Coliseum

Gothic originally released in 2001 about six months before The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The two games are distinct and have their own vibes, but are both innovative open world medieval fantasy games. Comparisons are inevitable. Gothic also didn’t find quite find the same audience as Morrowind (at least not in North America) and the upcoming remake hopes to address that and show people the game they may have missed out on more than two decades ago.

Gothic 1 Remake Exclusive Gameplay:

Join Marcus and me as we take a a look at extended Gothic 1 Remake gameplay alongside Game Informer‘s Gothic expert, principal designer Dmitry Lyapustin. This is Dmitry’s video introduction, but if you’re a subscriber to our magazine, then you’ve been appreciating his design work for months. He, alongside the rest of the production team here at Game Informer, are the reason our pages look so good. And also, coincidentally, Dmitry may be Gothic’s biggest longtime fan.

Also, as is the case with many of our episodes of New Gameplay Today, note that this is not a finalized version of the game, so if you notice any glitches or graphics issues in the gameplay footage, remember that the version we’re seeing here is a work-in-progress version of the game.

For even more on Gothic 1 Remake, subscribers can read our in-depth feature on the game right here, or read in the pages of The Blood of Dawnwalker issue, which will be in mailboxes soon.

Subscribe to Game Informer‘s YouTube channel for more episodes of New Gameplay Today as well as video reviews, The Game Informer Show Podcast, and more.

Bungie has announced that, after over eight years since the game’s launch, it is ending active development for Destiny 2. In a blog post, the studio lays out when the final content update will arrive and how the game will be packaged going forward, while cryptically alluding to the future.

In the post, Bungie writes, “While our love for Destiny 2 has not changed, it has become clear that after The Final Shape, we have reached the time for our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.” The studio plans to release the game’s final content update on June 9; after that, the game will remain playable, likely for a long time. 

On the same day, Destiny 2, along with its content packs, will be bundled into a single purchase called Destiny 2: The Collection. That includes every campaign, Dungeon Keys, the 30th Anniversary Pack, and more. Standalone expansions and content packs will be permanently discounted in June. 

Here is Bungie’s full statement: 

For almost twelve years, we have had the joy and honor to explore the Destiny universe with you all. Through all the ups and downs, surprises and triumphs, building Destiny alongside our players has been a monumental privilege. While our love for Destiny 2 has not changed, it has become clear that after The Final Shape, we have reached the time for our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.

As our focus turns towards a new beginning for Bungie, we will begin work incubating our next games. To that end, on June 9, 2026, we will release the final live-service content update for Destiny 2 to begin that new journey as a studio.

Though active development may be concluding, we will ensure that Destiny 2 remains playable, just as the original Destiny is today. Many changes in this final update will aim to ensure that Destiny 2 is a welcoming place for players to return to.

We’re proud of Destiny 2, the places it took us, and the legacy it has created. Because of you all, our universe is vast, built on years of shared stories, adventures, and victories. From the Cosmodrome to the Pale Heart to the Lawless Frontier, we have forged life-long memories and friendships with you all.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who made that journey with us.

From the deepest part of our hearts, thank you, and we’ll see you in the stars.

The final content update, Monument of Triumph, is designed to “deliver small character beats to leave the story and characters in interesting places, touching on themes across Destiny,” according to Bungie. Legendary Marks from the past will return, earned by completing Triumphs that grant access to free armor ornaments, weapon engrams, accessories, and more. One additional title and armor ornament set can also be unlocked for those who “range widely in their deeds,” says Bungie.

The blog post also lays out plans for the return of the newly refreshed Director, a new Pantheon arriving as a permanent addition with new bosses to challenge, an overhaul to the Portal, and the return of the Sparrow Racing League. Seasonal events are also being retired. Be sure to read the full blog post for a complete rundown of what each of these updates, and more, will entail. The studio also plans to publish weekly developer insights into each of these features via its This Week In Destiny updates. 

We’ll have to wait to see what the future holds for Bungie, but the studio is presently busy supporting Marathon, its multiplayer extraction shooter that launched in March. What do you want to see Bungie tackle next? Destiny 3, or something new? Let us know in the comments. 

To look back on Game Informer’s reception to every step of Destiny 2’s journey, check out our reviews for the original base game and its expansions: Curse of Osiris, Warmind, Forsaken, Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, The Witch Queen, Lightfall, The Final Shape, The Edge of Fate, and Renegades. 

Bungie has announced that, after over eight years since the game’s launch, it is ending active development for Destiny 2. In a blog post, the studio lays out when the final content update will arrive and how the game will be packaged going forward, while cryptically alluding to the future.

