Silent Hill Townfall director Jon McKellan says Konami did not let the dev team know about all of the other Silent Hill projects that were in the works concurrently.

After about a decade in the bin, with the wound of the Hideo Kojima-led Silent Hills being cancelled still fresh on the minds of horror fans, Konami decided it was back. This happened in a single stream announcing Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: Townfall, and the duo of things we didn't know would be awful at the time – Silent Hill Ascension and Return to Silent Hill.

While the Bloober Team collab on Silent Hill 2 was long-rumored, the announcement of three other Silent Hill games (if you can call Ascension a game?) was a total shock for a franchise that had been as dead as whatever James Sunderland most recently bashed with a big stick.

Speaking at MCM London Comic Con (via VGC) McKellan – the founder of Screen Burn – revealed how he and the development team first found out that there were other Silent Hill games in the works alongside Townfall, saying, "We found out about a lot of those projects when everyone else did. When they announced them." He adds, "we were kind of kept in the dark, which was kind of exciting as a fan to not see behind the curtain too much."

Even after the cats were out of the bag, Konami didn't give the team much insight into what the others were doing either. McKellan says, "[Motoi] Okamoto-san, who's the series producer, was very keen to not let projects influence each other, and not compromise too much." Even without the knowledge of other games in development, if there was too much crossover, the Konami team would step in, he explains.

"They'd not necessarily tell us what it was, but just be like 'there's another thing that's doing something similar, so maybe veer off from that direction.'"

Despite Konami's wishes to keep the three games unique, McKellan stresses it wasn't a restrictive environment either, saying, "It wasn't like a Marvel phase where it would be like 'know your slot and stay within that.'" He adds, "We got to be very creatively free, just with the knowledge that Konami and the team there would step in if they felt they had to."

So what did get changed through this process? Not much from the sounds of things. "I think only once did we have a thing," McKellan explains, "they felt 'this is maybe a little too close, you may want to pivot and just go in a different option' for one of the enemy designs."

The '90s are a "perfect time for horror," says Silent Hill: Townfall dev who wants the game to make you feel technologically vulnerable.

Broken Mirror Games is barely a year old, but the Bloober Team publishing division has already managed the once unthinkable. Onyx: The Dark Grip is set to be one of the first Nintendo-exclusive horror games in over a decade, proving that the Nintendo Switch 2 really is a console for all - even us horror hounds.

Sitting down with Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno and Broken Mirror's new executive director Tymon Smektała, I have just one question. How on Earth did they pull off getting a game like this past Nintendo?

Through the fog

Smektała might be new to Broken Mirror, but after 13 years at Techland and having gotten to know him well over his last three as Dying Light franchise director, take it from me: the guy really knows, loves, lives, and breathes his horror. Which means he's keenly aware that Onyx: The Dark Grip being a Switch 2-exclusive, handheld-only experience is a very, very big deal.

"Nintendo doesn't work with just anyone," Smektała says. "Generally, Japanese companies are companies that you have to build trust with, and you have to prove that you are worthy of that trust. The fact that we have managed to convince Nintendo to to support a game like this – to feature it in a Nintendo Direct and allow us to make that game for Nintendo Switch as an exclusive – speaks of the fact that Bloober Team is being noticed and realized and validated as the people to go to when it comes to horror."

He's right on the money. Few studios have pulled off a reputational 180 as well as Bloober Team. The studio had been around for years, but Silent Hill 2 Remake was the catalyst for that success. The gorgeously faithful yet beautifully modernized survival horror was met with staggering praise, impressing even those who balked when Konami first revealed the Polish studio's involvement, to become one of the most important remakes in the genre to-date. For all the studio's slip ups in the past, the proof was there on-screen: Konami was right to trust Bloober Team, and now, so do we all.

But Konami's seal of approval seemed to extend beyond the publisher, bleeding into the Japanese market itself. Onyx: The Dark Grip is to be one of the first third-party Nintendo-exclusive horror games since 2014, hot on the heels of this month's asymmetrical co-op Beyond the Dark: Nightwatch.

Developed by Broken Mirror, published in-house under Bloober Team, and built entirely for the Switch 2's handheld mode, stunning 2.5D psych-horror Onyx casts the player as both a God and the person possessed by it. "The reason we are doing this for Nintendo is because I'm a Nintendo fan," Babieno grins, "so I'm making my dreams come true in some way."

But Sincere as Babieno is about his love for Nintendo systems, I suspect there's more to the deal than that. Smektała reaffirms my hunch when I ask about which horror niches the pair would like to see make a resurgence. Another Broken Mirror game, Saw: Genesis, fulfils one of them – social horror in the vein of Repo and Lethal Company, harnessing "the power of technology, the power of online, the power of connecting people" to deliver "a game experience that will try to play with social interactions." The other element is the interactive experience of a game itself.

"I think it would be very very interesting to find ways to trick the player, make him doubt what he's seeing on screen, make him doubt how he interacts with the device as we do with Onyx: The Dark Grip," says Smektała. "Kind of by accident, the games that we have already announced [at Broken Mirror Games] are doing that already."

Feel the fear

Onyx: The Dark Grip is Broken Mirror's chance to "put horror literally back into players' hands", according to Babieno, reinforcing how integral the hardware itself is to the experience. "I think that breaking the fourth wall is very important because new hardware, new opportunities, are giving us something we didn't have before."

With stricter ratings boards in Japan compared to those in the West and an image built around fun for all ages, Nintendo's relationship with horror games is infamously complicated. There has not been a true third-party Nintendo-exclusive horror game since 2014's Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water on the Wii U (until it got remastered onto other platforms). Getting an upcoming horror game like Onyx, even one built so intrinsically around Nintendo hardware, is monumental to say the least.

"It wasn't easy for Nintendo to deal with horror," admits Babieno. But the family friendliness ascribed to Nintendo consoles has, historically, had some wiggle room. "Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil 4 were very important to me," Babieno reflects on how instrumental Nintendo consoles have been to horror in the past.

"I would like to bring those amazing times of GameCube back, but in a new way – and I believe that Nintendo fans always like to play something exclusive to them."

Western developer, Eastern sensibilities

But did Bloober Team's success with Konami have a role to play here, too? "Definitely," agrees Babieno, and it's all to do with how Bloober conducts itself as a business.

"For us, it was never a one-shot. It was never that we would like to create a game, and that's it. It's [about] the long run, and so we would like to build not just the next successful title, but a successful and very stable company."

Putting stability and reliability above one-and-done projects speaks to a business mindset that Babieno describes as more of "a Japanese approach than a Western approach," an alignment of values in terms of how Bloober Team grows and sustains its business not around the bottom line, but around a healthy, robust image. Beliefs that Bloober, and Broken Mirror, in turn, share with Japanese companies like Nintendo and Konami.

"We are a publicly traded company, so business is very important," he says. "But I think that even more important is to keep knowledge inside of the company. If we would like to build the company for decades, not just for the next few years, we need to build the DNA of the company and the team.

"So we always are making decisions by thinking, 'okay, are we able to do this without cutting staff in the future?' Because if we need to cut anyone, maybe it doesn't make sense. Maybe we are able to do this in a different way. Maybe we don't need to make this particular title. It's always the question of how it will impact the whole team."

As Smektała and Babieno join forces to chart the future of Bloober and Broken Mirror, the pair exude a comforting confidence. It extends to protecting not only their image and those of the companies they work with, but the people involved in creating the games themselves. "We are not just responsible for those 200, almost 270 people inside of the company, but also their families," says Babieno.

"And I really like what Satoru Iwata said years ago: that if we let go 5% of our team, 95% will live with the fear that it could happen to them in the future. So we are never thinking about how to make our financial parameters a little bit better, but how to create a better future. I think that this is much more important."

Check out all the other upcoming Switch 2 games you need to keep an eye on in 2026 and beyond

At a time when it seems like everyone everywhere is either excited or afraid by how much AI is going to shake up all sorts of industries, it's refreshing when you hear someone say, essentially, 'eh,' but that seems to be the sentiment being expressed by Konami president Hideki Hayakawa in the company's latest earnings report.

The financial report, as spotted by Dengeki and translated by Automaton, details Konami's current approach to the rapid proliferation of AI and its thinking on the technology's potential impact on the gaming industry as a whole. The general consensus right now, which seems to be as fluid as the weather, is that AI as a tool to drastically increase efficiency is a near inevitability, but the increase of actual AI-generated game content including art and voice lines, not to mention the AI-assisted vibe-coding boom that has Microsoft's tail wagging, has the industry wondering if a line will ever be drawn. For Hayakawa and Konami, there may be no need.

Per Automaton's translation, Hayakama said in Konami's earnings report that AI probably "won't bring a significant change" to the game market. Answering specifically to questions about how AI might lower the barrier to entry for aspiring game developers, Hayakama dismissed that, too.

"Entry barriers have already been lowered by the advancements of generic game engines and the spread of UGC (user generated content)," he said, adding, "Even if AI use does lead to improvements in production efficiency, I believe that the most important factors in producing entertaining and innovative video games are people and creators."

I'm not sure how to read this one. On one hand, there's no denying the metaphorical breath of fresh air that it is seeing such a prominent industry figure downplay AI's influence, but on the other, is it strictly a good thing if one of the few potential upsides – meaning increased efficiency – to an otherwise terrifying technological advancement is straight-up bunk? As ever, there's an inherent fogginess to second-hand translated quotes, and of course most gaming execs are far more bullish on AI in game dev, but it seems Konami isn't buying the hype at the moment.

Why so many game developers don't want to use generative AI

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse has released to critical acclaim, but there was a point in development where it was shaping up to be a very different game, and one I'd wager wouldn't have scored nearly as well with critics or fans of Konami's beloved series.

Talking to PCGamesN, Evil Empire head of business Ben Laulan reveals Castlevania: Belmont's Curse went through a lot of iteration before landing on the faster-paced evolution of the whippy action gameplay we all know and love.

"We had many different versions of the game," Laulan reveals. "We had much slower versions, more like a Dark Souls kind of vibe with even more heavy combat and slow rhythm. Then we realized it wasn't really Castlevania because it was too slow, too intense, and just too hard."

I could've told you that. I have a well-documented allergy to Dark Souls and Soulslikes, having tried repeatedly to get into the most beloved of them like Bloodborne and Elden Ring, but even removed from that obvious bias, FromSoftware's signature dodge-roll into big-swing mechanics have no place in a 2.5D action game like Belmont's Curse. I'm so, so glad Evil Empire reconsidered that direction. However, it seems they went so hard in the other direction that we almost got Dead Cells: Belmont's Curse.

"So we cranked up the speed, and then it was too much Dead Cells because it was too fast-paced, and the exploration wasn't there as much as it needs to be in Castlevania."

I can understand the Dead Cells influence given Evil Empire's experience supporting Motion Twin's roguelike darling post-launch, but I'm still encouraged to hear the developer was keen to avoid taking on any identity that isn't distinctly Castlevania. I have yet to play Belmont's Curse myself, but it sounds like it's a worthy return to the long-dormant series. Our own Castlevania: Belmont's Curse review awards it 4/5 stars.

"Beautiful and challenging, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse offers a rich, gothic world of puzzles to solve and enemies to whip," writes social media editor Serena Cherry. "With a stunning blend of fast-paced traversal action and compelling storytelling, this game proudly honours the Belmont legacy in exciting new ways."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was born out of "a sense of urgency," producer says, and if we have to wait 10 years for the next game, "the whole thing is meaningless."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse reviews are in, and its Metacritic score is one of the highest in the Konami series' 40-year history, even if it doesn't quite hit the praise garnered by the most beloved games in the franchise.

After a hiatus that has lasted just over a decade, Castlevania is getting its first brand new game in years this week, with Castlevania: Belmont's Curse having a lot riding on it for a lot of fans. Thankfully, it looks like things have gone down well, as the Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Metacritic score is sitting at 86 after 45 critic reviews, which as far as the series at large goes, is one of the strongest scores to date.

In fact, the only Castlevania games with a higher score are some of the most beloved games in the series. Namely the GBA trilogy of Circle of the Moon (91), Harmony of Dissonance (87), and Aria of Sorrow (91), as well as Aria's sequel, Dawn of Sorrow (89), and, of course, Symphony of the Night – namely its Xbox 360 port at 89 and the PS1 original at 93. It also ranks lower than Vampire Survivors' Ode to Castlevania DLC (95) and Dead Cells' Return to Castlevania expansion (88) – which was developed by Belmont's Curse developer Evil Empire.

In the GamesRadar+ Castlevania: Belmont's Curse review, social media editor Serena Cherry awards the game four out of five stars, saying, "Beautiful and challenging, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse offers a rich, gothic world of puzzles to solve and enemies to whip. With a stunning blend of fast-paced traversal action and compelling storytelling, this game proudly honours the Belmont legacy in exciting new ways."

Currently the majority of the game's reviews are dubbed "Positive" by Metacritic, with multiple outlets giving the game full marks. Elsewhere only eight reviews gave a "Mixed" score, with the game picking up a number of three out of five or seven out of 10 ratings.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was born out of "a sense of urgency," producer says, and if we have to wait 10 years for the next game, "the whole thing is meaningless."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse forced me to do something I have not done since playing my very first video game ever on the Sega Master System 2 in the early '90s. And that is: grabbing a pen and paper and writing down notes. Usually a method I reserved exclusively for Jankin matches in Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Belmont's Curse gave me so many cryptic clues, so many patterns to remember, so many intriguing characters or key items hidden away in places, that placing markers upon the map was simply not enough.

No, a game this complex warrants detailed manual transcription. Its recall challenges are a workout for the brain as much as its tricky traversals are a workout for the fingers and thumbs.

The Seine of the Crime

Like all great Metroidvanias, I spend half my time soaring through the air and the other half staring at the map – a sprawling puzzle of tunnels and halls that spans iconic Parisian locations such as Notre Dame and the Catacombs. And, of course, Dracula's Castle. An imposing, intricate structure full of brutal traps, ambush rooms, and the occasional roast chicken tucked away behind a wall.

