• Selections can be individual games or a series of games.

• Each selection needs to be specified as a desired remaster or complete remake.

• Selections CANNOT be titles already announced to have a reboot or remake. (Example: the original God of War Trilogy)

• Selections with previous remakes or remasters can be chosen, but you must explain the new reason for another attempt.

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10. Call of Duty: World at War (Remaster)

This is my personal favorite Call of Duty of all time. World at War gave us a great campaign and multiplayer, and it was the first attempt at zombies that was a complete grand slam. The zombies mode was incredibly challenging, with the map designs, weak weapons, and limited health compared to today’s versions. The biggest shine in this game, however, is the campaign; it’s brutal. It’s a tragically dark, yet historically accurate depiction of WWII. One of the greatest series of missions in Call of Duty history is the Red Army’s siege of Berlin, and if this remaster were to happen, IT CANNOT BE CENSORED. I don’t see why anyone should have a problem gunning down nazi’s (in-game, of course).

9. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Remaster)

I don’t know if anyone remembers this movie tie-in game, but it was absolutely fantastic. It was an awesome button-masher with a skill gap—if a player didn’t learn proper combos with their lightsaber. Aside from being nostalgic and really fun, there was a very underappreciated shared-screen duel mode. This mode lets you pick lightsaber-fighting characters with your friend for a 1 v 1 fight to the death, and it was an absolute blast. I wouldn’t be mad if this mode had an online multiplayer dueling mode in a remaster.

8. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (Remaster)

Another childhood nostalgia pick, but in all fairness, when was the last time we got a Hulk video game? This game delivered on what it truly felt like to be the Hulk. The strength with every body slam, the chaos from helicopters and mechs, and the underrated environmental destruction for its time. Is it a great story? No, but who cares when you can literally catch rockets midair and throw them? Radical Entertainment released the game in 2003 and also made games like Prototype. If you were familiar with the open-world chaos of that game, this independent Hulk game was the foundation it was built on.

7. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (Remaster)

This is one of those games where I hope people played, or everything I say would fall on deaf ears. This game is so odd, but absolutely incredible. Another gem from an era of well-done movie tie-in games. This first-person shooter/gorilla simulator is simple, but it has moments of challenge. The challenge doesn’t come from its difficulty, but from the fact that the game doesn’t hold your hand. There is no HUD, no health bar, no objective marker, and no map to tell you where to go; ammo and resources are very scarce. The game is completely linear but makes you explore to find the next step. This game doesn’t have extraordinary gameplay, but like so many others on this list, it was fun for what it is; however, if it got a remaster, it could be one of the most stunning games ever made visually.

6. The Simpsons: Hit & Run (Remaster)

I know this game has to be on everyone else’s list. This goofy, no-holds-barred sandbox is the greatest thing the Simpson’s IP has ever made. I don’t even have a solid memory of what the story was, but I do remember how awesome it was to drive through Springfield in a massive jet car. Hit and Run is dumb, but great. It’s the definition of a guilty pleasure game.

5. BioShock (Remake)

Now we dive into the games that deserve full-fledged remakes. Not just a graphics upgrade, but also gameplay, mechanics, and maybe a new way of telling the story. The events of Rapture’s collapse are a phenomenal depiction of class warfare, blanketed in terrifying horror. While we have received graphic remasters in the past for all three titles in the franchise, I would love to see the narrative of this saga pushed further. I also think these are games that thrive in their confinement, and in an age where we need bigger worlds and more to do, something is refreshing about finding claustrophobic gems, and Bioshock is one of the best.

4. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (Remake)

I have written a whole article on my love for this game. Long story short, Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 should have been a Web of Shadows 2.0, and it absolutely was not. This game shines in combat and atmosphere, and I would give anything to see it perfected.

3. Star Wars: Battlefront (Remake)

The Battlefront franchise has more wins than losses. The original Star Wars: Battlefront II, released on the PS2 and Xbox, is considered the greatest of them all; however, the reboot in the 20-teens were a massive hit. I don’t think people will love this take, but I want complete remakes of all the titles mentioned to get them to their best. In the case of Star Wars Battlefront, there is one detail we never got: For the love of everything holy, can we get a Star Wars game that lets you go from boots-on-the-ground combat to seamless space battles? Battlefront is perfect for this concept. Battles that need coordination on the ground and in space, the very thing Star Wars is supposed to be.

2. Infamous (Remake)

The Infamous franchise is one of the rare few original ideas that I fell in love with. It’s not a superhero game that’s rooted in comics or film. Cole MacGrath is a beloved character, and there is a fan base that would love to see him return. The third installment of the saga is Infamous Second Son and starts a different story that did not bring back the original protagonist. While this game’s story falls flat compared to its predecessors, the gameplay was fantastic, and I would love to see Cole’s story retold with the smooth, sexy mechanics Second Son brought to the table.

1. Assassin’s Creed: Desmond’s Story (Remake)

One of the greatest sins Ubisoft has ever committed is eliminating Desmond Miles from the Assassin’s Creed Universe. Growing up, Assassin’s Creed was always the topic of conversation; the idea of a modern-day game centered on Miles fighting Abstergo was supposed to be the grand end to his story. After Assassin’s Creed III, Ubisoft leaned into historical timepieces rather than the narrative built over 5 games. Desmond deserves a rework of his story, and a complete remake could bring back legends to the franchise. Altair and Ezio deserve new games, using today’s technology to restore Assassin’s Creed to its former glory.

The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy has a divisive history. Over time, I think most Star Wars fans have come to love the prequels. A really sweet moment that affirmed this love was the standing ovation Hayden Christensen received while at Star Wars Celebration London in 2023, after his reprisal of Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan series. We love the visuals of the lightsaber battles those three films created, and we love to hate (except for Tyler) the ridiculousness of characters such as Jar Jar. Yes, the prequels aren’t perfect, but as someone who grew up in a family that loved intellectual challenge and debate on all possible topics, I love the prequels for the overlooked political conspiracies deep within the narrative. For those who thought this was boring or didn’t really pay attention to the fine details, Emperor Palpatine’s rise to control an intergalactic empire is one of the most prophetic stories ever written, in my opinion.

In Episode I, Senator Palpatine represents the planet Naboo in the Galactic Senate. Behind closed doors, later to be revealed in Episode III, we learn that Palpatine is Darth Sidious, the dark lord of the Sith, creating all of this planetary conflict. However, the details of this all-time great rise to power are tragically fascinating.

Back in Episode I, Darth Sidious approaches the Trade Federation and convinces its leader, Nute Gunray, to form a blockade around the planet Naboo, followed by a planetary invasion. The pretext to this move is create a trade conflict for the Galactic Senate. Nute Gunray’s objective is to imprison Naboo’s Queen Amidala to force her to sign a peace treaty that would make the invasion legal within the Galactic Senate. Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi foil this plot, free the Queen, and expose the influence of a Sith Lord. However, Palpatine uses Queen Amidala’s testimony to push a vote of no confidence against the current Chancellor of the Republic. This allowed Palpatine to be elected Chancellor of the Republic and leader of the Galactic Senate, which was his plan all along.

After these events, off-screen, with the Trade Federation’s illegal invasion exposed, Nute Gunray, under the command of Darth Sidious, secedes from the Galactic Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatists. Count Dooku, former Jedi turned Sith Lord by Palpatine, is the leader of the Separatists and goes around the galaxy to convince other star systems to leave the Republic, which they do. Entering Episode II, the Separatists’ numbers are growing, primarily made up of planets responsible for labor, banking, galactic exports, all things needed for economic consistency and flexibility. Some of these are within the Separatist Alliance in secret and still hold authority within the Galactic Senate to manipulate politicians, such as the Techno Union. The Techno Union is responsible for the Separatists’ Battle Droid Army and can build it up without the Senate or the Jedi knowing.

