Mythic Quest's two-part season 4 premiere streams on Apple TV+ beginning Wednesday, January 29, with new episodes debuting weekly through March 26.

After lengthy hiatuses, Severance and Mythic Quest return to the office this month. But that’s not the only thing the sci-fi thriller and the workplace comedy have in common: Both Apple TV+ shows are equally invested in exploring personal and professional boundaries (or lack thereof). In its fourth season, the MQ team still struggles to separate home and office, but Poppy Liu (Charlotte Nicdao) embraces a “work work life balance.” That phrase, with its purposeful repetition, hits on the relatable and absurd qualities of this workaholic environment – even after all this time away, Mythic Quest remains sharp and incisive in depicting the world of video-game development. No cheat code is available to prevent Poppy from getting too entangled with creative partner Ian Grimm (Rob McElhenney), and the duo remains the series' driving force. Introducing another man into Poppy’s life (an artist called Storm, played by Chase Yi) upsets the equilibrium, giving the season a different energy from previous years. Disrupting the status quo ensures Mythic Quest isn’t repeating itself, even if Poppy and Ian have returned to the MQ fold after their stint running GrimPop Studios.

While Poppy and Ian’s rollercoaster partnership brilliantly anchors season 4, creators McElhenney, Megan Ganz, and Charlie Day (the last of whom guest stars this season) have always understood that the strength of Mythic Quest lies in its ensemble. Everyone is back in the same place, yet their relationships are more fractured than ever. Dana’s (Imani Hakim) game within Playpen is driving huge numbers, and still, MQ gets the lion’s share of the revenue it generates. The goalposts of success continue to move, and she tries to hit the elusive sweet spot between artistic fulfillment and earning her worth. Her girlfriend, Rachel (Ashly Burch), is the head of monetization for MQ, and there’s no way to predict how the pair will navigate that conflict of interest. Jo (Jessie Ennis) and Brad (Danny Pudi) are part of Dana’s team, and they immediately add a level of intensity when anyone tries to enter Dana’s office. She might not have financial power, but Dana’s support system terrifies David (David Hornsby).

This trio isn’t the only winning dynamic in the mix. Season 4 soars when it pairs Rachel and David for a congressional hearing; the same goes for when most of the crew comes together for an Ethics Committee meeting. There’s no weak link here, but with a cast this big and so many ongoing threads to manage, some moments from earlier in the season fizzle too quickly. The gang gets a new hot potato to toss around in the form of generative AI, but through the first nine episodes of season 4, that topic – with its profound implications for the characters onscreen, the actors playing them, the writers’ room, heck everyone involved with the production of Mythic Quest – provides some brief laughs but not much else. Witnessing a pro-AI Ian come up against a flawed system only left me wanting more.

Other ebbs and flows in the video game industry still provide a lot of humor and tension. Giving the users power turns Playpen’s kid-friendly platform into a haven of animated smut, delivering a bounty of visual gags. Though the platform still generates interest, an overall dip in sales in a post-lockdown world leads to a recurring gag in which David pines for the financially plum heyday of the pandemic. His people-pleasing attempts often backfire, yet his lack of spine, tone-deaf reasoning, and constant siding with corporate ensure you don’t feel too bad for him. The more exasperated he becomes, the funnier Hornsby gets.

Playing with the formula keeps MQ’s dysfunctions fresh. (Another feather of invention and innovation in the series’ cap: The forthcoming four-part spinoff Side Quest, which debuts the same day as the fourth-season finale.) Season 4 doesn’t skip the Mythic Quest tradition of a one-off detour from the main story, and though it doesn’t hit the heights of season 1’s “A Dark Quiet Death,” the episode’s focus creatively fits the “setting boundaries” theme. This episode taps into a corner of the industry that continues to grow, and the sitcom maintains its funny and silly streak while delving into (but not getting bogged down by) real life issues.

Another standout episode takes place outside the offices, with the entire team (plus Storm) receiving an invitation to a secluded location for a murder mystery. Playing games is central to the MQ business model, but in this case, some good old-fashioned sleuthing taps into the personal stakes that make Mythic Quest so appealing. In any creative field, you have to move forward and reinvent; this episode both demonstrates and achieves this in the way storylines advance and characters evolve. A whodunnit in the vein of Mafia (or even Traitors) provides a familiar enough backdrop to convince each of the participants that they a) know the game inside and out, and b) can win. Costume designer Sabrina Rosen nails the Agatha Christie-leaning wardrobe required for the episode, and the entire ensemble flourishes in this setting. The episode, directed by Ganz (who co-wrote it with Humphrey Ker), gets to the heart of the nuanced relationships that have been building since season 1, while also throwing thorny and sweet surprises into the mix.

