Developer Trigger Happy Interactive released its first-person horror game Total Chaos last year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and it became one of my favorite horror games of 2025. The game was great at launch, made even better with a New Game+ update that arrived earlier this year with a brand-new finale alongside a Switch 2 version, and now, thanks to an upcoming “Retro Mode” update, is set to get even more tantalizing.
Publisher Apogee Entertainment revealed on Bluesky today that Retro Mode will bring pixelated visuals, low-poly horrors, and yet another new ending to Total Chaos. This horror game began as a total conversion mod of Doom II, and Apogee says this new ending is inspired by those Doom II origins. You can see an example of the Retro Mode look in the header image at the top of this article, but here’s another look below:
The game is set within the corridors, hallways, cliffs, and bunkers of an isolated and desolate mining town run amok by a rotting disease that has infected both the protagonist’s mind and the once-citizens of this place. Using first-person combat, a constantly expanding crafting system, and environmental puzzle-solving, Trigger Happy Interactive crafted an excellent horror adventure well worth the price of admission and the dozen or so hours of runtime.
You can read more about why in Game Informer’s Total Chaos review. There’s no word on when Retro Mode will arrive in Total Chaos, but Apogee Entertainment says it’s coming soon. In the meantime, read my dissection of the game’s themes and how they intersect with hating cancer, cutthroat catharsis, and more.
Total Chaos is available today on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Have you played Total Chaos? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!
Square Enix has surprise-released a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Star Ocean: The Second Story R, its sci-fi RPG that launched on Switch (and PlayStation and PC) in 2023. This Switch 2 version boasts 1080p resolution, both docked and in handheld mode, with a 60 FPS frame rate, making it a big improvement over the significantly lower resolution and 30 FPS frame rate of the Switch version. But, this edition comes with the usual Square Enix caveats.
Similar to the Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II Switch 2 editions announced earlier this week, anyone who wants to play this Star Ocean remake on Switch 2 will have to pay $49.99; there is no upgrade path for owners of the Switch 1 version, and your save data does not transfer. It’s another step down this disappointing trend for Square Enix, which expects players to fork over more money to play a game they already own on a new system – the company doesn’t even opt for low-cost upgrade paths, something even Nintendo itself does with games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and more. Maybe Square Enix is seeing enough purchases to justify it, but it’s not a player-friendly practice either way.
Check out the Star Ocean: The Second Story R Nintendo Switch 2 edition trailer below:
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a remake of the original Star Ocean: The Second Story, which launched on PlayStation in the U.S. in 1999. It’s about a Federation officer named Claude C. Kenny who is mysteriously transported to a mystical planet. There, he searches for a way home but is drawn into a quest to save the planet by a young girl who lives there, becoming wrapped up in an ancient prophecy in the process.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch 2, Switch, and PC.
[Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove mention of Star Ocean: The Second Story R being an HD-2D game, as that is incorrect]
How do you feel about the way Square Enix handles Switch 2 re-releases? Let us know in the comments below!
Dragon’s Dogma 2, which launched in 2024 to positive critical reception, is coming back later this year as Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, adding a new region to the game and bringing it to Switch 2. However, fans of the series (or, honestly, anyone who’s even heard the titles of the games in the series) might notice that it’s the same subtitle given to a similar expanded version of the first Dragon’s Dogma game. When I asked producer Naoto Oyama why they went with the same name, he said they actually didn’t plan it from the start.
“We decided on this title after finalizing the ideas of the content we were creating.” Oyama said. “So it wasn’t title first and context next. First, we decided on the content, and then decided the name. And there [were] three main reasons for the subtitle ‘Dark Arisen.’ First, it has strong affinity with the story that unfolds in the Norgan area.” According to the Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen website, the story kicks off when a cursed dragon comes back to life, and “Almost as if in response to the call, another Arisen appears.” There will literally be a Dark Arisen in Dark Arisen, so that part seems like a given.
Next, Oyama said, “And second, the presence of the loop-based gameplay cycle, similar to the original Dark Arisen. […] You can do a dungeon crawler on the Bitterblack Isle in the original Dark Arisen, but in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, you have that new Relic Exhibition Cycle in the open field.” While they didn’t provide much new information, the developers spent a good amount of time in this interview emphasizing this relic system’s significance, . It seems like players will be devoting a lot of time to collecting new, rare pieces of equipment to progress in this new region.
Lastly, Oyama’s third reason is the most obvious, but worth acknowledging. “[Finally, we] chose a familiar name because it was the easiest way to convey to everyone what kind of new elements will be added and players can expect.”
