It was one of the most influential games of the PlayStation 1 era but how does Metal Gear Solid stand up almost three decades later? A reader is surprised to find out.

Alaska – Bering Sea. A submarine cuts through the murky ocean depths. Tonally and in terms of production values the score that plays infers that you’re watching a scene from a Hollywood action movie. But this isn’t a movie, although in many respects you get the impression that it wants to be. What I’ve described is the opening cut scene of Metal Gear Solid, a game that I adored many years ago. Since I still have my original twin disc copy of the game I thought I’d replay it from start to finish on a PlayStation 2 [presumably via The Essential Collection – GC]. Would this much revered classic be as good as I remembered?

You are Solid Snake. Your mission: infiltrate a terrorist stronghold, free a couple of hostages and investigate a possible nuclear threat. Do this with the clothes on your back, a CODEC receiver/transmitter, a scope, and a packet of cigarettes. For this mission weapons and equipment are OSP – on-site procurement. In terms of real-world logic our hero’s initial loadout is ludicrous. However, starting out with close to no items in your inventory does turn the game into a big treasure hunt. And in this case that treasure is military hardware: thermal goggles, chaff grenades, C4 explosive, Stinger missiles…

Replaying Metal Gear Solid it took me a while to adjust to the top-down view that it uses, which when compared to the presentation of modern big budget games seems basic and regressive, but provided that you make use of the radar in the top right corner of the screen the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid still works perfectly. Nearly three decades have passed and yet Shadow Moses Island prevails as a wonderous gaming world to immerse yourself in. Who cares about blocky graphics when the interactive picture those graphics paint is so atmospheric and nuanced?

While you sneak around the overrun military base, patrolling enemies yawn, stretch, fall asleep, and follow any footprints in the snow that Snake makes. The warmth of an enemy’s breath shows up as mist. Make a guard suspicious and a question mark appears above their head. Alert a guard and their heightened awareness is indicated by the now iconic exclamation mark.

On this playthrough I surprised some mice in an air vent. Little exclamation marks appeared above the rodents’ heads when they saw me and scurried off. Half the fun of Metal Gear Solid, and the franchise overall, is discovering these quirky and innovative details.

This time around I had problems defeating each and every boss in this game, I expect due to a substantial lack of practise. But the rogue elements of Foxhound are so atypical and entertaining that even when they kill you it’s hard to resent them. The game certainly wouldn’t be the same without their presence.

For instance, Cyborg Ninja still made an impression on me, or rather his introduction did. Walking down a corridor littered with bleeding corpses flung this way and that you feel like you’ve mistakenly strayed into a survival horror game. This part of Snake’s mission flags up another recognisable trait of the Metal Gear franchise, for better or for worse: tonal inconsistency.

Those melodramatic cries on the cool-looking Game Over screen. SNAAAAKE! Are those outbursts meant to be funny? They made me laugh every time I heard them.

Then you’ll get characters that appear to fall in love over the space of an hour or so, having never met. Otacon and Sniper Wolf. This entirely one-sided romance is so phoney, and yet the game tries to tug on our emotional heart strings when one of them dies.

Snake himself seems like a decent bloke. A moral, modest underdog and so it’s easy to side with him. And then the expert operative tells Meryl that she’s got a great butt. Wow. With chat up lines like that Snake how can any woman resist you?

Predictably, since I haven’t attempted this sneaking mission for at least a couple of decades, I had trouble beating Metal Gear Rex near the end of the game. This boss battle has two phases. In-between the first phase and the second phase there’s a cut scene that you’re forced to watch again and again if you keep losing the fight. I couldn’t skip this moment, which made it seem like a sadistic punishment for dying.

After finishing Metal Gear Solid I wanted to play through the game again. To me that’s clear evidence of its quality. The good parts of Solid Snake’s PlayStation debut certainly outweigh what’s bad. But what’s bad about the game is bad with a capital B or rather misjudged to an extent that these flaws clearly stand out.

Saying that, even after recently experiencing them I can tolerate Metal Gear Solid’s annoyances because they’re counteracted with flashes of genius. The location of Meryl’s CODEC frequency. Homing in on your target in first person view with a Nikita remote-controlled missile. Psycho Mantis breaking down the fourth wall and messing with your game console. Cooling down and heating up the PAL card. What other game allows you to sneak around and fast travel inside a cardboard box?

All of that gaming gold is probably worth having to read your way through line after line of CODEC exposition. And sweet as she is, I wish Mei Ling would learn the value of concise verbal exchanges during an active mission. Yes, Mei Ling, I want to save. That’s kind of why I called you. No, please don’t tell me another Chinese proverb, unless it’s one about the benefits of radio silence.

By reader Michael Veal (@msv858)

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The Friday letters page has some choice words to say about Sony’s handling of the PS5 generation, as one reader thinks Mario Kart Arcade is a bad game.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Wasted generation
Just seen the news that Sony is shutting down Bluepoint Games and I’m appalled. That team put out nothing but top quality games and were specialists in remakes, which we’ve had more and more of recently, so you would’ve thought they’d be extra valuable to Sony right now.

Instead, we just see continued short-sighted, bone-headed decision making from Sony, who have been awful this whole generation. The PlayStation 5 has been a disaster and I’m not confident that Sony has any kind of plan to avoid permeant decline, all the while shutting down more and more developers. I definitely would be polishing up my CV if I worked at Bungie or Bend Studio.

The obsession with live service games, which clearly hasn’t ended at all, has been such a disaster. Not just in terms of failed games (remember, Concord cost $400 million!) but a whole wasted generation, where developers have had no time to make anything else, and are now being shut down before they have the chance anyway.