Poppy and Ian have survived plenty of storms in the past, but a new one is brewing thanks to her love life. (Yes, there are plenty of puns on Poppy’s new boyfriend’s name, and no, I couldn’t resist getting in the mix.) The platonic creative partners exist outside of a will-they/won’t-they situation, yet Storm introduces all the ingredients of a classic love triangle. Ian’s jealousy isn’t informed by romantic attraction, but his reaction to Poppy finding something fulfilling beyond her career makes the duo’s journey fascinating. If work is no longer all Poppy thinks about, then where does that leave Ian? They have weathered myriad conflicts (including the failure of GrimPop last season), and creating the next thing is the glue that sticks them together. However, Poppy finding a new source of happiness – and even inspiration – has the potential to break them apart.

The previous victories and ruptures fueled by ego, expectation, and talent make this all work. Nicdao gets to tap into new and old insecurities and is equally convincing across a spectrum of emotions that make her the MVP of the season. And her comedic timing here is next level. Poppy is still a hot mess, which further adds to the comedy and this arc is a brilliant showcase for Nicdao (who also directs this season).

At the helm, McElhenney is dependable in showing Ian’s endless arrogance and vulnerabilities. Change is hard, and while Ian resorts to old tactics, Mythic Quest’s depiction of evolving priorities ensures this season feels as fresh as ever, immediately pulling us back into this world after a prolonged absence and proving it is far from game over.

This review is based on a screening at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Amanda Kramer is a visionary. That much is inarguable. The writer-director creates worlds that are both inspired by pre-existing aesthetics – 1950s pulp novels in Please Baby Please, ’80s exercise videos in Give Me Pity! – and entirely her own. They’re theatrical exercises in… well, this part is a little more ambiguous, as Kramer’s films, despite (or perhaps because of) their defiant attitudes and freewheeling energy, are often unfocused. That remains the case with her latest, By Design, a quasi-body-swap movie in which Juliette Lewis wants to buy an expensive chair so badly, she fuses her soul to it. The film gestures towards commentary on conspicuous consumption, its links to the objectification of women, and the ways people tie basic human needs like belonging and identity to their stuff. “I shop, therefore I am” – that kind of thing. But the gestures soon become repetitive, and their point remains elusive.

Lewis’ Camille, as we’re told in an opening voiceover from none other than Melanie Griffith, is a relatively happy and well-adjusted person. She still has that savage emptiness inside of her soul that’s a defining characteristic of modern life, however. Her friends Lisa (Samantha Mathis) and Irene (Robin Tunney) talk at her and around her, and her mom Cynthia (Betty Buckley) expresses love by buying her shoes. As Camille, Lewis spends a good bit of the movie slumped over like a doll. But her eyes are unfocused and far away, even when she’s in control of her limbs.

Kramer doesn’t bother explaining how Camille fuses her consciousness with that of “The Stunner,” a tastefully designed, sensually curved wooden armchair that makes everyone in this movie lose their damn minds. Would it make the concept any more believable if she did? Instead, Kramer films outwards from The Stunner’s seat, the lens smeared with Vaseline to indicate Camille’s fuzzy, disoriented, disembodied POV. But oh, what bliss to be a chair! To shed this messy human body and become something hard and smooth and perfect and desired by all who see it!

It’s even more blissful to be sat upon, particularly by a handsome gentleman like Olivier (Mamoudou Athie), a pianist whose ex gives him the chair because she feels guilty about taking the rest of the furniture in their breakup. Olivier is desired; women want him, and men want to impress him. He moves in rarified art-world circles, whose empty pretension and severe haircuts By Design mercilessly spoofs through a series of minor characters. Any statement in these scenes beyond simply (figuratively) turning to the camera and yelling “ART WORLD” remains ambiguous, however.