Last November, PlayStation unveiled Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble, a new mobile hero shooter take on Insomniac Games’ flagship franchise. After soft-launching in various non-US regions over the last few months, a new blog post reveals more details about the game ahead of its yet-to-be-revealed global launch.
Developed by Oh Bibi in collaboration with Insomniac, Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble is a free-to-play multiplayer hero shooter coming to iOS and Android. The game takes place inside a combat simulation created by Captain Qwark to train new Galactic Ranger recruits. Players control a roster of 12 heroes (with more to come post-launch) that, while featuring Ratchet and Clank and other recognizable faces, largely consist of new characters. This includes robots, aliens, and even Lombaxes from other dimensions like Widget, a spunky investigative journalist, and Mopz, a mopey street gang member.
Ranger Rumble’s bread and butter are its PvP arena battles (featuring “dynamic PvE elements”) where players team up to blast competitors apart using the series’ signature wacky weaponry. The blog post reveals the game will have six game modes at launch that promote PvP and PvE play. Modes include a take on battle royale and a soccer-inspired contest.
“Staying true to the series has been at the heart of the project from day one,” writes Oh Bibi chief executive officer Stanislas Dewavrin in the blog post. “The signature humor, beloved characters, and gloriously inventive weaponry that have defined Ratchet & Clank for over two decades are all here, reimagined for fast-paced battles built specifically for mobile, with new characters and weapons to discover.
There’s no release window for Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble’s global launch, but players can pre-register to play on its website now to receive exclusive rewards.
To read about other PlayStation franchises spinning out into multiplayer titles, check out the reveal of Horizon Hunters Gathering.
The game centers on former superhero Robert Robertson (played by Aaron Paul), who becomes a dispatcher for a dysfunctional team of reformed villains. The narrative-focused game features choice-driven conversations that steer the plot down different paths, while dispatching heroes to handle a multitude of disasters unfolds as a light take on turn-based strategy. To celebrate the news, developer AdHoc Studio released a new trailer that teases some of the superhero adventures and dispatching drama that await Xbox players in the game. Check it out below:
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is a new gameplay expansion coming later this year, but developer Capcom is preceding that new content with some major free updates for the base game. At launch, many (including Game Informer, as you can see in our review) praised the game for its fun combat and friction-focused world, but it was also met with its fair share of criticism. Some were frustrated that fast travel was limited (though I personally loved it), largely locked behind a rare resource that you could also purchase with real-world money, and others lamented the game’s choppy performance, particularly on PC. After speaking with Dark Arisen game director Kento Kinoshita and producer Naoto Oyama, it sounds like Capcom heard the complaints and is aiming to address them.
Prior to the DLC, Capcom released a major title update for the game, and has another planned for August. The most recent update adds an Eternal Ferrystone item to the game, allowing players to fast travel at will, but Oyama says the developers don’t intend for it to compromise the game’s original design. “The Eternal Ferrystone [provides] an option for players to play the game more casually,” he says through a translator. “So [we’re] really focused on not trying to compromise the core enjoyment of the original game.”
Regarding balancing friction and accessibility, Kinoshita adds, “Rather than having a certain [balance] between those two, it’s more that we added an option to enjoy the game more […] Exploring on foot – that is still an enjoyable option. But doing that multiple times, maybe some people might get fatigued, and they’ll be like, ‘Hey, I want to just do fast travel,’ and then we have that Ferrystone. So, it’s just as an option. But if you find traveling on foot is enjoyable, then [you] can continue traveling by foot”
Kinoshita also says Capcom’s adjustments to the Dragonsplague system, which will come in the August update, doesn’t ease the negatives of the disease (note: they did that a few weeks after the game launched), but it makes the benefits more apparent. “We’re not easing the penalty here,” he says. “Dragonsplague will happen at the same rate.” Later on, he adds, “We made that Dragonsplague system more clear. Even in the base game, before the title updates, the afflicted pawn got stronger, but it wasn’t clear that they got stronger. But by the title updates, it will be more clearly reflected to the stats, so people will able to notice that the Dragonsplague is making their pawns stronger. So they can enjoy the risk/reward dynamics there in a clearer way.”
For context, Capcom is technically correct that it’s not easing any penalties, but it’s certainly making those penalties easier to avoid. The details for the August update, which are already publicly available, includes the note that Dragonsplague will be curable with a new item, and includes a list of buffs that afflicted pawns will receive, like staggering large enemies and fighting small ones without losing stamina.
