Now Playing: Alien: Rogue Incursion (VR)

In Alien: Rogue Incursion VR (Part One) you play as Zula Hendricks, a former Marine on a mission to rescue a friend from an alien infested research facility. She’s accompanied by Davis, a friendly Working Joe synthetic – the creepy low budget androids as seen in the fantastic Alien: Isolation.

And Rogue Incursion does feel like a spin-off of Isolation as the game not only references Amanda Ripley, but also utilises a lot of similar mechanics and visual design. There is a non-VR version available called the ‘Evolved Edition’ but I can’t imagine this experience, which was designed and balanced primarily for VR, translates into a non-VR format in a way that’s half as much fun.

The story side of the game is a little weak. It’s certainly not helped by making the same mistake many other VR games tend to which is to dump all the set up to the plot into an introductory sequence with limited interactivity. Because when playing a VR game, that initial period is when players are getting a feel for the game – the controls, movement, any necessary comfort options – and trying to do that whilst a character delivers exposition usually results in a ‘wait, can you repeat that?’ situation.

As a result, when Zula first stepped out of her ship and into the facility, I still wasn’t entirely clear who I was, where I was or what my goal was. The way Zula and Davis interacted made me wonder if there was a prologue comic or novel setting up their characters and their previous interactions with Amanda Ripley.

And – yeah, it turned out that there is! More than one, in fact – none of which I’ve read, which might be why so much of what they referenced was totally lost on me. That said, it’s not a bad little story. It is, however, as the title suggests, only ‘Part One’ of the story and, sadly may be the only part given the recent financial troubles and lay-offs of the development team.

Despite the ‘Part One’ tag, Rogue Incursion does offer a decent campaign that has a clear conclusion even if it does end in a way that sets up a sequel. It took me just over six hours to complete on the easiest difficulty, but there’s plenty of replay value if you want to spend time tracking down the various collectibles and accessing every locked area of the facility.

I put the game on the easiest difficult because I just didn’t have the patience for dealing with the bullet sponges the aliens become when you jack it up. Combat is, unfortunately, the weakest part of the experience. This is far more ‘Aliens’ than ‘Alien’ and you’ll be blasting xenos with your classic pulse rifle very early into the campaign.

You’ll also get to use a revolver and shotgun and proximity grenades. The shooting feels a little wonky. There’s this weird ‘snap to aim’ system whereby the game simulates Zula bracing the rifle against her shoulder but it’s still off centre of your view, so I never found it comfortable or accurate to use – in fact, I’d say it’s easier not to use it.

The real problem with the combat is the aliens – they look decent enough and are animated well enough but . . . they’re also kind of dumb. And I think there’s too many small, obvious encounters as you progress. The music cues always give them away and then let you know when it’s safe. In a game like this, you want to constantly feel on edge, unsure where the next attack might come from.

But the game loses some of that tension when it forces you into small, regular, easy to deal with and clearly sign posted encounters. It becomes a little too predictable. That’s not to say the game doesn’t have its moments of genuine tension, panic – even fear. Crawling through dark vents and then hearing a rapid ‘thud thud thud’ behind you only to spin around and see a xeno scurrying straight at you is a genuine ‘nope!’ moment.

Those are the moments where Rogue Incursion really shines and it really needed more of them. I understand the desire to keep the player engaged, but you don’t need to do that by continually drip feeding little combat encounters every few minutes, especially when they’re so easy to see coming. Less is often more, particularly in a horror game.

Visually, Rogue Incursion looks good. Not great, but good. And unlike another VR game I played recently (Metro Awakening) it gets the brightness levels just right. Yes, it’s dark – as it should be – but never so dark that you can’t see what’s going on. The game really nails the atmosphere. Dark, smoky, blinking lights – and it’s all enhanced by good audio and music.

Your progression is based on acquiring new tools or key cards to access new areas. It does sometimes feel like it amounts to a lot of fetch quests but the game does also have some really good set-piece moments too – like being trapped in an alien nest. It does, unfortunately, also feature some rather tedious and frustrating back tracking towards the end of the game – and if you want to get every collectible, you’re going to be doing even more.

Although it does feel like it drags towards the end, there is a satisfying final boss fight to be had. And despite my gripes with it, I can still see myself wanting to replay it in the future to find all those collectibles. If you’re a fan of Aliens, if you liked Alien: Isolation and if you’re looking for a solid first person VR game, then Rogue Incursion is worth checking out.