Dracula's Castle reveals itself unexpectedly, following a series of clues and exploration that misleadingly appears to be guiding you to the next big boss fight. Under any other circumstances, the pursuit and anticipation of a boss being met with simply a cutscene could severely hamper motivation to continue playing.

However, the cutscene in which Dracula's Castle emerges is gripping and rewarding to watch, with striking animation that matches the dark, exquisite cinematography of the Netflix series. My disappointment at the lack of a boss quickly shifts into a deeper appreciation for Castlevania's ability to subvert expectations midgame.

Visually, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a feast for the eyes. Lightning flashes through Gothic window arches, illuminating painterly backgrounds of a city in flames. Detailed depictions of buildings such as Notre Dame are so beautiful that it's easy to forget they're filled with hostile enemies.

None of which are too much trouble though. Belmont's Curse is generous in its weapon offering – with 7 weapon families, each with 4 weapons, plus a flexible Arcana System that lets you seamlessly swap between a variety of abilities and spells depending on enemy type. My personal favorite is a sword and shield combo that lets you charge dash through enemies, obliterating everything in your path. Needless to say, this weapon is excellent for runbacks.

This Metroidvania's rooms are packed full of a variety of monsters, but there are always plenty of effective ways to deal with the crowds via magic, weapons, and relics. Unlike previous Castlevania games, these items are obtained through exploration – you don't get them from enemy drops. Weapons are hidden in chests that await as a reward at the end of tricky traversal sections.

Whipped into shape

Of course, airborne traversal requires teeth-gritting precision and patience as you close-in on secrets; but the challenge is always followed by the relief of unlocking a shortcut and exclaiming, "I'll never have to do that again!" It's challenging but never torturous, made fluid and fun as you use the legendary Holy Whip to swing between hooks, grapple enemies, and yank yourself away from spikes.

Controlling Rose Belmont feels a tad heavy but intentional. Clearing out ambush rooms by grappling aerial enemies with the whip then falling to smash those below in, literally, one fell swoop is immensely satisfying. The pace of movement, slide dodges, and traversal tools borrow the best parts of Dead Cells, but the unique Castlevania essence shines through in the form of the whip.

Progression relies on deciphering cryptic clues to hunt down Tarot card bosses. The guidance buried within these clues is often not particularly obvious. After pacing back and forth library halls for hours, hitting every wall in sight, sometimes it's admittedly far more difficult to find the bosses than it is to actually fight them.

Talos is a particular highlight boss, featuring mid-stage traversal sections timed against a countdown clock. Avoiding his powerful attacks then racing through the traps of the next room to relocate him provides that quintessential enjoyable stress only a Metroidvania can give.

Heart pounding? Yes. Palms sweating? Yes. Shouts of joy when Talos is defeated? Absolutely.

Although the wayfinding can be baffling and the fast-travel is surprisingly limited for a map so large, Belmont's Curse is a super accessible entry point for the Castlevania series. Accessibility options include toggles to increase health potion capacity, retry bosses without runbacks, and boost attack damage. The game also offers plenty of Mirror of Life save points, reducing the pressure of getting trap rooms and traversal sequences right the first time. Plus, enemies only respawn after you die, so you can thankfully re-enter a cleared room and it will still be cleared.

It was always going to be a tall order to follow up on the iconic Castlevania series music crafted by Michiru Yamane, and this is sadly where Belmont's Curse falls a bit short. The main motif is gothic and brooding, but the majority of the in-game music doesn't quite match the atmosphere of the visuals and the story.

Fortunately, the narrative more than makes up for the weaker soundtrack. The game delivers an intense dose of Belmont family drama that continues on from Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse. The stakes are higher than ever as Leon Belmont reappears, and the mystery of Rose's curse brings an impending sense of doom.

Longtime Castlevania fans will delight in the array of nods and references throughout the game. Haunting paintings of Alucard literally lead the way via directional sword points through the labyrinthine corridors of Dracula's Castle; and we also get to face off against legendary Castlevania foes Death, Medusa, and Carmilla once more.

Often colourful and flashy, Belmont's Curse doesn't necessarily look like a Castlevania game. But it sure does feel like one. With enigmatic puzzles, gothic atmosphere, a dramatic anime-esque storyline, and well-paced action, this is a hugely compelling Metroidvania and a triumphant return for the iconic franchise.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was reviewed on PS5, with code provided by the publisher.

It's not a terrible night for every curse, as if you've been saddled with an overwhelming desire to play more like this we have a handy best Metroidvania games ranking just for you!

P.T., the "playable teaser" meant to introduce the world to Hideo Kojima's Silent Hills, has been effectively inaccessible since Konami delisted it in 2015. Modder LoreanXavier has created a native PC port of the game that aims to make it playable for modern gamers, and even Hideo Kojima is taking notice.

An article from GameRant covered this PC port of PT a few days ago, which was soon retweeted by Kojima himself – on both his English and Japanese Twitter accounts, even. Kojima constantly retweets fanart and other community celebrations of his games, even those still owned by Konami, but it is unusual to see him acknowledge this kind of port on social media.

"The GOAT himself acknowledged my port," LoreanXavier says on Twitter (via IGN). "I am speechless." He adds that seeing Kojima "notice something I’ve poured so much time and passion into genuinely means the world to me."

While there have been plenty of attempts to port or remake P.T. over the years, this one seems to be the real deal. "This is incredible," as noted dataminer Lance McDonald explains. "Unlike the previous decade of fan 'recreations' of P.T. for PC which always seemed to miss important but minor details, this is (as far as I can tell?) a 1:1 port of the entire codebase. It creates all of the undocumented behavior I know of perfectly."

In essence, it's a lot like the PC recompilations we've seen for older games over the past few years, rebuilding the original console code in a way that actually functions on PC. And, like most of those projects, you need to provide your own copy of the game to work with the port, as none of the original game assets are included here. That's a key distinction that seems to have helped keep these projects from being assailed by publishers' lawyers.

"I made this on my own, in my spare time, because P.T. deserved to keep existing somewhere other than on consoles that still have it installed," LoreanXavier says on the project's GitHub page. "It plays the whole teaser from the first wake-up to the street, with the voice part included."

Given the rampant vibe coding that's been going around the fan dev community, you might want to know whether AI was used here. "I use AI for debugging when I get stuck," LoreanXavier says. "This project is built on years of experience with P.T. and Fox Engine; I was making shadPS4/ModDB workarounds for the game long before this port. That knowledge makes reverse engineering easier. I’m not blindly vibe-coding a P.T. port."

With multiple successful modern Silent Hill games under its belt, Konami is now keen to turn Silent Hill into an annual franchise. The series is more active than it's been in years, but P.T. remains stubbornly tied to a dwindling number of PS4s, with no way for new players to get in on the action. It's a notable piece of gaming history, and it's good to see that fans, at least, are willing to try and protect its legacy.

These are the best Silent Hill games of all time.

Konami has said that Castlevania: Belmont's Curse won't be the end of the series, and you probably won't have to wait 10 years for a new one to actually release.

While Castlevania has been arguably the most present Konami series since the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain – which ushered in the era where the publisher wasn't really making games – it's still been 12 years since the last entry, Lords of Shadow 2 (and even longer since the last traditional game). So, given there's been such a hiatus, naturally people want to know whether this is kicking off a full-blown revival like Silent Hill has received, or just a one-off with no plans for a follow-up.

Speaking to Famitsu (with translation from Nintendo Everything), Castlevania: Belmont's Curse producer Tsutomu Taniguchi was asked what the future of the series looks like as the new release coincides with the 40th anniversary of the original Castlevania. He explains, "Right now, we're pouring all our energy into the release of the game before you, Belmont’s Curse," and while getting a new game out will provide a sense of relief for him, Taniguchi notes, "if we said, 'Okay, the next game will be out in ten years', the whole thing is meaningless. Although I still don't know what shape that will take."

Taniguchi also described how Belmont's Curse came to be, saying, "The development of this game started partly from a sense of urgency." He explains, "the number of people actually playing Castlevania has gone down" while at the same time "the number of people who had heard of it, but never actually played had gone up." This is presumably thanks to the popular Netflix animated series, to which Belmont's Curse is somewhat linked, as Rose Belmont is the daughter of Castlevania 3's Trevor and Sypha, who were the focus of the original series.

Personally, I'd like to see Konami go for a new 3D entry in the series, while letting the likes of Evil Empire handle the Metroidvania-style adventures. As much as I have total Soulslike fatigue, there's no doubt the franchise fits the genre super well, but a Devil May Cry-style traditional action game wouldn't go amiss either.

The most underrated Castlevania games could be making a comeback as a Konami teaser gives fans hope for a 3D collection.

Akio Otsuka, the Japanese voice for pretty much every Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series, has said Konami should release a new game in the series, even if Hideo Kojima isn't involved.

While David Hayter is synonymous with Snake for many, Otsuka perhaps has the most prolific run as the character in the series history. Not only did he – like Hayter – play Solid and Naked Snake, but he also provided the voice for Metal Gear Solid 2's Solidus Snake (played by John Cygan) and Metal Gear Solid 5's Venom Snake (played by Kiefer Sutherland). In fact, the only time Otsuka didn't play Snake in the series was Big Boss' appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4, where he was fittingly played by Chikao Otsuka – the actor's father.

Otsuka previously said that he was not interested in returning to the series if Kojima wasn't somehow involved, but appears to have changed his mind. Speaking to Bunshun (translated via TheGamer), Otsuka admitted he made that comment due to a "sense of pride" for having worked with Kojima, but he thinks Konami should make a new Metal Gear game

"There are Metal Gear fans all over the world, and they have been waiting patiently for it. So, for their sake, let’s make one more Metal Gear," Otsuka says, noting that since Kojima is "making his own games with Death Stranding, I think, 'Why not? It’s okay to do it.' That’s how I feel."

Otsuka would continue to collaborate with Kojima, providing the Japanese-dubbed voice for Die-Hardman, but when asked if he'd spoken to the director about collaborating again, Otsuka reportedly laughed, saying, "I'll leave that to your imagination." Now that Kojima is working on Physint, his own Metal Gear spiritual successor, perhaps it could be a full-circle moment for the duo, although I don't know that the 66-year-old's voice coming out of 36-year-old Bill Skarsgård's character's mouth would be the most fitting.

Hideo Kojima's Physint isn't costing Xbox $400 million after all, with new reports suggesting the Metal Gear successor's actual budget is "significantly less"

After months of fans begging for a native Switch 2 version, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse has been confirmed to be running at 60fps on the console.

I don't know how everyone else feels about it, but Metroidvanias are a handheld game for me. While some of the best Metroidvania games have been exclusive to consoles, there's something about exploration on that scale that feels perfect for playing on a handheld.

So it was especially disappointing to hear that Castlevania: Belmont's Curse wouldn't be arriving on Switch 2, as the choice would be picking a hindered 30fps version on the original Switch or playing on a TV (or a Steam Deck, I guess, but still). The lack of a Switch 2 version has been a hot topic in the community since its announcement, but it looks like we might not need one.

As spotted by Nintendo Everything, despite Konami not saying so before, the Castlevania: Belmont's Curse demo released on Switch earlier today actually runs at 60fps on Nintendo Switch 2. Granted, the lack of a native version does mean the resolution is reportedly not as hot as you would want, but for an action game like Castlevania, 60fps is always a bonus.

Konami previously went back and updated Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1 on Switch with an update that let the ports of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 run better on Switch 2, so hopefully something similar could be arranged for Castlevania. That is, assuming the devs aren't planning on making a native version a year down the line like Sega did with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance.

The most underrated Castlevania games could be making a comeback as a Konami teaser gives fans hope for a 3D collection.

In a massive moment for the Metal Gear Solid 2 speedrunning community, a way to skip the game's first boss fight entirely has been uncovered.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is split into two parts: the Tanker and the Plant chapters, with Tanker serving as a short prologue featuring Snake. Famously, this is the only time you get to play as Solid Snake throughout the game, with Raiden being in charge for a majority of the game's runtime. Through this, Snake only gets one proper boss fight against Olga Gurlukovich, who, upon defeating, has Snake steal her USP pistol. And while you shouldn't be using it generally because non-lethal is the way to go, you need it for destroying the sensors for the bombs located on the ship.

Except that's no longer the case, as Metal Gear Solid 2 runner apel has released a video showing the discovery on YouTube (via Time Extension). In the video, apel drags an unconscious guard across to the lasers, which will then activate upon the guard waking up. Once the bombs go off, the game "triggers a flag that decides if the explosives can be triggered again or not. After the game over, if you press Continue, the game resets the value of that flag to the value it previously stored, so the explosives work again."

However, by rolling towards a checkpoint as the guard triggers the bombs, the "game saves the value of the flag after the explosions happen," which means Snake can casually stroll through, avoiding the encounter with Olga completely.

The bombs are the only section in the Tanker where you also need a lethal weapon, so you're free to move on and reach Raiden. This marks a huge shift for Metal Gear Solid 2 speedruns, as it's the first skip found that allows you to avoid a boss fight entirely. So expect some new world records in the near future.

Someone finally gave Metal Gear Solid 2 the perfect mod, letting us experience the entire tanker opening in lore-accurate VR

Konami has celebrated Castlevania's 40th anniversary with a video covering the series' history that some believe is teasing a collection of the 3D entries.

We're finally getting a brand new mainline Castlevania game for the first time in 12 years with Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, set to release on October 15. But unlike Metal Gear and Silent Hill which were just gone during Konami's hiatus from making games, Castlevania was still pretty present. Not only was there the massively popular anime series, but over the years, almost every mainline entry in the series got a re-release as part of its many collections.

The exceptions, however, have been the 3D games in the series. The N64's Castlevania and Legacy of Darkness, the PS2's Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness, and the Lords of Shadow trilogy have all remained bound to their original platforms. However, Konami might be teasing a return for some of them, fans speculate.

