2023 has been FULL of amazing games. Games, that almost any other year would almost certainly be the “Game of the Year,” and yet here comes another contender! If Alan Wake 2 pulls off what it’s going for, there’s a very good possibility it will be my favorite game this year… no small feat. But first, let’s back up.

Alan Wake 2 is an upcoming survival horror game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. It is a sequel to 2010’s Alan Wake, but is also pitched as welcoming to players new to the franchise and character. I was invited to play about 3-4 hours of the game at an event in Los Angeles. I’ll have more to say on the week of October 1st episode of DLC, so be sure to look out for that.

My hands-on time with the game dropped me into the world(s) several hours after the game’s opening. And while that approach can work well for many games (see my Spider-Man 2 hands-on impressions, for example), I felt like I could have used the intro/tutorial sections for Alan Wake 2 to help me better understand the worlds and mechanics the game is working with. Don’t get me wrong, I was able to figure everything out and there was staff on hand to help with questions, but Alan Wake 2’s plot plays with your head and mind, and sometimes I wasn’t exactly sure what was expected confusion or what was me not totally getting what the game was putting down.

I got to play as both Saga and Alan. And both worlds felt incredible. I’m not sure many studios can match the level of world building and environmental “feel” the way Remedy can when firing on all cylinders. Alan Wake 2 felt daring and brave. Using a combination of live action, in-game graphics, sound effects, and music to create an atmosphere that sets the tone for the game and the experience as the player.

There are connections to Remedy’s other game, Control, and nods to Max Payne (I’m sure there are references to other Remedy games as well). There’s a sense of wonder, a dark-filled wonder but wonder all the same, and respect for the player to “figure things out” that many games don’t bother with. For example, while solving a few puzzles during my time with the game, the answer was never just on a random piece of paper somewhere in the room. Yes, there were puzzles where that “piece of paper” was in the room with information on it, but the information on that piece of paper only implied the answer. There’s additional thought required by the player before the puzzle can be solved.

And what I saw of the investigations as Saga and writing as Alan implied the same level of trust. From what I played, I cannot be certain that these elements will 100% come together, but if they do, I think they will be incredible gaming moments.

During my time with the game, there were many moments where I didn’t know exactly what I was supposed to be doing, but I was always able to figure it out, and I think that is a big theme of the game. The game seems to be intentionally keeping the player unsteady and slightly disoriented, just like Saga and Alan in their respective worlds.

Alan Wake 2 feels like an very ambitious swing and I really hope the full game pulls it all off… I think the game will be a cult hit regardless, but there’s a chance it ends up being something even more special.

Some technical stuff: I played the game on PC with a PS5 controller. DLSS 3.5 and path tracing was not in the build I was playing, but I was told it would be in the game at launch.

Earlier this week Sony PlayStation/Insomniac Games invited me to an event to play a limited section of the upcoming game Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. So while I don’t know exactly what the full game will be like, if the story will deliver in the same way Spider-Man did and then Miles Morales after that, let me just say, based on the roughly 3 hours I played… HOLY COW THIS GAME IS SO GOOD!

I’ll be saying more on the upcoming episode of DLC, so be on the lookout for that when it drops.

If you’ve played either Spider-Man or Miles Morales, you basically know what to expect. This feels like a sequel in the way God of War Ragnarök was a sequel to 2018’s God of War. That’s not a bad thing. And this game was never pitched or presented as changing the formula that worked so well so far.

My hands-on time with the game dropped me into digital New York a few hours after the game’s opening. Peter (light spoilers for things that have already been revealed in the game’s marketing, but if you want to go in completely cold…. probably stop reading) already had the symbiote suit, Miles was dealing with his own “work/life” balance, and Kraven was already making things more complicated by hunting Dr. Curtis Connors as the Lizard. I had several upgrades already and was given access to several story missions, and the open-world to explore. I was also able to play as both Peter and Miles.

Based on what I was able to play, Spider-Man 2 continues Insomniac’s trend of creating world-class environments to explore and incredibly tight, responsive gameplay.

A new addition in Spider-Man 2 is the inclusion of abilities in addition to the gadgets featured in Spider-Man and Miles Morales. They function similarly to gadgets, but now the player has what felt like double the combat options at any given time. So while gadgets might be tech-like devices your character can deploy during combat, abilities are more “super power” things your character can do. Some examples include venom blast stuff with Miles and symbiote abilities with Peter.

