Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: Reikon Games
Release: September 2, 2025
Rating: Mature

Poland-based studio Reikon Games has only been around since 2014, but in its decade of development, it has made a name for itself creating stylish, action-forward cyberpunk games. Its debut, 2017’s Ruiner, was itself a great isometric shooter, but in hindsight, it was a look toward the studio’s future and its second game: Metal Eden. Like Ruiner, Metal Eden is a futuristic neon-lit shooter set in a cyberpunk dystopia, but this time, from a first-person perspective. It blends excellent first-person gunplay with movement tech that turns the city of Moebius into a parkour playground, and the resulting gameplay is hyper-fast, frantic, and fun. Though its narrative and level design sometimes get in the way of that, the entire package is still a setpiece-filled action romp and one of the year’s best shooters. 

In the world of Metal Eden, Hyper Units are disposable androids capable of inhuman feats thanks to a cyberpowered armor that allows them to dash, grapple, jetpack, and wall-run through just about any environment, and each unit is trained for cybernetic warfare, with a seven-gun arsenal in tow. You play as Aska, a special Hyper Unit tasked with saving the citizens of Moebius from imminent destruction. That leads her through derelict factories, deserts, mining facilities, and into the realms of Engineers, who possess Cores she desperately needs for her mission. It’s a solid foundation for the 7-hour adventure, and a voice-in-your-comms doesn’t let you forget about it, sometimes to the detriment of the game. 

While the voice acting is great, when you’re not engaged in multi-wave arena battles, there’s almost always a voice in your ear discussing their motives, their history, and their desires, all through sci-fi jargon that eventually bounced right off of me. Reikon is attempting to tell an enriched narrative, and I enjoy how much the studio focuses on walking players through Aska’s journey to save Moebius, which has been threatened with what is essentially a ticking time bomb; its finale leaves a lot to be desired, but I still found the overall story to be a commendable effort from Reikon. Its biggest flaw, though, is how often it gets in the way of the real star of Metal Eden: the action.

That said, the action was more than enough to pull me through each mission, as I constantly looked forward to the next setpiece, the next weapon, or even the next upgrade station to make my shotgun or grenade launcher more powerful. Metal Eden isn’t stingy with Dust, the currency used to upgrade weapons, found in canisters placed throughout levels or given upon defeating enemies. By the time I finished the game, only one of my seven weapons wasn’t fully upgraded, and I appreciate Reikon allowing me to unlock most of Aska’s potential in the first playthrough. Each weapon, whether it was the standard-issue submachine gun with unlimited ammo but a temperature-related cooldown, the energy weapon that melts enemy armor, or my personal favorite, an assault rifle with a secondary fire option that turns it into a powerful sniper, proved useful in combat. Firefights get so hectic that there were countless encounters where I used every single weapon at my disposal, whether it was a strategic need or because I ran out of ammo for another gun. 

 

Though I always enjoyed the combat, I wish it were more diegetic rather than arena-based. My favorite moments were when Metal Eden channeled another Poland-based studio’s game, Ghostrunner, to turn linear sections into parkour runthroughs where I needed to kill enemies with quick precision to advance and maintain momentum. But most of the combat happened when I entered a large arena, and a random sci-fi voice told me when I finished a wave and when another wave was beginning. These arenas are well-designed, with armor, health, and ammo pickups strategically placed about, and excellent wall-running and grapple opportunities, too, but they still grew dull. It doesn’t help that the runs between these arenas were often the type of combat encounters I actually wanted more of. 

Regardless, Aska only became more and more fun to use throughout Metal Eden as I unlocked more of my weapons’ potential and became more comfortable firing them while running on walls or grappling through the air, using my jetpack to extend my airtime. When I fully understood Aska’s set of weaponry and movement tech, and more importantly, how to take advantage of both in combat, each subsequent encounter felt like an extreme dose of adrenaline. 

Similar to the narrative’s intrusion into the excellent first-person gameplay, there were a handful of times in Metal Eden where levels went wide, allowing Aska to morph into a ball – yes, it’s very reminiscent of Metroid Prime – where you zap enemies and target them with lock-on missiles. While cool in theory, these sections are easily the worst, and rolling around as a metal ball in no way compares to the excitement of first-person shooting, wall-running, and jetpacking through this dystopia. 

Throughout my time in Metal Eden, I couldn’t help but imagine just how good a sequel I hope Reikon makes could be. This is a great start in the FPS genre for the team; its ideas are strong, and with refinement, Aska’s next mission could be as excellent as the Ghostrunner and Doom Eternal adventures it’s clearly inspired by. Though the star of the show – its first-person shooting and movement – is sometimes weighed down by an overreaching narrative and boring morph ball sections, when Metal Eden shines, it’s as bright as the sun that sheds light on Moebius’ dark underbelly.