I detest Sony for how they’re handling all this, and I say that as someone that’s owned an original PlayStation console and everything else since. They shut down one of their best developers just so they could look good to their investors for five minutes and it’s obvious they’ll happily sacrifice more for the same reason.
Cranston

Pity the poor exec
Thank goodness that Hermen Hulst, Head of Worldwide Studios at PlayStation from 2019-2024, is here to protect the company from ‘changing player behaviours’ and ‘rising development costs’ by shuttering one of their most renowned studios.

Absolutely nothing else he could’ve done since 2019, to give players the type of games they expect from PlayStation. Nope, we all wanted 12 live service games, from studios who specialise in single-player games, so it’s our fault for changing our minds…

PlayStation has been on the slide since they consolidated and moved their headquarters to the USA. They’ve lost almost all of the riskiness and playfulness that made them successful in the first place. Hope the Bluepoint employees bounce back quickly.
Magnumstache

Never-ending Kratos
I was really hoping that Santa Monica Studio would be working on a new IP or sci-fi game but it really doesn’t sound like that’s what’s going on. I loved the last two God Of War games but the story’s over and I have very little confidence that there’s a good plan for what happens next.

Cory Barlog said he didn’t make the Norse games a trilogy because he didn’t want to work on the same story for 15 years but here we are and it’s looking very much like he’s just going straight back to God Of War.

I know the next game is meant to be a spin-off but how different is it going to be really? Unless it’s a flight sim or something it’s just going to be more of the same and that’s a shame.
Coolsbane

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Experimental reasoning
It does make me laugh that Todd Howard has now publicly admitted that people find Starfield boring, but I’m sure he doesn’t really understand why. How someone of his supposed experience could have put out such a dull, badly made game I don’t know. He’s just lucky the Fallout TV show was a hit, as otherwise I think he would’ve fond himself out the door.

No one would love The Elder Scrolls 6 to be great more than me, but Bethesda is too high on its own supply nowadays and I really have much less confidence in them than I used to. He tries to paint Starfield as some big, risky experiment but all they do was take all the best bits out of Skyrim and replace it with nothing.

I’m not really sure what he’s on about with Fallout 76 either. It’s just a bog standard MMO cobbled together with left over bits from Fallout 4. It’s those two games that made me start to think less of Bethesda, not because they were risky ventures but because they were lazy cash grabs.
Shortround

Kart it off
I always wondered why Nintendo bothered with the Mario Kart arcade games. They weren’t very good, because they let Bandai Namco make them, and it hardly seems like Mario Kart is a series they have to get people interested in or promote. It’s not exactly an unknown brand, is it?

Putting Pac-Man in was extra weird too, as even though he’s a cartoon character he still looks out of place. Anyway, I still gave it a go. But paying £1 to play one race of the worst Mario Kart ever isn’t something I’d want to do again.
Biter

Bad business
The gaming world can truly change on a dime. Bluepoint Games has been shut down by Sony. After giving us fans a brilliant remake of Demon’s Souls and Shadow Of The Colossus, Sony has closed down the studio. One of their most revered, to say the least. It’s out of nowhere and quite a baffling decision. From what I understand, the studio was to create a video game based on an original IP and not another remake. So why Sony have chosen to erase that prospective idea is beyond my understanding.

Then again, we hadn’t heard any news, updates or any information from them in a long time, so perhaps it was inevitable. I suppose the silence was a reckoning or rather an ill omen in the shadows. I really would have liked to see what Bluepoint were making or what was cooking behind the scenes. To see the creativity floating around, but it either happens with a new studio that is formed, or it remains a what if?

It worked for Sandfall Games. After they broke away from Ubisoft, we were presented with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the rest is history. So maybe the developers still have a semblance of a future. What that will be is unclear at this moment, so who knows what is next?

On another note, it’s a week from tomorrow that Resident Evil Requiem releases. A funny anecdote is that I pre-ordered it for £47.99, on Amazon. I take another look and it’s suddenly £59.95. Talk about a lucky move. It looks absolutely fantastic and since Leon Kennedy is my favourite male gaming character, I hope it reviews well.
Shahzaib Sadiq

Two for two
I want to recommend Pure Pool Pro on PlayStation 5. It’s a really fun game with excellent physics. It looks great and has an enjoyable career mode and trophies.

It’s only the second game I’ve bought for the PlayStation 5 after Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. Keep up the good work.
EricBIG777 (PSN ID)

GC: Thank you.

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Actually final
RE: Ochreblue. I find it hard to imagine, after the Final Fantasy 7 remakes have been completed, that another remake of a fan favourite would be made anytime soon, at least on the scale of Final Fantasy 7’s budget.

I think that so much money has backed these three massive games that it would seem nonsensical to risk another big venture so soon, due to what the actual returns were from a financial point of view. I can imagine that it would have needed a lot more sales to accommodate a reason to make, let’s say the sixth or ninth Final Fantasy games in the series, even if they definitely do deserve one.

Possibly a remastered version of Chrono Trigger would be interesting, with a fresh lick of paint and a new up-to-date remake of the original soundtrack would be a great winner for me and other fans. No need to go and rebuild everything like the FFVII Remake, but way simpler using artwork that is skilfully applied to the cute looking world whilst keeping the atmosphere peak.

But we definitely have to get into our minds that the Final Fantasy 7 remakes could be the ultimate Final Fantasies, encapsulating everything from the original and introducing so much more.

This asks the question of how powerful do the next generation of consoles really need to be and have graphical qualities reached their zenith yet? GTA 6 will probably be that zenith but it’ll be pretty obvious that GTA 6 will be earning a hefty profit when the sale figures start coming in.

