Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PC Release date: November 3, 2023
The first release by British studio Ice Beam, Make Way is a modern reimagining of classic top-down arcade racers elevated by the introduction of one simple but brilliant mechanic. Facing up to three rival players in online or local play, the big twist is that it’s entirely up to you and your opponents to craft a unique race course as you go using a random selection of track pieces.
These range from your standard stretches of open road and basic bends to more exciting additions like loop de loops and complex moving platforms that quickly cause every match to devolve into glorious vehicular chaos. This is all wrapped up in a charming toy box aesthetic that is the perfect fit for such a playful and low-stakes party game.
That’s not to say that there isn’t a surprisingly deep element of strategy to master here too, however. The ability to also put down more devious hazards such as moving barriers and bouncy stacks of tires, in addition to the wide range of offensive power-ups that are available as you race, rewards particularly sly players with the delightful satisfaction of outsmarting their opponents.
It’s an utterly fantastic formula that’s nothing short of an absolute blast to play with a group of friends. This is one of the best racing games we've played and Make Way should be right at the top of your list if you’re looking for an approachable multiplayer racer to add a little more whimsy to your game nights. The lack of any AI opponents and the occasional technical hiccups when utilizing the game’s matchmaking system does sting and these slight rough edges make it a little harder to recommend for those wanting to race solo.
Block by block
(Image credit: Secret Mode)
The game's robust track creation is an integral part of Make Way and every match alternates between distinct building and racing phases. Your course initially consists of just a floating starting point and players are presented with a shared screen containing a few track pieces to get the ball rolling.
All the pieces on offer here are randomized and you can only pick one. If another player manages to nab your top pick first you will have to make do with other options. This often results in a small scramble as everyone rushes to try and get their hands on the most interesting (or deadly) pick of the bunch - a clever way to start stoking the flames of competition right off the bat.
Once you’ve made your choice, it’s time for everyone to attach their chosen pieces. They all easily snap onto the end of the existing course with a pleasant pop, but, like the selection process, it all happens in real-time. You’ll need to act quickly if you want to get your particular bit of track in first. There is a strict time limit here too, which entirely circumvents the possibility of a match grinding to a halt purely because one indecisive competitor couldn’t quite decide the perfect orientation for their corner.
It’s a very intuitive system, aside from the occasional need to rotate a piece in order to avoid jutting against the boundaries of the map, so a complete group of four can rapidly expand the scope of the course very quickly. There’s almost no unnecessary downtime, so you’ll soon move on to the next stage: the race itself.
Wacky racers
(Image credit: Secret Mode)
Vehicle handling in the racing sections is just light and imprecise enough to pose an engaging challenge without ever seeming too unpredictable or unfair. Physics are very exaggerated across the board, with cars pinging off the track at the slightest touch of a barrier, but there’s still plenty of precise control when it counts. Braking is especially effective and knowing when to start slowing down when approaching corners is vital if you want to win.
You can’t ever take things too slowly, no matter how tempting it seems, as the camera is tied to the first player and anyone who ends up off-screen is instantly eliminated. This keeps the pace consistently high and organically incentivizes everyone to put the pedal to the metal and try to end up in front. Once someone hits the finish line, you’re all given a new set of pieces to choose from and the whole process begins again. Each round adds more and more to the course, which you race in its entirety every time, and it’s incredibly satisfying to see it evolve.
Best bit
(Image credit: Secret Mode)
Nothing beats watching your track become an absolute nightmare as the obstacles stack up. Surrounding a tricky corner with giant fans to push your opponents to their doom is a devilish treat - just be careful not to fall victim to your own hazards down the line.
Unlike a conventional racing game, Make Way uses a points system to determine the overall winner. With every new section of track, the previous finish line is automatically converted into a checkpoint which provides the opportunity for any eliminated players to respawn and get right back into the action. You gain points by reaching each checkpoint in first place and, at the end of a match, these feed into an overall account level that sees you unlock new pieces, modes, and cosmetic vehicle skins.
Throw a decent selection of goofy power-ups like giant hammers and car-mounted Tesla coils into the mix, and you have a seriously compelling loop on your hands. The only real issues arise when you’re playing without a group of friends. The matchmaking can be a little patchy and, if a rival player suddenly disconnects, the lack of AI opponents can leave you having to complete the rest of the course solo. These are obviously only minor complaints and understandable limitations for such a small-scale title, but they nevertheless hold Make Way back from being a truly flawless all-in-one package.
Accessibility
(Image credit: Secret Mode)
Unfortunately, there are no dedicated accessibility settings to be found in Make Way. In addition to a keyboard, the game can be played using a range of compatible controllers that may make it more accessible for those who rely on a certain setup for their inputs.
How we reviewed Make Way
I played more than five hours of Make Way on PC. During my time with the game, I alternated between using an Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and keyboard controls. In addition to playing online matches with strangers, I enjoyed several fantastic sessions with friends over Discord calls and tested the local play capabilities. I also made sure to unlock and try my hand at each mode.
The Nintendo Switch is no stranger when it comes to fun controllers and accessories, and PDP is usually the brand behind the majority of the eye-catching designs. With products like the PDP Rematch Glow boasting a beautiful Mario-inspired aesthetic, and the Rock Candy series offering translucent casings spotlighting some of your favorite characters, the company offers budget-friendly controllers that would work just as well as display pieces as they do practical hardware.
So it comes as no surprise that the PDP REALMz series follows in hot pursuit, offering the first look at a set of collectible clear controllers with tiny figures embedded in and layered, thematic designs inside. This gamepad is certainly a visual treat, and while the selling point for many will be the appearance, it’s hard to fault its performance, especially as a budget-friendly controller - and we've spent a lot of time with the best Nintendo Switch controllers. It’s responsive, simple to set up, and feels good to use with solid sticks and buttons, despite not boasting any fancy or 'pro' features.
But, with all budget-friendly products, it's important to remember that certain features - especially on the Nintendo Switch - have been ruled out. The PDP REALMz controller doesn’t have gyro controls, which could be pretty integral for someone who utilizes this ability in games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Splatoon 3. Nor does it host any rumble features which diminishes its feature set slightly for more casual players. But, generally, it’s still a surprisingly decent controller given how heavily it leans on the singular selling point of its excellent aesthetic.
Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
The PDP REALMz Sonic controller is available for purchase right now for $39.99 / £34.99 from a variety of retailers. Players in the US will be able to purchase it through the official PDP store, or places like Target, Walmart, and Amazon. In the UK, it’s available to buy from popular online retailers like Argos and Amazon. Alongside the Sonic design, Knuckles and Tails are also in the Sonic range, and a leafy green Pikmin controller is also available.
Compared to other PDP controllers available, and alongside other competitors in the market such as PowerA, the REALMz controller is only slightly more expensive than its fellow budget-friendly alternatives. For example, a wired PowerA controller with a special design will usually cost around $27.99 / £20.99, but I’ve always found the designs to be a little too vivid and the decals scratch off fairly easily. The build quality alone is enough to set the PDP REALMz collection above other offerings. And, for its collectible nature and solid performance, it’s a fantastic controller to add to your bank of gamepads and makes for a great talking point if you’re an avid collector of all things Sonic.
Design and features
(Image credit: Future)
The main appeal of the PDP REALMz Sonic controller is its design. Boasting a clear shell with a multi-layered print of the iconic Green Hill Zone, it’s an impressive-looking piece of hardware. The print doesn’t feel as though it can be scratched off easily, which is helped by the multi-layered design being concealed behind the plastic shell.
The left grip contains a small Sonic figure which highlights the quirky collectible side of the series, which also goes for the other controllers containing Tails and Knuckles - so there is an incentive to collect them all. Even though it does lean on the gimmicky side with its appearance, it’s pretty enough to add to your collection.
When in use, the controller also features some white lights to help spotlight its design. The color of these lights can’t be changed, unlike controllers like the GameSir T4 Kaleid and the Gioteck SC3 Pro, but they’re effective in tying together the aesthetic. You can, however, increase or decrease the brightness with the use of the face buttons, but that’s it in terms of personalization.
