DestroyRepeat

Blog

  • Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review

    Ninja Gaiden was released in 1988 as “Ninja Ryūkenden,” and “Shadow Warriors” in Europe. Ninja Gaiden was originally an arcade game, where you are a Ninja, and you are to progress through the world of Ninja Gaiden in a “Beat ’em Up” gameplay style. At the same time, Tecmo was readying a version of Ninja Gaiden for the Nintendo Entertainment System console, and in the process of developing Ninja Gaiden for NES, they changed the gameplay style. That conversion to NES, drastically changed the way the game is played. It’s no longer a perfect conversion (which today we know as a “port.”) So, now, it’s no longer the “Beat ’em up” title. It’s now an action game. Upon release, the game became an instant hit. Despite the change. Tecmo saw how successful Ninja Gaiden was received, and went to work on a sequel. From here, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos built on the original NES release, and went on to sell just as well as the original NES release. Long-term, both games has become legendary games in the Nintendo Entertainment System library. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom was released shortly thereafter, but did not receive the same critical acclaim the first two games enjoyed. Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden Trilogy and did not sell nearly as much as the first two, and Ninja Gaiden would take a long hiatus until 2004. Tecmo and Team Ninja released a reboot of Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. Shortly thereafter, Tecmo and Team Ninja got the funding of Microsoft, to develop Ninja Gaiden II for Xbox 360. In 2008, Ninja Gaiden II was released, and has put Ninja Gaiden back on the map – notoriously known as a difficult game. Iconic, and legendary.

    Team Ninja rocked the gaming industry with a surprise, stealth drop earlier this year with the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black after the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 set to be released late 2025. DotEmu, the makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and Streets of Rage 4 released Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound on July 31, 2025.

    Earlier this year, I played Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. I reviewed Ninja Gaiden 2 Black for PlayStation 5 because it was part of Koei Tecmo’s “Year of the Ninja” initiative. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was released January 23, 2025 as part of a livestream “stealth” release. A surprise release.

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a completely new game. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound takes place during the events of the original Ninja Gaiden (NES) from 1988. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC. This review is about Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound for PlayStation 5.

    Gameplay

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is played in full high resolution for High Definition Televisions (HDTV), but the graphics are designed in such a way makes the game look like a 32-bit video game. The graphics goes beyond 16-bit as far as the style and animation goes. There is more pixel for each background, and each character designed. The best way to describe the graphics is that the pixel art is animated similarly to a 32-bit game like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Mega Man 8, Mega Man X4, or similar games. The closest the pixel art that I can describe is Mega Man X4. It had more animation per character.

    Besides more pixels and smoother animation, there is more colors and more variety in effects, more variety in backgrounds.

    Now, let’s talk about gameplay. I am talking about graphics because it relates to the gameplay. The game runs at 60fps locked, throughout the game, despite the 2D look, or sprites. As I said, if you played Mega Man X4, you know how the game looks – animated. Because Zero uses his saber, like a sword. Ryu’s animation is similar to the old NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) games where the sword swipes in front of you as an attack vector. You have attack, jump, and/or the combination of the two. During gameplay, you attack enemies and rack up what is known as a “hypercharged” attack by attacking enemies with auras that reflect that hypercharge. A red hypercharge will throw shuriken with more power. A blue hypercharge will “charge” your sword with a 1 hit “kill.” You can use a combination of two things at once, for example, you can bounce off enemies by jumping on top of another enemy – as a strategy. They teach you this early on. Because by the end of the game, you will use it as a strategy against… bosses.

    Difficulty

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound starts off with at least two bangs, one is a hard battle with Ryu Hayabusa – in the beginning. Yes. I’m not joking, I’m not making up lies. You can play Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and the first thing you fight is Ryu Hayabusa. You can either try winning, or you can lose. Or you can re-do the level, and try beating Ryu later. Anyway, from here, you start with a training mode of sorts, and that’s where you meet Ryu Hayabusa. Once you’re done with that part, you continue the level normally. From here, you learn how to finish the game on your own. You also battle a boss here. Starts off easy, then a bit hard, and then easy, then hard. So, the difficulty starts off with valleys, most levels are “easy,” but also the bosses raises the stakes. Each level gets harder, and harder as the game progresses. Each boss also raises difficulty, and challenge as you progress.

    Story

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound takes place during the events of the original Ninja Gaiden. You play as Kenji Mozu, and Ryu Hayabusa is your mentor, but he has to go to United States to honor his father’s will, and eventually defeat demons. From here, Kenji is in Japan, defending Hayabusa Village from total extinction. During the journey, Kenji meets Kumori, and forms a partnership to defeat demons despite differences. Kumori is a Black Spider Clan member, she lent her powers to help Kenji survive and progress in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.

    Controls

    If you played any of the Ninja Gaiden games from 1989 to 1991, you will feel right at home with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. If you played any 2D action games in recent times, you will be right at home with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. One such example is a direct competitor – Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. As I mentioned before, you jump, you attack, you use a combination of the two, and once you get used, once you get acclimated to the controls, you feel comfortable. By the end of the game, you get comfortable that you want to challenge the big bad bosses.

    Graphics

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound uses pixel art, in the vein of Mega Man X4. Ragebound seems to play like a 32-bit Video Game. Ragebound looks colorful, runs smooth at 60fps, and is responsive. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound plays like a beautiful love letter to Ninja Gaiden fans from the 80’s. The graphics are well done to help tell the story, especially in the background – I won’t spoil it, but backgrounds do have storylines being told.