In the post, Bungie writes, “While our love for Destiny 2 has not changed, it has become clear that after The Final Shape, we have reached the time for our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.” The studio plans to release the game’s final content update on June 9; after that, the game will remain playable, likely for a long time. 

On the same day, Destiny 2, along with its content packs, will be bundled into a single purchase called Destiny 2: The Collection. That includes every campaign, Dungeon Keys, the 30th Anniversary Pack, and more. Standalone expansions and content packs will be permanently discounted in June. 

Here is Bungie’s full statement: 

For almost twelve years, we have had the joy and honor to explore the Destiny universe with you all. Through all the ups and downs, surprises and triumphs, building Destiny alongside our players has been a monumental privilege. While our love for Destiny 2 has not changed, it has become clear that after The Final Shape, we have reached the time for our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.

As our focus turns towards a new beginning for Bungie, we will begin work incubating our next games. To that end, on June 9, 2026, we will release the final live-service content update for Destiny 2 to begin that new journey as a studio.

Though active development may be concluding, we will ensure that Destiny 2 remains playable, just as the original Destiny is today. Many changes in this final update will aim to ensure that Destiny 2 is a welcoming place for players to return to.

We’re proud of Destiny 2, the places it took us, and the legacy it has created. Because of you all, our universe is vast, built on years of shared stories, adventures, and victories. From the Cosmodrome to the Pale Heart to the Lawless Frontier, we have forged life-long memories and friendships with you all.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who made that journey with us.

From the deepest part of our hearts, thank you, and we’ll see you in the stars.

The final content update, Monument of Triumph, is designed to “deliver small character beats to leave the story and characters in interesting places, touching on themes across Destiny,” according to Bungie. Legendary Marks from the past will return, earned by completing Triumphs that grant access to free armor ornaments, weapon engrams, accessories, and more. One additional title and armor ornament set can also be unlocked for those who “range widely in their deeds,” says Bungie.

The blog post also lays out plans for the return of the newly refreshed Director, a new Pantheon arriving as a permanent addition with new bosses to challenge, an overhaul to the Portal, and the return of the Sparrow Racing League. Seasonal events are also being retired. Be sure to read the full blog post for a complete rundown of what each of these updates, and more, will entail. The studio also plans to publish weekly developer insights into each of these features via its This Week In Destiny updates. 

We’ll have to wait to see what the future holds for Bungie, but the studio is presently busy supporting Marathon, its multiplayer extraction shooter that launched in March. What do you want to see Bungie tackle next? Destiny 3, or something new? Let us know in the comments. 

To look back on Game Informer’s reception to every step of Destiny 2’s journey, check out our reviews for the original base game and its expansions: Curse of Osiris, Warmind, Forsaken, Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, The Witch Queen, Lightfall, The Final Shape, The Edge of Fate, and Renegades. 

As much as I love a huge showcase reveal for a game I’ve been looking forward to, there’s a special place in my heart for indie game showcases, giving me a look at hidden gems I wasn’t aware of. The Six One indie showcase is a great avenue for that, and today’s livestream was no exception. The whole event is worth a watch if you’re curious about some unique upcoming indie projects, but these were our favorites.

Blue Ridge Hunting

Developer: Jade Meadows

Horror and low-poly aesthetics go together like peanut butter and jelly. This co-op cryptid hunting game marries the two to seemingly great effect while also telling a story about the quest to track down Mothman. It’s currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign, which you can support here. It also has a demo available right now.

Feather’s Edge

Developer: Clockwork Acorn

This Outersloth-published Metroidvania puts you in the shoes (or talons) of a bird who can shoot across the screen, piercing foes with their beak. It’s a unique take on combat, rewarding combos and efficient strikes, and it’s got a great cartoony-yet-intricate art style as well. Its playtest is starting soon, and you can sign up to participate on the game’s Steam page.

The Well’s Blessing

Developer: Big Stretch

I simply can’t deny this game’s vibes. Maybe it’s the pixelated 3D graphics, the relaxing soundtrack, or the babbling sound effect that plays during the dialogue. Whatever the case, I just want a minute or two to sit in the world of The Well’s Blessing and soak it all in. For now, I guess I’ll just add it to my Steam wishlist and get hyped for the demo coming on June 3rd.