Outside of its design, the features of the controller follow the routine of everything you’d expect from a budget pad. The build quality is decent, with the plastic shell offering a sturdy form factor. The bright red buttons and thumbsticks stand out nicely, too. Given its collectible gimmick, you’d expect quality to be sacrificed in favor of the design, but generally, the PDP REALMz controller offers an overall solid design.
Performance
(Image credit: Future)
There isn’t much to fault when it comes to the performance of the PDP REALMz controller either. It isn’t trying to usurp the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, so don’t expect a wealth of ancillary features, but that’s not to say its performance doesn’t meet our expectations for a PDP controller.
Its wired connection means you don’t have to worry about battery life when in use. The included cable is 6.5ft (2m), which is more than enough length for you to sit a comfortable distance away from your setup too.
Occasionally the all-plastic build does feel cheap, mostly felt through its face and directional buttons. But when in use you don’t think about the weight and feeling of the buttons since the overall quality of the controller is good enough. Generally, buttons feel responsive and satisfyingly clicky which is especially noticeable when you’re repeatedly pressing them.
The only real drawbacks I found with the controller are the lack of rumble, which isn’t essential but adds to a game’s immersion, and no gyro aiming. With that said a lot of third-party controllers lack both of these features for the Nintendo Switch, and the absence of them doesn't wreck the entire experience. So, even though it’s not offering groundbreaking performance, it’s perfectly solid given its price.
SHOULD I BUY THE PDP REALMZ SONIC NINTENDO SWITCH WIRED CONTROLLER?
(Image credit: Future)
Generally, if you’re looking for a controller to add to your setup that boasts an impressive design without breaking the bank or offering any excessive lighting and features, then the PDP REALMz is well worth considering. It’s not the cheapest controller for the system, but it is a fantastic choice for anyone with a love for Sonic and charming hardware. It makes a perfect gift for younger players, and a great conversation starter for collectors of all ages, but generally - it’s another hit from PDP even if it won’t be your primary controller for the console.
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How we tested the PDP REALMz Sonic controller
(Image credit: Future)
I tested the PDP REALMz Sonic wired controller with my Nintendo Switch OLED over a few weeks, using it for multiple games on the system including Key-We, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Bubble Bobble, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I'm used to using wireless controllers during play sessions with the Nintendo Switch, be it through the Joy-Con or third-party products like the Gioteck WX4 wireless controller, so it was a refreshing change of pace to not have to worry about the battery life, too. In addition to this, with my longest one-sitting session running about four hours, I can happily say the PDP REALMz controller never felt uncomfortable, unlike the Joy-Con usually would during a session this long.
For a more general guide to making the most out of your Nintendo Switch, you might want to check out our guide to the best Nintendo Switch accessories. However, if you find yourself constantly on the go, you might want to check out the best Nintendo Switch carry cases too.
Platform reviewed: PC
Available on: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
Release date: 7 December, 2023
If there’s one thing that Ubisoft can do better than anyone else, it’s open-world collect-’em-ups. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is, ostensibly, an open-world collect-’em-up. However, somehow, despite Ubisoft being the reigning world champion of games where you mosey around a map polishing off side-quests and hoovering up loot, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora fails to make the moseying, polishing, or hoovering particularly compelling, making the game hard to recommend.
On the surface, Frontiers of Pandora presents itself like a Far Cry game. In reality, poor combat and some slight jank make it worse than most of the titles in that franchise. This is unfortunate because with the Na’Vi protagonist being so invested in stealth, the superhuman abilities they possess, and the giant jungle for you to stalk your prey in, this actually feels more like Far Cry than many of the games that followed it in its own franchise.
As it stands, the main reason to play Frontiers of Pandora is to visit the world of the game’s title, with the moon of Pandora offering up vibrant plant life and one of the best jungles in video game history.
Sadly, the artistic brilliance of the world of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora feels somewhat unfocused. It’s beautiful, but the weapons and gear you find feel much less interesting, and the UI looks average. But, from the second you first step into the trees after the game’s tutorial, you’ll fall in love, and that sense of amazement doesn’t go away.
Hard to Na'vigate
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Avatar enthusiasm isn’t enough to support the entire game. The narrative is a little too earnest for my liking, but that’s a criticism that I also level at the Avatar movies, so it does feel authentic enough, and the story does feel somewhat distinct from the many other “gather strength and wage a guerilla war” games that have come out over the last decade. You spend a lot of time with an assortment of forgettable faces early on, and I struggled to care about many of them. Mostly because the glacial pace meant that I was often being sent out into the world to find new character after new character even while I petulantly kicked my heels, desperate to be allowed to get out and kill the bad guys. I get that this is a problem with me, but it still takes Frontiers of Pandora a really long time to get started, and it makes it a tough game to get invested in.
When you do get stuck in, there’s something that feels distinctly off about the combat. In my first real engagement, an enemy mechanized suit seemed unable to notice me, looking blankly into the horizon as I plinked arrow after arrow into his suit until it exploded. Human sentries, half my size and largely ineffectual, blended into the shrubs until I found them by the pulsing red icons showing me where damage was coming from.
Best bit
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Exploring Pandora, the fictional moon where Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora takes place, is divine. Your character is fast and agile and the world is perfectly designed to have you leap between giant trees and slide around at lightning speed.
At first, you fight with Navi weapons, a bow, and a sling that can fire proximity mines. These are fine for the early fights and I whooped the first time a critical hit on a mech suit with the bow saw my arrow plow through the hardened glass and kill the human operator inside. However, as the enemies start to get more durable, few of the weapons in Frontiers of Pandora feel like they have a real impact.
Nowhere is this felt more than with the bog standard assault rifle, which plinks rounds into enemies with an unsatisfying whump, closer to Nerf gun than a lethal weapon, and in comparison, I’d rather just be smacking people with my giant alien knees.
Over time you’ll level up, explore a skill tree filled with uninspiring skills and craft, loot, or hunt down a variety of different gear and resources. The jungle, beautiful as it is, doesn’t have a whole lot to do in it, but you’ll have to plow on with it anyway because progression is gated behind certain abilities or levels.
It’s okay because the best way to amuse yourself on the way is to massacre Pandora’s local wildlife.
Far cry me to the moon
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Avatar has an incredibly strong environmental message: the Resources Development Administration (RDA) that you fight all of the time is destroying Pandora’s natural environment with their very existence: wilting the local wildlife, spewing pillars of smoke into the air and just being very naughty boys for the environment.
But honestly, I’m not sure my Na’vi is any better. The most tonally dissonant part of Avatar is how much pulling up roots, hunting animals, and running through the jungle mashing the F key to gather items goes against the ecological message at the heart of both the game and the Avatar movie series as a whole. Yes, no one doubts that hunting for food or crafting new leather gear is what the Na’vi in the universe of the film get up to, but it feels like murdering scores of native wildlife to get yourself a new pair of gloves every 30 minutes isn’t really in the spirit of things, you know? If I’m taking out an entire herd of animals so I can flog their parts for profit, am I really that different from the RDA?
Accessibility
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
A user interface menu has a highly customisable color blind mode that allows you to customise the colours while looking at a tester screen to see how it's working for you. The gameplay menu lets you make the gathering or several other areas instant instead of the usual minigame, which could suit for many people.
Frontiers of Pandora isn’t interested in these questions, only in a byzantine crafting system that triggers my fight or flight response every time I have to interact with it. The Breath of the Wild-inspired cooking system gets a pass just because it makes me laugh to make an eggy salad or mushroom-stuffed fish, though.
Unfortunately, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora ultimately feels like the movies that inspired it: a beautiful world and fascinating setting are let down by the shallow world around it. If you’re a true Avatar head, this is your dream, but if not it’s hard not to think of the many better examples of the genre I’d rather be playing instead.
We've pulled together all the best single-player games if you're searching for another adventure to sink hours into. However, for a more communal experience, you might want to check out all the best multiplayer PC games, too.
Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PC Release date: December 7, 2023
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader’s ambitious sci-fi odyssey artfully captures the overwhelming scale and dread at the heart of Game’s Workshop’s satirical dystopia. The role-playing game’s (RPG) writing manages to find shades of grey in a galaxy full of horrible people doing horrible things. However, developer Owlcat Games doesn’t offer a completely finished product. Bugs and glitches dog Rogue Trader, making for an incomplete experience that’s not yet reached its full potential.
Rogue Trader is a ‘computer role-playing game’ (CRPG) reminiscent of Baldur’s Gate 3 or Owlcat’s own excellent fantasy offering Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. You click on your party members and tell them to go places, talk to people, and fight things; advancing numerous plots and often finding yourself having to make difficult decisions with no right answers.
Given the setting's three decades of real-world history, getting into a Warhammer 40,000 game might seem like an intimidating prospect. However, Owlcat provides an accessible on-ramp for players that introduces key concepts quickly without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. After creating your character, complete with a customizable appearance and backstory, the game opens on a voidship - one of Warhammer 40,000’s kilometer-long starships. Throughout the prologue, you’re met with dialogue that surreptitiously tells you, the player, all about the tyrannical, theocratic Imperium that you represent and the venerated God-Emperor that rules it.
Eventually, you find yourself to be the captain’s last surviving heir, making you a fully licensed space privateer: a Rogue Trader, with your own companions and voidship to boot. Your goal: rediscover lost worlds and re-map the stars. Here, the adventure opens up, offering an experience that could be described as open-world for its breadth and emphasis on exploration. However, once you leave the prologue, the game’s greatest weakness reveals itself: namely an abundance of bugs.
Enter the hive
(Image credit: Owlcat games)
The further into the game you go, the more bugs rear their heads. As you enter into more combat encounters, you’ll start to notice animation glitches such as characters awkwardly shuffling out of cover and firing without aiming their guns. You’ll see sprinting enemies glued to the spot. In what was supposed to be a particularly dramatic moment, I encountered my entire bridge crew T-posing which, while hilarious, undercut the emotional weight of the scene substantially.
During my thirty hours with the game, I often found myself needing to reload saves as characters would get stuck. Cutscenes occasionally wouldn’t play properly either, requiring me to skip through them. In combat, vital tooltips sometimes won’t appear, too, forcing you to guestimate your way through battles.
These issues are prevalent enough that no play session will be unmarred by glitches. Rogue Trader’s enjoyable combat, storytelling, and sense of scale are often overshadowed by this jankiness.
The battle-waffle
(Image credit: Owlcat games)
This is a shame because the game’s mechanics are generally very competently put together - a fact that’s especially true for Rogue Trader’s battle system.
As you might expect from a setting with ‘war’ in the title, you often find yourself embroiled in combat throughout Rogue Trader. When this happens, the world becomes a grid, and the game’s turn-based mechanics take over, operating like a novel combination of XCOM and Baldur’s Gate 3. You move to cover and take shots at the enemy, informed beforehand of your chances of hitting and potential damage output. Your close-combat characters will burst out into the open, striking foes with heroic melee attacks. Diverse skills ranging from charismatic yelling to literal space magic spice things up a great deal, too.
Best bit
(Image credit: Owlcat games)
At the end of chapter one, you fight a Chaos Space Marine - a towering power armored super soldier dedicated to the Dark Gods and hell-bent on using its giant gun to turn you into a fine red mist. A meaty and challenging boss fight, the Space Marine towered above us, requiring skill and wiles to counter effectively. The encounter was also underscored by a blood-pumping metal-inspired audio - fantastic stuff.
Given the tabletop RPG roots of Warhammer 40,000:Rogue Trader, based as it is on Fantasy Flight Games’ pen-and-paper game by the same name, you’d be right to expect deep combat. The game is bursting with abilities for your characters to learn and ways to modify them to get more bang for your buck. Each character has access to dozens of features whenever they level up. These usually allow you to tweak existing abilities, allowing your buffs to add temporary hitpoints or increasing the range of your charge attacks. It may seem small, but these little changes add up, offering wildly different potential builds.
This dazzling degree of customizability has the potential to be off-puttingly complex, however. Those looking for accessible combat mechanics may find themselves in the wilderness, here.
The game also includes a ‘Momentum’ mechanic which adds a pendulous ebb and flow to battles. Do lots of damage and your Momentum gauge fills, giving you access to powerful ultimate abilities such as a powerful single shot or a deadly frenzy. Take damage and be outflanked, however, and you’ll lose Momentum, so you'll need to stay vigilant. This is a strong addition, giving battles a back-and-forth that almost makes them self-contained stories of their own.
Lasers and feelings
(Image credit: Owlcat games)
A rich ensemble of characters joins your adventures throughout the game, acting as your officers, advisors, and most trusted crew members. All of them represent different factions from the sprawling setting. Abelard, your right-hand man, represents the steady, traditionalist hand of the Imperial Navy while the rakish Jae Heydari represents the sector’s criminal underbelly. However, these characters are far more than just factional mouthpieces.
Take Sister Argenta. Scratch the surface of this zealous battle monk and you’ll find an anxious soul, haunted by a failed quest to find a holy relic. Conversely, Interrogator Heirix von Calox may be a representative of the Imperium’s secret police, but he often proves himself charming and surprisingly practical. The man does horrible things, but he’s also interesting to share a drink with. They’re not the deepest characters you’ll ever encounter in an RPG, but they make for a compelling roster of companions, whose opinions on the game’s many moral dilemmas make for some spicey dialogue.
How hard do you squeeze the worker populations of your worlds?
You’ll also find yourself having to manage your trade empire, too. The trade system feels thin at times, eschewing typical currency mechanics for a ‘Profit Factor’ system which roughly amounts to you throwing junk at a faction until they give you free stuff. That said, the decisions you have to make as ruler are as immersive as they are taxing. Do you side with a local zealot for expediency, or challenge his rule and risk instability? How hard do you squeeze the worker populations of your worlds? You may find yourself making monstrous decisions in Rogue Trader, but they will almost always be thought-provoking. I often found myself having to pause with a fresh cup of tea to mull over major decision points.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader presents a vast galaxy you can get lost in. Unfortunately, the glitches and bugs on display speak to a game launch that seems premature. Though Rogue Trader’s storytelling and systems are thoroughly enjoyable in isolation, the shadow cast by these issues makes the game a hard sell.
Accessibility
(Image credit: Owlcat games)
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has solid accessibility options for folks with colorblindness, allowing you to adjust the game’s palate easily from the menu with sliders for Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Tritanopia. Subtitle text size can also be adjusted, which is a plus. The difficulty level is also highly customizable, allowing you to calibrate elements of the game experience to your liking such as enemy damage output and skill check difficulty.
How we reviewed
I played over 30 hours of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, engaging with as many of the game’s systems as possible. I spent a great deal of time with the combat system, as well as the space-combat mini-game and the trade and empire management mechanics. I also tested all of the game’s combat classes.
I am an RPG specialist, having played thousands of hours of them throughout my life. I am also very experienced with the Warhammer 40,000 setting, having run six full-length tabletop RPG campaigns in the setting. All of this experience was vital when approaching the game for review.
Platform reviewed: PSVR 2 Available on: PSVR 2, Meta Quest, Steam VR Release date: December 7, 2023
Some of the best sequels feel familiar but with everything amped up, dials turned Spinal Tap-style up to 11. Arizona Sunshine 2 is one of them, and nearly everything about the VR zombie shooter is remarkably bombastic, from its varied arsenal of guns and environmental synergy all the way to its crude sense of humor. The Walking Dead, this ain’t; if you’re looking for a high-octane zombie shooter that doesn’t take itself even remotely seriously, then Arizona Sunshine 2 is very easy to recommend.
Arizona Sunshine was a trailblazer in virtual reality, and so is Arizona Sunshine 2. Plenty of VR-centric mechanics are present here, and all work incredibly well. Expect manual reloading, climbing, dual-wielding, and a highly interactive environment. It’s all just pushed up a notch thanks to the impressively large hordes of zombies (or Freds, as our plucky hero affectionately coins them, bound by the standard video game agreement to never, ever, ever call them zombies), intense chase sequences and a wealth of stunning set pieces that never failed at making me crack a smile.