Another new addition to the combat in Spider-Man 2 is the parry mechanic. Spidey (both Peter and Miles) still have their dodge move from the first games, but now they can also parry attacks, allowing them to avoid enemy damage and deal some damage of their own. Parrying is also required against some enemy attacks. Looking out for the correct timing window to most effectively dodge and/or parry attacks brought a deeper level of combat flow to enemy encounters. Including dodge and parry with both gadgets and abilities too, only further upped the “get lost in the flow of combat and pull off incredible moves against a whole of host of enemies” feeling.

When it comes to traversal, Spider-Man 2 adds a wingsuit to both Peter and Miles. From the outside that seemed like the biggest “why change what is not broken” idea of anything that was previously announced for this sequel. Swinging around the city in Spider-Man and Miles Morales was a blast. It was always a good time to just zip around the city and explore… so why change things up and add a wingsuit? I guess the simple answer is: it works and it feels great.

During my time with the game, the wingsuit never felt “lesser” or that it was taking anything away from swinging around the city. If anything, much like the abilities, it was just another tool I had to explore the bigger-than-ever city. There’s a really fun “controlled chaos” to the wingsuit in how it feels when you’re using it. I was always able to go where I wanted, but at the same time, it’s not a straight shot, “push a button don’t do anything after that” kind of flying. I’m excited for more people to get to try it out and see what they think too.

So yeah, I am VERY excited for Spider-Man 2 and I’ll have more to say on DLC. The set pieces featured in the demo I played… truly incredible! In a year FULL of amazing games, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 seems to be yet another can’t miss title!

And now just some technical stuff: I was told I was playing a build that was 6-weeks old. The demo I was playing was locked to fidelity mode, though we were told there would be a performance mode available at launch as well. During my 3 hours with the game, I experienced two bugs that required me to reload checkpoints in order to progress.

Immortals of Aveum is a new single-player first person magic shooter developed by Ascendant Studios and published by Electronic Arts.

I’ll be saying more about the game on next week’s episode of DLC, but since the embargo is up now, let me briefly say this:

Big new IP in games is exciting and worth celebrating. A focused, single player game in a world full of GAAS and open-world games is also worth celebrating.

Immortals of Aveum doesn’t do everything right, and it is launching in a year FULL of 10:10 games, but it brings a lot of fun to the table. It’s also a new IP and a focused, single-player game. More please!

The combat is my favorite part of the game. It’s a shooter, make no mistake about it, but it doesn’t follow the “left trigger, right trigger, grenade” approach that pretty much all shooters follow. It brings its own control scheme to the table and with it a whole host of magical abilities and powers. I really enjoyed the flow of the combat, and while it doesn’t control the same way as Destiny 2, I found myself feeling like I was in a combat flow very similar to how I feel while playing Destiny 2… which is one of my favorite modern shooters. Something about the movement abilities, powers, spells, and cooldowns gave me “Destiny-like” vibes, even if I was using different buttons on the controller to take down enemies. Opening chests throughout the levels, and upgrading my gear, etc also helped bring that “Destiny-like” vibe to things. Single-player Destiny 2, yes and please!

The story, however, left me flat. Not the big idea of the story. There’s a lot of world building and the lore that I found very interesting, but the way the story was told. The unskippable cutscenes, and the dialog. The characters often seemed nonchalant about what was happening. There were quips left and right, people feeling and acting “too cool for school,” and characters treating each other with a flippant and often arrogant attitude. I guess you could say it gave off the often-meme’d “MCU” movie dialog vibe. Bummer, because the facial animations and Unreal 5.1 tech is pretty fantastic in those cut scenes.

I’d also love to see this game on PC, with my “beefy-GP,” because I think Unreal 5.1 could really shine. As is, on my PS5, the image often looks soft and fuzzy, as the native resolution appears low and FSR doesn’t seem to make things as crisp and clear as I’d like. Yay for 60FPS though!

As I mentioned, I’ll talk more about the game on the next DLC, and while this game doesn’t feel like an absolute home run to me, I’m very excited for what Ascendant Studios does next.

I was provided a PS5 code by the developer.

Let me start by saying two quick things: (1) I will talk a lot more about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on this week’s episode of DLC, so be sure to subscribe to the podcast if you aren’t already; (2) I LOVED THIS GAME. It is up there at the top, or very near the top of my favorite third-person action-adventure games. What a ride!

The basics, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an action-adventure game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It is a direct sequel to 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. And it also happens to be a sequel that improves upon the original in practically every single way. The map is easier to read, you can wear more than just ponchos (huzzah!), the plot is more grounded and focused, the combat is refined and oh-so-dang fun!

And truth be told, I am, generally speaking, a lapsed Star Wars fan. I didn’t finish the Obi-Won show, I didn’t watch Andor, I didn’t watch the Book of Boba Fett; and I’m not caught up on The Mandalorian, and I didn’t really like Star Wars: Episode 9.