Perhaps that’s because By Design is self-consciously artistic as well. Some of the stranger and more interesting scenes in the film are accomplished through the use of modern dancers, who roll around and pile on top of each other to form shapes with their bodies not unlike the sexy arc of the chair. (Uh oh, it’s spreading.) The only time the film’s musings about desire and envy really become erotic is when Lewis and Athie engage in a choreographed dance of seduction, with Lewis stiffening her limbs into chair-like shapes and Athie bending his around her.

This is indeed very weird. But it’s also done in complete seriousness, with a subdued energy that effectively tamps down any ironic smirking. By Design demands to be taken seriously as art, as is its right – it certainly makes it more intriguing than some tired “so bad it’s good” version of this premise. This gravity also opens it up to rigorous interpretation, however, which is where Kramer’s anarchic tendencies can become liabilities.

One area where By Design is extremely disciplined is in its production design, unified around a rarefied version of the Southwestern aesthetic popular in suburban living rooms in the ‘80s and ‘90s. We’re talking carpeted bathrooms. Dusty pink and denim blue. Puffy white chairs. Clay lamps in whitewashed fireplaces. It’s so out of fashion that it circles back to avant garde. And Kramer makes it her own, as she always does.

The performances are less unified: Lewis leans into becoming an object – this is one case where “Go girl! Give us nothing!” is actually a good thing – while Athie, who’s shown an affinity for mind-bending roles with projects like Black Box and Kinds of Kindness, plays the most recognizably human character in the movie. Udo Kier shows up, doing his campy Udo Kier thing, and the rest of the supporting cast dials into his wavelength.

The dissonance between the performances and the scattered breadcrumbs of commentary combine awkwardly with the film’s own ambitions towards fine art, creating an experience that’s confounding in a different way. It’s not as fun as its bizarre premise might suggest, in other words, which is a testament to Kramer’s uncompromising artistic integrity. There’s a lot of modern dance to get there, though.

Robert Eggers will follow up his gothic horror movie Nosferatu with a sequel to the beloved classic, Labyrinth.

Variety reports that Eggers will write and direct the sequel to Jim Henson’s 1986 dark fantasy movie starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. Eggers will be writing the film with his collaborator on The Northman, Sjón. A sequel was previously in the works with Sinister director Scott Derrickson attached. But with no updates since 2023, it appears that TriStar and Jim Henson Pictures decided to move forward with a new sequel from Eggers.

Originally released in 1986, Labyrinth starred Bowie as the Goblin King Jareth who kidnaps Connelly’s baby brother. She ventures into the dark fantasy world to rescue her brother with the help of a gang of Henson puppets.

The Labyrinth sequel isn’t the only thing Eggers is working on. It was revealed that the director will also be directing a werewolf movie titled Werwulf with plans for a Christmas 2026 release. The only known details is that the movie is set in 13th century England, with dialogue written in the Old English of the time. Presumably someone will turn into a wolf monster at some point.

Nosferatu was released last Christmas and is a remake of the 1922 silent movie by F.W. Murnau. Set in 19th century Germany, Nosferatu follows a young real estate agent sent to Transylvania to sell its mysterious count a castle in Germany, only for dark, vampiric nightmares to begin manifesting around him and his wife Ellen.

Nosferatu earned four Oscar nominations today including Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling. You can read our Nosferatu review here.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.

Cameras have started rolling on DC's next big film, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. To celebrate, DC boss James Gunn shared the first photo of Milly Alcock as Supergirl...sort of.

In a post on Bluesky, Gunn announced that cameras have begun to roll on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow starring House of the Dragon's Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl. He also shared a photo of Alcock sitting in her actor's chair, so technnically it's a first look at the character.

You might think that cinema is all about the arty pictures, the Oscar bait, the moody period dramas and the auteur-driven space operas. But you’d be mistaken: It’s the more unheralded heroes of film that have kept the medium alive for more than a century – stuff like Flight Risk, a “dumb concept, great execution” thriller from a once celebrated, now disgraced filmmaker that toes the line just so between goofy and earnest. It’s low budget, stars actors you may or may not recognize, and delivers the type of brainless amusement you’d expect from Mark Wahlberg doing wacky accent work in a close-quarters nail-biter directed by Mel Gibson. Not a Great Film by any means, but enough dumb fun to be worth the price of admission.

