Month: August 2026

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

Publisher:
Capcom

Developer:
Capcom

Release:
2027

Since its announcement, Capcom has made it fairly clear that despite the Dual Override subtitle, this entry in the Mega Man series is not a spin-off. It is a mainline Mega Man game despite being the first to not end in a number, but I wanted to be completely sure. “Yes, that is correct. This is part of the mainline Mega Man series,” producer Hiroyuki Minamitani (who says Zero is his favorite Mega Man game) told me during an interview following some hands on with the game at Gamescom.

Mega Man series producer, Shingo Izumi (Star Force: Leo/Dragon/Pegasus is his favorite Mega Man game) says that it really comes down to making sure new players who maybe discovered Mega Man through Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Fortnite (or maybe even the recently released Pragmata skins) aren’t intimidated by history. “As the number increases over time, certain players who have never had a chance to play past Mega Man games may feel some sort of resistance as we feel many new players will be joining in with Dual Override,” Minamitani says. “We felt that we want the title to be more approachable for that audience, as well. So, the title is a combination of the main title and the subtitle, as well. […] We have hope that people introduced to Mega Man outside of Mega Man games will hopefully give Dual Override a shot now that they’re familiar with the character.”

From left to right, Dual Override producer Hiroyuki Minamitani, director Shinya Ikuta, and Mega Man series producer Shingo Izumi

That effort to welcome new players to a mainline Mega Man game seems to extend to the story, as well. Mega Man has never had a complicated story, but it has maintained a canon of sorts across its 11 games. I don’t think we can expect any unexpected narrative revelations. “The Dual Override story kind of stands alone within the entire canon. I don’t think there is a chronological aspect to it, but it is a standalone story that fits within the overall Mega Man world without having to play the others,” Minamitani says. It will have plenty of callbacks and references to past games, though, as it is intended to be a celebration of Mega Man’s 40^th anniversary.

One of the ways this manifests is in a new structure. I played through three stages leading up to a final conformation with Twinkle Girl – a first for a Mega Man game – and each of those three stages featured a boss. The second stage boss was Astro Man R, which Mega Man even commented before the fight started that they made a copy of him. Astro Man was a boss in Mega Man 8.

“If you have played other Mega Man titles in the past you might notice that as you progress through the stage, things become more and more challenging as you get further along to the end of the stage,” director Shinya Ikuta (Mega Man 2 is his favorite) says. “That’s when you feel that sense of accomplishment for defeating the boss. For this title we wanted to provide more segmented senses of accomplishment so you feel that after you defeat the boss at the end of that particular area within the entire robot master stage.”

The intention is effective as I did, in fact, feel accomplished as I made it through each of the difficult (but not too difficult) stages, each being shorter than the typical Mega Man level, but each still full of pattern recognition and combat challenges. It also just means more room for more bosses in general. “Yeah, exactly. That creates an opportunity to include more than just the brand new bosses. There is an opportunity for returning bosses, going back to the decision of, what can we do to celebrate the 40^th anniversary,” director Ikuta says.

Among the bosses I played, I had the most trouble with Twinkle Girl, an exuberant performer who fires off exploding fireworks as a main attack, but does plenty of moving and dashing which also must be avoided.

The titular Dual Override ability allows players to build up a meter to activate some limited, extra firepower. I had it set to activate automatically when I reached a certain low health threshold, which I liked. It gave me a “one last shot!” feeling without reducing the challenge too much. Even if you’re shooting stronger blaster shots, your health is still low, so you still need to play defensively. In Dual Override mode, if you can charge your weapon up enough, you also can fire an even more powerful shot. I appreciated the Dual Override mode and definitely see myself activating it basically whenever it is available. I also appreciate that the flashy cutscene that plays when you activate it can be skipped.

I enjoy the core Mega Man games, and I walked away from Dual Override eager to see the rest and what kinds of new bosses it will offer. But my heart will always belong to Mega Man X. The last time we received a new mainline Mega Man X game was X8 in 2004. Mega Man may be celebrating 40 years, but I am commiserating 22 years of no proper new Mega Man X games.

“From my perspective, yes, that is something we would definitely love to visit,” series producer Izumi says when I ask not if one is being worked on or if there is anything to tease, but rather, if a new X game is something he would be open to at least considering. “Mega Man X is an important series within the Mega Man brand. We definitely value that series, and if there is a chance, we would always love to consider that.”

