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Amazon’s AI assistant is smarter, but still struggles.
Product Reviews

Amazon’s AI assistant is smarter, but still struggles.

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This week, Amazon will launch new Echo hardware designed to supercharge Alexa Plus, the AI-powered upgrade to its voice assistant. I’ve been using Alexa Plus for the last few months as part of its Early Access program, and while the new assistant is off to a promising start, it’s still clearly a work in progress.

To fix Alexa, Amazon had to break it apart and rebuild it. The result is a hybrid smart home assistant, personal assistant, and Amazon’s answer to ChatGPT. Right now, in its Beta phase, this new Alexa isn’t doing any of those things as well as I’d hoped.

This is most obvious in the smart home. Controlling my lights, locks, and robot vacuum with natural language rather than precise phrases is a huge improvement, as is not having to say “Alexa” repeatedly and being able to interrupt, um and er, and change my mind mid-thought. But we are still far from the dream of the ambient home that runs on a Star Trek–style “Computer.”

Today, running on what feels like underpowered hardware and with surface-level integrations into my smart home, Alexa Plus often leaves me frustrated. There’s power under that hood, but it feels largely inaccessible. The assistant desperately needs something to make it more compelling — and better hardware could be the answer.

Alexa Plus should make the smart home smarter

Generative AI is supposed to be a watershed moment for the smart home. By cutting through the complexity of programming your home and removing the frustrations of clunky commands, LLMs should make the smart home more accessible. And in many ways, Alexa Plus delivers.

I can now say, “Alexa, dim the lights in here, adjust the thermostat down a few degrees, lock the front door, and turn the upstairs lights off. Oh, and remind me to take the trash out in the morning,” and it all happens. This kind of easy, hands-free convenience is exactly what the smart home has promised for years.

The old Echo Show UI (left), compared to the new Alexa Plus UI, which offers more control and a more intuitive interface. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge and Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Managing my devices is also simpler. Instead of scrolling through thumbnail clips in the Ring app, I can ask an Echo Show 21 when the cat was last on the porch and instantly see a full-screen video. The updated UI on the Show 15 and 21 is a big improvement, with larger widgets, customizable layouts, and easier access to smart home controls.

Recently, Alexa and I chatted about the best ways to use my smart home gadgets to their full potential. It suggested possible routines, built the automations, tweaked them based on my feedback, and tested them — all in minutes, with no fiddling in the (still clunky) Alexa app. It even helped me set up a new air purifier and folded it into one of those routines.

But there are issues. Alexa Plus is noticeably slower, with some requests taking up to 15 seconds for a response. While turning on lights or adjusting a thermostat is fast enough (I assume due to using local connections over Matter), waiting for over 10 seconds for the weather or a song to play is tiresome.

Some basic features that used to work reliably now don’t or require new phrasing every time. My struggles to control my Alexa-enabled coffee machine persist, and I can’t get Alexa to consistently turn on my bathroom fan for a set period of time.

The Echo Show 21 can display live feeds from up to four Ring cameras, as well as pull up specific events using voice commands. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

I used to say, “Turn on the bathroom fan for 15 minutes,” and it did it. Now, Alexa Plus tells me it has to create a routine to do that, and then doesn’t run that routine. Or it says, “Sure,” turns the fan on, but never turns it off. I’ve tried this a dozen times and haven’t had a consistent response yet.

One surreal moment: after weeks of Alexa Plus’ new voice, the old Alexa suddenly surfaced when the system hit a snag. “Sorry, something went wrong,” it said in that stiff, familiar tone. For a second, I wondered — is the old Alexa still in there, trying to get out?

Building the old on top of the new

The old Alexa — the deterministic model built on rigid command-and-control rules — is essentially gone. According to Panos Panay, head of Amazon’s devices and service division, whom I spoke with in February, Alexa Plus runs on an entirely new architecture. One that, based on my testing, feels much more powerful than the old Alexa, but also less reliable.

That’s the paradox of LLMs: they’re excellent at parsing human language, but they’re not designed for consistency. Ask ChatGPT the same question twice, and you’ll get different answers. The unpredictability of LLMs, known as nondeterminism, is a poor fit for smart home control, where reliability and repeatability are crucial. It’s great when you’re brainstorming, but frustrating when you just want your morning coffee.

Amazon’s workaround has been to use its LLM models as a kind of translator. It interprets what you say, then hands off the request to deterministic systems — APIs, device controllers, or local Matter connections.

The unpredictability of LLMs is a poor fit for smart home control, where reliability and repeatability are crucial.

I’ve found this works most of the time, but if the LLM translates a request incorrectly or there’s a gap in the API, it appears that handoff can fail. I assume that’s why my bathroom fan sometimes turns on as requested and why Alexa sometimes insists on creating a routine but then forgets to finish the job.