The story is simple enough. Winston (Topher Grace), a bespectacled fugitive with connections to some big bad crime boss, is collared in a remote Alaskan town by steely U.S. Marshal Madelyn (Michelle Dockery). He negotiates a plea deal, and the two board a charter plane flown by a folksy pilot (Wahlberg) who, it’s soon revealed, is not who he says he is. That’s a movie! Three characters, one location, high stakes, beautiful stock footage of Alaskan mountain scenery. There’s nothing more to it, which is fine. Grace, Dockery, and Wahlberg play their characters as familiar archetypes: the badass lawwoman, the vicious bad guy, the nebbishy secondary villain who turns comrade due to dangerous circumstances. The setting includes built-in tension – what if they crash into a mountain?!? – and the arc of the plot is decidedly uncomplicated and unsurprising.

It also feels very inexpensive, which is not a dig unless you’re expecting fabulously detailed footage of airplanes in midair and not cutaways that border on Microsoft Flight Simulator graphics. The cheapo effects are mostly charming, aside from a suspiciously Midjourney-flavored opening shot of a motel that lasts all but two seconds. Most of the movie is close-ups of frightened people inside a tiny plane, so there’s not a ton of opportunity for anything fancy. Gibson pulls out the big guns for the finale, which involves a fighter jet and an army of ambulances.

It’s honestly quite funny to see this after months of promotional material hyping up the fact that Flight Risk is directed by the guy who made Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto – three of the most visually arresting epics ever filmed – but it’s nice to know he’s good on a budget, too. Gibson has been making a comeback for about 15 years or so, most recently in shoot-em-up thrillers with titles like Agent Game, Hot Seat, and Desperation Road, and while I won’t defend his past patterns of behavior offscreen, it’s cool to see what he can achieve with three actors and a pressure-cooker setting. His experience as both a veteran director and the kind of actor you call when you need a villain in a movie about cartels or secret agents no doubt helped him turn Flight Risk from a mid write-off to a surprisingly good thriller. You do not, under any circumstances, gotta hand it to him, but he’s made an entertaining movie.

The script, which was written by Jared Rosenberg and made The Black List’s survey of best unproduced screenplays in 2020, is, again, about what you’d expect. The dialogue isn’t going to win any poetry awards. It’s peppered with a near-constant string of jokes about gay sex and soiling oneself, apparently the two most humiliating things that could happen to a man in Flight Risk’s universe. Dockery doesn’t get a lot to do, saddled as she is with the “girl who punches and says ‘Shut up’ all the time” role, but she’s very good at looking very, very worried for 90 minutes. Grace is funny without tipping over into irritating, obviously enjoying playing the “scared weenie” bit. Wahlberg in particular verges on cartoonish, repeating scary bad guy lines like “I’m gonna enjoy this” over and over as if reciting a mantra. Also, what they do with his hair – or lack thereof – must be seen to be believed. The trailers don’t do it justice.

Is Flight Risk the apex of cinema? No. Is it dumb fun? For the most part, yes. You could do worse than a movie about being trapped inside a tiny airplane with a killer, and whether it’s due to the capabilities of its director or the simplicity of its concept, Flight Risk sticks the landing.

Doom: The Dark Ages is set to release for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on May 13 if you buy one of the more expensive editions, or May 15 if you buy the standard edition. The latest in a long line of heavy-metal-infused, demon-slaying first-person shooters, Doom: The Dark Ages promises to offer plenty of pools of blood and gore as you blast your way through the hordes of hell. Fun times. It’s available to preorder now in handful of editions (see it at Best Buy). Below, you’ll find details about what comes in each edition, where it’s available, and more. Put on your Slayer suit and let’s dive in.

Doom: The Dark Ages - Standard Edition

Doom: The Dark Ages - Premium Edition

Doom: The Dark Ages Premium Upgrade

• Get it for Xbox/Windows - $34.99

If you’ve preordered the standard edition, or you plan to play the game via Game Pass, and you want the premium items or to play two days early, the premium upgrade gets you that. It basically turns your standard edition into the premium edition.

Doom: The Dark Ages - Collector’s Bundle

• Get it at Bethesda Store - $199.99
• Get it at PlayStation Direct - $199.99
• Get it at Microsoft Store - $199.99

The collector’s edition comes with the premium edition of the game on disc, plus the following:

• 12” Doom Slayer statue
• Key card replica in steelbook
• Up to 2 days early access
• Campaign DLC
• Divinity Skin Pack
• Digital artbook and soundtrack

Doom: The Dark Ages Will Be on Game Pass

Doom: The Dark Ages Preorder Bonus

Preorder the game, and you’ll receive the Void Doom Slayer skin at launch.