I’ve loved the Star Wars IP pretty much my whole life… I even own a Star Wars pinball table that is proudly set up in my living room… but all this newer Disney+ stuff, etc, it’s just felt like… well, a lot. And a lot of it has felt more like “content” and less like essential storytelling.

That said, I should repeat again what I said at the top, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is fantastic. The story kept me interested and it felt like it committed to telling its own story, which I very much appreciated. There is also something so satisfying about the core combat loop: throwing Storm Troopers off ledges, changing stances during battle, using force powers to get an advantage, and doing it all in a “flow state” of sorts. Also, the traversal around the world(s) is simply sublime too. You feel powerful. It is that “I want to be a Jedi” wish fulfillment realized 100%.

But, while I was playing a pre-release build of the game on PC for my review, I do need to note the game was not without its share of technical issues for my play through. During the first third of the game, the game crashed on me A LOT. Like, a lot, a lot. Like once every hour or more a lot. I was playing on my PC with an RTX 4080, updated drivers, and yeah, crashes. I turned off Ray Tracing and the game stopped crashing, more or less, for me. So I am not sure if the first 1/3 of the game was problematic, or if there was/is an issue with Ray Tracing. I also experienced the now too common on PC ports, “pc stutter” throughout the game. It wasn’t anything that hampered my enjoyment of the game, the combat, or traversal, but it was present throughout for brief seconds here and there. Lastly, I experienced an audio issue during some cutscenes where the characters’ voices would loop, delay, or double. It was distracting, but not a deal breaker. Hopefully these issues are fixed with something like a Day One patch.

I also played through the first 2 hours of the game on PS5. I played in “performance mode,” and while I 10000000000% noticed the graphical hit vs true 4K on my PC, I did not encounter the technical issues described above.

So yeah, more on this week’s DLC FOR SURE.

I was provided a PC and PS5 code for the game by the publisher.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to go hands-on with a pre-release build of Arkane Austin’s upcoming game, Redfall. Redfall is an open-world, co-op FPS featuring four different hero characters, each with their own special abilities. And don’t worry, I’ll talk more about my hands-on time on this week’s upcoming episode of DLC.

I was dropped into the world already a little leveled up (past the game’s introduction and all that), and plopped into a Firehouse safehouse area, where I could talk to other NPCs on my team, upgrade gear, etc, and also go explore the game’s open world and take on vampires and cultists as I saw fit. There was a larger “big bad” I could go attempt to kill, but I didn’t. I didn’t even try to, because that isn’t what interested me. I was more interested in exploring the map, seeing what fun and exciting moments I could stumble into, and trying to get a feel for how the game’s open-world missions and objectives would play out.

And mostly, they played out in a pretty dang fun way! In the build we were playing, we could only play as one character, Jacob, a sniper type with powers to mark enemies and cloak himself, along with a super sniper “ultimate” power. And while snipers aren’t usually my go-to character, the good news was I could use any gun I wanted. Guns aren’t limited to character types, just abilities. We were also only allowed to play solo. No co-op in the demo, despite the game supporting full crossplay between Xbox, Steam, and Epic Games Store when it launches.

Even in the open-world moments (taking down a sub-boss, clearing out a safe house, destroying a vampire nest), Arkane’s “play your way” approach and interesting level design was evident. Furthermore, there seemed to be places on the map that would be more or less accessible depending on which character I was playing as, potentially adding some nice variety for groups and when replaying areas of the game later.

And speaking of groups, I think that is where Redfall will likely shine the brightest. Four players poking and exploring an Arkane map, while battling vampires along the way seems like it could bring out the best in the levels. Creativity + some unpredictability should = lots of fun. That’s not to say I didn’t have fun playing solo, buuuuuut I think I would’ve had more fun in a group.

For the average run-of-the-mill enemy encounters, the game features vampires and cultists. From what I played, the cultists were just regular humans that could be shot and killed, while the vampires couldn’t be killed with bullets, but instead required a stake to the heart. You’d shoot a vampire, get them to a stun state and then rush in for the staking. Very fun. It’d pull you in close to encounters and change how you might otherwise take on a group of enemies.

Not everything was perfect, however. There were some noticeable frame rate drops and stutters during my time with the game, and some light pop in too. Granted, I was playing a pre-release build of the game, so hopefully that stuff gets ironed out before release. And while the main characters and many of the vampire enemies looked great, several of the human NPCs I encountered looked less than fantastic, even in the game’s stylized approach.

I’ve really enjoyed many of Arkane’s games and I think Redfall will be another good time, now I just need to find my co-op crew!