This is the problem every company with a voice assistant in the smart home is dealing with — merging the old and predictable with the new and exciting. LLMs aren’t designed to be predictable, and what you want when controlling your home is predictability.

Panay says they’ve worked hard to bring predictability to Alexa Plus and to ensure it won’t hallucinate in your smart home. While the former still needs work, so far my smart home has been hallucination-free. There have been no bizarre behaviors such as unlocking doors or cranking up the heat unbidden, or doing something different from what was requested.

However, this tightly controlled structure has resulted in an Alexa Plus that is not the paradigm shift I was hoping for. Of course, it’s still early days, but the promise of LLMs is that they will unlock the potential of technology within our homes — and that hasn’t happened yet.

Alexa Plus hasn’t changed anything for me; it’s just made my smart home (mostly) easier to manage. It still feels like pieces and parts, not a cohesive whole being run by an intelligent machine.

Hardware could hold the key

Many of my frustrations with Alexa Plus are connected to the hardware, and changes here could make a big difference.

The current Show devices are the flagship Alexa Plus interfaces, specifically the Show 21 and 15. But the interplay between voice and screen is still lacking; the hardware remains voice-first.

For example, I’ll ask Alexa to show me the recipe I was just using, and instead, it will read out the directions. With hardware that synchronizes voice and visuals seamlessly, Alexa Plus would be very compelling. (Also, the Shows are the worst Echo devices at hearing commands, and Amazon really needs to fix that.)

Andy Jassy has promised us “beautiful” new hardware for Alexa. As the first products fully designed under Panos Panay, who told me he believes in screens, we have some idea of what’s coming. But ultimately, it will be about how well the hardware and software work together. The devices revealed this week will be Alexa Plus’s moment to prove it’s more than just potential.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

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Firaxis Lays Off 'Dozens' Of Devs After Civilization VII Struggles
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Firaxis Lays Off ‘Dozens’ Of Devs After Civilization VII Struggles

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2K Games has confirmed that an unspecified number of developers at Firaxis have been laid off following the release of Civilization VII earlier this year. The strategy game struggled with critics and fans when it was released in February.

On September 4, Game Developer reported that layoffs had happened at the long-running strategy game studio Firaxis, famous for developing the recent XCOM games as well as the Civilization franchise. Online, developers posted messages on social media and LinkedIn confirming the layoffs. 2K later confirmed to the outlet that it had indeed let go of numerous workers.

In a statement, a 2K spokesperson told the outlet that it needed to enact “staff reduction” at the studio as the publisher “restructures and optimizes” video game development at Firaxis to increase “adaptability, collaboration, and creativity.” 2K’s statement didn’t confirm how many were laid off as part of this process, but sources with knowledge of the situation told Game Developer that “dozens” of people had been let go at Firaxis. 

“Impacted by the Firaxis layoffs today,” posted animator on LinkedIn. “It’s been an amazing 14+ years working with some of the best people, truly.”

“Unfortunately, I was affected by the recent layoffs at Firaxis today,” posted another dev, Erika Ward.  “While I am sad to see this chapter close, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with such talented teammates and contribute to a project that truly withstands the test of time.”

This is the latest round of layoffs to hit a 2K-owned studio this year. In August, developers at Cloud Chamber, working on the next Bioshock game, were laid off as part of an effort to downsize the studio. In July, mobile developers at Cat Daddy Games posted online that they had been laid off. This was reportedly not the first round of cuts at the studio in 2025.

The last game from Firaxis before this round of layoffs was Civilization VII, which has sold fairly well, but has failed to connect with fans due to changes made to the series’ structure and pacing. Critics were also mixed on the latest entry in the series. On Steam, the last two Civilization games are more popular based on publicly available data.

Meanwhile, 2K Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive is one of the biggest publishers in the industry. Later this month, it will publish Borderlands 4 through its 2K label. And next year, Take-Two will publish Rockstar’s highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, which is likely to be the biggest game of 2026.



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The main character from Cronos The New Dawn looking out across a desolate encampment
Product Reviews

Cronos: The New Dawn review: a merging of survival horror greats that struggles to find its own identity

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A few hours into Cronos: The New Dawn, I saw it. A corpse slumped against the wall, a message scrawled in blood above him: “Don’t let them merge”. If it wasn’t already clear that the latest survival horror game from Bloober Team was drawing from some of the genre’s greats, that warning, a nod to “cut off their limbs” seen in equally foreboding lines of jagged crimson in Dead Space, hammered the point home as subtly as a boot stomp to the skull.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2, Mac
Release date: September 5, 2025

A feeling of déjà vu was a running theme in my time playing through Cronos. Here’s the main character, gun hoisted high in Leon S. Kennedy’s iconic pose from Resident Evil 4. Here are my limited crafting resources straight out of The Last of Us, ones I must choose to make either ammo or health items. Here are my gravity boots, pinched from Isaac Clarke’s locker on the USG Ishimura.