Some universal VR frustrations do show themselves here; you’ll most likely need to fiddle with your utility belt’s positioning, and the busy inventory system is at odds with the breakneck pacing of Arizona Sunshine 2’s combat. But these small irritations don’t take much away from the excellent experience Vertigo Games has crafted here.
Fred’s (un)dead, baby
(Image credit: Vertigo Games)
Your adventure in Arizona Sunshine 2 begins straightforwardly enough. A relatively easygoing first level introduces you to shooting and reloading with a simple handgun while peppering in opportunities to explore your environment for extra goodies.
Arizona Sunshine 2 instantly does a brilliant job of teaching the player to be keenly aware of their surroundings at all times, and constantly incentivizes you to explore beyond the critical path. Not just because zombies can emerge from a shadowy nook at a moment’s notice, but it’s also how you’ll find the bulk of ammunition, crafting items, and - crucially - new weapons to try out.
Curiosity is strongly encouraged, which is great (banned word), because poking around the arenas highlights how much care and attention has gone into crafting the game’s environments. You’ll be finding all kinds of resources under stairwells, in fridges and desk drawers, suitcases and car seats. Basically, if you’re looking at an area and thinking to yourself, “I’d probably hide something there,” chances are the devs are way ahead of you.
Best bit
(Image credit: Vertigo Games)
Your canine companion, Buddy, is easily the best part of Arizona Sunshine 2. This adorably vicious pup can help fetch items, explore smaller crevices, and tear zombies to shreds all with one context-sensitive button. Oh, you can give him head pats and play fetch, too!
Onto gunplay, Vertigo Games has nailed it with a wide variety of weapons - of the ranged and melee variety - that feel universally fantastic to play around with. There’s a strong sense of realism here, especially in regards to accuracy and recoil. Continual firing will knock your aim off-kilter, and that’s nowhere more apparent than with the AK-47, which appropriately kicks like a mule. That feedback is brilliantly realized in the PSVR 2’s Sense controllers, too, with their haptics lending weapons a tactile feel.
Actually fighting zombies in Arizona Sunshine 2 is a joy. When met with a bullet, their heads pop like watermelons with the sound design to match. Dealing with faster zombies? You can shoot out their legs as an effective means of crowd control. If you’re careful, you’re also more than a match for larger hordes; a well-placed grenade can immediately blast them into orbit and the flamethrower is an efficient method of sowing fiery chaos in their ranks.
It’s all brought together by how you’ll manually handle each gun in the game. As mentioned, reloading is tactile and involved; you’ll need to eject the clip, reach to your utility belt for a fresh one, load it in and cock the weapon all by hand. It sounds like a lot - and it is - but it quickly becomes second nature and adds no small amount of tension to combat. You can also hold weapons with both hands, enhancing accuracy and stability and something that’s practically required for the larger, more unwieldy guns.
And Buddy was his name-o
(Image credit: Vertigo Games)
By far my favorite addition to Arizona Sunshine 2 is Buddy, the protagonist’s dog companion freed from a downed chopper in the game’s first chapter. Not only is Buddy beyond adorable, but it’s clear that so much care has gone into animating him realistically and having him act, well, like a dog really would. So much so that you could almost class Arizona Sunshine 2 as a dog-walking simulator. Just one with guns and Molotov cocktails and nasty bitey zombies. Sorry, yes… Freds.
Buddy’s fantastic when it comes to crowd control, as he’s able to eviscerate basic zombies and keep more threatening ones away from you for a while. He’s also fitted with a utility belt of his own; you can fit extra weapons and items to Buddy if you’re fully loaded. And while you never really feel godlike or invincible in Arizona Sunshine 2, Buddy’s versatility does lend an element of power fantasy as you carve your way through the encroaching hordes together.
Also noteworthy is Buddy’s AI, which seriously impresses. Buddy feels extremely intelligent and is very responsive to commands. Between telling him to explore the surroundings and attack zombies, I never once encountered any delays or ignored commands. If I told Buddy to do something, he did so almost immediately every single time.
By comparison, the zombies’ artificial intelligence isn’t quite as sharp. To a degree, you’d expect that; they are zombies, after all. But I did encounter zombies snagging themselves on scenery or shambling, not towards the nearest source of brains, but into a wall. In larger hordes, it was also quite common to see zombies clip through each other, which did temporarily harm the game’s otherwise phenomenal level of immersion.
Ultimately, though, oddities like this do not detract from the fantastic experience Arizona Sunshine 2 puts forward. Its relatively lengthy campaign is loaded with variety, from intense firefights to plenty of over-the-top setpieces like driving an airplane staircase through an infested runway or interrupting an undead pool party with a flamethrower. Arizona Sunshine 2 is essential for VR headset owners, and it’s a much-needed addition to PSVR 2’s library, especially after a rather concerning drought.
Accessibility
(Image credit: Future)
Arizona Sunshine 2 is very accommodating for VR players of all kinds. The game supports both standing and seated modes of play and includes helpful motion reduction features like teleport movement, vignetting, and the ability to skip climbing sequences. UI and utility belt calibration are also here, allowing you to set in-game elements to best suit your needs.
How we reviewed Arizona Sunshine 2
I played through Arizona Sunshine 2’s campaign on PSVR 2. Exploring each level thoroughly as I progressed enabled me to finish the game in just over eight hours. I also mixed up my playstyle between sitting and standing, while also toggling features like vignetting and climbing skips to aid in reducing motion sickness.
Want more excellent VR games like Arizona Sunshine 2? Consider checking out our guide to the best PSVR 2 games and updated VR modes you can play right now.
The PlayStation Access controller is Sony’s first venture into accessible gamepads, and the culmination of years of research and work, previously going under the codename Project Leonardo. It’s an unusual-looking gamepad, but one that possesses a host of different talents and features, and promises flexibility and ease of use at every turn.
At the heart of the Access controller’s goal is the drive to redress the imbalance of adaptation and controls in gaming: where players have to adapt to the demands of a controller rather than a controller adapting to the needs of a player - the latter of which has never really happened before.
This is music to my ears as I'm part of the Access controller’s target audience. I was born with different, small hands with generally short and stubby fingers, and far fewer knuckles than ‘normal’ folks. But I also only have stubs for index fingers, a bent ring finger with little mobility or function, and a tiny bump for one middle finger. While I don’t require any extra, specific hardware help - I’ve just learned to get by with (only) symmetrical controllers for a long time - it’s always been clear that regular pads weren’t designed for people like me.
As a result, something like the Access controller is potentially groundbreaking for many PlayStation 5 players. After spending a lot of time with the controllers, I can safely say that this will be the case; it is a splendid accessible gamepad that will make not only playing games easier for more people but enjoying them easier too.
PlayStation Access controller review - price and availability
The PlayStation Access controller costs $89.99 / £79.99 and is available from all the usual retailers, as well as PlayStation Direct.
It’s disappointing that the Access controller costs more than a PS5 DualSense controller. This means the price of admission for people who need this controller is more than for ‘normal’ players and another barrier is raised - especially as some folks will find they need two Access controllers.
In terms of market comparisons, the Access controller is roughly the same price as Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller which currently retails for $99.99 / £74.99 (also more expensive than a standard official gamepad on that platform).
PlayStation Access controller review - design and features
Before even getting the controller out of the box, the work that’s gone into making everything about the Access controller accessible is clear. The packaging is designed to be opened with only one hand, which I tested with my ‘smaller’ hand. This was an effortless process using only a couple of digits and one which I was able to capture in pictures to illustrate.
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The Access controller is built around one major pad or circle of buttons, with a joystick on one side, it comes in at around 5.5 x 1.5 x 7.5in (141 x 39 x 191mm; WxHxD) and weighs approximately 0.7lbs (322g). Its main base has one central button, and eight ‘satellite’ buttons surrounding it, while a joystick on an extendable slider is attached to one side, and all parts sit on one axis with a flat bottom.
