Aloy is ready to take on the post-apocalyptic world LEGO brick by brick this holiday season in LEGO Horizon Adventures. Guerrilla and Studio Gobo have built a playful spin on the familiar Horizon games that unleashes eye-catching stop-motion animation, chuckle-worthy storytelling, and (literal) worldbuilding that will make the familiar series feel like a new adventure. 

The hands-on demo laid the foundation for fun with an early solo tutorial stage controlling Aloy, followed by a co-op story mission where Aloy and her Nora tribe companion Varl set out to save a beloved leader from cultists using their weapons, environment, and yes, even hot dogs. Here are a few moments that caught my Focus: 

A familiar world, brought to life by LEGO bricks

Immediately the LEGO version of this world looks incredibly authentic, with every brick placed in a way that builds the world Horizon fans know and love. Aloy moves through the world in a stop-motion style that clicks right into place. The original voice cast has also returned to retell Aloy’s story with a cheeky tone, adding humor and playfulness that keeps familiar plot points fresh and delivers laughs for a wide audience. 

A LEGO girl and her bow

Aloy can use her bow for combat and to help navigate the brick-laden wilds. Holding the Square button lets Aloy aim her bow at specific targets. This is made easier by pressing R1 to activate her Focus, highlighting major targets in blue. Aloy unleashes powerful attacks by using the environment around her; shooting an arrow through a bonfire creates a flaming projectile, adding extra damage to enemies or setting grass or vines ablaze to open new routes.

Turn over every LEGO brick

Playful curiosity is often rewarded, so take the time to explore. While Studs – the LEGO form of currency – are scattered along main paths, more can be found by shooting barrels or other objects. Chests are found exploring off of main paths, and Aloy can discover special piles of bricks. Aloy can craft these bricks into various designs (a sailboat! A dog house!) to earn even more Studs. 

Make a home at Mother’s Heart

A visit to the game’s main hub village, Mother’s Heart, is a must. A trip to the All Mother Tree allows Aloy and any co-op companions to upgrade their specific weapons or use Studs to purchase upgrades that benefit everyone. This area is also where you can customize costumes or your hut, specifically its roof, yard, plot, and hut color. Naturally, I dropped some Studs on a roof fit with a roller coaster on top. I was even able to lift up and toss village NPCs into a purchased wardrobe, outfitting them with attire from the world of Horizon or other LEGO game properties. 

Tap in a couch co-op companion 

Once in Mother’s Heart, I let my couch co-op friend control Aloy as I stepped

Astro is back with his biggest adventure yet, and I had an opportunity to play about 40 minutes in an early preview. Team Asobi’s colorful platformer is brimming with stages featuring empowering new abilities, inventive obstacles, and exciting PlayStation character cameos. 

The demo packed five fun stages to explore including full levels, smaller hardcore challenges, and a wet ‘n’ wild boss fight. While only some stages were available to play in this preview, the galactic maps hint at the scale of the final game — Astro’s new adventure hosts dozens of diverse stages and tons of cameo bots to rescue.

Let’s dive in.

Dependable platforming controls

If you played through Astro’s Playroom, you already know that controlling the little bot is a tight, responsive experience. Astro still has his trusty jump, attack, charged spin attack, and versatile laser-hover ability. If Team Asobi has made major updates to the core platforming mechanics, they’re too subtle for me to notice. But if it ain’t broke…!

A galaxy of various difficulty levels

Astro Bot’s overworld (“overuniverse?”) consists of multiple galactic maps. Once within the specific galaxy shown in the demo, myriad colorful planets dot the galaxy, each with their own levels. Helpfully, hovering over each level reveals its difficulty level (Easy, Normal, Hard). 

Sky Garden

One of the galaxy’s “easy” levels, Sky Garden is a vision of idyllic paradise with pink robo-flamingos wading in inviting blue ponds. Cherry blossom trees dot the landscape, with their petals floating atop the water. Astro explores across multiple connected floating islands in this stage.