Midnight Horde

Developer: Carry Castle

To put it simply, Midnight Horde looks like Vampire Survivors if you were doing parkour the whole time. You gain upgrades to your magic abilities to fend off dense waves of enemies, but between encounters, you construct the town’s gothic architecture to best support your strategies. I’ve got no idea how it feels to play, but it looks so bonkers that I can’t wait to try it, and I don’t have to – there’s a demo live right now.

Blocks for Babies

Developer: BunkSoft Interactive

I’ll admit that sometimes Tetris makes me mad, but I’ve never thought about shooting the blocks with a gun. If you have, you’ll love Blocks for Babies, a game with as much tonal whiplash with its theme as it has in its gameplay. Match bright, silly blocks until you can’t anymore. Then, you transition into a Doom-style FPS to blast away the squares (which are fleshy and gross on the sides, by the way) that refuse to clear away. If you want to check it out, there’s a demo available now.

Forklift Flowerpot: Botanical Investigator

Developer: Michael Mato, Too Much Tomato

Inhabiting this game’s titular contraption is odd enough, but throw in a 3D art style made from 2D sprites, a season-changing mechanic, and a mystery pieced together like a web of red yarn on a corkboard, and Forklift Flowerpot really grabbed my attention. The developer describing it as “an Outer Wilds-like mystery” is the icing on the cake that made me add this one to my wishlist.

Graytail

Developer: Concode

The trailer for this game aired during the block dedicated to Zelda-likes, so I was surprised to see its aesthetics fit more of a horror-noir vibe. You play as a man with what looks like a decidedly mundane arsenal of weapons and tools, including a cane, an umbrella, and a crossbow. As someone who plays a lot of games, I really enjoy seeing one that defies genre in so many ways, so I’ll be keeping an eye on Graytail. Luckily for me, there’s a demo available now.

Please Insert Disc

Developer: Night Signal Entertainment

What if the liminal ether that is the PS2 startup screen was an entire game? Please Insert Disc reimagines a 2002-era gaming home screen as an interactive horror experience, with a fittingly cryptic trailer that leaves me endlessly curious for what else the final game has in store. For now, I’ll add it to my wishlist and hope to learn more soon.

Sloppy Forgeries

Developer: Playful Systems

Sloppy Forgeries turns paintings into a party game, with local multiplayer that puts players head-to-head as they rush to recreate famous works of art as accurately as possible. Both you and a rival will wield a mouse to repaint iconic paintings like the Mona Lisa or Starry Night with hasty pixels. It looks like the kind of game I love, where even if you do poorly, it’s funny enough that it’s easy to have fun with. I’ll be adding it my wishlist and looking to buy a second mouse.

b-e-e-t-l-e: be right back!

Developer: Paul and Viv

I have a hunch b-e-e-t-l-e isn’t going to come to console any time soon, because its core gameplay is designed around creative use of the keyboard. You’ll type letters to interact with the world, play music, clear obstacles, and talk to other pixelated critters. A different puzzle even makes use of keyboard shortcuts, using ctrl+c to copy an item to share with some snails. It’s got no launch window, but you can wishlist it on Steam.

Grave Seasons

Developer: Perfect Garbage

We did a deep-dive interview with the developers of Grave Seasons in the last issue of Game Informer, and this new trailer shows the cozy/creepy vibe just as unsettling as we remembered. The standout news here, however, is the announcement that the game is getting a demo in just a few weeks, on June 15, so keep an eye on the Steam page.

For the full lineup of games, you can watch the showcase on YouTube or head straight to the source and check them out on Steam.

Today’s Warhammer Skulls presentation revealed a new 2D action game called Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster. The game puts the Skaven front and center, as players control a cunning rat assassin.

Developed by Old Skull Games and published by Dotemu, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster stars Ratman Vihneek, a killer climbing the ranks of the secretive Eshin clan. To appease the demands of his evil masters, the ambitious Vihneek embarks on a what Old Skull Games describes as a “dark tale of treachery” to prove his worth.

Gameplay takes the form of 2D sidescrolling action that heavily emphasizes relying on stealth to bypass obstacles, while setting traps and cleverly using surroundings to take out threats. When all else fails, of course, Vihneek is just as capable of slicing apart foes face-to-face.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster launches in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. 

Quantic Dream has announced that its fantasy multiplayer game Spellcasters Chronicles is being shut down next month. The game launched into Steam Early Access on February 26, less than four months ago.

In an X post published yesterday, the team behind Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain cites that the game failed to reach a large enough audience for its development to remain sustainable “in today’s particularly challenging market environment.” Thus, the team decided to sunset the game to refocus on other projects. Quantic Dream makes a point of specifically calling out its long-in-development Star Wars Eclipse, still reportedly years from release, stating that the game is “not affected by this decision.”