I am relieved that it’s finally time for the weekend, because I desperately need to unwind on the couch with some video games. It’s been an exciting (but very busy) week over here at Game Informer. We finally launched international print subscriptions, meaning you can get physical issues of our magazine in 40 new countries. We also launched a Game Informer app on iOS and Android, and we’ve got plans for updates over the coming weeks to add new features and smooth out any rough edges. Yesterday, Rockstar revealed the first official look at Grand Theft Auto VI, and it’s shaping up to be as huge as we expected. But most of all, it’s the week of Gamescom: most of our editorial team is overseas in Germany running the official Game Informer booths, mingling with games industry folks from around the world, and taking lots of appointments to see games. We saw The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past, Control Resonant, and more: you can see the whole rundown of our most notable demos here.

It’s a lot, but luckily for us, there’s an easy solution for the fatigue of a busy work week: video games. Here’s what you should be playing this weekend.

Blood Dungeon

The simplest way to explain Blood Dungeon is “Vampire Survivors with jumping,” though that’s a bit reductive. This roguelike bullet heaven adds platforming into the genre’s signature power crawl, and has you hop your way through the chaotic titular dungeon. That said, it’s definitely a bit of an acquired taste – the art style is intentionally crude, and our reviewer Kyle Hilliard didn’t love that, for example, he couldn’t get a fart cloud upgrade without hearing a barrage of flatulent sounds during his run. Still, for some of you, details like that are all you need to pull the trigger and pick the game up, so to each their own.

Here’s a quote from our review:

Blood Dungeon is clearly born from Vampire Survivors’ undeniable loop and sense of progression, but developer Messhof addresses arguably the primary shortcoming of the 2022 Bullet Heaven game (I think that’s what we’ve agreed to call these, right?): movement. Moving in Blood Dungeon is fun and it sets the game apart within the genre and demands enjoyable skill from the player, but some balance annoyances keep the game from soaring.

You can read reviewer Kyle Hilliard’s full thoughts here.

Star Wars Zero Company

“XCOM meets Star Wars” is such a solid premise that I knew I’d be sold on Zero Company from the moment it was announced, and now that I’ve started playing it, it’s everything I hoped it would be. It’s set during the Clone Wars (between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) and follows a ragtag group of fighters as they track down a dangerous cult called The Coil. Our reviewer, guest contributor James Galizio, didn’t love the story, but said the excellent tactics gameplay mostly makes up for the narrative faults. 

Here’s a quote from our review:

Developer Bit Reactor largely succeeds at what it sets out to do, and if you’re a fan of either Star Wars or XCOM it’s an easy recommendation, even if I wish the story had just a bit more juice. If you’re looking for a sci-fi tactics fix, Zero Company delivers the goods.

You can read reviewer James Galizio’s full thoughts right here.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

This game is technically a spin-off of the other two Plague Tale games, and while fans of the series will find plenty of this setting familiar, Resonance is easily enjoyed as a standalone game. It’s a prequel about a supporting character, so you don’t need to go in with prior knowledge. Ultimately, we think it works very well as an action-adventure title in the vein of an Uncharted or Tomb Raider, and the protagonist Sophia is fun to fight as and makes for a great protagonist.

Here’s a quote from our review:

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy borrows from many games. There are puzzles with Tomb Raider flavors; like Nathan Drake, Sophia has never known the comfort of a stable platform; and the combat and ties to Greek mythology recall games like God of War. What’s impressive here is how well Asobo Studio executes those familiar genre staples and delivers a moving story starring a charismatic pirate on what may be the most impactful and tragic adventure of her life.

You can read reviewer Kyle Hilliard’s full thoughts here.

Scott Pilgrim EX

Scott Pilgrim EX came out a few months ago, but we got the pleasantly surprising news this week that it was getting DLC and a free update – and they’re both already out. The DLC adds Stephen Stills, Kim Pine, and my personal favorite, Knives Chau as playable characters, while the free update adds an Arcade Mode you can use to replay the campaign with scores and limited lives. The game is also on sale at the time of writing, so it’s a perfect excuse to check the game out if you’re interested. For more, you can read our review.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition

This week, Elden Ring comes to the Nintendo Switch 2, meaning you can take one of the greatest games of all time on the go. Dubbed the Tarnished Edition, this version includes the base game, some new cosmetics and armor, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. That said, this is probably the worst way to play Elden Ring. The game is still amazing, but if you’re used to the performance of a PS5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC, the performance on Switch 2 is a noticeable downgrade. It’s far from unplayable, though, and if this is the first time you’ve owned a console that can play it, we can’t recommend it highly enough. Any other platform would likely give you a better experience, but at the end of the day, it’s still Elden Ring, a game we scored a 10/10.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has been trapped on the PS3, a console I don’t own, up until this week. Unlike the other games in the series, it hadn’t been ported or remade in any capacity, so it’s a big deal for it to finally make it to a newer platform as a part of the Master Collection Vol. 2. We’ll actually be playing through the game for our next Super Replay series, which is exciting for me, because I’ve never played these games before – I genuinely have no clue what happens in this one. Master Collection Vol. 2 also includes Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which has also not made it to modern consoles – though it did make the jump from PSP to Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2011’s Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.