    User Interface

    There’s not much to say or talk about with regards to the user interface, because it’s as simple as they come. The user interface is really, really basic, and does not really “hand-hold” you. It is so simple that you will understand 90% of the game already by the time you get to the 3 major bosses – I won’t spoil it, but once you reach that point, you know how to play the game. And once you defeat those 3 major bosses, your difficulty will spike so hard.

    Music & Sound

    The highlight of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, believe it or not is actually the music, and the sounds. You won’t immediately understand it, but once you reach a major, or hard boss, the music starts ramping up and starts delivering the kind of musical score that Ninja Gaiden games are known for. Ninja Gaiden since inception has always been known for music. You go to arcades, and you find a Ninja Gaiden arcade cabinet, you will immediately get the sounds and music popping off. By the time you get Ninja Gaiden for NES, you expect the same level of quality. By the time you get the Ninja Gaiden reboots (like the recently released Ninja Gaiden 2 Black), you expect the music to hype you up. The sounds go along with the gameplay, and is loud.

    CarlosX360’s Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Gameplay Playlist

    Carlos’ Verdict

    Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a beautiful love letter to Ninja Gaiden fans who grew up playing. With beautiful pixel art that seems reminiscent of 32-bit Video Games. Ragebound is an action game that ramps up difficulty as you play, but has valleys in between to keep you engaged with the game. Music and sound matches the action to help you stay hyped for what’s next. Ragebound is basically a linear game, but has secrets that prolong the gameplay. Replay value is high depending on what you’re looking to do in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.

    Rating: 70/100

    2025 IS the year of the Ninja (Ninja Gaiden games and a new Shinobi game to be released)

  • Hands On with the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Open Beta (PS5)

    Hands On with the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Open Beta (PS5)

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the 22nd installment in the Call of Duty series. Black Ops 7 is a back to back Call of Duty sequel – it is a sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and it is a downloadable content (DLC) pack to Black Ops 6. Codenamed “Jupiter,” Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a culmination of the “Black Ops” storyline. If you look at the trailers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the story is about the mind-bending signature of Treyarch and the Black Ops brand. Call of Duty fans don’t really know where Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 really takes place, is it after the events of Black Ops 6? Or what they said: Treyarch said that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 takes place 10 years after the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

    I have reviewed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. I have gotten my hands on impression of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Multiplayer Open Beta. I reviewed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. I went hands on with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Open Beta. I previewed Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Open Beta. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S & X, and PC via Steam & Battle.net on November 14, 2025.

    Today, I’ll talk about my first impressions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 with my playthrough of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta. I’m playing the PlayStation 5 version of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta.

    Gameplay

    For the most part, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 plays similarly to Black Ops 6. I see a lot of polish in the omnimovement in Black Ops 7. You can move around without being restricted. I felt some janky sliding, or weird controls with omnimovement in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. I alluded it in my Black Ops 6 preview, but they polished the controls in Black Ops 7. Movement feels a little faster, which is exactly what Call of Duty fans was asking for for years.

    Controls

    As I said, in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Omnimovement was odd, weird, and not perfect. It was a bit primitive. When you slide, it felt weird. When you “jump” in a dolphin dive, it was weird. Both have been polished. When you walk forward and “strafe” as in sidestepping moving around, it was not bad in Black Ops 6, but it has been improved, and polished. Aiming Down Sights (ADS) has also been polished.

    Graphics

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 looks good, not the best looking game, but good. I like the map design on the surface level. I didn’t address the underlying gameplay and the underlying map design itself in a different (“Gameplay”) section. I’ll address it in “Online Connectivity” section a bit. I’ll address it also in the “Misc. feedback,” because Skill Based Matchmaking is not going away. Treyarch says SBMM was not in Black Ops 7 during beta, but my gameplay says different, so I’ll address it there. Map design and SBMM goes hand in hand, controls go hand in hand here, too. It’s all wrapped together in one place.

    Anyway, back to my point: Graphics is good, not perfect, but good. My issue is more on the character graphics. Some parts of the game looks like “A.I.” and did not get any approval by leadership. Microsoft openly “promotes,” and tells employees to use A.I. or work on A.I. or get fired. (Microsoft owns Activision.)

    Online Connectivity

    I’ll be up-front here: Online Connectivity for the most part is crisp, there is little to no lag, little glitches, issues when it comes to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 online gaming. I experienced some glitches, some crashes, but not a whole lot. You may think this is good, but THIS is an Open Beta. I do not know how the game is going to play at launch. During the beta, SBMM was turned on about a day into the “Early Access” part of the beta. I was having fun with the game in the first few matches of Black Ops 7, and then it felt like something switched in the next few matches. This ramping up of the SBMM, feels similar to Modern Warfare II’s Open Beta. Good the first weekend, but turned harder in the next weekend.

    Music & Sound

    Besides the main menu, music seems cool. But after that, there is no spark. There is no anticipation. Sounds are punchy, special effects sound good. Weapons sound good. But I don’t feel anything from Black Ops 7, I guess I’d have to experience Black Ops 7’s story to get the feel for it. At this point, I don’t fee anything.