In Episode II, the Separatists create conflict across Republic Star Systems to spread the Jedi thin, preventing them from controlling the rapid secessions from the Republic. The very opening scene is a Separatists funded terrorist attack on now Senator Amidala (the former Queen of Naboo). With these increasing terrorist attacks across the galaxy, the Jedi and Chancellor Palpatine are left with the question of how to keep the Republic safe from such terrorism. Later in the film, Obi-Wan Kenobi is tasked with finding the party responsible for the attack on Senator Amidala. On this mission, Obi-Wan finds the bounty hunter hired for the attack, learns about the creation of the Separatists’ Droid Army, and discovers that Count Dooku leads the Separatist Alliance. More importantly, he discovers the creation of a Clone Army on the planet Kamino, allegedly commissioned for the Galactic Senate by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas (who is deceased at the time of this discovery). The Jedi and Senate claim they don’t know about the Clone Army, and that becomes very important later.

Obi-Wan is then captured, which compels Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Senator Amidala to rescue him, resulting in their capture as well. With the newfound discovery of the Separatists’ Droid Army, it becomes clear to the Jedi and Chancellor Palpatine that the Jedi alone cannot combat this threat, and that the Republic needs to create an army. The issue is, the creation of such an army is illegal without a majority vote of the Senate, a vote that would be gridlocked in ideological debate, like most controversial political actions within a democracy usually are. Before Senator Amidala was capture she left her legislative powers to a fellow representative of Naboo, Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar and the rest of the Jedi Council are swayed by one of Chancellor Palpatine’s minions to propose granting the Chancellor emergency war powers to bypass the Senate and form a Republic Army. Jar Jar creates the proposal; it passes, and the Clone Army of the Republic is formed.

With the army created, the Republic launches its invasion on the Planet Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Senator Amidala, and to capture Count Dooku. Dooku’s capture fails, and the Clone Wars officially begin. While all this is happening, Palpatine gains complete war time control of the Republic, control over the Separatists, and grooming the chosen one (Anakin Skywalker), to inevitably bring down the Jedi and have the Sith rule the galaxy.

Finally, in Episode III, the Clone Wars are in full swing. Palpatine orchestrates an attack on the Republic Capital, Coruscant, and Count Dooku captures him. Palpatine uses this capture to have Dooku, his Sith apprentice, killed by Anakin Skywalker to push Anakin further down the path of the Dark Side. Earlier I mentioned the Clone Army’s origins. Master Sifo-Dyas did, in fact, commission the armies’ creation in secret from the Jedi; however, he intended for the Republic to control the army for its own welfare and preservation. Darth Sidious discovered this army’s creation and had Count Dooku assume Master Sifo-Dyas’s identity to steal the army for the Sith’s benefit. The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars reveals that Palpatine had chips implanted in the clones’ brains to hijack their loyalty when an order is given. Order 66.

With Dooku now dead, and Palpatine’s final plans in motion, he orders the remaining leaders of the Separatist Alliance to flee to the planet Mustafar and await further instructions. The Jedi begin to sense the Dark Side of the Force surrounding the Chancellor and fear that he will refuse to let go of his emergency powers, powers that allowed him to stay in the position of Chancellor far past his term. Anakin, groomed by Palpatine throughout his life, reluctantly tells the Jedi that Palpatine has revealed himself as Darth Sidious, the mastermind behind the war all along. The Jedi then go to arrest Palpatine and fail because of his power in the Dark Side and his connection to Anakin. Anakin pledges his allegiance to Darth Sidious and henceforth is known as Darth Vader. This is where Order 66 is executed, the Jedi fall, and Palpatine forms the Galactic Empire, declaring himself Emperor.

As you can see, you can overlook a lot of details if you’re not a die-hard Star Wars fan. I am just as much a fan of this franchise as I am of politics, history, and current events. George Lucas used political undertones to shape the story of Darth Vader’s creation. Lucas once said in an interview with Time Magazine in 2002:

“All democracies turn into dictatorships, but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it’s Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea…What kinds of things push people and institutions in this direction?”

Lucas firmly believed that true corruption isn’t achieved through brute force alone, but through a scared people willing to forfeit freedom for security. Sound too familiar? While my views were not shaped by the times of George Lucas, such as the Vietnam War, as a 27-year-old, I have lived and seen the creep of totalitarianism that Lucas masterfully brought to life in this trilogy. Let’s look at some examples from our time.

September 11th, 2001 is one of, if not the most impactful, singular events in modern American history. While I am too young to remember such a tragedy, I’ve lived in an American culture shaped by its outcomes. We were told that Osama bin Laden attacked America purely for his hatred of our freedoms and radical beliefs found within his faith. While this may be partially true, it does not tell the full truth. In his most recent presidential bid, President Trump campaigned to release a multitude of classified government documents to the public. Ranging from the assassinations of MLK, JFK, the Jeffrey Epstein Case, and the events that took place on 9/11. This was such an important issue for people who voted for him because the unfortunate truth is, long-mocked conspiracy theorists were starting to be proven right in isolated details of the aforementioned events and scandals. Full transparency, I love conspiracy theories, and it is fair to at least say there are more than a few questions surrounding events like these. People across the political spectrum want transparency. 9/11 is a perfect example.

The official narrative of the terror attacks on New York and Washington D.C has marginally changed over the years but the overall message has been the same. Across the United States’ major intelligence agencies, bits and pieces of the potential threat were apparent and being monitored; however, because these agencies did not share their intelligence, the proper authorities could not reduce or even prevent the attack. It was the largest intelligence blunder in American law enforcement history. The CIA was monitoring all of the 19 hijackers before the attack. As early as January 2000 two highjackers specifically Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi arrived in Southern California legally using B-1/B-2 multiple-entry tourist/business visas issued by United States Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 13 other hijackers received passports from Saudi Arabia, 2 from the United Arab Emirates, 1 from Egypt, and 1 man from Lebanon. The mastermind behind this attack, Osama bin Laden, communicated to only a few of the leading hijackers through, courier, internet messages, telephone calls in the couple of years before the attack was initiated. For over a year, the CIA was monitoring all of the hijackers living within the United States without putting them on any official watchlist for any other intelligence agency to monitor. The first time any other agency was made aware of any hijackers was in late August of 2001, when the CIA informed the FBI to put Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi on the official terror watch list. By then, not enough information was shared with the proper authorities, and the attack was not prevented. Intel was gathered, that intel has failed to be dispersed, and because of that failure anti freedom terrorist killed almost 3000 people.

The overlooked reality is that this tragedy could have been prevented. Outside influences had plans for a Middle Eastern conflict, as well as expanded government control within the United States. Those influences used this tragedy to achieve those plans. With the passage of the Patriot Act in October 2001, mass surveillance of American citizens became permitted and easier by lowering the judicial thresholds of the FISA Court (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court). This court is essentially a secret court that permits intelligence agencies to accomplish things like mass data collection and wiretapping on American citizens without obtaining a warrant, therefore bypassing your 4th amendment rights. All this is done in the name of preventing terrorism. Edward Snowden famously exposed this mass data-collection scandal in June 2013 and proved that leaders within intelligence agencies committed perjury in congressional testimony to hide it. In March 2013, Senator Ron Wyden asked Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a congressional hearing, point blank, “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans?” Clapper’s response: “No, sir.” Despite Clapper committing perjury on national television, he was never charged or further investigated; however, Edward Snowden has not been on U.S. soil since 2013 and has been charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, preventing his return.

It’s also clear that politicians within the U.S. government, as well as other foreign interests, have wanted U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts. Our involvement goes back to 1979 with the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. The CIA used black budget funding in an Operation Cyclone to build up, train, and fund Afgan efforts against the Soviet Union. One of the organizations that received such funding through the CIA is the Maktab al-Khidamat also known as the Afghan Services Bureau, which was an organization founded in 1984 by Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden to recruit, fund, and logistically support Arab volunteers fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Mujahideen (voluntary afghan soldiers) also received funding from the CIA and also was a logistically and financially led by bin Laden. Despite multiple financial ties to our own intelligence agencies and the most famous terrorist in U.S history, the CIA has denied any known relationship with bin Laden over the decades of the Soviet-Afghan conflict. While it may be true that there was no official relationship, by the CIA’s own admission, surveillance of bin Laden as a potential terrorist threat began in 1996, just 4 years after Operation Cyclone ended in 1992.