  • Cronos: The New Dawn at Loaded (Formerly CDKeys) for $51.29

It’s perfectly fine to be influenced by other works, especially when they are as iconic and genre-defining as the ones I’ve listed above. But when it just feels like you’re retreading the same path with less confidence and not bringing enough new ideas, what’s really the point of it all?

(Image credit: Bloober Team)

Now, that opening may read like I came away massively disappointed by Cronos: The New Dawn. In some aspects, I certainly did. It is painfully derivative in many areas, to the point where it made me question if anything has changed in sci-fi survival horror games in the last 20 years.

But, unsurprisingly, given its influences, it’s also a game that plays well. Combat is tense, shooting is solid, resource management is challenging, exploration is unsettling, and the environments drip with atmosphere. And there are kernels of ideas that, if only they were more fully realised or executed better, could have elevated the game beyond a decent – if standard – survival horror.

Let’s start with the premise: you play as the Traveler, an undefined being encased in a cross between a spacesuit and a diving suit. The game starts as you’re activated by a mysterious organisation known as The Collective and told to travel through time to extract important survivors after an apocalyptic infection dubbed the ‘Change’ turns most people on Earth into grotesque and amalgamated monstrosities.

The nexus point of the disaster is Poland in the 1980s, which at least makes for a unique setting that’s far from the spaceships and abandoned mining planets we usually find ourselves stomping around. There’s an inventiveness to the world design, too, which not only sees the infestation overrun dilapidated buildings, roads, and subways with a gloopy and pulsating biomass, but also fractures entire structures to create floating, twisted, and mind-bending new forms.

Add to that violent sandstorms and heavy snowfall, and safe to say, it’s not a pleasant stroll. I had to seriously pluck up some courage to carefully inch forward in many locations, especially towards the latter half of the game, when everything is so consumed by the effects of the infection and dotted with poisonous pustules that you feel suffocated by it – even if this trap is overplayed a dozen too many times.

Skin-crawling

(Image credit: Bloober Team)

Visually, it is disgusting (in all the right ways), but huge credit has to go to the audio. It masterfully ramps up that oppressive and stomach-churning atmosphere with all sorts of sloshing and wheezing and bubbling that gives a terrifying sense of life to the coagulated mass that surrounds you. One of the best gaming headsets is recommended.

If Cronos was all just trudging through fleshy corridors, then Bloober Team would have smashed it. Unfortunately, other parts of the game don’t excel in the same way and are merely fine or disappointing in comparison.

Combat is one. The gimmick here is that dead enemies remain on the ground and can be assimilated by other creatures to become larger and stronger foes – hence the bloody message of “don’t let them merge”. Fortunately, you come equipped with a torch. Nope, it’s not a bright light, but a burst of flames that can incinerate corpses and stop this merging from taking place.

Best bit

(Image credit: Future)

Cronos: The New Dawn finds its identity more as the game progresses and the section in the Unity Hospital is when the game hits its stride. It’s one of the scariest and creepiest places to explore, as you descend further into the bowels of the building, where the infection has taken even greater hold and you uncover some horrifying secrets about the impact of the Change.

That leads to the main flow of combat. Take down targets with your weapons, then prevent any survivors from merging by setting the bodies ablaze. It’s a setup that can create some tense encounters – ones where you’re busy dealing with one target, only to hear the awful sounds of two bodies smushing together in the distance (shoutout to the audio design again), and knowing there’ll be an even greater threat if you don’t introduce them to the cleansing flames immediately.

The problem is that I could count on one hand the number of times I felt seriously threatened by the risk of enemies merging. Too many encounters had too few enemies, were in too small spaces, or were littered with too many (respawning) explosive barrels, that I could comfortably handle the situation. It was only towards the end of the game when I felt overwhelmed in some encounters, needing to more strategically pick my targets, hurriedly craft ammo on the fly, and regularly reposition to burn dead enemies so they couldn’t merge.

Burn, baby, burn

(Image credit: Bloober Team)

It isn’t a disaster, just a shame that Cronos doesn’t really make the most of its main idea. Instead, the overwhelming feeling I had was that I was just playing Dead Space again, swapping between the limited ammo in my pistol, shotgun, and rifle to blast away everything. Outside of rare encounters, the mechanics of merging and burning feel like massively underused and unimpactful parts of the game.

It’s a common feeling. Take your main objective of ‘rescuing’ the specific survivors. I use quotation marks there because the actual process of saving them is kept ominously vague, and is instead best described as extracting and absorbing their soul to gain the knowledge needed to save humanity.

It’s here when I thought Cronos might step up from its clear inspirations with some fresh ideas. Not only is there a morbid mirroring at play (wait, are we the baddies?), but those other lives bouncing around inside your head lead to all sorts of different visions and hallucinations, depending on the characters you choose to save.