    Misc Feedback

    I still maintain that Call of Duty in general doesn’t need SBMM. During the “Early Access” and the “Open Beta,” Treyarch launched a mode called “Open Moshpit.” With “Open Moshpit” the Skill Based Matchmaking was less of a factor according to Treyarch. But, as a long-time player, I couldn’t get good gameplay. I was playing well at first. Then all of a sudden, it got harder, and harder. I learned during the beta, that your previous experience carries over from game to game, match to match, as if they were testing your skill. Now, I will turn to the maps themselves, and the gameplay. I’ve played Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. We didn’t have a lot of sliding, a lot of jumping around, and at that time, there WAS a larger pool of players. Everyone had a different gameplay style.

    Call of Duty has conditioned players to slide, jump, and whatever else to break other players. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is very, very sweaty. That‘s with “Open Moshpit” turned on. That’s the gameplay part of Online Connectivity and SBMM wrapped into one place. I will now turn to the map design, because the map design utilizes the jump mechanic… a lot. So, naturally, the conditioned players are sliding, and jumping all over the place like it’s candy, so the skill gap got wider, wider, and wider. Treyarch says “Open Moshpit” is the default matchmaking in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, as “Open Matchmaking.” In my mind, though, I don’t believe Activision or Treyarch as much as I throw them.

    Replay Value

    At the core, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a good Call of Duty title. I mean, at the core. Gunplay is tight, gunplay is fast, fluid, fierce, and clean. Hit detection is hit or miss. I haven’t learned the little nuances of gameplay, like perks – the little stuff. Mostly because I am looking at gameplay and SBMM to bring to this preview. But however, the little time I had with the perks in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, I liked it. It’s nice. The overload mechanic is a nice addition to the gameplay. I quite like it.

    CarlosX360’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Gameplay Playlist

    In Conclusion

    • Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Early Access went from October 2, 2025 to October 5, 2025.
    • Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Open Beta went from October 5, 2025 to October 8, 2025.

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Beta was pretty short. Early Access was 4 days, Open Beta was 4 days, but Treyarch extended the Open Beta for one extra day. I enjoyed the long stretch of beta gameplay, but did not have fun with SBMM turned on. I don’t know what was going on with my experience, but I do not like the sweaty nature of Call of Duty today. As far as the core Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Multiplayer experience, I can say that I like the game. That is, if you removed SBMM/EOMM entirely or at least 50% less strong. A lot of players had different experience than I did. I honestly don’t like the manipulation of gameplay.

  • Microsoft reveals Halo: Campaign Evolved

    Microsoft reveals Halo: Campaign Evolved

    Halo has been a long-running franchise that dates back to 2000. Bungie was founded in 1991, but in 1998, Bungie was working on a new game known – codenamed “Monkey Nuts” or later as “Blam!” In 2001, Halo was released exclusively for Xbox. In 2004, Halo 2 was released exclusively on Xbox. In 2007, Halo 3 was released exclusively for Xbox 360. Halo 3: ODST was released shortly thereafter, still exclusive to Xbox 360. Halo: Reach followed suit shortly thereafter, again. In 2012, Halo 4 was released exclusively for Xbox 360. In 2015, Halo 5: Guardians was released exclusively for Xbox One. I am merely focused on the heavy hitter Halo games, because there is a theme here. During the Halo World Championships (2025) event, Microsoft and “Halo Studios” announced Halo: Campaign Evolved.

    The biggest announcement is not even the announcement of Halo: Campaign Evolved, it’s the fact that starting with Halo: Campaign Evolved, Halo will be available on PlayStation consoles going forward. That‘s not a joke. That’s one of the quotes from “Halo Studios,” which are remnants of 343 industries. No other information was revealed other than that Halo: Campaign Evolved is penciled for 2026.

    To go along with the announcement, Halo Studios released a 13-minute gameplay trailer to show off the new “Halo” engine. There are remnants the “blam!” engine, but the game is basically coded with Unreal Engine 5, which has some issues running on hardware like Xbox Series S / X. No word on PlayStation 5 Pro optimization, but as with Gears of War Reloaded, PS5 Pro enhancements will inevitably happen.

    There aren’t too much information revealed about Halo: Campaign Evolved, however, the biggest announcement is that there are extra missions to ship with Halo: Campaign Evolved. Here are some of the gameplay tweaks Halo Studios said would come to Halo: Campaign Evolved…

    • New missions: Fight beside Sergeant Avery Johnson, one of the Master Chief’s most beloved and stalwart allies, as you encounter new characters, enemies, environments, and dangers in three new missions set before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.
    • Stunning cinematics: Battle through all of Halo: Combat Evolved’s iconic moments with enhanced cinematics featuring new motion-capture animations and freshly recorded dialog from returning cast members.
    • Enhanced audio: Immerse yourself in heroic exploits with a remastered soundtrack and fully rebuilt sound design that brings Halo’s unmistakable weapons and vehicles to life in stunning fidelity. Just listen to those glorious Hunters shoot!
    • Expanded arsenal: Wield nine additional weapons from the Halo universe for the first time in Halo: Combat Evolved! Battle the Covenant with the Energy Sword, Battle Rifle, Needle Rifle, and more instantly recognizable Halo weapons, alongside tried-and-true standbys from the Master Chief’s first journey.
    • Vehicle upgrades: For the first time in Halo: Combat Evolved, the Master Chief can hijack nearby enemy vehicles and add range to his repertoire at the helm of a Wraith tank. Better still, the dependable Warthog now boasts an additional seat on the rear bumper—so your whole four-player Fireteam can ride out together!
    • Dozens of Skulls: Return to any mission in Halo: Campaign Evolved and remix your experience with the most gameplay-modifying Skulls of any Halo campaign. Activate Skulls for randomized weapons, altered enemy behavior, player attributes, environmental effects, and more!

