Gaming

Cyberpunk 2077 PC review: Looks can be deceiving

It lived up to the hype, then undid some of it

Published

January 8, 2021

Gab Orlina

Last December 10, 2020, CD Projekt Red (CDPR) finally dropped its much awaited video game title for the past seven years. Set in the year 2077, this new open-world experience explores the possibilities of human existence with science at its core. Beneath all the scientific breakthroughs, an everlasting human conflict resides.

In my opinion, this is how the world of Cyberpunk 2077 seemingly positions itself as a video game. It prides itself as a sprawling open world, with a character-driven story of your own choosing. With a great deal of combat opportunities and side missions inherent to open world games, it shaped up according to the hype.

And then, I felt it’s hype go through a cycle of life and death as a game that’s just, well, good.

A promising start with every single new game

At the onset of starting a new save file, you’re given three life paths to choose from. For the majority of my playthrough, I simply went with the Street Kid since I felt it had the most to mess around with. If you’re up to it, you can also choose between the Nomad or Corpo life path, each with their own sets of storylines to unfold.

After you configure every physical aspect — yes, including the private parts — of your character named “V”, the game throws you into the action outright. It’s the usual get-a-feel-for-the-controls type of thing, which is par for the course if you ask me. From movement to combat styles, the game does its best at orienting you with how it works.

The game then proceeds to give you a rough six-hour prelude detailing events of V’s first mission with Jackie Welles. I say a rough six hours because the game already gives you a glimpse of just how open the world is to explore. You’re also introduced to a few side missions that ultimately influence the rest of your playthrough. Honestly, it’s a great start leading up to Act 1.

You shape the story, but you also don’t feel it?

After the prelude, you basically proceed however you like, which I felt wasn’t necessarily a bold thing that CDPR implemented. However, it complements the grander scheme of the open-world adventure through Night City. At this point, I thought that this would allow me to pour myself out into the lore.

But after nearly 45+ hours of gameplay, I just didn’t feel the story bringing me into its world. See, regardless of the life path you took, V goes on a quest to free himself of the engram of one Johnny Silverhand. After stealing Arasaka’s prized relic and injecting it into his brain, the character voiced by Keanu Reeves is basically seizing control of V.

For the most part, you are given choices in both dialogue and actions to help you steer the story. Much like other choice-driven storylines like in Until Dawn, there are so many ways the main story could end. Personally, I felt that the main culprit for this is the fact that side missions are integrated well into the main story at some points.

In essence, there’s no one clear way to end Cyberpunk 2077, and I just can’t seem to find myself drawn into that.

Combat and movement mechanics I can get behind

Now, I can wholeheartedly say that this game truly shines mostly due to how the gameplay mechanics worked out. This game took a whole page out of Grand Theft Auto, but added much greater incentives to keep you exploring all sorts of gameplay styles. I truly felt that the gameplay feels intricate, yet unique towards several situations.

Combat and stealth are the main attractions when you go around all of Night City. For the most part, this game gives you a ton of ways to practice combat and stealth through the side missions, which is pretty good.

Gunplay relies a little bit on crosshair placement, which you mostly see on competitive shooters. So, just be aware of where you’re aiming your gun.

Moving around the overworld feels natural, along with driving around in the vehicle of your choice. Although, if I had one gripe with this game, it’s the physics for some of your actions and vehicles. For instance, how come you’re still standing when you jump out of a moving car? Or, how come some motorcycles are a literal chore to turn while driving? Sometimes, I like some realism in my open-world, futuristic games.

Incredible amounts of bodyhacking

Other key features in this game are a much more intricate skill tree and Cyberware enhancements. As a half-human, half-cyborg, you have access to a series of skills depending on which aspect of your character you want to focus on. Most skills you earn are combat and stealth based, and how often you use them increases its efficacy.

Personally, I admire this level of intricacy with CDPR’s approach to a character skill tree. Depending on how you want to progress through the story, there are a ton of ways you can go about upgrading certain skills. Also, this game offers unique dialogue options depending on how high your skill level is.

When it comes to what I call the “bodyhacking” section, it’s also extensive. Basically, you can attach a bunch of cyberware mods to certain parts of your body to increase certain attributes. You can even apply it to your weapons and clothes, and it greatly complements the combat in certain situations. It’s honestly a lot to take in, but it doesn’t overwhelm you.