I am relieved that it’s finally time for the weekend, because I desperately need to unwind on the couch with some video games. It’s been an exciting (but very busy) week over here at Game Informer. We finally launched international print subscriptions, meaning you can get physical issues of our magazine in 40 new countries. We also launched a Game Informer app on iOS and Android, and we’ve got plans for updates over the coming weeks to add new features and smooth out any rough edges. Yesterday, Rockstar revealed the first official look at Grand Theft Auto VI, and it’s shaping up to be as huge as we expected. But most of all, it’s the week of Gamescom: most of our editorial team is overseas in Germany running the official Game Informer booths, mingling with games industry folks from around the world, and taking lots of appointments to see games. We saw The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past, Control Resonant, and more: you can see the whole rundown of our most notable demos here.

It’s a lot, but luckily for us, there’s an easy solution for the fatigue of a busy work week: video games. Here’s what you should be playing this weekend.

Blood Dungeon

The simplest way to explain Blood Dungeon is “Vampire Survivors with jumping,” though that’s a bit reductive. This roguelike bullet heaven adds platforming into the genre’s signature power crawl, and has you hop your way through the chaotic titular dungeon. That said, it’s definitely a bit of an acquired taste – the art style is intentionally crude, and our reviewer Kyle Hilliard didn’t love that, for example, he couldn’t get a fart cloud upgrade without hearing a barrage of flatulent sounds during his run. Still, for some of you, details like that are all you need to pull the trigger and pick the game up, so to each their own.

Here’s a quote from our review:

Blood Dungeon is clearly born from Vampire Survivors’ undeniable loop and sense of progression, but developer Messhof addresses arguably the primary shortcoming of the 2022 Bullet Heaven game (I think that’s what we’ve agreed to call these, right?): movement. Moving in Blood Dungeon is fun and it sets the game apart within the genre and demands enjoyable skill from the player, but some balance annoyances keep the game from soaring.

You can read reviewer Kyle Hilliard’s full thoughts here.

Star Wars Zero Company

“XCOM meets Star Wars” is such a solid premise that I knew I’d be sold on Zero Company from the moment it was announced, and now that I’ve started playing it, it’s everything I hoped it would be. It’s set during the Clone Wars (between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) and follows a ragtag group of fighters as they track down a dangerous cult called The Coil. Our reviewer, guest contributor James Galizio, didn’t love the story, but said the excellent tactics gameplay mostly makes up for the narrative faults. 

Here’s a quote from our review:

Developer Bit Reactor largely succeeds at what it sets out to do, and if you’re a fan of either Star Wars or XCOM it’s an easy recommendation, even if I wish the story had just a bit more juice. If you’re looking for a sci-fi tactics fix, Zero Company delivers the goods.

You can read reviewer James Galizio’s full thoughts right here.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

This game is technically a spin-off of the other two Plague Tale games, and while fans of the series will find plenty of this setting familiar, Resonance is easily enjoyed as a standalone game. It’s a prequel about a supporting character, so you don’t need to go in with prior knowledge. Ultimately, we think it works very well as an action-adventure title in the vein of an Uncharted or Tomb Raider, and the protagonist Sophia is fun to fight as and makes for a great protagonist.

Here’s a quote from our review:

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy borrows from many games. There are puzzles with Tomb Raider flavors; like Nathan Drake, Sophia has never known the comfort of a stable platform; and the combat and ties to Greek mythology recall games like God of War. What’s impressive here is how well Asobo Studio executes those familiar genre staples and delivers a moving story starring a charismatic pirate on what may be the most impactful and tragic adventure of her life.

You can read reviewer Kyle Hilliard’s full thoughts here.

