DICE has revealed that Title Update 1.1.3.6 for Battlefield 6 will come out on February 3rd. Moreover, the team shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what it brings to the table. According to DICE, Patch 1.1.3.6 is a small update designed to make the game run more smoothly. It improves stability, fixes a … Continue reading Battlefield 6 Title Update 1.1.3.6 Detailed – Full Patch Notes→
I confess that I had never heard of 2020’s pixelated arcade shooter Huntdown, but after playing (and replaying) through the demo for its upcoming prequel, Huntdown: Overtime, I immediately went back and did so. That’s because I was so completely hooked by the hour or so of roguelike action that I was fiending for more. Playing the original was also a lot of fun, but this followup seeks to improve in just about every way, making it a bit hard to go back. The cheeky retro ‘80’s tone appeals to my thirst for nonsense, the run-and-gun sidescrolling action channels the likes of Contra or Metal Slug, and the roguelike system of upgrades and repeated failure against daunting odds made it extremely hard to put down. I went from this not being on my radar at all, to eagerly anticipating when it comes to Steam Early Access later this year, making this an early contender for my most anticipated indie game of 2026.
You can infer almost everything you need to know about Huntdown: Overtime’s absurd 80s pulp action vibe by its title alone. Taking place in the dystopian, crime-ridden city of Detroit in 2084, you play a cybernetic rogue robocop who battles against flamboyant street gangs like something out of every VHS action movie you’ve ever seen. You’ll go toe-to-toe against the likes of a shirtless bouncer who pummels you with his fists and climbs around on the ceiling like a monkey, to a six-fingered rockstar called Sammy Sixfingers who tries to kill you with an electric guitar while performing a guitar solo in front of a live audience. The whole thing is just incredibly over the top in the right kind of way, making it very easy to replay each section as you try and fail to get through levels in typical roguelike fashion.
It certainly helps that even when you’re replaying through the same series of levels, things are always a little different. For one, the bosses and levels you end up with on each run have a bit of randomness to them in terms of which you’ll get and in what order, which is aided by the fact that you’re given two routes to choose from if you’d like to avoid one you’ve seen more of than you’d like. The levels themselves seem to be procedurally generated as well, and kept me on my toes with slightly different layouts and enemies never appearing in the same order. This procedural component isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, and the level layouts and enemies you’ll find are similar enough playthrough-to-playthrough that you’ll figure out the patterns pretty quick and run out of things to be surprised by (at least in the short section I played).
It actually sort of reminded me of Hotline Miami, reimagined from a sidescrolling perspective.
Combat is also not anything new, modeled after the likes of Contra or Mega Man, where you’re running and jumping through 2D levels blasting everytc hing in sight as you avoid incoming bullets and environmental hazards. That said, though it doesn’t have many new tricks, the formula it apes is extremely polished here, even in this pre-release state. While initially I was dying a lot and felt destined to be outmaneuvered by the numerous gangsters coming after me, it took less than an hour before I was sliding around, flying through the air, and shooting my way through entire sections without taking a single hit. That’s the kind of rewarding mastery I look for in games like this. It actually sort of reminded me of Hotline Miami, reimagined from a sidescrolling perspective, because although you can take more than one hit, there’s something very pleasantly familiar about the crisp gunplay and melee combat, especially when you hit someone with a baseball bat and see their pink, pixelated giblets go soaring across the screen.
The highlight of each run is when you come into contact with the larger-than-life bosses that can be found in each level. Some of these appear in regular sidescrolling levels, whe re maybe someone named Frankie Starsimmon Sr. will attack you with a big ol’ shotgun and leave you with the option to damage her before taking her alive, or just killing her for a lesser bounty. The ability to take bounties alive for an added bonus to your reward is a particularly nice touch that I’m glad to see they added after the original. But things get especially crazy during the boss fights where you go up against someone with a dedicated boss health bar. The main fight in the demo was against a rockstar who used his stage’s pyrotechnics to try and burn you alive, and always had his stagehand nearby to hand him a new electric guitar after he lost the last one trying to hurl it through the back of your head. These fights can be really challenging, as roguelikes are wont to do, and nine times out of ten when I failed a run it was the fault of one of these deadly weirdos. But they were also some of my favorite moments, and made gearing up for the next big fight that much more exciting.
