I didn’t expect Marathon to leave as large of an impact on me as it has. While I’ve loved Bungie games in the past, including hundreds of hours spent in Destiny 2, from the outside looking in I didn’t anticipate that the extraction-shooter loop of impermanent loot would be for me. Load into a map with a preset objective, loot everything not stapled to the ground and then some, all the while avoiding – or shooting – all of the enemies in your way.

[Editor's Note: To ensure we are evaluating the full Marathon launch experience, we made the decision to hold our final verdict until our reviewer can experience the Cryo Archive, the culmination of the launch-window experience. Check back in the coming days for our full, scored review.]

For anyone not already familiar with extraction shooters, Marathon is much like its peers in the genre wherein death means losing whatever equipment and items you choose to spawn into a map with. Marathon, like other extraction shooters, is a game about choice and consequence. It’s at its best when it pushes those ideals to the absolute limit.

On the most basic level, Marathon’s core gameplay is best-in-class. Bungie has always excelled at gunplay, and the same rings true here. Each and every weapon currently in the game comes with a distinct feel and sound profile to accompany their unique characteristics. The same can be said for the game’s Runner shells; Marathon’s “hero-shooter” take on how a player opts to confront the mysteries of Tau Ceti IV.

Marathon is a systems-heavy game that rewards players who can make the most out of everything it has to offer, and Runner's kits are no different. Thief’s kit feels like the perfect example of this; I liked using their drone to be a real nuisance to players. Maybe you mess with a group of enemy Runners by opening up a door to guide them into an ambush. If you’re feeling adventurous, wait at an exfiltration site and poke at a group right as they’re about to leave the match, helping yourself to their pilfered spoils.

Much of Marathon’s gameplay focuses on understanding the world around you. Since sound travels far, picking fights with NPC enemies can be a risk. Maybe you run past some birds, startling them, or a UESC Turret spots you. Perhaps your contract forces the issue, and you have no choice but to make some noise – and prepare for the consequences. It didn’t take long for me to get into the mindset of using my gear when needed, because sooner or later, that favorite gun of yours will end up in another Runner’s backpack. Making too much noise will merely expedite matters if you aren’t prepared.

The sounds and sights of Tau Ceti IV have captivated me in a way even beyond some of the most iconic areas in Destiny 2. Marathon is a strikingly beautiful game, but it's the synthesis of how gorgeous these areas look while danger is always lurking just below the surface that makes them stick with me. Before long, each landmark will have a story to tell - and stories you'll be able to tell about your experiences there.

Outside of the stress of runs, the codex offers insights into the lives lost on Tau Ceti IV. Many times, these codex entries are locked behind successfully exfiltrating with a rare piece of loot multiple times, slowly unfolding a specific element of the story. It’s impossible to have seen and read everything at this point; many key codex entries are currently redacted, pointing to some major events aboard the Cryo Archive.

If it wasn’t already clear, I think Marathon is something truly special. However, there are still a few lingering questions I have before settling on a final score. The escalation across the game’s currently accessible maps – Perimeter, Dire Marsh, and Outpost – leads me to believe that whatever awaits in Cryo Archive will be something compelling. It feels like the true scope of the story is still lurking just under the surface, and I can't help but wonder exactly what that will mean in the end.

Kiln, revealed during Xbox's recent developer direct stream, is an upcoming game from Psychonauts developer Double Fine, and like everything out of that studio, it's whimsical, colorful, and full of personality. Unlike Double Fine's last few games, this one is multiplayer-focused; players sculpt pottery, glaze it, fire it, and send their creations into battle in a violent, clay-shattering showdown. It's an interesting concept, and we'll get to see more of it very soon – today, the developer announced the game launches on April 23, with an open beta coming to Steam earlier in that same month.

The open beta will run from Thursday, April 9 to Saturday, April 11. As with most open betas, it will be free to download, and players will receive an in-game participation trophy for booting it up during the testing period. In order to join, however, you'll have to sign up. At the time of writing, the sign-up isn't live yet, but it will eventually appear as a button on the game's Steam page.

According to a recent Xbox Wire post, Kiln community manager Rocio Salas had the following to say about Double Fine's goals for the beta period:

We’re taking this open beta as an opportunity to not only test out our servers, but to see what resonates with players and what the Kiln team should be prioritizing next. We have a lot of possibilities with a game like Kiln—more customization, more maps, more modes—and, as much as we want to add everything we can to the game, we want to see what you, the players want the most.

Kiln will cost $19.99 in the US, with a deluxe "Fired Up" edition, which includes cosmetics and in-game currency, going for $29.99. You can see everything the Fired Up edition includes in the image below.

Kiln launches on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on April 23. For more Double Fine, check out our review of the studio's last game, Keeper.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was one of 2025’s best action games, and it’s getting new DLC next month that will bolster the adventure. The Sega Villains Stage update will pit Joe Musashi against iconic Sega adversaries while adding several more updates.

The Sega Villains Stage DLC centers on the addition of three new bosses: Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog, Death Adder from Golden Axe, and Goro Majima from Like A Dragon/Yakuza. Rendered in Art of Vengeance's signature art style, you can watch these antagonists in action in the trailer below. 

The DLC also features five new stages inspired by Sega franchises, two new Boss Rush modes, three new ninpo, three new outfits, and six new music tracks. Additionally, a free update is releasing alongside the DLC that adds a Hardcore Mode, combat system adjustments, and tweaks to character outlines, map, and tutorial display features.

The Sega Villains DLC will launch on April 3 for all versions of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. It will cost $9.99, but owners of the Digital Deluxe Edition will have access to it instantly. 

For more on Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, check out where it ranked on our Top 10 Games of 2025. 