At the end of a video celebrating the series 40th Anniversary, Simon Belmont walks the halls of Dracula's castle, with the series first protagonists walking past four portraits before arriving at his surprise party. These portraits show artwork from Belmont's Curse, Lament of Innocence, Curse of Darkness, and the first Lords of Shadow (the best one, and only Castlevania produced by Hideo Kojima at that). Naturally, this has led to speculation (thanks, Time Extension) that these games will have a collection of their own following the release of Belmont's Curse.

While not as beloved as say, Symphony of the Night or Aria of Sorrow, the 3D Castlevania games definitely have their fans – especially Curse of Darkness which introduces one of the series most-beloved characters, Hector. However, outside of the excitement, some can't help but notice that Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, and Lords of Shadow 2 are missing from the lineup. It could just be a case of Konami choosing to highlight the three favorites, but there's a chance this lineup could be incomplete.

That is, if it is a teaser at all, as it could just be a way to represent these games in the party finale of the video, given that they don't have 2D sprites.

A Castlevania: Belmont's Curse demo kicks off the Halloween season in October, with save data transferring to the full game.

Silent Hill Townfall pre-orders are nearing ever closer as this week's September 24 (Thursday) release date is just days away - but that still leaves plenty of time to pick up a copy for your physical horror collection.

Pre-orders are available digitally for $49.99 / £44.98 (via Steam) and physically on the PS5 for $49.99 / £49.99, and there's even a collectible steelbook available, though its stock is looking pretty foggy right now. If you're based in the US your best option is to pick up your pre-order straight from GameStop as it's just $44.99 which is the cheapest price you'll find it. Equally, if saving cash if you're biggest priority, UK horror fans will want to stick with Very, where it's down to £41.99, which is £8 off. Of course, collectors may be far more intrigued by the steelbook, but it's exclusive to European retailers, and Amazon UK is currently sold out for now.

I managed to swap my Day One Edition copy for the steelbook release just last night, so there's every chance that more stock could be on its way. In the meantime, I've gathered all the best US and UK retailers to grab your copy down below to ensure there are no scary shopping experiences, and that the only scares you'll experience this week will be as you explore the dreary Scottish streets of St. Amelia. Don't worry, as a fellow Scot, it surely can't be that terrifying...

Silent Hill Townfall pre-orders in the US

Silent Hill Townfall pre-orders in the UK

FAQ

Love physical games? Check out our Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time remake pre-order and Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis pre-order pages while you're here.

I've played a lot of horror games over the years, and built up a thick skin in that time to anything but the bluntest of jump scares. So when I say Silent Hill: Townfall scared me, upset me, and left me with just a whole lot of stuff in my head I don't entirely want to have to think about, that means it impressed me. Now it's done I just keep rolling it around in my mind, trying to find a way to make it lie comfortably, but I suspect I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.

Silent Hill: Townfall almost certainly isn't going to be for everyone. It's an incredible slow burn mechanically and narratively; very stealth heavy with lots of hiding and ruthless punishment for being found; and the story, once it reveals itself, is a much more difficult beast to wrestle with than birthing gods or manifesting murderous sexual repression. But, while there's a few missteps and at least one late game puzzle I hated with a white hot fury, the overall experience has stuck with me in a way few things have. There are moments, ideas and entire levels worthy of discussion in their own right, as well as events, themes, and topics I'd rather weren't in my head anymore. I'm going to keep this as spoiler free as possible going forward though, so if anything seems vague it's to keep those secrets for you to discover.

I see that town

It all starts with you arriving in the tiny Scottish coastal town of St Amelia, in the early '90s, as a character called Simon Odell. He doesn't know why he's there, or where even there is, which works well setting him up as a cipher for your joint investigations into what the hell is going on. These early few hours – as you poke around the foggy streets and hide behind dumpsters from gnarly, skinned-flesh things skipping along the cobbles – are about as perfect as horror gaming gets.

The key mechanic the stealth hangs on is an old retro CRTV, a pocket television that replaces a Silent hill staple, the radio, in helping you detect monsters. Instead of just having a warning crackle when danger's near, you can now tune the TV into threats to get an interference laden X-ray view of danger through obstacles. The twist that stops this becoming too overpowered is that each individual creature is tuned separately, leaving you jumping between signals one at a time to check where everyone is as you creep around. There's also a peek mechanic to peer around or over things that I clung to like a liferaft for a long time, sparing nothing but the barest of pixels to glimpse fleeting shapes around corners.

While it's very effective in building fear, this stealth does dominate everything. Combat is tough as you swing planks that quickly fall apart (and, later, pipes that fall apart a little more slowly). Firepower is also limited by incredibly scarce ammo, and the fact that gunfire often attracts every monster within earshot. As a result, most of the game is spent cowering behind walls and darting between gaps in monsters' paths, terrified you'll hear a 'found you' scream.

Getting caught either leads to a messy, dangerous fight or a desperate run to escape and hide. In open areas like town streets the latter isn't too bad, leading to heart in your mouth sprints away from danger. However, in more claustrophobic interior areas your options become limited, leading to several arduous levels where you're just stuck hiding with no clear route ahead, or fleeing with nowhere to go to end up torn apart in a corner. The copious abundance of healing items and a resurrecting IV bag mechanic seems to be in place partly to counter this, and prevent you being murdered all the way back to your last save too often.

The dark side

A few of these overly harsh moments really can push Townfall from terrifying to a bit of a chore – one section takes away your ability to fight or resurrect, for example, while hampering your detection of threats, and is immediately followed by an almost as harsh section of a similar length, making for a grinding few hours after an excellent opening. There's also a particular special enemy, capable of insta-kills, that appears occasionally and seems stuck on you, even when it doesn't know where you are. That creates irritating moments where you're just sort of trapped in a room while it patrols endlessly outside, often giving you little choice than to take a hail mary dash hoping it won't see you. You can throw distracting bottles and bricks to buy a gap to get away in, but somehow it always ends up wandering right outside wherever you are.

Those moments can be grueling, and largely responsible for this just missing a perfect score. Partly because it pushes the tense stealth past the point of being fun, clags up the pacing and, whenever the insta-kill creature appears, you just know the next bit is going to be horrible and take forever.

But, for every annoyance, Silent Hill Townfall has many more moments of pure horror magic. In particular a late game level pulls a deliciously subversive power flip with a shotgun and some cat and mouse scares. Then there's just a list of puzzles, reveals, character, or story developments and more that had me scribbling 'Oh my God' repeatedly in my notes.

There are some areas where nothing's happening, but just taking it all in is just amazing – the atmosphere and vibes of just existing are incredible. The foggy town streets are flawlessly eerie and forlorn, creating an isolated and foreboding pressure as you explore. I swear I could smell the cold, briney sea mist I was wandering through. It's specifically set in Scotland, but the amazing recreation of its '90s streets, estates, and shopping centers will resonate with anyone who can remember the UK of that era.

The Otherworld on the other hand takes on a weighty, cinematic, concrete brutalism, harshly lit in monotone slabs of colour. I've taken more pictures of Townfall than any other game recently, and it doesn't even have a photo mode, it just looks that good. Wherever you are, the warbling, drowning piano, shimmering skeezy guitar, and honking synths build an edgy tension as metal clangs in the distance and as yet unlocated wet skinned breathing shreds your nerves. I haven't played anything that looked, sounded, or felt this good in years.

As you explore you'll uncover puzzles which, for the most part, ditch cryptic poems and ornately overengineered door mechanisms in favor of more realism – an early challenge has you getting a pre-paid card for the electricity meter from the newsagent. There are some way out there puzzles there, especially in the Otherworld when they tie explicitly into the story, and the CRTV even comes into play – letting you tune into disjointed videos that tease clues and locations – but most of it feels grounded and practical. There's a much more investigative feel and plenty of satisfying 'it can't be?!' moments when it all clicks. A couple of sequences are basically overly long fetch quests that feel like a chore, and there's one puzzle at the end that seems to just involve guessing symbols that drove me mad, but the majority of it is all very satisfying.

Through all this, the story takes its time to reveal anything, and you'll be a good ten hours in before you have anything more than half-guesses and assumptions that I guarantee will be wrong. All you'll know for almost three quarters of the game is that something truly awful happened, and letting your mind run rampant with that is far more effective than telling you anything (although the reveal is a worthy pay off). There's only a handful of characters but they're all fascinating as you learn more about them and why they're there. One in particular is extremely interesting, for reasons, given the state of the world right now, and how they deal with what's happening.

The narrative weaves through the substance of the game as you make connections and join the dots. There were so many 'OH. Oh. Ohhhhh' moments making connections; realizing things, like what a certain monster was using as a weapon, or why one of the first 'keys' you get is a scalpel. A new game plus playthrough is just this times a million, as things you didn't really register before are reframed with what you now know.

This is an astonishing horror experience, full of the sort of fear and unease I haven't felt from a game in a long time. The world and atmosphere Screen Burn Interactive has created here really feels like it's set a new bar, and it's done it in a way that feels utterly Silent Hill – reimagining what it can be, while staying utterly true to what it is. It's not perfect and I suspect a few people will struggle with how unrelenting it can be. But even with its flaws it's about as good as horror gaming gets.

Silent Hill Townfall was reviewed on PC, with code provided by the publisher.

Don't go quiet, check out our best Silent Hill games and best Japanese horror games rankings for more!

Someone has made a VR mod for Metal Gear Solid 2, which is so fitting for the plot of the game that I'm shocked no one has done it before.

YouTube creator Shiffo released a video this week showcasing their mod for Metal Gear Solid 2's Master Collection version. It allows you to play the game in Virtual Reality, either in third-person as the game typically is, or entirely through a first-person perspective. At the moment, the game's opening – the tanker mission featuring Solid Snake – is the only part available to play with the mod, which is set to be released in beta "soon."

In a YouTube video, the creator shows their run through the entire mission, demonstrating that the entire thing works in VR right now. The Raiden-led plant mission that makes up the majority of Metal Gear Solid 2 isn't there just yet, but if anything, that's just even more fitting.

Mild spoilers for Metal Gear Solid 2 ahead

Before infiltrating the Big Shell as part of the plant chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden underwent hundreds of VR missions in preparation for his real mission, including the Shadow Moses Incident from Metal Gear Solid 1 and the tanker chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2. He explains this to Iroquois Pliskin, a man who looks very much like Solid Snake, but can't be, because he died on that tanker two years ago.

The implication is that your experience playing through Metal Gear Solid and its VR missions is supposed to mirror Raiden's experience. Some do speculate that the tanker mission found in MGS2 is actually Raiden's experience. However, Snake calls out his VR mission, saying, "I doubt it accurately simulates the events of that actual mission."

Snake is said to have blown up the tanker of his own accord, which is not what happened in the mission, and we see what actually happens in the opening of the game. Still, having your chance to play through the tanker mission in VR is as close to being Raiden as you can get. I don't know that it was intentional from the mod developer, but they've made perhaps the most fitting VR mod of all time.

Metal Gear Solid 5 modders are bringing the open-world stealth game more in line with the PS1 classic in a crucial way

A new Metal Gear Solid 5 mod has been released which aims to bring back the feeling of the series' classic games by allowing you to go in with nothing.

Metal Gear Solid changed pretty drastically with its final entries. Metal Gear Solid 4 sowed the seeds with the Drebin shop, but Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and 5 took the series in a different direction.

The original MSX2 games and Solid trilogy had you infiltrating enemy bases with only the clothes on your back (or very little supplies) and every important item and extra weapon had to be found during your mission. Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain, on the other hand, feature the Mother Base, which allows you to develop your own weapons, meaning that every single time you went into a mission, your bag was packed to the brim.

Well, clearly someone longs for the good old days of stealth, as modder mohtalgear has released Metal Gear Solid 5's "definitive subsistence" mod. The big focus of this mod is On-Site Procurement (OSP) , a concept introduced in Metal Gear Solid 1, where Snake must secure his equipment at Shadow Moses. However, to launch a mission in Metal Gear Solid 5, you need to have some weapon equipped, so this mod removes that hurdle while reworking the game itself to make the experience work.

Crucially, every base weapon in the game will now be available to find on-site, whether that be from enemies or found on the map. This includes re-introducing concepts from earlier games, like having enemies drop their equipment or looting them when they are down and out. This extends to MGS 5's suite of extras too, as it introduces radios that allow you to call in support from your buddies like D. Dog, D. Horse, or Quiet.

On top of that, the mod introduces new bionic arms and weapons that were previously unavailable for main missions, and allows you to play as multiplayer-exclusive characters like Ocelot and Quiet in the open world. And, of course, you are able to still dispatch with your developed weapons with no issue.

Hideo Kojima intentionally designed Metal Gear Solid's box art to look confusing and grab attention, but stores ruined his plan by "trying to be helpful."

"The 8 years I spent developing Silent Hill 1, 2 & 3 at Konami, I gave up on getting a girlfriend," reads a new tweet from Masahiro Ito, the legendary Team Silent artist best known for designing Silent Hill 2 antagonist Pyramid Head. The tweet largely echoes something Ito said back in 2024 about not having the time for a girlfriend when he was working at Konami, but now he straight-up suggests he regrets sacrificing his love life for the his work.

"Never even went on a single date w/ a lady," he says. "I sacrificed my days off & slept on cardboards spread out on the floor, but I never in my wildest dreams imagined I'd end up like this on X."

That is... incredibly sad. Ito is a horror icon and should be eternally proud of the work he's done for its unparalleled influence on the genre. That said, as a married man who wouldn't trade my family for the world, it's fair for him to long for love.

"To be honest, lately, I've been thinking that if I hadn't sacrificed my personal life, found a girlfriend, and gotten married early on, I probably would have been happier."