7/10

Gallery: Forza Horizon 6

Now Playing: Forza Horizon 6

After writing such a glowing First Impressions post for Forza Horizon 6, I’m at something of a loss for what to write about in this review without simply repeating myself. Because everything I said in that post still applies now – Forza Horizon 6 oozes quality. It’s one of the most polished and technically proficient games in terms of performance you’ll play on PC this year.

It’s a fantastic driving game with an amazing map to explore and a significant variety of content to get stuck into. The new driving model is great, with a greater emphasis on proper tuning, and the wristband system and car class requirements improve the sense of progression as you expand your garage. It looks amazing. It sounds amazing.

The character models still look like ass, though! It is a little strange, given how often the character models appear throughout the game that they look so, so terrible – if there’s one area where the Forza Horizon series can most definitely improve, it’s this one!

I’ve seen a feeling expressed online that Forza Horizon 6 is ‘too safe’ or ‘too familiar’ to those who have played the series for years and I can understand those arguments to a degree. As someone who has only played Forza Horizon 5 prior to this title, even I must acknowledge that there is a sense of familiarity between the two games.

That said, these are not yearly releases, and with nearly 5 years between the release of Horizon 5 and 6, I’d say that’s enough time for that feeling to fade – providing it’s not the only game you play! And Forza 5 was (I believe?) the most successful game in the franchise to date. Given the rising cost and risk of modern game development, I can understand taking a ‘if it ain’t broke’ approach to design.

I think if you’re going to acknowledge that Horizon 6 is a ‘safe’ sequel, then you should also acknowledge that – because both are true, and one informs the other.

That said, I think there is a big question about where the Forza Horizon series goes from here, because even though I loved 5 and love 6 even more, even I can’t help but feel that the same kind of template design but on a new map may not be quite enough for the next one. It feels like they’ve pushed this existing framework as far as it can go and need to seriously re-evaluate and innovate in the next entry.

What form would that take? Honestly, I can’t say and I don’t know, and given the apparent success of Horizon 6, which may even surpass 5 going forward, I also wouldn’t blame them if they continue to stick to the tried and tested – but I also wouldn’t be as excited to play it. I think this is a dilemma that the very talented team at Playground Games need to figure out, but I also have faith that they can.

I’m currently at more than 60 hours clocked in Forza Horizon 6 with all wristbands obtained and all races completed. I have a few drift challenges to work on – you can’t quite cheese the drift point system in 6 as easily as in 5 (boo!). I also have quite a few ‘story’ missions left to play. Like Forza 5, these are fun little diversions, but there’s no great substance to them.

My favourites so far are the driving tours giving you a relaxed insight into the local areas of Japan the map represents. You can sit back, engage auto-drive and just enjoy the stunning scenery and learn a little about the area you’re exploring. I’ve seen some suggestions that rather than these short, disparate little ‘stories’, Playground could build a proper ‘narrative campaign’ that ties into the player’s core festival progression. And that could work – but is that really what the majority of players want?

I think that’s the tricky balance they need to find – between an unrestricted sandbox where players can tackle content as they please versus a more structured sense of progression. Because even in Forza 6, I’ve seen some unhappy with how the wristband system locks them out of content until they advance in rank, or annoyed by the class restrictions that force them to utilise different vehicles rather than the few they prefer.

But that’s a problem for people smarter than me to solve, eh? Overall, Forza Horizon 6 is another fantastic entry in a fantastic series that just keeps going from strength to strength. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m excited and hopeful for where they go next.

9/10

Gallery: Dispatch

E3 Special 2026

Welcome to another E3 Special! First up this year was Sony and they opened their show with a new look at Wolverine! I can’t say I was all that interested in Wolverine based on what I’d previously seen of the game and after this show I’m sorry to say that I’m even less interested! I don’t want to rag too hard on a game I’ve not played based on a short little slice like this but nothing I saw looked very exciting to me at all.

It looked, to be brutally honest, like a game primarily designed to appeal to easily impressed game critics with low standards. Third person action. High production value. Cinematic camera. Seamless gameplay to cinematic transitions. Simple, slow, repetitive combat with a focus on ‘press button for cool canned animation’ rather than mechanical depth. It reminded me a lot of God of War 2018 and if you’ve read my review of that game you’ll know I don’t mean that in a good way.

Most of what we saw wasn’t even gameplay. And what little gameplay there was looked dull as f**k to me. Showers of blood might be enough to make the average idiot on YouTube cry ‘sick, bro!’ but to me it just looks silly when there’s no sign of actual decapitation or dismemberment – I think I saw one leg chop but it was a robot leg because the enemies are all conveniently ‘cybernetically enhanced mercenaries’. Groan! I hate sounding so cynical and negative about a game but I’m not going to sugar coat my reaction. I also fully expect it to hit at least 90 on Metacritic and be nominated for GOTY.

