The Mchose V9 Turbo enters the highly competitive £100 wireless gaming headset market with some bold hardware features. Boasting a clever magnetic charging dock, seamless 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, and a battery that refuses to die, it looks like a fantastic all-in-one package on paper. But can it deliver a balanced experience, or will it compromise where it matters most?

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:59 Build Quality, Materials and Controls
02:07 Weight and Shape
02:42 Charging on the Dock
03:07 Battery Life
04:13 Dock and RGB
04:38 The App and files
05:40 Firmware update for English
06:06 Virtual Surround
06:59 AI Noise reduction
08:19 Equaliser settings and audio
10:05 Gamer 1 Profile and tweaks
11:41 Gaming Audio Experience
13:38 Carlos' closing thoughts

Specifications:

• Driver Type & Size: 60mm Composite Diaphragm Driver.
• Connection Modes: Wireless 2.4GHz / BT Wireless / Wireless Type-C / Wired.
• Battery: 2000mAh.
• Weight: Approx. 320g (excluding microphone) 330g (with microphone)
• Charging Base: RGB Magnetic Charging Base Station.
• Ear Cushions: Ice-Cooling Protein Leather (Replacement fabric ear cups included).
• Microphone: Detachable AI Noise-Canceling Microphone with 360° Voice Pickup.
• Software & Features: MCHOSE M HUB (7.1 Virtual Surround Sound, Custom EQ Modes, Battery Display).
• Compatible Platforms: PC / Laptop / PS5 / PS4 / Switch / Mobile / Tablet.

Closing Thoughts

The Mchose V9 Turbo is a headset that gets the physical hardware incredibly right, but stumbles on the execution of what makes a headphone great. On the positive side, the magnetic charging dock is brilliant – simply dropping the headphones into place via the volume knob cutout is effortless. Comfort is great, especially when using the included fabric pads, and the battery life is pretty solid.

There is definitely a software bug that makes the battery report a solid 100% life remaining even after 75 hours of active use, but with the convenient charging station I see no use-case where battery will be a concern. The 2.4GHz wireless latency is also spot-on for gaming which is always a must for any wireless headsets.

Unfortunately, the audio experience lets it down. The sound profile feels small, thin, and shouty, severely lacking in low-end energy and sporting recessed mid-frequencies. It is a fatiguing listen for both music and gaming. Even with tools like Equalizer APO, you are fighting against the built-in DSP, making it hard to find an enjoyable tuning, let alone if you just stick with the built-in equalizer on the Mchose app.

The microphone is equally only OK, delivering a muffled, highly compressed sound that easily picks up keyboard noise, requiring noise reduction that further makes it muffled and compressed.

I also spotted some software quirks that could be easily addressed, such as stealthy background processes even when closed, a max 45-minute auto-power-off timer that given the convenient dock setup could have offered a off setting, and a blinding green LED on the dongle.

For £100, I would personally prefer moving to a £20-30 set of IEMs and an external USB microphone on a boom arm, but if you need flawless wireless and are ok with compromising on sound quality, these are worth considering.

You can buy the Mchose V9 Turbo for around £100 HERE.

Pros:

• Brilliant magnetic charging dock makes top-ups effortless.
• Strong battery life that lasts for weeks.
• Excellent 2.4GHz wireless performance with consistently low latency.
• Comfortable fit, especially with the included fabric earpads.

Cons:

• Audio is thin and a little fatiguing thanks to poor mid/low-end energy.
• Muffled, highly compressed microphone with unimpressive clarity.
• Some annoying software quirks (always on bright green dongle LED, background running processes, battery percentage reporting is broken).

KitGuru says: The Mchose V9 Turbo nails the wireless experience, but it is ultimately let down by fatiguing audio and an only OK microphone.

The post Mchose V9 Turbo Wireless Headphones Review first appeared on KitGuru.