I will be talking about both of these games in more detail in this week’s episode of DLC, but since I am able to talk about them now… let me just say both Before Your Eyes on PSVR2 and Justice League: Cosmic Chaos are wonderful games. Both are also doing totally different things and designed for different types/ages of players, but that doesn’t make either one less wonderful.

I raved about Before Your Eyes on DLC before, and let me just say that playing it on PSVR2 makes the game that much better. This version of the game is the definitive version of the game. Don’t skip the game if you don’t have a PSVR2 and don’t plan to get one… but if you have a PSVR2 and haven’t played the game, whoa are you in for an amazing and emotional experience. I think the game is best played in one sitting, but that might be just me.

Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is a “kids” brawler game and maybe the best (only?) Justice League game available this year. The combat is simple enough, but there’s still fun to be had with special abilities, power ups, unlocks, and excellent voice acting and a narrative that treats the characters with respect. It very much feels like a kids cartoon take on Justice League.

Again, I’ll have more to say on this week’s DLC, so be sure to check that out when it releases likely late Sunday night.

I was provided a code for both games from their respective publisher.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition isn’t a remake, or remaster, or “next-gen” upgrade anywhere close to what we’ve seen for Dead Space or Metroid Prime recently, BUT in my opinion it is very much the best version of one of my very favorite Obsidian Entertainment made RPGs. I don’t think I’d call the upgrade essential for people who have already played the game and the Peril on Gorgon and Murder on Eridanos expansions, but if you’re looking to experience a fun, fresh, funny, and well-made RPG that doesn’t overstay its welcome, The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition is very much worth your gaming time. The Spacer’s Choice Edition includes the full game and both expansions, and brings with it higher resolutions, better animations, improved lighting and particle effects, and improved enemy AI too. The game is available today on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GoG).

I was given a review copy of the game for PC by the publisher.

Dust & Neon is a a classically inspired top-down twin-stick shooter, powered by an upgradeable looter-shooter weapon system, and roguelite progression… and I believe a bug prevented me from advancing past the second or third level of the game. I needed to clear an area of enemies, before I could open a crate, before I could advance the level. The problem is, even after I cleared the area of enemies (multiple times, and after restarting the game several times), the crate still told me I needed to clear the area of the enemies. I’d have to guess this experience won’t be most people’s experience, but it was mine. I reported the bug and hopefully it is fixed come final release. Otherwise, a lot about the game feels familiar if you’ve played Dead Cells or Hades in that roguelite progression and ever changing levels each run kinda feeling. This game takes the top-down, twin-stick approach. It also felt slower than something like Hades… oh yeah, and you can take cover behind things as you fire away. From what I was able to play, the game seemed like it could be a lot of fun, though I imagine there will be a controller learning curve of sorts, and also the game’s reload mechanic (seemingly making the player push a button to reload each individual bullet) takes some getting used to. Something about aiming with the right stick when still, but then also being able to aim with the left stick when walking felt a tad off for me. However, because I wasn’t able to progress very far in the game, I didn’t spend too too much time with the game’s controls.

I was provided a code for the game on PC by the publisher.

I was provided a PC code for Returnal by Sony. For those that don’t know, Returnal is a third-person shooter, “bullet hell” roguelike that was, prior to this PC release, a PS5 exclusive. Developed by Housemarque and first released back in April 2021, it was met with critical praise. This PC release continues the trend of Sony releasing excellent PC ports of their console-exclusive games. I played the game on my 4080 RTX GPU desktop in 4K, with everything maxed out and with a super-high frame rate, and on my Steam Deck with pretty much everything set to low and a much lower, but fairly stable 30FPS… but both experiences were great for what they were. Aside from coming to PC later than I would otherwise like, I’d be hard pressed to find faults in almost any of Sony’s recent PC ports. There is a care and attention to detail in the PC ports not all games receive. Returnal is a brutally difficult game, and likely not a game for everyone, but for those that were intrigued before and don’t have a PS5, the PC port of Returnal should do you well. And while the Steam Deck isn’t how I would recommend playing Returnal, the fact that it ran as well as it did for me shows the care Sony has put into its ports and illustrated yet again why I love the Steam Deck so much.