Scott Pilgrim EX

Scott Pilgrim EX came out a few months ago, but we got the pleasantly surprising news this week that it was getting DLC and a free update – and they’re both already out. The DLC adds Stephen Stills, Kim Pine, and my personal favorite, Knives Chau as playable characters, while the free update adds an Arcade Mode you can use to replay the campaign with scores and limited lives. The game is also on sale at the time of writing, so it’s a perfect excuse to check the game out if you’re interested. For more, you can read our review.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition

This week, Elden Ring comes to the Nintendo Switch 2, meaning you can take one of the greatest games of all time on the go. Dubbed the Tarnished Edition, this version includes the base game, some new cosmetics and armor, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. That said, this is probably the worst way to play Elden Ring. The game is still amazing, but if you’re used to the performance of a PS5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC, the performance on Switch 2 is a noticeable downgrade. It’s far from unplayable, though, and if this is the first time you’ve owned a console that can play it, we can’t recommend it highly enough. Any other platform would likely give you a better experience, but at the end of the day, it’s still Elden Ring, a game we scored a 10/10.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has been trapped on the PS3, a console I don’t own, up until this week. Unlike the other games in the series, it hadn’t been ported or remade in any capacity, so it’s a big deal for it to finally make it to a newer platform as a part of the Master Collection Vol. 2. We’ll actually be playing through the game for our next Super Replay series, which is exciting for me, because I’ve never played these games before – I genuinely have no clue what happens in this one. Master Collection Vol. 2 also includes Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which has also not made it to modern consoles – though it did make the jump from PSP to Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2011’s Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.

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

Publisher:
Xbox Game Studios

Developer:
Undead Labs

Release:
2027

Rating:
Mature

It’s been six years since State of Decay 3 was announced during a 2020 Xbox Games Showcase, and in the time since, the gaming landscape – as well as the company of its then-parent company, Xbox – has shifted dramatically. Not only has Xbox adjusted its business model and transitioned to a new leadership team, but we have seen the entirety of the Xbox Series X/S generation to this point play out in the time since the announcement. The debut trailer seemed to come and go with little substance beyond the 2020 trailer, and Xbox’s business woes became so dire that many worried State of Decay 3 would never see the light of day. Thankfully, I had the chance to not only watch a hands-off session with the developers at Undead Labs, but spend some time claiming some encampments, destroying a Plague Heart, and, of course, mowing down hordes of zombies.

Emergent storytelling is the name of the game with State of Decay. As you recruit survivors to beef up your encampment, you must ensure you have the resources and weaponry to help your group survive and defend its home, with continually evolving variables to account for at each and every step. As with State of Decay 2, you must carefully consider which survivors you bring on missions. For example, one character might be better in combat, while another is better in negotiations. But it’s never that simple; in my demo, one character had various combat-focused perks, but had a negative trait of being easily overwhelmed. You can evolve those negative traits by completing tasks associated with those negative traits – in this case, killing zombies in high-pressure situations – but it never fully goes away.

In State of Decay 3, moving around feels much better. This is never more evident than when driving a car; it’s clear Undead Labs worked hard to make vehicles feel better than in this game’s predecessor. And you’ll need it, as the Plague Hearts, epicenters of zombie infestations, now operate on networks, where a single Plague Heart has far-reaching effects. Now, if a Plague Heart is too strong for your current survivor squad, you can go clear out other, less intense areas within the network to weaken the central Heart. But don’t worry, even when we attempted a Plague Heart on the lowest severity with three people, it was still a pretty intense battle.

Though my gameplay session was entirely multiplayer, Undead Labs assures me that single-player remains a keen focus for the studio, despite hoping that people who typically play alone turn it into a more social experience. “Personally, I play the bejesus out of this in single-player, so that’s one of the ways in which I get a lot of validation that it’s still working,” executive producer Patrick Hooley says. “But our alpha [test] audience is a great proof point for it because we’re historically so single-player based. We wanted to bring those players in to experience our multiplayer and our single-player to make sure that we’re still going to be satisfying for that. For our hardcore audience that loves single-player, they’re saying ‘Yes, this is totally working,’ and we’re even getting some of those folks who are historically single-player heavy to dabble in multiplayer and have their perspectives shift and think like, ‘Oh, this might actually be the best way to play the game.'”

Perhaps most exciting to that end, Undead has implemented a new system letting you invite people to join your save file. Once you do this, they can jump in and play whether you’re there or not, sharing the world, as well as its characters. However, with choice, consequence, and permadeath serving as crucial components for the State of Decay franchise, you’d be wise to carefully consider who you invite to share your save file.