Inflated Astro

In Sky Garden, Astro can collect a new item that pumps him full of air, swelling him to rotund proportions. Not only does this help you reach new hidden heights, it’s also adorable. 

Swimming robot

Astro must have received a software update since Astro’s Playroom because he can now explore underwater for hidden bots and treasures. The controls are simple, with Circle button to descend and X button to ascend.

Read more

Take down gigantic monsters, bring your smarts to the pitch or the medieval world, explore a surrealistic post-human world, and much more with June’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup! Monster Hunter Rise, Football Manager 2024, Crusader Kings III, After Us, and many more games will be available from June 18. We’re also announcing new classic and PS VR2 game offerings coming to PlayStation Plus Premium.

And as a reminder, we announced a range of bonus PlayStation Plus titles earlier this month as part of our Days of Play celebrations. These are already available, and you can find more here. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of the new game announcements. 

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium | Game Catalog

View and download image

Download the image

Close

Download this image

Monster Hunter Rise | PS4, PS5

Rise to the challenge and join the hunt in this high-flying addition to the Monster Hunter series. Personalise your hunter, choose from 14 unique weapon types, recruit your Palico Felyne and all-new Palamute Canyne companions, and gear up to explore a range of vas

The PlayStation Blog crew flew down to Los Angeles, CA to attend Summer Game Fest Play Days and go hands-on (and off) with a variety of upcoming PS5 games. From titles both big and small, launching soon or further in the future, here are 11 exciting games we checked out at Summer Game Fest.

Kunitsu-Gami | Coming July 19

View and download image

Read more

View and download image

Download the image

Close

Download this image

Embark on a journey to claim the throne and change the world

After the king’s assassination, an election for the next monarch unfolds and thus begins your fight for the throne.

View and download image

Years since his last solo outing, Shadow the Hedgehog is back as the star of a never-before-seen adventure: SHADOW GENERATIONS. It’ll be part off an all-new collection that includes SONIC GENERATIONS, which unites Classic and Modern Sonic in a journey through time and iconic Sonic worlds!

With 2 unique adventures to enjoy, SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS will release on October 25, 2024.

View and download image

Download the image

Close

Download this image

With a set of new dark new powers, Shadow the Hedgehog returns for a new adventure in SHADOW GENERATIONS

In this new standalone campaign, Shadow’s nemesis, Black Doom, has reemerged and threatens to take over the world once again. Shadow must journey into his past, confront his painful memories, and unlock new dark powers to save the world.

Read more

A brand-new, free update for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2* is upon us and it’s bringing eight new suits to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – including some new designs and returning favorites from previous games. This update, dropping on June 18, also addresses some community feedback and adds stability improvements to the game.

First, we’re delighted to fully unveil four new suits created in partnership with Colm Dillane, AKA KidSuper, and some special guest collaborators. Evenly split between the Spider heroes, these are new takes on Spidey suits designed from the ground up by KidSuper, Vini Jr, Lando Norris, and Rina Sawayama. Check them out – along with some notes from each designer!

Metro Suit (Miles Morales) – Designed by KidSuper

Fashion designer, Colm Dillane, AKA KidSuper, created the Metro suit for Miles Morales, which comes with additional variant suit styles: red on black, classic Spidey, and teal on purple. KidSuper not only partnered with us to make these suits, but he also worked closely with our special guests to design their suits!

“The puffer design you often see in my KidSuper collections and the exclusive ‘original’ colorway! We came up with designs that felt super original, like something only we could pull off.”

– KidSuper

Ginga Suit (Miles Morales) – Co-designed by Vini Jr. and KidSuper.

Professional Football player Vini Jr. wears his inspiration on his sleeve. A love letter to Brazil and the beautiful, global game of Football, the Ginga suit features a design and default colorway reminiscent of both: a sporty look for Miles Morales with a black, green, yellow, and blue shader. Of course, this suit also features added styles: red on black, classic, and gold on white.