Back in 2022, former Forza Horizon developers started up a new independent studio with the goal of creating a new open-world driving game. This new game was set to be published by Amazon Games but a recent shake-up of Amazon's game development and publishing business has now led to the deal being scrapped.

Amazon Games has withdrawn from its publishing agreement with Maverick Games. The decision leaves Maverick’s debut project, a narrative‑led open‑world driving game for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, without a publisher.

In its statement on the move, an Amazon spokesperson told The Game Business:

“As part of our strategic evolution to focus on projects that leverage Amazon’s unique strengths and scale, including the recent re-launch of Luna and our Tomb Raider franchise partnership with Crystal Dynamics, we have decided to release Maverick Games from their publishing agreement with Amazon Game Studios. We have tremendous respect for the Maverick Games team and the compelling narrative-led driving experience they’re creating. This decision allows Maverick Games the flexibility to find a publishing partner whose strategic priorities are better aligned with bringing their game to market.”

Maverick Games has already confirmed plans to continue working on the game and it will be searching for a new publishing partner. At this point, the game should be quite far along, so it could feasibly be ready for a 2027 release window.

The move comes during a period of significant contraction for Amazon’s gaming ambitions. Over the past year, the company has cut most of its MMO development staff, including teams behind New World: Aeternum and an untitled Lord of the Rings MMO. Amazon has also shut down the recently released co‑op title King of Meat and sold the unreleased MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft.

While Amazon has scaled back its gaming operations quite significantly, Amazon does still have some key publishing projects coming up, including two new Tomb Raider games from Crystal Dynamics.

KitGuru Says: With so many gaming companies making cuts in recent years, this does not feel like a good time to be in search of funding.

The post Amazon cancels publishing deal for new driving game from former Forza devs first appeared on KitGuru.

It has been quite a while since Slay the Spire 2 was first announced but the wait is finally coming to an end. The game will begin its Early Access development phase soon, with an early version of the game becoming available on Steam next week.

Mega Crit has confirmed that Slay the Spire 2 will launch into Early Access on Steam on March 5th, accompanied by a new animated trailer highlighting the sequel's expanded scope and newly added four‑player online co‑op.

The original Slay the Spire became a widely loved indie hit thanks to its fusion of roguelike progression and deck-building mechanics, with each run through the game offering something fresh. Slay the Spire 2 builds on that foundation with a substantial list of additions, including new cards, characters, relics, potions, events, enemies, and alternate acts designed to keep you coming back for another run.

We do not yet know how long Slay the Spire 2 will remain in Early Access for, but we expect to see a number of feedback-driven content updates in the year ahead.

KitGuru Says: Slay the Spire 2 has been one of my most anticipated indie games for a while now. Are you planning on picking it up during Early Access?

The post Slay the Spire 2 finally hits early access next week first appeared on KitGuru.

While sentiment surrounding PlayStation right now is far from its peak, thanks in part to the recent closure of BluePoint Games Studio, the console maker is continuing on with its live-service efforts. Alongside the upcoming Marathon playtest, Sony has now confirmed that the recently-announced Horizon Hunters Gathering is getting its first closed playtest this weekend.

Making the announcement via the game’s Steam page, the team at Guerrilla Games confirmed that the first closed playtest for their upcoming live-service project ‘Horizon Hunters Gathering’ is set to go live this weekend.

Available to those who are signed up to PlayStation’s beta program, the playtest will kick off on the 27th of February and will conclude on the 1st of March. Unfortunately, this first session is limited to those in North America and Europe – though both PS5 and Steam users can get in on the action at the very least.

Of course, the playtest will feature just a slice of the full experience, with Guerrilla confirming the following will be present and playable:

• Three characters to choose from
  • Axle
  • Rem
  • Sun
• Two game modes
  • Machine Incursion (Normal / Hard)
  • Cauldron Descent (Normal)
• 1 region to explore (Colorado Springs)
• Access to the ‘Gathering’ (social hub)

As mentioned, those interested in checking out the game ahead of time will need to sign up to PlayStation’s beta program. While this won’t guarantee you access, make sure to check out your emails over the coming days in case you are selected to join.