Update on the Development of Spellcasters Chronicles pic.twitter.com/v3R7rCEjay

— Quantic Dream (@Quantic_Dream) May 20, 2026

Spellcasters Chronicles will remain playable until June 19, but it has already been made unavailable to download on Steam; it appears players who have already installed the game can still access it. Money spent during its lifecycle will be eligible for a full refund upon request, and additional details will be shared in the game’s official Discord and other channels.

Quantic Dream also says that this move will prompt an “internal reorganization,” with the team’s verbiage suggesting potential layoffs. “We are fully committed to handling this transition with fairness, care, and respect, and will prioritize internal reassignments wherever possible to support other productions.” Game Developer reports today that French union Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) has blasted Quantic Dream’s management of the game, calling the project a “colossal risk” whose failure could impact 95 roles at the company.

Part of STJV’s lengthy statement reads, “Officially, the ‘unstable and difficult market’ is being blamed for this decision – but it was hardly difficult to predict. This project, started 8 years ago and led by Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage and Grégorie Diaconu, was supposed to be a “reasonably-sized” project and was planned for a much earlier release. Over all these years, nobody questioned the business model or how the game was to become profitable. Catastrophic project management resulted in iteration after iteration, exhausting the team and leading production straight to disaster. Quantic Dream leadership points to external factors; we blame their decisions, be they financial, creative or organisational. The resulting project was ungodly expensive and aimed at a high-risk market, without matching current player demands.”

Spellcasters Chronicles was revealed in October 2025 and is a free-to-play competitive multiplayer game in which two teams of three face off in matches using magic-wielding, hero-style characters. You can read our full preview published last October for a better idea of Quantic Dream’s vision.

The game launched into Early Access on February 26 and is the latest multiplayer live-service game to be shuttered only months after debuting. It follows in the footsteps of infamous launches such as Concord’s barely two-week lifecycle in 2024. In 2026, we’ve seen the quick demises of Highguard, which launched in January and went offline in March, and PUBG: Blindspot, a game that entered Early Access in February and was discontinued in March. 

I recently previewed Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced – and you can read my thoughts on it after going hands-on with it for a couple of hours here – and during the preview event, I got the chance to speak to some of the developers at Ubisoft Singapore about the game. It was in these interviews that I learned about eight new endgame missions being added to the narrative of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag as part of the Resynced remake. 

Specifically, these brand-new endgame missions will pit protagonist Edward Kenway against the historical pirate hunter Robert Miller. Speaking to game director Richard Knight, it sounds like these missions will add more texture to Blackbeard’s narrative in Black Flag, particularly regarding how his story ends in the game and why it ends that way. 

“[These additional endgame missions] give us room to resolve that,” Knight tells me. “Like, ‘What happened there?’ Can we follow up those little plot threads so that you have kind of a more full experience, should you choose to go down that route? But, you can still play the same sort of epic Edward saga the way you did back then [because these endgame missions take place after Edward’s original story wraps up]. 

These endgame missions aren’t the only new pieces of content being added to Black Flag in this remake. Creative director Paul Fu says there are new side missions to complete and new islands to explore. Plus, there are “new ending missions for beloved characters,” too. If you add up all the new content in Black Flag Resynced, Fu says it amounts to about 6 hours of additional gameplay. 

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on July 9. 

What do you hope to see in these new endgame missions? Let us know in the comments below!

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag’s modern-day storyline is an odd one. Though it’s a story I ultimately like (I am admittedly a sucker for this element of this series), it’s hard to deny that it feels a bit strained because of the events of Assassin’s Creed III before it, which effectively wraps up the storyline the games began in the first Assassin’s Creed. As a result, it’s somewhat of a nothingburger of a subplot, but it does provide some “Here’s where they are now” looks at key characters like Shaun and Rebecca. 

Nonetheless, with Ubisoft remaking this pirate adventure in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which launches on July 9, developer Ubisoft Singapore is changing how the modern-day story plays out, and it’s quite a drastic change. It eschews what’s there – no more first-person office simulator – and replaces it with rifts, last seen in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Instead of being taken out of the historical story told through Edward Kenway, in Black Flag Resynced, players will find rifts hidden throughout the Caribbean that then tell “What If?” scenarios about this Assassin’s life. 

