Steve Boxer

The 2026 Season Pack adds the radically redesigned Formula One cars, new driving systems, and Madrid’s Madring circuit to F1 25 instead of delivering a separate F1 26. The new cars are convincingly modelled, more nimble and demanding, and their active aerodynamics and electric boost make racing more strategic and enjoyable. However, the DLC functions as a separate mode, requires new career saves, omits the 2026 cars from several hardcore online modes, and adds no new challenges. It is recommended for existing F1 fans, particularly career-focused players, but offers little to attract new customers and increases pressure on EA and Codemasters to make the 2027 franchise reboot successful.

Wax Heads is a charming, cozy point-and-click adventure set in a small-town British record shop. The game celebrates physical music, record-store communities and in-person discovery through dialogue, detective work and minigames, supported by distinctive hand-drawn art and around 35 original tracks. Its character-driven story is considered its strongest feature, although some puzzles are basic and the game offers limited replayability. With roughly eight hours of gameplay and a score of 7/10, it is recommended for players with an interest in music and analogue media.

Borderlands 4’s first story expansion adds a snowy, highly varied region on Kairos, a new story involving Ellie, Moxxi and Mancubus, and the robot vault hunter C4SH. The roughly six-hour main campaign is supplemented by side missions, bunkers and environmental activities, providing close to 20 hours of content. The review praises C4SH’s inventive action skills, tighter vertical level design and imaginative missions, while criticizing the £26.99 price, uneven voice acting and lingering interface problems. It awards the DLC 8/10 and recommends it as an essential purchase for Borderlands 4 fans.

FIFA Heroes is a free-to-play, arcade-style football game launching on mobile on April 28, followed by Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. A hands-on preview found it fast, colorful and easy to pick up while offering deeper mechanics inspired by FIFA Street, Super Mario Strikers and MOBAs such as League of Legends. Virtual mobile controls were a weakness, though the Motorola Razr Fold improved playability. Developer Enver Studio plans multiple modes, esports-focused squad play, private matches, 1v1 games and microtransactions including a seasonal pass. The game targets Gen Z and Gen Alpha but could appeal more broadly, potentially providing FIFA with a prominent World Cup tie-in and helping repair its damaged image.

GPTRACK50, the new Japanese studio led by former Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi, has unveiled more details about Stupid Never Dies, an action RPG with roguelike elements. Players control Davy, a weak zombie who gains the ability to shapeshift by consuming monster cores and can use 11 forms alongside body-hacked weapons. The game features fast, attack-focused combat, a parry system, boss battles and a dungeon structure in which progression resets on each visit. The preview praised its colourful visuals and energetic combat while noting unanswered questions about variety, progression, content outside the dungeon and replayability. It is scheduled for PlayStation 5 and PC in 2026, with a possible Xbox version later.

Romeo Is A Dead Man is praised as a distinctive, bizarre and entertaining return to form for Suda51. Its constantly shifting art styles, surreal multiverse storyline, dark humour, varied chapters and music give it a strong punk identity, while the combat is enjoyable but comparatively conventional. Some uneven polish, repetitive bosses and weapon-switching inconvenience hold it back, but its roughly 20-hour campaign avoids overstaying its welcome and earns an 8/10.

Goichi Suda, known as Suda51, discusses the development of Romeo Is A Dead Man, an unconventional action game that combines multiple visual styles and follows a resurrected police officer battling time criminals. He explains that the varied presentation was partly a cost-effective response to the limitations of developing a fully 3D game, while also allowing Grasshopper Manufacture’s specialists to showcase their strengths. Suda describes the studio’s collaborative process as “ad-lib development,” comparing it to jazz improvisation, and reflects on how game development has become more specialized, expensive and complex. He also credits Shinji Mikami as a mentor who significantly influenced his approach to action games. Romeo Is A Dead Man is scheduled for release on February 11, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, while Suda hints that a future project could be set in the UK.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined transforms the 2000 PlayStation JRPG into a fully 3D modern remake while retaining its distinctive visual style and old-school charm. Its accessible turn-based combat gradually develops strategic depth through character vocations, varied abilities and challenging bosses, while the family-friendly story follows adventurers restoring islands across past and present worlds. The game offers at least 60 hours of content, varied quests and extensive exploration, but is hindered by repetitive fetch quests, occasional backtracking, simplistic storytelling, shallow combat and music that can become grating. Despite these flaws, its visual design, accessibility and respectful modernisation make it a strong introduction to JRPGs. It receives a score of 7/10.

Square Enix’s Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake substantially rebuilds the two foundational JRPGs in Unreal Engine 4, adding new areas, expanded stories, modern quality-of-life features and updated abilities. The first game remains more challenging because it centres on a solo hero, while the second uses a party-based system. Both retain simple good-versus-evil narratives, non-linear exploration and classic turn-based combat, presented through colourful HD-2D visuals. The review praises their historical importance, charm and accessibility to newcomers, but notes that their storytelling and battle systems are basic by modern standards. The remake receives a score of 7/10.

EA Sports FC 26 improves player movement, goalkeeping, shooting and overall gameplay, making it the strongest FC/FIFA-style experience in years. Its Competitive and Authentic settings, Manager Career updates, Archetypes progression system and more accessible Ultimate Team add useful refinements, but most changes remain incremental. The interface is still confusing, Ultimate Team retains a two-tier spending structure, and the Authentic mode may appeal mainly to former Pro Evolution Soccer fans. The game is recommended as a worthwhile but modest step forward, earning a score of 7/10.