Visual spectacle? Not entirely, I suppose

As of the time I’m writing this, the game had six rounds of patches to address a ton of issues. In such a short amount of time, CDPR managed to make the PC version look a little better than how it was on launch day. However, it still doesn’t excuse the developers from those issues because, well, this game was well-hyped.

Now, I’ll admit that the visuals of this game are pretty impressive. Even when I turned a ton of graphical settings down because of my hardware, it still looks aesthetically pleasing. Honestly, I appreciate the colors and the textures a bit more during the night time segments of the game. Is that why they called the main location Night City?

But, it isn’t consistently great the longer, and the farther you get into the story. I had some gameplay plagued by textures loading later than usual, and items that just don’t show up. For instance, during combat, my weapons don’t show up when I try to draw them out — which somehow does not allow me to use them. Last-gen console players had it way worse, but at least for the PC, the visuals were great at times.

Was this really all worth seven years of waiting?

Cyberpunk 2077 had a promising start after seven years of being in total limbo. It presents itself as an open-world experience, centered around a technologically-advanced universe still plagued by human existence. With manageable combat and stealth mechanics, different life paths to explore, and an abundance of customization options, it sets you up quite nicely.

But when you play this game long enough, and through six rounds of patches to fix several bugs and visual errors, it makes you think if it was truly worth the wait. Honestly, the story doesn’t draw you in, I felt I couldn’t fully resonate with any of the characters, and the aforementioned bugs slightly ruined the experience.

This isn’t the near-perfect game everyone was hyping it up to be, especially given the seven year wait. However, it’s still great for what it offers if you had planned to get this for the PC anyway.

Gaming

WWE 2K26 lets you live out all the fantasy matches you could want

But you have to play for hours and hours to unlock everyone.

Published

March 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The old SmackDown vs. RAW games were some of the most fun I’ve had as a teenager. Though I didn’t own a PlayStation 2 or 3 then, I had a PlayStation Portable and the series’ corresponding version. Sure, it didn’t have the then-advanced graphics, but the games kept me company for many a day and night. And it all revolved around a simple premise: letting wrestling fans live out their fantasy matches.

Now, with over 400 playable characters on launch, WWE 2K26 hopes to rekindle that magic. Previously, 2K’s take on the wrestling simulator never really captivated me as much as the SvR series did. Though players still had a similarly large roster throughout the years, the series felt too homogenized, too riddled with microtransactions. This year, the series got me thinking again: Can sheer numbers singlehandedly usher a new renaissance for WWE gamers?

The good: Four hundred superstars under one banner

WWE 2K26 touts over four hundred playable characters on launch. With unannounced DLCs still on the horizon, this number will surely balloon further. Even for a dedicated WWE fan, having over four hundred playable characters is insane. Where else can I pit Joe Hendy against Andre the Giant and create my own WrestleMania III moment?

The only catch, however, is that the game did some stat padding to get to this enormous number. Besides having multiple personas for a single wrestler (and CM Punk alone has ten of these), the roster includes a platoon of fictional MyRISE characters, which comes off as distracting if you don’t particularly engage with the MyRISE mode.

Ironically, the game didn’t even need to pad its stats this way. For the first time in the series, the launch roster includes Superstars from the current WWE roster, TNA, AAA, and the Hall of Fame. I could spend hours just feeding a litany of Superstars to TNA legend Abyss. That’s something I could never have done in the old SvR days.

The good: A more fluid fighting system

It also helps that WWE 2K26’s fighting system is the most fluid that the series has been. Wrestlers no longer feel like wooden animatronics skipping from one animation to the next. Each punch flows smoothly into a clothesline, a grapple, a carry, or a finisher.

It is, of course, at the expense of a more complex control scheme where each input combination corresponds to its own move. A stray waggle of the right joystick, for example, can have your wrestler careening towards their opponent in ways you never intended.

It takes some time to get used to. Every time I get a WWE 2K game, I always need a refresher course for the controls. Plus, each entry introduces something different. This year introduces rushing opponents to the corner and carrying opponents in different ways.