But definitely it will be an exception compared to other big releases, who will be relatively successful but with way less titles being sold. Let’s see what happens over this year and the next.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
Sony shut down Bluepoint Games? Make it make sense! Surely they should be remaking Bloodborne?
Zombiekicker

One positive thing about all these console delays is that parents could be saved the £400 to £1,000 yearly scramble to get a new toy for their spoiled kids.
Bobwallett

GC: Who is spending £1,000 on new consoles every year?

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Could memory shortages destroy the console industry?

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Resident Evil Requiem be worth getting?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the PS6 be out?

The developer responsible for remakes of Shadow Of The Colossus and Demon’s Souls has suddenly been closed, with the loss of over 70 jobs.

You’d never know at a glance, but the video games industry is in dire trouble at the moment. Just this week we’ve had suggestions that the memory crisis, which could make it impossible to manufacture gaming hardware in bulk, could last up to a decade, while at the same time gaming is increasingly losing out to things like gambling and porn in terms of how people spend their time and money.

As if to underline the issue, it’s been revealed that Sony is to shut down Bluepoint Games, the studio they bought five years ago and which specialises in remasters and remakes.

Bluepoint has been around for 20 years but after the remake of Demon’s Souls, for the launch of the PlayStation 5, they’ve haven’t announced any new games.

Behind the scenes, it’s been rumoured that they, like most of Sony’s other first party studios, were put to work on a live service game – thought to be part of the God Of War franchise – but it was later believed to be one of two projects cancelled by Sony last year.

Whether they were about to realise their dream of working on a big budget new IP, as they originally intended to do after Demon’s Souls, is unknown, but in recent months they were hiring for people to work on some sort of third person action game.

Sony has made no public annoucement about the closure, but it was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, with the text of an email from PlayStation CEO Hermen Hulst later appearing on ResetEra.

‘We’re operating in an increasingly challenging industry environment. Rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behaviour, and broader economic headwinds are making it harder to build games sustainably,’ wrote Hulst.

‘To navigate this reality, we need to continue adapting and evolving. We’ve taken a close look at our business to ensure we’re delivering today while still well-positioned for the future. As a result, we will be closing Bluepoint Games in March.

‘This decision was not made lightly. Bluepoint is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. I want to thank everyone at Bluepoint for their creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to quality. Where possible, we will work to find opportunities for some impacted employees within our global network of studios.’

In addition to various remasters, remakes, and ports Bluepoint also worked as a support studio for God of War Ragnarök, which is presumably why their live service game was based on the franchise.

As awful as the news is, it may only be the tip of the iceberg as far as Sony closures go, with many already worrying about the future of Destiny maker Bungie and Days Gone developer Bend Studio, who haven’t released a single new game this generation.

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The Wednesday letters page looks forward to a Pokémon Gen X reveal this month, as one reader imagines a Half-Life x Portal crossover game.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Top of the list
I realise it’s pointless talking about any kind of most anticipated game this year, when GTA 6 is out in November, but there are honestly a bunch of games I’m looking forward to more. I’m sure GTA 6 will look good, but I can tell from the trailer that it’s going to be the same old, same old.

I don’t hate it, but I’d much rather play Saros, Marvel’s Wolverine, and even Fable has me more intrigued. But the game I’m most looking forward to this year is Resident Evil Requiem, which is handy as it’s out soon.

I don’t think there’s any question that it’ll be worth getting, given the unanimous good previews and Capcom seeming to be on top of their game. The marketing has been good, without giving too much away, and I like the idea of the two characters being very different. I just hope I don’t get spoiled on anything this week, because I see copies are already out in the wild.
Damon

Empty shelves
Although I agree with the reader who said that the PlayStation 6 being delayed till 2029 is overall a good thing I think he’s overlooking the fact that if there’s no RAM – or hard drives – that means no PlayStation 5s either. We could be looking at a bit of a gaming apocalypse, where there’s no new consoles to sell and they can only sell games to their existing base.

That’s not good for any company that wants their graphs to go up but it’s probably especially bad for Nintendo, who have only just launched a new console, so there aren’t that many Switch 2 owners in the world. It’d be an understatement to say that increasing the price doesn’t seem like a good idea in that situation.

But it’s difficult. It’s not actually the companies’ fault but I bet they want us to pay for the trouble anyway. They’ll be gutted to miss out on all the new business GTA 6 will bring too.
Hammeriron

Still unbeaten
While we’re talking about so many anniversaries this year there is another one, although compared to Zelda or Resident Evil I guess it’s not that big. But I was surprised and alarmed to find that Uncharted 4 is 10 years old in May. In my mind it’s a relatively new game but… I guess not.

It is really good though, even though I don’t really approve of the more grounded, non-supernatural approach. The bit around the middle, in Madagascar, is still absolutely peak action gaming and I’ve not seen anything since best it.

Worse thing is though I’ve barely seen anything even try. Only Uncharted (and the money Sony give them) can do things this well and I’m shocked there’s been no attempt to make a new game since or for anyone to outdo them. Maybe the new Tomb Raider can take the crown, but they’d have to be doing really well to get that good.
Grackle

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Slow-motion storytelling
Since it’s cheap, I might check out ChromaGun 2, as I’ve never heard of the series before. But I do miss Portal. People have been talking about Valve not making games anymore, and whether they might come back with Half-Life 3, but I’ve never heard any talk of a Portal 3. I think that’s the one that really suffered from everyone leaving, because you can recruit people that make first person shooters pretty easy but people that can write comedy of the quality of Portal aren’t exactly common.

I always imagined there’d be a crossover game where Gordon Freeman meets Chell, which I think they were building up to at one point, but I really don’t know if they’d do that now. Even Half-Life: Alyx was six years ago now, so they’re not exactly rushing this, but I don’t have any faith it’s going to happen.