Publisher: ProbablyMonsters
Developer: ProbablyMonsters

Nazi-killing stories used to be as common in video games as revenge stories are today. As the name of ProbablyMonsters’ third-person action game implies, Nekome: Nazi Hunter brings the Nazi killing back into the forefront, but retains the vengeance aspect; it’s right in the name, as “Nekome” means “revenge” or “vengeance” in Yiddish. While at Game Developers Conference last week, I met with the team at ProbablyMonsters to get a hands-off demo of Nekome: Nazi Hunter.

In Nekome, you play as Vano Nastasu, a young Romani man whose entire family was murdered by Nazi soldiers. Consumed by grief and rage, Vano vows to take down the vile creatures who did this to his family. Nekome: Nazi Hunter is a linear, narrative-driven experience with an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat. Using gutter fighting, a win-at-all-costs close-quarters style developed in the early 1900s, Vano delivers brutal blows to his deserving adversaries. Vano brandishes a knife for much of the game, but he can also find others, including firearms and other melee weapons.

Watching the developer play through various sequences in a very early build of Nekome: Nazi Hunter, I’m struck by how responsive the combat looks. In one curated sequence, Vano thins the herd using bloody stealth takedowns before confronting the remaining officer. Officers are resistant to stealth takedowns, but Vano can overcome that through the skill tree, which consists of three paths: The Knife (for damage and combat), The Man (for character-specific upgrades, like the ability to perform stealth takedowns on officers or upgrading Vano’s focus bar), and The Tool (for improvised weapons you pick up).

ProbablyMonsters approached designing much of Nekome: Nazi Hunter as a way to tell emergent stories. That is most aptly shown in the second sequence I witness, which is more of a sandbox design. Using Vano’s focus, he can gain abilities like being able to spot enemies through walls, or one that I can’t wait to use: Focus Strike. Vano’s Focus Strike lets him stop time as he marks multiple targets’ body parts, then attacks them all in rapid succession, leaving the Nazis dead or debilitated. In a game where Vano is almost always outnumbered, this seems like one of the most useful tools in his toolbelt.

After taking out a room of enemies, Vano moves on to an outdoor area, with a sniper stationed on the roof. The developer charts a path to that sniper, since having armed Nazi eyes in the sky would probably make his life miserable, and if the gunman spots Vano and fires his rifle, his hopes of stealthily evening the odds goes out the window. En route to the lookout position, Vano burns various propaganda posters – a side-objective tracker pops in the upper part of the screen showing how much hate imagery and propaganda remains to destroy.

After reaching the sniper’s position, Vano brutally takes him out and assumes control of the rifle. Having access to a sniper rifle is obviously a powerful upgrade to Vano’s typical knife, but it comes with risk: Firing that gun will alert everyone of Vano’s presence, and Vano has no idea how many shots he has, a deliberate choice by the developers to really lean into the risk/reward aspect of picking up someone else’s weapons.

The dev demoing the game decides it’s worth it, so he targets an officer and pops his head from afar; it turns out there was only one bullet in that rifle, but Vano used it effectively. Normally, if you’re discovered, the troops will go into high alert and search everywhere, even calling reinforcements if you don’t take them out in time. However, in this scenario, Vano’s notoriety is high, and ushering that officer into a blood-soaked grave pushed Vano over the top, so several soldiers cower as they try and escape what seems like a certain fate. Some will run, others will hide, some will even beg for mercy. In my demo, they found no mercy, and I anticipate the results will be the same when I get my hands on the title.

Nekome: Nazi Hunter is still quite early in development, to the point that the developers assured me that the U.I. is still very likely to change before even the next time I see it. But even in this early stage, everything I saw told me this is a game I should keep my eyes on. We don’t know when Nekome: Nazi Hunter is set to come out, but it is currently planned to arrive on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

In case you missed it, Pokémon Pokopia received a new update yesterday that fixes several progression-halting bugs. Now, rebuilding the world and befriending new Pokémon should be a lot easier.

Update Ver. 1.0.2 is now live and fixes several issues hampering progress for certain quests. Some of these bugs were triggered via very specific actions, like placing the different blocks in certain spots during a quest. Other issues saw Pokémon positioning themselves in spots that make them impossible to interact with. 

Here is the full list of patch notes, per Nintendo: 

• During the request “Rock Smash your way to treasure!” in Withered Wasteland, if the player places other blocks over the cracked blocks near Hitmonchan, it becomes difficult to understand how to progress the request.
• During the request “To Snorlax!” in Bleak Beach, if the player places other blocks over the cracked blocks near Snorlax, it becomes difficult to understand how to progress the request.

Additionally, the following issues have been fixed.

If these issues have already occurred in your game, applying this update will resolve them.

• During the request “Help make a home!” in Withered Wasteland, Squirtle may move on top of a tree and become impossible to talk to, preventing progress.
• During the request “Find the Pokémon Center!” in Bleak Beach, if the cracked blocks on the bridge are broken before Professor Tangrowth crosses the bridge, it will become difficult to make progress on the request.
• During the request “Find the Pokémon Center!” in Bleak Beach, a specific sequence of actions may prevent Professor Tangrowth’s bridge repair request from triggering, preventing progress.
• In Rocky Ridges, a specific sequence of actions may prevent the event in which the player meets Rotom from occurring.
• During the request “Clear off the path!” in Rocky Ridges, if the request is triggered under certain conditions, it will become difficult to make progress on the request.
• Spinarak’s type is listed incorrectly in the Pokédex.

Make sure you're playing the latest version of Pokopia before diving back in. In the meantime, check out our very positive review of Pokémon Pokopia here and listen to us discuss our time with the game in this episode of The Game Informer Show podcast.