2 for free until January 1. These are iconic perspective-based puzzle games inspired by M.C. Escher’s impossible architecture. They are short, polished, and rely on visual storytelling rather than dialogue. To get them, open the Epic Store on your phone and add them to your library. They usually cost around $4 each, so grabbing the pair for free is an excellent deal for your mobile library.
You have until December 29 at 11:00 AM ET to secure SKALD for your PC. The Monument Valley games will remain free for a few more days, giving you time to set them up on your Android or iOS device. This lineup is particularly resourceful because it offers a mix of high-stakes RPG mechanics and relaxing puzzle logic. Whether you are rolling dice to survive a pixelated cult or shifting golden towers on your phone, these titles offer more creative value than most of the big-budget releases that filled the rumor lists earlier this month.
The post Retro Horror and Mobile Classics: Today’s Epic Store Picks appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.
In a move that’s either incredibly ironic or just plain dark, Epic Games has chosen The Callisto Protocol as the mystery gift for December 24. While most people are settling in for festive cheer, Epic is sending us to a high-security prison colony on Jupiter’s dead moon to fight mutated horrors.
If this feels familiar, it’s because the game was previously offered for free back in August 2024. However, if you missed that window or were skeptical about the launch reviews, now is the perfect time to grab this AAA survival horror experience without spending a dime.
Directed by Glen Schofield—the man who co-created the original Dead Space—this game was built to be the next evolution of sci-fi horror. You play as Jacob Lee, an inmate at Black Iron Prison who finds himself in the middle of a gruesome outbreak. The UI is integrated directly into the world (your health bar is a glowing implant on your neck), keeping the screen clean and the tension high.
Unlike many horror shooters where you keep your distance, The Callisto Protocol forces you to get personal. The combat system leans heavily on a rhythmic dodging mechanic and a powerful electrified baton. You’ll spend as much time parrying and bashing limbs in melee as you will firing your weapons.
The “GRP” gravity tool is the real star of the show. It allows you to pick up enemies and launch them into environmental hazards like spinning fans, wall spikes, or even off ledges. It adds a tactical layer to the encounters, making the gore feel almost like a puzzle.
Say what you will about the gameplay pacing, but the visuals are undeniably some of the best in the genre. The lighting, character models (starring Josh Duhamel), and sound design are top-tier. It captures that oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere perfectly, making the “holiday” setting of a derelict space prison feel genuinely unsettling.
The Callisto Protocol is free until December 25 at 11:00 AM ET. Since tomorrow is the actual Christmas Day reveal, the community is expecting a massive title to close out the holiday peak. Don’t let the gore distract you—make sure you add this to your library before the mystery counter hits zero.
The post A Bloody Christmas Eve: ‘The Callisto Protocol’ is Today’s Epic Freebie appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.
If you were hoping for another gritty shooter or a mainstream AAA title, today’s reveal might surprise you. Epic is continuing its streak of “hidden gem” picks with Sorry We’re Closed, a 2024 survival horror title that feels more like an underground art project than a standard video game.
Forget the tired tropes of the genre; this is survival horror with a high-fashion, punk-rock soul.
You play as Michelle, a woman living a fairly mundane life until she is cursed by a powerful archdemon. You have exactly three days to find a way to break the curse or face eternal damnation. It’s a tight, stressful narrative where your dialogue choices and actions directly influence which of the multiple endings you’ll hit.
Sorry We’re Closed usually goes for $20. It’s short, punchy, and perfect for a weekend playthrough. If you want something that prioritizes atmosphere and unique storytelling over budget-bloat, this is a must-add to your library.
You have until December 22 at 11:00 AM ET to claim it for free
The post Resident Evil Meets Neon-Punk: Today’s Epic Mystery Game is ‘Sorry We’re Closed’ appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.
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Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.
RUMOUR is a horror game full of puzzles where you need to move objects from one world into another to save your brother. You hear some far-fetched tales about two worlds colliding...
The post ‘RUMOUR’ Moves Items Between Horror Worlds to Solve Puzzles appeared first on Indie Games Plus.
As the highly anticipated release of Resident Evil Requiem creeps ever closer, there has never been a better time to unearth the history of this pioneering series. Interconnected and deeply tangled like a tentacular T-Virus mutation, the events chronicling this nearly three-decade-long trailblazer are essential to understanding what will transpire in next year’s entry. So, grab your first-aid spray and check your ammo—let’s get started.
