Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5
Publisher: PlayStation Studios
Developer: Housemarque
Release: April 30, 2026

Discovering a powerful (and profitable) new element on a faraway planet is a sci-fi staple that is especially prevalent in modern media, but Saros embraces this trope by making Lucenite’s home planet, Carcosa, the stuff of inescapable but wholly engaging nightmares. Protagonist Arjun fights to maintain his sanity, find a lost love, and stay alive (failing often) against an onslaught of lasers and monsters while the people around him descend into vague madness. All this while your AI-driven corporate overlords demand results. The premise is strong and surprisingly relatable in the modern landscape, while the action is dangerous, joyful, and demanding of your attention in a way few games can compete.

Tonally and sometimes directly inspired by Robert W. Chambers' Lovecraft-adjacent short story collection, The King in Yellow (which I can confirm through experience is not required reading), Saros follows a collection of astronauts on a one-way trip to an alien planet that is, to be blunt, a no-good place. Arjun is a soldier among scientists there to save lives, but is perhaps selfishly focused on saving one in particular. The opaque nature of the story is sometimes unsatisfying, and though there are plenty of literal threats Arjun must dodge, counter, absorb, and defeat, the narrative is mainly focused on an existential danger. The result is that the cast feels mostly disposable, which is perhaps intentional, but I wanted to know more about them before their recorded monologues found throughout Carcosa descended into borderline incoherent ramblings about The Yellow Shore. The larger story leaves you with much to think about in a way I appreciate, and I eagerly continued the game after seeing credits to learn more, even if I wasn’t completely emotionally invested.

But frankly, even if the story was a complete dud, I would have struggled to put down Saros as its action is impeccable and challenging without ever bordering on the overwhelming. Saros is not a sequel to Housemarque’s excellent 2021 game, Returnal, but it does use its gameplay as the baseline and re-examines it to foster a more welcoming and rewarding system. The shield, which allows you to take in the energy of certain projectiles to power strong weapons, creates myriad worthwhile options in how you approach staying alive in the chaos.

Controlling Arjun is flawless. He leaps and dodges with precision that should make Mario take notes. Firing off all of Saros’ weapons feels powerful and exciting, though you will quickly gravitate towards a personal favorite (shout out to the Smart Rifle). The Power Weapons, which are managed with the shield, are completely satisfying and available when you need them most.

Outside of the action, another of Saros’ primary strengths is the Armor Matrix. Attempting runs is a familiar process for rogue genre fans in that you will quickly gain temporary strength as you explore and fight, but between attempts is a massive skill tree where you can drop your collected Lucenite and Halcyon for permanent upgrades. Plenty of rogue games offer permanent upgrades, but Saros is particularly satisfying as its upgrades offer worthwhile improvement choices that cater to specific playstyles. Even just one solid run unlocks dozens of upgrades at once. The process feels fast and less incremental making the good attempts feel even better and the abysmal failures not feel like wastes of time. Saros is a challenging game, but the Armor Matrix makes the whole experience much more approachable. If you are intimidated by the genre or were scared off by Returnal, know that Saros is much more welcoming.

 

The structure of Saros, which is much friendlier to shorter sessions and allows you to leave and pick up a run later, is also thoughtful in a way that makes it all feel much more doable in the face of challenge. At the expense of being less powerful (but still very strong), you can teleport to specific locations. I love this feature as it eliminates two of my primary ongoing personal frustrations with the genre: replaying the same areas over and over and refighting the same bosses. Of course, you can attempt runs from the starting line and fight the bosses again, and there are incentives for doing so, but I want the option to skip the bosses and areas I already beat in every rogue game. I am an impatient gamer, and Saros is okay with that.

Saros’ biggest shortcoming is that I was not as emotionally invested in its narrative and characters as I hoped to be. The plight of team Echelon IV did not move me, but I was fascinated by the abrasive world, the heartless Soltari corporation, and I was intentionally and successfully left wanting more from its engaging mysteries. I don’t share this sentiment for the gameplay, however. Moving, shooting, improving (both in stats and skill), winning, and even losing is an unequivocal joy, and I only wish I could write this final sentence faster so I can hurry up and get back to planet Carcosa and attempt another run.