Doom: The Dark Ages Trailer

For info on what exactly the game is, check out our first Doom: The Dark Ages preview.

Other Preorder Guides

Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Bluesky @chrislreed.com.

Article includes descriptions written by Robert Falchi.

If you're searching for your next new game to play, Humble Choice January is now live, and this is the perfect bundle to discover something new! Each month, Humble Choice curates a selection of games for members to redeem. For January 2025, this includes games like Blasphemous 2, Against the Storm, Jagged Alliance 3, and more. This deal will only be available for a limited time, so check out the details below on how you can score this Humble Choice bundle!

Humble Choice January 2025 Games

TVs may be an investment, but they are one of the most used gadgets in your home. You don’t want to get some cheap screen with lackluster picture quality and a short lifespan just to save a few bucks. Instead, you should look for ways to spend less on the best TV ready for all your gaming and streaming needs. Luckily there are TV deals all year, so you never really have to pay full price for a new TV if you know when to look.

Everyone’s aware of the discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and admittedly those sales often render the most savings if you can score the best deals. However, there are other times throughout the year you can find major savings on the best gaming TVs or quality 4K TVs.

In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl every year, the biggest TV-watching event of the year, you’ll often enjoy savings. Combine that with most manufacturers releasing new models for the spring, and you'll discover that right now is actually a great time to find a deal on older TVs. That said, there are always more upcoming sales events, like holiday weekends and Amazon Prime Day, on the horizon.

Best Times to Buy a TV

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

What was once a huge shopping day following Thanksgiving has now expanded into a couple weeks in November for sales on everything you can think of. TVs often have some of the deepest discounts of the year, and it’s one of the best times to look out for one. You’ll find many lower-quality TVs for rock bottom prices, which could be handy for a guest bedroom or kid's playroom. Higher-end and newer models of TVs that came out in the spring are also often discounted, so you’re bound to find a deal suited for you.

Black Friday used to be exclusively for in-store shopping, where you’d see people camping outside retailers like Best Buy and Walmart the night before to score the limited inventory and low prices. There are still some incredible TV deals only for in-store purchases, but they’re mostly just advertised to get people in the store, and the stock will more than likely be gone unless you get there early. If you have a specific TV you’re searching for, just be sure to snag it quickly during these deals in 2025.

Cyber Monday is online shopping's answer to Black Friday. It’s simply when you’ll find the best deals shopping from online retailers. Amazon offers sales similar to Prime Day, which happens in the summer (and now in October), where you’ll find a variety of TV deals that are often available for a very limited time with a small stock. Other retailers like Best Buy and Walmart participate in Cyber Monday, and those stores will also have similar sales in-store.

Before the Super Bowl

After the holiday rush comes one of the biggest TV-watching events of the year: The Super Bowl. Many retailers have better TV availability around mid-January and early February, as stock should be back after shoppers made their purchases during the holiday sales events. Therefore, in the weeks leading up to the big game, you’ll see great savings on TVs, including many massive screens. Typically, older models will go on sale first with better discounts, but you can still find a great deal on a newer TV. Right now, we're already seeing Super Bowl deals on Samsung OLED TVs.

Early January is also when many TV manufacturers announce their newest models at the Consumer Electronics Show (See details about CES 2025 for the TVs you can expect to be on sale). That means some stores will be looking to get rid of their stock of older models to make room for the latest televisions coming in spring.

Springtime

If you’re seeking out a specific brand of television, be it Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, etc., many of those manufacturers release their latest TVs in the Springtime, starting around March and running through Memorial Day weekend. That means you may find deals on the older models of those TVs at that time as retailers want to make room for the new crop. Most manufacturers usually make minimal changes to the older model’s successor, so you won’t miss out on many features if you choose to purchase last year's version.

Amazon Prime Day

Prime Day was once an Amazon Prime exclusive sale that started in mid-July to celebrate their birthday, but now other retailers join in with similar deals. Walmart, Best Buy, and a variety of other retailers put on their own sales around the same time, attempting to compete with the online retail giant. Some will even match prices.

