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Stellar Blade, the debut work from South Korea-based Shift Up, launches on April 26. The highly anticipated release is preceded by a wave of mostly positive reviews that began publishing April 24.
Though most say this is a good game, few find it to be a breakthrough or transformative work, despite the pre-release clamor from PlayStation fans.
Taking a look at eight major sites’ appraisals of Stellar Blade, the consensus seems to be that the gameplay — particularly its combat — is where Stellar Blade and its heroine, Eve, shine the most. Nearly all of them found the story and characters dull or underdeveloped, or both, though they diverged on how much this disappointed the rest of the game for them.
Taken together, it seems critics take a positive view of what already looks like a crowd pleaser thanks to some impressive demo download figures. But it might also be that Stellar Blade is more of a popcorn flick than a cult hit, but also not something that shows up on a list of nominees later in the year.
Stellar Blade, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is a PlayStation 5 exclusive. Metacritic currently gives it an 82 score based on 98 reviews. The scores below are normalized to a 10-point scale.
IGN
IGN reviewer Mitchell Saltzman enjoyed Stellar Blade’s visuals, gameplay and combat, saying it lives up to its inspiration in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. But the story arcs, minimal role-playing, and lack of character development gave little reason for players to immerse themselves in the sci-fi adventure.
Praised: “Thankfully, the most important part of an action game is the action itself, and Stellar Blade checks pretty much all of the boxes when it comes to its combat. It’s smoothly animated, challenging, satisfying, has a healthy amount of enemy variety, and while there’s a lot of depth, it never became overwhelming in what it demanded of me.”
Panned: “Both its story and characters lack substance, and some of its RPG elements are poorly implemented, like dull sidequests that very often reuire you to retrace your steps through previous levels with very little done to make the return trip feel unique or rewarding.”
Score: 7 out of 10

Gamespot
GameSpot’s Imran Khan likewise felt Stellar Blade’s story and inscrutable character motivation poorly served a visual style and gameplay reminiscent of standout titles like Bayonetta and Nier Automata. Khan doesn’t feel the game reaches those heights, “but that it attempts to do so without falling on its face is remarkable enough.”
Praised: “Gameplay is bolstered by an interesting and exciting combat system that leans heavily on parries and dodges at its corefoundation. Far from a combofest, Stellar Blade puts meat on the bones by feeding all your actions in battle into ultra-powerful special moves.”
Panned: On pacing, “the problem is that individual sections of the game are entirely too long. […] Things that should feel like set pieces you are meant to tear through start to feel overlong in their execution […] In that sense, it is often like Stellar blade wants to have its pacing both ways.”
Score: 8 out of 10
Game Informer
Matt Miller of Game Informer gave Stellar Blade a Game Informer must-play badge, acknowledging the game’s “convoluted and predictable” story but finding the game’s “unusual pace and flow” to be quite enjoyable.
Praised: “The further I played into Stellar Blade, the more it surprised me with the depth of its action and the breadth of play experiences. The story never clicked for me, but the world-building, top-notch art, and silky animation certainly did.”
Panned: “Eve is mostly a blank slate of a character, and it’s disappointing that we see so little character development throughout her lengthy adventure.”
Score: 8.75 out of 10

The Verge
The Verge’s Ash Parrish noted the same disparity between story and gameplay, but found that disparity more harmful to one’s enjoyment of Stellar Blade than some of the more forgiving reviews.
Praised: Parrish found the opening acts of Stellar Blade to be “impossibly dull” to the point she “very seriously considered quitting altogether.” But the gameplay saved the game: “Enemies, even basic ones, got frustratingly hard to the level I would expect in a soulslike,” meaning this is what she wanted from combat. “Once the game gets going (which can take anywhere from five to seven hours) […] regular enemy fights are much harder and much more engaging than some bosses.
Panned: “The platforming sucks and there’s way too much of it. […] Unlike combat where you at least learn something when you die, platforming in Stellar Blade felt more like muddling your way through awful, much-too-long sections until you finally figure out exactly what the game is asking you to do.”
Score: The Verge does not score its reviews.

Other review scores and critics’ comments
Polygon: “The rip-roaring opening and rollercoaster of a final act make up for the padded middle that, combined with a lack of combat variety, stops the game short of true excellence.” (Unscored)
GameRant: “The near-naked main character is unsurprisingly stealing a lot of attention, but remove that element from the equation and what’s left is an absolutely incredible action game that provides a satisfying challenge and rewarding melee combat.” (9, or 4.5 of 5 stars)
GamesRadar: “Repetition dulls its world, a few lovable characters can’t stop the story from losing steam, and annoying inconsistencies in its most core mechanics keep Stellar Blade from true greatness.” (7, or 3.5/5 stars)
PC Magazine: “Tight defensive systems, excellently designed enemies and bosses, a fascinating setting, and bombastic character designs combine to produce a PS5 game that earns our Editor’s Choice award. Action fans shouldn’t miss it.” (9, or 4.5 of 5 stars)
Images via PlayStation.com
The post Stellar Blade reviews roundup: Critics love the gameplay and action, but not the story appeared first on ReadWrite.

