Gaming

LEGO Horizon Adventures review: Flat-out fun

Horizon Lego Dawn

Published

November 13, 2024

Lego Horizon Adventures is the first Horizon game that I just couldn’t put down. It’s fun, relatively easy to play, and adds some brevity to an otherwise too self-serious title.

It lego-fies the base game of Horizon Zero Dawn and offers an abridged version of the story. All the while, it offers fun platforming and relatively challenging combat.

Horizon Lego Dawn

Whether or not you’re familiar with the story told during this franchise’s debut, you’ll likely find yourself enjoying how the experience is presented here. If you’ve played any Lego games before, it has the signature Lego game humor, poking fun at the material it’s “adapting” while still telling a generally faithful story.

Lines like “you know how hard it is to count with no fingers” are littered across the game’s dialogue. And they never get old. Many of the punchlines are delivered on time and on target. It’s such stark contrast to the sometimes overly serious tone of Horizon Zero Dawn.

That said, it’s able to take the 23-25 hour story of the original game and tell it in a little over half the time. I completed my playthrough in roughly around 15 hours.

A slightly different LEGO game

The last Lego game we played is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. While they share the same DNA in terms of dialogue, aesthetic, and storytelling, the gameplay is vastly different.

Unlike in the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Horizon Adventures has a fixed camera angle. The platforming sections of the stages differ slightly but the entire game generally has a top-down perspective view.

This helps simplify the experience. But make no mistake, there’s still a fair bit of exploring to do. It’s in the players best interest to move around the screen and check every nook and cranny for treasure chests, loot, and what not.

The top-down perspective also makes the combat feel a little bit like the games that have that perspective like Diablo and Hades. While not as challenging as the aforementioned games, this one offers a good variety to keep you engaged.

Arrows, Spheres and more

Combat is pretty straightforward. Square is your primary attack button. You can press it quickly for quick strikes. But it’s best used to press, aim, and hold for more efficient damage.

As you progress in the game, you gain different types of arrows just like in Zero Dawn. These vary from elemental damages to different ways of firing your arrows.

Meanwhile, the circle button is how you activate your gadgets. You can only hold one at a time and most of them are pretty useful in combat. My favorites were the one that lets you dart around in a flash and a Horizon classic – the trapper.

Weapons and gadgets can be picked up throughout a stage. But they’re also available during midpoints where you encounter a merchant and you have three chests to open, mostly containing a full ammo set at your disposal.

Healing is handled through berry trees scattered across the stage. These are very generously placed, especially during the early part of the game. They get a little bit scarcer as you progress.

Dealing with Machines and The Hive

Just like in Horizon Zero Dawn your primary foils are the Machines and The Hive. They can be dealt with generally in the same way. Machines still have weak points that can be targeted when you use your focus. Meanwhile, members of the hive can be dealt shot with weapons, gadgets, or even carried and thrown against each other.

Most of the combat happens in an enclosed space. After exploring, you arrive at the area where there’s tall grass you can hide in. In the enclosed space, you’ll find weapons, gadgets, and things you can throw at the enemies. Some stages also feature environmental things you can use to knock out enemies.

It’s in your best interest to move around as much as you can because the enemies tend to swarm you all at once. By moving around, you become a hard target to hit and also open yourself up to more possibilities of taking them out.

This is the part of the combat that, mechanically, somewhat felt like Hades. It’s nowhere near as challenging as that game, but it has the same general feeling. More importantly, it’s pretty fun and challenging without being too easy or too frustrating.

Clearing these combat spaces, even in just the balanced difficulty, can feel rewarding. Boss fights offer some variety, but the game does well in making sure established rules of engagement remain pretty much the same.

Mother’s Heart

Your base of operations is Mother’s Heart which is your tribe’s town/village. As you progress, you’re able to unlock areas of the town and build different kinds of establishments. They vary in look, feel, and potential for interaction.

It’s here where you spawn after every mission. You can customize the town to your liking with lego parts related to the Horizon franchise but there’s more to unlock and have fun with.