Score: 8

About Game Informer's review system

Dungeons & Dragons, despite its unparalleled popularity in the tabletop role-playing space, is undeniably tough for newcomers to approach. There are so many elements to keep track of, and if you're playing analog, not enough space to do it on a standard character sheet. While Dungeons & Dragons has released Starter Sets and Essentials Kits for Fifth Edition in the past, their latest iteration, Heroes of the Borderlands, is the most accessible version yet. It provides a simplified version of the game, chock-full of physical elements like cards and tokens that make the game easier to grasp. After getting a copy to check out myself, I'm impressed by how it all came together, and would easily recommend it as an introduction to anyone interested in trying the hobby.

First, a crucial disclaimer: I have not played this adventure, save for a brief session at Gen Con earlier this year. As such, my impressions are based on my solo dissection and reading of the box and its contents, as well as my comparison to past sets.

The most immediate difference between Heroes of the Borderlands and similar D&D box sets is its weight. Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, the most recent starter set, weighs about 1.2 pounds, containing only a few character sheets, a pair of booklets, and a set of dice. Meanwhile, my copy of Heroes of the Borderlands weighs a whopping five pounds; it's densely packed with character class boards, cards for spells, monsters, and weapons, tokens for players and enemies, and nine double-sided maps. The latter game is more expensive ($49.99 rather than $19.99), but it earns that price point through material cost alone.

Of course, D&D doesn't require most of the materials listed above, but they're extremely useful for bringing new players into the fold. The premade character class boards are easy to read, and leveling up is as simple as flipping from one side to the other. They also have empty spots specifically for cards and tokens to represent weapons, spells, and hit points, so you don't even need a pencil, and it's a bit easier to visualize all the details that go into making a character work. Most crucially of all, it lowers the amount of knowledge the player needs to have prior to starting a game; as long as you have the right cards and tokens on your board, the bright, color-coded design is enough to guide you once you start playing.

The DM tools are just as useful. I always hate having to flip to the back of a book for a monster's stats or copy extensive details into my notes. The purpose of a module is to take some of the prep work off a DM's hands, and the adventure books do exactly that. Each room or encounter starts with a description of what to expect, including character names and quick run-downs on their relationships, and it also gives a list of which materials you'll need, including tokens, cards, maps, and other handouts.

One of D&D's biggest criticisms is the workload placed on the DM compared to other players; one person is tasked with keeping track of the world and all its details, both narrative and mechanical, while others get to focus on their own immersion. The tactile, organized, information-first approach to introducing people to the DM role is a huge step in the right direction, so much so that I find myself hoping to see it in higher-level modules someday.

Ideally, a role-playing game is played in a flow state, where the mechanics become a tool everyone uses to fluidly tell a collective story. The biggest hurdle for new players is getting enough of a grasp on those mechanics to transform them from an obstacle to a launchpad, and by sanding down some of that barrier to entry with so many tactile tools, it's never been easier to get into the game. 

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Developer: Light Brick
Release: September 15, 2025
Rating: Everyone

Every completed Lego set is a collaboration between the designers and the builder; it's fun both because a team made a beautiful set and because you're the one who put it together. Lego Voyagers, a co-op puzzle platformer from Light Brick Studio, made me feel the same way. Its adorable aesthetic and wordless storytelling make this brief adventure one worth sharing with family or a friend, but its distant camera angle and visual filters were frustrating obstacles on an otherwise picturesque road. At the end of the journey, though, my partner and I are the ones who completed the puzzle, and that makes it so much sweeter.

As a fan of couch co-op, I've been delighted to see a resurgence of two-player experiences over the past several years, and Lego Voyagers is an exciting addition to that lineup. Like Hazelight Studios' Split Fiction and It Takes Two, Lego Voyagers is a strictly two-player experience: you cannot play it solo. Luckily, I have a fiancée at home now, and after taking one glance at the game, she was more than happy to play alongside me. If you don't have a fiancée (which is fine, by the way), Lego Voyagers comes with a Friend's Pass so that you can play for free with a friend online.

This game stars a pair of Lego pieces, one blue and one red, that goofily roll around the map, which is also gorgeously crafted from Legos. It's visually charming, from its intricately crafted mountainsides to its minimalist animals, like butterflies represented by a tiny, flapping triangle. In addition to flopping around, one button is dedicated to "speaking," which makes your respective Lego piece make a cute babble of gibberish. An exception to this is near a train section, where pressing the button makes the characters say "choo choo.” It’s as cute as it sounds.

While many surfaces are smooth, some have studs – those little nubs that allow Lego pieces to stick together – and the tap of a button here has your Lego guy lock onto the grid to move, allowing for more precise movement and platforming. That same button picks up loose Lego pieces, which you'll use to build solutions to puzzles. I was slightly disappointed in this regard, solely because 80 percent of constructions are just bridges or ramps, but the last hour of the game cranks up the creativity to wonderful effect. You can also attach yourself to the other player to link up into one long Lego piece and roll around together. 