You need a bunch of games to build up to it and at this rate they’ll have just about got the prologue done when Gabe (and me) dies of old age.
Hake

Pre-existing prequel
As much as I’m looking forward to Resident Evil Requiem this month, I was secretly hoping that Capcom would re-release Resident Evil Outbreak in some way, to help promote it and to show who Alyssa Ashcroft is, because I’m sure many people do not know.

I always wanted to play the game online, but it didn’t have that feature when it was released in Europe, so I never got the chance. (I know the sequel had online but I didn’t have a PlayStation 2 by that point.) Maybe it was rubbish but that’s not what I hear and it always sounded a lot more interesting than the other multiplayer Resident Evil games Capcom has done.
Scooter

Generational interest
I hope that Gen X of Pokémon does get announced this month. By which I mean I hope they reveal some games that are actually worthy of the legacy and look like some actual money has been put into them. People are trying to guess what Nintendo will make their big Christmas game, but I think it’ll be Pokémon Wind and Waves, or whatever it’s actually called.

I feel nowadays that Pokémon games just come and go without as much fanfare as they used to, partly because there’s so many of them nowadays and only the uber fans can keep up with it all. It all seems kind of sectioned off from all the other Nintendo first party games, which is why I think Z-A didn’t really make much of an impression last year.

The 30th anniversary is going to put a lot of eyes onto it this year, so this is moment to go all out and make something more than an easy cash-in. It feels like that’s what Pokémon has been for so long now and it’s a shame because I have very fond memories of playing it as a kid and now my kid is the right age to give it a go. But they know the toys and the cartoon but not really the games.

I don’t like to push thing on them, and I’m actually interested to see what they pick up on and what they’re aware of and not. I’ll see if they’re interested in the Pokémon Presents when it gets announced and what they think of whatever’s in that.
Belsh

Twin Snakes
Never mind delisting PlayStation 3 games as soon as a new release is announced, I didn’t realise the new Metal Gear Solid Collection wasn’t remasters. So it’s just a straight port of Metal Gear Solid 4? That is disappointing, to say the least.

With this and the Rainbow Six Siege crossover Konami are clearly building up to doing more with Snake and co. but I can’t imagine it going well. For better and worse there was just too much of Hideo Kojima in those games and trying to copying him, or not making it weird like he would, both seem like a bad idea.
Iceman

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Smash Street Fighter
With all the success Nintendo have had with their Super Smash Bros. games, why haven’t Capcom done something similar with the Street Fighter games?

It would still play as a traditional Street Fighter game (1v1 on a 2D plane) but have all fighters with all their individual fighter colours, outfits, all variations of their stages, music, backgrounds, bonus stages, fighting styles, and so on and would surely be amazeballs!

Maybe in order to not overwhelm the player with all that content, these could be either unlocked through gameplay or (the most-likely route of) DLC.

I have been re-playing the Switch version of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary recently and thought it’d be great if all these games could merge into one.

The PS1 version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 remains my favourite Street Fighter game to this day, which sadly isn’t in this compilation.

I’m not sure if to include the Marvel or other non-Capcom characters for fear of the licensing.
LeeDappa

GC: We’re not really sure what you’re after, you mean just more guest characters? Between them, Street Fighter 5 and 6 have featured fighters from games including Final Fight, Rival Schools, and SNK’s Fatal Fury. We’re sure there’ll be more over time.

Inbox also-rans
I’m still trying to get over the idea of paying £12.1 million for a Pokémon card. What would you even do with it? I’ve seen the card and more than half of it’s Japanese writing, which I’m will to bet Logan Paul can’t read.
Badgerman

Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza. That was an excellent final boss fight and last couple of levels! The game had some ups and downs but overall, really liked it.
Pinky

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the PS6 be out?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will Super Smash Bros. be on Nintendo Switch 2?

MORE: Games Inbox: Was the latest PS5 State of Play a good one?

The Monday letters page realises that the next gen Xbox will be able to play PS5 games, as one reader hopes Bluepoint Games isn’t working on God Of War.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Nintendo logic
So, Sony has had a successful State of Play, their best in years I’d say, and Xbox’s was good too (I’ll be honest, I can’t remember anything about it, but I remember the buzz was decent). That means that Nintendo is the next one to have a showcase, but we still don’t have a date for it.

I’ve seen some rumours that it’ll be March, but I feel that’s just the obvious guess anyway. But my question is what will they be talking about? All we know about from them at the moment is Fire Emblem and Splatoon Raiders and while I don’t think many people here would consider them a particularly big deal you just don’t know with Nintendo.

But surely they must be preparing to announce at least one new triple-A game (or whatever you’d call them with Nintendo). It’s probably not Animal Crossing or Zelda, because the timings don’t work out, so to me the two obvious options are Super Mario or Smash Bros.

You might say Mario is the most obvious, but Nintendo has been so weird about it so far I don’t think there’s any guarantee they’ll suddenly become predictable. My bet would be on Smash Bros., with some new characters and other minor new content. Not the most thrilling choice, in my opinion, but the logical choice. I would expect it to be the big game for Christmas.
Ishi

Perfect prelude
There was a lot of good stuff at the State of Play but it didn’t shake my opinion that Resident Evil Requiem is the most exciting game at the moment and the one I’m most looking forward to. The new footage looked great and so has everything else before it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game not make a single mistake before release and always look like a must have.

If it turns out to be a dud after all this I will actually be really impressed that Capcom has been able to hide it so well. I don’t expect that will be the case though and while I’ll still wait for the reviews I’m predicting this will be one of the best game of this year and probably the whole generation. Don’t let me down now!
Purple Ranger

Stuck in Sparta
I tend to agree with the Reader’s Feature about God Of War. Sons Of Sparta looks bad and a remake trilogy does sound like a big wasted effort, given those earlier games were nothing like the new ones in terms of gameplay or story. It’d be tragic if Santa Monica Studio were wasting their time on it, but it’d be just as bad if it were Bluepoint Games, doing it – which is something I’ve heard fans talking about.