    Halo: Campaign Evolved is scheduled to be released for Xbox Series S / X, Xbox Cloud, Xbox PC, Xbox Game Pass, Steam, and PlayStation 5 in 2026.

  • Call of Duty Next Showcase – September 30, 2025 Livestream

    Call of Duty Next Showcase – September 30, 2025 Livestream

    It has been a while since Activision announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Announced on September 22, 2025 – Activision is hosting a Call of Duty event known as “Call of Duty Next.” Recently, Activision prepared for their September Showcase on YouTube. Call of Duty Next Showcase will begin livestreaming on September 30, 2025. It will be home to major announcements for Call of Duty from now, to the foreseeable future.

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S / X, and PC on November 14, 2025.

  • Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Review

    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Review

    SEGA conceived Shinobi in 1987 as an arcade game. From there, SEGA converted Shinobi into many different iterations, many different versions of the original arcade game. In a similar fashion to Ninja Gaiden. Shinobi has been ported to many platforms, including their own console – the Sega Master System. The other platforms are Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, IBM PC, PC Engine, NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), and later ported to Nintendo Wii (via Virtual Console), Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade), Nintendo Switch (under Sega Ages label). Shinobi has multiple names under the franchise banner, one of them is Shadow Dancer, which also has been ported to many platforms. Shadow Dancer is the sequel to the original Shinobi, believe it or not.

    The highlight of the franchise came as soon as Sega Genesis was released. According to Noriyoshi Ohba, The Revenge of Shinobi was a technical showcase for Sega Genesis. The game would go on to be the base model for licensed games that succeeded “The Revenge of Shinobi.” So, all the licensed Spider Man games on Genesis? Based off of Shinobi. If you looked at the wikipedia entry for the game, you’d know this. Every single licensed Spiderman, Batman, or similar Marvel game by SEGA themselves are based around Shinobi. The next game became a masterpiece, and most people agree on this. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master was the real technical showcase for Sega Genesis. I’ve played both The Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, I would argue that Shinobi 3 is the masterpiece game on Genesis. Many Genesis fans agree on this. Sega released Shinobi Legions for Saturn in 1995. In 2002, Sega attempted a reboot of Shinobi as simply that; “Shinobi.” Nightshade, which is a Shinobi game – was released for PlayStation 2 in 2003.

    On August 29, 2025 – Sega released Shinobi: Art of Vengeance for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S / X, Nintendo Switch, and PC. In today’s review, I am going to assume that you are a first time Shinobi player, and you have played a Metroidvania game before for reasons I will explain later. I will also assume you are somewhat of a “casual.”

    Gameplay

    For the entry level “casual,” Shinobi is an action game. You are a ninja. You are a mysterious “Shinobi,” which in Japanese language is known as “Ninja.” You progress through Shinobi: Art of Vengeance by defeating enemies onscreen. However, it is not a linear action game, though. This is where I talk to the general public, which includes the folks that have played the games since the series’ inception, or at least played a game in the Shinobi series. I will also talk to hardcore gamers when I say this, most of the game is linear as in you go from “A” to “B” if you want to complete the main story. However, it’s not completely linear, because there are secrets in the game. Most hardcore gamers understand what this is, this is basically a semi-Metroidvania – for those who don’t know what that is – it is a genre coined by two games: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Super Metroid. Both games allowed you to progress in a linear path, but both games have “branching paths.” In these branching paths, you are able to upgrade your character, and gain abilities. Those upgrades and abilities unlock secrets, unlock new locations, unlocked previously inaccessible locations.

    When you progress in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, you earn new abilities over time. With these abilities, you get to unlock locations that were previously inaccessible. Joe Musashi – whom you control in-game – can attain strong powers during the game. You gain these powers via gears like amulets. These gears are practically loadouts for your character.

    Controls

    The controls are basic for an action game. But, there is an art to the controls than it meets the eye. I’ll talk more about controls under the graphics section – because they interchange how it affects each other. For the most part, controls are simple, yet difficult to understand or to “control.” Each attack, each jump, each move, each button brings a sophistication to it. For the casual, you can waltz through Shinobi: Art of Vengeance without any issue bar any difficult spots. That is, without going Metroidvania. If you just simply go from “A,” to “B,” without the secrets, the game is kinda easy. The only hard parts are the bosses, and the intricate level designs. I’ll talk about intricate level designs in the difficulty section. Because there are levels to it.

    Controls are basic, but it also has a learning curve as you progress. If you are linear in the game, going for the storyline… you’ll think this is a basic action game. But if you chain all the moves together, and you learn the moves, you can actually progress faster, and do the more difficult spots of the game. For the hardcore, I would say Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has a little bit of a “souls” feel to it. For those of you who don’t know what a “Souls” game is – it’s games that punishes you for taking an attack. Some enemies or boss encounters do subtract life or energy in large quantity. One hit from some bosses will subtract close to 30% of your health for example. Later bosses take more. They want you to learn their patterns.

    Graphics

    Graphics is both a low point, and a high point of the game. The game is beautiful, and most of the game is designed like a painting in a video game. Lizardcube, the developers behind Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, is the same developers behind Streets of Rage 4. SEGA tasked Lizardcube to reinvent Shinobi, as SEGA brings back dormant franchises in an effort to revitalize the SEGA brand.