The retreaded ground you’ll encounter as part of the roguelike formula feels especially easy to get through because of the steady stream of unlockables, upgrades, and buildcrafting options that come with each new playthrough. In one playthrough, for example, you might decide to forgo guns for a pure melee weapon build, grabbing perks and upgrades that enhance your close-range combat skills, while in another you might get your hands on a new plasma rifle you just unlocked and blast your way through rows of thugs with ease. Like many of its genre peers, the joy is in having a build come together perfectly so you can bring it to bear against the string of challenging bosses that have been sending you back to the beginning again and again.
The impressive thing about Huntdown: Overtime is that, at least in the full region I played during the demo, I never started a new run without a ton of new stuff to level up and try out. Sometimes that meant I’d unlock a new weapon that could then be found and powered up during runs, while other times it meant buying a certain permanent upgrade that made my healing items more potent, made me move faster, or some other useful boon to give me an edge on my next run. The pace of unlocks and progression felt perfectly balanced so I never felt like I’d hit a wall or had nothing interesting and new to bring into battle next time. It was so easy to immediately go from one run to the next, that even though I originally sat down for a 20-minute session, I ended up playing until I beat every boss in the demo in a single sitting, completely unable to tear myself away when I was sure the next playthrough would bring me victory. And even after I had my first successful run, I then was returned to base to find even more stuff had unlocked that I just had to try, and found myself immediately going straight into my next run just to try out some new stuff. I can’t remember the last time I found myself so instantly hooked!
Even though I originally sat down for a 20-minute session, I ended up playing until I beat every boss in the demo in a single sitting, completely unable to tear myself away.
One thing that piqued my interest after I went back to play the original Huntdown is the fact that this prequel only has one playable character versus the numerous agents you could take on the role of in the first game. While it feels weird to go backwards with the number of playable characters, Overtime’s demo was so polished and finely tuned that I honestly didn’t feel like I was missing much. It seems to be their focusing in on one specific playstyle and trying to make that work extremely well vs. the buffet-style protagonists, each with their own bag of tricks, that was in the first Huntdown.
I wasn’t expecting to end up so completely won over by such a short glimpse into Huntdown: Overtime, especially after seeing its dorky story and retro art style, but you can count me among the believers. For any roguelike fans out there, this is absolutely one to watch.
This review is based on a screening from the Sundance Film Festival.
In Union County, writer and director Adam Meeks offers an intimate glimpse into America's opioid epidemic. His feature debut, adapted from his 2020 short of the same name, employs a blend of actors and non-actors. With permission, Meeks collaborates with the participants of the 2025 Adult Recovery Court in Bellefontaine, Ohio – his hometown. What's presented is an impressively understated portrayal of the highs and lows of battling addiction, noteworthy for its solemn authenticity.
Will Poulter stars as Cody Parsons, a drug addict since he was a teenager who enters a court-mandated rehabilitation program. The Adam Warlock actor tackles a largely internalized role, as Cody chokes down his demons while attempting to lead a sober lifestyle. In the same program is his brother Jack (a scruffily bearded Noah Centineo), whom Cody introduced to narcotics seven years prior. Together, Cody and Jack attend their Adult Recovery Court meetings in the hope of progressing to further levels…but there's no off switch for their cravings.
Meeks’ chameleon act of inserting Poulter and Centineo into actual Ohio addiction meetings pays mighty dividends. Like 2023’s Sing Sing, which cast real-life alums of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts group, Union County never feels like it’s pandering or out of touch. As participants take the podium to update the judge on their progress or struggles, we witness their genuine reactions. It's not hard to pick Poulter or Centineo from the lineup at first, but that's not the point; in these scenes, the actors fade into the background while real addicts bare their humble vulnerabilities to the audience. It's the kind of independent experimentation that's perfect for the Sundance Film Festival, and it would make Robert Redford proud.