Long before a steroid-obsessed Chris Redfield was punching boulders, the nightmare began with three architects of ruin: Edward Ashford, James Marcus, and the chillingly calculated Ozwell E. Spencer. After discovering the “Progenitor” virus in Africa – an ancient strain capable of radical biological restructuring – the trio founded the Umbrella Corporation. Their goal was nothing less than weaponised evolution, refined into what would become the T-Virus.
While the world saw a benevolent pharmaceutical giant, Umbrella’s real business lay in black-site laboratories and military contracts. This hubris inevitably backfired, culminating in a localised outbreak in the Arklay Mountains. Rookie S.T.A.R.S. medic Rebecca Chambers and escaped death-row inmate Billy Coen became the first unwilling witnesses aboard a derailed train crawling with infected horrors. Their investigation led them to a grotesquely mutated James Marcus, resurrected and driven by a desire for revenge. Though Marcus was finally destroyed, the damage was done – Rebecca fled toward the Spencer Mansion, while Billy disappeared into the forest, his fate deliberately left unresolved.
Dispatched to locate the missing Bravo Team, the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team – including Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Barry Burton, and their commander Albert Wesker – sought shelter in the ominous Spencer Mansion. What appeared abandoned was anything but: the estate was a sealed ecosystem of zombies, experimental predators, and the Tyrant, Umbrella’s crown-jewel bioweapon.
The greatest betrayal, however, came from within. Wesker revealed himself as an Umbrella operative, orchestrating the incident to collect live combat data by sacrificing his own team. The plan unravelled when the Tyrant turned on its handler, allowing the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members to escape and destroy the mansion. Chris, Jill, and Barry emerged alive – but marked. Umbrella would never allow witnesses to walk away unpunished.
Only months later, the nightmare went public. A T-Virus leak spread through Raccoon City’s water supply, transforming a thriving Midwestern metropolis into a necropolis almost overnight. Rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy crossed paths with Claire Redfield, who had come searching for her missing brother, Chris. Together, they fought through police stations, sewers, and laboratories, uncovering Umbrella’s sins piece by piece.
Central to the disaster was William Birkin, a scientist who had perfected the G-Virus, an unstable pathogen that drove relentless mutation and regeneration. His daughter Sherry became both a target and a symbol of Umbrella’s moral collapse. While Leon and Claire escaped with their lives, Jill Valentine was enduring her own hell nearby. In Resident Evil 3, she was hunted relentlessly by Nemesis, a bioweapon engineered specifically to eliminate surviving S.T.A.R.S. members.
With containment impossible, the U.S. government made the unthinkable decision to sterilise the city with a nuclear strike. Raccoon City was wiped from the map, and Umbrella’s public image collapsed alongside it.
Umbrella’s downfall did not mean its extinction. Claire Redfield’s continued search for Chris led her to Rockfort Island, a remote prison facility controlled by the unhinged Ashford lineage. There, the siblings reunited amid yet another outbreak – this time fueled by lingering Umbrella experiments and old family grudges.
More importantly, Albert Wesker returned. Having survived the mansion incident through viral self-experimentation, he emerged superhuman, ruthless, and fully independent. Though the Redfields escaped the Ashford Antarctic base, Wesker vanished with invaluable virus samples, ensuring that Umbrella’s research would survive, no longer centralised, but scattered across the global black market.
The series pivoted dramatically with Resident Evil 4. Leon S. Kennedy, now a hardened government agent, was dispatched to rural Spain to rescue the President’s kidnapped daughter, Ashley Graham. There, he encountered Las Plagas – an ancient parasitic organism capable of controlling hosts while preserving intelligence, signalling a shift from mindless zombies to deliberate, organised threats.
This evolution of bioweapons is carried directly into Resident Evil 5. Chris Redfield, now a founding member of the BSAA, deployed to Africa with partner Sheva Alomar. They uncovered TRICELL, a corporate successor exploiting Umbrella’s abandoned research. At its centre stood Wesker, intent on unleashing the Uroboros virus to “perfect” humanity through forced selection.
The conflict ended in spectacular excess (yes, including a volcanic showdown and the infamous boulder punch), but Wesker’s death marked a turning point. Bioterrorism was no longer an isolated conspiracy; it had become a permanent, global arms race.