Elden Ring developer revealed during a June Nintendo Direct that its upcoming Switch 2 exclusive action game, The Duskbloods, would be getting a closed network test sometime this Summer. Now, the studio has revealed the test will take place next month, from August 21 through August 23. Applications to take part in the test will open up next week on July 22, and you will have until July 28 to complete the registration.
A network test like this isn’t uncommon for From Software, which also held one for Elden Ring, and considering The Duskbloods is a PvPvE experience, it makes sense that the Tokyo-based studio wants to test online play and connectivity ahead of the game’s eventual launch. Speaking of launch, there’s still no release date for The Duskbloods, but it is set to launch sometime this year.
From Software says the primary goals of this network test are as follows:
Game server load test: We will connect large numbers of players simultaneously to verify gameplay while putting a load on the game server.
Multiplayer test: We will test for various problems that may occur when multiple people play together in different network environments, and various phenomena that may occur by having many users participate.
Game balance test: When real players test the game together, the developers can gather data about how well the game is balanced.
From Software says this network test allows for “up to eight players to participate together in each of the multiplayer matches while the game is still in development,” and asks for understanding that bugs may occur during gameplay as a result.
In order to take part in the test, you must apply next week, be accepted, have a Nintendo Switch, and have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership. The application period starts on Wednesday, July 22, at 7 a.m. PT and lasts until Tuesday, July 28, at 6:59 a.m. PT. The selection announcement will happen on Friday, August 7, at 6 a.m. PT. The network test schedule is listed below:
Infinity Ward has revealed a new competitive destination for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 called Kill Block. Described as an “adaptive multiplayer battleground” the mode pits players against each other across modular, constantly shifting maps.
In a blog post, Kill Block is billed as “a modular multiplayer battleground that reconfigures every match, challenging players to rethink routes, sightlines, and combat spaces on the fly.” The name Kill Block is actually a codename for the West Bridge Advanced Military Training facility, an off-the-books location designed as a live-fire training environment. Kill Block consists of two sectional outer areas called End Slabs and a single central combat space called the Central Slab, which can be reconfigured into various positions to create “hundreds of unique layout combinations that reshape combat flow.”
Slabs are essentially sections of mocked-up environments modeled after a mix of classic Modern Warfare locations and entirely new ones, and they shift between multiplayer matches and between Gunfight rounds. As such, elements such as cover placement and line of sight routinely change. Infinity Ward touts that Kill Block will feature over 500 possible configurations when Modern Warfare 4 launches.
Each match is fought across a selection of three connected Slabs, called a Combo (basically a map), which Infinity Ward states will have roughly the same footprint size as the Shoot House map from 2019’s Modern Warfare. The two End Slabs bookend the map, with teams spawning there and fighting their way towards the Central Slab in the middle, though players can freely explore all three Slabs. Additionally, Slabs will feature simulated weather conditions such as misting water or snow flurries that challenge visibility.
Infinity Ward’s press release features some example Slabs:
[ Ambush ] // Central Slab: A slice of the classic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, this training facsimile features a convoy-clogged main road with blown-out pre-fab buildings either side, with plenty of elevated sniper nests that look across the adjacent End Slabs.
[ Blacksite ] // End Slab: Three prefabricated structures are positioned around the slab with open access between each of them, with mud and grass thoroughfare, a rusted van, open cargo container, and stacked military gabions as well as concrete barrier stacks to tactically maneuver between.
[ Killhouse ] // End Slab: A section of the seminal Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, with a similar aesthetic, with gabions placed at corners of prefab walls, some with gaps to climb over, with a central kill box in the middle, and smaller scenic cover opportunities along the far edge of the Slab.
[ ME-Town ] // Central Slab: A kill box dirt courtyard surrounded by four prefabricated structures, roughly in each corner, some with significant interior and roof top space available for long-range overwatch coverage. The main turquoise building is a warren of tight rooms and scramble points constructed with mobility training in mind.
[ Snow Block ] // End Slab: A maze of stacked gabion walls of varying lengths, along with tactically positioned open cargo containers and other concrete blocks. Operators must weigh the benefits of overwatching from the top of these fortifications, as your line sights improve at the expense of cover.
[ Trench ] // Central Slab: A no-man’s land of sunken mud walls and pill boxes with sandbags, tires, and wooden trusses keeping the dirt trenches from collapsing. The action is particularly fraught in the exposed middle with concrete barriers, and a burned tank offer a modicum of protection and sight lines.