Amazon Prime Day generally lasts a few days during mid July and is only for Prime members. When it comes to TVs, you’ll often find deep discounts similar to the sales seen around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, many of the best TV deals are on older models. Be sure to keep your eye on the site, as deals are constantly added throughout the two-day sales event. All-in-all, Prime Day is still not as good as Black Friday when you compare the total number of sales across all retailers.

Holiday Weekends

If you’re desperate for a new TV and don’t want to wait, many retailers will have special sales during long holiday weekends, like President’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. These discounts often aren’t as great, and your TV selection is more limited, but you’ll still be able to score a decent deal on a TV.

The next holiday weekend to be ready for is Labor Day weekend. You can most likely expect Labor Day sales to kick off the weekend before and last through Labor Day itself, which takes place on Monday, September 1.

TV Release Cycles Matter

It’s important to pay attention to the TV release cycle to find the best discounts on TVs, especially if you’re looking to buy the latest and greatest releases. In January, at the massive consumer tech conference, CES, is when many manufacturers will announce their upcoming models. Come springtime, starting around March, those new models start to roll out, with many retailers placing deeper discounts on older models. You’ll still see releases into the summer. If you’re looking to grab one of the newest models, prices often don’t drop until the fall. When you hold out until Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you’ll see the best deals on the latest TVs.

TV Brands With New Products

Most of the notable TV brands release updated and new models of their TVs every year. We go over them below:

Samsung

Samsung has shifted its focus to higher-end models of TVs, and therefore, there's a limited selection when it comes to more budget-friendly options. We don’t see a very big change from last year's lineup, with many new models offering minor upgrades from their predecessors. This crop of Samsung televisions continues promise better brightness, improvements to the mini-LED and Quantum Dot (QD-OLED) backlighting, along with upgrades to their already excellent gaming features.

LG

LG's OLED evo TVs are getting a few upgrades in 2025, including AI features for more personalization and an upgraded "Brightness Booster Ultimate" technology. For gamers, LG's new G5 TV will sport a 4K 165Hz5 variable refresh rate, aiming to decrease lag and frame stuttering.

Hisense

Hisense continues to make a name for itself in the TV game with its 2025 lineup. Many of their higher-end ULED models now offer a 144Hz refresh rate for a better gaming experience. The 136" MicroLED TV is a stunning, large display that utilizes mini-LED technology to "eliminate traditional backlight limitations."

Vizio

In 2024, Vizio made a few small improvements to its latest TVs with some added features and better LED performance. They have also removed the top-line P-series model from their roster. You’ll still get to choose from the mid-range M-series and the more budget-minded V-series. If you’re okay with a 1080p resolution and a smaller screen, you can also grab the D-series on the cheap.

TCL

TCL made major changes to its TV lineup back in 2024. They introduced Q- and S-series, with their flagship model being the TCL QM8. At CES 2025, TCL announced a new entry-level Mini LED TV: the QM6K. Models are already available at 65", 75", and 85", with smaller size hitting the market later this year.

Roku

Yes, that’s right. Last year, Roku, the brand known for streaming devices and putting their smart technology into many other manufacturers' TVs, decided to branch out with its own lineup of Roku TVs. 11 different models range in size from 24 to 75 inches that are all designed for streaming first and foremost. The Roku Plus options will come with the Voice Remote Pro which features hands-free voice commands and rechargeable batteries, while the Roku Select models come with the more basic Roku Voice Remote.

You can get access to the Roku Channel without a Roku streaming device, so you don't need to get a Roku-integrated TV to take advantage of the free streaming service.

Top Budget TVs You Can Buy Now

If you're ready to shop right now, we keep an ongoing list of the latest TV deals worth shopping. We also have some top budget picks if you aren't necessarily in need of a sale. Below we've detailed some of our favorite cheap TVs you can buy in 2025:

When this 18-year AC fan was told he’d be spending time in Shadows, that's exactly what happened. Literally, shadows. My preview build was set darker than an Abstergo CEO’s soul, and a unique quirk of it was a lack of brightness settings. Compounding the issue: my choice to use the nocturnal ninja deuteragonist, Naoe, exclusively.

I was soon tested by bandit ronin, angry samurai, and those big-boned gits game designers love to roll out as Heavies. My greatest enemy, however, was the Stygian darkness around me. Trying to fight silhouetted foes by their UI flourishes and navigating intricate castle battlements using controller vibration braille? Challenging.