That arms race exploded in Resident Evil 6. Spanning multiple continents and intersecting storylines, the game followed Leon, Chris, and Jake Muller – Wesker’s estranged son and a living genetic anomaly – as they confronted Neo-Umbrella and its C-Virus. This new pathogen blurred the line between infection and weaponisation, capable of tailored mutations on a massive scale.
While the heroes prevented total annihilation, the cost was staggering. Entire cities were lost, alliances fractured, and the illusion of control finally collapsed. The age of clean victories was over.
The series then narrowed its focus with Ethan Winters, an ordinary man searching for his missing wife in the swamps of Louisiana. What he found was Eveline and “The Mold” – a sentient fungal organism capable of imitation, control, and psychological manipulation. Gone were global conspiracies; the horror was intimate, claustrophobic, and deeply personal.
That intimacy carried into Resident Evil Village, where Ethan’s pursuit of his kidnapped daughter led him to an isolated European village ruled by Mother Miranda. The truth was brutal: Ethan himself had died in Louisiana, unknowingly sustained as a mold construct. Yet even that revelation couldn’t stop him from making the ultimate sacrifice to save Rose.
In the aftermath, a weary Chris Redfield took responsibility for Rose’s protection, having uncovered a final, unsettling truth – the BSAA, the organisation he helped create, had begun deploying bioweapons of its own. History, it seemed, was already starting to repeat itself.
This brings us to the present. Thirty years after the destruction of Raccoon City, Resident Evil Requiem seems set to bridge the gap between the franchise’s origins and its future. The story introduces Grace Ashcroft, daughter of Outbreak’s Alyssa Ashcroft, who returns to a decaying Midwest hotel to investigate a series of recent murders and, hopefully, solve her mother’s murder at the same time.
In a potentially legendary crossover, she looks set to join forces with fan-favourite Leon S. Kennedy as they both must face their pasts and uncover the truth behind the Raccoon City Incident. With rumours swirling about Leon’s own infection and a return to the restricted “Dead Zone” of Raccoon City, Requiem is set to be the ultimate survival horror experience – a culmination of three decades of fear, shadow, and the enduring resilience of the human spirit.
The post The Road to Requiem: Resident Evil Story and Timeline Recap appeared first on Green Man Gaming Blog.
There's something about a survival horror game that's supposed to make your palms sweat and your pulse race, right? You expect to feel like you're barely scraping by, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you limp toward your next objective. 'The Callisto Protocol' tries hard to deliver on that promise. It places you in the blood-streaked boots of Jacob Lee, a man whose only goal is to escape the hellish prison of Black Iron on Jupiter's moon, Callisto. But here's the thing: for all its spine-chilling aesthetics and brutal combat, this game isn't quite the nightmare fuel I wanted it to be.
Instead, it's more like a beautifully made haunted house where the scares never quite land, but the lights and set design keep you walking through anyway.
If there's one thing The Callisto Protocol nails, it's the vibe. Every corner of Black Iron Prison feels suffocatingly oppressive. The air hangs heavy with tension, and the distant hum of malfunctioning machinery makes it clear you're trapped somewhere that's long past redemption. The snowy expanses outside are just as grim. Callisto itself seems to exhale an icy breath, with wind whipping around you as snow piles on dilapidated structures. The lighting deserves special mention—whether it's flickering fluorescents in a dark hallway or the faint glow of bioluminescent spores in an alien-infested tunnel, every scene feels meticulously crafted.
But for all its craftsmanship, I never truly felt afraid. Unsettled? Sure. Occasionally tense? Yeah. But scared? Not even once. And for a survival horror game, that's kind of a problem. Fear is the beating heart of this genre, and The Callisto Protocol's atmosphere, while gorgeous, feels more like a heavy blanket than a shocking jolt to the system.
Now, let's talk about the combat—the meat and bones (sometimes literally) of the gameplay. Right off the bat, melee combat takes center stage here, which is unusual. Normally, melee is a last resort in survival horror, but The Callisto Protocol flips the script. You're constantly dodging and countering, feeling every swing and impact like you're actually there. And I'll admit, those first few encounters feel raw and visceral in a way that's hard to shake.