    And they’re successful at it. While the game is beautiful – the drawbacks are obvious from the get-go. Each move, each animation are beautiful, but “slow.” By saying “slow,” I am not going to gain any favors from SEGA or Lizardcube. However, I have to call it what it is. Don’t get me wrong, I love the art, and the design. I love the graphics. But the biggest weakness, and it’s what I alluded in the “controls” section. My biggest issue is the execution of each move. To execute some moves, it moves slow, some moves move faster. Taking damage is worse in this aspect. Once you get attacked, you are frozen for a second or two.

    The director of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is Ben Fiquet. He also is the artist on the game. Most 2D games are pixel art, here with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, each stage, location are designed as if it was taken out of a painting. At the same time, modernizing 2D graphics. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not entirely painting, but your peripheral understands that its a painting. However, some parts will feel like a drawing in some places. I’ve embedded some videos to aid my point. However, the “Shinobi” character is in full HD, full 60 frames per second ink. However, there are drawbacks to each animation. This won’t matter in the first few stages, but the later stages, you will have to use each move – in the right way. You will even have to time each move. When you attack enemies, the hitboxes are a bit weird. Normally, your attacks’ hitboxes are at the edge of a weapon. like a sword. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, when I say this, but the hitboxes are not at the edge of the sword swipe or attack. They are inside the flame that follows the sword. They designed it this way for a reason, because the later attacks have fire. When you start the game, your swipes are in red “flames.” When you jump, you have a certain jump distance, and so, if you miss a spot, you will fall to blades, lazers, or whatever hazard that await you. This is worse when you chain moves. I don’t know how to explain it in words. You’d have to play the game to really understand what I mean.

    Music & Sound

    Besides the graphics, Music and Sound is the highlight of the game. The sounds in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance are clear, punchy, and aligns with what is going on-screen. Music is incredible. From the minute you start playing Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, you are gripped from the get-go. The music goes with with the theme of the stage. For example, when you start the game, you are introduced to the main character, which is Joe Musashi. You are also introduced to Joe’s pregnant wife. Disaster hits when you’re then introduced to kunoichi Naoko, you are then introduced to the storyline. ENE Corp is in the distance, destroying towns – including Joe’s town. In Joe’s town, lies the Oboro clan. Most of Joe’s students have been eliminated. The music transitions when you are moving from one spot to the next and blends really well. The tempo ramps up as you progress the stage or stages. In Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, you will notice the small details – like the music – matches with the stages. One of the stages is straight out of Shinobi III, for example. And the music is similar. One of the spots is designed in such a way, that seems to be pulled straight from a stage in Shinobi III, and it’s the falling rocks.

    Replay Value

    Note: I will merge “difficulty” into this section.

    The replay value is high for multiple reasons. As I alluded before, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a semi-Metroidvania. Each stage has “branching” paths that allows you, the player to explore the stages. Some spots require a new ability. When you start Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, your player character has basic abilities, basic moves, that is until you obtain abilities like the hook, that you’re able to reach new areas of the stages. When you start Art of Vengeance, you’ll see some spots that is inaccessible at the moment, that’s a secret at the moment, even though you see the item there. You don’t have the ability yet, so you you have to go back there with the new ability. That’s where the replay value comes in. Not only do you gain new abilities in the world, you also buy abilities or gears as you progress. With each enemy elimination, you gain varying items like health, and coins. You get to spend these coins on these upgrades.

    Another area that Replay Value is high on, is the difficulty. The game is for most part, “easy.” But, but that doesn’t mean there are difficult spots, difficult bosses, difficult stages, difficult secrets. The later secrets are brutal. Some stages have branching spots that make it feel like an open-world, but those spots are either easy, or hard depending on how the designers made it. There are some medium-level difficult spots, but they are far and between. It’s either easy or hard. The hardest spots are far away from your peripheral so you don’t get discouraged. But the game does reward you if you go through the challenge.

    CarlosX360’s Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Gameplay Playlist

    In Conclusion

    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a beautiful, albeit semi-Metroidvania, You are able to play the game in a linear fashion, or explore the game as you wish. Art of Vengeance encourages you to explore the stages with your newly-found upgrade(s) or abilities. Art of Vengeance is a beautiful love letter to both casuals, and hardcore players alike. It is a beautiful love letter to all Shinobi fans. Art of Vengeance aims to take you through their stages with world-building, and storytelling. You are not just playing a game, you are playing a storyline that is told during the game, and once you finish the stages. The music and sound grips you from the minute you start playing.

  • Nintendo Direct – September 12, 2025 Livestream

    Nintendo Direct – September 12, 2025 Livestream

    On September 12, 2025 – Nintendo hosted a Nintendo Direct livestream that was home to some of the biggest announcements, like the release date for Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond also got a release date. Virtual Boy got announced for the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Super Mario Galaxy movie was announced, Super Mario Galaxy, and the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was remastered and ported to Nintendo Switch. More games were announced during the livestream, so go watch the whole livestream to see what was announced…

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives in November

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives in November

    On June 8, 2025 – Activision and Treyarch revealed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 in a teaser trailer fashion. During Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase livestream, Activision and Treyarch sprung a surprise reveal of a new Call of Duty game. There was no hype, no pre-livestream announcement. It was revealed via a “One More Thing.” Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was the very last announcement of Xbox Games Showcase. It was a teaser trailer, and the full reveal begins sometime Summer 2025.

    Activision and Treyarch took the stage at Gamescom 2025 to unveil Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 gameplay. They were cut into pieces to show Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer gameplay.