It’s not that remaking the game itself is a terrible idea, it’s just that by doing that you’re locking out talented developers for five years or more. Developers that could be busy moving the franchise forward or just generally not redoing something that already exists and you can play as remasters. I just don’t see any good outcome, because if they get a no-name dev, like with Sons Of Sparta, then that drastically decreases the odds that it will be any good.
Focus

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Two Keanus
I didn’t think much of the state of play. The hair on the back of my neck when the John Wick trailer started playing. It would have been obvious to anyone that has watched at least one of the films it was a John Wick game.

But that’s tempered by the fact that I’m an old gamer that remembers when movie tie-in was just another way of saying a game was a poor quality, rushed cash-in. Remember The Matrix game?

GoldenEye 007 was the first game I remember that was based on a film that turned out to actually be good.
TomTom

For the love of the game
Interesting comparison of Sony and Valve’s attitude in the Reader’s Feature at the weekend. I would not have thought of the comparison myself, but it does work. I think the problem for both companies is that ordinary games – basically anything but a mega hit – have become too small for them to bother with.

This seems a mistake to me though, as in Sony’s case they lose out on a key incentive in buying their console. But for both companies it’s a waste of talent and knowledge that has taken years to build up and is no longer being used properly. As long as a profit is made why not make them anyway, for the kudos alone?

That worked for Astro Bot, which wasn’t a big hit but made people think better of Sony for a while. Soras will probably be similar, but I feel we need a lot more of that, multiple times a year.
Tenna

Only on PlayStation
Perhaps I’m just being slow here, but I realised that if the next gen Xbox is just a PC in console’s clothing, as it were, then that means that all PlayStation 5 games will, eventually, be on Xbox. I guess it doesn’t really mean much, since Microsoft doesn’t get a cut of the sales or anything, but we may finally have our all-in-one single format (except for Nintendo, but that was never going to happen).

For years that seemed like something to really wish for but now that it’s actually close to happening it feels like nobody will actually care. In the end, the PC has been the single format all along (especially for those using emulators) and Microsoft putting the Xbox logo on a different machine isn’t going to change that.

I think we’ll soon begin to realise that, in terms of consoles, single format domination is a bad thing. People are upset about Sony not releasing more first party games but now that the Xbox has slipped into irrelevance they have no incentive to change.

Why spend all that money when you’ve already proved it doesn’t matter to whether your game Is a success or not? Sony won by doing nothing so there’s no incentive to do more next time.
Tom Meadows

Last gen
I’ve been watching Nioh 3 a bit on Twitch and wondered whether or not it should have been a dual console release. I can’t see any reason it couldn’t work on the PlayStation 4. Surely they could lower the resolution or whatever it was that stopped a version on PlayStation 4. It seems like Sony left money on the table with this decision. To me at least it still looks the same as Nioh 1 and 2.

Pretty sure there’s still millions of PlayStation 4 users out there.
Bobwallett

GC: It’s not Sony’s game.

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Positive recap
I’m still thinking about Thursday’s State Of Play, because it was more than a few steps ahead of the usual disappointments that we are usually served by Sony. It absolutely began with a bang. Death Stranding 2 on PC; Ghost Of Yōtei: Legends in March; Kena 2; the reveal of a John Wick game, with Keanu Reeves returning in the role of the Baba Yaga. Silent Hill Townfall was revealed and it’s first person; that was quite the surprise. It’s also set in an island inspired by Scotland, so that’s a nice change of pace to see locations from Japan to the UK being used. It’s a very fresh take on the series.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is free from PlayStation 3 jail. I’ve wanted for this for many years and to see it finally happen is just unbelievable. Saros continues to look stunning and I can’t wait for it, personally. Pragmata looks charming and I actually have played the demo; very enjoyable and a fun hacking romp – Diana is a charmer as well. Project Windless is quite interesting. A chicken with a bone to pick and dual swords. Yep, I’m sold.

The anime titles and Marathon were my low points. I’m not particularly interested in either title. Control: Resonant and 007 First Light continue to impress. Crimson Moon sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing more. The final reveal was the remake of the God Of War trilogy, which was a win for me personally. It’s obviously years away, and it did just begin development, but spoken as a massive fan of the franchise I’m absolutely pumped for this.

However, it was disappointing to see no Phantom Blade 0 at the event. At least pre-orders could have been revealed. Since it does have a release date, after all. We didn’t see Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 or Kingdom Hearts 4. That was a let down on Square Enix’s part. Maybe we’ll see those at the Tokyo Game Show.

Wolverine will be shared in the spring, so I wasn’t expecting that. All in all, it was a fantastic event and the games look very stellar. There’s much to be excited for and I can’t wait to see more. I’ll also say that I would have liked to see more from Judas and Tides Of Annihilation and Lego Batman, but I can wait longer. To a wonderful 2026 and the release of Resident Evil Requiem in two weeks!
Shahzaib Sadiq

Inbox also-rans
I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the Highguard dev complaining about ‘gamer culture’. It’s not my type of game, so I wouldn’t be interested in it whatever happened. But I never saw any explanation for why everyone turned on it except that they were hoping for something else to be revealed at The Game Awards – which is hardly the developer’s fault.
Kakem

Am I the only one that thought the latest trailer for Marathon made it look like Splatoon? Not necessarily a bad thing but why do they have blue blood?
Gonk

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

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MORE: Games Inbox: Was the latest PS5 State of Play a good one?

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Saber Interactive has unveiled a new big budget John Wick game and it’s not just for PS5 – even if it doesn’t have a release date yet.

Technically this new John Wick game wasn’t a surprise. The head of film studio Lionsgate said last month that a ‘major’ new John Wick game would be announced and he wasn’t lying, as anyone that watched last night’s State of Play will know.