But there’s more here, and the Access controller is much more akin to a controller kit rather than a single unit. In the kit, you get a total of 19 button types (or caps), 23 labeling tags, three thumbsticks, and a USB-C charging cable. Each part feels robust and the magnets and small catches that keep the button caps in place on each button are simultaneously sturdy, and easy to use and remove. One small gripe from this kit approach is that the controller doesn’t come with the same amount of every type of button cap or type. The 19 caps offer a decent mix but it’s a shame I can’t kit out the full controller with the one type of button cap I have found most successful for my hands.
(Image credit: Future/Rob Dwiar)
Other features include the same LED lighting patterns and behaviors as a DualSense that appear around the central pad, a main PS button (which is annoyingly colored black and positioned on a black chassis meaning it will be hard for some to locate and see), a button to lock and unlock the joystick extender, and a profile button to switch between three onboard profiles (you can also store up to 30 on the PS5).
There’s also a USB-C port for charging and wired use that’s flanked by four industry-standard 3.5mm aux ports (two on either side) for other controllers or joysticks to be plugged into. Three screw holes on the underside will allow easy attachment of the Access controller to surfaces and setups.
The design of the Access controller reveals, importantly, that it can’t replace a DualSense like-for-like; it’s something you build a setup around, bring into an existing one, or use in conjunction with a DualSense or another Access controller to ensure it fits your needs.
PlayStation Access controller review - Performance and battery life
(Image credit: Future/Rob Dwiar)
Greeting you when you first plug the Access controller into your PS5 will be a short tutorial, after which you’re walked through how to use, program, and set up the controller. All the menus and steps are intuitive, clear, and easy to use. You can use the Access controller straight away with some default button settings which help ease you in right from the off.
Even from this early introductory use, it’s quickly clear that the clicky buttons feel fantastic, the thumbstick (particularly when using the larger joystick attachment) is incredibly responsive and a joy to use, and the overall placement of the buttons just works. The circular arrangement will require getting used to; by design, it means that some of the Access controller’s buttons will be close to you, and some will be far away and could require reaching over.
When it comes to my testing, I would emphasize that this is within the confines of my own accessibility needs - mileage will vary so much for so many folks, depending on needs, existing setups, and so on - but, in brief, my time with the controller has been a joy. Putting it to the test with different games, I used the Access controller on its own, with a DualSense, and in tandem with a second Access controller, to get a feel for how it could be deployed but also how it could meet my personal needs and boost my experience.
(Image credit: Future/Rob Dwiar)
In racing games like F1 2021 and Dirt 5, using one Access controller is simple and very intuitive; it is as easy as assigning acceleration and braking to two buttons and using the stick to steer. The limitations on using one controller are clear: there just aren’t as many buttons on the Access as there are on a standard DualSense so you can’t recreate every input that’s often needed by games, though you’ll almost certainly have enough for many.
Pairing an Access controller with a DualSense, I transplanted my right hand’s normal controls onto the Access controller. In short, this is very successful, especially from a reach and interaction perspective; controls that were previously more challenging on one side of the DualSense can be repositioned on the Access controller and are far easier to use. The only ‘problem’ here is that you’re then left holding and using a DualSense in one hand and the weight can become tricky to handle, especially if you need to be able to use L2 and L1.
Where I think the Access controller shines most is when it is paired with another. Using two simultaneously unlocks much more flexibility and feels the closest to competently replacing a traditional gamepad experience. Orientating the two Access controllers so the thumb sticks were on the inside - the pads can be orientated four ways; left, right, up, or down - allowed me to focus controls on the natural placement of my digits while keeping my thumbs in position on the excellent joysticks - even using different stick attachments due to the different size and position of my hands.
(Image credit: Future/Rob Dwiar)
A small caveat of using the Access controller in this position is that it does mean your palms are dangerously close to the closest buttons which is a double-edged sword: I could map an action to the bottom button (or buttons plural as the same input can be mapped to multiple buttons) to press with my palm, but then I’d have nowhere to rest my hand, or I could deactivate it, but that would cost me one or two inputs.
Trying to be ambitious, but also use the Access controllers as normally as I would any other controller, I tried using this setup when playing with my friends online in Back 4 Blood. Pleasingly, aside from a few misthrown grenades here and a few missed actions or sprints there, it’s reliable and effective in such games. The sticks make for swift movement, and the buttons for instant actions.
Elsewhere, I've found battery life is better than that of a DualSense. After topping up the battery fully on the day I received them (more than a week ago) and using them almost every day since, I still haven't had to recharge them at time of writing.
No matter what I played, however, a pattern of using the Access controller is of constant remapping to refine what you need. You will find yourself going into the menus a lot as you realize which controls you need, which ones you need to shift, and so on. It’s a constant loop and a game in and of itself. Luckily the software is simple and easy to use when making profiles and offers superb flexibility, particularly in its offering of mapping several buttons to the same input, or combining two inputs to one button, and so on.
Throughout my ongoing use and testing, I have had several quite affecting and eye-opening moments when I was able to use button combos or sequences that I haven’t before, or input ‘regular’ sequences or moves but doing so smoothly and more intuitively than ever. The toggle function - a brand new PlayStation button setting - is one that really resonated with me and I have been using it a lot. It’s simple but genius, and so helpful. Getting the software to hold down the aim button in a shooter for you constantly, or ensuring a bow is constantly drawn and ready without having to constantly press or squeeze is a revolutionary moment.
(Image credit: Future/Rob Dwiar)
Much like the creation of button profiles, getting the right setup of the physical controller is like a mini-game too - and subtle differences can make a big impact and change things in a flash. For example, bringing the stick closer to the main circle of buttons immediately changed everything for me, suddenly enabling me to move my character or aim more smoothly. Also, trying each different button cap type for each different digit depending on its capabilities was game-changing too, and enabled me to best distribute the tools the Access controller has, matching them to my fingers optimally.
After getting used to the controllers, I have found myself almost reaching for features that aren’t there - things that would feel at home for me and elevate it further. For example, when using the joystick with my pinky finger, I found my thumb resting on the large middle button comfortably and immediately wanted to start using it as a touchpad - this would have been very welcome in the absence of a second joystick, and seems a bit like a missed opportunity, especially in a time when functions can be enabled and disabled at the change of a setting.
I’ve also learned more about the art of using a controller, and the best use of deployment when incorporating extra controllers. For example, it became clear early on that it’s actually best to not try to recreate control schemes like for like, tempting as it might be for someone who has grown used to ‘default’ gaming controller schemes.
For me, it is best to just let my hands and accessibility needs guide my interaction with the controller (where my digits rested, and what physical attachments were comfortable) and then apply the game’s necessary controls to that. It’s a moving and illuminating process that really makes the Access controller feel like it was made for people like me.
Most of those feelings did come after a generous amount of time, and it’s worth noting I haven’t yet had the full up to two weeks that Sony and its experts suggest it might take to fully get used to the Access controller. At time of publication, I’ve been using the Access controllers most days for a bit over a week. But, however long it takes, it’s absolutely worth it and only serves to get the best out of the PlayStation Access controller.
Should I buy the PlayStation Access controller?
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If you need an accessibility controller that can offer an extra way to play then the PlayStation Access controller could be worth its weight in gold and it’s easy to recommend. With no exaggeration, it literally offers new ways to play games, new ways to interact and use your console, and new ways to enjoy games. In my own context, I can now nearly use the controller instinctively, and forget about potentially missing control inputs or having nanoseconds of anxiety to try and reposition my hands on a DualSense. These flashes of revolution using the Access controller are wonderful.
I’m still baffled by the lack of a second stick and there not being enough of each button cap, and the fact that one Access controller can’t replace one DualSense meaning that buying two might be required to get the best results is disappointing. But, personal foibles aside - and, perhaps more than in any other review I’ve done, these really are personal - the PlayStation Access is an excellent controller for those with accessibility needs. Its vast array of different parts, arrangements, applications, kit parts, and functions is already impacting how I play games for the better, and I’m sure it’s going to be a hit in the accessible gaming community.