“I wanted it to be a celebration of Brazil’s culture and people. I just love the overall design because it has the energy and action that I associate Spider-Man with, but it’s beautifully mixed with some Brazilian flair. Which makes this suit super special and different from others.”

– Vini Jr.

Fluro Suit (Peter Parker) – Co-designed by Lando Norris and KidSuper 

 Motorsports phenom Lando Norris is all about moving fast. Paired with the high-speed action of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Norris’ suit reflects the pace – wholly inspired by racing, complete with a helmet and overalls familiar to those who burn rubber across global circuits. The Fluro Suit f

Attention, PlayStation players and Call of Duty fans — Black Ops is officially back! After four years, Treyarch and Raven are ushering in the next chapter in the vaunted Black Ops franchise with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, releasing on Friday, October 25. We’ve got intel on some of the modes and features coming to the game and more on items such as pre-order benefits you can earn between now and launch. 

Play Video

This will be signature Black Ops across a cinematic single-player Campaign, Multiplayer, and the epic return of Round-Based Zombies. Get ready for a mind-bending narrative and to go beyond the rules of engagement in all three modes. In Black Ops 6, you’re never sure who to trust and what’s real – – but this blog is real, so let’s dive in!

The Black Ops 6 Campaign narrative

View and download image

Download the image

Close

Read more

PlayStation fans! We’re back again with another exciting look at Monster Hunter Wilds, coming to PlayStation 5 in 2025. In the trailer just revealed at Summer Game Fest 2024, we’re sharing how we’ve evolved the hunting experience to seamlessly connect the tense storyline and gameplay, resulting in the most immersive and cinematic hunting experience in the series.

If you haven’t yet, take a look at our latest trailer below, which we’re calling “The Hunter’s Journey.” It shares a peek at an intense narrative-driven hunt through the Windward Plains and introduces brand new monsters making their debut in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Play Video

New Doshaguma artwork revealed

View and download image

Download the image

Close

Read more

We’re so excited to reveal that the electrifying, creative, and action-packed gameplay of Valorant is now coming to PS5. We can’t wait for you all to join us for our Limited Beta, which begins June 14! 

Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS, where precise gunplay meets unique Agent abilities. Valorant is more than just guns and bullets… I mean don’t get us wrong, you can definitely do some crazy outplays with your guns (five bullets, five enemies, five one-taps… no problem), but Valorant is so much more than that. In every game of Valorant you’ll get to choose an Agent from our continually growing, unapologetically global roster, and each Agent is armed with unique abilities. 

Play Video

Creativity meets clutch

Every Agent has a different kit that allows you to create opportunities for your gunplay to shine. No two Agents will play alike, just like no two montages will look the same in Valorant. When we initially began thinking about bringing Valorant to PS5, it was never about the technical aspects of building a new game on new platforms—it was about preserving the feeling of what it’s like to play Valorant. Once you start playing Valorant and get more familiar with the gameplay, there’s a special moment that will just click. Moments where you stand alone and outnumbered, but you find a way to overcome the odds and win the round while your teammates watch in silence—before erupting into cheers. These are the moments that make Valorant special, where creativity meets clutch. And we’re so happy that we can bring that experience to PS5 and welcome more players to our community. 

The playing fields

In addition to unique Agents, abilities, and gunplay, Valorant also features an array of maps. Each one is a playground for you to showcase your creative thinking. There’s also different modes for you to try out, whether you want to play a quick match or climb the ranks, there’s something for everyone. Currently, for competitive queue, we have a map pool that changes every few months. But all of our existing maps are available in non-competitive modes. All the content that is currently available on Valorant PC, will be available on PS5, and whenever we ship a patch, we’ll be shipping it for everyone at the same time. So when a new map or Agent launches, everyone who plays Valorant will get it at the same time.

For the Beta

While we want to have everyone playing the same Valorant, we also know that with all the different modes, maps, Agents, and guns, there’s a lot to learn. So we’ll be releasing the following modes and maps durin