Score: 9.25

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Ubisoft's worst-kept secret, has finally been revealed, and it's hitting PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on July 9. You can read all kinds of new details about the from-the-ground-up remake in our coverage here, but if you're planning to check out Black Flag Resynced on PC, we have the system specification details you need.

There will be four presets for Black Flag Resynced, according to Ubisoft: Minimum, Recommended, High, and Extreme. There will likely be a custom option to mix and match settings as you wish, but below we'll break down the PC specifications you need for each of the aforementioned presets. 

Here Are The PC Specs And Requirements For Black Flag Resynced

Below, we'll list each preset and the required specs for them: 

Minimum

• Resolution/FPS (using dynamic resolution and upscaling): 1920x1080p at 30 FPS
• Visual Preset: Low
• Lighting Mode: Standard Raytracing
• Upscaler Preset: Balanced
• CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHZ, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 (6GB), AMD Radeon RX5500XT 98GB), Intel Arc A580 (8GB)[REBAR ON]
• RAM: 16GB (Dual-channel setup)
• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only), Windows 11
• Storage: 65 GB (SSD required)

Recommended

• Resolution/FPS (using dynamic resolution and upscaling): 1920x1080p at 60 FPS
• Visual Preset: Medium
• Lighting Mode: Standard Raytracing
• Upscaler Preset: Balanced
• CPU: Intel Core i5-10600K 4.1 GHz, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12 GB), AMD Radeon RX 6600XT (8GB), Intel Arc B580 (12GB)[REBAR ON]
• RAM: 16GB (Dual-channel setup)
• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only), Windows 11
• Storage: 65 GB (SSD required)

High

• Resolution/FPS (using dynamic resolution and upscaling): 2560x1440p at 60 FPS
• Visual Preset: High
• Lighting Mode: Standard Raytracing
• Upscaler Preset: Quality
• CPU: Intel Core i5-11600K 3.9 GHZ, AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (10GB), AMD Radeon RX6800XT (16GB)
• RAM: 16GB (Dual-channel setup)
• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only), Windows 11
• Storage: 65 GB (SSD required)

Extreme

• Resolution/FPS (using dynamic resolution and upscaling): 3840x2160p at 60 FPS
• Visual Preset: Ultra
• Lighting Mode: Extended Raytracing
• Upscaler Preset: Quality
• CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 3 GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (24 GB), AMD Radeon RX7900XTX (24 GB)
• RAM: 16GB (Dual-channel setup)
• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only), Windows 11
• Storage: 65 GB (SSD required)

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on July 9. While waiting for its release, read Game Informer's review of the original Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. 

Are you going to be playing Black Flag Resynced on console or PC? Let us know in the comments below!

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Release: July 9, 2026
Rating: Mature

Of the many Assassin's Creed games released over the past 18 years, few are as revered as Black Flag, a pirate-centric entry that put players in the boots of Edward Kenway. In addition to being a great Assassin's Creed story, it's a fantastic pirate game, and over a decade later, there aren't many (some might say there are none) that live up to the example Black Flag set. It's a fitting choice for the series's first true remake, and after seeing footage of the game in action, we're eager to helm the Jackdaw once more.

Resynced is a from-the-ground-up remake, meaning Ubisoft recreated all of the game's elements in its latest engine, Anvil, to make it look and feel as good as possible. Character models have been refreshed, environments have more detail, and modern lighting and environment systems (like newly realistic, dynamic weather) tie the whole thing together. That said, I'm very familiar with the original game, and I'm pleased to report that the world's fundamental structure and design seem unchanged. As far as visuals go, the game is refreshed but faithful, which is exactly what I hoped for.

The story is largely the same, though there are some additions. Edward's story and the overall plot will remain, with lines being re-recorded by returning cast members. It was the first Assassin's Creed game to de-emphasize the Assassin/Templar conflict in a major way, which benefited the story overall by focusing on Assassin-aligned pirates and outlaws to put the larger struggle in context. Resynced doubles down on this, adding three new contacts with side quests that Edward can experience, as well as adding more content around Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet. (After watching Our Flag Means Death, I'm excited to revisit both of those characters, though I expect Ubisoft's take to be less romantic.)