Hexworks, the developer behind Lords of the Fallen, has launched update 1.5, marking it the “final milestone” for the game’s original content roadmap on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Publisher CI Games is now shifting focus to upcoming titles in the franchise.
In a statement on its website, CI Games revealed there had been more than 30 updates since launch, “resulting in significant improvements to performance, stability and optimization, alongside rigorous difficulty balancing in response to user feedback.
“The update also delivers the final milestone of the game’s extensive post-launch roadmap: the Advanced Game Modifier System,” it confirmed.

Today marks the arrival of VERSION 1.5 – ‘Master of Fate’: The culmination of 30+ post-launch updates resulting in significantly improved performance, stability & optimisation, alongside rigorous difficulty balancing, and also includes our ‘Advanced Game Modifier System’,… pic.twitter.com/idbgfhvl8f
— LORDS OF THE FALLEN (@lotfgame) April 24, 2024

CI Games, the publisher and owner that reduced its staff by 10% in January to maintain business stability, is now setting its sights on expanding the Lords of the Fallen series. CEO Marek Tyminski told IGN that as of the end of 2023, Lords of the Fallen had sold 1.3 million copies, a number he described as “solid.”
“From its release to December 31 last year, Lords of the Fallen’s sales totaled approximately 1.3 million units,” he said. “This is a solid result, which allows us to plan further development of the brand. Now, our aim is to ensure its next installments attract even more players, partly through refined and improved game design, and partly thanks to the increasing popularity of this IP.”
“We’d like to thank the many players who have embarked upon Mournstead since we launched six months ago; their belief in our vision has been a real driving force for us,” Hexworks executive producer and head of studio Saul Gascon said in a news release.
He explained that the period of live support for the game was expanded with an “ambitious post-launch roadmap,” which was built around significant content updates and smaller releases in order to improve performance and stability improvements.
He added: “Reaching version 1.5 with the ‘Master of Fate’ update and its genuinely groundbreaking modifier system marks the completion of that roadmap, making the Lords of the Fallen experience the best it’s ever been.”
What is the Advanced Game Modifier System?
The latest feature, the Advanced Game Modifier System, empowers players by giving them the ability to tailor their gaming experience extensively.
This system offers a range of seven modifiers that can be combined in various ways to make the game easier, more challenging, or to provide a fresh experience with each playthrough.
Options include randomizing enemy placements, adjusting the density of mobs, and even incorporating a type of permadeath, which now can give the game options for a roguelite playthrough.
Featured image: Hexworks / CI Games
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According to Bethesda Game Studios, the Fallout gaming franchise has had almost five million active players in a single day across all of its titles.
Fallout 76, the online multiplayer take on the irradiated landscape of Appalachia has recorded fantastic statistics in the wake of the series’ resurgence with one million active players. This is on top of the surge of measurable attention created elsewhere by the Fallout TV show airing on Amazon Prime to critical acclaim, and the recent announcement that a second season is in the works.
Bethesda posted their success to X on Tuesday, adding: “…and almost five million across all Fallout games in a single day!”

Thank you to the over one million of you who adventured with us in #Fallout76 in a single day… pic.twitter.com/rbariEI4q8
— Fallout (@Fallout) April 23, 2024

How Fallout hit a milestone player count
The Fallout game series stretches back to 1997’s Fallout, published by Interplay, when MS-DOS systems, Windows, and macOSX became the catalysts for future installments.
The franchise has come a long way since then, and the most recent incarnations of the dialogue-driven narrative explorer have become synonymous with consoles.
Bethesda’s Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, and Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout: New Vegas are especially etched in console gamers’ minds because of their marquee story events, memorable sidequests, and unforgettable characters. Despite their age, these titles retain large player bases, somewhat in part to the large modding culture they support. THe TV show has helped these narrative single-player games get a new lease on an already long life.
On the multiplayer side, Fallout 76 hitting this milestone and attracting these players is no mean feat for a game seen as a roaring dumpster fire at launch almost six years. Early reviews of the mechanics, the private servers costing coins, and the lack of challenging content dismayed players at the time.
Fallout 76 gets a second chance, and doesn’t waste it
However, in recent months, the game has returned to the form expected of a studio like Bethesda. Story-driven narratives and the slight terraformation of the Appalachian map caused players to return and enjoy the slight nods to Fallout games in the past. This new player base is exploring the wasteland to get more context on what makes the show tick.
So it is no wonder that more and more players are emerging from vaults across Fallout 76 and the daily downloads of older installments are increasing. Fallout fever has taken hold and Bethesda couldn’t be happier.
This will be seen as a boon for the gaming studio whose last deep role-playing game, Starfield, flattered to deceive. An Xbox exclusive for its September launch, it’s now earmarked for a port to PlayStation 5 later in 2024.
We recently broke down the best mods for gamers who have wandered the wasteland and are looking for more after watching the Walton Goggins-fueled TV carnage.
Image: Bethesda Game Studios
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Don’t let its charming stylized looks deceive you – Another Crab’s Treasure packs a real punch.
As FromSoftware enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame for its trademark dark fantasy worlds and challenging, satisfying combat, there have been many Souls impersonators in recent times. From AAA titles such as Jedi: Fallen Order and Stellar Blade to indie endeavors like Death’s Door and Hollow Knight, developers Aggro Crab are the next studio to stick their claws into the mix.
While on the surface of things (or should we say the shell of things?) Another Crab’s Treasure looks extremely silly, but it manages to nail down the core loop of a Souls-like game. Challenging combat, exploration, RPG elements, and dying a lot are key features of this underwater adventure.

