Author: News Room

Castlevania has been a dormant franchise for years, but Belmont’s Curse revives the series with fiery passion. There are hundreds of indies inspired by Konami’s gothic vampire-hunting games, putting a lot of pressure on the publisher to live up to its far-reaching legacy. Konami’s surprising, yet effective solution is to bring in a new developer: Evil Empire, best known for its work on the Castlevania-inspired Dead Cells. The resulting game has a fresh perspective, a brand-new protagonist, and whip-smart execution. Rose Belmont and her father Trevor have been summoned to Paris, a city under supernatural siege. Rose is eager to prove…

A couple of months back, we learned that Phoenix Cyclops would be the first DLC fighter to join Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. He was just the first character in the game’s Year 1 DLC roadmap, however. This weekend, the next three characters were revealed. Jane Foster as Thor, Venom, and Jubilee are coming to the game over the next year, and Jane is coming this Winter. Check out the reveal trailer below. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has an interesting roster, because in many cases, they opt to take a lesser-known alternative to a popular character. Black Panther is Shuri instead of…

Valor Mortis is a brave new game from developer One More Level. It competes not only against the studio’s excellent Ghostrunner series, but also the ever-expanding Soulslike subgenre of action games. Fortunately, Valor Mortis largely succeeds on both counts, creating a new world I hope to see more of from this team and a unique first-person stab at its action. It is too often unfairly challenging, largely because of brutal balance issues in the first half, and it doesn’t take its compelling narrative premise anywhere unexpected. But its beating heart is the combat and how it intersects with exploring this…

This week on The Game Informer Show, Giant Bomb’s Will Crosby joins us to discuss the recent launch of Gears of War: E-Day. Does a return to the past for Gears mean good things for it? Spoilers: yes, it does. And after the break, we dip into the latest entry in another long-running series, as Eric shares his review impressions of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. Plus, Charles shares where he’s at in his Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave journey. Grab a cold beverage and stay awhile, it’s The Game Informer Show!The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the…

If you’re like me, you’re always on the look for new gear- and ability-gated exploration games that recall the joy of early Metroid and Castlevania games. Echo Weaver offers a new twist on that idea, by keeping the exploration element, but making progression be tied to knowledge acquired over the course of play, rather than new equipment. It’s a clever twist that has me intrigued from the early hours I’ve played. Our reviewer, Kyle Hilliard, has already had a chance to experience the full game, and had this to say: “Echo Weaver’s unique approach to the Metroid structure is admirable, unique,…

RuneScape: Dragonwilds strikes a respectable balance between a fantasy RPG and survival crafting game. The variety of environments and hidden lore for those who want it give depth to an otherwise nondescript setting and offer many hours of content for those who can tolerate its crafting system. But, without having an attachment to the RuneScape series, or a love for chopping wood or mining ore, it’s difficult to enjoy past the opening chapter. Though there is fun to be had, I wish certain parts of it didn’t feel as tedious or locked behind a grind for materials.Dragonwilds expands the RuneScape…

I played Phantom Blade Zero at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, back in August, which, at the speed of the internet, means it feels like I had my hands on the controller about five years ago. The memory is vague and dreamlike, but it’s a strong one that left an undeniable impression. I also made sure to take thorough notes because I knew it would be some time before I could write about it.For my Phantom Blade Zero play session two months ago, developer S-Game Studio offered up the opportunity to basically play from the beginning of the game, encouraging a…

Paramount Pictures is making a live-action Cyberpunk 2077 movie, according to a Deadline report. The publication says the movie is set in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, which began with CD Projekt Red’s RPG of the same name and has since expanded into novels, comics, and anime like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (which is getting a sequel this month). Transformers One producer Lorenzo di Bonaventure, who has also produced multiple Transformers films, Snake Eyes, Madame Web, and more, is producing this Cyberpunk 2077 live-action movie. Beyond that, little else is known.  Cyberpunk 2077 is rich with stories, whether that’s the main story about V and…

Forza Horizon 6, the latest open-world racer from developer Playground Games, was set to launch on PlayStation 5 this year but has since been delayed to 2027. Fortunately, it launches early in the year, specifically on January 26. If you pay for the more expensive Premium Edition of Forza Horizon 6, you can start the game five days early on January 21, which is the same day the game’s first paid premium expansion goes live on all platforms (including PS5). A physical version of Forza Horizon 6 will be available on disc for PS5 at launch from retailers. Developer Panic Button,…

2K Games has surprise-dropped a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S update for Mafia III that adds 60 FPS performance to the game alongside other technical improvements. If you already own the game on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, the update is free; if you don’t, 2K is currently selling it on digital storefronts at 80% off. The publisher has also revealed Mafia III: Definitive Edition for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S as well, and it includes the base game, all story DLC (Faster, Baby!, Stones Unturned, and Sign of the Times), and bonus packs (Family Kick-Back Pack and the…