These side quests will tie into the improved naval combat and sailing mechanics. Each ship weapon type will now have a secondary firing option, allowing for more flexibility in open-sea battles, and some of these are unlocked by doing quests with these new contacts. One example of a reward was a double-shot option for broadside cannons, meaning the Jackdaw (Edward's ship) could fire twice in rapid succession, skipping the reload time. When you're out of combat, sea shanties sung by your crew will not only return, but Ubisoft is adding new tunes to discover. Outside these new options, however, the naval sections seem largely unchanged, which is good, as they were among the original's biggest highlights.

Melee combat in Resynced will be much different. While the animations of many of Edward's moves have been preserved, the mechanics of each fight have been overhauled from Black Flag's simpler approach. Now, there are more advanced combos, tools like the rope dart are quicker (making them easier to use in combat), and instead of simple counters, Edward can now parry with his dual swords. The developers at Ubisoft were clear, however, that this remake would not be an RPG, like more recent games. It remains a single-player, action-focused experience without skill trees or XP.

 

To that end, stealth has also been improved in one major way as well; Edward can crouch now. Earlier Assassin's Creed titles would only allow the player to crouch in designated stealth areas, like bushes or tall grass. While it might not seem like much, the ability to just crouch behind waist-high obstacles is absolutely a welcome one. Black Flag, notoriously, also had a lot of annoying eavesdropping/tailing missions. Players would have to stealthily remain within range of a conversation between two enemy characters, and being detected would force you to start over. Resynced is reducing the number of those missions present and making them more flexible. Being detected now triggers a fight, rather than an instant desynchronization.

Thanks to repeated leaks, we've known that Black Flag: Resynced has been in the works for years, but thankfully, we don't have to wait too long after its official reveal to actually play it. Ubisoft announced that the game will drop on July 9, just a few months away – a great time of year for a sunny, seafaring adventure.

In the meantime, check out the contents of the Deluxe Edition and the Collector's Edition in the images below: 

 

Annapurna Interactive is bringing five well-received games from its catalog to Switch 2. Best of all, two are available to purchase right now.

Today, you can pick up developer Simogo’s high-speed rhythm game Sayonara Wild Hearts and its acclaimed puzzle adventure Lorelei and the Laser Eyes on Switch 2 (digital only). Both games now support 120Hz and 4K resolution. Sayonara Wild Hearts also includes its Remix Arcade Mode (originally excluded from the Switch 1 version) and is being sold for $12.99; Lorelei runs for $24.99. However, if you already own the Switch versions of these games, the Switch 2 upgrade is free. 

On May 28, Stray, the 2022 adventure about a stray cat exploring a decaying world inhabited by robots, will come to Switch 2 digitally for $29.99. This version boasts upgraded visuals, an improved framerate, 4K, and supports Joy-Con 2 mouse controls.

In June, To a T and Wanderstop will make the jump. To a T, the latest game from Katamari creator Keita Takahashi about a child who lives life stuck in a T-pose, will come to Switch 2 digitally on June 11 for $19.99. Wanderstop, a narrative-focused cozy shop simulator by the creator of The Stanley Parable, is coming to Switch 2 and Switch on June 23 for $24.99.

To read more about upcoming Annapurna Interactive-published games arriving this year, subscribers can check out our in-depth preview of the narrative music adventure game Mixtape. You can also check out the debut trailer for Silent Hill: Townfall. 

Developer Rebel Wolves has announced a special livestream for its upcoming action RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker. Airing next week on April 28, the stream will reveal new details about the game, including its release date.

The “Road to Launch” livestream airs at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET and will showcase new gameplay footage “with a particular focus on activities tied to the game’s open world,” explains game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz in a press release. The presentation will also debut a new story trailer, feature developer insights into the game's storytelling, and share the system requirements, among other announcements. 

The Blood of Dawnwalker was first teased in 2022, and it is an open-world action RPG set in 14th-century Europe during the Black Death. Vampires terrorize the continent, and players control Coen, a warrior who becomes a vampire-esque creature called a Dawnwalker. To save his family from a powerful vampire lord, he must utilize his vampiric abilities to battle nightmarish creatures. The game also places a heavy emphasis on choice-driven gameplay, such as forming uneasy alliances with other characters. The developer, Rebel Wolves, was formed by ex-CD Projekt Red developers who previously worked on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077.

For more on The Blood of Dawnwalker, check out our Gamescom 2025 preview, where we learned the game is more than just “The Witcher with vampires.”