After being announced in 2020, State of Decay 3 went largely silent. However, in that time, Undead Labs has clearly been hard at work. Following the less-than-stellar launch of State of Decay 2, which Hooley describes to me as “the hair-on-fire, the ship’s-got-some-holes-in-it” phase, Undead focused on not only getting that game into a much better state, but applying lessons learned from that game’s lifecycle to ensure State of Decay 3 is in a much better place. And based on my hands-on time with the game, this early build is already more stable than State of Decay 2 was at launch.

“By pushing to a live audience as early as May of this year, that’s helped us get a little bit battle-hardened, and we’re going to get even more battle-hardened before we actually launch this thing,” Hooley says. “The single biggest lesson we learned is building the game with the community. State of Decay 2 had a little bit of a rocky launch, and now we’re very proud of where we got it to.”

And of course, it goes without saying that Undead Labs has gone through more stress this year than just ironing out bugs. Earlier this summer, the studio, which was acquired by Xbox in 2018, was reported to be on the chopping block for potential closure amid Xbox’s sweeping layoffs and cost-cutting measures. Thankfully for the studio and its fans, Undead was sold to an undisclosed new owner shortly after those reports, giving State of Decay 3 a new lease on life and a much higher chance of release. State of Decay 3 is scheduled to arrive in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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

Publisher:
Xbox Game Studios

Developer:
Undead Labs

Release:
2027

Rating:
Mature

It’s been six years since State of Decay 3 was announced during a 2020 Xbox Games Showcase, and in the time since, the gaming landscape – as well as the company of its then-parent company, Xbox – has shifted dramatically. Not only has Xbox adjusted its business model and transitioned to a new leadership team, but we have seen the entirety of the Xbox Series X/S generation to this point play out in the time since the announcement. The debut trailer seemed to come and go with little substance beyond the 2020 trailer, and Xbox’s business woes became so dire that many worried State of Decay 3 would never see the light of day. Thankfully, I had the chance to not only watch a hands-off session with the developers at Undead Labs, but spend some time claiming some encampments, destroying a Plague Heart, and, of course, mowing down hordes of zombies.

Emergent storytelling is the name of the game with State of Decay. As you recruit survivors to beef up your encampment, you must ensure you have the resources and weaponry to help your group survive and defend its home, with continually evolving variables to account for at each and every step. As with State of Decay 2, you must carefully consider which survivors you bring on missions. For example, one character might be better in combat, while another is better in negotiations. But it’s never that simple; in my demo, one character had various combat-focused perks, but had a negative trait of being easily overwhelmed. You can evolve those negative traits by completing tasks associated with those negative traits – in this case, killing zombies in high-pressure situations – but it never fully goes away.

In State of Decay 3, moving around feels much better. This is never more evident than when driving a car; it’s clear Undead Labs worked hard to make vehicles feel better than in this game’s predecessor. And you’ll need it, as the Plague Hearts, epicenters of zombie infestations, now operate on networks, where a single Plague Heart has far-reaching effects. Now, if a Plague Heart is too strong for your current survivor squad, you can go clear out other, less intense areas within the network to weaken the central Heart. But don’t worry, even when we attempted a Plague Heart on the lowest severity with three people, it was still a pretty intense battle.

Though my gameplay session was entirely multiplayer, Undead Labs assures me that single-player remains a keen focus for the studio, despite hoping that people who typically play alone turn it into a more social experience. “Personally, I play the bejesus out of this in single-player, so that’s one of the ways in which I get a lot of validation that it’s still working,” executive producer Patrick Hooley says. “But our alpha [test] audience is a great proof point for it because we’re historically so single-player based. We wanted to bring those players in to experience our multiplayer and our single-player to make sure that we’re still going to be satisfying for that. For our hardcore audience that loves single-player, they’re saying ‘Yes, this is totally working,’ and we’re even getting some of those folks who are historically single-player heavy to dabble in multiplayer and have their perspectives shift and think like, ‘Oh, this might actually be the best way to play the game.'”

Perhaps most exciting to that end, Undead has implemented a new system letting you invite people to join your save file. Once you do this, they can jump in and play whether you’re there or not, sharing the world, as well as its characters. However, with choice, consequence, and permadeath serving as crucial components for the State of Decay franchise, you’d be wise to carefully consider who you invite to share your save file.

After being announced in 2020, State of Decay 3 went largely silent. However, in that time, Undead Labs has clearly been hard at work. Following the less-than-stellar launch of State of Decay 2, which Hooley describes to me as “the hair-on-fire, the ship’s-got-some-holes-in-it” phase, Undead focused on not only getting that game into a much better state, but applying lessons learned from that game’s lifecycle to ensure State of Decay 3 is in a much better place. And based on my hands-on time with the game, this early build is already more stable than State of Decay 2 was at launch.