Continuing the trend of interests wanting Middle Eastern conflict, you can find a handful of individuals with a long history before 9/11 of pursuing this goal. You can look any Prime Minister of Israel since the countries inception in 1948 lobbying the invasion of specifically Iran to the U.S and other allies. Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister) testified to congress three times within 1 year after the events on September 11th urging for U.S involvement to combat terrorism, as well as overthrowing Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat, individuals who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Paul Wolfowitz, a career politician and Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2005, played a major role in creating two plans within the Pentagon. The first is known as “The Clean Break Memo” which was a plan detailing a plan to abandon the Oslo Accords (temporary peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinian Authority) for a proactive, militarized strategy to ensure Israel’s regional dominance. The document mentions that to convince the United States to get involved, there would need to be “a catastrophic and catalyzing event” to sway U.S. action. The second document, which was exposed in 2007, detailed the United States war plan for the war on terror. This plan, called the “7 countries in 5 years” memo, detailed the 7 countries the United States military would overthrow within 5 years. The countries are: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran. The United States has taken military action against all of them. Both of these plans share some of the same creators, one of whom is Paul Wolfowitz.

History is just as rich, controversial, and enticing as stories told a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. We should do more to appreciate those who put their efforts in storytelling to reveal unfortunate truths within our own societies, and nature. We hate to think that there is an evil influence that can manipulate our governments and our people, but in reality it all all tyranny is gladly handed over in the modern age. Everything I have detailed is easily verifiable, and I did my absolute best to leave out more controversial details that have a more circumstantial basis. Lucas was never truly appreciated for the larger story he was trying to tell, so I implore everyone to make sure you know the facts of history instead of learning from institutions and authorities that have repeatedly manipulated you.

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I don’t think I can produce an opinion for the Couch Company that will enrage people more. To be fair to my critics, I would not consider myself a GTA fan. I’ve enjoyed the games over the years; however, I wouldn’t say that I’m a Rockstar loyalist. I’m also aware that just a few articles ago, I put GTA V in my Mount Rushmore of gaming, an opinion I plan to elaborate in depth on the actual podcast in the future. With my bias and potential hypocrisy exposed for you all to criticize, I beg you all to hear me out. I have written a lot about the problems with the industry and the gaming community at large; however, this is the time to accomplish two things: One, we can actually come together and show the industry that gamers are not divided, and that we can put principle over entertainment. Second, we can show developers, once and for all, that standards must be met for the community even to consider purchasing a game.

GTA VI is the most anticipated game in gaming history, not to mention the most expensive game ever made. Those two things shouldn’t be taken lightly, especially for Rockstar Games. The game is estimated to have cost $2 billion to develop, with sales reported at $446 million currently in pre-orders. To make sure we are all on the same page, the development cost so far is only to get the game to launch, and the gross revenue is only from pre-orders. This leaves out the cost to maintain the game over its lifespan, the cost of future content development, and the cost to launch on PC. The revenue left on the table would still come from post-launch purchases and microtransactions. I understand what could happen to real people if this game fails. People would lose jobs, and a legend in the development space could go from top dog to a shell of itself. I don’t care. I want gamers to have the best possible product with the fewest compromises. Even with all the hype, this is the largest financial undertaking a developer has ever taken on. Rockstar Games is relying on you and me to make this a success. This is where our power lies.

The base price for GTA VI is $79.99, a $10 jump from the AAA launch norm over the past few years. I have zero problem paying more to get more, but from my perspective, we are not getting more at all, and that is where my problem lies. Rockstar recently chose to have their first gameplay reveal locked behind Netflix’s paywall, and according to reports, Netflix wrote a 9-figure check to make that happen, which was completely redundant because the same reveal was posted to YouTube only a few hours later. This is me speculating as an individual, but could this grand expense for Netflix be part of why they have increased prices and locked out password sharing for their consumers’ accounts? Obviously I can’t say that for sure, but Rockstar clearly was just in it for the bag, and there was no reason to put the reveal behind a paywall. This is more of a critique of principle.

This game has been in development for at least 12 years, and in the past 2 years, the launch date has been pushed back twice. Usually, that’s a good sign: pushing back the release to get things right. By Rockstar’s own admissions, I think they have lost the plot on what “getting things right” means. With this $80 purchase, here is exactly what you are getting: a single-player version of the game, either on PS5 or Xbox… that’s it. There is no definitive time frame for the single-player version’s PC launch, and no time frame for an online launch. I understand this wasn’t so different in the past, but when are we going to pay more and move toward modern consumer expectations?

Oh, also, the game will run at 30 fps at 1440p resolution. I’m sorry, but can we all agree that’s completely unacceptable? If you have a solid PC, why would you buy the game twice just to play the story early? To give Rockstar a little credit, I, like everyone else, think the game looks amazing, but spending $80 on a story running at 30 frames that’s been worked on for over a decade means there better not be a bug that needs fixing. Today’s standards, unfortunately, show that games are often released unfinished. I understand consoles today can’t match what a $2000 PC can do in terms of frames and resolution, but the base-model PS5 can run games at 120 frames at 1440p. There is absolutely no reason, whatsoever, that a game made for this long, with the most money ever spent, could not deliver on this expectation at launch.

It’s obvious to me that no one plays GTA for its plot. Will they? Yes, but that’s not the reason to keep playing; it’s all about online. Statistics from PlayStation and Steam show that between 22% and 30% (source depending) of GTA V purchasers have finished the solo story. With the other rough 70% not fully indulging in what the base game offers, I think it’s self-evident that online is why we keep playing. From the release of GTA V, there was only a 2-week gap before GTA Online launched. With the upcoming release of the next installment, Rockstar has been silent about an online timeline and their PC launch. I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but for a game being made for the last 12 years, shouldn’t there be at least an idea of when to expect these things? It could be the natural pessimist in me, but I find the silence concerning. The hyper-optimist in me dreams up a scenario where Rockstar is planning to quell our worst fears spectacularly. However, the reality is, we don’t know, and I hate not knowing. Continuing the speculation, in my conversations with other gamers, the idea that online play will have a subscription fee attached has come up. Just another thing that we may have to pay for, and not out of the realm of possibility.

Maybe my call for a boycott is overblown, and it very well could be, but I think I can say, on behalf of all gamers, we have reason to be worried. My biggest wish is that we could make our expectations clear, and that multi-billion-dollar corporations face financial consequences when they don’t deliver.

As always, I hope the best for our community, and at some point we actually get more when we pay more.

At Couch Company, every game review gets an official score from 0–100. Chiseled in stone and forever cataloged, we use these entries as an archive not only of gaming in a given timeframe, but of who we are as individuals.

But a plain number can be tricky; for instance, is a 78 good or bad? Ask anyone on the team what score we gave Game-X a year from when we gave it, and you’d probably get a ballpark guess instead of a specific number. But what we can tell you is where it fell within our six tiers: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. It’s like seeing a B+ instead of an 87—much easier to catch the gist at a glance; the numbers are to dial it in a little bit more and give nuance to those future arguments when apple-game is compared to orange-game.

As we’ve been saying for the past several years, treat the tier and score as a quick summary, not a substitute for the full review. If you remember only one thing from this page, remember this: the review itself is what matters. The pretty score is just there to help you skim a little faster, feed into our doomed goldfish-brain evolution, and give you a rough sense of where a game lands compared to everything else we’ve played.