Story and themes
In Another Crab’s Treasure, you take control of Kril, a hermit crab whose shell gets repossessed due to missed tax payments. Determined to get it back and return to a life of doing nothing in the tide pool, Kril is soon entangled in a tale much bigger than him. As a protagonist, he brings a very “I wasn’t supposed to be here today” vibe to the game.
As you continue to fail to recover Kril’s shell, the state of the ocean reveals itself to you, and it’s not good. Trash forms the basis of the crustacean economy and is found everywhere. Highlighted of course by Kril’s use of whatever he can find as a shell, the garbage is all-pervasive and is being used for anything and everything, from clothes to buildings to currency. It’s not all fun and games though as a mysterious illness called Gunk has started affecting those most exposed to the pollution.
Coming from the indie team behind Going Under, Aggro Crab, there’s a ton to love about Another Crab’s Treasure. It has an extremely strong sense of its own style and it wears its humor on its sleeve. In a distinct departure from many of its Souls-like brethren, Another Crab’s Treasure is bright and colorful. Characters are cartoonish but extremely well-realized and distinctive, with excellent voice acting.

Tonally, the game pendulums between dark humor (‘crabitalist’ will never stop being one of the best jokes ever written) and existential dread. One way it most flexes its Souls-like credentials is how it deals with heavy themes throughout the game. For a cute game about an angry crab, it goes hard. The soundtrack can’t go without a mention either, it does its job extremely well and creates excitement,
Combat
As with any Souls-like, Another Crab’s Treasure lives or dies by its combat, and you can tell Aggro Crab has worked hard to make a system with depth and real challenge. There’s a huge variety of shells to equip (over 50), with a huge range of special abilities and variations. The fact that they degrade quickly and you often have to scramble around to find a new shell mid-combat is reminiscent of the weapon degradation system in Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which I maintain was a good feature), encouraging moments of excitement, anxiety, and experimentation.
You also unlock access to more combat abilities through the power of Umami. I did find it annoying that parrying and riposting had to be unlocked and weren’t available from the start, but the currency is easy to come by and I was failing to parry enemies in no time. As you defeat certain key bosses you also get access to Adaptations, highly powerful moves that you can use for a massive boost to combat. I’m a simple gamer and my favourite was the really big punch.

However, the combat system is not without flaws. Its fast pace can make it hard to keep track of what is going on, especially given that many enemy attacks will stun or knock back briefly. It’s very easy to lose your bearings when every attack sends you flying across the area. Some bosses especially were made extremely difficult because their attacks were fast, hard to read, and deadly. Dodging was also very hit-or-miss, and enemies frequently had ranges larger than my dodge. Responding to feedback from the demo, Aggro Crab said they were aware that the combat felt a little slippery and unpredictable to some players and had worked to resolve this feeling, and while it is definitely better than in the demo, it doesn’t quite have the polish I’d hope to see from a game where the combat is so central to the gameplay.
Exploration and platforming
As well as Souls-like, Another Crab’s Treasure flexes its 3D platformer muscles, and does an extremely good job of making exploration fun and rewarding. There are loads of areas to go and explore, and almost all of them have a reward of some kind at the end. Levels use verticality extremely well, and you frequently loop back on yourself with unlockable shortcuts and the archetypal “doesn’t open from this side” doors.
It’s a universal truth that any game is improved by the addition of a grappling hook, and Another Crab’s Treasure doesn’t make you wait too long to get your claws on one. It doubles up for both exploration and combat which makes its inclusion feel doubly justified.
On occasion when platforming or doing combat in a small space, I felt like the camera was working against me. It frequently swung around wildly, and the fixed distance between the camera and Kril meant that sometimes I’d be inside a room fighting for my life, but the camera was uselessly showing me the outside wall of a building I was inside. Likewise, when platforming, it felt like you had to ensure the camera was pointing in a very particular direction before leaping or Kril would change direction suddenly (and somewhat nauseatingly) and you’d rapidly be swinging to your doom.
Conclusion
Mild annoyances and nitpicks aside, Another Crab’s Treasure is a gem of a game. It’s not going to be for everyone, but that’s okay. I don’t say that because it’s hard (though it is), because it has an excellent Assist Mode with adjustable settings to make the game incrementally easier if needed, but because the style and humor just won’t land for some people. The game is equal parts silly and dark, not a combo that everyone digs. I found the escalating story engaging and it really pulled me through the final boss gauntlet, but it’s a harder sell if you don’t. Equally, some people won’t like the cartoonish graphics, especially when juxtaposed against heavier themes.
If the style, humor, and premise do appeal to you though, I urge you to give this game a go. It really delivers on what it promises to do and Aggro Crab has to be applauded for that. Get your claws on Another Crab’s Treasure from April 25th.

