It’s almost a golden rule: when you’re going through your second remaster, the title must get even longer and more confusing. That means, when you’re telling everyone what game you’re playing, you have to now say it’s Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - Mars. Like the refreshed name, Zone of the Enders is a repolished version that tries to fix any issues with its first remaster, but doesn’t do that great of a job. However, this remaster comes with a party piece - virtual reality. If you haven’t played Zone of the Enders before, it is an aerial mech battling, third-person shooter/fighting game which mixes close and long-range combat. Take that and add the words “Hideo Kojima” to it, which basically means the game will be filled with lengthy in-game cinematic shots, focused on snazzy poses and dialogue that makes you question the meaning of love, death, war, and mechanised robots. This is more or less an accurate depiction of Zone of the Enders, only the robots are much bigger and much, much cooler. Add the words “Hideo Kojima” to it, which basically means the game will be filled with lengthy in-game cinematic shots, focused on snazzy poses and dialogue that makes you question the meaning of love, death, war, and mechanised robots. The VR aspect gives you a first-person experience as the main protagonist, Dingo, in the coolest mech ever made (JEHUTY). Sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what I thought until I put the headset on. Zone of the Enders in VR brings all the chaos that we've come to expect from the series in a nausea-inducing package. Battles in first-person feel dizzying because the game tends to throw whole armies at you at a time. They’re generally easy to kill but the character will auto lock into enemies making you shift quite fast between enemies. Needless to say, that can overload your senses at the best of times. As for the graphical portion of the remaster, you’re looking at 4K 60fps instead of the usual 1080p, and this somewhat translates into the first-person mode for the PSVR. The gameplay feels immaculate and you can tell exactly where the developer’s priorities lay. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the cutscenes. Each cutscene has slow-motion effects that make watching the action feel like a chore, especially in VR. I often found that the transition between gameplay and cutscenes felt jarring as it really removes you from the overall immersion that VR presents. The base game itself is mostly the same game from fifteen years ago. The map design does feel aged and once you’ve figured out a boss’ pattern, the fight can be won easily. Missions can feel like a chore at times. The accursed escort missions make a return, and this can get cumbersome when enemies ignore you completely and just attack the person you’re supposed to protect. Corridor fights easily devolve into border-line insanity as the enemies come with an orb that features endless respawns. When you have to worry about an entire army and its factory, it feels like you’re playing the Dark Souls of mech games (ed - I'll let this one slide). The base game itself is mostly the same game from fifteen years ago. However, that is where the issues end. The controls have been remapped to feel more fluid with the PlayStation 4’s controller, and there still isn’t a mech game that is this satisfying at clearing out hordes of enemies. The learning curve is the most entertaining aspect of all of this. Mixing up different sub-weapons, dodging, guarding, and simultaneously using opponents as shields and weapons can make you feel like a master of JEHUTY, and with that, more in control than ever. This is thanks to the new "pro-mode" added to the controller preset. If you are new to the franchise, this game isn’t the best to come in blind on, as the game doesn’t recap any of the events from the first game and Kojima doesn’t exactly ease you into the story. What you will get, however, is characters making rather odd references to the world around you, but never really building upon that. As a fan of the series, it was easy for me to just remember what happened in the previous game, but this won’t be so accessible for newer players. It is easy to piece together the basics of the narrative: like the good mech versus the bad mech, don’t let the bad people do bad things, you’ll always have people joining your cause, etc. However, you will have to piece this together through lengthy dialogue that occurs through every mission. What hasn’t shown its age is the audio quality. Yes, the sound has also been remastered but the soundtrack complements the action beautifully, making it a joy to listen to. It makes the boss battles rather special with each of them housing unique background music to help spur you along in the fight. It feels like if Bloodborne had a mech-based cousin (ed - Okay, what's up with these comparisons?). Sure, the boss fights aren’t as difficult, but the overall feel of the battle is full of action and the soundtrack helps this greatly. The soundtrack complements the action beautifully, making it a joy to listen to. Despite showing its age heavily in some places, the Zone of the Enders remaster does manage to feel fresh. In 15 years, surprisingly nothing has managed to dethrone the title for its slick, agile, aerial mech combat. If you weren’t around for the 2012 remaster or happen to have a PSVR being a paperweight in a corner somewhere, this is definitely worth your time. However, if those two aspects don’t apply to you, there’s nothing new added to the series to draw you back for more.

True Detective's first season director Cary Fukunaga has been announced as the new director for the 25th James Bond film, replacing former director Danny Boyle. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bond producers Eon made the announcement today along with news that the film will be pushed back to February 14, 2020 - the film was previously scheduled to release on March 2019. The delay probably had something to do with Boyle's exit from the director's chair in August, which he cited was due to "creative differences". Fukunaga is slowly becoming one of the most recognized filmmakers working today, having directed and produced the hit television show, True Detective, as well as co-written the screenplay to 2017's adaptation of Stephen King's It. He also recently directed the Netflix series Maniac, which stars Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. Universal will distribute Bond 25 while MGM and Eon will handle domestic rights and oversee production on the film. Currently, Bond 25 does not have a title.

Bandai Namco unveiled Jump Force at E3 2018; an ambitious crossover fighter that sees some of Shonen Jump's most popular anime characters duking it out in one game. These include One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy, Dragon Ball's Goku and Frieza, Bleach's Ichigo and Rukia, and even Death Note's Light Yagami and Ryuk, among many others. The publisher has now revealed that you won't have to choose between these characters as custom character creation will be present in the game. As reported by Polygon, the custom character creator isn't the first time that Bandai Namco has dabbled in letting players create their own customizable characters. Dragon Ball Xenoverse allowed players to create their own characters in the Dragon Ball universe, although the art style remained consistent. It's unclear how this will look in Jump Force, though, as it clearly merges several art styles together from various Shonen Jump properties. Polygon reached out to Bandai Namco for further information, but none was given - meaning that they're planning on revealing it sometime in the future. Jump Force currently does not have a release date, but will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2019.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is just over a month away and the anticipation is building up with each passing day. Now, Rockstar have announced that Red Dead Online will be making its way into the game; just not at launch. Red Dead Online utilises the core gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2 and offers an “evolution of classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption.” It is rumoured to feature a blend of co-op and narrative elements, with the mode receiving updates and adjustments over time - most likely just a Wild West version of Grand Theft Auto Online. The mode is scheduled to launch in November 2018 - roughly a month after the game’s launch - and will be free to anyone who owns a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Rockstar states that there should be some “turbulence” at launch, but would like to work with the community to share ideas and help fix any teething problems Red Dead Online should experience. For those who aren’t keen on Red Dead Online, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be releasing a little earlier, coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 26th, 2018.