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How we tested the PlayStation Access controller
I tested two pre-launch units of the Access controller provided by Sony for a little over a week. I tried out a vast range of button profiles and ways to use the controller, while also incorporating it into my usual gaming habits to live with the controller properly. This meant playing single-player games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, but also tested it on Back 4 Blood online with my friends, as well as playing Unravel 2 as a couch co-op game with my wife.
The more premium big brother of the SteelSeries Alias, an all-in-one microphone that we called a “very impressive debut” from the gaming peripheral manufacturer in our recent review, the SteelSeries Alias Pro is an extremely high-end microphone geared almost exclusively towards content creators and streamers.
Based on the same eye-catching design of the Alias, but with the addition of a separate stream mixer that also functions as its digital-to-analogue converter (DAC), the Alias Pro benefits from a higher-quality XLR connection. This helps deliver absolute top-of-the-range audio that will be suitable for everything from professional podcasting to a cheeky ASMR stream. While it has undeniably increased the audio quality, the move to a separate stream mixer does remove some of the convenience that we appreciated so much with the original model.
This version’s alternate placement of the gain indicator, which is now found as an LED ring around the gain dial itself, is also rather distracting in use, and the new style of microphone mute button feels unpleasantly mushy to the touch. The gain indicator itself is also rather inaccurate, failing to reliably reflect when sound is actually being broadcasted. This is a major disappointment in such an expensive device and, for all the impressive audio quality, could be a serious deal-breaker depending on your needs.
SteelSeries Alias Pro - Price and availability
With a seriously high asking price of $329.99 / £319.99 / AU$699, the Alias Pro is one expensive microphone at least when you compare it to any of the usual cheaper USB alternatives commonly used by streamers. When it comes to the world of the more professional XLR microphone, where the use of an analog connection ensures far greater audio quality, this is actually a fairly modest price tag when you take the usual cost of a complete XLR setup into consideration.
A quality XLR microphone from a trusted audio brand like Rode generally costs substantially more than the $200 / £150 / AU$280 mark and that’s before you factor in the price of a separate DAC, which is necessary to use the microphone with your PC. Those generally run above the $100 / £80 / AU$150 range at the very least, so all things considered you’re not paying substantially more for a visually attractive all-in-one package here.
The Alias Pro can be found on sale via the SteelSeries website or at Amazon in both the US and UK. Several other retailers also stock the microphone in the US, such as Best Buy and Walmart. Like the Alias, the Alias Pro is a little harder to find in Australia at the moment, but is currently in stock at JB Hi-Fi if you’re willing to pay a little more than other regions.
SteelSeries Alias Pro - Design and features
(Image credit: Future)
Making use of much of the same visually appealing design elements as the stunning SteelSeries Alias, the Alias Pro is a very attractive product especially when compared to the more utilitarian designs common with other XLR microphones. With a sleek black pill-shaped capsule covered in a soft fabric and adorned with an understated rubber SteelSeries logo, this is a microphone that’ll improve the look of almost any setup. This is particularly significant in the world of content creation and, if you frequently make use of a facecam, a microphone’s aesthetics can be just as important as the overall performance.
The use of metal and smooth plastic lend everything from the capsule to the stand a suitably premium feel that certainly reflects the cost. Unlike the Alias, however, the microphone itself is only half of the story. All of the control features, like the microphone mute button and gain dial, have been moved over to a separate stream mixer. This mixer has similar high-end materials and is surprisingly compact, making it easy to nestle underneath one of the best gaming monitors. Although the microphone itself has a lone XLR port on its rear, which connects to the DAC in the stream mixer, there is no shortage of interface options on the mixer itself.
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The back features two USB-C inputs (which allow the mixer to be used with two separate PCs at the same time), alongside a clicky power button and a 3.5mm jack for audio monitoring. Another 3.5mm audio jack is located on the left hand side of the mixer too, this one intended as a general audio output for your speakers or headphones. The front of the mixer features a gain dial, surrounded by an RGB LED ring, and a larger volume knob above two big buttons - one is for microphone muting and the other for audio output muting.
Both buttons also feature RGB and can be illuminated with a choice of colors to reflect their current status. This is, unfortunately, a very necessary feature as the buttons themselves are incredibly mushy and require quite a bit of force to properly activate. During my use, there were a few frustrating occasions where it took a second, more firm press for the microphone mute to kick in which, while not the biggest issue, is a disappointing oversight given the cost.
Finally, the stream mixer of the Alias Pro features a bright RGB strip on its underside which is a major improvement on the comparatively lackluster RGB ring of the Alias. It features the same solid range of customization options too and the added visual flair seems entirely appropriate given the streaming focus.
SteelSeries Alias Pro - Performance
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The performance of the microphone itself is absolutely phenomenal. As you would expect from a pricey XLR microphone, it boasts simply incredible audio quality that sounds professional-grade with minimal software tweaking out of the box. This will be more than enough for the vast majority of content creation needs but especially shines when you’re recording locally and not constrained by the bandwidth or encoding limitations inherent in streaming. Although there’s only a single pickup pattern, it is very effective and proved more than enough to pick up my voice in any position around my desk; provided that I remembered to adjust the gain appropriately.
Although a microphone with a dedicated omnidirectional polar pickup pattern may be more appropriate for larger groups, I found the SteelSeries Alias Pro was comfortably able to record multiple voices without any serious issues, ensuring that everyone remained heard which should also make it a viable option for those who want to podcast as well.
Unfortunately, the stream mixer itself suffers a few noticeable issues. In addition to the mushy buttons, the gain meter on the module seems incredibly inaccurate at times. Like the Alias, it uses a traffic light color system by default (starting at green when volume levels are normal before switching to amber or reaching red if the input is too loud). Even with multiple attempts at adjustment, however, I could never find the setting where the microphone accurately reflected the lower end of the spectrum.
There were numerous occasions where my voice was perfectly audible in a recording or online call but failed to register as a visible input on the gain meter, which may prove a dealbreaker for some. While the gain meter will still tell you if you’re too loud, it can’t reliably provide that baseline level of reassurance that you’re broadcasting at normal levels.
As noted in my SteelSeries Alias review, the recommended SteelSeries Sonar software (which is used for both models) is also a bit of a mixed bag. It works well as a general volume mixer and an easy method to control the inputs when you’re making use of the SteelSeries Alias Pro’s dual PC support, but intrusive features like automatic game recording continue to frustrate.
Should I buy the SteelSeries Alias Pro?
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Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How we reviewed the SteelSeries Alias Pro
I used the SteelSeries Alias Pro as my primary PC microphone for well over a month. During that time, I used it for the majority of my online calls and tested its content creation capabilities by experimenting with audio recording software like Audacity. I also made sure to test its streaming capabilities in private streams to friends, who did appreciate the significant bump in quality compared to some of the other microphones I have lying around.
I endeavored to fully evaluate the features of the SteelSeries Sonar software too, tweaking settings and experimenting with all of the available options and features whenever I had the opportunity.
The Nacon Evol-X Pro controller for Xbox marks the first time I’ve been seriously disappointed in the brand’s hardware. While Nacon controllers like the Revolution X often strike a balance between quality and affordability, the Evol-X Pro strays into the latter without offering much of the former.
Problems are initially apparent when you hold the controller in your hands for the first time. The Evol-X Pro is relatively large compared to the likes of the Xbox Wireless Controller and the GameSir T4 Kaleid, so unless you’ve got bigger-than-average hands, longer play sessions with the Evol-X Pro can be quite demanding.
Other design issues come to light when actually playing with the Evol-X Pro. Its analog sticks feel quite sensitive, and the triggers are rendered a bit slippery thanks to their large and sloped design. These problems did contribute to an unsatisfying play experience, despite the face and shoulder buttons feeling sturdy.