Considering the fact that Sony’s track record when it comes to live-service titles has been a bit spotty, it is encouraging to see that the console maker is hosting multiple playtests in order to ensure the final product is one which players actually want to engage with and return to on a regular basis. It will be interesting to see what fans think of Hunters Gathering when it goes live this weekend.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Horizon Hunters Gathering? Are you planning to sign up? Let us know down below.

The post Horizon Hunters Gathering Playtest goes live this weekend first appeared on KitGuru.

Is your mouse pointer inexplicably pulling a disappearing act whenever you hover over Outlook? Don't bother troubleshooting your PC as it turns out that this quirky phenomenon is a known issue. According to Microsoft, it only affects the classic version of Outlook and now the newer release, which even though it has been replaced, will still

We have already tested a number of notebooks from manufacturers that are rather unknown in this category and that you usually associate more with mini PCs. That is also the case today with Geekom, who on paper promise quite a lot with the X14 Pro. Only 6 mm thin, 999 grams light, and a 2.8K […]

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With Blizzard seemingly successfully reviving the Overwatch franchise in the wake of its recent overhaul, the team looks set to expand the IP out into new mediums. While the mainline Overwatch remains a console/PC only experience, a brand new mobile-exclusive spin-off has now been announced in the form of the top-down 4v4 shooter Overwatch Rush.

Taking to their blog to make the announcement, the team at Blizzard officially unveiled their latest project, writing: “Today, we’re introducing Overwatch Rush, a new top-down Hero shooter designed specifically for mobile set in the Overwatch universe.”

Being developed internally at Blizzard (though by a new team separate from the mainline Overwatch devs), Rush is described as “an entirely new game – not a port – built specifically for mobile players”. This is quite evident from the early development footage shared, showing a game which is clearly Overwatch but operates in an entirely new top-down / isometric perspective.

As of now, very few additional details have been shared, with the team confirming that “there remains a lot of work to do”. Those interested in following Overwatch Rush’s progress directly can do so via the game’s Discord server.

Bringing live-service titles to mobile is always an interesting endeavour, with some trying to port the game as is, while others go for a more dedicated mobile-first experience. Both methods have had their successes and failures, and so it will be interesting to see what becomes of Overwatch Rush once it eventually launches on mobile.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? Should Rush share progress with the main game? Would you have preferred a more direct port of Overwatch instead? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Blizzard announces top-down 4v4 shooter ‘Overwatch Rush’ for mobile first appeared on KitGuru.

Boomer Shooters have seen a notable surge in recent years, with players finding comfort in titles which offer satisfying gameplay loops, engaging combat and interesting visuals – focusing on the dopamine hits associated with turning your enemies into giblets. Available now for the next two weeks, the Boomer Shooter Blueprint bundle features a bunch of fun and fast-paced experiences, including but not limited to Mullet Madjack, I Am Your Beast and Selaco.

Put together by ‘Kirk Collects’ and the curation site Digiphile, the ‘Boomer Shooter Blueprint’ bundle is available to purchase from now until the 11th of March. Costing $17, fans of the genre will have plenty to get stuck into no matter your preferred visual aesthetics – with 7 titles in total being offered:

• Selaco
• I Am Your Beast
• Mullet Madjack
• Beyond Citadel
• Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun
• Incision
• CULTIC Chapter One

I Am Your Beast is a level-based boomer shooter which puts emphasis on speed and accuracy, giving you limited weapons and ammo initially in a Hotline Miami-styled gameplay loop of try, die and try again. Featuring a surprisingly emotional narrative, I Am Your Beast is certainly worth giving a go.

Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun on the other hand is another entry in the ever-expanding Warhammer universe. Featuring an early-90s visual set-up blended with Warhammer iconography, Boltgun is worth checking out regardless of your opinion on the IP.