It’s also in this hub where you can level up, change your look, and collect more Lego Bricks by completing town quests. These quests are mostly simple and just require building certain things. While others require you to wear a particular costume as you go on your adventures.

You can change up your look after a certain point of the game. It unlocks pretty early on. You can dress as Horizon characters. And just like the buildings and structures, more non–Horizon costumes will be available to you as you progress through.

There’s a general skill tree that applies to all the characters you can control. Yes, characters. As a solo player, you’ll have four playable characters at your disposal. If you’ve seen some of the previews of the game, you already know that Varl is one of them. Won’t spoil the rest.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to try Co-op play as my Player 2 was away during the review period. That opened up some tricky decision-making as to which character I will use in each mission. Ultimately, I went canon and just used Aloy 85% of the time.

Is this your GameMatch?

LEGO Horizon Adventures is a Super Swipe. It’s a game we can easily recommend because it’s such a good time. The gameplay is fun, the humor is on point, there’s an option for couch or online Co-op, and it’s easy to pick-up and play.

I have unfinished playthroughs in both Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. Something about those games just didn’t land with me personally right away. But the lego-fied version is different. In fact, it’s even renewed, even just by a little bit, my desire to complete the playthrough of the actual game it’s based on.

I also learned a lot about my personal tastes playing through this. I’m all for realism and the usual cinematic action-adventure that PlayStation offers. But if Astro Bot and now LEGO Horizon Adventures is any indication, there’s definitely a place for bright, stylized games that’s just flat-out fun.

Gaming

Dune: Awakening makes it way to the PS5 and Xbox Series X

Surviving the harsh land of Arrakis one sandstorm and bloodlust at a time

Published

September 22, 2026

Gab Orlina

Back in June of 2025, Funcom released its multi-nominated open world survival game, Dune: Awakening. Inspired by the renowned movie franchise, the game takes place within the deserts of Arrakis as players survive and thrive through intense combat and strategic decision making. Now, in the big 2026, Funcom is finally bringing that experience to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players as Dune: Awakening officially launches on console!

For the newbies finally getting it on console, here’s all you need to know:

Take the lead or do it together

Dune: Awakening takes you into the desolate land of Arrakis, and gives you the option to do it on Single Player or Multiplayer upfront. Through your own bidding in strategy, combat, and resource management, your goals are simple: survive the terrain, make more allies than enemies, and conquer the land through your affiliation to the powers that be.

This version of the game is as exact and as one-to-one as it possibly could with the PC version released last year, down to the story arcs, quests, and PvE/PvP areas you take on. Since launch, Funcom has introduced new weapons, areas, and cosmetics through DLCs that will be available to console players, as well. Also, several key features in story and mission progression that have changed on the PC version will take into effect.

If you want to engage with multiplayer, it is still a viable option when you want to gather more resources and reinforce your bases against other players and the natural elements. However, you still won’t be able to host your own server on a console just yet, as it is more stable to do so on the PC version.

Become whoever and whatever to survive

Character customization became the game’s bread and butter through its extensively library of features and unique take on story progression. As you begin your journey, Lady Jessica welcomes you in and asks you on your origin story, mentorship, and initial skill set — all of which are to your choosing based on your play style. Honestly, none of these completely influence the difficulty in progressing the story too much but it will give you full control of the experience.

As you progress further into the game, you will unlock more skills and abilities to aid you in your quest for power and survival. These will help you earn XP, along with accomplishing tasks, gathering resources and researching newer technologies, plus engaging in combat both within the PvE and PvP areas. Ultimately, you and, potentially, other players must build enough rapport and influence to shape the world of Arrakis to your liking.

Consistent visual expectations

For most players on the PC version, graphical fidelity relied heavily on the hardware of choice. When transitioning the game into a console-friendly environment, Funcom worked out the details seamlessly by adding a Performance and Quality mode. In this fashion, you can opt for crystal-clear graphics at a decent 30 FPS or go for a constant 60 FPS to keep up with the action.