The new game, which doesn’t yet have a name, is a multiformat title, and will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC at an unspecified point in the future – but seemingly not this year.

Most of the reveal trailer seems to be pre-rendered, but there’s what appears to be actual gameplay towards the end, and it looks very good.

The authenticity of the action is no doubt due to the involvement of series creator Chad Stahelski, with the game featuring an original story set before the Impossible Task. In other words, it’s a prequel that takes place before the events of the four films.

Whatever the game ends up being called, it will be developed by Saber Interactive, who have a number of very different studios – and it’s not clear which one is making this. But the publisher’s biggest hits include World War Z and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, so they’re used to working with other people’s IP.

According to the trailer blurb the game will feature, ‘a hard-hitting gun-fu combat system, jaw-dropping camerawork, intense driving experiences, cinematic storytelling, and a bold range of atmospherically immersive environments.’

As you can see, the game does feature the likeness of Keanu Reeves but whether he’ll be providing the voiceover is unclear. There’s a good chance he will though, as he’s no stranger to the world of video games, given his sterling work on Cyberpunk 2077.

This will not be the first John Wick game but unfortunately the excellent strategy action game John Wick Hex was delisted last year and is now all but impossible to acquire.

It’s a shame, because while it’s one of the ugliest games we’ve ever played – and does not feature Keanu’s likeness – it is one of the most original turn-based strategy titles of recent years.

Turn-base strategy is not the obvious way to go for a property like John Wick though and it’s only a surprise it’s taken this long for a big budget triple-A game to be announced.

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A PlayStation 5 dinosaur shooter inspired by Dino Crisis is getting a sequel, despite being eviscerated by critics and players alike.

While rubbish games are in abundance if you scour deep enough on Steam and other online stores, it’s rare that one gets as much attention as Code Violet.

The PlayStation 5 exclusive horror title became one of the most pre-ordered games on the PlayStation Store last month, presumably based on the trailer which made it look like a decent blend of Dino Crisis and Turok.

However, as detailed in our 1/10 review, ‘decent’ is far too generous. In fact, we described it as ’embarrassingly poor’ and a ‘vapid, broken, entirely un-entertaining experience’ – and one that was inexplicably priced at £39.99.

Despite Code Violet being panned across the board (it has a 29 rating on Metacritic, and a 2.6 user score), developer TeamKill Media has announced that a sequel is in development following the original’s ‘overwhelming success’.

‘We’re actively progressing on several exciting projects, with more announcements and reveals coming your way very soon,’ a post on X reads. ‘Today, however, we’re especially thrilled to share some big news with the entire TeamKill community.

‘Thanks to the overwhelming success of Code Violet and the incredible support from all of you, we are officially coming that development has begun on the next chapter of Violet’s story: Code UltraViolet!

‘We’re incredibly excited about what’s ahead and can’t wait to bring you along for the journey. Stay tuned!’

In a subsequent post, TeamKill clarified Code UltraViolet is a standalone ‘direct sequel’ to Code Violet, and not a DLC expansion.

The announcement of a sequel isn’t too surprising considering Code Violet is TeamKill’s most successful game ever, but with such negativity around the original, it’s hard to see people diving back in for a sequel – unless they pull off some kind of Herculean comeback.

Based on TeamKill’s history though, we wouldn’t bank on it. Along with Code Violet, the developer is responsible for the similarly panned Quantum Error, Son And Bone and 2020’s Kings Of Lorn.

Sadly, if you’re hoping for a new Dino Crisis from Capcom, there’s evidence to suggest they’re bringing back another dormant franchise instead.

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A reliable insider says three new PlayStation 5 games are coming to the PlayStation Plus catalogue and one is a lot bigger deal than the other two.

Right now, PlayStation fans have their eyes set firmly on the new State of Play airing this Thursday. Since it’s set to last over an hour, there are expectations that there could be a few entirely new game reveals, alongside updates for games like Saros and Marvel’s Wolverine.

It turns out that’s not the only thing Sony has planned for this month, as a reliable insider has shared details on a few games that will be added to the PlayStation Plus catalogue starting from next week.

This effectively makes them free for anyone who is subscribed to the PlayStation Extra or Premium tiers, with the headliner being Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2.

According to Dealabs’ billbil-kun, who has a proven track record of PlayStation Plus leaks, Sony will be making a formal announcement tomorrow on Wednesday, February 11.

Spider-Man 2 launched in 2023 and, at the time, we described it as the best Spider-Man game ever made, even if it was pretty unoriginal and stole wholesale from the Batman: Arkham games.

The game was also rather contentious thanks to its £70 price tag and sparked the age-old debate about pricing versus length, when it was discovered the main story and side quests could be cleared in just 30 hours.

Spider-Man 2’s inclusion in the PlayStation Plus catalogue is interesting, since a single month of the Extra tier is only £10.49 – so you can join just for that and then instantly quit.

Obviously, the goal is to use Spider-Man 2 as a means of attracting new subscribers and then hope they’ll stick around when they see how many other games they can access.

Aside from Spider-Man 2, billbil-kun claims two others will be added on February 17: racing MMO Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown for PlayStation 5 and puzzle platformer Neva for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

We can’t speak for Neva, but it is certainly visually gorgeous and the team at developer Nomada Studio won a BAFTA for artistic achievement last year.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is far less exciting, as it suffers from dated graphics and bizarre design decisions that keep it from being any sort of alternative to Gran Turismo 7 or Forza Horizon 5 (though neither are included in the PlayStation Plus catalogue).

This update also comes after Sony’s roll-out of free monthly games for February, which all PlayStation Plus subscribers can add to their library at no extra cost and keep forever… as long as you remain subscribed.