    Activision and Treyarch prepared a Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 video during Gamescom 2025 to expand on what’s new in Black Ops 7. It showed highlighted gameplay and a little bit more about the story…

    Activision calls the next video a “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Direct” presentation. Activision and Treyarch uploaded an extended discussion and more gameplay trailer.

    Activision and Treyarch released a teaser trailer to masquerade as a propaganda video. The Guild is basically a military super corporation that has a large reach across the world. Their motto is “Together, we won’t fear tomorrow.” The media is fear mongering to make us scared or fearful of our future. Forbes is the leading candidate for this fear… Listen to their stories.

    In the second video, Forbes seems to be backing the new private military corporation – The Guild, in attempt to install a new president. This president is backed by wall street, and is saying that the government is the problem. But don’t fret, “Don’t fear tomorrow.”

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S / X, and PC on November 14, 2025.

  • Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection arrives in October

    Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection arrives in October

    Midway was founded as “Midway Manufacturing” in 1958, which released primitive arcade games for amusement parks until 1973 by distributing Space invaders nationwide. Midway saw profits shortly afterwards. Following that, they licensed games like Galaxian, Pac-Man, Galaga, and so on. In 1969, Bally Manufacturing acquired Midway, and consolidated pinball games into the Midway banner and renamed the company as “Bally Midway.” It was then sold to WMS Industries, and WMS then folded Tradewest into Midway to add games to the portfolio. Long story short, Mortal Kombat was released in August 1992 under Midway Games. A few years later, in 1994, Mortal Kombat was a subject of controversy over the blood, gore, and violence. United States congress told the video game industry to create a ratings board, or the government will do it themselves – and the industry heard it. ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) was born, and Australian Classification Board was also formed.

    Mortal Kombat was finally released for Super Nintendo (SNES), Genesis, Game Boy, and Game Gear on Monday, September 13, 1993. Which ironically enough, is dubbed “Mortal Monday.” Mortal Kombat II was released in arcades in November 12, 1993, with the final version being released in January 1994. Console release was on Friday, September 9, 1994 – which again was dubbed “Mortal Friday.” Shortly thereafter, Midway released Mortal Kombat 3 on April 15, 1995. The console release is similar again: Friday, October 13, 1995. Again, dubbed “Mortal Friday.” Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is the final version of Mortal Kombat 3. UMK3 was released November 6, 1995. Console releases were under the radar, and did not get equal amount of attention and/or notoriety the other games did. Mostly because there is no uniformity, no uniform result in how each version “behaved.”

    Mortal Kombat Trilogy as a game was basically a version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and PC. Mortal Kombat Trilogy is technically categorized as a compilation but is a unique “trilogy.” Rather than just throwing the games in a list – like Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in a collection – Mortal Kombat Trilogy pulls characters and stages from each game, using the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 engine as the base.

    Mortal Kombat 4 would go on to be the final Arcade game to be released. To no fault of Midway’s, in general, arcades would start to dwindle, due the market moving onto advanced game consoles. Mortal Kombat 4 was released for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, and PC. Mortal Kombat Gold was an updated version of Mortal Kombat 4 for Sega’s final game console – Dreamcast.

    On June 4, 2025 – Netherrealm Studios, a company comprised of Midway Games developers. On February 12, 2009 – Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the team that developed Mortal Kombat was reincorporated as “Netherrealm Studios.” Netherrealm Studios announced that Digital Eclipse would create a compilation of Mortal Kombat games. This time, it is an actual collection. Digital Eclipse said the collection, which is dubbed “Kollection” – will focus on games released between 1992 to 1997. Digital Eclipse wrote an article on PlayStation’s Blog, to talk about the game, and what will be in the collection…

    • Mortal Kombat – 1992: Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear
    • Mortal Kombat II -1993: Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, 32X
    • Mortal Kombat 3 – 1995: Arcade, SNES, Genesis
    • Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 – 1995: Arcade, SNES
    • Mortal Kombat 4 – 1997: Arcade
    • Mortal Kombat Advance – 2001: Game Boy Advance
    • Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance – 2002: Game Boy Advance
    • Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition – 2003: Game Boy Advance

    There was a mysterious “???” in the list, and the trailer had 4 question marks…

    On August 1, 2025 – Digital Eclipse revealed one of those question boxes… It was Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and Digital Eclipse said that it would be the PlayStation version. The developers said that they’ve reduced loading times across the board. The original release had loading times during the “Versus” screen, and when Shang Tsung was morphing.

    During Gamescom, which took place on August 21, 2025 – Digital Eclipse dropped a surprise trailer that reveals what they consider the final 3 games: Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, and “WaveNet” version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

    During Nintendo’s annual Nintendo Direct livestream, Digital Eclipse released a short trailer unveiling the final release date for Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection…

    Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC on October 30, 2025 digitally, followed by a physical release on December 12, 2025.

  • Hands On with the Battlefield 6 Open Beta

    Hands On with the Battlefield 6 Open Beta

    Electronic Arts has been trying to sell more Battlefield games for over 20 years now. Battlefield launched in 2002 as “Battlefield 1942′ for PC and Mac. Battlefield’s best selling games are Battlefield 1 at 25 Million units, Battlefield 3 at 17 Million units, and Battlefield 4 at 14 Million units. As a franchise, Battlefield only sold 88 Million units in its lifetime. While, their competitor – Call of Duty’s headcount far exceeds 400 Million units/downloads.