Price and availability
The Nacon Evol-X Pro controller is available to buy now from Nacon’s store for £27.99. At the time of writing, the gamepad isn’t available for purchase in the US or Australia; availability is currently limited to the UK and Europe.
At surface level, this is an exceptionally affordable price point, being among the cheapest controllers that are officially licensed by Xbox. The controller is also available in three distinct colorways: standard black, carbon black and LED Pro.
The Evol-X Pro’s price point may be tempting, but we recommend looking at other officially licensed Xbox controllers in this price range. Chief among those being the HyperX Clutch Gladiate, which sits in our best Xbox controllers guide and costs just $34.99 / £29.99 and offers an overall higher quality experience compared to the Evol-X Pro.
Design and features
(Image credit: Future)
It’s easy to raise an eyebrow at the Evol-X Pro out of the box, given its relatively large size when compared to most other official Xbox pads. For my average-sized hands, it was difficult to rest my palms against the controller’s grips, making my thumbs hover awkwardly in the space between the grips and the analog sticks.
And it’s not just the controller’s chassis that’s a little on the XL side; the triggers are questionably massive, wrapping under my index fingers almost in their entirety. Again, if your hands are on the larger side, this may make a degree of sense; I can imagine them fitting snugly under the fingers of such users. But for me, they felt as uncomfortable to rest on as the controller’s grips.
Things do improve in other aspects of the controller’s design, thankfully. Its face and shoulder buttons, as well as the d-pad, all feel perfectly fine and are of adequate size and quality. The central Home, Menu and Share buttons are also appropriately placed and I didn’t need to overly extend my thumbs to reach them.
Ancillary features include a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom of the controller - between the grips as standard - as well as two programmable buttons on the back that can be easily assigned by holding the rear Function button and your desired input on the front of the pad.
Now, I reviewed the LED Pro model of the Evol-X Pro, and I would strongly advise you to opt for one of the other color options available if you’re planning on buying. That’s because, while the translucent shell is quite nice, the LEDs inside are placed rather randomly, and no effort has been made to hide the fact that these are straight up just LEDs attached to the circuit board. It just looks rather cheap and cobbled together.
For comparison’s sake, check out how the GameSir T4 Kaleid approaches the same design philosophy: its gorgeous gold-on-black circuit board is flanked by RGB strips that look utterly fantastic and aren’t overly bright like they are on the Evol-X Pro. You can hit a button on the front of the pad to change the Evol-X Pro’s lighting patterns, but it really doesn’t affect the overall brightness too much.
Performance
(Image credit: Future)
If the Evol-X Pro felt adequately nice to play games with, I could forgive its design shortcomings. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case here. With the Evol-X Pro, the overall cheap-feeling design extends to its modules and in turn their overall performance.
The controller’s analog sticks feel a touch too sensitive. They rest in the deadzone just fine, and I didn’t encounter any stick drift in my time playing, but they do feel a little slippery during play, with even the slightest movements registering as inputs in-game.
This can be a problem in titles that require quite precise movement and/or dodging, such as Lies of Por platformers like A Hat in Time. And I would not recommend the Evol-X Pro for games that use the sticks as a means to input commands; that includes some of the best fighting games like Street Fighter 6and Guilty Gear Strive.
The triggers, meanwhile, feel very mushy when pressed inwards. I found this to be an issue in shooters, especially, like PUBG: Battlegrounds and Remnant 2with weapons that required single shot or semi-auto fire. The Evol-X Pro doesn’t feature trigger stops, either, so you’ll often need a full press of the trigger in order to shoot, creating a degree of unresponsiveness while playing such games.
Should I buy the Nacon Evol-X Pro controller?
(Image credit: Future)
While the Evol-X Pro has its high points when it comes to the quality of its face buttons, shoulder buttons and d-pad, I find very little reason to recommend it beyond its affordability. And even then, similarly priced gamepads - like the HyperX Clutch Gladiate and 8BitDo Pro 2 - outclass it in almost every way.
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How we reviewed the Nacon Evol-X Pro controller
I tested the Evol-X Pro over the course of about a week, going back and forth between playing games on Xbox Series X and PC. I ensured to test the controller across a range of titles, from more casual offerings like Fall Guys and Stardew Valley, to more demanding games like Lies of P, Elden Ringand PUBG: Battlegrounds.
Platform reviewed: PS5 Available: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC Release date: November 27, 2023
Gangs of Sherwood is a steampunk twist on the tale of Robin Hood that pits Robin and his grimdark Merry Men against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and his army of identical thugs, many of whom seem to go by the name Gerald. As a Robin Hood game, it shakes things up, too: It steals from the time-rich and gives only poor experiences.
Visually speaking, Gangs of Sherwood is a feast; the concept art in the loading screens and the design of every location is a fantastic twist on the classic tale. The steampunk style works brilliantly mashed together with the medieval setting, and wandering around the muddy and mechanic streets of Locksley while being bombarded by artillery is an unforgettable experience. You can navigate these places by yourself or in a group of four, with each player taking over the mantle of Robin of Locksley, Little John, Friar Tuck, or Maid Marion.
Unfortunately, a good-looking game can only go so far. Gangs of Sherwood fails to deliver any thrilling fights or explosive skills that action brawlers like itself usually promise. Despite only having three acts, which last a maximum of five hours, this steampunk fantasy can seem like it goes on for an eternity.
Having to face up against the same group of bad guys, comprised of several goons and one big knight with a shield, over and over again can seem like a medieval version of Ground Hog Day. There’s also no reprieve to be found in the three side missions as the repetition carries on. One quest sees you stand in a large courtyard and shoot a gigantic mechanical bull over and over again as the same bad guys that plagued the main acts aimlessly chase you across the open space as you dodge the bull's incoming attacks.
A walk in the park
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My first encounter with Gangs of Sherwood earlier this year in the preview was slightly unimpressive. However, as I only saw a small snippet, there was still a ray of hope that the entire game wouldn’t just revolve around similar fights and enemies, which I had seen in my first hands-on. Unfortunately, these hopes ran up short once I finally got to play the rest of the action game.
Playing Gangs of Sherwood was painfully straightforward; I started on the standard difficulty setting and quickly upgraded to the hardest in an effort to find some joy in the heat of battle. Sadly, the more challenging option failed to paper over some mediocre and repetitive combat and didn’t even make the game feel much more difficult.
Best Bit
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There are some interesting environmental kills in Gangs of Sherwood. One of my favorites is dropping a beehive onto an unsuspecting goon’s head.
Gangs of Sherwood doesn’t have to be challenging to be enjoyable, but it does have to be interesting. After the first few fights, I quickly figured out the pattern of every following combat encounter. Not only was the threat easy to assess and counter, but the bigger, seemingly more dangerous opponents were predictable without fault. This predictability sucked any joy or danger out of the action game immediately, and I soon felt like I was simply going through the motions to reach the end of the game.
The matter wasn’t helped by the fact that almost every enemy encounter revolves around the same three fights. With limited enemy classes, every other combat sequence is like deja vu as you continually come up against similar groups of opponents. Once you get to the later stages, Gangs of Sherwood resorts to throwing every enemy at you at once instead of trying to switch up the combat. The most interesting encounter I had was with the main boss in the second Act, in which one enemy heals the main fighter periodically. Still, unfortunately, even that became monotonous as every move was evenly spaced out, which made it simple to predict and quick to defeat.
The easy fights were made worse by Rebel Instinct, which acts as an ultimate ability for every character as it slowly charges as you deal damage, resulting in a powerful final attack. It can be so powerful that I began to feel bad for attacking opponents with a neverending volley of supercharged arrows. eviscerating them in no time at all.
One is a lonely number
(Image credit: Nacon)
My time in Gangs of Sherwood was a dismal experience and claims that co-op would make it more enjoyable is hard to believe. I only played a few parts of co-op, but from what I saw, it wasn’t all that different; it felt like separate characters fighting their own battles in the same area instead of an authentic cooperative experience that would encourage players to gang up on enemies together.