In addition to building sequences, Lego Voyagers has you solve simple puzzles, like bringing generator pieces from one area to another or operating machinery to help your partner reach distant platforms. My favorite genre of puzzle is when the game has you collaborate to pilot a vehicle, like a boat or car, with one person steering and the other controlling the acceleration. These puzzles make the most of the game's co-op nature, and I understand why single-player isn’t an option.

Lego Voyagers is also a platformer, which I did not enjoy as much as the puzzles. You can use the build button to snap your character to studs in surfaces, allowing you to zip to platforms you need to reach, but these platforms are usually just a single stud wide and barely the full length of your jump, so some sequences take a few attempts. This only becomes frustrating because of the distant, angled camera. Lego Voyagers rightfully wants to show off its beautiful visuals, but this means making the players very small on the screen. When you combine that with a fixed camera and visual effects like bloom, depth perception is a challenge, and trying to make precise jumps feels unintentionally difficult.

Lego Voyagers doesn't punish you for dying, but some of the platforming sequences are just messy enough that I worry whether a co-op party of two young kids would be able to make it through. Couple that with one particularly difficult rocket minigame near the end, and I'd go as far as to say that, despite its extremely kid-friendly aesthetics, I'd recommend this game for slightly older kids, maybe 10 and up, who might have an easier time getting through it.

Despite my misgivings with the platforming, however, the story more than makes up for it. Despite a vague start, you'll know exactly what's going on by the end, and it's a stunning, bittersweet tale. The last hour in particular is so effective and simple that it's become one of my favorite story moments of the year – if you start this game, you owe it to yourself to finish it.

While I wish it had an adjustable camera or the ability to tweak visual settings on console, I had a great time regardless. Ultimately, whether it's online or local, the dedicated two-player experience is Lego Voyagers' secret weapon. The game is intentionally abstract and open to interpretation, so you'll fill in the gaps with your partner: you create a relationship between your Lego avatars, shorthand for game terms to get through levels, and eventually build a new, player-specific version of the game for yourself. Light Brick Studio did a great job designing Lego Voyagers, but the experience I built with my partner is what will stick with me.

Score: 8

About Game Informer's review system

It has been a jam-packed week of video games here at Game Informer and at large. We reviewed Borderlands 4, interviewed the developers behind it on The Game Informer Show this week ahead of its launch, got our butts kicked in Silksong (again and again), and survived the onslaught that was today's Nintendo Direct.

As you might expect, we here at Game Informer love playing video games, and we love writing about them because it's our best way of speaking directly to you – our audience. We enjoy sharing the games we're loving,  the ones we're not, what titles fascinate us, what we're looking forward to, and occasionally, what we had for lunch (carne asada is back at Chipotle, so I indulged in a burrito there today). We used to do a weekly series called Weekend Warrior, where we discussed what we're planning to play in the forthcoming weekend. 

We're still experimenting with bringing something like that back to the site, but we want to go deeper. We don't want to just talk ad nauseam about the games we're playing (which often include embargoed stuff where we have to annoyingly/cheekily call it REDACTED), but instead, use this space to highlight interesting things happening in games you might have missed, new perspectives we've gained on old favorites, reminders about upcoming titles, and more. 

In this edition, you'll find words from Game Informer editors about why now might be a great time to jump back into Marvel Rivals if you haven't in a minute, the strange (and normal) ways we play Hollow Knight: Silksong, what it's like watching someone else play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and yes, a quick tease about an upcoming first-party PlayStation 5 game we can't talk too much about yet. So without further ado: 

Hey Listen*

*Read

Below, we'll list the names of Game Informer editors and their thoughts for this week's edition of whatever we end up calling this. 

Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally available, and we've been playing the highly anticipated Metroidvania. In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, we dive into our impressions of Silksong's first act (roughly the first eight hours, up until the Greymoor area) and boss fights. Beforehand, Marcus interviews Gearbox leads Graeme Timmins and Andrew Reiner (big disclaimer: Reiner was formerly EIC of Game Informer) about Borderlands 4, which was released a few days ago. Finally, we round out the show by breaking down our Hell is Us review, a fascinating investigation puzzle game with action elements. Notably, Hell is Us is not a Soulslike. 

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Listen to "Silksong Act 1 Impressions, Hell Is Us Review, Borderlands 4 Interview" on Spreaker. Jump to a specific discussion using these timestamps:00:00 - Introduction03:35 - Borderlands 4 Interview50:32 - Hollow Knight: Silksong Act 1 Impressions01:27:17 - Hell is Us Review01:50:39 - Outro