It dawned on me that I’d simply have to wait until the sun came up, in-game, at which point my heroine would be less effective because she’d stand out like a tengu’s diamond-studded nose ring.

Be that as it may, I'm glad I soldiered on. Though the overall experience still wasn’t perfect, in full daylight, the considerably delayed and controversy-stricken Shadows shone brighter than I figured it could. Mind you, my expectations were lower than one of Naoe’s underhanded sweep kick executions.

In a minute, I’m going to dive into Shadows’ pros and cons as I see them so far. For now, though, I guess I should provide prices for the diehards willing to make a leap of faith preorder now. If you’re more the type to hang back, synchronise, and get a better lay of the land—like me—then click here to skip the window shopping and get to my continued thoughts.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Standard Edition)

PS5

• Get it at Amazon - $89
• Get it at JB Hi-Fi - $89
• Get it at Big W - $89
• Get it at Harvey Norman - $88
• Get it at PS Store (digital) - $109.95

Xbox Series X

• Get it at Amazon - $89
• Get it at JB Hi-Fi - $89
• Get it at Big W - $89
• Get it at Harvey Norman - $88
• Get it at Xbox Store (digital) - $109.95

PC

• Get it at Ubisoft Store - $TBA

Preorder any version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and you’ll receive a bonus quest called “Thrown to the Dogs.” You'll also get the first expansion for free

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Gold Edition

PS5

• Get it at Amazon - $159.95
• Get it at JB Hi-Fi - $158
• Get it at Big W - $139
• Get it at PS Store (digital) - $TBA

Xbox

• Get it at Amazon - $159.95
• Get it at JB Hi-Fi - $158
• Get it at Big W - $139
• Get it at Xbox Store (digital) - $TBA

PC

• Get it at Ubisoft Store - $TBA

The gold edition comes with the base game, plus the following:

• Season Pass

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Ultimate Edition (Digital)

• Get it at PS Store - $TBA
• Get it at Xbox Store - $TBA
• Get it at Ubisoft Store - $TBA

The digital-only ultimate edition comes with the game itself, plus the following:

• Season Pass
• Sekiryu character pack
• Sekiryu hideout pack
• 5 skill points
• Red dragon filter in photo mode

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Collector’s Edition

• Get it for PS5 - $329.95
• Get it for Xbox Series X - $329.95
• Get it for PC - $329.95

The collector’s edition comes with the ultimate edition game, plus the following:

• Diorama figurine with dual protagonists
• Ultimate Edition: Base game + Ultimate pack
• Steelbook
• Hardcover artbook
• Shinobi's metal tsuba replica with stand
• Silk creed kakemono roll
• Set of 3 sumi-e lithographs

Hands On Continued

Let me reiterate that a lack of brightness settings was a work-in-progress flub that definitely won't affect you on day one. And, despite my extreme visibility issues, even I could see something about Naoe—she’s just incredibly spry and fun to use. And I mean like no assassin I’ve ever inhabited before (and I’ve Animused them all). She’s brilliant at displacing from bad situations and using her last known location, plus a variety of tricks, to turn any stealth error into the perfect bait-and-switch kill.

The key skill to use for this has got to be her multi-tool rope. I’m introduced to it early on in a non-combat scenario first, which is basically me shooting the shit by scaling Himeji Castle and stopping to pat the odd random tailless cat that I chance upon.

Sadly, this isn’t a manually aimed grapple hook, which makes me miss the granddaddy of the genre, Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. What you get instead is a contextual LB icon that constantly flicks on and off in the upper middle of your screen to signify a no-looker attach opportunity. Again, this makes me miss a game—Ghost of Tsushima and its more or less HUD-less approach to everything.

This isn’t a manually aimed grapple hook, which makes me miss the granddaddy of the genre, Tenchu.

Zipping up castle ramparts with the grappling hook—about 30 feet per fling—is pretty intoxicating too. I wouldn’t say this game has the best climbing in the series, as I abhor how one-button and technique-less it’s been streamlined into, but I’m willing to admit that it’s the most visually impressive upward scrambling I’ve seen. Extremely complex hand grips and body contortions flow from animation to animation as Naoe scurries up things. She even does these nifty little contextual somersaults between rooftop eaves.

All this being said, I did spot some frame rate chugs when I got to the highest altitudes. Presumably because the engine was girding itself to stream in some ridiculously commanding view at the end of my ascent.