For the goldfish in the back: Full review discussions, good. Looking at the number alone, bad.

Still with us? Great! Let’s break down what each of the tiers means to give a little more structure when you ignore the line above.

Example: Tetris

The ultimate tier. Godhood. Probably unachievable in today’s age. This is reserved for the flawless game; the perfect title universally devoid of criticism and critique. If we’re honest with ourselves, we only have this slot to keep the hope alive.

Examples: Baldur’s Gate 3, Astro Bot, Hades 2

As high as high can feasibly go. These are the best of the best by every metric we hold them to. Games that are genre-defining, pushing the bar and moving the industry forward—we’ll still be talking about them years from now.

Examples: Bloons TD 6, Alan Wake 2, 007 First Light

Genuinely excellent games fall into this tier. Top-notch design and direction with barely any flaws; these make up the bulk of the titles we’d love to shove into your hands with a strong recommendation.

Examples: Octopath Traveler II, It Takes Two, Pragmata

Reliably fun and well-made games, with a few small hiccups that don’t really get in the way. If you’re into the genre, you’ll probably have a good time.

Examples: Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

These games are playable, but just rough enough that they can’t be recommended without a bunch of caveats. They usually have good ideas hiding in them, but they never quite click.

Examples: Redfall

You were the chosen one! Well, not really. Something’s gone off the rails with these. They’re broken, unfinished, boring, or just painful to play. We don’t take joy in handing out this tier.

FAQ

Why tiers instead of just a number?

Numbers have a funny way of making things seem more precise than they actually are. While our team may not agree on a specific point value, we take solace in being aligned on which tier it falls into. It definitely beats losing sleep over a two-point swing because someone was feeling grumpy that day.

Why are all your reviews Silver tier?

Okay, not all of them are. But yeah, turns out most of the games we play, finish, and review are pretty competent. We choose to see Silver less as a middling tier and more as a baseline: “it’s good, it’s worth your time, and it does what it says it will.”

Why did Game-X get a lower/higher tier than I expected?

Because your opinions are dumb and our taste is impeccable. Or maybe it’s because people are sometimes different. In all seriousness, if you disagree with a review or want more context, we’d love to hear from you and talk it out. It won’t change the score, but we love a good discussion! Oh, and we were kidding about the whole “dumb opinions” thing.

Can a game ever get Diamond tier?

I mean, technically. We’d honestly love to see it happen!

Can a review ever change?

Once it’s chiseled, it’s chiseled. Stone is expensive. Let’s put it this way: a review has never changed so far. Although that hasn’t stopped some of us from infighting years later, that’s part of the whole “place in time” callout from the intro.

Developer: Cold Iron Studios
Publisher: Daybreak Game Company
Release Date: August 25, 2026
Reviewed On: PlayStation 5, PC
Steam →

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is another installment in the Alien IP. After the modest success of the first game, I had well-tempered excitement for this entry. Don’t get me wrong, this game has some fair criticisms; however, I think the problem for a lot of gamers is unrealistic expectations. As someone who enjoyed the first, I knew what I wanted to be different, and I knew what to expect. In this game, you play as colonial marines who are on a bug hunt. You can choose from several classes, each with associated perks, weapons, and equipment locked to that class. After leveling up two different classes to a certain point, you unlock what’s called the “Specialist” class. This class lets you pick a specific loadout based on your play style, with no restrictions on what you choose. The game is fine, to make a long story short. This game is a way to pass the time before the next thing you want to play, and a good excuse to play with your favorite squad.

The Good

The game is exactly what you would expect. You get to shoot up a bunch of xenomorphs and synthetic androids to get to your next objective. The sound design is just as good as the first game. A big upgrade to me is that you can play with up to four squadmates instead of three in the previous game. I didn’t love some of the atmospheric design in the first installment, and they went in the right direction on the second attempt. The maps are dark and mechanical, with the occasional alien hive that blends right in.

The game is challenging, albeit with a caveat: it gets harder not only as you increase the difficulty, but also as you play with more human teammates. Some might see this as a scaling issue, but I like it. I enjoy a game that makes you lose, and as a competitive person, this makes me want to try again with a different strategy. It’s made to play with others, and that is the best way to experience it.

The Bad

There are two modes to choose from: story and horde mode. The story is nothing. Before each mission, you need to talk to characters on your ship that acts as the lobby within the game. The reason is to push the story, and I’m not exaggerating; I have zero idea about, or care for, what is going on in the narrative. This is also not a justified “sequel” to me. I don’t see how all that was added couldn’t have been an at-cost add-on to the first game. Yes, there are more guns and classes are reworked, but there is not enough new to be considered a “new” $40 game.

The next round of complaints doesn’t come from me; it comes from one of our fearless leaders, Tyler. Tyler, along with another friend, Dylan, who has been playing the game in our squad, is a PC player. Tyler’s rig uses a 3080 Ti, and Dylan has a top-of-the-line 9070 XT; obviously, there’s a big gap between those two GPUs. However, they both are experiencing dramatic frame drops when the game gets chaotic, and larger enemies are gliding across their screens at 20 fps. Tyler, in particular, hasn’t been able to play a single game without his character’s head being completely invisible. This is actually a bonus point of humor among friends, but it’s clearly not intentional and needs fixing. I play on a standard PS5, and I can maintain around 60 fps at 1440p with the occasional momentary drop.

The Meh

I’m specifically putting the voice acting in the “Meh” category because it’s so bad that it’s comically amazing. To put it as politically correct as I can, the voices of specific racial minorities are so on the nose that you can’t help but laugh anytime they speak. One character of Asian descent especially sounds like he belongs on an episode of South Park. I love South Park, but unless the developers have a good sense of humor, I don’t think they had that idea in their minds.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, this game is just and only fine. Real problems need fixing; however, the game is playable—at least on console and high-end PC. This game could be great if and when it goes on sale during the next gaming drought after the upcoming holiday season; otherwise, it’s just a boredom buster.

In today’s economy, layoffs are widespread across industries, including gaming. It’s no secret that hardware is more expensive than ever. You can look at an article I wrote a couple of months ago that dives into the RAM crisis. There, I present compelling evidence to at least investigate legitimate claims of price-fixing behind this alleged crisis.

However, that is just one piece of the pie when it comes to the layoff situation. Questions remain about gaming prices over the years, personnel decisions, and the fact that a pandemic halted the world economy. There are plenty of rocks that need turning, and despite my proclivity to find the angle no one looks for, sometimes the simplest answers are the factual ones.

In January of this year, the GDC (Game Developers Conference) Festival of Gaming provided a lot of data points to consider on this question of unease. You can read the presentation here. Despite the social-political undertones in their data collection, they did a decent job providing polling data on who visited the conference this year, and I think it’s worth highlighting a few points.

Layoffs depend heavily on individual company circumstances. In the screenshot above, the overwhelming majority of the polled data comes from companies closing or being acquired by a parent company. It’s not shocking: when a company fails, people tend to lose jobs. Why they fail is a different question altogether.

AAA studios are not immune to similar layoffs, despite their reputation for greater financial stability. This same report claims that two-thirds of individuals representing AAA studios experienced layoffs in 2025. However, AAA studios claim this is due to “restructuring” and does not affect the overall quality of their products, while indie developers don’t get that luxury. What’s clear to me from this data is that the larger companies didn’t properly quantify how long the COVID gaming boom would last. It is a matter of opinion, but it’s a fair critique to call this layoff issue “mismanagement,” at least regarding AAA studios. When you onboard thousands of people during a boom, you should plan for potential downturns. The unfortunate thing about these layoffs, in my opinion, is that this report claimed that the highest percentage of layoffs within companies were game designers, including narrative design. I’ve been outspoken about companies focusing on demographics and sales rather than the games themselves. I don’t understand what’s so difficult to grasp. If you make a good game, people will play it.