Ito's comments section is filled with encouraging words from his adoring fans, so he doesn't need my advice, but I agree with one commenter that "hindsight is a bitch." Not much is known about Ito's personal life, but professionally he's had an undeniably successful career. If he had never worked on Silent Hill and instead chose to pursue a wife and family, who knows how that would've turned out? One thing's for sure, horror would've lost one of its all-time great bad guys, and I'm selfishly glad he stuck to games.

Silent Hill Townfall's atmosphere is spot-on, but slow-burn terrors leave a tepid first impression

Hideo Kojima has explained why the Japanese box art for the original Metal Gear Solid was written vertically, but says some retailers didn't get the memo.

Metal Gear Solid is a series synonymous with banger box art, with most entries in the series featuring some gorgeous artwork from series artist Yoji Shinkawa – in Japan and Europe that is, the US typically got 3D renders (with worse box art for the US being a tradition Konami is continuing to this very day). However, Europe won out with the original Metal Gear Solid, getting Shinkawa art, as both the US and Japan got a blank white cover with the game's title on it. However, there were differences: the US copy had the title in red, while the Japanese copy had the title on its side.

When asked why the title was intentionally misplaced on the Japanese cover, Kojima explains, in a post on Twitter, "When you placed [it] on a shelf, I intentionally designed the package to make customers wonder, 'Why is it vertical?!' and pick it up to see what it is, leading them to the game information from there!"

However, Kojima adds that this didn't exactly work out as planned, as "some stores, perhaps trying to be helpful, turned the package sideways and displayed it horizontally instead of the way I intended."

Doing something weird with the cover to pique players' curiosity isn't unique to Metal Gear Solid, mind you; the most obvious example is the space shooter Phalanx on the SNES. The European and Japanese covers featured a shot of a spaceship flying away from various explosions, while the US cover consists of an old fella playing the banjo with a tiny spaceship flying past in the background. And it's definitely the only reason I remember that game off the top of my head.

91.8% of Metal Gear Solid 4 players immediately got the achievement for ripping a statue's privates clean off.

Today's Konami Press Start showcase was relatively low-key, but there was one game showcased that absolutely blew my mind – just not, necessarily, in a good way. Konami Wai Wai World Craft is a modern reimagining of a wild NES platformer that was never released outside of Japan. Normally, I'm all about this kind of thing – but this new take on Wai Wai World seems to have transformed into Konami's take on Roblox.

Wai Wai World Craft was actually announced around last year's Tokyo Game Show, but the news seems to have flown under the radar for most Western gamers. But, well, who would really take notice? The original Wai Wai World was released for the Famicom in 1988 and was never localized globally on the NES. But its bizarre concept has helped it stand out among the vast '80s Nintendo library for modern retro enthusiasts.

The 1988 Wai Wai World is a Castlevania-style platformer where you rescue an array of characters from each of the game's major levels. The gimmick is that each level is based on a different Konami game, and the characters you rescue are the protagonists from those games, and saving them unlocks them as playable characters. You'd be able to play as Simon Belmont, or even Mikey from the Goonies – a film Konami had built a beloved video game adaptation of. In the pre-Smash Bros. era, seeing different video game franchises mashing up like this was a heck of a novelty.

Wai Wai World Craft still features an array of playable Konami characters, including Simon and Contra star Bill. But instead of old-school action platforming, this is a "UGC platform" where you create your own levels, share them online, and play with friends. In other words, it's a Roblox-like.

"In Wai Wai World Craft," executive director Hiroshi Tanibuchi explains in today's presentation, "you can use existing games as a building block and add your personal touch by changing the rules, introducing new enemies and gameplay mechanics, and customizing the stages and game world."

The building tools look similar to those in Minecraft, and everything demonstrated in the footage appears to be simple platformers. The way the multiplayer features and creation tools are presented are very similar to Roblox, but it looks like the creation tools here are far more limited. Which, uh… look, I'm no game market analyst. But I feel like a lesser version of Roblox targeted at kids far too young to remember Konami's classic IP is a concept that has some issues.

But hey, maybe I'm treating the idea too cynically, and feeling bitter about never getting an English version of the original Wai Wai World. We'll see how Wai Wai World Craft turns out when it eventually launches as a free-to-play game across PC and mobile sometime in the future.

After 31 years, one of the most beloved JRPGs on the Super Nintendo gets its first-ever North American release.

Gamers in the US are being taken back to the PS2 era as the Japanese and European box art of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is way better than the US release.

While everything is pretty standardized nowadays, video game box art used to vary a ton depending on which region you were in. Crash Bandicoot was marketed as cute in Japan, Kirby got angry eyes in the US, you know the classics. The PS2 era in particular was filled with these differences, and for the most part the US was always on the worst end. Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4 got gorgeous Yoji Shinkawa-penned covers vs the US' 3D renders; Resident Evil 4 in Europe is a work of art, while the US got a somewhat tacky collage of game models; and the all-time classic is Ico, which is a stunning piece of art in Europe, while the US got… yeah.

While nowhere near as bad as the likes of Ico and Resident Evil 4, Resetera users have noticed Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse has a major regional difference. Namely, the European version of the game features the absolutely stunning artwork from legendary illustrator Katsuya Terada, which is akin to the illustrated box art of the series' past. The key art for the US edition is the key art for the game, showing Rose Belmont overlooking a burning town. Granted, this art is more in line with what's seen in the actual game, but that doesn't stop people from being bummed about missing out on Terada's work.

While responses to the change haven't been calling the main artwork bad, some are upset at the difference. One user says, "It's almost like comparing the Japanese and North American SOTN boxes!" which is another famous case, where Europe and Japan got a lovely bit of Alucard art while the US got a generic castle. While another response says the main boxart makes the game feel like an "indie Castlevania-like", while the Terada art makes it feel like a real deal Castlevania.

I do think people are overreacting somewhat, as the US box art doesn't look bad in the slightest, even if it does feel similar to other game box art that simply features the main character standing in the game's environment. But still, I'm definitely happy and even keener to get the Terada art as a physical copy.

Konami’s Castlevania relaunch will be delisted and removed before the popular side-scroller gets the chance to escape Apple Arcade jail

Metal Gear Solid 4's new re-release in Master Collection Vol.2 appears to reference a fan-made Metal Gear Online project in its files, suggesting Konami relied on the project for DLC.

Back in the days of the Xbox 360 and PS3, it felt like every game had a multiplayer mode, even if it didn't need it. Nonetheless, this trend resulted in some shockingly great multiplayer experiences like Naughty Dog's Uncharted and The Last of Us online modes, Capcom's forgotten Bionic Commando reboot, and Bioshock 2.

Then, though Metal Gear Online debuted with Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence on the PS2, it took the Metal Gear Online 2 featured in Metal Gear Solid 4 to make the series' multiplayer a legendary experience. That brings us to the SaveMGO project, which allows players to play Metal Gear multiplayer to this very day.

Officially, Metal Gear Online went offline in 2012. However, SaveMGO has played a vital role in Metal Gear Solid 4's enduring appeal.

Now, it seems like Konami is acknowledging fan efforts. The SaveMGO Twitter account (via Time Extension) recently shared SaveMGO member Marko's reaction to a post in the Discord community for the project, in which someone shares references to SaveMGO in Metal Gear Solid 4's new port files.

The working theory among fans is that Konami used SaveMGO to access some of the now-deleted DLC for the game which consisted of camouflage patterns for Snake. Marko says, "That is awesome! So the only way they could get that stuff is thanks to the preservation potential of SaveMGO." SaveMGO says in its own tweet, "The original DLC might only exist today because SaveMGO kept it available all these years," adding that the team is "feeling proud."

While it wouldn't be the end of the world if DLC camo were missing from Metal Gear Solid 4, Konami's possible reliance on SaveMGO proves the importance of preservation, and more specifically, fan-made preservation projects. Because it's fantastic that I can still use cool Metal Gear Solid 4 camo, but it's even better that I can still play Metal Gear Online almost a decade-and-a-half since the servers shut.

91.8% of Metal Gear Solid 4 players immediately got the achievement for ripping a statue's privates clean off.

Metal Gear Solid 4 players on PC have earned one specific achievement right away, and all I can say is that poor statue.

Metal Gear Solid is an incredibly silly game series. The series features some of the greatest stories in gaming, with the best Metal Gear games still hitting like nothing else, even after multiple replays.

But yeah, those games can get dumb as hell.

There's a recurring character whose characterization revolves around his chronic IBS, which turns out to be a family trait, as his ancestor found in Metal Gear Solid 3 also can't stop dropping ass on a near-constant basis.

But aside from Mr. Poop, the games themselves are filled with silly little moments and interactions throughout the world. For example, you can slip on the bird droppings at the start of Metal Gear Solid 2, or the fourth-wall-breaking dialogue about the PS3 (which has been changed). One of these comes at the start of Metal Gear Solid 4, where you can pose next to statues to blend in, but if you go to the well one too many times, Snake accidentally rips off the statue's genitals.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 features an achievement for doing so, called "Handle with Caution," which rewards you if you "broke off the most important part of a statue". And yesterday, once the game launched on Steam, BlueSky user Columbologist took a peek at the achievements list and discovered something. Frankly, they put it better than I ever could, with their post reading: "91.8% of players, having waited nearly 20 years for MGS4 to be playable on anything other than PS3, booted the game and immediately made a beeline for a statue's dick."

While the number is at a much lower 21.4% at the time of writing, the fact remains that mere hours after Metal Gear Solid 4 launched on PC, 91.8% of players had already pulled the statues' genitals straight off. Just as Hideo Kojima intended.

The Nintendo ports of Metal Gear Solid 4 replace the iconic PS3 and PSP in-game consoles with generic variants

With the release of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2, it's been confirmed that Nintendo editions of Metal Gear Solid 4 have removed PlayStation references from the game.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was famously a PS3 exclusive until this week, and the game itself made that clear. Throughout the game you could see a PS3 console on Snake and Otacon's plane, Sunny could be seen playing the PSP, and Snake used a Dualshock 3 controller to control the Metal Gear Mk. 2. On top of that, there's the famous scene where Otacon recounts how great the PS3 and Blu-Ray discs are.

We already knew that line had been changed to whatever platform you're playing on, but fans noticed Konami's online manual seemingly removed the console from the Switch versions, before Konami changed the image to show the PS3 again. But now the collection is out, fans have revealed that yes, Nintendo players won't see a PlayStation console.

On the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions of Metal Gear Solid 4, you'll still see the PlayStation controller and consoles, but for Switch 1 and 2 the DualShock and PSP have been changed to generic versions, while the PS3 console has a Kerotan frog from Metal Gear Solid 3 in its place.

There hasn't been an official statement about the change, but given that both the PC and Xbox versions have the PlayStation kit, many are assuming this was a call from Nintendo itself. Although, weirdly, the PlayStation seen in Metal Gear Solid is still present in the Switch version of the first collection, albeit in a very low-poly form. Still, if it's the price to pay to get Metal Gear Solid 4 on more platforms, I suppose it's not the biggest deal.

Speedrunner turns one of Metal Gear Solid 4's biggest bosses into a total pushover using the power of Master Collection Vol 2's enhanced framerate

A Metal Gear Speedrunner has discovered that the higher framerate in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 has made one of the series ' most iconic boss fights a cakewalk.

Sure, it's almost 20 years old, but Metal Gear Solid 4 spoilers ahead for anyone about to experience it for the first time through the Master Collection.

Metal Gear Solid 4 may be a bit messy, but there's one thing it nails: nostalgia and fan service – before nostalgia bait became all the rage. Returning to Shadow Moses Island in Act 4 is one of the greatest gaming moments of all time, and it culminates with a power fantasy a decade in the making as you get to pilot Metal Gear Rex and have a scrap with the improved model Metal Gear Ray. It's a phenomenal boss fight and would be the best moment in the game if not for the final boss.

Jaguar King, a Metal Gear series speedrunner, posted a clip of their gameplay on Twitter, saying, "Thanks to 60FPS, Ray can be mega destroyed way faster than the original…" The attached clip shows the iconic Rex vs Ray scrap, with Rex launching missiles at Ray, then using its laser to destroy Ray's health bar almost instantly, with the fight lasting a mere 11 seconds in total.

Games having things tied to framerates isn't new. The original Metal Gear Solid is still 30 fps in Master Collection Vol. 1 for this very reason. Destiny 2 players also discovered differences in damage when the game was released on PC and had the 60fps option available. But what's weird about this is that Metal Gear Solid 4 was always technically 60fps; yes, the PS3 version never actually ran that well most of the time, but the game was built with a 60fps cap in mind, so it's strange that it would have an effect here.

Metal Gear Solid 4's most famous joke gets updated in Master Collection Vol. 2, with Konami even bringing back the original voice actor

Here you'll find our ranking of the best Metal Gear games in the almost 40-year history of the iconic stealth action series.

Despite being MIA for over a decade, Metal Gear Solid still remains one of the most beloved video game series' and one that many – namely, me – consider to be the greatest saga of games ever made. The series put Hideo Kojima on the map, and each of the mainline entries received rave reviews. And to answer the question here, play them in release order.

With Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater releasing recently, and the release of the new game, Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 now here, it's time to reflect on the series' past. And for someone who has played each of these games multiple times, it's been a herculean task to rank some of my personal favorite outings. Still, after much deliberation, I've found the top dogs in Kojima's saga. Here's my ranking of the 10 best Metal Gear games of all time.

The best Metal Gear games, starting with...

10. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

The PSP's first Metal Gear Solid game has largely been overlooked thanks to its status as a canon entry in the franchise being up in the air (from what I gather, the gist of it is that it did happen in series canon, but anything that contradicts what happens in the Kojima-led games didn't happen).

While it sows the seeds of recruiting soldiers, building an army, and mission-based stages that would later be expanded on in Peace Walker, Portable Ops plays more like Metal Gear Solid 3 in a way that doesn't really translate in the most clean way. But behind the somewhat awkward gameplay is a full-blown Metal Gear Solid game worth checking out, as it still ranks among the best PSP games, and forgetting that, it's worth it purely to spend some more time with Big Boss

9. Metal Gear Acid 2

The Metal Gear Acid duology should not work. The most iconic stealth action game being turned into a deckbuilder tactics title doesn't sound like the most natural crossover, and while there were some definite growing pains with the first game, Metal Gear Acid 2 is among the best that the tactics genre have to offer.