“By pushing to a live audience as early as May of this year, that’s helped us get a little bit battle-hardened, and we’re going to get even more battle-hardened before we actually launch this thing,” Hooley says. “The single biggest lesson we learned is building the game with the community. State of Decay 2 had a little bit of a rocky launch, and now we’re very proud of where we got it to.”

And of course, it goes without saying that Undead Labs has gone through more stress this year than just ironing out bugs. Earlier this summer, the studio, which was acquired by Xbox in 2018, was reported to be on the chopping block for potential closure amid Xbox’s sweeping layoffs and cost-cutting measures. Thankfully for the studio and its fans, Undead was sold to an undisclosed new owner shortly after those reports, giving State of Decay 3 a new lease on life and a much higher chance of release. State of Decay 3 is scheduled to arrive in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

In 2008, Kojima Productions released what was billed as the swan song for Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The game had the staggering task of tying up decades of storytelling by bringing together Solid Snake, Ocelot, Otacon, Raiden, and many more characters for one explosive finale. The adventure centers on a rapidly aging Solid Snake racing against the clock to stop his twin and nemesis, Liquid Snake, one last time. Of course, there are far more bizarre shenanigans at play. 

Guns of the Patriots was acclaimed for its storytelling, cinematic presentation, and evolution of the series’ stealth gameplay, namely the OctoCamo suit that allowed Snake to mimic the appearance/texture of any surface he touched. It is also one of the few games to score a rare 10/10 from Game Informer. Now, thanks to the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, we can finally revisit MGS 4 without dusting off a PlayStation 3. 

Join recent Metal Gear convert Charles Harte, who will be on the sticks to experience Guns of the Patriots (via the Master Collection Vol. 2) for the very first time, alongside long-time series fan Marcus Stewart, who is revisiting MGS 4 for the first time in over a decade. The stream kicks off today live on Twitch and YouTube starting at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET, and will continue each week until we roll credits. 

Episode 1 – Charles Goes in Blind

In 2008, Kojima Productions released what was billed as the swan song for Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The game had the staggering task of tying up decades of storytelling by bringing together Solid Snake, Ocelot, Otacon, Raiden, and many more characters for one explosive finale. The adventure centers on a rapidly aging Solid Snake racing against the clock to stop his twin and nemesis, Liquid Snake, one last time. Of course, there are far more bizarre shenanigans at play. 

Guns of the Patriots was acclaimed for its storytelling, cinematic presentation, and evolution of the series’ stealth gameplay, namely the OctoCamo suit that allowed Snake to mimic the appearance/texture of any surface he touched. It is also one of the few games to score a rare 10/10 from Game Informer. Now, thanks to the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, we can finally revisit MGS 4 without dusting off a PlayStation 3. 

Join recent Metal Gear convert Charles Harte, who will be on the sticks to experience Guns of the Patriots (via the Master Collection Vol. 2) for the very first time, alongside long-time series fan Marcus Stewart, who is revisiting MGS 4 for the first time in over a decade. The stream kicks off today live on Twitch and YouTube starting at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET, and will continue each week until we roll credits. 

Today, Rockstar finally raised the curtain on Grand Theft Auto VI, and we got our first good look at what the game will actually play like. While we saw footage of GTA staples like shootouts and police chases, anyone who’s played one of these massive open-world games knows that many of the most memorable moments are the optional side activities. Today’s trailer showed a lot of them, and while we don’t yet know if all of them are actually playable, we’ve gathered every activity we could spot in one article.

Racing

Grand Theft Auto is synonymous with driving recklessly, but it’s always fun to have the option to race in a more buttoned-up setting as well. In this brief clip, we see the player behind the wheel of a proper rally car on a proper race course.

Kayaking

Jason and Lucia can enjoy the waterways in kayaks, arguably the least-destructive vehicle in the game. The game’s setting of Leonida is a parody of Florida, so there are likely an abundant number of places for players to canoe.

Lifting Weights

We see Lucia hit the bench press in this minigame, which seems to have the player squeezing both of the triggers on a PlayStation 5 controller to lift and drop this barbell. We also saw Jason lifting weights in an earlier trailer, but this is the first confirmation that it’s a game mechanic in the vein of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

The Strip Club

Yes, you can make it rain in Grand Theft Auto VI. Jason and Lucia’s romantic relationship potentially could have called this element into question, but it looks like they’re at the club together in this clip.