Beyond Citadel meanwhile offers a blend of OG DOOM and classic anime, while upping the gameplay to line-up closer with more modern titles.

Another anime-inspired entry is Mullet Madjack: “a HIGH-OCTANE-ACTION SHOOTER” featuring a cel-shaded aesthetic and vibrant visuals, with an emphasis on completing levels as quickly and efficiently as possible. Full details on all of the included titles can be found HERE.

As with most bundles, a portion of the money will go towards charity, with the Boomer Shooter Blueprint bundle supporting ‘Whale and Dolphin Conservation’ – “the leading charity dedicated to the protection of whales and dolphins.”

KitGuru says: What do you think of this bundle? Will you be picking it up? What’s your favourite modern boomer shooter? Let us know down below.

The post ‘Boomer Shooter Blueprint’ Bundle available now, including ‘I Am Your Beast’ and half-a-dozen more first appeared on KitGuru.

Xbox recently underwent a massive shake-up, confirming the retirement of long-time head Phil Spencer alongside the announcement that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be stepping down from her role. In the wake of this, Xbox’s new CEO (Asha Sharma) and COO Matt Booty sat down to discuss these latest events and what’s next for the brand.

Taking part in an interview conducted by Windows Central’s Jez Corden, the new heads of Xbox Asha Sharma and Matt Booty spoke on their roles within the company. The interview itself is rather lengthy and covers all manner of topics ranging from the notion of ‘return to Xbox’, AI and more.

In discussing Xbox’s new strategy following these latest shake-ups, Sharma offered a bit of a contrasting take, stating that “the plan's the plan until it's not the plan” (a strategy which does not seem too different to what they were operating under previously).

Given Sharma’s ties to AI in previous roles, the new CEO was also asked about the controversial technology and its place within Xbox. According to Sharma: “I think that with any new technology, it brings possibilities as a tool, but even more important, especially now — we need to draw lines on what we won't do. That's what I attempted to do when I shared my opening letter. I will not flood our ecosystem with slop. We won't have careless output, we won't have derivative work. I deeply believe in the words that I shared previously there.”

This statement is particularly interesting as Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella wrote back in January that “we need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs sophistication”. Of course, Nadella’s statement was met with a ton of backlash, and so it’s possible that Sharma’s comment was made with that in mind.

Of course, talk is cheap and so we will have to wait and see whether Sharma and Booty put their money where their mouths are. Regardless, 2026 is set to be an interesting time for Xbox. The full interview can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of these new appointees? Can they right the Xbox ship? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post New Xbox heads discuss the platform’s future following major shake-up first appeared on KitGuru.

German hosting provider Hetzner will adjust its prices across its entire product portfolio on April 1, 2026. This affects cloud servers as well as dedicated servers, storage offerings, and supplementary services. According to the company, the new terms and conditions will apply to all locations worldwide, including Germany, Finland, the US, and Singapore. The decisive […]

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AMD is going on the offensive, and not with the handbrake on. The US chip manufacturer has signed a multi-year, cross-generational agreement with Meta that, according to reports, could address an infrastructure volume in the range of “several hundred billion US dollars.” The focus is on customized Instinct GPUs from the upcoming MI450 generation and […]

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The competition for technological supremacy in the field of artificial intelligence is reaching a new dimension. AMD has entered into a comprehensive, multi-year partnership with Meta aimed at expanding a powerful, energy-efficient AI infrastructure. The agreement centers on upcoming generations of Instinct GPUs, EPYC server processors, and rack-scale complete systems that will be specifically tailored […]

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While Nvidia and AMD are battling it out in the AI market, Intel, under the new leadership of Lip-Bu Tan, continues to look like a giant in search of a compass. Rumors had been swirling for a long time: a takeover of AI chip specialist SambaNova was supposed to finally give Team Blue the necessary […]