Another fair question is whether or not the financials justify most layoffs. Activision, for example, had global layoffs within the past 12 months and, in the same period, recorded consistent quarterly earnings growth. To play devil’s advocate for big corporations, despite growth, they may be looking at the long term to avoid the aforementioned mismanagement. It has gotten dramatically more expensive to make games. AAA games cost 150 to 200 million dollars back in 2016-2017, while today games are guaranteed to cost more than double that—in conjunction with the bigger demand to produce constant content within a game to keep it alive. We, as gamers, haven’t made it easy for AAA and indie developers to make big paydays. I know gamers love to complain about how much games cost today, but the reality is that the cost of a brand-new title has changed only marginally compared to the increase in game production costs. Throughout my teen years in the 20’teens, a new game was $60; today, a new game from a AAA corporation is $70. Yes, microtransactions are in every game today, but games are not even close to increasing in cost to the consumer in proportion to their production cost.

Despite my best efforts, I can’t find a concrete example of real nefariousness at play. I think we all are in a pickle when it comes to the golden age we live in. Corporations have to spend more to make more, and consumers get bored too easily for anyone to really win in a transaction. The other brutal truth is that other industries drive many of these problems. Game developers have to compete with the average consumer spending several hours a day doomscrolling as their preferred entertainment, and consumers have to deal with everything getting more expensive, not just their games. The layoffs are unfortunate, but you can’t look at any other tech space today and not see similar trends.

With AI getting better and better, the harshest truth is that people in charge of remedial, non-creative tasks are going to lose work. When the printing press was invented, everyone employed to copy books by hand lost their jobs. As in every era in human history, people have needed to adapt, and I don’t see the new industrial revolution we are in as any different.

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While I’m beyond excited about the flood of titles coming our way over the next few weeks, let me take a second to reflect on what I got through over the past 30 days.

Denshattack!

Starting this list off with a Shmizzleboo! (See, I can make a random word too.) Denshattack! is a crazy game to try and describe. You’re a train that does kickflips and railgrinds around a dystopian Japan while winning the respect and love of hardened gang leaders.

Huh, guess it’s actually not that hard to describe.

Regardless, it’s a heck of a lot of fun. It’s flashy, frantic, and some other f-word—but like a good f-word. Hmmm, I’m doing a bad job here; just check out our review below.

Schrödinger’s Call

This game made me cry. Turns out, once I had one of my own, I’m a donzo when kids are involved. It’s worth going into this blind (as so many on this list are). I don’t personally love the visual novel genre, but I’m very happy I gave this a chance. I can honestly say this is a masterclass in subverting expectations and storytelling.

Sovereign Tower

I’ll come clean. This is actually the last game I finished this month. I just pulled it up on the list because I really wanted to include it in the thumbnail.

Every year, there’s a game that surprises me with how much it sticks in my brain, and this year I found myself thinking about Sovereign Tower a lot. The writing and humor are quite good, and I genuinely enjoyed the hemming and hawing over which missions to take and who to lead them. I have some thoughts on the UI/UX side of things—I’m a pretentious designer like that—but overall I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this 12-hour romp.

Splatoon Raiders

Splatoon Raiders is a perfectly good Switch 2 game. It plays well, runs great, looks nice, and has loads of content. I’m not embarrassed to admit I exclusively played this in handheld mode, on the couch, watching Love Island (UK Season 13) with my wife. That said, I couldn’t help but miss what I’ll call “actual” Splatoon. While this shows promise for a proper fourth entry, I want to go head-to-head with people and splat with my friends.

ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs

This takes the slot of my monthly “podcast game.” Something I can play and zone out with while catching up on ’s soothing business recap. It gets a little repetitive by the end (the game, not the podcast). Still, there was definitely a cozy feeling in brushing the dirt out of my 50th totally-not-a-PlayStation-system before slapping some yellow paint on it as my shop’s signature. There’s a slight chance I was working for the mob the whole time, but I’ll be honest, I kind of lost the plot while I listened to the current state of the gaming business.

In a total meta move, you can listen to our podcast about this very game below!

Halo: Campaign Evolved

“It’ll be the best way to play the original Halo,” I said.

“It’ll score in the 90s easily,” I said.

“You’re an idiot, and I know better than you, dummy dumb,” Jon thinks I said.

Whatever may or may not have been said, this game fell on the disappointing side of the fence. Sure, it had some work done—some things tucked and nipped—but at the end of the day, great lighting and visuals can’t keep Chief standing on one leg while the other (multiplayer) is amputated. My argument from the beginning was that this was supposed to showcase what Unreal Engine 5 can bring to the series. The problem is, more than half the cutscenes didn’t play; I had my graphical and control settings reset every time I launched; and, oh yeah, I DIDN’T GET MY “LEGENDARY-COMPLETE” ACHIEVEMENT. It’s fine. I’m fine.

If you want to hear the full rant, I linked it below.

Ocean Survivors

This was a super quick entry for me, having beaten it on the first run and having other things to get to, but for being the dude’s first game, I applaud how well it looked, how smoothly it handled, and how positive the comments are on Steam. It might not be the deepest entry in the genre, but a fantastic start deserves praise. Congratulations, and best of luck, Ralf!

Nautical Survival

Look, it was nautical week on Steam, okay?! What was I supposed to do? Not play every one of these? For what it’s worth, this one handles, looks, and plays extremely differently, and it nails it. The strategies kept evolving; the shift from “this weapon sucks” to “oh, just kidding, it’s goated” was constant. It includes everything you want in a game like this. While not my favorite art style (I actually prefer the one above), it uses its aesthetic well.

Twisted Tower

I’m not a horror guy, save for one series: BioShock. Okay, and maybe Alan Wake. And Control. Resident Evil, obviously. Wait… am I a horror guy? No. NO. Back on track (that’s actually a pun for this game). To be fair, Twisted Tower evokes a lot of what you felt when you first set foot in Rapture. The mystery, the droning bad guy who wants to be appreciated, the creepy people who sound squishy when you use the first melee weapon you find to beat their skulls in. You can tell where the inspiration is pulled from. Yet sometimes when you walk too close to what you’re inspired by, the differences are way more obvious. To be clear, I don’t think this is a bad game. For all intents and purposes, it’s actually very well made. It’s just not BioShock, and I’m an unfair jerk.

Editor’s Note: When Ethan texted me to ask what topics he should write about in the coming weeks, my default response was to rack my brain for the topics I’ve recently debated with Jon and friends. When he asked which topic would resonate most with Jeff, well… that was much easier to narrow down.

Overall, I would view this post as a satirical rant. Having worked at McDonald’s, I want to both punch Ethan and nod along while I use the points in my app for a free hash brown. Maybe this inspires a certain someone to write a counterargument article? Who knows. Either way, I regret everything; enjoy rage reading.

AI has created quite a mess not only in the job market but in the overall economy. Companies are leveraging themselves to death to deliver the economic abundance needed to build data centers and infrastructure to accommodate dramatic technological shifts. Some people, myself included, have genuine concerns about what physical outcomes AI will have in our everyday lives. How much will this displace people in the job market? Will there be a necessity for universal basic income? Will AI invade the internet and create machines to rise against the human race? Some of these fears are more warranted by the evidence than others. However, I do think it’s important to be optimistic and acknowledge the major benefits this technology could offer. Better healthcare, infrastructure maintenance, self-driving cars. All of these things have a worthwhile argument to be made if AI can deliver successfully, but for the sake of the common person and a little bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, there is one industry I’m ready for AI to rule over completely. The fast food industry.