Wanted: Dead is a new hybrid slasher/shooter game from some of the folks who made Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive and I thought it would be 1000000% my jam…. unfortunately, it is not. It feels like a throwback to action games from the PS2/Xbox era of gaming. It is brash, character barks are bad and cheesy, likely intentionally so, and the characters are caricatures through and through. Now to be clear, I did not finish Wanted: Dead. I tried, oh boy did I try, but I just don’t think I am good enough and/or I simply lacked the patience. I tried levels over and over again. I even spent an hour+ in various training modes working on combat techniques I thought could best serve me out in the main game. Some background, I like combat action games and have completed many, like Ninja Gaiden, all the Bayonettas, many a Devil May Cry, but something about Wanted: Dead just did not click with me. Maybe it is the mix of shooter and slasher, maybe it is what felt like required memorization of some enemy attacks, or maybe I’ve just gotten older and/or my tastes have changed? There were certainly moments in my hours with the game that I absolutely loved. I was able to get into a combat flow state and it was exciting… but then there were the other moments, and those other moments would lead to my death, and my checkpoint would be further back than I wanted, and there’d be that boss, and, and, and… So let me be clear, some action-game fans are going to absolutely LOVE this game. They will relish the challenge and many will put out videos showcasing their skills that put me and my abilities to shame. Good for them, I say! I truly believe there is a lot to like here for a specific subset of gamers, I just wasn’t one of them. This is a game that wanted to do something and I’d guess did exactly that thing. And I have to admire that. Wanted: Dead is not a game for everyone and that is OK. One last note, there are moments early on in the game that reflect the “male gaze” in a way I did not like. I guess that is part of the “throwback” style of the game as many PS2 and Xbox-era games treated female characters that way? But times have changed and this game could have done better. Perhaps things change and characters progress toward the end of the game… if you beat it, please let me know.

I was provided a PC code for the game by the publisher.

I was given early access to GeForce NOW Ultimate and its RTX 4080 performance, and let me just say, I was blown away. Yeah, I am already a believer in “cloud gaming,” and yeah, I’ve been impressed with GeForce NOW for a good bit now, and yeah, I was playing mostly at my house with a good/stable internet connection… but this jump to “cloud 4080s” felt like a BIG step forward. Playing Warhammer 40,000: Darktide with DLSS 3 and Ray Tracing all enabled was incredible. I’ll have a lot more to say about GeForce NOW Ultimate on the upcoming episode of DLC, but let me just say here and now, this is the best cloud gaming experience I’ve had to date. HDR. 120 FPS and 4K on my Mac. DLSS 3. Ray Tracing. Ultrawide resolutions. If only every game was available via GFN!

HBO’s The Last of Us debuted Sunday night to large audience numbers and rave reviews. It’s no secret that I love the franchise and I am loving the HBO show too. And now you’ve got two ways to hear me chatting about the show on your podcast player of choice: There’s a NEW BONUS EPISODE of The Official The Last of Us Podcast where Neil Druckmann and I have a long-form chat about adapting the game to a show, AND there’s Decoding TV where David Chen and I are doing weekly recap podcast episodes as the show airs… and our recapping is done from of the point of view of someone coming into the franchise fresh. Check them out! Remember, when you're lost in the darkness, look for the light!

Since the first little preview episode went live today, thought I’d post a little blog about it too… excited to say I’ll be chatting about HBO’s The Last of Us with David Chen as part of his excellent podcast, Decoding TV. Preview episode up now and we’ll be dropping others as the episodes release, starting in January. Podcast.decodingtv.com for more.

I talk more about on this week’s DLC, but what surprised me most about High On Life is just how competent of a FPS it is. The shooting feels good. The movement is tight. And the levels are bright and vibrant. It is also always refreshing to play a game with bright colors, and creative and varied landscapes. But the humor of the game will not be for everyone. Even with the option to “turn off” some of the talking, whether you enjoy the game will likely come down to whether the humor connects with you or not.

I was given an early code for Portal with RTX by NVIDIA and let me just say I was BLOWN AWAY by how incredible the game looks with full ray tracing and the frame rate possible utilizing DLSS 3. Quake II and Minecraft were nice, but Portal feels like it is on another level… also, Portal remains an incredible game. If you have the GPU for it, Portal with RTX is the definitive version of the game now, IMO.

For those who might not know, I have a newsletter where I write longer, more conversational pieces about video games. I tend to write about one a month, give or take. You can subscribe for free at tinyletter.com/christianspicer. You can also see an archive of some past newsletters, like the one I just sent about growing up with video games, there too.

The GeForce RTX 4080 is a powerhouse of a GPU, with its DLSS 3.0 as perhaps the biggest star of the show, but at $1199, is it “worth it”? More on upcoming episodes of DLC for sure!

More on DLC for sure, but let me just say God of War Ragnarok is an absolutely incredible game and a truly masterful sequel. It expands on 2018's amazing combat and it makes exploring the game's worlds so rewarding with fantastic level design... all wrapped in a compelling story.