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The loss of long-standing major customer 1&1 has left a significant mark on O2 Telefónica’s balance sheet. The German subsidiary of Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica recorded a 3.8 percent decline in revenue to around €8.2 billion in the past fiscal year. The decline was even more pronounced in adjusted operating income, which fell by 8.8 […]

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AMD is facing increasing headwinds on the subject of FSR 4, and this time not from NVIDIA, but from the community. While the manufacturer officially limits its current upscaling generation to RDNA 4 graphics cards and DirectX 12 titles, the open-source tool OptiScaler has now created facts: With the test build 0.9.0-pre10, FSR 4 is […]

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Retrocade on Apple Vision Pro is the nostalgic virtual 1980s arcade experience VR gamers have been waiting for, and arguably the best visionOS title yet, though multiplayer is sorely missing.

One of the first ideas anyone with any interest in retro gaming has when they first try VR is a faithful recreation of a 1980s video game arcade. Earlier this month, Resolution Games released the best version of this idea we've seen yet, exclusively on Apple Vision Pro's $7/month aptly-named Apple Arcade game subscription service.

Retrocade was developed by Resolution Games, the veteran XR game studio behind dozens of top titles across all major headsets. Chances are, if you're a VR gamer, you've seen their logo pop up before a game you love. Apple contracted Resolution to build Game Room for Vision Pro's launch and the Gears & Goo tower defense game that released last year, both also on Apple Arcade. Resolution also ported its flagship cross-platform title Demeo to visionOS.

Retrocade is also available as a flatscreen game on iPhone and iPad, and if you're a mobile gamer I'm sure you'd have fun with it. But where it really shines is in its native visionOS version, with realistic true-scale cabinets placed in either your physical space or a nostalgic depiction of a typical 1989 American arcade.

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In this virtual arcade you'll find the following 10 licensed games cabinets:

• Breakout (1976 - Atari)
• Space Invaders (1978 - Taito)
• Asteroids (1979 - Atari)
• Pac-Man (1980 - Namco)
• Centipede (1981 - Atari)
• Frogger (1981 - Konami)
• Track & Field (1983 - Konami)
• Galaga (1981 - Namco)
• Bubble Bobble (1986 - Taito)
• Haunted Castle (1988 - Konami)

While the virtual cabinets are impressively realistic, and the control elements like joysticks and buttons are animated, I should note that you don't actually directly interact with them using your hands. Instead, the game requires a Bluetooth gamepad, such as a PlayStation DualShock controller, the controls of which map to those of the cabinets.

Pressing the Select button on your controller inserts a virtual coin into the cabinet, and Start remotely presses its 1 Player mode button. From here, the action buttons (eg, AB/XY) map to the cabinet's action buttons and you can use either of the sticks, or the D-Pad, to move the joystick.

The virtual coins inserted into the cabinets are unlimited, by the way. There are no microtransactions in Retrocade, though that might be an interesting monetization option for people unwilling to pay the subscription fee for Apple Arcade.

When playing any of the games, you can switch between being inside the virtual arcade, with all the other cabinets visible around you, or to have only the cabinet you're playing in your physical space. Retrocade can be a VR or mixed reality game, whichever you prefer.

Oculus launches Arcade along with several new VR games

The launch today of pre-orders for the redesigned $100 Gear VR is accompanied by the availability of Arcade, offering “more than 20 classic games like Pac-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Gauntlet” all playable in a virtual arcade. The app is available as a beta release from the Oculus Store. Prices

UploadVRIan Hamilton

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There have been other official attempts in the past to bring a retro arcade to VR, such as the discontinued Oculus Arcade for the Samsung Gear VR phone-holder headset and Oculus Go. But both headsets were 3DoF, rotation tracking only, meaning you couldn't lean around and appreciate the cabinet as an object in space.

A decade later, Retrocade on Apple Vision Pro is the same idea but done right – mostly. The combination of the powerful M-series chipset, high-resolution micro-OLED displays, rock-solid positional tracking and hard work of Resolution Games delivers a feeling that the cabinet is truly there in front of you, and the virtual arcade environment induces a deep feeling of immersive nostalgia.