In its cleverest moments, who’s knocking about in your noggin can influence the environment or completely change how you perceive things in the world to create some genuinely spooky moments. Once again, though, outside of less than a handful of instances, this idea isn’t explored any further when it’s rife for some really interesting, exciting, and unique possibilities.

It frustrates and disappoints me more than anything. I really want to be clear that Cronos: The New Dawn isn’t a bad game: it plays fine, looks good enough, and runs well. Although I’d stick to performance mode on consoles if you can to get a smooth 60fps, as the quality mode feels far too jittery.

I just can’t help but feel that with the way it relies so heavily on what worked in classic survival horror games from yesteryear, I may have travelled back two decades myself to play it.

Should I play Cronos: The New Dawn?

(Image credit: Bloober Team)

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility

Cronos offers a range of standard accessibility options, including three color blind modes for green, red, and blue color blindness, as well as the option to add clear interaction indicators and subtitles in multiple languages that can be fully customised in terms of size and color.

The game has one Normal difficulty setting, with a Hard mode unlocked after you finish the game once. To customise the difficulty, though, you can adjust settings to get a more generous aim assist and alter whether you hold or tap for quick time events.

A center dot can be added to help alleviate motion sickness, while the game also provides options to reduce or turn off camera shake and sway.

How I reviewed Cronos: The New Dawn

I played Cronos: The New Dawn for around 16 hours on a PlayStation 5 Pro on a Samsung S90C OLED TV using a DualSense Wireless Controller. I mainly played in Performance mode, but I also tried Quality mode for a brief time and found the graphical improvements minimal compared to the benefits of a smoother frame rate.

I swapped between playing audio through a Samsung HW-Q930C soundbar and a SteelSeries Arctic Nova 7, and I definitely suggest headphones for the best experience.

I completed the main game and spent a lot of time exploring the environment to uncover as much of the story and as many hidden extras as I could find.

Today’s best Cronos: The New Dawn deals

Cronos: The New Dawn: Price Comparison



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Ethereum Foundation dumps 10K ETH as price struggles at $4,300
NFT Gaming

Ethereum Foundation dumps 10K ETH as price struggles at $4,300

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The Ethereum Foundation is once again preparing to part with a portion of its holdings. A planned sale of 10,000 ETH this month has drawn attention from across the crypto community, given its size and timing.

Summary

  • The Ethereum Foundation will sell 10,000 ETH this month.
  • Proceeds from the sale will be used for research, development, community grants, and charitable donations.
  • The sale is part of the Foundation’s structured treasury framework, which includes annual spending limits and quarterly ETH-to-fiat conversions.
  • Large sales by the Foundation, especially during price weakness, have historically drawn community scrutiny.

The Ethereum Foundation announced on X on September 2 that it will sell 10,000 ETH (ETH) this month, worth about $43 million at current prices. In the post, the Foundation said the proceeds will be used for research and development, community grants, and charitable donations, adding that the sale will take place over the coming weeks through centralized exchanges.

The sale is part of a treasury framework the Foundation introduced in June to guide how it manages its reserves. The policy sets annual spending limits and requires the Foundation to keep a multi-year buffer of funds.

It also outlines that ETH will be converted into fiat in scheduled tranches every three months, helping the organization plan its finances more predictably while still supporting ecosystem growth.

The planned dump on a broader trend of ETH sales already seen this year, including a 10,000 ETH over-the-counter transaction with SharpLink Gaming in July. Large-scale sales like these, particularly amid price weakness, have often drawn community scrutiny and debate over timing and market impact.

Amid ETH’s current struggles near $4,300, these concerns have resurfaced. However, the Foundation made it clear that the sales will be executed in multiple smaller trades to reduce market impact and avoid exerting downward pressure on ETH prices. 

ETH price struggles amid pullback

ETH is down about 1.4 % today, trading near $4,316 at press time. This extends its week-long downward trend, bringing its decline over the past seven days to 6.2% according to price data from crypto.news. 

Despite recent weakness, overall momentum remains strong. ETH is still up over 22% on the month, partly driven by a late-August rally that saw it touch fresh price highs above $4,900 after several months of underperformance.

Institutional demand for ETH remains strong, with firms like BitMine Immersion and SharpLink Gaming steadily accumulating billions of dollars’ worth of Ether week after week.

At the same time, Ethereum whales are scooping up on the dip. On-chain data from Santiment shows 260,000 ETH was accumulated in just 24 hours by addresses holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH, signaling continued confidence in ETH’s long-term prospects.

These trends suggest that the planned 10,000 ETH sale by the Foundation may not significantly affect prices. If institutional and whale buying persists, ETH could be positioned for a potential recovery.