But then it starts to drag. The dodge mechanic, while intuitive at first, becomes predictable, almost mechanical. Most enemies telegraph their moves so obviously that fights turn into a rinse-and-repeat cycle of "step left, swing pipe, repeat." And don't get me started on the GRP, the telekinesis glove that's supposed to add depth to combat. Sure, it's fun at first to hurl enemies into strategically placed spike walls or industrial fans, but after the 20th time, it starts to feel like the game's designers just couldn't think of more interesting ways for me to use it.
Resources are scarce, and every encounter feels like a gamble. Do you spend your last few bullets now or save them for a bigger threat later?
Jacob's journey through Callisto isn't exactly a narrative masterpiece, but it gets the job done. The basic setup—a prison outbreak leads to horrifying mutations—is nothing new, but it's the grim atmosphere that keeps you invested. As Jacob, you're constantly scavenging for scraps of information about what caused the outbreak and why. Jacob himself is a pretty blank slate, and while the supporting cast tries to inject some emotion into the story, their arcs feel more like set dressing than meaningful threads. And honestly? Sometimes that's enough.
The Callisto Protocol doesn't shy away from violence. It's the kind of gore that makes you wince the first few times but eventually feels more like a gimmick than a genuine shock factor. Personally, I found it less horrifying and more gross, where I would have certainly preferred the other way around. While this observation is probably a matter of test that should not stop those who buy PS5 horror games, I believe that it doesn't really add to the atmosphere, and I couldn't help but feel like it was trying too hard to impress me with its blood-soaked brutality.
Debatable. I prefer survival games more like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and horror games more like Resident Evil 4. The Callisto Protocol is not for everyone. Its visuals and atmosphere are top-notch, creating a world that's as stunning as it is oppressive. But the gameplay—especially the combat—starts to feel like a chore after a while. And without genuine scares to keep the tension high, the whole experience feels a bit hollow. Just don't expect to be looking over your shoulder when you turn the game off. Because for all its effort, The Callisto Protocol feels more like a chilling stroll than a heart-pounding sprint through the dark.
We're back with a brand new Now Playing! Indies and retro titles have dominated the holidays for our team to wrap up 2025. No matter what we're playing, we want to share with you and maybe send you down the path to try something new. Let us know in the comments what you're playing and what news has you excited for the future!
I've been spending my end-of-year leave falling in love with all things Metroid (a series I had wanted to love for so long but could never really get into). After completing Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Metroid Prime Remastered, I decided to go back to the beginning and check out Metroid Zero Mission on GBA.
For the uninitiated, Metroid Zero Mission is a remake of the original Metroid, which was released on the NES. I've been playing it on the glorious Analogue Pocket, which has been an utter delight.
Metroid Zero Mission takes the original game's concept and overall design and brings modern quality of life elements to it (including a highly functional map, massively updated/modernised controls, an entirely new art design, updated soundtrack, and a combination of completely new and "remixed" levels). These changes are great for me, because I don't really have the patience to play the original game without a guide (there's no in-game map, for example, so you'd have to draw your own as you go). Zero Mission not only adds a map, but it also injects far more save rooms into the game, so if you save frequently, you're never really spending a lot of time retracing your steps when you die. While this could be considered an over-correction, I think it's worth bearing in mind that Zero Mission is a handheld experience (unlike the original), which means it's geared towards smaller bite-sized play sessions and a faster overall pace.
Having just beaten Kraid - and several other newly-added mini-boss style combat encounters - I've completely fallen in love, and I feel that I finally "get" Metroid. I've had Zero Mission in my collection for a long time, but never played it. Now I'm really wondering why I waited so long; a combination of super sharp controls, lovely art and sound design, and incredible environmental/navigation puzzles make Zero Mission an unmissable classic. I can't wait to continue my Metroid journey!
I’ve been firing my way through the newly released Neon Inferno on Switch recently, Zenovia Interactive’s latest pixel-art run ’n’ gun. I covered their previous title, Steel Assault, for our Hidden Gems series back in October, so diving in has felt instantly comfortable. Zenovia's clear love of big, bold pixels is front and centre again, but Neon Inferno pushes past that mid-’90s look, back when Neo Geo cabinets were the vanguard of graphical wizardry. With its liberal use of coloured lighting, dense crowds of sprites, and dynamic shadow work, this title feels like something genuinely “retro next-gen,” like a classic 24-bit arcade machine supercharged with a modern GPU.