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls still looks good but I’m more interested in the single player content which I’m hoping won’t be threadbare. Phantom Blade Zero still looks interesting. So does Ace Combat 8 and Ill and Control: Resonant and . . . hold on – is there anything new here? I feel like I talked about all these games last year?

I suppose there was also God of War Laufey but . . . yeah, see my God of War 2018 review again. Most of it was just cinematic with the occasional ‘press button to continue cinematic’ and a little bit of repetitive, simple combat – I’m sensing a pattern here. If this is what I’m going to miss out on if Sony do pull back from PC releases of their ‘prestige’ single player games, then I think I’ll be just fine.

Next up was Summer Game Fest and a few things caught my eye here. There was (yet another) Resident Evil remake in the form of Veronica – they really know how to crank these out, huh? I played Code Veronica on release back in the day but I can’t say I recall much about it aside from that guy that looked like a young Leonardo DiCaprio.

The trailer for Alien Isolation 2 got me a little excited. I loved the first game, so I’m eager to see if they can recapture the magic – and the terror! Gen Atlas looked interesting and a Ninja Turtles games developed by Platinum Games – The Last Ronin – was certainly not on my Bingo card!

End of Abyss looked good – but I think I said that last year too. And The Wolf Among Us 2 was revealed. I liked the original so I’m curious about this one. And finally we have Stellar Blade: Blood Rain which looks pretty cool. I really enjoyed Stellar Blade – let’s hope they do a little better with the story and characters this time, eh?

The X-Box (or XBOX!) Showcase delivered yet again with a fantastic selection. Opening the show was an extended look at Gears of War: E-Day – kind of surprising given the Showcase was followed by a lengthy direct for the game. I didn’t watch that because I’ve seen enough now to know this is a game I want to play. I’m not a massive Gears fan. I liked the first one a lot back in the day, enjoyed 2 but never actually finished 3! This new one looks good though!

Next up was another look at the now delayed Fable which still looks good and this was followed by a look at the Halo ‘Campaign Evolved’ remake which I wasn’t super excited about until I saw this trailer and the classic theme kicked in.

We got a new look at State of Decay 3 which I’m hoping offers an improvement over State of Decay 2. I said in my review last year that ‘like the original, it’s frustratingly close to being great. Maybe in the next one, eh?’ I guess we’ll find out! We also got a new look at Metro 2039, another series I like but don’t love and I feel like I’m waiting for one to really grab me. Maybe this one will!

The next game came as a real surprise but a very welcome one and I’d say is the game I was most excited by in this year’s ‘Not E3’ season – Senua. I really enjoyed Hellblade and absolutely adored the sequel – it was my GOTY in 2024. This new game (a sequel, I presume?) looks like an interesting mix of the more free form and open combat of the original game, but with the graphical fidelity and brilliant animations of the sequel – and that could prove to be a very potent mix indeed.

I’m quite happy with how the sequel ended for Senua, so I do feel a little bad if she’s back in the thick of it again because that girl really needs a break! I’ll be there day one though. Sorry!

You might think it strange how excited I am given how I’ve spoken about other ‘cinematic’ action games in this very post but here’s the thing – Hellblade 2 was a cinematic action game done right. It embraced what it was in the same way a game like Bayonetta 3 (my GOTY in 2022) embraced what it was.

Neither game tried to strike this bland middle ground like say, (potentially – we’ve only seen a small slice) Wolverine, where it doesn’t want to lean too hard into deep, mechanical depth and sacrifice the cinematic focus, but it doesn’t want to commit fully to the cinematic experience either and be accused of being a ‘walking sim’. So we end up with flashy, mashy but ultimately rather dull combat with repetitive canned animations – but critics lap that shit up so what do I know?

The Doom: The Dark Ages DLC looks great so I’ll probably pick that up. I never got around to the DLC for Eternal – it was always on my ‘I’ll get to it eventually list’. I don’t want the same to happen here. And then we had Crazy Taxi! Crazy Taxi is back, baby! I spent way too much time playing that back in the day.

The show closed with Call of Duty stuff – not for me, but I won’t moan about it like so many others. It’s Call of Duty! Of course it’s gonna get a prime slot! Although I do think they could have ended with Clockwork Revolution given the ‘console exclusive’ thing. Open with one, close with another – it just makes sense. As for the game, I feel like I’ve almost seen too much of it now to get very excited.