The premise is simple: you play as Snake (no relation), use decks of cards based on past Metal Gear and Hideo Kojima games in order to sneak or fight through missions, and take down an arms manufacturer and maybe scrap with a Metal Gear along the way. Integrating stealth into a tactics game works way better than I'd ever expect, and the card pricing mechanic adds an extra layer of risk vs reward to proceedings that make for tense encounters. It's a game that I'd love to see make a comeback now that tactical games as a whole are back in fashion.

8. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

Our first canon entry on the list, Metal Gear's MSX2 duology, is often overlooked compared to the later games, with many opting to skip the original titles. Understandably so, given that the games were not officially available until 2006, when they were translated for Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. While the original Metal Gear is somewhat tough to go back to, Metal Gear 2 should not be missed.

Eight years before Metal Gear Solid and still within the NES era, Metal Gear 2 feels ahead of its time. Not only is Kojima's directorial style in full swing this early on, but a number of iconic moments from Metal Gear Solid – codec number on the back of the box, the radar, a secret admirer over codec – were actually done first in Metal Gear 2.

7. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Metal Gear Solid 4 has gained a somewhat elusive legendary status thanks to its PS3 exclusivity, and many are about to experience it for the first time thanks to Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2. It marks the latest point in the series timeline – taking place in the far-flung future of 2014 – and marks the end of Solid Snake's story.

While the gameplay is fantastic, the story is full of brilliant moments and has some of the best nostalgia work ever put in a game. However, I will say that Metal Gear Solid 4 is also a bit messy. Gameplay innovations are abandoned by the end of Act 2, Act 3 is a really weak tailing mission, there are some rubbish retcons (here's looking at you, Para-Medic), and finally, we also have a few of the most convoluted plot points told through the lengthiest cutscenes in series history. It's still a classic that's well worth experiencing, but it's a flawed one.

6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is easily the best spin-off the series has to offer. Starring the cyborg ninja version of Raiden, we only got to see him be the coolest guy in cutscenes during Metal Gear Solid 4; Metal Gear Rising ditches the stealth gameplay to be one of the greatest hack-and-slash action games ever made.

If there was a textbook definition of over-the-top, Metal Gear Rising is it. You start the game with Raiden launching a Metal Gear Ray – which was a massive threat the last time we played as him – over his head like it's nothing while the iconic heavy metal soundtrack kicks in with impeccable timing. It only gets wilder from there, with the entire finale with Senator Armstrong standing toe-to-toe with the best moments from the main series.

5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Aside from the classic MSX2 games, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is the most overlooked entry in the mainline series. While the lack of a number and its original release as a PSP game may feel like spin-off material, Peace Walker is Metal Gear Solid 5 in all but name (not to mention it originally was Metal Gear Solid 5 in name). Mixing Metal Gear with Monster Hunter, this portable entry follows on from Metal Gear Solid 3 and shows how Big Boss eventually became the villain seen in the original games.

Peace Walker is the best story in the series behind the original Solid trilogy, thanks in part to its phenomenal supporting cast of characters. While the moreish mission-based gameplay and base management were perfect for a handheld, these aspects would eventually be built on for the actual Metal Gear Solid 5 down the line, and the series was all the better for it.

4. Metal Gear Solid 5

I've never looked forward to a game more than Metal Gear Solid 5. While it's unfinished and has the worst story in the series, Metal Gear Solid 5 is incredible. Not only would it bridge the gap between the Big Boss and Solid Snake eras of the saga, but it was Hideo Kojima's final Metal Gear. The prologue game, Ground Zeroes, introduced one of the greatest areas in the series' history with Camp Omega, and despite its short runtime is a fantastic taste of the full game.

Meanwhile, The Phantom Pain is, simply put, one of the best open world games ever made. The outing retains the mission-based structure of Peace Walker but places it in an open-world, and unlike some of the genre's biggest titles, freedom is the name of the game in Metal Gear Solid 5. You can approach any mission in a number of different ways, and it's the type of game where you can have the dumbest idea possible only for it to actually work. It could've easily been the best Metal Gear game had it lived up to the expectations of its story, but it's still an unmissable part of the franchise.

3. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Controversial at launch thanks to one of the biggest twists in gaming history, Metal Gear Solid 2 has been reappraised for what it truly is, a postmodern classic. Kojima's subversive storyline is ahead of its time, with the game predicting a number of parts of modern-day society and internet culture, so much so that "Metal Gear Solid 2 predicted this" is a meme in itself.

The jump in technical prowess between the PS1 original and the PS2 debut is also stunning. The graphical bump, effects, physics, enemy AI, and scale of the game feels like a true generational leap that we simply don't see anymore. It was the killer app for those of us who remember the launch of the PS2, and one that still holds up 25 years later.

2. Metal Gear Solid

What can even be said about Metal Gear Solid at this point? The PS1 hit was revolutionary thanks to its storytelling, redefining the stealth genre, and an iconic cast of characters and bosses that have yet to be beaten by Kojima's later games. But even outside of the industry-shaking changes, it's a brilliant stealth action game that still holds up as one of the best to ever do it.

Metal Gear Solid laid the foundation for what would become the greatest series of video games ever made, Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, and 4 all pay massive homage to the game. Meanwhile, the rise of cinematic-focused AAA games from the likes of Naughty Dog owes a debt to Metal Gear Solid for laying the foundations. Every time I've replayed the game in the years since my first encounter with it, I am left in awe at just how brilliant it is, especially compared to a majority of its PS1 contemporaries.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is the greatest game ever made. I felt that way moments after rolling credits on it for the first time, and I still feel that way years later. Instead of following up on Metal Gear Solid 2 and Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 3 is a prequel showing a young version of series antagonist Big Boss, with the player taking on the role of Naked Snake. Snake Eater takes the "you're on your own" feeling of infiltrating the Shadow Moses military base in Metal Gear Solid to the next level, as Naked Snake must sneak through the Russian jungle, securing his own weapons, gear, and food to survive. This was an evolution of the stealth mechanics that later games would build upon.

Snake Eater also marks Kojima's peak as a storyteller. Naked Snake is inherently more human than his supersoldier clone spawn, making for the most personal story in the series as Snake has to come to grips with hunting down his mentor in the name of his country to prevent nuclear armageddon – all while goofy James Bond-esque nonsense is going on. This culminates in the emotional final act that still gets me teary-eyed countless replays later, with the final boss fight being the greatest moment in the series' history.

For more recommendations, check out the best stealth games of all time. Or look ahead with our round up of all the upcoming Hideo Kojima games on the way.

The Silent Hill franchise is fully awake after years spent frozen in at the back of the fridge, and Konami tells GamesRadar+ its psychological horror series is only going to get healthier. Healthier, like, in its output – but probably not in its content, since there's an officially licensed James Sunderland body pillow now.

"Our aim is to, hopefully, have an annual release of new games," Silent Hill franchise producer Motoi Okamoto tells GamesRadar+ through an interpreter at Gamescom 2026. This plan also motivates Konami to keep moving Silent Hill far away from its original home in fall-apart Maine, as Okamoto says, "If we stay laser-focused on the same American setting, that would exhaust [narrative] possibilities, and also potentially cause fatigue for the playerbase."

Okamoto wants anyone working on a Silent Hill game to tailor the IP, so keeping it flying around the world lets developers "work within the types of environments and the types of storytelling that works best for them." Every main Silent Hill game released or announced this decade was made by a developer that wasn't Konami, so it sounds like the publisher will continue to experiment with who gets to define Silent Hill.

The days of Konami's adored, defunct in-house Team Silent are past sunset and well into the misty night – but Konami's loyal to Bloober when it comes to remakes, ensuring there's at least one developer out there who cares about Silent Hill for longer than one development cycle.

OK, yes, I'm a bit worried about Okamoto's dream of having yearly Silent Hill releases. I worry having so many games will dilute the series I love so much. But Okamoto seems confident fans will be pleased with the apparently "many" secret projects Konami is working on right now.

He says, "There are still many projects that are still under the works and very unannounced titles. So obviously, we can't go into specifics. But there are still many projects that we are currently exploring and working on as we speak."

"We would like to let players know," Okamoto continues, "that we have more experiences coming up, and many types of games that, we believe, will be able to provide positive kinds of surprises for players waiting for this for the series." As more new, spiritually pristine details come out about Silent Hill: Townfall – I mean that in a negative way, I want spiritual orange slime in my horror games and no soap – due September 24, I grow more skeptical of Okamoto's pledge to positive surprises.

But my bad feelings about Silent Hill: Townfall might just be the fog in me talking. I better keep an open mind if I don't want to end up with a James Sunderland body pillow.

Silent Hill: Townfall goes Until Dawn mode with celebrity cameos from The Odyssey and Lost actors.

It's not long now until Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, and Konami's provided a few more details about the new entry in the franchise in the form of the English-language voice cast. A few of the names will be familiar to longtime fans, including a couple from the hit Netflix series.

That's a good place to start: Alejandra Reynoso is back in the role of Sypha Belnades, who she started voicing for Castlevania's animated adaptation on Netflix. A witch and noted vampire hunter, Sypha goes way back in the franchise, to 1989's Dracula's Curse, and she's made numerous appearances since, eventually becoming the spouse of one Trevor Belmont.

Reynoso is joined, then, by Graham McTavish, who's voicing Dracula, just as he did in the Netflix show. McTavish's performance is a stand-out of Castlevania's televisual jaunt, making the vampire lord out to be a truly menacing figure.

As one of the most adapted characters ever, Dracula's not an easy role to take on, and McTavish does a fine job. It's nice to see the pair make the jump from the TV series over to the games, since they did excellent in their roles, and it would seem like a sudden finish if their time on the property was done when we have new playable entries.

Another notable member of the cast is Liam O'Brien, the performer behind Isaac. He's returning to that role after over two decades, having last voiced the character in Curse of Darkness, for which he was uncredited.

No such issues here, and it makes a nice full circle moment in his career that he can finally get his flowers on a Castlevania project here. The Trevor of Belmont's Curse is JB Blanc, who'd be much better known as an on-screen talent, with recurring roles in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

Belmont's Curse arrives on October 14, which means your Halloween playing is already sorted.

Konami’s Castlevania relaunch will be delisted and removed before the popular side-scroller gets the chance to escape Apple Arcade jail

Konami says that reboots of key franchises like Metal Gear, Castlevania, and Suikoden are an important part of its business strategy going forward.

Between a very public falling out between Hideo Kojima and Konami around the release of Metal Gear Solid 5, a pivot into Pachinko machines, and a general lack of new games, the company lost a lot of stock among fans for a while. However, in recent years, thanks to well-received re-releases of Castlevania and Metal Gear games, remakes of Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, as well as a number of new titles like Silent Hill f, the publisher is back among fans' good graces.

And while Silent Hill f proved Konami isn't just relying on remakes of already-beloved games, Metal Gear in particular is so intrinsically linked with the name Hideo Kojima for many that some don't think we'll ever see a new original title in the series. But speaking to Nikkei Gaming, Konami president Hideki Hayakawa seems to suggest there is a future for the series and plenty more.

"Reboots of existing IPs such as Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, and Suikoden are important initiatives that serve as pillars of our business." Hayakawa says, adding, "At the same time, we have a strong desire as Konami to create entirely new genres and works."

The term "reboot" specifically evokes the idea that there will be a fresh start for Metal Gear Solid, as Silent Hill f was also detached from the main series' established beats enough to feel like its own thing.

Of course, Hayakawa could consider Metal Gear Solid Delta a reboot, and we could just end up seeing more remakes in the series, but at the very least, it appears there is a future for Metal Gear; it's just a matter of seeing exactly what that is.

As Hideo Kojima turns 63, the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator says "I would like to remain focused on creating games" despite the interest in movies

Some classic jokes from Metal Gear Solid 4 are not only present in the latest re-release, but have been updated for modern systems. The game's part of Master Collection Vol. 2, which also includes Peace Walker and the Game Boy Color title Ghost Babel, and Konami has included a few nice flourishes.

The amount of meta-humor always made porting Metal Gear Solid 4 a difficult prospect. You've got references to the iPod and fourth wall breaks that really place the release at a certain time. Well, for the purposes of this version, Konami actually went back and amended a couple of spoken lines to make sure one joke lands accordingly.

In Sons of the Patriots, when you get to Shadow Moses Island, the original version made reference to changing the discs of the first Metal Gear Solid when you reach this same location. "Hold it, Snake. Time to change the disc," Otacon starts. "I know, I know, it's a pain. But you need to swap Disc 1 for Disc 2. You see the disc labelled '2'?"

Snake would then point out there isn't a second disc, and Otacon would realize we're in the future. "Oh, wait! We're on PlayStation 3," he exclaims, much to the chagrin of our man Solid.

Now, as has been highlighted by reviewers (thanks, TechRadar Gaming), whether you're playing on Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, or any other platform, the Master Collection Vol. 2 now references that system. Voice actor Christopher Randolph even came back to do the line for each instance.

Sure, you can apparently hear the contrast in his voice, since he's aged almost two decades and the recording environment would've been completely different. But, the joke still works, and now has an added layer to it. Even Solid Snake would see the fun in that.

Metal Gear Solid is getting co-op after 28 years thanks to "world first" mod, turning "the original PlayStation classic into a true online multiplayer experience."

A modder has released a trailer for a Metal Gear Solid mod which brings two-player co-op to the PS1 stealth classic.

A recent trend I've loved in the modding scene is players going back to classic games and implementing multiplayer into titles that were never designed for it. They are so prevalent there's an entire website dedicated to them. Super Mario 64 is one of the most famous examples – very recently, its sequel Super Mario Sunshine also had a mod released – as are the mods that allow full-blown co-op in FromSoftware games as opposed to certain sections. But one game I never expected this phenomenon to reach was Metal Gear Solid.