The smallest details of each cabinet are faithfully recreated in real-time, and the on-by-default CRT filter, to my eyes at least, looks identical to what you'd get from a real display of the era. Retrocade would be a delight to look at if it were just a non-interactive passive environment. And yet what you get here is 10 fully-playable, true-to-original games too – some of the most iconic of all time.

All this is not to say that Retrocade is perfect.

I understand why Resolution chose to require a controller, as it's far more precise and reliable than hand tracking input would have been. Though I do wish hand tracking input was an experimental option, or at least supported for pressing buttons. There's something a little jarring about having such a realistic cabinet not respond to poking at the buttons.

Another issue is that the mixed reality mode operates as a Full Space, so it doesn't support visionOS Shared Space multitasking. You can't put on a movie or YouTube video in the background, if that's your thing, and nor could you have an instant messaging or security camera app open. If you absolutely need multitasking, you can play Retrocade in a 2D window, where it essentially acts like the iPad app. But this entirely removes the magic of having a virtual cabinet.

The more pressing problem with Retrocade, though, is that you might feel lonely. The magic of the real arcade was not just the cabinets, but the people there beside you. The real Bubble Bobble and Track & Field supported simultaneous multiplayer, while the other games supported alternating turns. What I really want here is SharePlay – to see friends as Personas standing beside me, able to interact with the cabinet too. The only social layer in Retrocade is that the game sends your stats to Apple Game Center, so you can asynchronously compete with friends, but this just isn't the same thing as feeling together.

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Retrocade - The Final Verdict

If you accept it as a singleplayer experience, Retrocade is a beautifully polished rendition of the virtual 1980s arcade VR gamers have dreamed of. It's a shame that it's exclusive to a $3500 headset, but it seems Apple paid for the development of the game. Hopefully other VR platforms get something similar, perhaps from another arcade game company like Sega, in the near future.

You can find Retrocade on the visionOS App Store via the Apple Arcade subscription.

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UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.

The PlayStation VR2 port of Titan Isles has blasted its way onto Sony's headset.

Today, Psytec Games has released their high-mobility action-adventure shooter Titan Isles on Sony's PlayStation VR2. The game lands just twelve days after Psytec announced its PS VR2 release date.

Designed to make the most of PS5's hardware, the PS VR2 port runs at a native 90fps on base PS5, boosted to 120fps on PS5 Pro. The devs also confirmed that both the base and Pro versions utilize native resolution and eye-tracked foveated rendering for maximum visual clarity. Psytec Games has also made the most of the PS5 controller's adaptive triggers, giving each weapon its own resistance, plus headset haptics and full bHaptics support.

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We previously reviewed Titan Isles when it debuted on Meta Quest, and found it to be "a compelling action adventure that's equally enjoyable in co-op and single-player." Our reviewer went on enthusiastically, writing that Titan Isles was "the most fun I've personally had with a VR co-op experience since Dungeons of Eternity."

Titan Isles is available starting today on the PS VR2 store at a cost of $24.99. The game is also available on Steam and Quest.

The team at Discord introduced some discord to our newsroom today. First, a company representative sent us a statement requiring us to update a previous article on its "Teen-By-Default" policy, and then it turned around and dropped a new announcement outlining changes to the policy and how the rollout is being delayed until later this year.

Sherlock Holmes: The Master Detective is the latest VR adaptation of the iconic detective, delivering uneven investigations in Early Access.

No stranger to video game adaptations, Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective has seen his fair share of reimaginings, from a young amateur grappling with the supernatural in Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened to the immersive theater online co-op seen in Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Hung Parliament. Each iteration hones in on a different aspect of the character that, done well, is interesting in its own right. Out now on Early Access, Sherlock Holmes: The Master Detective is an uneven portrayal of the character, even if there is an entertaining core gameplay at the heart of it.