    After Vince Zampella started Respawn Entertainment in April 12, 2010 – Electronic Arts started laying the groundwork on acquiring Respawn Entertainment. On December 1, 2017 – Electronic Arts completed the acquisition in a cash and equity deal. In 2009, after a few months of completing Modern Warfare 2, Vince Zampella and Jason West were fired by Activision, denying that they were to pay $36 million in bonuses and royalties. What followed was a lawsuit that resulted in them getting $42 million and an undisclosed settlement. During this period, Vince’s leadership shipped TitanFall and TitanFall 2. After the EA acquisition, Respawn released Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. In January 2020, Vince Zampella was tasked to lead DICE. In the next few years, Electronic Arts brought other teams into the fold: D.I.C.E., Criterion, Ripple Effect, and Motive to form “Battlefield Studios.” After the commercial failures of Battlefield V, and Battlefield 2042 – Electronic Arts was keen on making the new Battlefield title the best game they’ve done since the franchise started. Likewise the Battlefield 6 Reveal Trailer, the Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Reveal, and the two beta weekends were met with rousing success. Even the risky decision to launch “Battlefield Labs,” which is their “beta” program where they distribute alpha-build gameplay to test bugs, glitches, and other issues. It was also meant to test the servers at the same time.

    Battlefield 6 foregoes previous generation consoles, and solely focuses on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC. With this “Hands On,” I played on August 9, through August 10, 2025. Then, the second weekend – August 14, through August 17, 2025. This “Hands On” is going to focus on my gameplay on PlayStation 5.

    I want to preface this “Hands On,” I’ve played Battlefield for a long time. I started around Bad Company. I have been playing Call of Duty since Call of Duty 2, and Call of Duty 3 before it’s even out. Call of Duty 4 is when I started to go deep into the franchise. I’ve played a little bit of Medal of Honor, and my favorite Medal of Honor title is Frontlines. It was obviously inspired by Goldeneye. It shows in the controls. I am going to come at this “Hands On” with this expertise. More than that, I will assume that you are a casual. I will assume that you are just into First Person Shooters, and that you are tired of Call of Duty. I will point out why in this preview.

    Gameplay

    For the most part, Battlefield 6 plays mostly like the previous entries in the Battlefield franchise. Battlefield 6 thrusts you into a war-torn Middle Eastern location. You are an infantry soldier in the frontline. In typical Battlefield fashion, you have 5 classes to choose from. Each has a special “trait” in combat. For example, if you select recon – you are basically a sniper. Your “trait” is to “spot” enemies with your sniper rifle. If you are “Engineer” you repair vehicles. Battlefield 6 blends a few Battlefield games into one. Most will go to Battlefield 3 and/or 4. Battlefield 6 is a “Modern Warfare” game. (Pun intended for effect.) Zampella is at the helm of this project, so that “Call of Duty” touch is there. The gameplay feels familiar. It’s a generic first person shooter, yeah, but it is very much “Battlefield,” but I can’t ignore the inspiration, the little details that Battlefield 6 has, that makes it seem like they are trying to attract Call of Duty players to Battlefield 6.

    So, naturally, Battlefield 6 is competing against Call of Duty, and it shows. Most of the beta was comprised of small maps, small teams. There’s a controversy around this, because most Battlefield games are big maps, big teams – the best way to describe this from Call of Duty’s perspective is a bunch of modes that are similar to Ground War. In the beta, we had several match types that emulate Ground War. In a match of Ground War, typically is 32 vs 32. The biggest match in Battlefield is typically 64 players, or 64 vs 64. I even wrote an article about 128 Players not being overkill. This was long before Fortnite was even a thing. Most consoles couldn’t handle 128 Players until PlayStation 4/Xbox One was on the market. Because that many players carries a lot of information, which would cause lag.

    I would argue that most Call of Duty fans are looking for a Battlefield type of game. Oh yeah. Yeah. Battlefield 6 is that game at the moment. It blends the ideas of Call of Duty, and ideas of Battlefield. Most Call of Duty fans are tired of the old 16 vs 16 match type. So, Battle Royales and multiplayer need to move beyond the 16 vs 16, 32 vs 32, and even the 64 vs 64 matchtypes. Most Battle Royale games are capped at 120 players. I argue that we need to break this ceiling, and bring more chaos to gameplay. I had a lot of fun with the Battlefield 6 Beta. And you will notice why in some of the videos that I have embedded in this article. They are my highlights of the beta. Over the course of this article, I’ll explain the little details that makes Battlefield 6 the perfect blueprint.

    Controls

    I mentioned that Battlefield 6 blends ideas from Call of Duty, and some ideas from Battlefield. This is one of those areas where Battlefield Studios finetuned Battlefield 6 to emulate Call of Duty. Now, granted, they did this with Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. However, Battlefield 3 had a few issues with the game itself when it was in beta, and then at launch. My opinion with Battlefield 3, is it’s a good game, yes, but I would say there are some issues that I have with it. Controls felt a little bit sluggish, a little bit janky at times. Battlefield 4 was a more polished version of Battlefield 3, it felt like D.I.C.E. learned a lot from Battlefield 3, and applied it. With Battlefield 6, this polish is moved up a bit. This is evident with the movement, and the Aim Down Sight (ADS) controls, feels, and implementation.

    They made it smoother when it came to running, and then transitioning that movement into action “A” to “B.” So, if I am running, and I want to ADS, the animation is responsive. Now, if I saw something from a distance, and I want to hide from that player, I can transition from standing, to crouching, and then ultimately to leaning on your back – as if I was dead. All of that is responsive, no clunkyness, no weirdness. Nothing. Black Ops 6 has a few issues in this department, and I said as much in the Black Ops 6 Beta Hands On.