Now Playing: Coral Island

After clocking just over 100 hours in Coral Island I think I’m pretty much done with it. I feel like I could (and perhaps should) have stopped far sooner but . . . I just can’t help myself, can I? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, eh? As I said in my First Impressions post, Coral Island is like playing a more thirsty version of Stardew Valley. There’s a lot more emphasis here on the ‘social’ aspects – building friendships and finding romance with the local residents of Starlet Town.

In fact, it feels like there’s a lot more emphasis on everything besides managing your farm. And for me, at least, that’s not really a positive because like Stardew Valley, I was always more interested in the business side of the experience. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy working on my little farm but, by the end of my first year, I was already producing maximum quality crops and goods. And by the end of my second year, I was so wealthy and my farm (and house) were upgraded to such a degree that I no longer needed to keep farming at all.

I did keep at it – for a bit – because it was fun seeing if I could improve upon my maximum daily profit but I was also a little surprised and disappointed by how easily and quickly the actual farming aspect of game became completely irrelevant to the experience. At one point I just stopped planting seeds because I no longer needed to. I stopped harvesting from my greenhouse. I did let my animals out of the barn every morning though – I’m not a monster!

Coral Island puts a lot more emphasis on all the aspects surrounding the farming – and, to be fair, there’s a hell of a lot to see and do. You have a Temple to restore requiring various ‘offerings’ some of which you’ll acquire from your farm but others from out in the wild. You have a museum with collections to complete of artefacts, insects, fish, underwater critters, precious stones and fossils.

You have a cavern (dungeon) to progress through which later leads you onto yet another deep cavern to explore in one of several new map areas you can unlock as you improve the town ‘ranking’ and slowly restore the Temple. As the town ranks up you’ll also unlock more cosmetic items (clothing & furniture) and be able to invest in and build town ‘attractions’.

The town is full of people to befriend, hang out with and potentially romance and marry and pop out a few kids with. They all have their own stories to explore and I had some fun doing so. This ‘social’ side of the game is clearly a key selling point and it can make Coral Island feel more like a dating sim at times than a farming one.

You have an entire underwater map of trash to clear in order to clean up an oil spill which in turn leads you to meet the local mer-folk and even get access to an underwater farm. I didn’t bother with the underwater farm at all though because . . . at that point, I didn’t even really need my farm on the island above.

I feel like I reached a point so quickly where my farm became more or less ‘finished’ – and yes, I know I could have kept tweaking it, making it even more profitable and automated – but for me, my work was done. I had everything I needed. More money than I knew what to do with and so I just focused on everything else to do and that’s where most of my time ended up getting sunk.

Coral Island became a bit of a grind at that point to say the least. Clearing the trash from the ocean was bad enough, but completing the museum? Insects, critters and fish appear during certain seasons, at certain times and during certain weather. If you miss one or two, you might have to wait an entire year for a chance to catch them again. And that’s exactly what happened to me and I ended up skipping through days as fast as possible to grab the last couple of fish and insects I needed.

But what was far worse were the artefacts, precious stones and fossils. The artefacts come in different chest types, the stones in different geodes and the fossils in different fossil nodes. You have to crack each open to see what you’ve found and every item has a different rarity and percentage rate to drop.

In other words – they’re loot boxes. You can open – and I sure as shit did – hundreds of them and just keep finding repeat items. The bulk of my playtime in Coral Island was probably spent farming these various loot boxes so I could complete the museum collections. I eventually started just cracking them open in the morning and – if I didn’t get a least one new item – reloading the day until I did. Eventually, I was able to complete all the collections and get my achievement and that was when I decided to call it a day.

Now, I can’t say I don’t have myself to blame for so obsessively trying to complete the collections but it’s kind of a key part of the game seeing as it’s tied to your overall town rank and I can’t believe they made it this tedious (and randomised) to do. At least with the insects, fish and critters you can know roughly when and where they’ll appear but for everything else, you’re reliant upon what might be a very frustrating RNG.

All that complaining aside – I still enjoyed my time with Coral Island quite a bit. There’s a relaxing aspect to it – even all the repetitive clearing of ocean trash is a nice way to zone out and not worry about anything else for a while. The game looks and sounds nice and there’s a ton of stuff to keep you occupied. And the farming aspect – whilst it lasts – was certainly fun!

And the game is still receiving updates with a new one currently in beta at the time of writing that adds a ‘save anywhere’ option – very welcome for those of you trying to game the RNG system. I think the problem is, they’ve added so much already and there’s so much other stuff to get stuck into that it doesn’t even really feel like a ‘farming’ game any more. At least not to me. Overall – I liked it. I didn’t love it. If you liked Stardew Valley, it might be worth checking out.

7/10