Something very important has been lost among my fellow Gen Z’ers. We have lost the ability to have enforced gratitude. As a 27-year-old husband and father, I’m no stranger to how difficult life can be, and I understand the complaints of many young people who are struggling. Yes, everything is more expensive, the job market is extremely competitive, and the American Dream feels like a myth in the rear-view mirror. My biggest annoyance with people genuinely concerned about these problems is that they offer no solutions to the problems they complain about. I hate to sound like a boomer (the most naive generation in American history), but there is value in the “pull-em-up-by-the-bootstraps” argument. This rule doesn’t guarantee success—some people genuinely work hard and have little fruit to show for it. I want to say, point blank, I have all the sympathy in the world for those people. However, the people for whom I have very little empathy, regardless of age, sex, or belief system, are the people so lazy they can’t even get my fast food order correct.

A long time ago, people understood work. There are starter jobs, and then there are careers. An argument in today’s culture is that everyone should be able to afford whatever they want, regardless of the job they work. To most, this argument is laughable, but unfortunately, a loud minority who will go to their grave with this belief. Some fast-food businesses have stayed successful because they know their job: Take the order, make the food, and give it to the customer. For something so simple, we still have too many horror stories today about trying to get a good meal after a long day of work, only to have the order wrong because the people working are too busy on their phones and hitting their vape pens. It’s time we let AI take control over these simple responsibilities.

To be blunt, there is no excuse for getting a freaking McDonald’s order wrong today. Apps on our phones now take over a third of that responsibility. I CAN GIVE YOU THE ORDER! At this point, employees’ only responsibility is to prepare and hand the order through a window. I hate to sound like a jerk, but seriously?! Why is this controversial? Apps and online ordering have made it so fast-food workers literally only have one thing to worry about: the quality of their product. Yet this opinion will be looked at with disgust because “I’m discounting people’s lived experiences.” You know who has the most right to be angry? The pilgrims who still take their precious time to walk into an establishment and still have to say what the workers screwed up. These situations are incredibly uncomfortable. No sane person enjoys going up to someone to say, “Hey guys, this order is wrong.”, only to be met with a look of disgust because you dare to say someone failed. If you’re someone saying that “apps have made things worse,” I feel for you, because I sense you were not properly loved as a child. Let’s not forget the points associated with online ordering that allow for those little wins. The free hash brown, coffee, or quarter pounder. What, you hate free stuff in exchange for making their job easier? Please grow up. You bet, you better be giving me free stuff in exchange for eliminating the workload, with the fact that you screw it up 10% of the time.

I’m being provocative just for the sake of it, admittedly, but am I wrong? I get life is difficult, but can’t we have the simple pleasure of not worrying about a wrong fast food order? Apps are a step in the right direction, but it’s time for the robots to take over. Whatever it takes to get a McDouble and a large fry with no fear of failure.

Developer: Halo Studios
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Release Date: July 28, 2026
Reviewed On: PC
Steam →

Review

A full review is available in episode 240 (1:23:24) of the Couch Company Podcast:

Pros

• The best Halo has ever looked

• Keeps it feeling classic while introducing quality-of-life tweaks

• Story still holds up

• Thoughtful redesign choices

Cons

• Full-priced game despite lacking a multiplayer mode

• New missions are terrible

• New character lines and delivery can be hit or miss

• Serious technical issues

Final Score: 74 (Bronze)

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4349210/Goo_Deer/

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Developer: Mandragora
Publisher: tinyBuild
Release Date: August 6, 2026
Reviewed On: PC
Steam →

Review

A full review is available in episode 239 (1:07:17) of the Couch Company Podcast:

Pros

• Polished presentation

• Cozy, low-pressure gameplay loop

• Smart design choices

Cons

• Shallow and somewhat repetitive by the end

• Tough-to-read dialogue with an abrupt ending

Final Score: 80 (Silver)

Developer: Undercoders
Publisher: Fireshine Games, Boltray Games
Release Date: July 15, 2026
Reviewed On: PC
Steam →

Review

A full review is available in episode 239 (1:13:28) of the Couch Company Podcast:

Pros

• Tight controls

• Outstanding style and presentation

• Great pacing

• Strong level design and over-the-top boss fights

• Highly replayable

Cons

• Weaker cutscenes when not animated

• Shallow customization

• No online leaderboards

Final Score: 87 (Gold)

When it comes to any “Mount Rushmore” conversation, I’m always the annoying person who wants to get very precise about what that term means. To me, the “Mount Rushmore” topic is not something solely based on an individual’s opinion; there must be some historical and consequential impact that gets you on that mountain. This is not a “My Top 4 Games” list. Obviously, people have different opinions about the presidents carved into Mount Rushmore, but regardless of anyone’s opinion, an honest person can’t deny that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt all did things that seriously impacted this great nation.

The first image I would carve in our fantastical mountain would be the Tetris T. I understand that no one is going home today to grind out hours of Tetris, but this is my George Washington pick, so to speak. It is the founding father of modern-day video games. I can already hear the PONG fanboys crying, because that was technically the first video game, to which I rebut: The United States of America wasn’t the first democracy either. The creation of this country, however, did change the structuring of empires, and that change hasn’t been challenged in any serious way since its inception. Tetris wasn’t only a video game; it set the tone for what video games could be. It was not a game only played by children. Tetris exploded in popularity worldwide, for all ages. It showed the world that video games are now the standard, not just on a computer, but on a dedicated gaming platform. Tetris was released alongside the very first Game Boy. It was the first system that was not only a handheld, but the first system overall to let you swap out different game cartridges. Before this, gaming platforms came as a single game; for example, Mattel Auto Race and Football were separate systems for just those games. Tetris is the reason the Game Boy succeeded the way it did, and its technology was quickly adapted beyond handhelds and into home systems. Tetris was not only a game; it also started a new way of gaming.

Super Mario 64 is the constitution to Tetris’s founding. The N64 changed gaming across many genres. An honorable mention is GoldenEye 007 on this console. A 3D FPS with multiplayer capabilities; where would the FPS genre be without that classic? Despite my bias, I think Super Mario 64 makes a bigger impact. It’s the foundation for all 3D open-world games. Yes, Super Mario 64 has a lot of linear level design, but it’s the first game I can think of that offered exploration at that scale. The castle grounds, the castle itself, underwater environments, changing maps through specific paintings, boss battles, etc. This game not only had the content and looks for its time, but you could just wander around climbing trees and flying if that’s what you chose to do. You cannot make a case that any open-world game today doesn’t have Super Mario 64 in its ancestral DNA.

With this Union established, it’s time to recognize who pushed boundaries and delivered the heavy hits for modern gaming. I know I have written plenty about this next title’s problems; similarly, despite our own country’s modern problems, we cannot deny the good it still does. Call of Duty is the definition of greatness. For all its flaws, these games have dominated not just the spaces it created, but the spaces it chose to join. The most popular FPS of all time hasn’t just dominated in gameplay. It has dominated in casual multiplayer gaming, competitive gaming, single-player storytelling, battle royales, and content production. The zombies mode itself could be another game that stands alone. Regardless of who you are or where you came from, every gamer has a favorite Call of Duty. Like the wars this game created, it won the war of popularity and innovation a long time ago, and it deserves recognition.

I’m honestly going to have nightmares about my final carving into this Mount Rushmore, but as stated previously, I must give credit where it is due. Grand Theft Auto is the best vision of what gaming is. A genuine virtual city is what escapism is supposed to be. I don’t mean that a game designed to highlight degeneracy and criminality is true escapism—if it wasn’t for GTA Online, this would be at the bottom of the list—however, GTA Online is connectivity, escapism, and exploration at its grandest scale, specifically with the creation of GTA Roleplay. This PC exclusive doesn’t force you to exercise your most vile tendencies; you can play as a cop, convenience store worker, robber, and even take on the role of a non-playable character just to be an inevitable casualty. It’s literally a virtual world within our world. The novel Ready Player One is my fantasy of where gaming goes. It’s not just a place for fun, but a necessity for real-world survival. Make a living within a game that translates to real life. The role-playing mod is the closest example to that. When you die, you lose everything; voice chat is enforced; everyone takes on a role and sticks to it. I know it sounds like a science fiction pipe dream, but in reality, are we that far off? This country showed the world that individuality and freedom produce not only the most prosperous and wealthy nation, but also the unalienable right of choice. That’s what we want out of our games, right? Choices create freedom, and gaming is the ultimate freedom from the harsh realities of this world.