Release date: April 25th
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X |S, Xbox Game Pass
Price: TBC
Developers: Aggro Crab
Publishers: Aggro Crab

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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a jet of fire projected towards you by a flame-throwing robot dog, which you can own for a mere $10,000.
The Thermonator, as it is aptly named, is now available for purchase for $9,420, and looks like it could belong in a Robocop movie. Unsurprisingly, the device comes with a few warnings.
Ohio-based Throwflame is available in every state, except for Maryland, even though flamethrowers are not federally regulated and are not classified as firearms by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). A smaller version is sent to those in California, resulting in an operational range of less than 10 feet due to state regulations.

Possessing or using a flamethrower in Maryland is punishable by a $250,000 fine and up to 25 years imprisonment.
The flame is fueled by either gasoline or napalm. The machine includes a one-hour battery life, can project flames up to 30 feet, and features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities for smartphone remote control – and not for streaming Rambo at the same time.
It also comes equipped with a LIDAR sensor for mapping and obstacle detection, laser sighting, and first-person view (FPV) navigation via an onboard camera. The product includes a version of the Unitree Go2 quadruped robot, which is sold separately for $1,600 in its basic configuration.
The company does not market it as a modern-day weapon, but instead promotes the flame-throwing robot for its utility in wildfire control, agricultural management, entertainment, and ice removal. And of course, for setting things on fire.
The Cleveland firm released the first-ever full-sized, commercially available flamethrower in 2015, which shoots flames up to 50 feet.
“This unregulated flamethrower sparked a significant media response relating to legality,” Throwflame shared on its website.
“However, flamethrowers remain federally unregulated. This means anyone can buy one without background checks or a waiting period.”
How people reacted to the flame-throwing robot dog
Predictably, social media was awash with comparisons to the “Metalhead” episode from the fourth season of Black Mirror. The Agile Mobile Robot from Boston Dynamics bears a striking resemblance to the machine, and it was initially the robot that drew parallels with Metalhead.
The episode explores the chilling possibilities of these machines turning against us, showcasing a desperate struggle for survival in a world where robotic dogs can outrun and outthink humans.
User Rob Sheppe wrote on X: “Some real-life Black Mirror ‘Metalhead’ terror right here. How is this legal? The target market appears to be psycho killers and militia who want to take out a playground or a protest march. There is no legitimate use for a flamethrower robot dog.”

Some real-life Black Mirror “Metalhead” terror right here. How is this legal? The target market appears to be psycho killers and militia who want to take out a playground or a protest march. There is no legitimate use for a flamethrower robot dog.https://t.co/HYypsypscD
— Rob Sheppe (@robsheppe) April 23, 2024

While the fittingly named DG Burns said: “Just what the world needs, robots with flamethrowers.”

well then… just what the world needs, robots with flamethrowers…. pic.twitter.com/ObUsht7VbJ
— DGBurns (@davidgburns) April 24, 2024

Timothy Imholt added: “I kind of want to just to see if there is any kind of paperwork or checks on who I am.”

Available to the public? So I can order a flamethrower bot?
I kind of want to just to see if there is any kind of paperwork or checks on who I am. https://t.co/EDNdusc6tx
— Timothy Imholt (@TimothyImholt) April 23, 2024

In 2015, Congress proposed a bill that aimed to regulate flamethrowers in the same manner as machine guns, but the legislation stalled and was eventually dismissed.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) only recently unveiled their new best friend: a robot called the CERNquadbot. The four-legged robot is reported to have successfully completed its first radiation protection test — and it passed with flying, radioactive colors.
Featured image: Throwflame
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