Those games are boxing sim Undisputed, underwater explorer Subnautica: Below Zero, indie Metroidvania Ultros, and flight sim Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

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A new indie game from the makers of The Binding Of Isaac may seem a frivolous tale of magical furballs but it’s actually one of the most deeply complex strategy titles of recent years.

For a brief time, at the end of the 2010s, turn-based strategy games were fashionable. Despite loving the genre, we never would have thought that possible but, alas, those 15 minutes of fame were fleeting, and the obsession was only brief as far as mainstream gamers were concerned. As such it’s unlikely there’ll ever be another XCOM and a game like Into The Breach was only ever going to be a one-off.

Although Baldur’s Gate 3’s combat did keep the concept alive for triple-A gaming – and there’s a Star Wars themed XCOM clone coming out this year – turn-based strategies have largely returned to being the preserve of indie developers. And Mewgenics is about as indie as it gets, as one glimpse at the graphics and the credits – which largely consist of just two people – will tell you.

Beyond all the cat nonsense, Mewgenics is a disarmingly complex strategy roguelite combined with a breeding simulator to furnish an army of moggies to take on the powers of evil. It’s very silly and incredibly deep, in what must be one of the most extreme mismatches ever seen, between how a game looks and how it plays.

Although Mewgenics is essentially two games in one the basic explanation of what you’re doing is relatively straightforward. You start by managing your team of felines, kitting them out much as you might in XCOM itself. You can take four of them at a time on a single roguelite run, with combat resolved in an isometric arena reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics and all its many derivatives.

Should you be so skilled as to survive to the end of the day any cats that remain are automatically retired and can no longer be used again (except in special cases that we won’t spoil). Instead, you have to select replacements from your ever-growing cattery – ideally ones that have been purposefully bred for the occasion.

There’s a whole research and development element that goes on at your home base, both in terms of breeding the cats and expanding your HQ, with additional rooms and equipment that allow for buffs and other upgrades to be carried across multiple runs.

Although managing the loadouts of your cats involves a lot of very nerdy video game style considerations, the breeding is both complex and funny. Rather than dealing with test tubes and cloning vats, as you might expect when genetically engineering an army of killer kitties, you instead have to encourage loving relationships, making the critters feel comfortable and trying to stop fights between competing males. Even then your plans may be thwarted, if a female cat rejects a potential partner or a cat’s sexual preferences mean it’s not interested.

While breeding is important there’s also the issue of cat collars, which confer class types and associated abilities, and which frequently take the role of the most desirable loot. Combing genetics with collars, especially if your cat had a particularly powerful parent, allows your pussycats to gain abilities from multiple classes but also causes mutations and disorders, which can be either positive or negative – from sharper claws to an unstoppable urge to eat nearby poo.

Normally at this point in a review, we’d try to assure you that the game isn’t necessarily as complex as it sounds, but in this case that’s not really true. Mewgenics is a satisfyingly deep game, but it is a lot to take in at the start, especially given it can’t take itself seriously enough to give proper tutorials and the interface isn’t the most instinctive – especially when it comes to item descriptions, which make Elden Ring seem transparent.

The whole breeding aspect could easily have been a whole game in itself but technically it’s just a prelude to the combat, which in theory is fairly standard for the genre, as you move and attack across grid-based maps. However, the complexity of your cats’ abilities and weapons, and the weirdness of your enemies, means fights are highly unpredictable.

A successful run can take up to three hours but there’s so much randomness involved in that, in terms of the abilities your team is served up (you pick one from a selection of four each time you level up), the enemies, the locations, and random rolls of the virtual die, that the game can seem brutally unfair at times. At a base level it’s not actually that difficult but if luck is not smiling on you then it seems anything but.

As you might guess from the visuals, Mewgenics is by the creators of The Binding of Isaac. We can’t pretend it’s an art style we’ve ever liked but the game is made by basically two guys, so it’s hard to be too negative, especially given the impressive variety in cat and monster appearances. But a lot of the humour didn’t land for us and some of the depictions of the mutated or injured cats are, like their previous games, quite disturbing.

Despite its foibles, Mewgenics is an extremely ambitious and well thought out game. We didn’t gel with some of the elements, especially the random aspects and the artwork, but they’re clearly meant to be like that and are not an accident. Just like a cat, Mewgenics does not apologise for being itself and while it may not be purr-fect it’s impossible not to forgive its missteps, even when it’s purposefully annoying you.

Formats: PC
Price: TBA
Publisher: Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel
Developer: Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel
Release Date: 10th February 2026
Age Rating: N/A

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The Monday letters page is not convinced that physical game sales are dead yet, as one reader discovers the joys of Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Game of the years
We all know what the best-selling game of 2026 is going to be, but will GTA 6 be the most critically acclaimed? It probably will be, just because fans will go crazy against any reviewer that dares to say it’s bad, but somehow I doubt it’ll actually be the best. GTA 5 may have been a phenomenon, but I wouldn’t put it on any kind of best ever list and I can’t see Rockstar changing their approach, including bad combat and racing, because they know what they did last time sells.

So what will the be 2026’s critical darling? The equivalent of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Normally it’s hard to say because we don’t know what’s coming out later in the year, but thanks to GTA 6 probably not very much.

Resident Evil Requiem seems like a good contender and maybe Saros if it’s as good as Returnal (I guess, I didn’t play that). But how do you predict the impact of Marvel’s Wolverine, The Duskbloods, Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Control: Resonant? And what if Valve really do release Half-Life 3 this year?