Gangs of Sherwood is ultimately let down by its lackluster fights and repetitive action
Gangs of Sherwood could be a fun experience with the right group of friends, but that’s not the mark of a great game. Almost everything can be improved with the right people around, and this is especially true in gaming. Oftentimes, subpar games are made better by co-op as you experience less of the game and more of your friend's hilarious antics.
Furthermore, a co-op game that only works in multiplayer and not single-player despite having the option to play alone, isn’t a fantastic sign. If a title promises multiple ways to experience it, whether by yourself or in a group, it should deliver on that and not simply bank on players sticking with co-op.
Gangs of Sherwood is ultimately let down by its lackluster fights and repetitive action. With almost nothing else to do other than practice moves, fight the same enemies, or walk around the beautiful yet empty base of operations, it’s not something I’d recommend if you’re looking for something new to play with friends or by yourself. While the artistic style and locations in this action game are something to be marveled at and are genuinely quite impressive, this alone isn’t enough to save Gangs of Sherwood from mediocrity.
Accessibility
(Image credit: Nacon)
Gangs of Sherwood also unfortunately fails to deliver any meaningful accessibility options. Other than controlling sound levels, you can change the brightness, motion blur, and language. Otherwise, there are no other options to be found. This was unhelpful for me since, while there are subtitles, there is no way of changing the size, meaning that I could barely read them.
How we reviewed
It took me around five hours to finish the main story of Gangs of Sherwood and another two hours to complete the three extra missions. While I encountered no major bugs with the PS5 version, there were a few issues with characters clipping through walls during cutscenes, or occasionally, enemies would just stay still as if they had already given up the fight.
For the first dedicated microphone by gaming peripheral manufacturer SteelSeries, the Alias is a very impressive debut. Bringing the same ease of use that you would find in a SteelSeries mouse or keyboard to the audio space, this is a simple, plug-and-play microphone that sounds absolutely excellent out of the box. Although you can squeeze comparable audio quality from cheaper products by non-gaming brands (the exceptional Blue Yeti for example) doing so requires some degree of software knowledge and a level of fiddling that is totally absent here.
In addition to performing well, the Alias looks a cut above the rest thanks to an understated design that simply oozes class and quality. The RGB lighting on its underside may be purely cosmetic and a slight letdown, but the innovative LED display found on the front of the microphone is the perfect blend of style and substance. Conveying information on your current noise level, not to mention providing a useful indicator as to whether the microphone is currently muted, this is one feature that will make you wonder how you ever managed without it.
The same can’t be said of the SteelSeries Sonar software, however. Although it is at least adequate for tweaking your settings before jumping into a game, it’s disappointingly basic and brings very few extra features to the table beyond some mildly amusing voice filters and a volume mixer.
SteelSeries Alias - Price and availability
Retailing for an eye-watering $179.99 / £179.99 / AU$399, the Alias ranks among some of the most expensive gaming microphones on the market. This is a lot of money to spend on a microphone, even when compared to the most high-end offerings by other well-known gaming peripheral manufacturers. The Razer Seiren V2 Pro, for example, retails for $149.99 / £149.99 while the HyperX QuadCast costs $139.99 / £119.99.
This lofty price tag puts it squarely in competition with pricey non-gaming options from brands like Rode or Blue, where we think it manages to find a decent niche. While these other options will undeniably offer superior audio quality with the right setup, unwieldy desk mounts, large pop filters and intrusive boom arms make them a pain to use if you just want to chat while in a game. From a purely casual gaming standpoint, it’s easy to appreciate why many might consider this a better all-in-one option thanks to the sheer convenience factor.
The Alias is readily available from the SteelSeries website or Amazon in both the US and UK. It can also be found at a range of other retailers, including Best Buy and Walmart in the US or Currys in the UK. It is a little harder to find in Australia but is in stock at JB Hi-Fi at the time of writing.
SteelSeries Alias - Design and features
(Image credit: Future)
The design of the Alias certainly looks the part for such a premium product. A pill-shaped microphone sporting durable metal grills and covered in a sleek black fabric, everything about the aesthetic comes across as suitably high-quality. It’s suspended in a shock mount out of the box which makes for an impressively hassle-free setup.
Although it’s also compatible with boom arms (through an included adapter) the pack-in stand is likely all that most will need. Like the microphone, it feels very robust and is constructed from a combination of smooth plastic and metal. The underside of its base is coated with a rubbery material that helps prevent the microphone from slipping around your desk and, while your mileage will inevitably vary depending on your desktop, this proved more than enough to keep it secure on the range of surfaces that I tested.
A small panel sits on the front of the microphone, with a dial to control headphone gain and a mute button. On the rear, you’ll find a 3.5 mm headphone jack (allowing you to insert headphones for audio monitoring), a USB-C port, and a microphone gain dial. The dial placement is a little strange here, as it would have made more sense to group the headphone jack and headphone gain dial together, but this setup is still fairly intuitive and, more importantly, very easy to adjust.
(Image credit: Future)
On the bottom of the microphone is a small ring of RGB LEDs, which can be configured with a range of presets or custom colors within the SteelSeries Sonar software. While the inclusion of some RGB lighting is certainly welcome, especially in a product so heavily marketed towards gamers, the effect isn’t particularly impressive and only really serves to illuminate a small portion of the stand’s base. For owners of other SteelSeries peripherals, however, there’s probably going to be some further appeal in being able to coordinate this small region of lighting with that of your mouse and keyboard.
Far more impressive is the fantastic LED display on the windscreen of the microphone itself. Shining through the front fabric, this display indicates the mic’s current status. It shows a red cross when the device is muted and a useful audio level monitor when it’s picking up sound. This level monitor is divided into five separate stages, ranging from green to red depending on your current audio level. Seeing frequent red illumination while speaking would suggest a need to decrease your volume or alter the microphone’s gain level, making this an addition that not only looks fantastic, but is genuinely practical.
The ability to tell whether the microphone is muted at a glance is incredibly convenient, especially if you intend to use the Alias for online streaming. The brightness and colors of both the mute indicator and audio level monitor can also be fully customized (or even disabled) within the SteelSeries Sonar Software which adds a welcome degree of personalization.
SteelSeries Alias review - Performance
(Image credit: Future)
The Alias performs extremely well out of the box without any software customization. Audio sounds crisp and clear even when used in a purely plug-and-play fashion, with a wide cardioid pattern that helps ensure your voice is picked up. It’s very easy to position on your desk and, experimenting with a range of online games including Counter-Strike 2and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the microphone never interfered with my ability to deliver vital comms. The mute button is responsive and easy to use, while the gain monitor proved a highly useful way to check the impact of any unwanted background noise while on calls.
The microphone is also extremely capable outside of gaming, producing clean professional-sounding recordings in programs like Audacity. This should make it a favorite for content creators or podcasters, especially given the striking look. For those purely concerned with audio quality, however, it’s worth noting that I was able to squeeze similarly good results from the cheaper Blue Yeti which, despite its age, remains a top pick for streamers for good reason. This did take some software adjustments though, which wasn’t needed with the pricier Alias.
If you are the type to rely heavily on software, then this is perhaps the one area where the Alias is behind the curve. The SteelSeries Sonar software is a little basic, featuring a volume mixer, some alternate EQ options, a few voice filters, and little else. The AI background noise removal is undeniably extremely impressive, allowing me to play loud games without headphones while on calls with no tangible effect on background noise levels, but doesn’t seem that much more advanced than the options found in competing software like Nvidia Broadcast.
To make matters worse, the UI is bloated, and redundant features like Moments, which automatically records your gameplay, are frustratingly intrusive and, worse still, switched on by default. Even so, this software is wholly optional and might still provide some value depending on your setup.
Should I buy the SteelSeries Alias?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How we reviewed the SteelSeries Alias
I used the SteelSeries Alias as my primary PC microphone for over three weeks. This included a lot of use in a variety of online games and frequent chats with friends on platforms like Discord. In order to test the audio quality, I recorded myself in a range of settings with different levels of background noise using Audacity.
During my time with the microphone, I also made sure to explore the SteelSeries Sonar software and tried to test the majority of the software’s available features and settings.