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Bitcoin Hashrate Hits New Peak as BTC Price Struggles
GameFi Guides

Bitcoin Hashrate Hits New Peak as BTC Price Struggles

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Bitcoin’s hashrate has now reached a new all-time high of 971 exahashes per second, according to data provided by CoinWarz. 

Smoothing out randomness 

It is worth noting that the hashrate used to occasionally spike above 1 zettahash per second earlier this month.

However, such brief spikes are not usually treated as actual record peaks, given that the randomness of block production does not have enough time to smooth out. 

The all-time hashrate charts make it possible to smooth out randomness. Thus, some believe that true all-time highs are actually recorded on longer timeframes since they do not trick analysts with mere statistical noise. 

Hashrate and price 

It is typically believed that Bitcoin hashrate follows the price of the leading cryptocurrency, given that more miners tend to plug in machines when coins become more expensive. 

Some also assume that hashrate could actually drive price, but there is no concrete correlation. 

Nevertheless, the new hashrate peak bodes well for the fundamentals of the leading network, considering that it shows that the network is gaining more strength. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is currently struggling price-wise, with the leading cryptocurrency recently dipping below the $111,000 level.  

US in the lead 

When it comes to the geographical distribution of the global hashrate, the US currently remains in the lead. It accounts for as much as 36% of the network’s computational power. 

China, despite the mining ban, paradoxically remains among the biggest mining powers with a 14% share of the global hashrate.



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Bitcoin Struggles At $110K: Correction Or Rebound?
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Bitcoin Struggles at $110K: Correction or Rebound?

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The Bitcoin (BTC) price steers through a turbulent period where the value is oscillating around the $110,154 mark. After hitting a record high of $124,457, the largest cryptocurrency has entered its corrective phase, as it has lost about 12% in 13 days.

Following this, traders are particularly interested in whether this consolidation would lay the foundation to another breakout or a further pullback is under construction.

Long-term Holders Have Already Realized More Profit

As per the latest data from Glassnode, the long-term Bitcoin holders are also collecting profits in this cycle to an extent with the sole exception of the rally that occurred between 2016 and 2017. Moreover, the increase in realized gains which suggest a rise in selling pressure as investors have opted to secure profits during the recent highs.

$BTC long-term holders have already realized more profit this cycle than in all but one prior cycle (2016–17), highlighting elevated sell-side pressure. Taken alongside other signals, this suggests the market has entered a late phase of the cycle. pic.twitter.com/PHXkOizXhz

— glassnode (@glassnode) August 26, 2025

Notably, these periods are traditionally accounted for by volatility and outflow of long-term investors. This also signals that Bitcoin is potentially a more mature phase of its current cycle.

Bitcoin Breaks Below Its Key Support Of $112,000

The provided daily chart for BTC shows a clear bearish structure. The price is trading within a descending channel, characterized by multiple red candles in the last two weeks. This pattern indicates that sellers are currently in control of the market.

A reversal attempt was failed at $117,429, as BTC is currently battling to consolidate above the very important psychological support of $110,000.

The short term weak spot is reflected in the exponential moving averages (EMAs) as BTC is traded below the 20-day and 50-day EMAs ($114,935 and $114,521) respectively. More recently, Bitcoin has dropped below its 100-day EMA with the most recent candle recording a retest at that level ($110,798.66).

This is an indication that the selling pressure is still in charge in the short run. Notably, this indicator is a trend-following indicator that gives more weight to recent price data.

Adding to this, the downward channel marked on the chart also signifies a measure of selling activity. However, the volume spikes express that aggressive buying might take place at the current levels.

The Bear Bull Power (BBP 13) indicator has dropped into negative figures and is currently at -8,909, which suggests a declining momentum. This further highlights that it could retest lower supports and hence have a decisive reversal.

Bitcoin Momentum Indicators | Source: TradingView

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently at 37.35, trending downwards. This shows waning buying momentum and suggests the price has further room to fall before reaching oversold territory (typically below 30), where a bounce could be anticipated.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator confirms the bearish outlook. The MACD line is below the signal line, and the histogram is negative, which points to sustained downward momentum. A bearish crossover occurred in late July/early August, and the separation between the lines indicates the trend is still strong.

Will BTC Rise Back Up?

If bears take control, immediate support lies at $110,485, followed by $107,656 and $105,005. A failure to defend these levels could drag BTC toward the 200-day EMA at $103,739, which may act as the ultimate safety net for bulls.

On the flip side, a recovery above $114,500 and $116,092 would be vital to flip momentum back in favor of buyers. Sustained strength above these levels could open the doors for a retest of $121,000 and potentially $124,457 in the upcoming time.

Also Read: Boyaa Interactive Buys $33M More Bitcoin, Hits 3,670 BTC 

Disclaimer: The Crypto Times does not endorse or promote this digital asset in any manner. This article was created only for educational purposes. Make sure to “DYOR” as the market is highly volatile. New positions should be done by traders being careful and awaiting volume-backed breakouts.