People have been understandably down about the games industry this year, and I’m sure we’ll all be sick of hearing about GTA 6 soon enough, but there is a lot of interesting stuff on the horizon that could make 2026 a classic year.
Gorf

GTA 6 money
I am very curious as to what Sony and Microsoft are playing at with GTA 6. I would imagine that Microsoft is actually thinking early September for Fable and Gears Of War: E-Day, which shouldn’t be too much trouble. Although you’ve got the obvious problem that people have only got limited money to spend on games, and you can bet neither of those are going to get it over GTA 6.

I guess Microsoft is thinking that most people have already put aside their GTA 6 money but I’m not sure it’s something I’d bet on if I was them. As for Sony… they really do seem like they’re ignoring the problem and putting Wolverine out as their big Christmas game.

Maybe they figure that if there’s literally nothing else out then they can still do well. But this would mean that it’s something like the third time they’ve ignored GTA 6 when talking about games coming out this year. If they do know something that we don’t they’re not being very subtle about hiding it.
Tacle

Stick your neck out
I am fascinated by the idea of the Resident Evil Requiem neck speaker, especially the fact that apparently this is a thing that already exists and wasn’t just made for the game. What on earth benefit would that have above just wearing normal headphones?

I don’t see how it would help with immersion, because the sound would presumably be coming from your shoulders. I’d be very interested to hear from anyone that has used one of these and could explain why it exists. I guess it allows you to hear other things in the room better but isn’t that definitely less immersive?
Campbell

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Retro console
I’ve finally purchased a Switch 2 and have been enjoying playing Mario Kart World with my better half, especially in the tough online Knockout Tour mode.

Surprisingly though, considering the age of the game, my main enjoyment has come from revisiting GoldenEye 007 via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, played with the official N64 wireless controller I purchased. The visuals have been sharpened up, plus it runs at a noticeably higher frame rate (it needed too!). For me it’s by far the first person shooter ever.

Just need to wait a few weeks for the hotly anticipated Resident Evil Requiem now. Hopefully it has a good Mercenaries mode included.
Adams6legend

GC: If it has, they haven’t mentioned it yet.

Northern goodness
Just played through Thanks Goodness You’re Here! as it was free with PlayStation Plus Extra. I don’t think I’ve ever said, ‘What the hell?!’, while laughing incredulously as much before while playing a game.

Always nice to play something a bit different.
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)

Touch only
I read the Reader’s Feature with the argument that digitally-downloaded games are better, linked with the demise of GAME.

Well, as most gamers would know, GAME went wrong when they closed as independent shopping units and went in-store with Sports Direct. The gaming section was then normally found right on the top floor, in a corner right at the back. If you are looking for games you don’t want to go traipsing past rows of trainers and tracksuits.

Secondly, GAME is highly overpriced. They want people to stop buying online but charge £10+ more per game compared with online outlets. Plus, there must be a high percentage of gamers that miss the old enjoyment of picking up used game bargains; GAME used to do 3 for £10, for instance. Who remembers those deals? Not every gamer can afford £30-60 for a new game.

And there it is, yes, let’s imagine just a digital download arena for purchasing games. No more bargains then, like Nintendo. Everything will just keep rising in price because gamers will be forced into this only way of purchasing. Buy it at that price or give up gaming near enough, is what we will be told.

Plus, just the general joy of letting your other family members mooch around the shops for an hour or so, looking at clothes while you can have that hour to yourself to look through shelves of bargain games. Games which you can also then sell on again, if you wish, to the delight of another fellow.

Looks like CeX will still be my only place to go now. How long will they last before they too are pushed out by government taxes or corporate muscle? I will enjoy my little weekend jaunts while I can. Long live the physical touch.
Jools

Physical existence
While I agreed with the sentiment of Gannet’s Reader’s Feature, regarding the so-called business of GAME, I completely disagree with what he said about physical games being dead too.

If that was true, why are CeX queues always full of people with second-hand games in hand?

No doubt these very gamers could easily and knowingly not have to tramp out in the UK’s current rainy weather and simply download the game from the comfort of their home.

Regardless of what ‘the industry’ says, physical media will never leave us.

There is a thing (trend?) on TikTok now where people are starting to re-buy DVDs and even CDs because they are fed up of streaming services removing media they’ve prepaid for, and quite rightly so.

A friend of mine has even complained about this, saying certain songs from her Spotify playlists have simply disappeared.

I’ve always seen Spotify as an utterly complete waste of money, as all my music is ripped from my CDs of yore (and some are MP3 files from BandCamp).

I am currently holding off on buying certain games (Marvel Cosmic Invasion being one of them) as I’ll wait for the physical release, as I did with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind.

I just think paying more than £15 for a game you don’t own, and can’t sell or trade if you don’t like it, is crazy.
LeeDappa

The smell of gaming
It is a definite shame about the final GAME shops closing down, although not surprising. It’s still an achievement to have survived as long as they did in the ever-usurping digital world of gaming.

I had many enjoyable conversations with staff members over the years, finding out about games I may not had heard of and getting them from that shop. It was not only at GAME retailers but other local high street gaming shops, where if you know and get on well with a member of staff.

I was not one to exchange games or get a previously purchased second-hand game, as I am one of those folks who likes that cellophane-wrapped brand new game feeling. But I have purchased rare games that you couldn’t get anywhere at all anywhere, as no new versions of these games were being made anymore!

But for me it’s watching new games on their TV screens and being in a shop with like-minded fans of gaming. Also, I miss that sweaty type of smell at some of their locations, which was always very invigorating to breathe in!

It’s that less interaction with our fellow humans that’ll be missed, especially as I work from home! But I do go to places like Waterstones, HMV, hobbyist shops, and city or town markets to support them. I’m hoping the future for these retail businesses will survive in some form or another into the near and far future.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
Any news on Days Gone 2?
Tony

GC: None at all. At this point it’d be very surprising if it ever happened.

I have Wrestlemaina 21 and is the next gen Xbox played that game.
Barry

GC: Pardon?

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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