Kill Block will also launch with new Gunfight options, both 3v3 and a new 10v10 mode. For Kill Block Gunfight matches, teams switch sides after the first round; at the end of the second round, the Slabs change to a new map configuration and players receive a new random loadout. The Slab combos will continue to change every two rounds until one team wins in six rounds.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. To learn more about the game, read about its DMZ extraction shooter mode.
Denshattack is the best post-apocalyptic stunt train driving action sports simulator anime ever created. I haven’t done the research to confirm the veracity of that statement because I am confident I don’t need to. Despite clear inspirations from games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and the Sega Dreamcast era, Denshattack is truly novel, and that is a rare superlative to apply to a video game in 2026. Developer Undercoders has taken what I believe is the universal childhood memory of grasping a handheld toy vehicle (a train in this case) and imagining it could fly, flip, grind, and race along walls without any regard for the laws of physics or gravity. That experience with objectives and a high score is basically what Denshattack is, and the result is a delightful, if sometimes intense, sprint through a joyful world.
In some ways, Denshattack feels like a rhythm game, but without a reliance on pressing buttons in time with music (though, side note – the soundtrack is great). Racing down the tracks and avoiding obstacles while leaping your train and using the right control stick to perform various tricks requires split-second decision-making, and I am impressed by how much trust developer Undercoders has in my reaction time. The game is not scared to throw lots of high-speed, unexpected obstacles at you in a way I appreciate. But it also meant I was never compelled to dive deeper into its trick system and learn its intricacies. I was happy just rotating the control stick a bunch and hoping for the best, which isn’t super rewarding.
I like Denshattack’s structure and challenge in that if you want to get a high score and achieve all of the game’s “Dares” (individual challenges customized to each level), then you can and will likely replay each level over and over, potentially to frustration. But checkpoints are generous, and restarts are quick. Perfection is not demanded, but is rewarded if you want to pursue it. If you just want to see all the frequent surprises and progress the bubbly story forward, it’s lots of fun just making it to the finish line of each level.
And “surprises” is a key word. Denshattack is longer than I expected, taking about 13 hours to see credits, but it does not feel overlong thanks to its impressive ability to constantly mix up the gameplay and present you with frequent absurd and unexpected scenarios all the way through the final level. Whether you’re chasing and fighting a giant robot through a collapsing city or pulling off tricks to rally a giant baseball back to sender, Denshattack is always making you do something crazy. Those two examples alone happen very early in the game. There are plenty of other moments like that throughout that I won’t spoil.
New train stunt abilities also appear often, and each new level is carefully designed to help you take advantage of those new mechanics. The levels often blur by in only a few minutes, but undeniable care has been taken to ensure every moment is bombastic, exciting, and importantly, weird.
The narrative is full of strange personalities and interesting character designs that pull heavily from anime tropes in a way that feels like acknowledgement rather than cliché. Rivals become advocates who join your team, and your motivation to become the best Denshattacker (even though you just learned what that is) energizes you to succeed. I was never particularly moved by the plot, nor can I even really identify a personal favorite character, but I like the world as a fun wrapping for why you’re stunt-driving a train through a Japan decimated by a colorful environmental apocalypse.
Denshattack is weird as hell, and it leans into its strange premise with earned confidence, constantly building and layering on its ideas throughout. It avoids any whiffs of boredom by ripping through environments at full speed, but that also didn’t give me much time to take it all in and immerse myself in the admittedly absurd world. When you’re too busy having fun by avoiding every potential crash along the way, though, maybe that proves stopping and smelling the roses is overrated.
For more on Denshattack, you can read about the game’s Dreamcast inspirations here.
FX’s upcoming live-action Far Cry anthology series has cast Steve Buscemi. The actor joins an evolving cast that so far includes It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob Mac (who also serves as co-showrunner) and Lizzy Caplan.
Buscemi’s extensive credits range from roles in classic films such as Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski to acclaimed TV shows such as Boardwalk Empire and Wednesday. You may also remember him from the greatest meme produced by 30 Rock. Buscemi’s role in Far Cry is unknown.
Far Cry will be a limited series in which each episode features a new story, setting, and cast. However, it is unknown if any of these stories will be adapted from the video games or be entirely original. The show is helmed by Rob Mac and Noah Hawley, creator of FX’s Fargo and Alien: Earth.
Far Cry is set to premiere on FX and Hulu (as well as Disney+ internationally) at an unknown date.