    Graphics

    All the footage that I captured during the beta is 100% from my PlayStation 5 at 4k raw. It takes me an hour to upload the gameplay because PlayStation 5 records gameplay at 4k 60fps, and the files are in WEBM (a variation of WEBP) which results in filesizes up to 20 GB for just ONE HOUR. YouTube “compresses” this from their end. During the compression process, YouTube upscales them to the various video resolutions. 4k included. Why am I saying this? Because Battlefield 6 is one of the best looking first person shooters that I’ve played in a while. The frostbite engine itself is being pushed to its ABSOLUTE limit. At one point, it crashed one of my matches. And that was the only time that Battlefield 6 crashed in my game time. Xbox Series and PC players had this worse. They were crashing a lot.

    The game looks similar to most first person shooters on the market, but I think that Battlefield Studios wanted Battlefield 6 to look, and feel like a Call of Duty game. It’s not just Vince Zampella on the project, but the developers themselves put their touch to the project, and you can see in the gameplay that I have posted here. At one point, Battlefield 6’s tanker battles look entirely different than most first person shooters. In Battlefield 6, you can have two tanks in the same area, and they’d be battling for supremacy. It feels like Battlefield 6 is aiming to differentiate from all the other shooters while trying to attract Call of Duty fans.

    Online Connectivity

    For the most part, the online connectivity is smooth sailing. I think that Battlefield Studios made a great decision by foregoing the idea of porting Battlefield 6 to previous generation consoles like PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Battlefield Studios’ decision to focus on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC is better, because I’ve seen how previous consoles hold back the current consoles. As I mentioned before, Battlefield 3 had a few framerate issues because there was a lot of players on the map which feeds information between consoles and the servers. Battlefield 4 had a similar issue, but was mitigated by a more powerful console like PlayStation 4.

    Music & Sound

    The music is good, but it only plays during menus, and other User Interface menus like picking the spawn point in which you spawn from once upon dying. When you bleed out, the music also plays. I don’t think it plays during gameplay, and if it does, it’s kinda silent. However, sound design is the highlight of Battlefield 6. Between graphics and sound, they have the same quality impact. Beautiful graphics, and beautiful sound(s). For example, when you’re in the tank, it feels like you’re inside that tank. Every shot, every rocket feels impactful both from the “Main Gun” and the gun turret – which, by the way – are both controllable. You and a player in the tank can both use the main gun, and the gun turret. Each cockpit has a particular point of view and both control independently of each other. Each point of view has a “feeling” because of the sound.

    Misc Feedback

    Obviously, because of the PlayStation 5’s controller, you’re also getting impact from the haptic feedback. Every shot, every boom, every levelution can be felt from the haptics. You can also feel like you’re in a military match because the on-board microphone talks at you in addition to the voices on the game itself.

    Replay Value

    The replay value is dependent on what you are feeling that moment. Do you want to be an Assault player? Do you want to be a Recon player? Do you want to get into a tank? Is your team in sync with you? Are you ballsy enough to sneak into a tank and help out the domination flag and end the game? Do you want to be a sniper sniping from 20 Meters away? Battlefield’s biggest strength is from the freedom to do whatever you want in the game. That is the only difference between Battlefield games and Call of Duty games. Since Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, Call of Duty hasn’t figured out a way to open up the gameplay loop. Battlefield’s greatest strength besides the freedom the game provides, it also offers destructible environments. Levelution has been a feature since Battlefield: Bad Company. You can’t technically camp in Battlefield. You can, but then they have a strategy to get you off your “high horse.” That strategy is called levelution. You can destroy just about any object in Battlefield games. Although, and this is what the developers said; not all buildings or object is “levelution-friendly” as in, you won’t be able to destroy all buildings – which is a game design choice, not a technical issue. It still gives you that complete freedom to do whatever you want on that map.

    CarlosX360’s Battlefield 6 Gameplay Playlist

    In Conclusion

    The greatest strength that a Battlefield game has is the great freedom players has in the sandbox game of a Battlefield game. You can be an Assault player, a Recon player, a Medic, or go into a tank. Battlefield 6 is a beautiful looking game, and a beautiful sounding game. With that beautiful looking game, you can level buildings in an effort to expose campers. Battlefield 6 encourages collaboration across all types of players, if you are a medic, you are encouraged to revive fallen players. If you are an Engineer, you are encouraged to repair vehicles including tanks. If you are a Recon player, you are encouraged to “spot” enemies for others to eliminate. You are encouraged to resupply players with ammo as a Support class.

    You are encouraged to use vehicles to your advantage. You can get into an aircraft, you can get into a jeep, you can get into a Main Battle Tank. You can either be the driver and control the main gun. Or you can control the turret gun. Some of these vehicles can cause levelutions. This year, Battlefield fans have a great experience ahead of them.

    Battlefield 6 is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC on October 10, 2025.

  • Gamescom 2025 Opening Night Live Recap

    Gamescom 2025 Opening Night Live Recap

    Gamescom is a yearly games expo that takes place in the heart of Germany. Gamescom this year is set to take place online and in-person at Gamescom 2025 on August 20 through 24. However, Geoff Keighley kicked off Gamescom on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Geoff made game announcements and game reveals during his “Opening Night Live” event. Here’s the livestream that just wrapped up…

    More information is forthcoming between now and August 24, 2025. Microsoft said they have a big livestream on Thursday, August 21, 2025.