Gameplay-wise, the big hook is the two-layered combat, which plays out like Huntdown mashed with the gallery shooting of Wild Guns. You’re constantly shifting focus between the enemies directly in your face and those lurking in the background. It’s a continual back-and-forth between the two modes, and once you get the hang of it, everything just works. It definitely adds a level of depth and challenge you won't find in most platforming shooters. Zenovia’s magnificent boss design is still their signature party trick. Every stage builds toward huge, ridiculous showdowns, the kind that take dozens of attempts as you start memorising every dodge, jump, and attack.
The setting is great, too. It’s NYC in 2055, a cyberpunk sprawl where every street corner is soaked in neon, and the noir-leaning story throws in branching paths and light RPG elements to avoid a straight-line slog. With punchy sound effects, a killer soundtrack, and gorgeous design, the whole experience is loud, stylish, and gloriously over-the-top. If you love Metal Slug and Contra-style run ’n’ guns, miss that era of pixel-art excess, and you want something with a fresh mechanical twist, Neon Inferno is absolutely worth a squiz.
After hearing about it for ages, I finally started playing Tiny Bookshop...and oh my goodness, why did I wait so long?! This adorable game about running - what else? - a tiny bookshop from a trailer in a little English coastal town is everything you need from a cozy game. It's got cute animals, lovable characters, and hours you can sink into managing your inventory, recommending books, and exploring all of the fun little side quests that come up as you set up shop around town.
You can decorate your shop, painting it cute colors and setting up little trinkets to make it exactly the right cozy spot for you. The best hidden gem in this game, though? You can adopt a bookshop dog! I named mine Buddy after a real-life bookshop dog in my town.
After many people recommended it, I decided to give Blue Prince a try. While doing some research, I was particularly intrigued by the fact that the developers were inspired by Raymond Smullyan’s logic puzzles. During my philosophy degree, I had a lot of fun solving his puzzles in Alice in Puzzle-Land: A Carrollian Tale for Children Under Eighty. Nowadays, I often recommend the book to students interested in logic.
I confess that, as a puzzle enthusiast, I was initially disappointed by how easy the logic puzzles in the game are. It didn’t take long, however, to realize that this difficulty is only the most superficial layer of Blue Prince’s puzzle-adventure design. The game is less about mechanical deduction and more about investigation and puzzle-adventure; at times, it strongly reminds me of Myst. I don’t enjoy roguelikes as much as I enjoy puzzles, so it annoys me slightly to rely on luck or repetition to solve “puzzles within puzzles.” Still, this design choice ultimately makes the solutions more rewarding, and each day spent inside the abandoned mansion makes the search for the mysterious forty-sixth room feel more concrete.
I’m currently on Day 36 and still haven’t reached it. I recently discovered underground areas that significantly expand the scope of exploration, and there are also many narrative mysteries yet to be solved. When I finish the game, I might write an essay about the layered puzzle-adventure design of Blue Prince, which is the aspect that has intrigued me the most.
My gaming over the last few years has been all about the off-ramp alternatives and supporting after-market releases for legacy hardware. Retro is cool again, and maybe it's due to the popularity of 90s media and shows like Stranger Things, but the kids are into Game Boys and Ataris. In 2025, I ordered homebrew releases from Atari Age, a community and publisher that gives homebrew projects the full retail treatment, like it was the 1970s all over again: cardboard box case and full instruction manuals, a true labor of love.
I was particularly excited for Kovi Kovi, which is a Puyo Puyo-style puzzle game, and oh so very addictive and nuanced. It's amazing to see programmers still squeezing new life out of the Atari 2600 console, and this dedicated (global!) homebrew scene only seems to be gaining more momentum.
I recently purchased an Xbox Series X and have been spending my time playing through some games that I had tried on my PC, but moved on from due to poor performance. One such game is the remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
While I played the original a few years back, I never really got very far into anything outside of the Dark Brotherhood questline. This time, however, I have found myself quite engrossed with the storyline quests, the guild quests, and the side quests. Skyrim was the only other Elder Scrolls game in which I've invested a serious amount of time. Still, I have been pleasantly surprised at the length, complexity, and variety of quests, particularly those within the Dark Brotherhood questline.
From a technical aspect, I have also been awe-struck with just how good the game looks and plays in relation to the original. Graphically, the game is beautiful and continues to impress me with the fluidity of the lighting and the depth it adds to the game. The updated UI, particularly the HUD, makes much better use of the screen by decluttering it and adding some much-needed space between the various HUD elements. These changes, in addition to the already rock-solid gameplay that has been largely preserved from the 2006 original, make it feel like a faithful remaster of an already great game. I'm excited to continue my current playthrough and the countless playthroughs I’ll surely do in the future.