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This year has not been our year.

It has become the norm for major AAA developers and indie designers alike to flood the market with new games at least a few times a year. While we have been swimming in new content over the last several years, our community has felt a common sense of dread and dissatisfaction. We built the empire that the industry stands on today, and instead of joy, we feel left behind.

Let’s take on the biggest controversy in gaming this year. PlayStation is announcing that it will stop making physical copies of games by January of 2028. I have seen zero public comments, statements, or articles from any media outlet or individual in favor of this decision. While I haven’t purchased a physical copy of a game since the original release of Batman: Arkham Knight on PS4 in 2015, I can still understand the outrage. I get that, with new technology, everything in our lives has moved to a digital platform. Everything from video games, movies, television, and music to work documents and photographs has moved to cloud infrastructure. Today, children don’t look at photographs; they scroll through Instagram. People don’t read books; they listen to audio. Money isn’t kept in your wallet as cash; it’s transferred online. All things, I think, on the surface, have improved our quality of living, but at what cost?

The PlayStation disc controversy woke people up to a very serious question. Will we own anything? Since its online inception, PlayStation has made this very clear in its terms of service. When “purchasing” a digital version of a game, you purchase a license to play the game as opposed to owning it. Over the years, not only PlayStation but also Microsoft and Steam have made the same legal choices in their terms of service. Since it’s pretty clear that ownership is going away, it’s also become apparent that things like service subscriptions and internet connections are going to become necessary for all games, even exclusively single-player titles. Your “license” will need refreshing via an internet connection, and games accessed through PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass will need internet even if they are single-player only. Steam, at least at this point, says that an internet connection should not be needed to play “most” single-player games. The question is, for how long? (Editor’s Note: Gabe, if you’re listening, start taking more vitamins.)

With ownership being taken away, we still see increased costs across the board. PC parts are being priced out because of demand for AI facilities, games cost more to produce in general, and console developers have teased that the next generation of platforms will have an over-$1,000 price tag. Have we, as gamers, forfeited our rights as consumers for the sake of ease? We at least own the PC’s and consoles that we purchased, but what good are they if everything within them cannot be touched without a corporation’s constant say-so? Beyond that, in my hunt for PC parts, I spent a lot of time investigating the cost difference between parts alone and prebuilt towers. I found the cost difference negligible, but the prebuilt PCs themselves may not actually be ownable. They are leased. Platforms such as Katapult and Acima partner with major prebuilt companies, such as CyberPowerPC, IBuyPower, and Skytech Gaming. The very idea of not only games, but also the systems we use to play them on, may not actually be owned by a consumer, is a symptom of the immediate gratification culture we have built. All these problems I have mentioned are not just exclusive but the overall market place.

Per the recommendation of one of our podcast hosts, I should close this article with a bright side. I am naturally pessimistic, but I will do my best.

Where do we go from here?

Emulators and DRM (digital rights management)-Free games have their pros with respect to the ownership issue. Emulators are free; the barrier to entry is that you need a PC or compatible handheld, and there is the time it takes to download the software and games to run them. DRM-free games are a great concept, but the reality is that next to zero AAA properties choose to sacrifice their own digital rights.

By happenstance, there was a video dropped by BULKHEAD Games on their YouTube channel the night before finishing this article. The video is about the upcoming release of their FPS called WARDOGS. BULKHEAD has a lot of hype behind this game. They are attempting to make a competitor to the large-scale FPS games like Battlefield, Armored Warfare, Hell Let Loose, etc. The concept is 100 players, divided into three teams, fighting for control of a designated zone. At the same time, there is a monetary bank account that is based on the players’ performance, which dictates the gear and tools a player can purchase at the start of each spawn. The video is titled “WARDOGS: 10 Reasons NOT to Buy.” I encourage everyone reading to watch the video for yourself, but I will summarize.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a developer make a clickbait title and actually deliver on it. They produced ten legitimate reasons not to buy their game. The 10 reasons fall into 3 categories: the studio’s past problems, monetization, and gameplay performance.

Starting with BULKHEAD’s past, they produced Battalion 1944, a competitive WWII FPS similar to Counter-Strike. This game was a failure, to say the least, but they noted that, despite its failure within the studio, it made enough money to pay back original supporters. The gist is that BULKHEAD is aware of its past failures and has done all it can to make amends; if that is an issue for you, don’t buy WARDOGS.

Next is monetization. The game is being sold at a discount at launch. The reason is that the game is launching as an Early Access game; they know it won’t be 100% finished until their initial 1.0 launch. Depending on which phase you buy the game in, the price will differ. The early access launch will have limited content and can only be played on PC. They want a dedicated player base to be part of the quality assurance process. The game will change during this stage, but regular content additions won’t start until the official 1.0 launch, at full price. They have also made it clear there will be no performance- or cosmetic-based microtransactions, except for a “Supporters Starter Pack” available for purchase in early access for a few cosmetic exclusives. This starter pack is advertised as a way individuals can directly support the finances needed for the game’s development.

When it comes to gameplay, BULKHEAD has made one thing abundantly clear: consistent performance is their priority. A big reason for this early access phase, which is exclusively on PC, is not only to fix issues but also to get a realistic expectation of server player counts at launch. They even say they don’t expect a groundbreaking player base to be maintained during early access. They want people to be part of the development process—not influencers looking for the next content click, but players who play and stay because they like the game. PC players are also the clear priority. In reality, PCs offer better support for high frame rates and performance, which is why graphics aren’t their top concern. The game will also offer controller support for PC players and consoles alike at launch 1.0, but the developers stress that this game is made for PC. Lastly, they are making a game that has consequences. They specifically say, if you are expecting to play the game jumping around like it’s Call of Duty, you are going to have a hard time building a bank account at respawn. They have a vision for this game, and it’s a vision to make something genuinely new.

I think BULKHEAD is saying all the right things, and they are being transparent about it. They are not trying to make the most money or please every conceivable audience. They are trying to make a great game that will earn consistent and loyal fans. So unorthodox, but it’s what the gaming community has been screaming for from AAA developers. Quit with microtransactions, the remasters, and skill-based matchmaking to make certain players feel better; make a new game. For all the negativity I see in the community right now, the fix is to collectively support developers and games willing to take the risk. Does this fix the ownership crisis? No, but a game like this becoming a major success shows big companies they don’t hold all the cards, and that the power is in our hands.

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We have had no shortage of Batman. There are currently 10 solo theatrical movies, plus 4 more where he appears in a larger cast, such as Batman v. Superman and Justice League. Over the decades, there are God knows how many video games and animated shows and movies that star or feature the beloved character. Batman appeals across every demographic in Western culture for good reason. He is the superhero version of David, as opposed to the Goliaths like Superman. He is just a man amongst gods, and he can stand toe-to-toe with any of them. He’s dark, mysterious, selfless, and courageous, all the things we admire in our heroes. All this to say it pains me that the best adaptations of the beloved character are in video games and animated properties.

The best Batman movie is The Dark Knight, according to the masses. It is my favorite of Nolan’s movies altogether. However, it’s a great movie that has Batman. I stand by the opinion that Nolan’s trilogy was not Batman-focused. While the trilogy is shot great and is entertaining, it actually changes a lot of what is loved about the character. Batman Begins: great origin, but it creates a shell of Ra’s Al Ghul by removing his supernatural abilities. The Dark Knight is great because of Heath Ledger's performance. Lastly, The Dark Knight Rises is garbage, and I don’t have the energy, at least in this piece, to go down the list of what’s wrong with that movie. There are a lot of things I don’t like about this trilogy, but if I had to pick the biggest problem, it’s the fact that Nolan tries to turn Batman into Spider-Man. Through these 3 films, Batman is always protecting some sort of love interest. Not to say he doesn’t in the comics or other properties, but he does not sacrifice the mission of being Batman to accommodate this desire. From the first film of Nolan’s trilogy, Batman is trying, in the end, not to be Batman anymore. He is never trying to balance the personal/vigilante life like Spider-Man.