Left: Performance | Right: Quality

No matter which mode you choose, the overall visual identity of the game doesn’t change drastically. Environments look rich and vibrant, while the tiniest of details within character models are preserved. Although, given frame rate differences, rendering of background elements also reflects that but it won’t ruin the gaming experience.

Dune: Awakening will be available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on September 22. For Xbox Game Pass owners, this will also be a Day One release with Play Anywhere support and cross-play within Xbox and PC players upon launch.

Funcom has also planned an exciting map update later this year plus potential DLC tie-ins to the upcoming Dune: Part Three theatrical release in December.

Gaming

Valve unveils price of the Steam Frame

The VR headset starts at US$ 1,059.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.

Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.

This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.

If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.

Gaming

BlizzCon 2026 announces World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

StarCraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and more also get news

Published

September 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Blizzard Entertainment kicked off BlizzCon 2026 with a packed Opening Ceremony featuring new games, major expansions, updates, and other announcements across its biggest franchises.

Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries opened the event at the Anaheim Convention Center, celebrating the community behind the company’s games and the teams that bring its worlds to life.

World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

The biggest announcement was World of Warcraft: Forever, a new World of Warcraft experience launching November 5 AEDT, with its beta beginning September 18 AEST. The new experience will feature three zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and a new Skyborne race.

Blizzard also officially announced Diablo V, marking the next era of the franchise. The game is set to launch in North America in Spring 2029, with Sanctuary having fallen and Diablo having won.

StarCraft is also returning with a new story-driven, open-world shooter. The game is currently planned for a Spring 2030 release in North America.

Beyond games, Blizzard revealed that an animated series set in the Diablo universe is in development with Netflix. The company says this is only the beginning of its plans to expand its universes beyond gaming.

For Warcraft III Reforged, the new Forsaken Kingdom campaign is available today. It marks the Warcraft RTS series’ first new storyline in more than 23 years and explores the fall of Lordaeron and the origins of the Undercity. The accompanying 3.0 update also brings graphical improvements and a revamped World Editor.

Heroes of the Storm is adding Xal’atath as its newest Hero. She arrives in the Nexus on September 29 AEST, with her PTR release scheduled for September 15 AEST.

Existing games updates

Meanwhile, Diablo IV is preparing for its next major content drop. Season of Hell’s Legacy begins September 16 AEST and celebrates the franchise’s 30-year history with the return of the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain, alongside themed rewards and gear.

The legendary Amazon class will also arrive in the first half of 2027 as part of Diablo IV’s first class pack. The Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection is additionally coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 16 AEST with cross-platform play and cross-progression.

For World of Warcraft, Blizzard teased the next major update for Midnight. Eclipse (12.2) will see Xal’atath move closer to her goal of claiming Azeroth’s Worldsoul. Blizzard also offered another look at The Last Titan, the next expansion in the Worldsoul Saga and a major culmination of more than two decades of Warcraft storytelling. More information is coming early next year.

Overwatch is getting a major update with Season 5. The season introduces new Support Hero Doctrine, reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and the new Watchpoint: Grimsvötn map. It will also conclude The Reign of Talon, Overwatch’s first year-long narrative arc.

LE SSERAFIM & YOASABI

BlizzCon also featured performances from YOASOBI and LE SSERAFIM. YOASOBI will perform during the first-ever esports halftime show at BlizzCon, while LE SSERAFIM will return to the Main Stage to close the weekend. A new LE SSERAFIM in-game collaboration is available now, with another Overwatch Spotlight scheduled for February 2027.

Finally, Hearthstone is getting its first new class in more than six years. The Monk arrives in 2027, while the upcoming Reign of the Black Empire expansion takes players back to the earliest age of Azeroth. It introduces the Assemble keyword, which combines two cards into a new one. Battlegrounds is also adding Aberrations as a new minion type.

BlizzCon 2026 is now underway, with Blizzard promising more announcements and details throughout the weekend.