Shooting Range

Lucia shoots automatic weapons and a pistol in this clip, training in what resembles a military facility. Whoever is playing as her has pretty good aim. We’re looking forward to seeing people speedrun these ranges.

Base Jumping/Parachuting

We don’t see any organized structure for this moment in the trailer, but it’s a fun returning mechanic, nonetheless.

Backyard Wrestling

Jason gets totally destroyed by his wrestling opponent in this clip, but hopefully players will have more luck in the ring once they get their hands on the controller.

Off-Road Racing

Lucia speeds around a corner on a dirt bike in this shot, where she competes against other bikes, ATVs, and even a car, by the looks of it.

Watching TV

This one is admittedly a bit of a guess, but Rockstar shows off two distinct parody commercials in a moment when Jason hangs out on the couch and waits for his girlfriend to get ready. 

Basketball

Jason makes a great shot when we see him playing basketball, though it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to face off against any opponents when he plays.

Scuba Diving

GTA VI doesn’t just have swimming, it has full on scuba diving, and this clip shows one of the protagonists exploring some kind of underwater cave area.

Airboating

This is an airboat, which is a vehicle that I’m admittedly unfamiliar with, since I grew up in the suburbs of Ohio. It seems to be a great way to navigate Leonida’s Everglades parody, though, and Jason seems comfortable piloting it.

Jet Skiing

This scenic sunset jet ski race is a great use of GTA VI’s setting. I assume it’s a race, anyways – there’s no UI to indicate as such, but Lucia is trailing behind two other jet skiers as they rocket around a bend.

Which side activity are you most excited for in GTA VI? Let us know in the comments!

Today, Rockstar finally raised the curtain on Grand Theft Auto VI, and we got our first good look at what the game will actually play like. While we saw footage of GTA staples like shootouts and police chases, anyone who’s played one of these massive open-world games knows that many of the most memorable moments are the optional side activities. Today’s trailer showed a lot of them, and while we don’t yet know if all of them are actually playable, we’ve gathered every activity we could spot in one article.

Racing

Grand Theft Auto is synonymous with driving recklessly, but it’s always fun to have the option to race in a more buttoned-up setting as well. In this brief clip, we see the player behind the wheel of a proper rally car on a proper race course.

Kayaking

Jason and Lucia can enjoy the waterways in kayaks, arguably the least-destructive vehicle in the game. The game’s setting of Leonida is a parody of Florida, so there are likely an abundant number of places for players to canoe.

Lifting Weights

We see Lucia hit the bench press in this minigame, which seems to have the player squeezing both of the triggers on a PlayStation 5 controller to lift and drop this barbell. We also saw Jason lifting weights in an earlier trailer, but this is the first confirmation that it’s a game mechanic in the vein of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

The Strip Club

Yes, you can make it rain in Grand Theft Auto VI. Jason and Lucia’s romantic relationship potentially could have called this element into question, but it looks like they’re at the club together in this clip.

Shooting Range

Lucia shoots automatic weapons and a pistol in this clip, training in what resembles a military facility. Whoever is playing as her has pretty good aim. We’re looking forward to seeing people speedrun these ranges.

Base Jumping/Parachuting

We don’t see any organized structure for this moment in the trailer, but it’s a fun returning mechanic, nonetheless.

Backyard Wrestling

Jason gets totally destroyed by his wrestling opponent in this clip, but hopefully players will have more luck in the ring once they get their hands on the controller.

Off-Road Racing

Lucia speeds around a corner on a dirt bike in this shot, where she competes against other bikes, ATVs, and even a car, by the looks of it.

Watching TV

This one is admittedly a bit of a guess, but Rockstar shows off two distinct parody commercials in a moment when Jason hangs out on the couch and waits for his girlfriend to get ready. 

Basketball

Jason makes a great shot when we see him playing basketball, though it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to face off against any opponents when he plays.

Scuba Diving

GTA VI doesn’t just have swimming, it has full on scuba diving, and this clip shows one of the protagonists exploring some kind of underwater cave area.

Airboating

This is an airboat, which is a vehicle that I’m admittedly unfamiliar with, since I grew up in the suburbs of Ohio. It seems to be a great way to navigate Leonida’s Everglades parody, though, and Jason seems comfortable piloting it.

Jet Skiing

This scenic sunset jet ski race is a great use of GTA VI’s setting. I assume it’s a race, anyways – there’s no UI to indicate as such, but Lucia is trailing behind two other jet skiers as they rocket around a bend.

Which side activity are you most excited for in GTA VI? Let us know in the comments!