Then there is the Snyderverse and Matt Reeves’ separate universe from the current DCU. I think the writing of the Snyderverse and Ben Affleck’s performance is really good, but we never got a Batman-focused property. The same can be said of Robert Pattinson’s movie. They both did two things specifically Nolan got wrong. The first is the action. Batman is a master martial artist, and in all three of Nolan’s movies we rarely see Batman actually fight. The action is filled with shaky cam and quick cuts, which is where Affleck and Pattinson’s properties shine. We get to see the energy, brutality, and combat IQ from these two, and it’s very satisfying. The second is the atmosphere. Snyder focused more on the world of DC, whereas Reeves focused only on Gotham City. These places felt like their own, and not just a wide shot of New York and Chicago. Nolan neglected that Gotham City in itself is a character that elevates where the rest of the characters come from. Lastly, Pattinson's movie is the only one to focus on the actual detective work from the world’s greatest detective. We have gotten a lot of details right about the character but have not had these done right in one specific property.

My favorite Batman movie is The Batman from 2022. Gotham is its own; Pattinson puts in the work for fighting; he actually solves a crime and shows a more practical adaptation to a man who fights crime. The biggest flaw in this movie is the fact that Bruce Wayne is nonexistent. This flaw can be logically corrected in the next film. The Batman ends with the character realizing that he is more than just vengeance and can allow the emergence of the billionaire Bruce Wayne to play a role in Gotham City. This is a tough thing to execute correctly, however—if Matt Reeves decides to focus on the fact that Bruce and Batman are the same character, this will destroy what is done so well in the comics. The reality is Bruce Wayne is the mask that contributes to the Mission of Batman.

In the animated show Batman Beyond, there is a scene that encompasses this idea perfectly. In the episode entitled “Shriek”, Bruce Wayne is institutionalized by the episode’s titular villain. He keeps hearing voices from Shriek that are compelling him to convince himself that he is crazy. After Terry McGinnis defeats the villain Shriek and gets Bruce back his freedom, Terry asks him how he knew he wasn’t crazy. Bruce responds by saying, "First, I know I'm not psychotic. And second, the voice kept calling me Bruce. In my mind, that's not what I call myself." Bruce Wayne is The Batman, and we have yet to receive a live-action representation that shows that idea to its fullest potential.

The best properties of the character have historically been literature, shows, and video games. I think the Arkham Games are the peak of what we have that is Batman. The struggle with adapting this character is that there is so much source material to use. Everyone has their favorite story and version they want to see this character in, which is why I don’t think 3-hour movies are the best or optimal use of him. Matt Reeves and DC do have an opportunity to flip the script down the road if they wish to do so, and that is the use of HBO.

DC has had great success with the limited series The Penguin and the Snyder Cut of the Justice League released on the aforementioned platform. Television is optimal for the character due to the removal of time constraints. There is no need to fill or complete a story in a single three-hour movie or a trilogy of movies. You can spend a dozen hours in a show’s season to do what is needed to develop characters and story, and HBO is the very place to do it. There is no shortage of material; it's grounded, dark, and above all needs a space to cater to an exclusively adult audience. I have had this dream for years that Batman is the perfect character for a platform that has always taken risks.

Recently, the release of the Black Ops and Black Ops 2 ports shows there is definitely a hunger for the franchise to return to its former glory. This past week, the combined ports dethroned Fortnite as the number 1 played game on the PlayStation Network; this is the first time this has happened in the last 6 years. As someone who has mixed views on the ports, I still enjoy them. I have said in previous writings that my dream is for these two games to receive full remasters, similar to the treatment that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare received. Every attempt the franchise has made to bring back the old has been objectively a monetary and P.R. success.

Obviously, bringing back the past can only last so long, regardless of their success. So what needs to change? For starters, I think Call of Duty has lost its identity. Today, the “Road to Success” is said to be about bringing in new players while keeping the old. While I don’t completely disagree, I think they have executed poorly. It’s not about expanding the player base to include every type of gamer; it’s about making a well-playing game. To put it more simply, I think Call of Duty has literally lost the plot.

It goes unmentioned, but the lackluster campaign has really stifled interest, in my opinion. World at War was a gritty, controversial depiction of the Second World War. The Japanese soldiers were aggressive. Swastikas were plastered on nearly every soldier and set piece during the Berlin invasion. As a player, for better or worse, you chose to execute captured soldiers or keep them prisoner. Modern Warfare 2 literally has you commit a mass terror event in a Russian airport as a CIA false flag. Black Ops and Black Ops 2 were thrillers centered on MK Ultra and Cold War events. While all of these examples show graphic depictions of violence, my argument is not to make the game brutal for brutality’s sake—from realistic depictions of historical tragedy to fictional revisionist history based on real events, the plots were bold, taboo, and really hooked you with the story. Black Ops dropped one of the most amazing plot points, suggesting that the main protagonist was the actual assassin of JFK. It used one of, if not the most, popular conspiracy theories to elevate the story. Even the zombies mode storyline uses conspiracy theories to elevate its backstory. There was a time when the writers focused on just writing and didn’t worry about which country or group of people would be offended. They took risks, and it paid off in a big way back then.

The Zombies storyline is underrated as well. Plot and story aside, the ports also showed that the legendary mode isn’t what it is today. Black Ops 3 was arguably the best zombie experience. It elevated the gameplay and concluded the main story spectacularly. However, revisiting the classics via the PS5 ports has shown, at least to me, that the classic goal of survival is what made it great. I forgot that the mystery box was actually a gamble and not a way to just get the next gun. You are only allowed two hits before you die; guns reload slowly and lose damage quickly, which makes perks and pack-a-punch crucial. The mode is just about making it to the next round, and while that sounds elementary, it does not hurt its replayability. It’s rugged and challenging. It’s lost today that making a third mode just for the sake of playing, not going after an objective, is still a success.

Which leads me to the main point of Call of Duty: its multiplayer experience. To which I say, less is more. Updated movement mechanics over the years have definitely made the games feel really smooth, and that, to me, isn’t part of the problem. The problems are map design and gunplay. I am not a map designer, so I won’t judge this too harshly. I can’t imagine how hard it is to make a map that is loved by all; however, I think other aspects of game development take effort away from this crucial point of replayability. That effort, I think, has been too focused on gunplay. It used to be that there were good guns and bad guns, but today, with new updates all the time, there is always a new meta. Developers confuse this constant change, keeping people coming back to build up new guns to stay competitive. This couldn’t be more wrong. It’s frustrating. To go from dominating the leaderboard to struggling just because you didn’t watch the “NEW META LOADOUT” video on YouTube is a catastrophe. My main point of proof for this is simple. When things were stable, and it was about getting better as a player, that’s when Call of Duty was at its player peaks. Do less of what you think needs to be done to keep things fresh and new, and keep the foundation perfect.

Unfortunately, I can’t put all the blame on the developers. As I stated in previous articles, the blame is on us, too. A big reason studios feel the need to change things like guns and gameplay is negative online posts. I’m gonna say this next part bluntly. Developers really need to try their best to ignore a lot of this negativity, because it’s usually coming from people who are just really bad at the game. They whine about not having things a certain way, and it’s usually because they don’t feel they are playing as well as they should. Some people are not strong runners, which is why they prefer to play hide-and-seek instead of tag. Today is about making a game everyone can play, and this is incorrect. Make the game you know will be played and let the whiners sit alone at home. We know this idea works because it has for over a decade, and if we go back to strong fundamentals, we can have a beloved franchise back on top of its game.