Since we last talked, I've finished my time with Ghost of Yotei, and the final act was even better than the rest of the game. I thought Sucker Punch did a great job with Lord Saito's villain arc, and even though a lot of the lore around him was buried in notes and letters, the performance really sold the anger and cold savagery under the surface. I liked it a bit better overall than the original game, and I'm excited to see where the series goes from here.
I spent the rest of the month with Pacific Drive, a game that caught my eye as soon as it was revealed at the September 2022 Sony State of Play event. The early reviews were underwhelming, so I waited for a sale, and happily, it came to PS Plus in November. Very quickly, I realized this was going to be one of my favorite games of the year, as it is quite unlike anything I've ever played.
At its heart, Pacific Drive is a mix of survival horror and extraction-type gameplay. You find yourself mysteriously transported into the Olympic Exclusion Zone, the unfortunate epicenter of a government experiment gone wrong. There are all kinds of scary environmental dangers (radiation, crazy storms, exploding mannequins, etc) you must escape, with no way to fight back. What you do have is an ancient station wagon that becomes your protector and friend across 20+ missions.
Your job is to take your car into the Zone, collect all kinds of loot from the remains of the government experiments and various flora and fauna they created, and get out with your car and your body intact. Whatever you bring out with you goes toward souping up your car (and maybe some new threads for you, too); new gear, like lead-lined doors and armored bumpers, will help you survive as you delve deeper into the zone. It gets crazier and scarier as you go, and there's a compelling story to keep you pushing forward.
The action is fantastic, with really compelling discoverability and great driving mechanics. The extraction parts at the end of each level can be incredibly tense, and I routinely found I was holding my breath until I made it safely out. I really enjoyed the voice acting performances as well; they make you feel a little less lonely in this desolate wasteland. There's a ton of replayability here, with a vast area to explore, tons of loot to power dozens of upgrade possibilities, and even challenge runs to enjoy once the story is done. I hope a lot of folks play this through PS Plus, because I'd love to see what developer Ironwood Studios can pull off with their next game.
A big thank you to our writers for dropping by and to all our loyal fans for being here to check it out! Be sure to tell us what you're playing in the comments, and check back next month for more of what our team is getting into.
I can't pretend to be anything other than relieved that Stranger Things is over. While I enjoyed the first few seasons of its pulpy Spielberg pastiche, it ultimately became far too big for its Nike high tops. But if you still haven't had enough of the gang explaining its preposterously convoluted plans to kill Vecna, you can carry on the adventure via Dead by Daylight, in the latest crossover for Behaviour Interactive's multiplayer slash 'em up.
Titled Stranger Things: Chapter 2, the collab sees three more playable characters from the Duffer Brothers' cultural megalith to join Steve and Nancy, who were added to the game back in 2019. On the survivor side, players can assume the roles of Eleven and Dustin, while sentient butcher's shop window Vecna arrives as an all-new killer.
Vecna's dimension manipulating powers enable him to travel undetected around the map via the Upside Down, bursting out back into reality to damage survivors. He can also conjure fleshy vines that will lash out at players. Eleven and Dustin, meanwhile, have their own unique skills to help them survive Vecna's threat. Dustin can booby-trap windows after completing a certain amount of repairs, while Eleven's extrasensory perception lets her see auras from further away after crouching for several seconds.
The pack also adds two legendary outfits to Dead by Daylight, with Dustin able to don the denim-heavy guise of deceased metalhead Eddie Munson, while Chapter 1's Nancy gets an outfit themed around Steve's best pal Robin Buckley. There's no legendary outfit for Eleven at present, though Steve can masquerade as Jonathan Byres in an outfit added in the first collaboration.
Ironically, this is far from the strangest licensing crossover the multiplayer slasher has done. May saw characters from The Witcher turn up in Behaviour Interactive's game, while August weirdly brought characters from Assassin's Creed Shadows into the slaughter.
2026 will see Dead by Daylight celebrate its tenth anniversary, with Behaviour having revealed a special Collector's Edition and teased some bigger plans for celebrations at the end of last year. The studio spent most of 2025 working on a major quality of life initiative, after pushing back plans to expand the game to address "many longstanding concerns" voiced by players.