Starting in the famous 221B Baker Street apartment, a woman bursts through the door clamoring for help: a man has died in mysterious circumstances. Before leaving, you are allowed to rummage through the place. Sherlockians will find his previous exploits scattered around the furniture. Picking up files from his old cases like The Hound of the Baskervilles makes the seasoned investigator mutter a few words about how it ended in such a tragic way. An out-of-place Meta Quest 3 box earns the description of being “a lens into countless realities,” signaling that the story is developing in the current era.

A modern-day Sherlock Holmes has been done before, most notably in the famous 2010 BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch. This time around, he is brought up to speed with innovative tools to help with his sleuthing. This version of the character is armed with a magnifying glass, a chemical analyzer, and a fingerprint scanner. After finding and packing them in a slick toolbox, one last tutorial reveals itself as the focus. Much like classic point-and-click adventures, Sherlock Holmes: The Master Detective asks you to find hidden objects in a specific area.

Leaving the apartment only to find the crime scene is just down the street, it is relatively surprising that you are allowed to explore the short but shady alleyways of London. Graphically, it is your usual Quest 3 slightly cartoony look, but the music and attention to detail are appreciated. Walking by a record store, for instance, lets you listen to the sound of a vinyl emanating from a record player. A souvenir shop showing Holmes’ own escapades shudders amusingly when grabbed. Lastly, a red telephone box ringing close to the mansion where the crime happened whispers to Sherlock that there is more than meets the eye in this case.

There are currently only two cases available to play. One in a lavish residence, the other in some shadowy docks, the way they unfold is rather straightforward: question the suspects, find the correct items in determined areas, and accuse the guilty party of the murder. As mentioned, finding objects is the main course, such as keys, torn documents, or pieces to grander puzzles in a sea of everyday items.

Other than object finding, light puzzles like reconstructing torn photographs and moving pieces to fit a painting are a welcome change of pace. My personal favorite was using the modern tools at hand: carefully inspecting a corpse's markings and accessories worn with the magnifying glass or analyzing a cup with the fingerprint scanner felt more akin to detective work.

Of course, like any other respectable whodunit, there is an overarching plot of a secret society with paranormal overtones. Because there are only two episodes so far, it ends on a cliffhanger that still has no answer. At the time of writing, the developer has not given a concrete timeline of when new updates will drop, so I would recommend entering this mystery with caution. I would personally be devastated if they did not follow through with the enticing setup.

As an Early Access release, it is understandable when only certain options are offered or shortcuts are taken, but in this case they felt like they detracted from the experience. The only way to move is by teleporting and snap turning, with no smooth turning or walking to speak of. What stood out like a sore thumb, though, was the use of generative AI. The voice acting is wooden, and the sound quality is blown out. Sherlock’s accent itself, jumping from American to British as the chapters changed, was jarring to say the least. Using AI-generated images can be considered harmless, as the clue-finding is where it's at, but it is still there.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Master Detective is a promising title with considerable drawbacks. The atmosphere is so well recreated that even in its modern setting, it feels attuned to the iconic tales from which it originated. Emphasizing object searching, it is a relaxing experience that fans of point-and-click mysteries will enjoy. While the lack of constant communication regarding future support from the developers is alarming, the current offering is a middling pastime.

Sherlock Holmes: The Master Detective is out now in Early Access for Meta Quest 3/3S.

Quest 3 mixed reality game Laser Dance adds two new challenge modes this week in its first major content update.

Launching February 26th, the update introduces two new challenge modes designed to intensify the game's Mixed Reality laser obstacle courses.

Thomas Van Bouwel, the creator of Laser Dance and the critically acclaimed puzzle game Cubism, has announced the "Challenge Update" for Laser Dance is coming this week.

