The team at CD Projekt Red recently introduced updates BANDARSOCCER for The Witcher 1 and 2 that run on Apple Silicon, and they’ve done a good job with the Mac version of Cyberpunk 2077 too. They say that it will run even on Macs with a basic M1 processor – although the bad news is that you will need macOS 15.5 and at least 16GB of memory to run it properly (and there’s no support for Intel Macs either). It’s been a few years since Cyberpunk 2077 was released for PCs, but at least that allowed the developers to fix all the technical problems, and they’ve done an impressive job adapting it for the latest Apple Silicon Macs. The game’s vast open world creates a great sense of freedom as you explore Night City, and decide how to cope with having Keanu Reeves inside your brain.
Stu relives the halcyon days when the RTS genre was fast, action packed and criminally addictive. Serpentcoil Island offers challenge and charm, but only for the most patient of wanderers. The team behind RPG Maker jumps into the world of pixelated side-scrollers and top-downs. Physical game enjoyers rejoice – the Switch 2 version of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds will have the full game on the cartridge, Sega confirms. One of the greatest strategy games ever is free right now.
It never feels like a gimmick or the only tool you have to solve every problem, but rather one integral part of Bananza’s larger game design philosophy. I was rarely asked to create random tunnels underground with no guidance like you might in Minecraft, and DK’s upgradeable sonar ability helped me find buried collectibles hidden to the naked eye. And, Pauline helps out with the search, too, as using her singing ability reveals waypoints to collectibles marked on your map, making it easy to pick your next destination. That keeps the hunt for completion focused and fun, even if the camera occasionally struggles with the weird angles you force it into when digging yourself a nice hole. Of course, if you want to rip an entire level down to the studs for the fun of it, you can do that, too. Every breakable corner of DK’s world (which is most of them) is bursting with timeless Nintendo magic and equally fresh ambition.
Basically, you can’t really complete a quest over the course of the campaign without pissing off one of the four main crime families in order to please another. Cosying up with one cartel might get you cheaper prices at a merchant you’re onside with, but it’ll also rob you of the ability to move about freely within the headquarters of another gang you’ve slighted, inadvertently or otherwise. Outlaws’ combat serves up some solid cover-based shooting with authentic sounds and punchy smoke-and-spark effects with each blaster bolt impact, but precious little in the way of new ideas – it’s less Bad Batch and more basic bitch. There’s always the challenge of knowing when to detonate them to take out the most enemies, but that’s the same thing we’ve been doing for decades, so while it’s effective, it doesn’t make Outlaws’ combat stand out. Kay has her own special set of skills when it comes to sneaking her way into each high-security facility. However, I never grew tired of the rhythm-based lockpicking, a surprisingly simple yet effective game of Simon Says that has to be one of the snappiest and most satisfying ways to open locked doors and crates that I’ve enjoyed in a while.
Bananza is a constant crescendo across its 20-hour campaign that hits its pinnacle with an unforgettable finale that cements this as one of the best 3D platformers I’ve ever played. The story can be inscrutable with its endless wave of proper nouns and forced references (there are a series of mech bosses dubbed G.HOSTs and enemies that call back to Splatterhouse, of all things), but that’s by design. Despite being in a genre that’s worlds apart from the original Pac-Man, the adventure is squarely focused on turning that game’s central maze into something bigger. It isn’t just represented as a tangle of 2D corridors loaded with both secret passageways and dead ends.
I won’t discuss it in detail, since that would be a huge spoiler. But I will say that what happens left me truly distraught – real tears were shed, for quite some time – but the way it all plays out feels like classic Squid Game. Remember the way Marbles made you feel like you’d been stabbed in the heart? The way the season addresses the show’s central questions about humanity and society under capitalism is also deeply moving, and very much open for interpretation. All I’ll say is, amid so much horror, there is still hope to be found.
These side-challenges don’t just stand out on the merits of nostalgia; they have such a defined tone and identity, whereas the rest of Shadow Labyrinth feels like it’s the product of thorough notetaking. Colors and shapes dance to club beats in the digital abyss. It doesn’t matter who the ghosts are or why they want to kill our round hero so badly. I just feel the urgency in my bones as I duck and dodge a swarm of angry specters. 45 years later, there’s still a power in those minimal chase sequences that giant games can’t dream of emulating. Shadow Labyrinth sometimes feels like it’s trying a little too hard to fit in with today’s scene.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 – Interactive Alcatraz Map
Furry friend Nix is vital to Outlaws’ stealth mechanics, as he’s basically a space cat drone who functions like a Watch Dogs phone. The highest tier resources, which are needed to craft endgame vehicles and weapons, can only be found in the deep desert, a majority PvP zone many times larger than the PvE map. That’s also where you’ll find rare blueprints for the best gear and industrial amounts of spice. Even a quick raid on an NPC base in the deep desert will quickly fill your pockets with incredibly useful loot, and after my first visit, all I wanted to do was go back. There’s a bunch more sandworms trying to eat you and a ton of other players looking to gank you. A staggeringly excellent final season with pulse-pounding games, heartbreaking character moments, phenomenal performances from the entire cast, and a storyline utterly unafraid to take huge, bold swings.
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But as the game’s progress starts to wind up and down through sublevels, it begins to feel a lot more quest-y than any Mario game. Our reviews of the latest and upcoming games, movies, TV shows, and more. If you want to see our favorite video games, check out Polygon Recommends. We reveal the 20 best-reviewed video games (for all platforms) released in the first half of 2025, ranked by Metascore.
All that neon negative space that defines classic Pac-Man games is filled in at every turn, replaced with a fan service bedtime story cobbled together from nods to Namco history. It’s a misguided approach, but one that’s just learning from its peers. Some of today’s biggest hits cloak their stories in tantalizing obscurity, but that’s an illusion. They lay as many cards down as possible, explaining the world in exhaustive detail through hollow lore. These are games built for the age of YouTube explainers that rake in millions of views by putting the scattered pieces in order rather than interpreting them.