Another new addition is the new third-person camera which follows your character, rather than being locked to the ring. To me, this was a welcome feature. The original camera can often betray you by having various elements (other wrestlers, the ring itself) block your view of the action, thus preventing you from reacting correctly to your opponent. The dynamic third-person camera solves this and makes the fight more immersive.

That said, the camera necessarily changes the controls a bit because you need the right joystick to look around. Because of that, I had to revert back to the original camera after a while. Regardless, this is a step in the right direction.

The improved fight scheme is also a step in the right direction. WWE 2K26 is the franchise’s most immersive entry to date because of how fluid the action plays out.

The meh: Iterative game modes

Every yearly sports simulator falls prey to the curse of iteration. Because it’s an annual release, every game needs to add something new for players. At the same time, the same game can’t iterate too much, or it might end up alienating fans of the previous title. Each WWE 2K title has to be the same but also a bit different.

WWE 2K26 goes through the same rigamarole. Most of the game’s different modes don’t offer a lot of improvements from last year. So, if you loved last year’s MyRISE, MyGM, and Universe Mode, you’ll likely find this year’s iteration inoffensive.

“Inoffensive,” however, isn’t the best way to sell a new game. At the very least, MyFACTION gets interesting improvements. For a mode I historically dislike every year, WWE 2K26’s MyFACTION ended up being the one I loved the most this year.

This year, the layout feels more intentional. Though it still lacks the exciting animations of NBA 2K, opening a pack no longer looks like a PowerPoint presentation. There’s also more ways to fight offline with the addition of a challenging World Tour mode. Plus, with intergender support and team chemistry, this feels like the update that MyFACTION needed.

In another twist of fate, Showcase Mode ended up being the loser this year. WWE 2K26 rehashes last year’s schtick of having the star rewrite their history. Last year, this worked with Paul Heyman, a notorious bad guy. It doesn’t really stick with this year’s star, CM Punk, the so-called voice of the voiceless.

Punk could have shined with the traditional style of laying their commentaries over their past matches, especially with his shoot style. Instead, we got a series of what-ifs with practically no commentary. It’s just not what I expected from a firebrand like CM Punk.

The bad: The Ringside Pass

For the first time in the series, WWE 2K26 has a battle pass called the Ringside Pass. Like battle passes in other games, the Ringside Pass unlocks more content as you play through the game. However, unlike today’s standard which revolves mostly on cosmetics, this version locks a treasure trove of playable wrestlers behind an experience gate.

Even if you already paid for the game, WWE 2K26 asks you to play an inordinate number of hours just to unlock the best wrestlers in the game.

To be fair, it’s not all bad. Right out the gate, the game already gives you access to heavy hitters like CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, and John Cena. However, a lot of favorites are still unplayable including Bret Hart and Kurt Angle. This even includes the strongest version of Bray Wyatt, who’s locked under the last tier of the current pass.

Gaining experience isn’t an easy feat, either. After playing for hours and hours, I still haven’t unlocked more than half of the tiers. At the very least, there is no time limit, so I can play the game at my own pace.

Props to WWE 2K26 for making its battle pass have fulfilling rewards, but it’s still unfortunate that significant elements of the game are locked behind hours and hours of playtime.

The gameplay loop is real and repetitive. And it all circles back to how iterative the game modes are. If only the game modes ended up being as exciting as they were last year, then it would have been exciting to play over and over again. Instead, WWE 2K26 prevents you from engaging in greatest strengths: an exciting roster and a fluid fighting system.

Is WWE 2K26 your PlayMatch?

Last year’s WWE 2K25 was an exciting period for the series. Though this year’s version keeps most of what made the previous game so exciting, WWE 2K26 also adds features, especially the Ringside Pass, that ultimately detract from the entire experience. It’s a small step back, which can hopefully be rectified next year, if not in future updates.

WWE 2K26 is a Swipe Left if you didn’t love last year’s game anyway. The game doesn’t add anything that might change your mind.

However, it’s a Swipe Right if you missed the pure joy of creating dream matches. The game’s massive roster allows for so many impossible matchups to happen, even if only in the digital realm. Just get ready to grind for a long time.

Gaming

God of War: Sons of Sparta takes a more contained approach to Kratos

Filipino devs were part of it.