Rockstar’s first extended look at gameplay for Grand Theft Auto VI aired exclusively on Netflix this afternoon, giving subscribers the first glance at moment-to-moment action as well as plenty of story cinematics. If you don’t have a Netflix subscription and can’t wait until the footage is uploaded to Rockstar’s YouTube channel at 9 p.m. ET tonight, here’s a summary of what this extended look had to offer. 

Instead of presenting this footage, which Rockstar billed as being captured on PlayStation 5, as a guided trailer breaking down Grand Theft Auto VI’s gameplay, the video is essentially a very long trailer featuring a montage of different story missions and open-world moments. The presentation largely focuses on the various criminal jobs undertaken by dual protagonists and romantic couple Jason and Lucia. You can switch between controlling both characters, and the first mission shown depicts the pair visiting an apartment building to pick up goods from a drug dealer on behalf of music mogul and entrepreneur Boobie Ike. This deal goes sour as someone close to the operation betrays them to the police, triggering a massive shootout with the invading officers. This sequence shows some of GTA VI’s gunplay, with Jason blasting through targets using firearms such as an assault rifle and shotgun from behind cover as the AI-controlled Lucia provides covering fire.

Another segment shows Lucia and Jason at home getting dolled up for a meeting, giving us a glimpse at smaller interactions such as choosing beers, prompting Lucia to hurry up, while the living room TV plays humorous commercials such as a parody of Arby’s. Once they depart, Jason and Lucia meet their boss and primary mission giver, Brian Heder, and his wife, Lori, on a rooftop bar to discuss taking on a new job. Footage of the pair driving to this meeting provides an in-game look at the contemporary Vice City setting, which, speaking as a lifelong Floridian who has visited Miami many times, looks spot-on; I especially enjoyed seeing Rockstar recreate Miami’s congested, twisting highway roads that weave around high-rise apartments and other buildings. The UI is minimal, but similar to previous GTA games, though the mini-map appears to render buildings as 3D models.

The next mission sees Jason and Lucia serve as a getaway driver for career bank robber Raul Bautista. This appears to be the pair’s first meeting with Bautista, who barks orders from the backseat as Lucia, behind the wheel, must flee incoming cop cars. Bautista orders Jason to the backseat with him, showing off a sequence with Jason using an assault rifle to pepper police cars and helicopters with bullets (with a 4-star wanted rating visible on screen). Police cars flip over and careen into buildings thanks to Jason’s sharpshooting, and the chaotic chase ends when the pair lose the heat long enough to switch vehicles. Lucia torches their original car using a Molotov selected from a weapon wheel to eliminate any evidence. Once the three reach their destination in their new, more inconspicuous van, Batista pays the two, seemingly kicking off the first of what will likely be a long working relationship between the three.

The final mission shown sees Jason and Lucia hired as security for a wealthy and enthusiastic mogul named Andrés. He’s arrived in Vice City to attend the lavish opening of the first American headquarters for a Spanish-language media company called Megamundo (likely GTA VI’s version of the real-world Miami-based network Telemundo). As Andrés retreats to a “private business meeting” upstairs, Lucia is posted at the event itself. The scene cuts to Jason heading up to retrieve Andrés for a speech, only to find him doing drugs with his friends and refusing to come down. In a scene reminiscent of Die Hard, armed goons suddenly storm the skyscraper, taking hostages and looking for money. Lucia and Jason, separated by several floors, engage in various fights to protect their client and themselves. A gunfight in this section shows off a slow-motion feature for gunplay, though it’s unclear if this is a cinematic or gameplay feature. 

Between these major segments, Rockstar showed off clips of various open-world activities. These include fishing, kayaking, base jumping, scuba diving, jetskiing, airboating, and even backyard wrestling. We also saw clips of various types of racing, such as dirt bike, nighttime street racing, and even stock car challenges). The video also highlighted silly moments. At one point, Lucia unknowingly steals a car with an influencer in the trunk. Turns out he’s livestreaming a “lock yourself in a trunk” challenge, and the following police chase sees him broadcasting the entire chase, complete with a live chat on screen. 

Grand Theft Auto VI looks unsurprisingly wild and impressive in this footage, though it remains to be seen what new features it brings to the table just yet. Rockstar has yet to plainly detail the game’s features, leaving it up to fans to inspect its footage to point out mechanics or postulate the broader implications of any given scene. Unless Rockstar plans to do this in the next few weeks, fans may have to find out for themselves when Grand Theft Auto VI launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19. You can learn more about today’s trailer in this separate feature where we identify every potential side activity shown in the footage.