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

The best Tokyo tour package that is Forza Horizon 6

Discover Japan like a first time traveller

Published

May 14, 2026

Gab Orlina

Ever wanted to visit Japan despite an ongoing fuel crisis crippling your total travel budget? Have you ever wanted to visit iconic tourist destinations like Shibuya Crossing or Mt. Fuji? Did you ever have dreams of becoming the drift king like in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift? Well, we have good news for you!

On May 19, you’ll be able to do all three of these things as Playground Games will finally release Forza Horizon 6 across all platforms. From an overall lens, the game is slated to build off the incredible features the franchise is best known for, now in a totally different side of the world. Experience a unique kind of car culture only famously featured within popular movie franchises, while also exploring another side to Tokyo reimagined for both new and returning players to the series.

So come, take advantage of this once in a lifetime tour package, complete with the following amenities suited to hopefully make the trip to Tokyo worth it!

Sight-seeing, your way

Forza Horizon 6 features a highly populated simulation of Tokyo with tons of activities to do, sights to see, and Horizon events to satisfy your thirst for action. From street racing to experiencing the hustle and bustle of food deliveries, Playground Games wasted no time in nailing most aspects of Japan’s culture. Of course, that also includes popular tourist attractions like Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge.

I mentioned in the early preview that the developers divided all of Tokyo into different sections with their own checklists on what to do and things to collect. When looking at the full game, this list is actually a lot more expansive and comes with its own scorecard for exploration called Discover Japan. It’s similar to your Horizon Events progression, right down to the tasks and rewards so the experience wouldn’t be too unfamiliar.

SEE MORE: Forza Horizon 6 already hits the mark

All of these are within your control and pace as you progress deeper into the Horizon Events, with more areas and activities to explore the further along you are. Honestly, it ends up that you’ll accomplish these things fluidly given the amount of driving you’ll be doing so plan your itinerary ahead!

Reimagining Japanese car culture

Speaking of those Horizon Events, the staple of the entire Forza Horizon franchise once again features a unique blend of racing that is authentic to the place it represents. In the case of Japan, that’s basically all the types of races you’ve already seen in most Fast and the Furious movies, especially Tokyo Drift. And yes, you will have access to a plethora of cars that you can finetune to your liking for the best performance in all the races.

Much like in previous games, there are also pockets of events called Stories that venture into specific aspects of Japanese car culture through the lens of the characters in-game. From day-trips to learning how to be a DK or “drift king,” these were designed not only to help with game progression but to expose a culture to those who are only hearing about it now. Also, some of the events can be quite challenging even for returning and experienced players.

This even extends into multiplayer features and Horizon Stunt Events that allows you to show off your skills and your car collection. Adding in car meets within major POIs on the map was a nice touch in incorporating multiplayer activities beyond the normal racing route. Also, they added the actual Daikoku Car Meet space as a staple to this aspect of Japanese car culture!

Is this your GamingMatch?

In a nutshell, Forza Horizon 6 remains true to its roots, enabling it to bring out the best of Japan in more ways imaginable. Playground Games knew what worked from every other game in the franchise and decided to double down for the better, from mechanics to the improvements. While it had already hit the mark from the preview alone, expanding it further truly made it an exciting release to watch out for.

For a game that simply offers a more casual racing experience and pushes the car collect-a-thon a lot more, it is completely decked out with activities galore. Even with some of them feeling repetitive at times, every Horizon event and mode felt just as addictive and unique to play no matter how you want to play them. It’s a formula that encourages experimentation and enables car mastery that is easy to digest, no matter the experience level – and we’re all for it.

This truly feels like an instant Swipe Right for all intents and purposes, and definitely a must-try for anyone who plans to visit or return to Japan for a quick vacation or two. Assuming, of course, that the oil crisis will finally end by then.

Gaming

The Steam Controller literally screams when you throw it

Please throw it at padded surfaces only.

Published

May 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

We love harmless Easter eggs. Think of Chrome’s jumping dino or Android’s yearly quirk. It’s always fun when a device or app hides a special surprise for those in the know. Today, Valve is keeping the tradition alive by putting a screaming Easter egg in its new Steam Controller.

The first of its trio of new hardware, the Steam Controller converts the iconic layout of the Steam Deck into controller form. Besides offering an accessible controller, it also connects seamlessly to Steam, offering an easy doorway to plug and, literally, play.

Since it launched on May 4, users have already been playing around with their Steam Controllers. Presumably, this also includes a few rage moments that involve throwing the controller over a frustrating game.

If you threw your controller already, you might have heard an interesting surprise. As spotted by users online, the Steam Controller lets out a Wilhelm scream whenever it’s thrown.

For the unaware, the Wilhelm scream is the world’s most iconic scream. If you’ve watched a few movies, there’s a high chance that you’ve heard it before, as it’s often used as a background scream in many, many movies.

Notably, this has a cooldown of approximately one minute, so you can’t spam it over and over again. This also works on padded surfaces, so you don’t need to throw your controller at a hard wall. It’s just one of those nice Easter eggs that add a little spice to a favorite controller.

All that said, please don’t throw your Steam Controller at hard surfaces.

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Hexe leak reveals the return of a major character

Is Ezio Auditore coming back?

Published

May 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Undoubtedly, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is the most hype that the franchise has enjoyed in a while now. A lot of gamers are excited to replay one of the most prolific entries in the vast history-hopping series. But Black Flag isn’t the only entry getting some eyeballs. The mysterious Codename Hexe is also getting some love, and we might finally have some more information about the game, thanks to a new leak.

In 2022, Ubisoft teased Codename Hexe as a darker entry in the franchise. Four years later, the game is still shrouded in mystery. Today, a leaker (@xj0nathan on X) has shared some interesting details about the game.

For one, the game will reportedly be set during the Wurzburg Witch Trials in the 17^th century, confirming earlier rumors that the setting would be dark one. Adding to that, Codename Hexe might have most of its gameplay in forest biomes, using a lot of trees to parkour around.

The return of an icon

Confirming rumors is just a tiny part of the leak. The more interesting bit is the alleged return of the franchise’s most beloved character: Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Ezio has not been seen in an Assassin’s Creed game in over a decade. His story concluded in Revelations (with a neat epilogue in a short film called Assassin’s Creed: Embers).

In Codename Hexe, the iconic assassin will reportedly return to mentor the game’s protagonist named Anika. Currently, it’s unclear how he appears in the game’s setting. Some rumors hint that Isu technology might be involved.

Finally, the leak concludes with a blurry photo. Unfortunately, Ubisoft has been taking down reposts of the photo, so we won’t include it here. The original leaker himself took it down as well. It can, however, be described as a female assassin trudging through a dark forest with creepy lights in the background. It doesn’t reveal a lot of details, but it’s substantial enough to warrant takedowns.