Poulter is up for the challenge as Cody, thrown into a tumultuous role where every day and decision is monumental. From relapses to rebuilding, Poulter keeps a stoicism about Cody that reads like a man who's constantly at war with himself. There's a correlation between increased dialogue and Cody's upward trajectory, as Meeks uses his self-isolating protagonist to demonstrate the healing power of community. Union County does a beautiful job of capturing the compassion and dedication within Bellefontaine's Adult Recovery Court, from encouraging guardians to motivated graduates.
Everything rides on the believability of actors mingling with untrained program participants, and the film passes with flying colors.
The Ohio-based production draws on the townsfolk’s spirits, which helps everything fall into place. Costume designs blend Poulter, Centineo, and the few other professional actors with the others while cinematography captures the midwestern vacancy of lumber plants and wavy, grassy fields. Nothing's Hollywoodized; drama is kept soft and quiet, despite the gravity of the consequences. As Cody gets a menial job, moves into a no-frills sober house, and crushes on a peer supporter at the neighboring woman's home (Anna, played by Elise Kibler), Meeks locks in on the prevailing silence, in which addicts can unfortunately suffer all too ofteen.
However, Meeks' low rumble of an addiction film might test the patience of specific viewers. It's extremely grounded, with a listlessness to its story progression. At times, Union County feels like it's settling into the too-familiar motions of the addiction subgenre, shuffling toward the next court appearance without much escalation. Meeks' intentions are plain, and he achieves the tone and pacing he deems appropriate, but the film almost hesitates at points before moving forward with a fairly evenhanded yet sporadically tepid consistency.
That said, what Meeks accomplishes by embracing environmental normalcy is a potent achievement. Poulter interacts with program members as if they're longtime acquaintances, while they reciprocate organic empathy when Cody shares his pain in group sessions. Everything rides on the believability of actors mingling with untrained program participants, and the film passes with flying colors. It's a compassionate, penetrating, bare-all snapshot of what people with a substance use disorder face throughout their lives, and a film that inspires excitement about the future of American independent filmmaking à la Kelly Reichardt or Derek Cianfrance.
Google has begun selling access to Project Genie, an interactive world creation tool that lets you generate playable environments from a prompt — including those featuring Nintendo characters.
The technology is certainly remarkable, as Google's Genie 3 models playable 3D spaces in real time based upon user inputs, and allows you to run, swim, fly, or ride in vehicles around its AI-generated worlds.
But the AI technology has also launched with a telling lack of restrictions around copyrighted material — which the model also appears to have been trained upon. A preview of the possibilities published by The Verge shows its reporter able to create playable 3D scenes that look a direct copy of Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Kingdom Hearts.
Step inside Project Genie: our experimental research prototype that lets you create, edit, and explore virtual worlds. 🌎 pic.twitter.com/HQr1FRNlpy
Footage published on social media shows gameplay clearly based on Nintendo's actual Breath of the Wild, where a knock-off Link runs around a world similar to Hyrule, and accurately deploys a glider as he leaps off a cliff. Other creations include a generated world with similarities to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto.
There is no map pre-loaded in memory. As your agent explores, Genie predicts and renders the path ahead instantly. Infinite exploration. pic.twitter.com/5lZzhFS6vo
Right now, Project Genie is limited to generating interactive experiences it can maintain for up to 60 seconds, with a resolution and frame rate capped at around 720p and 24fps. Still, Google is selling access as part of its Google AI Ultra subscription, its top level of access to AI features that costs $124.99 per month when signing up for a three-month package. (Also, Project Genie access is currently just for U.S. subscribers aged 18 or over.)
"Project Genie is an experimental research prototype designed to follow prompts a user provides," Google Deepmind product manager Diego Rivas told The Verge when asked why the the product generated material that was clearly based on Nintendo intellectual property. "As with all experiments, we are monitoring closely and listening to user feedback." The Verge noted that its ability to generate worlds based on Mario had subsequently been halted, with a warning message that blamed the "interests of third-party content providers."
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