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Naked Snake hides in the jungle.
Game Reviews

Metal Gear Soilid 3 Remake Struggles To Hit 60FPS On PS5

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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater overhauls the storied PS2 game with modern visuals. It plays great on PC but the console experience prior to launch is surprisingly bad. The Konami remake can’t hit a consistent 60fps on PlayStation 5 even in performance mode, and the PS5 Pro enhanced mode is especially disappointing. It might not be enough to ruin the experience but it raises concerns and has some wondering if Konami will be able to meaningfully optimize the console version with subsequent updates.

Out August 26 for those who buy the Deluxe Edition, Metal Gear Solid Delta doesn’t really have a 60fps mode on PS5. Instead, it has a max target of 60fps, but spends much of the time dipping far below that. A Digital Foundry analysis shows it consistently falling to around 45fps in denser jungle areas, or even lower when swimming underwater. Things are even worse on PS5 Pro, where the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake dispenses with having alternate graphics modes and simply smooshes everything into a single performance boost. But in order to hit higher framerates it uses a lower, sub-1080p image resolution resolution to upscale. The results are pretty grimy.

MAJOR WARNING If you’re planning on playing Metal Gear Solid Delta:

The game runs terribly, with PS5/XSX rendering 720p-1080p at 30-50FPS in Performance mode

The PS5 Pro somehow runs worse & looks blurrier despite using PSSR

Another disastrous Unreal Engine 5 release. pic.twitter.com/Lnha48T2C6

— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) August 22, 2025

Digital Foundry notes that quality mode on PS5 gets players better draw distances for textures and shadows, and improved global illumination for better complex lighting effects, which the jungle-based environment is full of. Unfortunately, despite hitting 30fps most of the time, the quality mode still occasionally buckles below that when blowing up barrels or during the busiest onscreen action sequences. Performance mode is even more inconsistent in terms of framerate, hitting 60fps fine in the starting area but sinking well below that at moments in larger environments. Overall it seems like nothing is quite as smooth as you’d hope or expect for what is essentially an Unreal Engine 5 makeover of an otherwise mostly unchanged PS2 game.

Metal Gear Solid 3 remake’s PS5 Pro mode is far from perfect

Then there’s the PS5 Pro’s mode which has its own issues. Namely, it’s upscaling from a lower resolution to hit a higher consistent 60fps, leading to even worse visual quality in the distance than on the base PS5’s performance mode. “It’s a win in motion for PS5 Pro with a smarter handling of occlusion artifacts and swaying grass,” Digital Foundry reports. “But if left to settle, the resolved reconstructed image on PS5 Pro seems to struggle to match the clarity of base PS5.” The enhanced mode gets even worse when you account for the PSSR-induced flickering and shimmering effects that PS5 Pro players may remember from Silent Hill 2 remake.

There’s still time to address many of these apparent problems, especially the base PS5 shortcomings, in a day-one patch, though time is running out with the game’s early access launch less than 24 hours away. As for the PS5 Pro experience, well we’ll have to wait and see how that gets addressed in the future. None of the issues surfaced so far seem like deal breakers, but it does suggest anyone who has the option to play Metal Gear Solid Delta on a high-end PC instead should begin there.





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Katee Sackhoff Talks 'The Mandalorian' and Acting Struggles
Gaming Gear

Katee Sackhoff Talks ‘The Mandalorian’ and Acting Struggles

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Battlestar Galacta alum Katee Sackhoff has been in genre TV for years. After voicing cultist turned mercenary/freedom fighter Bo-Katan Kryze for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels, she reprised the role in the live-action series The Mandalorian. She’s gotten to play Bo several times since then, but as the actor herself tells it, coming back to that role hasn’t been without its challenges.

In the latest episode of her podcast, Sackhoff told her Battlestar co-worker Tahmoh Penikett how she lost “all of my confidence” after filming The Mandalorian. “I’ve always played two steps removed from myself, [and] it always felt grounded in some part of my belly, of who I was,” she explained. Her usual acting method has been to go with her “first instinct, play the reality of the situation,” but that wasn’t the case with Bo-Katan. Playing the character in live-action made her realize how much Bo is “nowhere near who I am as a human being. As much as I stood her, I never identified with her, and I didn’t know how to find her.”

Sackhoff went on to say Bo-Katan “broke” her, enough to keep her from further acting in the past three years. She credits an acting coach and a new manager with helping her turn things around; the former reaffirmed her talent and said she just “need to get you back in your belly. You just need to find your confidence again.” As of this year, Sackhoff’s done voice work for Warner Bros.’ animated Watchmen duology and showed up in this year’s Fight or Flight, and she’s also in Prime Video’s upcoming Carrie series.