On their YouTube channel, a modder going by Felipe has released a "Pre-Alpha" trailer of their Metal Gear Solid Co-op mod. The description calls it "a world first" and says, "This is the first attempt to bring the original PlayStation classic into a true online multiplayer experience, something the original game was never designed to support." The video shows two versions of Solid Snake sneaking about Shadow Moses Island, fighting Genome Soldiers and the likes of Revolver Ocelot.

In the comments of the video, Felipe adds a FAQ section to delve deeper into the mod. They reveal that this is built on the GOG PC release, and that each player will be able to have their own camera within the mod. They also acknowledge later sections of the game that feature different gameplay styles, like the final Jeep sequence and rappel off the building, saying that the former will likely be single-player only but that the rest of the game should be possible.

Felipe also notes that the mod will have settings to balance the game to two players by increasing boss HP, and is thinking of increasing guard reinforcement numbers. The modder says that they will look into additional mod support for their multiplayer version of the game, and the likes of additional skins, which we've seen in similar multiplayer mods.

The mod is still in the early stages, but it's an impressive showing so far.

Nintendo Switch version of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection 2 seemingly removes the PS3 from Snake's plane, suggesting an iconic joke will have to be changed.

Update: Konami has seemingly updated the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 version of the online manual since this was discovered, with the screenshot now showing the PS3 seen in the other platforms' screenshots.

We have reached out to Konami for clarification and will update should be recieve a response.

Original Story: Metal Gear Solid fans have noticed a detail in the screenshots of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 that may explain how the PS3 mentions are handled in the new port of Guns of the Patriots.

Metal Gear Solid 4 has become something of a cryptid among the Metal Gear fanbase; it's the only game in the franchise to remain an exclusive, and it was long thought to be unportable because it was built specifically for the PS3.

This adherence to the PS3 allowed Hideo Kojima and co to do some fourth-wall breaks, including a famous scene where Otacon calls back to Metal Gear Solid 1's disc swapping by saying "Oh wait! We're on PlayStation 3! It's a Blu-ray Disc. Dual-layered, too – no need to swap."

But now that the game is coming to platforms outside of the PS3, many are wondering what Konami will do with the line in Master Collection Volume 2.

As spotted by users on Reddit, the manual pages for Master Collection Volume 2 include a screenshot of the Metal Gear Solid 4 pause menu, which shows a live cam of what Sunny is up to on your plane, the Nomad.

In the original version, you can see a PS3 on the table in some scenes, and this remains the case for PlayStation, PC, and Xbox consoles. However, the Switch and Switch 2 versions of the game have removed the PS3 console, replacing it with what appear to be GA-KO dolls.

While this doesn't confirm anything about the iconic line, it does prove Konami is willing to change things up for the Master Collection ports, which in turn has led to speculation about what the line could be.

While it could easily just be the regular PS3 line, Nintendo versions removing the console has me thinking it will also be changed, and given Christopher Randolph returned for Metal Gear Solid Delta to record lines for the Xbox exclusive Snake Vs Bomberman mode, he and David Hayter are clearly still happy to work with Konami.

One user reckons we'll get a generic "We're on a modern game console - Digital download too, no need to swap," but maybe Konami could go the extra mile and change the line to be about whatever platform you're playing on. Or there's the worst-case scenario where the line is removed entirely for Nintendo fans. We'll find out soon enough, as it's only nine days til Metal Gear Solid 4 is finally free from the PS3.

Metal Gear Solid 4's Master Collection gets an impressive new showing, confirming 60fps, shorter load times, and that Solid Snake still loves his iPod

Weeks after a version based on the Xbox 360 port was released, a PC recompilation of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on PS1 has been released.

Konami has been pretty good to PC users over the years, with official ports of Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill games reaching the platform in the '90s and 2000s. And in the time since, Konami has been very good at bringing back classic games, with Castlevania, Metal Gear, and Contra getting massive collections over the last decade or so.

And yet, Castlevania's crown jewel has been kept away, with Symphony of the Night's only modern port being as a part of the PS4-exclusive Castlevania Requiem collection, while pretty much every non-3D entry of the series was made available on other platforms, including PC.

Thankfully, a few weeks back PC players finally got an unofficial port of the all-time classic (ignoring that PS1 games are fairly easy to emulate), with NocturneRecomp, which brought the 2007 Xbox 360 port of the game over to PC. However, weeks later, SymphonyRecomp has been released by BlackLabelHQ. The 360 port is a solid way to play, but it is missing features like the FMV cutscenes and credits song by singer Cynthia Harrell – best known for the title track of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater.

So what does this mean? First off, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's PS1 version can be played natively on PC. Which alone is a great thing, but as we've seen with recompilation efforts over the years, this also opens the game up to mods and updates. As of right now it features widescreen resolutions and a built-in randomizer.

However, the potential for this to become the definitive version of Symphony of the Night is the real exciting part. Symphony of the Night's Japan-only Sega Saturn release featured an updated version of the game which included new areas, which had remixes of classic Castlevania music, and a playable version of Maria Renard. And yes, Maria is playable in the PS4 release (which itself is based on the PSP release), but that version was more akin to her Rondo of Blood playable appearance than the Saturn edition.

While there's no mention of whether Maria or the Saturn content is in the works for this port, the potential is exciting at the very least. And it's nice to have a PC version that doesn't remove the extremely '90s credits theme.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was made to enlighten players who "love Metroidvanias" but have "never played a Castlevania game," Konami lead says.

While Hideo Kojima is best known for Metal Gear and Death Stranding these days, his older catalog includes many more cult classics – including graphic adventure games like Snatcher and Policenauts. As the latter game turns 32, the beloved director is taking the opportunity to remember just how long he had to wait to finally create it.

"I first came up with the concept [for Policenauts] when I was 26, right after the release of Metal Gear 2," Kojima says in a tweet. That'd be in 1990, which is a year Kojima has already spoken of as a tumultuous time in his own career. Metal Gear 2 was itself delayed so Kojima could help fix an "emergency situation" on an RPG spin-off of Snatcher, and it seems his role didn't stop shuffling once the stealth-action game was out.

"After that, I was transferred to a planning-focused department" at Konami, Kojima explains. "The following year, I moved to the Technical Research Institute. Then the PC Engine version of SNATCHER interrupted things, and the PC-9821 version [of Policenauts] was released when I was 30."

While Snatcher was released in English on the Sega CD (a release that now often commands $1,000 or more on the secondhand market), Policenauts was never officially released outside of Japan. Kojima apparently agrees with one fan saying that "it's a shame most people can’t play it without emulators and the translation patch," since he's retweeted the sentiment.

Many of Kojima's early games are locked up in some sort of limbo or other, as the publishing rights seem to remain with Konami. Kojima and Konami had a famously messy breakup after the launch of Metal Gear Solid 5, and while Metal Gear itself has proven a lasting enough brand for Konami to invest in various remakes and remasters, the likes of Policenauts and Snatcher are seemingly too niche to get the same treatment.

There are plenty of upcoming Hideo Kojima games keeping the director busy.

Hideo Kojima still wants to go to space, but for now he's going to keep making games, and he says that's a good thing.

Metal Gear Solid creator Kojima really hasn't kept it quiet that one day he wants to go to space, so much so that Valve boss Gabe Newell tried to set Kojima up with a tour of SpaceX. Over on Twitter, Kojima recently posted a video of his comments during a panel at Il Cinema in Piazza – a film festival in Rome – where he explains (translated by Genki_JPN) his current thoughts about his space travel aspirations.

"I want to share this with all of you: We all want to make our dreams come true, right?" he begins. And obviously he isn't talking about his dreams with "voluptuous nude women," reanimated "decomposing bodies," and a very impolite coach, as he explains, "I want to go to space and I want to make a movie." However, he adds, "it wouldn't be good if those dreams just came true."

"That's because dreams are goals," Kojima explains, "The idea is to achieve the second, third, and fourth dreams along the way before reaching your ultimate dream." He adds that "for the time being, I think I'll keep on making games without going to space."

I would say perhaps he can go to space once he retires from creating games (although he said he has no plans to retire). However, at that same event, he also said he wants to die in a movie theater, preferably just after the trailers, so unless they build theaters in space, he's probably going to have to come back to Earth at some point.

The original Metal Gear Solid is free to play on Steam this weekend as Konami gears up for Master Collection Volume 2.

Ahead of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 releasing next month, Konami is letting everyone play Metal Gear Solid for free this weekend.

2026 has been a landmark year for those of us who are still obsessed with the year 1998. Spyro is getting a new entry, Resident Evil Requiem felt like as much of a sequel to Resident Evil 2 as anything else, Pokemon Gen 1 returned, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is set to get a remake releasing later this year. So, not to be outdone, Konami decided to remind everyone what the real best game of 1998 was, and is letting everyone play Metal Gear Solid.

Over on Steam, the Master Collection Volume 1 edition of 1998's Metal Gear Solid is free to play for anyone right now, which grants you access to the PS1 classic, as well as its expansion pack Metal Gear Solid VR / Special Missions, and the Japanese exclusive Integral. On top of that there's a full screenplay and "Master Book" which features artwork, character bios, a series timeline and the like.

This free weekend also arrives alongside Metal Gear Solid Master Collection's deepest Steam discount to date at £24.99 | $29.99 (which it's only been at twice before in the previous two Steam Summer Sales).

The best part of this deal, however, is that Metal Gear Solid is not really all that long. You could absolutely beat the entire game as part of this free weekend and experience one of the all-time greats free of charge

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 brings 4K 60fps to MGS4 and Peace Walker, Konami announces, but Switch 1 still gets saddled with 30fps.

Lead developers of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse have spoken about the process that led to the creation of Rose Belmont, the game's protagonist. Initially, they didn't have a specific gender for the protagonist in mind, but after developing the story, they wanted to base it around the strong bonds between mother and daughter.

In an interview with Famitsu, as translated by GamesRadar+, director Yukiko Hokao explains how the process of developing Belmont's Curse began without a specific protagonist in mind. "At the start we hadn't decided that the protagonist would be a woman," she says. "While we were building the world and the story, we thought the role would best suit a woman, and it was decided that it should be Trevor Belmont's daughter."

She goes on to explain how the original concept for the game had the protagonist's mother die before the beginning of the game. After discussing the game's world with Motion Twin and Evil Empire, it was agreed upon that the main character should be a woman.

Producer Tsutomu Taniguchi expresses how the game's world didn't feel right for a male protagonist. "For example, if this story featured a male protagonist, we'd have to consider the type of world depicted, and I think that could be cool," he says. "However, for this story, it was naturally decided that a female protagonist would be the best fit."

Creative director Emmanuel Nouaille further explains how the protagonist's gender fits into the game's themes. "Particularly, considering her mother Sypha's curse would be inherited by her daughter, there's a bond between parent and child," he says. "There is a strong connection between the two, and it gives her a clear motivation to avenge her mother's death and face her cruel fate. From this, the protagonist became Rose Belmont, and the role was best suited for a woman."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse wants you to find the "joy" in the difficulty and it won't be "simple or easy": "That's not Castlevania."

Leads working on Castlevania: Belmont's Curse have spoken out about how it will continue the series' tradition of challenging difficulty, while allowing players ways to mitigate it through level ups, exploring alternative paths, and if none of that works for you, difficulty settings.

In an interview with Famitsu that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Belmont's Curse's producer Tsutomu Taniguchi describes how people might mitigate the difficulty by using the game's mechanics. "People might find the game difficult if they can't win a certain battle, but there are always numerous alternatives," he says. "There is also a level up system so new players and those who are not good at action games can still play. That's always been a part of the series."

Though there are ways in-game to negate the difficulty, there are also settings that deal with potential issues more directly. "For those who still feel that it's difficult, there are settings that adjust the level of difficulty in the options menu," he continues. "Whether someone is good at action games or not, there should be a setting that will leave as many players as possible satisfied."

However, the game's director Yukiko Hokao wants to emphasize that Belmont's Curse will still have the challenge the series is known for. "We didn't want it to be a simple or easy game," she says. "That isn't Castlevania. Looking at early games in the series, I think there is a kind of joy in making progress steadily through a difficult game."

Creative director Emmanuel Nouaille also weighs in with how fairness is at the core of the gameplay. "We also placed a big emphasis on gameplay being 'fair,'" he says. "We're confident that the level of difficulty will satisfy existing fans, and by removing barriers for new players it should be easy for them to get into the game as well."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was made to enlighten players who "love Metroidvanias" but have "never played a Castlevania game," Konami lead says.

Konami has revealed the performance targets for Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2, and 4K 60fps Metal Gear Solid 4 is finally within reach, even if Switch 1 users are getting shortchanged again.

Konami released details about both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker's performance on its website. It's mostly as you would expect based on the previous game: Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC will be running at 4K 60fps; Switch 2 and Xbox Series S will be 1440/60 – with 1080/60fps in MGS4's handheld mode and for both on Peace Walker for Switch 2.

Once again, the original Nintendo Switch is stuck with 1080/30fps in docked and 720/30fps in handheld. That includes Peace Walker – a 2010 PSP game that ran at 60fps when its HD edition was released on 2005's Xbox 360.

Metal Gear Solid 4 at 60fps was already revealed a few months back with the first gameplay of the re-release. On Switch 2, the game has selectable image modes between "Adjusted and Original," with the handheld mode only getting Original. Presumably, one of these matches the other platforms, with a slightly more inconsistent framerate.

Funnily enough, Metal Gear Solid 4 was always capable of 60fps, but getting it to run as such on PS3 was only possible in really specific circumstances, and most of the time you'd be dealing with sub-30fps in action scenes. But having the game run at a stable 60fps will be a game-changer.

