Seven years and 135 million copies later, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V simply refuses to slow down. The secret to its success? It’s no mystery at this point. Despite starting life back on the PS3 and Xbox 360, GTAV’s single-player experience is still largely unsurpassed in the open world space – and its juggernaut multiplayer component, GTA Online, has never stopped growing.
This week GTA Online expands yet again with the addition of a huge salvo of new content in what Rockstar has stated is GTA Online’s biggest update ever. The Cayo Perico Heist adds new vehicles, new missions, 240 new songs, and even a brand-new island to Rockstar’s monstrous multiplayer experience – an experience that, when it arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X│S, will have spanned three separate console generations.
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But what about players who have been craving more solo GTA content, like the much-loved expansions to 2008’s GTAIV: The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony?
Well, the good news is that Rockstar has actually been spending the last few years weaving more and more opportunities for solo player fun into GTA Online, and that’s reached somewhat of a crescendo in The Cayo Perico Heist – the first GTA Online heist players can do entirely alone, if they choose.
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While 2020 has offered plenty of new, original games, it's also been a fantastic years for reimaginings, remakes, and remasters of beloved games originally released as recently as just a few years ago and as long ago as the original PlayStation era.
To celebrate some of the finest remakes and remasters of the year that revitalizes RPGs, horror, sports, and Soulsborne games, these are our nominations for the best remake/remaster of 2020.
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Click through the gallery above or scroll down for the full list!
Bluepoint Games has struck gold once again, modernizing a decade-old game while staying impressively faithful to the source material. Demon’s Souls shines on the PS5 with its stunning environments and realistic lighting effects that just weren’t possible on the PS3. But Bluepoint didn’t just apply a fresh coat of paint; it meticulously rebuilt this classic from the ground up.
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Everything you remember from the 2009 original is here, which is sure to please die-hard fans. The addition of performance and fidelity modes allow you to choose the type of experience you want, and really showcases the power of the new console. Plus, the incredibly fast load times mean dying is just a bit less painful this time around.
For more, check out our full Demon's Souls review!
You’d be forgiven for forgetting but, in eons past (well, June), as Cyberpunk received its second delay, CD Projekt led an explanatory letter to fans with the words:
“‘Ready when it’s done’ is not just a phrase we say because it sounds right, it's something we live by even when we know we'll take the heat for it."Yesterday, in an emergency board meeting amid an increasingly disastrous launch, we got a statement that belied that approach, and even referenced it directly:
“After 3 delays, we as the Management Board were too focused on releasing the game. We underestimated the scale and complexity of the issues, we ignored the signals about the need for additional time to refine the game on the base last-gen consoles. It was the wrong approach and against our business philosophy.”In the plainest possible terms, Cyberpunk 2077 was not ready, because it was not done – and, according to CD Projekt itself, likely won’t be truly done until February.
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As some of you know, Rogan was banned from Warzone on stream tonight. The Team and us are currently trying to handle the situation and will keep you guys updated. Thank you for all the support. #FreeRogan pic.twitter.com/df1B28Fa8R
While I had just as much fun playing Cyberpunk 2077 on PC as Tom did playing for his review, on the base PlayStation 4 or Xbox One it is a different game entirely. It fails to hit even the lowest bar of technical quality one should expect even when playing on lower-end hardware. It performs so poorly that it makes combat, driving, and what is otherwise a master craft of storytelling legitimately difficult to look at. It is not an exaggeration to say that I’ve felt nauseated after playing because of the terrible frame rate. It really is that bad, and it’s very suspicious that CD Projekt Red refused to provide console review copies ahead of launch.
Even some of my favorite games of the past generation can occasionally fall victim to the trap of adding unnecessary elements to pad out runtime, but Gears 5: Hivebusters does the opposite. This DLC expansion trims the fat and provides a laser-focused, linear experience, leaving me wanting more instead of overstaying its welcome. Although the characters (and their relationships to each other) can feel uneven, great new environments and a cool new avian creature add a new flavor to the Gears universe.
It’s billed as an origin story, but Hivebusters opens with its team of crack troops, who infiltrate Swarm hives and destroy them from the inside, already assembled. The three playable characters you and up to two co-op teammates inhabit are Scorpio Squad, made up of Keegan, Lahni, and Mac; it’s the same crew that was first introduced in Gears 5’s excellent Escape multiplayer mode. Actors Dave Fennoy, Sumalee Montano, Trevor Devall, and a good (and sometimes surprising) supporting cast turn in great voice performances.