The update adds two optional unlockable game modifiers to increase the game's difficulty and to add to replayability. The first, called Grid Overlay, layers a dense mesh of lasers over existing levels, which demands heightened precision from players. The second, called Invisible Lasers, causes laser beams in the play area to fade as players approach, demanding more player spatial awareness. Audio cues and controller haptics become more critical in this mode.

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Laser Dance turns your living space into a challenging maze full of lasers, where the goal of the game is to navigate the maze and reach certain places throughout the room. We reviewed the game when it debuted late last year, calling it "one of the easiest games to play ever made. [...] it belongs in most libraries and should be a go-to party game."

Laser Dance is available now on Quest 3 and 3S. 

Building a PC with a radiator? Well, nearly every PC has a radiator; after all, that's what the finstack on your tower cooler is. Building a PC ON a radiator? That's a different story altogether. YouTuber Billet Labs has built what might be the coolest build you've seen in a while, because it's the coolest one we've seen in years. Aesthetically,

GOG (formerly known as Good Old Games) has been fighting an uphill battle for some time, despite being generally well-received, in a battle to stay relevant amid Steam's unapologetic market dominance. Despite gamers' widespread hatred of DRM (Digital Rights Management) copy protection software, Steam's relatively lax DRM has long been allowed

Drawing from its comic book origins, Empire City offers a promising glimpse into one of 2026's most anticipated VR titles.

After an early look into the sewer lair of the eponymous turtles, Cortopia Studios, recently known for Gorn 2 and Escaping Wonderland, have released a limited-time PC VR demo as part of Steam Next Fest. The new demo is roughly 15-20 minutes long and functions as an extended tutorial that introduces the combat and parkour mechanics.

The demo goes through each turtle in turn, starting with Leonardo, then Michelangelo, Donatello, and ending with Raphael before a final section where you can choose your preferred character. The four brothers are infiltrating a building while encountering numerous Foot clan soldiers. Each turtle has their signature weapon and most of the enemies can be put down without too much difficulty. Each successive hit or parry of an enemy's attack builds up a focus meter that, when maxed, activates a signature trait. Depending on which turtle is selected, this can be anything from increased focus gain to more damage landed per attack.

It should be noted that the combat is not physics based, more akin to something like Deadpool VR than Blade and Sorcery. Weapons do not have any weight and can be swung with the lightest flick of the wrist. This is not a complaint and it absolutely fits with the IP, but those who prefer more 'realistic' combat may bump into what's on offer here.

The demo breaks down into each character introducing a part of the gameplay. Leonardo gives movement and combat basics, Donatello has to hack locked doors by solving a couple of simple puzzles, Michelangelo parkours across the rooftops, and Raphael is forced to work on his parrying technique by the turtles' sensei, Master Splinter. Each section plays out in just a few minutes, long enough to get familiar with how to play the game, then this section of the demo ends with a boss fight I won't spoil, except to say I promptly lost.

Everything here just works. The combat and parkour is fluid and intuitive, the voice acting is spot on for each turtle, and though weapons have no weight, they still feel distinct from one another and coupled with the focus meter traits, offer a reason to try different turtles depending on playstyle. I could've stood on that roof twirling Michelangelo's nunchucks for hours.

After this, the demo moves to the aforementioned sewer lair. From what I can tell, this is the same as the earlier hands-on demo from months back. Seeing it for the first time, there's a clear attention to detail, with each room instantly recognizable as to its inhabitant. This is also the first time Master Splinter and April O'Neil are shown.

Aesthetically, Empire City utilizes a cel-shaded art style similar to Deadpool VR that fits the turtles' comic book origins. Everything is sharp and detailed with no visible performance issues to speak of.

Overall, this demo does exactly what a great demo is supposed to: make me want to play the full game. There's very little in the way of story to pick up on here other than the involvement of the Foot clan. It is simply an introduction to the world and masterfully serves its purpose.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City can be wishlisted on Steam, Meta Quest, and Pico now and is listed as coming in Spring 2026. The demo is playable as part of Steam Next Fest until March 2 at 10am PST.

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