“[The] modern-day direction has changed quite a bit,” creative director Paul Fu tells me. “Desmond’s story has also come to a conclusion some time ago [at the point in the series when Black Flag originally launched], so it felt natural for us to evolve with the Animus Hub. Edward’s story is now being told in modern-day rifts, which are now almost like secret bottles that you find in the Caribbean, so they no longer strongly telegraph and push the narrative anymore; you have to actively search for these secrets, and they provide ‘What if?’ scenarios. 

“So, ‘What if Edward chose greed over his wife?’ for example. We wanted it to be a little more narrative-driven than they were in Shadows. But at the same time, we know that there are people who love the previous modern-day story as well. Personally, I’m one of them. I actually really like the Abstergo stuff, but we didn’t include that because it felt like it didn’t fit. But we did rewrite parts of the story to allude to that [narrative]. There’s an entirely new scene that helps us cover Bartholomew Roberts’ [story more] with something I won’t spoil right now, but I think people who have played Black Flag know what the story was, so we created a new scene […] to pull the heartstrings of fans when they play the content.” 

In another interview, game director Richard Knight tells me that Ubisoft is viewing Black Flag Resynced as the next flagship Assassin’s Creed, even if it is a remake of an older entry. He says that was taken into account when discussing how to remake the modern-day story of Black Flag. 

“[The modern-day story in Black Flag Resynced] continues some of the things you saw in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. But we also knew that we wanted something that was not completely disconnected because some players like the modern-day too, but some players will feel like, ‘Oh, I’m doing something else, but I’m here for Edward.’ We’re here for Edward, too, so we’re building around that. So with our modern-day, we wanted something that can still be that experience but also tie it back to Edward, and that’s where the ‘What ifs’ are important. You’re still exploring it in that sort of modern-day format, but you’re getting these ‘What if?’ stories that make you think about the characters and the choices they made.” 

I’m excited for Black Flag Resynced, and you can read my hands-on impressions here, but as a fan of the modern-day storytelling in the franchise, I’m nervous about these changes. They sound interesting, but I also hope it doesn’t completely erase the narrative that exists in the modern-day sections of the original Black Flag. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long to find out as Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on July 9. 

In the meantime, check out the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced PC specs and requirements, and then read about this real-life $500,000 treasure hunt Ubisoft has launched to celebrate this remake. After that, read Game Informer’s original Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag review. 

How do you feel about these changes to the modern-day story? Let us know in the comments below!

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Publisher:
Ubisoft

Developer:
Ubisoft

Release:
July 9, 2026

Rating:
Mature

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced was perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in the gaming industry prior to its official unveiling earlier this year. I already knew so much about the game by the time Ubisoft finally decided to make it real, and since then, the developer-publisher has continued to release gameplay videos, behind-the-scenes breakdowns, screenshots, and more. In other words, there was very little left to surprise me ahead of my hands-on preview with the team in May at Ubisoft’s event space in San Francisco. And after roughly three hours with the game, yeah, I was correct – nothing really surprised me, but that’s okay. Black Flag Resynced is a textbook definition of a remake: modernized controls and visuals, quality-of-life tweaks and updates, and some added content to entice returning players to the glow-up. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the original 2013 game, is my favorite in Ubisoft’s long-running stealth series, mostly because it’s the best pirate action game ever made. 

So, to get a remake that doesn’t attempt to change what made it great but enhances what’s already there? Well, that’s the best-case scenario, mate. 

Black Flag Resynced is gorgeous, as trailers and screenshots you’ve likely seen indicate. But it’s so impressive in motion. This Caribbean is gigantic, the second biggest explorable setting in Assassin’s Creed history (second only to Odyssey’s Ancient Greece), and it’s eye candy all around. Birds hang low in the distance as they glide over the masts of galleons and warships in the distance; turquoise waves crash against sun-kissed beaches, and explosions of green paint lush jungles while traces of hidden Mayan treasures and architecture ever so slightly peak out from the vegetation; blue-gray clouds bring raptures of rain that legitimately lowers visibility on the sea, but the golden sun behind them soon breaks through, and protagonist Edward Kenway, crewmate Stede Bonnet, and our crew begin singing one of the new shanties Ubisoft has added to this remake. Rose-tinted glasses often distort old memories, but Black Flag Resynced is what I’ve always seen in my head when I reminisce on this 2013 adventure – in that sense, this is a remake done right. 