Star Wars-wise, it’s unclear whether she’ll appear in The Mandalorian & Grogu or the second season of Ahsoka, both of which Bo-Katan is some connections to. The show is currently in production, while the film is due May 22, 2026.

[via Variety]

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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Zenless Zone Zero 2.2 gets political with its focus on power struggles in the Waifei Peninsula
Game Reviews

Zenless Zone Zero 2.2 gets political with its focus on power struggles in the Waifei Peninsula

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HoYoverse has delivered some more fresh gamescom week news – and no, it’s not the big Genshin Impact update we covered yesterday. This time, it’s all about Zenless Zone Zero, which itself is preparing for its next major update.

The big Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night chapter, otherwise known as Version 2.2, has a release date and everything.

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ZZZ’s version 2.2 arrives September 4 across all platforms. The narrative is set after the Defence Force dealt with the Exaltists’ conspiracy, and stars Seed and Orphie & Magus from the Defense Force’s Obol Squad. They’ve been dispatched to investigate the power struggles in New Eridu.

Part of their mission is to eliminate any remaining Exaltists, but there’s a bit of a mystery surrounding Obol Squad itself that they’re going to uncover, shedding light on its past.

Newcomer Seed is an S-Rank Electric Attack Agent, who, together with the Seed Sr. mecha, offer big combat bonuses. Seed is made to work well with other Attack Agents, mainly because they can boost the sustained damage output of the squad. Orphie & Magus is another S-Rank Attack Agent, except with a Fire elemental speciality.

As the squad’s captain, they work well as assist. Orphie is able to gather Bottled Heat, and get all squad members in a Zeroed-in state each time enemies are hit. This boosts attack damage, and even allows Aftershocks to go through a portion of enemy defences.

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Mercury is another new arrival, an S-Rank Bangboo who supports the squad from inside the tank that they drive. Returning Agents for this update will be Trigger (S-Rank Electric Stun) and Evelyn (S-Rank Fire Attack).

HoYoverse also teased the return of Soldier 0 – Anby, who’ll be arriving back in the game at some point soon, once she’s done with her training.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a new update without in-game events. Band of Brave Bangboo, the Bangboo tower defence event, is getting new maps, enemies, and mechanics, and a free A-Rank Excaliboo once you’ve cleared enough stages. There’s also the more chill Rhythm Rave event, which as you might expect is a bit of a rhythm minigame.

Finally, you can expect some general quality of life tweaks and other optimisation. For example: you’ll now be able to pick between Belle and Wise before starting companion events, such as Quality Time. A happy day for whichever sibling was being denied a social life in your game until now!

As ever, our Zenless Zone Zero codes page has been updated with that good, free stuff. Check it out.



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More action than RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 struggles to convince after a few hours' play
Game Reviews

More action than RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 struggles to convince after a few hours’ play

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I can’t hide it: I’m a little disappointed. The wait for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been an excruciating one. This is the long-awaited follow-up to the flawed but respected Bloodlines 1 from 2004, and it was originally announced in 2019 with a release date of 2020. But it was systematically delayed, then full-on suspended, before being resurrected at The Chinese Room (Still Wakes the Deep) where it’s been reshaped for release. Bloodlines 2 has had problems. The question is: does it still have problems and has it been worth the wait?

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Having played Bloodlines 2 for a few hours in a preview build my answer – frustratingly for you – is I’m not sure. I have mixed feelings. There are things I really like about it – I love how powerful it makes you feel as a vampire from the very beginning of the game; the action feels great – but I’m concerned by how narrow the game is as a role-playing experience. Too often I feel led through metaphorical corridors from point A to B, as though I’m playing a predetermined experience rather than shaping one of my own. I think it’s telling that Paradox is leaning into the “action” part of the “action RPG” descriptor; from what I’ve played, this is more like an action or stealth game, with some RPG elements, rather than the other way around. And given the extensive and exhaustive resource material involved – a tabletop RPG that’s been running for decades – that disappoints me. But there are upsides to this approach.

The things I like, then: Bloodlines 2 wastes no time making you feel cool. You do not wake as a fledgling vampire but an elder one who’s been asleep for a hundred years. From the moment you take control of this character – a character cringingly called “Phyre” (“fire”), and who likes to announce their name at every given opportunity – you can already do incredible things. You can scramble up walls like a spider, even entire buildings if you plan your route right, and leap off the other side, to the ground, and take no damage. You can move with blur-like vampire speed, float through the air, and punch people so hard they float – well, fly – through the air. You can telekinetically grab at objects and then hurl them wherever you want. You can even telekinetically grab people. There’s no gradual build-up of power here: you are, from the beginning, a beast.