Peace Walker, on the other hand, has a number of different resolution and upscaling options. Konami also released a video showing off the "High Resolution" mode for the game's hand-drawn cutscenes, with the new version having a much clearer image compared to the somewhat blurry original.

While Metal Gear Solid 4's big return is the clear star of the show here, I'm hoping to see Peace Walker's stock rise with this re-release, so people can finally see it for being one of the best Metal Gear Solid games… perhaps even better than MGS4 some may say.

After almost 25 years, Metal Gear Solid 2 players are still finding secrets: "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it"

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse producer Tsutomu Taniguchi explains that he proposed the development of a new game in the series after reading comments from Metroidvania fans who'd never played a Castlevania game.

Castlevania may be the one half of the genre name, but according to Taniguchi, many self-professed Metroidvania fans admit they've never played any games from the franchise. In an interview with Famitsu, he spoke about how development of Castlevania:Belmont's Curse began from this revelation.

As translated by GamesRadar+ Taniguchi says, "I was a fan of Castlevania long before I started on this project. Since joining Konami, I kept seeing people on social media and in fandoms saying that they love Metroidvanias but they've never played a Castlevania game. They might have seen the anime, but they'd never played the games."

Taniguchi realized that while Castlevania has good brand recognition, it doesn't mean that everyone has had the chance to play the games. "I started to think about what I could do about this as both a Konami employee and a fan," Taniguchi says. "So we began by porting old games to collections to create a way for people to play previous works."

Castlevania has received three larger game collections: 2019's Castlevania Anniversary Collection, 2021's Castlevania Advance Collection, and most recently 2024's Castlevania Dominus Collection. Despite the wide range of series games distributed across these collections, the series' most popular entry, Symphony of the Night, hasn't been part of a collection since the PSP's Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles and its update 2018's Castlevania: Requiem.

"We also wanted to build more ways for new players to experience Castlevania, like the [Dead Cells] DLC I mentioned previously," Taniguchi continues. "Of course, I also wanted to see something new, so I proposed Castlevania: Belmont's Curse."

Fans have waited 12 years for a new Castlevania game, but Belmont's Curse is an even greater gift for swine like me who have never played the series

An unofficial Castlevania: Symphony of the Night PC port has finally emerged from its crypt, but it's based on the Xbox 360 edition of the game rather than the original.

Recompilation efforts have made a big wave in the industry over the last few years, and so far – a few outliers like Sonic Unleashed and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 notwithstanding – have mostly focused on the fifth generation of consoles, with most of the all-time N64 classics having brilliant PC versions available right now. Super Mario 64 was the first time I'd heard of it happening, but impressive ports for Banjo Kazooie, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask have been big hits among fans.

When it comes to iconic games from the fifth generation, there's far too many to mention, but one of them is undoubtedly Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – the reason that genre is called Metroidvania and not just Metroid-like.

And would you look at that, the newest game to join the long line of recompiled PC ports is Symphony of the Night. NocturneRecomp was released by birabittoh (thanks Time Extension) earlier this month, and ends an almost 30 year wait for a PC port.

However, it's not the PS1 original, the Saturn version that featured exclusive content, or the PSP release with a new translation that was later adapted for its PS4 port. Instead it's the Xbox 360 edition from 2007, which is the version I first played the game on and still has the iconic intro voice acting, so not a bad version at all, but a hindered one. It lacks the CG cutscenes and ending theme from Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater singer Cynthia Harrell.

Of course, you'll need to have dumped your own copy of the Xbox 360 version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to use it, but considering that version is still readily available on the Xbox Store (and backwards compatible) that shouldn't prove too difficult.

With that said, you could just play it on one of those consoles if you have it, but thanks to the power of modders, the prospect of restored Saturn content potentially coming to the PC port is certainly exciting, alongside those CG cutscenes.

Fans have waited 12 years for a new Castlevania game, but Belmont's Curse is an even greater gift for swine like me who have never played the series.

Castlevania Belmont’s Curse is a Metroidvania with a capital Vania 'V'. It’s the first proper Castlevania game in 12 years, and a proud 2D action graduate of the Symphony of the Night school of design – not only one of the best Metroidvania games, but the one that set the blueprint for hundreds of replicas, establishing the genre.

Thousands of Metroidvania have followed in Symphony of the Night's wake, with a surge in indie popularity following 2014's Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 – the most recent game in the series. So, how do you bring the originator back into a space that’s now overcrowded with imitators?

Whipped into shape

This question stays at the forefront of my mind for approximately 10 seconds as I settle in to play the first 3 hours of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. But any thoughts about the weight of the franchise's genre-defining legacy quickly fade, replaced by one singular obsession: the Vampire Killer whip. When will I get the whip? Where do I get the whip? Will the whip feel as good as it looks?

Every second I spend without the whip is agony. Hooks dangle tantalizingly from the ceilings, begging to be traversed, but remain out of reach to my bare beginner hands.

I find myself galvanized, utterly fixated on claiming this weapon, a wry smile creeping across my face as the obsession takes hold. You see – this feeling, that gnawing sense of desire, is quintessential Castlevania.

Few series understand the power of longing quite like Castlevania. Whether it's a weapon, a spell, a trapped item, an inaccessible path, or simply the relief of the next save point, these dense, Gothic labyrinths have a particular talent for making the player truly, deeply want things. And I want that whip.

As Rose Belmont, the daughter of Trevor Belmont and magician Sypha Belnades, I storm, whip-less, through the blood-soaked streets of Paris until I meet the first proper boss in the game: The Fallen. He throws a large Holy Cross my way, it spins and ricochets against the walls, and every fiber in my being tells me to jump. But, then what? In a thoughtless moment of frustration on my fifth attempt, I slice the Holy Cross. A cocktail of surprise and satisfaction ripples through my mind, because in true Castlevania fashion: the less likely option has been rewarded.

Cleaved by his own cross, The Fallen is now down to his second phase, gripping me within his far-reaching whip, or using it to swing between walls. It’s difficult to get close enough to land a hit on him in this phase, and the fight is admittedly very challenging for a first boss.

But alas, the greater the trial, the finer the weapon earned. It would be an insult for the Vampire Killer whip to be wielded by an enemy less fierce.

As with all truly great bosses, I breathe a sigh of both relief and dismay upon defeating them. Glad that the stress of his second phase is over, but sad that I’m no longer fully absorbed in the all-consuming tension and rhythm of the fight.

But most importantly, I finally get my hands on the Vampire Whip. And it absolutely rules. There are few moments in life where the catch lives up to the chase, but this weapon is one of them. It’s a sheer joy to use from the moment it’s equipped.

I traverse new aerial routes via the hooks, swinging upwards through the vertical climbs with fluid motion. I whip onto enemies, using their positioning to access unreachable areas. This is a weapon that works in harmony with an inquisitive mind – experiment with it and you’ll be amazed at what it can do.

When in Paris

Wayfinding is intuitive in Belmont’s Curse, with exploration rewarded as the vast city of Paris gradually opens up around you in a non-linear map. With a setting as cool as 15th-century Paris, Konami would have been fools to confine the game to a single castle. Instead, there are beautiful gothic streets and catacombs to roam, alongside burning, imposing buildings to climb.

The city's architecture, with its lofty, monumental landmarks, complements the verticality of the game beautifully. Long stretches of vertical traversal feel exploratory rather than repetitive, as sweeping rooftop views of Paris unfurl around you.

Boasting a striking 2.5D art style, Belmont’s Curse is a feast for the eyes. But it doesn’t really look like a Castlevania game. Its solid slabs of colour and cartoony animations lack the rich, gothic detail I associate with the series. From an aesthetic standpoint the game has far more in common with Dead Cells.

I was wondering which aspects of developer Evil Empire would shine through in Belmont’s Curse, and turns out: it’s not the roguelike gameplay, it’s the art style. Belmont's Curse may wear the stylish clothes of Dead Cells and The Rogue Prince of Persia, but it doesn't play the same way at all. The shared ground between these Evil Empire games is predominantly the visuals.

While the bolder look is a swerve of direction that will take some adjusting for longstanding Castlevania fans like myself, it is fitting for a game series that recently had a huge hit animated show on Netflix. The game and TV series clearly share a visual identity, which makes sense considering that Belmont’s Curse will be many fans’ first Castlevania game after binging the likes of Castlevania: Nocture.

Growing up loving a game series the way I love Castlevania, it’s hard not to get bogged down in nostalgia. My eyebrows shot up with skepticism when I began moving around as Rose Belmont. She feels so different. Easily the most agile protagonist the series has ever seen. But, stepping away from the blueprint doesn’t mean losing what made the series great. In fact, I appreciate that Konami and Evil Empire are willing to push Castlevania forward with a fresh feeling character rather than opting for the more rigid, familiar style of movement.

Rose is an absolute joy to control, with a nimble moveset that lets her slide behind enemies, vault through the environment, and wall-jump her way across the streets of Paris. Alongside her trusty whip, Rose wields the Arcana System, a magical toolkit powered by enchanted tarot cards gifted to her by her late mother, Sypha Belnades.

Defeating powerful foes allows Rose to seal their essence into these cards, transforming them into Arcana that grant new abilities. These powers can range from devastating, screen-clearing spells to subtle enhancements that completely reshape how she approaches combat and exploration, making every new card feel like a meaningful expansion of her arsenal. Belmont’s Curse carries all the grace and elegance of the Castlevania series in an excitingly different way. Yes, it’s back to a 2D action adventure world, but it’s back to anything but basics.

It’s a tricky tightrope to walk: keeping old Castlevania game fans happy whilst simultaneously pleasing a new, modern audience derived from Netflix. There are plenty of nods to both to appease fans. But, the core of Castlevania is preserved here, with its beloved SotN-style gameplay of tight combat, intriguing exploration, and arcane spells. And I’m thankful for that: I’d much rather Belmont’s Curse play like a Castlevania game than just look like one.

Want to hop in? Check out our where to start with Castelvania tips!

A modder has made Grey Fox playable in the original Metal Gear Solid, and it's way more impressive than it sounds.

Despite Snake (and Snake, and Snake, and Snake, and…) being a contender for the greatest video game character of all time, Metal Gear has a variety of side characters that all absolutely rule, and many hope for the chance to play as them. And while there's been the odd opportunity to play as whoever isn't the main protagonist of a given game (Tanker and Snake Tales in MGS2, Ocelot in Metal Gear Online), Metal Gear is pretty strict about having you play as the main character.

One such legendary side character is Grey Fox, who – after appearances in the MSX2 originals – appeared in Metal Gear Solid 1 as the series' first Cyborg Ninja. The character was so popular that he was the selling point and cover star of Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, where he was briefly playable for a couple of missions. And while Hideo Kojima wanted the character to get his own game as a sequel to Metal Gear Rising, it never materialized.

However, Grey Fox is finally getting his day in the cold alaska moon, as YouTube user Perfect Pizza has released a first look at the final version of their "Playable Grey Fox mod" for Metal Gear Solid. On first read this may not sound that impressive, perhaps the thought of "oh they just moved the VR Missions character into the main game," crossed your mind? Well this mod is not nearly that simple.

Watching the trailer, right away you'll notice you have access to Grey Fox's arm cannon, which saw use throughout Metal Gear Solid, but never actually got used in his previous playable appearance. The High Frequency Blade has gotten a buff too with a new trailing effect and the ability to ricochet bullets back at enemies, and there's new movement options with crouch walking introduced. The mod promises a ton of changes, like "automatic open and close face visor upon alert,""custom animations," and "custom codec calls".

On the mods Discord, Perfect Pizza explains "This mod uses the PSX decompilation project’s ability to modify the game’s C code and build a new executable using the developer version of Metal Gear Solid." Adding "At the time of creation, neither the AI Grey Fox boss nor the playable VR Ninja have been fully decompiled. As a result, everything shown so far has been recreated through reverse engineering, existing game code, experimentation, and educated guesses."

They explain, "The goal is to let players experience an expanded version of Grey Fox vs what was given to us in VR missions with as many of his signature abilities and some new ones as the game’s limitations allow, while preserving core gameplay features such as crawling, elevators, weapons, and environmental interaction." and that "This project also lays the groundwork for a future version that could allow players to experience the entire game as Grey Fox."

Perfect Pizza also says "This is not a complete story-mode conversion" but that "A separate project, which I am not affiliated with, is working toward making the full campaign playable by rebuilding all the stage overlays and making the compiled exe shiftable. The future of a complete Grey Fox playthrough depends heavily on that effort."

Regardless it's an impressive mod that actually allows playable Grey Fox found in VR Missions to live up to the version we hoped he would be all along, and even if a full version doesn't show up, it'll be fun to play about with.

After almost 25 years, Metal Gear Solid 2 players are still finding secrets: "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it"

David Hayter, the striking voice behind the Metal Gear series' various Snake roles, isn't a fan of Sony's decision to end physical disc production for new games on PlayStation consoles in 2028 – and he's certainly not afraid to show it.

The end of physical media as we know it is dominating online discussions following Sony's announcement, which cited how "general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs" – a statement that plenty of folks definitely cannot get behind.

One of them is none other than David Hayter, the iconic voice actor known for his work on Metal Gear Solid games as Solid Snake, Old Snake, Naked Snake… you name it.

In a new online post, Hayter makes this as clear as he possibly can, sharing a picture of all his consoles and games (physical, of course, mind you). Between the Xbox and PlayStation 5 – and various controllers – I see a plethora of gems, including everything from GTA 5 to Red Dead Redemption 2.

As for his caption? "No disc, no buy." And, yes, he tags the official PlayStation account on Twitter, too, so as to catch Sony's attention.

Unsurprisingly, fans are largely in agreement with the actor, who admits in the comments that "this is a fraction of my game collection" as well. Not to mention, "I also have 2500+ DVDs." Physical media, you say? Hayter's no hater in that department.

He's not alone, either, as big developers in the industry themselves have spoken out against the move toward digital-only. Take former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra, for example.