Published

March 23, 2026

Rodneil Quiteles

There’s a version of God of War that lives in most people’s heads. It’s loud. Cinematic. Heavy with consequence. The kind of game that feels bigger than you.

God of War: Sons of Sparta isn’t that. At least, not in the way you expect.

It’s more contained. 2D. Pixel art. But spend a little time with it, and you start to see what it’s trying to do. Not replace the modern games. Not outdo them.

Just… revisit something familiar from a different angle.

A different take on Kratos

Instead of gods and world-ending stakes, Sons of Sparta focuses on Kratos earlier in his life, training as a Spartan alongside Deimos. It’s more contained. More personal.

You’re still fighting through brutal encounters. But the framing feels different. Less about destiny, more about who Kratos was before everything spiraled. And somehow, even in pixel form, it still feels like God of War.

Where Filipino developers come in

One of the more interesting parts of this project is how it came together.

Mega Cat Studios worked closely with Santa Monica Studio to build the game. That includes a strong presence from their Philippine team.

But it’s not framed as a separate unit.

“There is no separation between Mega Cat Pittsburgh and Mega Cat Philippines,” says Art Director Janley Clavio.
“We operate as one phalanx, and were part of the game from the beginning.”

That last part shifts the narrative from “support work” to actual collaboration.

The kind of work you feel more than you see

The team contributed to environment art, asset production, and overall polish across different areas of the game. Not the flashy headline stuff. But the kind that shapes how the game feels moment to moment.

“Our work supports the player experience without pulling attention away from the story,” Clavio explains.

Think temple interiors and ruined battlefields. Small details that hint at what happened in a place before you got there. It’s subtle. But it adds up.

Staying true to God of War—even in 2D

Working on God of War comes with a certain weight. Fans know how this world is supposed to look and feel. So, even if Sons of Sparta shifts genres, the expectation doesn’t really change.

“We had to make sure it wasn’t just any retro pixel art game—it had to be a God of War pixel art game,” Clavio says.

That meant studying the details. How materials look. How lighting behaves. How environments guide you. And then translating all of that into something simpler—but still recognizable.

A team that knows when to hold back

One thing that stands out from the conversation is restraint. There’s an understanding that when you’re working on something like God of War, you don’t need to reinvent everything. You just need to get it right.

“When you’re working on something fans already love, your job is to enhance it—not reinvent it.”

That mindset shows up across the game. It respects what came before, but still finds space to do its own thing.

Small details, personal touches

There are also a few quiet nods tucked into the game. Nothing too obvious. Nothing that breaks immersion. But enough for the team to leave their mark.

“For our Filipino artists, it’s a point of pride knowing that a little piece of our culture helped shape a world millions of players will explore.”

It’s not something the game calls attention to. But it’s there.

Not just another spin-off

Sons of Sparta is easy to label as a side project. And sure, it kind of is.

But it’s also a good example of what happens when different teams come together with a clear understanding of what they’re building.

A more contained God of War game that still feels like it belongs. A different perspective on a familiar story. And a project where Filipino developers weren’t just involved. They were part of the process from the start.

It doesn’t try to be the biggest entry in the series. And honestly, it doesn’t need to be.

Gaming

SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance’s SEGA Villains Stage out on April 3

Face off against legendary SEGA bosses from different franchises

Published

March 21, 2026

GadgetMatch

The SEGA Villains Stage DLC for SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance will release on April 3 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, XBox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.

The DLC lets players face off against legendary SEGA bosses from different franchises: Like a Dragon and Yakuza, Golden Axe, and Sonic.

An animated trailer has been unveiled as part of the announcement. It features those franchises’ characters, Goro Majima, Death Adder, and Dr. Eggman.

There will be a total of five crossover stages, three bosses, and two Boss Rush modes featuring the bosses for the DLC.

In addition, there will be three more Ninpo, three new outfits, and six new music tracks. The SEGA Villains Stage DLC is a free update for all players.

Aside from the crossover, players can also try out a new Hardcore Mode which features changes in enemy placement and stronger boss attacks.

Additional combat settings also lets players adjust recovery frames, the flash effect, and camera shake. Various quality-of-life improvements are also planned for the 2D action-platformer.