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It feels great. There’s a snap and a pace and a wallop to everything you do. Even a small thing like climbing up a ladder is sped-up so that it’s like doing it on fast-forward. And as you start to unlock more powers as you level up, which differ slightly depending on which of the game’s six clans you join – I joined the Brujah clan, which are brawlers – the action gets more ridiculous still. (Note: two of the clans you have to pay to unlock, which is grubby.) I have a Lightning Punch ability that rapidly strikes, countless times, anyone who I ‘mark’ nearby to be punched. I pulverize them in a blur of action. I have a charge that makes me thunder towards anyone in my path and pick them up and slam them into whatever I’m running towards. Tactility: there’s a lot of it here.

This is the upside to the game’s somewhat obvious action focus. The more linear approach to levels and situations also means areas have been shaped specially to encourage entertaining, platformer-like traversal, and that they’ve been decorated to a high degree because designers know where the level you’ll be. Take the derelict building you wake up in, for example: there’s only one route through it as you work your way onto the roof, away from inquisitive police, so visually, the crumbling ruin of the place is writ large all around you. Developer Chinese Room showed what flair it has for environmental storytelling in Still Wakes the Deep, on that wonderfully touchable and dilapidated 1970s oil rig, and you can see that expertise here too. The dimly lit griminess of it. The posters on the wall. The graffiti. The walls smeared in blood. It’s exactly the atmosphere a Bloodlines game begs for. The detail in your home-base apartment, a kind of disgusting, makeshift laboratory, is incredible.

This is the male version of the main character Phyre, who I don’t think you can structurally customise. You can change his hair and piercings and clothing but not completely customise who you are. I guess it’s for cinematic reasons. He’s a bit annoying. | Image credit: Paradox / The Chinese Room

Nice though they are to look at, in these areas there’s little you can actually interact with – a problem that carries right across the game. Take the city of Seattle, for instance, where the game’s set. It looks nice, caught as it has been in heavy snowfall, and moody in the dark, lit by pools of streetlight or car headlights. But the only doors you can interact with are the ones that lead to specific quest objectives, of which there are only one or two in the preview build, and the only people you can interact with… Well, you can utter a few words to some people, in an effort to lead them into an alley to drink their blood, which regenerates health or regains special ability charges, or earns you a kind of upgrade currency, but that’s about it. For the most part, it feels like a place filled with non-interactive extras.

This feeling extends to the building environments you enter. There’s a hotel lobby that’s full of people at a Christmas do, but I can’t interact with any of them. Then, when I get to the more gamey areas of the hotel, which are where I’ll fight some packs of low-level vampires – thugs, really – there’s no one else around. These halls and corridors are mostly empty with only occasional clusters of enemies there. It’s a bit dull. Even the more central characters don’t inspire much excitement when you meet them. They’re nice enough to look at but predictable to the point of stereotype – with exception of Tolly, a disfigured nosferatu who injects much needed humour and charisma – and the interactions with them feel stiff. There’s not much intrigue in the dialogue. You can provoke reactions, such as arousal or embarrassment or annoyance, which suggests these things mean something in a gameplay sense, but how that plays out is unclear for now from what I’ve played.

I wasn’t allowed to take my own screenshots so I’ve had to use these supplied ones, which don’t really show the game in action very well. All the same, they highlight some of the nice lighting and atmosphere and character design, which can be very striking. | Image credit: Paradox / The Chinese Room

Thankfully the story does have some intrigue of its own – it’s literally embedded in you. You wake with not so much a voice in your head as a whole other personality, who happens to be – bizarrely but brilliantly – a noir-style private investigator, which prompts an amusing clash of styles between him and his overly dramatic inner monologues, and your surliness. It also allows you an on-board narrator who can explain the world as you adventure through it. Actually, the best part of the preview came when inhabiting the PI-style character through a memory of his, because he had access to a different range of vampire abilities – mind-affecting ones. The gameplay challenge here became extracting information through dialogue from characters who didn’t necessarily want to give it, which was much more interesting than rote battles with uninspiring packs of vampire thugs. It was a glimpse at the sort of thoughtful dialogue interaction I had hoped the game would have.

Look, there’s still hope. This, it’s worth remembering, is a preview build of a game still a couple of months from release, and it’s only the start of the experience – the part that typically lays some ground rules before opening up and letting you do what you want to do. I fully expect this empty-feeling Seattle playground to populate with places to go and people to meet. At least, I hope that’s the case. But I also expect a preview build to be designed to showcase the best parts of the game I’m previewing, and for the beginning of a game to grab and dazzle a player, and convince them to stick around. I did enjoy some of what I played, and I’m willing to give it another go. But I wasn’t grabbed or dazzled.

I’m always wary of critiquing a game for what it’s not, rather than meeting it where it is – and just to emphasise, the focus on action here makes plenty of sense. But this is a sequel to a cult RPG after all, and one based on a major tabletop RPG to boot. In this case it feels valid to crave a little more role-playing, a little more texture and depth to the game’s people and conversations. And so for now, a question mark remains.



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