Edward is still a hulking, formidable presence compared to his Assassin counterparts. However, modernized controls have finally given him a combat system that reflects that. Instead of waiting and countering a dozen enemies who, for some reason, choose to attack one by one instead of all at once, I take control of the scene with Edward’s new action-heavy attacks. I’m sure some players will bemoan the addition of a parry, but it’s a welcome one, though its explosive sound queue could be tuned down. Using Edward’s sword, pistols, leg sweeps, and kicks let me fight back with the rigor of a pirate rather than the bones of every other Assassin’s Creed protagonist of this time, and it’s perhaps my favorite update in the remake. This extends to the parkour, too, which borrows the latest advancements in Ubisoft’s tech to bring Edward’s aging 2013 moves in line with last year’s feudal Japanese Assassin’s Creed Shadows. 

The overall gameplay experience, with its reworked action, vibrant, updated visuals, and re-recorded voice lines, is a treat and an excellent proof of concept for Ubisoft’s first-ever remake. I’m cautiously optimistic about the complete package, as tweaks to the modern-day story and the new endgame missions that add to Edward’s already-complete narrative remain to be seen. Still, I’m already confident Black Flag Resynced will replace the original game’s icon on my desktop this July. 

Reviewed on:
PlayStation 5

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Publisher:
Atari

Developer:
Fabraz

Release:
May 22, 2026

Rating:
Everyone

There is apparently a storied and infamous history to the Bubsy series, but I know little of it. And after enduring Bubsy 4D, a modern platforming take on the orange and obnoxious bobcat, I have no desire to learn of it. Bubsy 4D features a passable platformer style built upon comboing from one move to the next. I rarely felt the tight control I wanted over the mascot character, and it’s held back by repetitive and bland level design. That this platforming is placed within a nonsensical world with threadbare characters and villains, an unsightly visual style, and terrible writing doesn’t help. Six hours of Bubsy 4D felt like an eternity – if only I could travel through the fourth dimension to get my time back. 

The Woolies return in Bubsy 4D, capturing the sheepish BaaBots in an effort to gain more power. The BaaBots revolt, gain control, and steal Bubsy’s Golden Fleece, sending the titular character off on a collectathon adventure to find yarn, scrolls, and more. The leftover Woolies pose zero threat, and attacking them is a chore due to Bubsy 4D’s poor targeting; the BaaBots pose a slightly bigger threat, thanks to projectiles they fire, but still feel like a chore to defeat. There are only a couple of different BaaBots and Woolies, exacerbating the combat’s quickly earned staleness. Boss fights, which cap off the three five-stage worlds, present more of a challenge, but I was still playing Bubsy 4D, meaning the ceiling of fun remained claustrophobic. 

Combat, though, is an admittedly small slice of Bubsy’s adventure. The majority of Bubsy 4D tasks you with reaching the end of ludicrously designed levels – you’ll roll through pipes that string areas together, climb atop floating platforms and walls, and dodge desultory hazards in doing so. Finding the 150 yarn balls in each, which can be used to purchase a decent slew of costumes, and the hidden blueprint scroll, which is used to purchase upgrades and new abilities, are optional diversions. I took them on hoping to find fun, but these only compounded my frustrations. Some decent platformer bones exist here with a long-jump pounce, double jump, and a glide that can be used to create distance-gaining combos, but there’s no joy to be found in the staging of each level.

Random buildings, vehicles, and pedestrians hint that these planets might be home to civilization, but muddy visuals, a wonky camera, and bizarre obstacle progression make it hard to focus on any of the surrounding environment. Even the color palette of Bubsy 4D feels like an affront to my eyes. Moments of genuine fun tried hard to break through the paper-thin framework with which Bubsy must exist in here in Bubsy 4D, like in sequences where I climbed towers high into the sky, utilizing my entire platformer toolkit to ascend, but for most of the runtime, it felt like developer Fabraz’s efforts were working against me, not with me. 

There is voice acting, though it’s deployed poorly and randomly, and wasted on terrible writing void of humor, drama, tension, or anything worthwhile, really. These characters, which include Terry and Terri, Bubsy’s annoying nephew and niece, Virgil Reality, a scientist who feels as embarrassed about his association with Bubsy as I was, and Oblivia, whom Bubsy wants to impress but simply cannot, add zero to Bubsy 4D. Remove them, and nothing would change. 

I’ve heard little about Bubsy in my life, but what little I have heard hasn’t been great. In that sense, Bubsy 4D is a return to form; it’s bad, and perhaps fans will find fun in placing this game in Bubsy’s timeline of infamy. If Bubsy 4D is an attempt to bring new players to this 33-year-old franchise, though, its poor level design, characterization, and platforming will ensure it won’t.

Score:
4

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