He says "we can't live in a world of fear if our games will work in the future or not," and game preservation experts share in that sentiment, explaining how this will all lead to more piracy.

Just yesterday, CEO of Lords of the Fallen 2 publisher CI Games, Marek Tyminski, also stated that Sony's choice to axe discs and the fact that GTA 6 is going disc-free itself "feels unfair to studios still backing physical" – so, yeah.

There's no telling what the future will bring for physical media enthusiasts, but I'm choosing to remain hopeful that game discs won't do a DVD on us and all but disappear. Something tells me Hayter is, too.

Here's why we think PlayStation killing discs is bad for everyone, whether you care about physical games or not.

Konami is getting a bit of a spotlight for Prime Day deals so if you're looking to catch up on some of its latest titles, you're in luck. We're keeping an eye out for Silent Hill 2, which is one of the Prime Day gaming deals that has sold out since we started writing, but don't worry there are still a whole host of Konami games on offer with chunky discounts.

We've got record low on the new Silent Hill f, and even Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Whether you're looking for horror or action RPG, or something else, there's probably a Konami game here for you.

We gave Silent Hill f a glorious four-star review, citing its "terrifying yet beautiful foggy atmosphere" and amazingly gnarly creature designs. The combat has had some improvements since launch, but we've always loved its excellent writing. We've called it "some of the best horror I've ever played", which is pretty high praise from horror nerds.

Snake Eater also got a 4-star review, with praise heaped on its authenticity to the original. Modernization has happened of course, but there's plenty of original charm here. A faithful recreation warts and all lets say. Definitely worth a play through.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is now approaching 25 years old, and players are still discovering things about the classic game.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is one of the PS2 titles that truly felt 'next-gen' when it came out, or so I'm told since I was five at the time and only cared about Crash Bandicoot. But all of the little details that make that game's world so special are well known now – things like how the ice cubes would melt slowly if you shot the bucket at the bar, or Snake getting a cold if he stays out in the cold too long.

And yet, multiple playthroughs later (including one about a month ago), and I never knew about one hidden detail, and it looks like almost no one else did, either. "After more than 2 decades of playing MGS2, I thought I'd seen everything, then this happened", a user on Reddit writes, sharing an extremely specific interaction that can happen towards the end of the Tanker chapter.

When Snake is making his way to the room where Metal Gear Ray is housed, there are multiple open areas you can hide in off to the side, but as has now been discovered, peeking round the corner at the approaching enemy will cause a metal pipe to fall, alerting them.

The comments are just as shocked as me to find this out, with the top response saying: "Holy shit, what? Same here. This game is legendary, man." A response adds: "I think the insane level of detail on these games, particularly MGS2 and MGS3 is often overlooked. I was absolutely blown away by MGS2 when I was a teenager playing it for the first time, and even now I think the graphics and overall environment design are unbelievable." Meanwhile, another puts it perfectly, "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it to be real."

And sure, a pipe falling over isn't exactly mind-blowing stuff, but it's just one of the myriad details that makes Metal Gear Solid as a series so beloved.

Metal Gear Solid Snake actor David Hayter didn't understand all of Hideo Kojima's story while recording, but says he didn't need to: "That's what makes Metal Gear, Metal Gear."

Fog clings to the island of St Amelia like taut plastic on skin, but I'm still not convinced Silent Hill: Townfall makes sense in the Konami psychological horror franchise. The 30-minute hands-off demonstration developer Screen Burn shows me during Summer Game Fest 2026 is laden with Silent Hill's trappings, milky fog and scabby monsters, but it's missing the cigarette-burned soul.

It's all too clean. Leading man Simon Ordell has ripped himself out of a hospital bed with all the tape and needles attached. A cannula pokes through a vein between his fingers, allowing healing liquid to revive him when he's injured, and a tight medical bracelet sticks to his wrist. But Simon is otherwise spotless while investigating St. Amelia in 1996, with vague instructions to find a brunette who I need to double check isn't Mary, the missing brunette from the soul-tearing Silent Hill 2. In only 30 minutes, I notice many callbacks to fan-favorite, early Silent Hill games – and I worry the unique parts of Silent Hill: Townfall can't compare.

Take me upstate

Townfall follows 2025's Silent Hill f, which was set in Japan, in taking Silent Hill international. I still yearn for the original lakeside town in Nowhere, USA, and the slow, somewhat inviting decay it represented, but I appreciated Silent Hill f's invention of a highly stylized, red spider lily landscape, too. Townfall's Scottish island St. Amelia is ruled by realism. Its cobblestone streets and neat white houses are hyper-realistic, looking better-suited to Call of Duty than an introspective horror game. Nonetheless, they are impressive. When the camera lingers on a bit of patterned wallpaper in an abandoned home, I can imagine what it would feel like just by looking at it.

Less tantalizing to me, someone whose favorite aspect of the best Silent Hill games is the poetry of their strangeness, is that Silent Hill: Townfall also employs realism in its puzzles. Rather than adding names to the Grim Reaper's list, as you do in the original Silent Hill, or burning pork liver to reveal a path in Silent Hill 3, the Townfall demo I saw has Simon searching for a prepaid electric card common in '90s Scotland to get the house's lights working.

Again, Screen Burn is demonstrating an impressive attention to detail here. But I don't play Silent Hill games for their faithfulness to history, and especially not to reality. I love them for the way they use magic to reveal our skeletons. Whenever the occult Otherworld falls over a Silent Hill protagonist, you're confronted with the rust under the hospital room paint, blood beneath a young woman's skirt, denial before freedom. I've always thought the supernatural was more real than real, so I've found comfort in past Silent Hill games, which lie on the cliff between observable life and hidden feelings. They push into each other, yin and yang, to make a whole world.

But Silent Hill: Townfall seems more oriented toward its surface. I'm first introduced to Simon as he's seated near a town monument littered with protest signs – "We Need The Truth," "Whatever Heart This Town Had Has Stopped" – and their unsubtle nature reminds me of Dead Space graffiti that routinely took me out of that game's horror. A Screen Burn developer also suggests during my Summer Game Fest session that Townfall uses first-person perspective because the series' usual third-person does more to coddle you from horror. In a sense, that's probably true. It's more viscerally horrifying to play Resident Evil in a VR headset than with ungainly tank controls, after all.

But third-person also encourages players to connect with a game's protagonist, as you can observe them as you control them, linking your movements with their mind. And since the average Silent Hill story is a storm whipped up to torment its main character, specifically (there are very few all-purpose spooks aimed at you, the player), third-person helps its effectiveness.

Though, Townfall isn't completely devoid of fantasy. It pays homage to the series' early convention of letting you identify monsters with a stammering radio by replacing the tech with a handheld CRT TV, which also swaps the need for on-screen UI by flashing cryptic images of your next location. It's an intriguing change, as the CRT TV is an elegant way to focus the player's attention on their next game objective while still being immersive in its story. However, I don't think a Silent Hill game's user interface has ever dulled the impact of its corpse nurses and brown toilets for me.

Ultimately, I feel like Screen Burn is worried about iterating on the wrong genre conventions.

I'm confused by all the changes I see in my Silent Hill: Townfall demo that are neutral at best. When the monster finally arrives, it's a melted flesh humanoid with its head sharpened into an axe. It looks like a struggling Lying Figure from Silent Hill 2... except with an axe for its head.

I thought this was supposed to be the fun part, but it's still too tame.

Refresh your memory of the Silent Hill we left behind with our list of the best Silent Hill games.

Tonight's big Summer Game Fest event, the annual Xbox Games Showcase, brought us a release date for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse – you know, the game we've been waiting 12 years for now.

In case you're out of the loop, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was first unveiled earlier this year during a February PlayStation State of Play – but since then, we've not really received much news on the new 2D action game... until now, that is.

Today has brought with it a new trailer and word from Konami on the hotly anticipated Castlevania: Belmont's Curse release date. That's right, it's no longer just a general "2026" launch window... the game is coming October 15 this year, right on time for Halloween.

That's not all, though. The trailer gives us a longer look at actual gameplay, and it's pretty impressive. Contemporary visuals paired with ye olde Metroidvania mechanics make for quite a compelling combo – and I'm personally sold.

If you're just as excited as I am to step into the shoes of the young Belmont protagonist, you'll be able to play Castlevania: Belmont's Curse on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S come October.

Here's hoping the new Castlevania adventure we've waited over a decade for is a good one.

Searching for something else to wishlist? Here are the best new games coming this year and beyond to look forward to.

During yesterday's PlayStation State of Play showcase – the first big event to come out of this year's Summer Game Fest – we got a new glimpse at Silent Hill: Townfall, as well as our first word of its precise release date of September 24, 2026.

It was a big moment for longtime fans of Konami's beloved horror game series, as Townfall marks a very different entry to Silent Hill – and one that features a greater emphasis on stealth-based gameplay, apparently.

As per Sony's official blog post on the upcoming title, combat might feel a bit removed from predecessors as evasion, hiding, and general stealth seem to be more of a necessity at times rather than a workaround.

"The trailer also gives us our first glimpse of a new creature, seen stalking Simon in the darkness of the Otherworld," it reads.

"With some enemies, combat is an important aspect of survival. In others, evasion is your only option. Using the CRTV and peek mechanic to assess the situation as you navigate, staying out of sight and moving carefully is paramount, as being seen can lead to a terrifying chase and dire consequences."

That certainly makes it sound as though stealth is a core component of Townfall's gameplay – and, coupled with its new focus on a first-person point of view, something tells me that fans are bound to have thoughts on how it plays come this fall.

I'm immediately reminded of Silent Hill f and its divisive action-packed combat, which left fans unable to decide whether or not it was a positive change or a negative one.

Thankfully, Sony's little SGF update on Townfall does make it clear that it's still got many of the features Silent Hill players know and love. I'm personally hopeful that the game's blend of old and new works, but I suppose we'll just have to play it to see.

Silent Hill Townfall, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Control Resonant all launch a day apart in September as everyone gets the hell out of GTA 6's November.

It's that time of year, as Summer Game Fest rolls around with various new reveals and sneak peeks – and today's big PlayStation State of Play showcase from Sony certainly offers no exception there, giving us another look at Silent Hill: Townfall.

That's right – Silent Hill: Townfall is back in the limelight after its big release date reveal during tonight's State of Play event, finally confirming just when Konami's new horror game is set to launch.

There's apparently not too long left to wait, as the exciting trailer unveils the title's arrival: September 24 of this year. While we already knew it would come in 2026, the precise day is news... good news.

After all, it's nearly been a year since Silent Hill f, the previous series gem, dropped in September of 2025 – and yes, that means that Silent Hill: Townfall is marked to launch around the same time of year as its most recent predecessor.

Will it be as good as the last series entry, though? Only time will tell, but honestly, if this new trailer is anything to go by, then I'm voting that it almost definitely will be.

Just look at the terrifying creatures and scenes protagonist Simon will witness in St. Amelia, the new Silent Hill setting – it's all too reminiscent of an old-school camcorder horror film for me, but I'm loving the eerie vibes.

And, what's more, we can finally put a face to the mysterious voice previously heard on the CRTV in Konami's reveal trailer... Zoe. As per Sony's blog post on Silent Hill: Townfall, she's a nurse from a local family clinic. Simon evidently doesn't recognize her, much like he doesn't recognize St. Amelia itself.

We also get a quick look at some of the upcoming Silent Hill: Townfall puzzles – and, yep, it's looking like the game will feature the series' iconic mind-boggling scenarios to solve between all of the monstrosities and mystery.

As Sony puts it, "Solving these puzzles isn’t just a way to progress in the game, though, but rather a way to understand the situation Simon finds himself in." Hm – that's a bit of a head scratcher in itself... but it does leave me all the more excited.

Here's hoping Silent Hill: Townfall is as promising as it appears it'll be so far. September 24, 2026, please don't be late.

Searching for something else to wishlist? Here are the best new games coming this year and beyond to look forward to.

Konami has revealed the first gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 4 in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2, and fans have noticed subtle changes and the return of the iPod.

While Metal Gear Solid 4 was in PS3 jail, many speculated that it was just a game that would be impossible to bring back, thanks to all its dumb little details and licensed content. But in a stream on the WasayaganaTV YouTube channel – hosted by Jujutsu Kaisen actor Yuichi Nakamura and radio personality Mafia Kajita – we got our first look at Guns of the Patriots running on new platforms. And within the steam it was shown that the Apple iPod is back in the game, signaling the return of its licensed content.

We didn't see them in the stream, but elsewhere in Metal Gear Solid 4, Otacon uses an Apple Mac computer, so it's probably safe to assume that sticks. There's also a crossover with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series, which allows Snake to don Altaïr's robes while sneaking around – this was confirmed to be returning in an interview around the time Solid Snake was added to Rainbow Six Siege. Also, fans spotted that the "No place for Hideo" box is still in the game; however, the link to the now-defunct Hideoblog was removed.

Naturally, however, fans are speculating about how some of the PS3-specific parts will translate. Notably, there's an iconic scene during the game's Shadow Moses segment, in which Otacon pushes Snake to swap to disk 2 before realizing "we're on PlayStation 3" before talking about how good Blu-ray discs are. The question is whether this scene will remain in the game as is, be replaced with new voice lines about the specific consoles, or be nixed entirely.

The rest of the stream also showed some of the improvements coming to this version. Notably, Metal Gear Solid 4 running at 60fps is witchcraft we could've only dreamed of, and as one Twitter user pointed out, the loading times are way shorter when transitioning between areas. Although if you aren't stuck on a loading screen between chapters staring at Snake smoking for 15 minutes, are you really playing Metal Gear Solid 4?

I replayed Metal Gear Solid 4 last year for the first time in about a decade after beating Metal Gear Solid Delta, but I may just find myself returning to it sooner than expected to experience the upgrades on show.

Metal Gear Solid Snake actor David Hayter didn't understand all of Hideo Kojima's story while recording, but says he didn't need to: "That's what makes Metal Gear, Metal Gear"