Stranger Things: Chapter 2 is currently available to play via Dead by Daylight's public test build, with the official release taking place on January 27.
2026 games: All the upcoming games
Best PC games: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together
It's happening again. You've ignored your body's alarms and pushed yourself well beyond the threshold of exhaustion. It's Monday, or maybe Thursday, but who's keeping track anymore? Your body moves independently from thought—either unconcerned or incapable of addressing the growing detachment—and you repeat the same, torturous daily routine with a mechanical ease.
You're not physically held hostage, but the belief that you're trapped becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. That's the crux of Luto, a first-person psychological horror game aesthetically similar to P.T. and narrated by The Stanley Parable's distant cousin. It's confusing, terrifying, cheeky, and touching all at once. I beat it in just two short sessions over the holidays, but that was enough to turn me into a snotty, blubbering mess by the end of it all.
"It's a game about grief," I say, like it's some profound declaration you've never heard. That may be a particularly draining statement about a game released in the same year as another anguished darling, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but we've been trying to figure out how to best express loss since humans first carved their portraits of grief into cave walls. And while it's only five or six hours of first-person horror, Luto is quite good at simulating what happens in the face of unbearable absence.
When I think of P.T. inspired horror games, Visage is the first that comes to mind, though Luto isn't nearly as big on the in-your-face terror. They share the same tense dread (along with the occasional jumpscare), sure, but their biggest commonality is the environmental tricks deployed by a house holding you hostage. It's all normal at a glance, but there are secrets in the walls.
As Sam, you'll repeatedly try (and fail) to reach the front door while the house and its omnipresent narrator grow more antagonistic with every attempted escape. No matter how hard you try, there's always something barring Sam from the exit. You'll find his keys, turn the knob to leave, and suddenly the screen goes black. The day is gone. You tried to exit on a Monday, but now it's Thursday, and you're in the bathroom with no way to account for the lost time. We've all been there.
He's like a tormented version of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, but swap out all the fun romantic comedy bits with ghostly mannequins, dark hallways, and strange noises coming from the basement. Sam's inexplicable, disorienting reset often happens with little or no warning, and that's what I like so much about his impossible journey to go outside. There's an oppressive sense of something being very off from the beginning, like it's clear someone or something doesn't want you peeling back the layers. A vague, threatening aura of don't open that door, you won't like what's behind it.
The pictures and mementos scattered about are all you need to understand Sam was going through something long before your place in the story, but the excessive languishing muddies the picture the longer it goes on. Every time I thought I had a solid theory for what was keeping Sam a prisoner, Luto added another puzzle or unnerving anomaly into the fold. Its mysteries aren't cliche or straightforward enough to solve that fast, and even when you make meaningful progress, the house and narrator will retaliate.
When Monday suddenly becomes Wednesday, Luto's disembodied voice carries on narrating the day like discovering secret rooms and walls with graphic depictions of death are normal parts of Sam's routine. As the days shift and add on more puzzles, their solutions and clues begin to overlap, and after a while, I can't remember what the hell I'm doing. It's an uncomfortable feeling Luto masterfully taps into, recreating my own occasional depressive meandering when I move from room to room and can't remember why I even entered in the first place.
Luto laid its haunted protagonist bare in an existential trial that left me questioning myself just as much as I questioned Sam.
Sam tries to account for the entropy, but the tension between him, the narrator, and my own beliefs reached a point where I couldn't identify who was the least reliable unreliable narrator in the setup. Was it me, Sam, or the cheeky voice of god? I don't know, honestly, but the psychological horror of it all certainly did its job. Most of my fear stemmed from the excessive hypervigilance Luto builds through doubt and an eerie sense of, 'that's not how this room looked before.' Jump scares be damned.
At the end of it all, when I was done collecting clues from the past and trying to make sense of this impenetrable mind palace, Luto laid its haunted protagonist bare in an existential trial that left me questioning myself just as much as I questioned Sam. While I had my guesses, Luto's disorienting maze is good at instilling uncertainty until its final moments, and even then, Sam's house of grief remains uncomfortable and complicated.
It's a discomfort I wholeheartedly welcome, and a door I'm glad I opened.
If you want to join me and ring in the new year with a poignant, bite-sized horror adventure you can finish in a session or two, then you can check out Luto now on Steam.
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