I expected the worst when I got up to the apex of this particular 152 foot castle and triggered the big synch point camera pan. To my relief, not a chug was there at all, so I believe it’s probably a tuning problem at this point. I also see no framerate issues when I chuck myself off that roof into a haybale roughly 100 ft below (truly the mechanic that never, ever gets old).

Thanks to my Ubisoft demoers, I’m kitted out with what I believe is some of the best gear available. I’m rocking a “Dragon’s Edge” Legendary Katana, which provides two passive perks and very impressive Weapon DPS, Posture DPS, Ability Damage, and Adrenaline Gain numbers.

I also have a Kusarigama (think: a fun-sized scythe with a chain attached to a chunk of metal) that goes by “Death Whisperer” and a Tanto (basically a short sword). Likewise, the clothes maketh the master assassin’s stats, so I’m decked out in an epic Silent Shinobi Hood and cuirass, which also have large numbers to embiggen my Health, Crit Chance, and Adrenaline Gain.

I also have a Kusarigama (think: a fun-sized scythe with a chain attached to a chunk of metal).

When it comes to personal growth, this particular Animus system doesn’t feel hugely unique when compared to the last high-tech sofa bed I lounged in. Like Valhalla, we’re grinding XP to earn levels that come with Knowledge Points to spend in Naoe’s six perk trees. They’re named Katana, Kusarigama, Tanto, Tools, Shinobi, and Assassin, and each of them has around 16 or so things to buy.

I’ll start with the katana, my home slice favourite. You’ll want to invest early in the Tidal Wave strike that pings you forward a few metres, bites off 25% damage, staggers the recipient, and can be upgraded to include a second target.

I also adore the pantsings provided by Eviscerate, a gutstab that ends with this lovely Spartan-kick-to-backlip hybrid move. Upgrading it to be used on larger foes is worth it, purely because the base animation will unintentionally look like you’re stabbing them in the groin instead of the stomach of a regular-sized grunt.

Failing any of those techniques, the unimaginative swordsfolk among you can simply invest in Guard Breakers, Momentum Builders that reward comboing with damage, Repeat Dodges that achieve the same thing, Daze inflictions, and those good old-fashioned table-turning counter-attacks on your LB parry.

The base animation will unintentionally look like you’re stabbing them in the groin instead of the stomach

If crowd control isn’t your bag, I had great success with Quick Strikes. Basically, if you pause after any attack and then tap RB or RT, you can inject two additional strikes into your combo. They seem to cross-up most foes. Or you can just do a Cyclone Blast that lassoes your chain ball into multiple enemies around you. It’s low-damage stuff, admittedly, but the big-boy version of it knocks people back and even slices shrubs and small trees in half. (I’m a sucker for the little details.)

When it comes to the Tanto, you shouldn’t let its diminutive size deceive you into thinking it can’t provide large damage and big fun opportunities. Case in point: the Shadow Piecer ability that turns a thrown Tanto to the face into a follow-up charge where you yank it out at an unpleasant angle. When I upgraded that to gift back 80% of my adrenaline bar, well, everybody got an express delivery Tanto to their melon.

There’s also the highly effective Shadow Barrage ability, which turns a successful dodge into a 20-second, freeform combofest that ends after 7 hits dispensed (or one received). If you’re good enough to chain some kills in there, that’ll up the damage by 5% for more murder. I punch all those numbers into my calculator, and it makes a smiley face.

You should also know that the Tanto is the Little Bread Knife That Could in terms of armour breaking. There are a bunch of perks that have Naoe inexplicably finding the gaps in armour for massive pain. Bonus buckets of blood can be yours if you can perform these chink-finding stabs from behind.

Beyond the three main weapons, I invested an absurd amount of points in my actual Tools of the trade. As an entree, I highly recommend placing yourself atop some balcony edge and then hoiking a “stage 3 enhanced” kunai into somebody’s face for a 400% damage insta-kill.

Hoiking a “stage 3 enhanced” kunai into somebody’s face for a 400% damage insta-kill.

As you may have guessed, Naoe’s greatest strength is her insane mobility, and Shinobi arts can give her Spider-Man-level skills at doing Peter parkour. On the grappling hook side of things, I was more than up for an Ascension Boost perk for zippier rooftop escapes. Likewise, the Heightened Sense mode, which makes time go molasses for 8 seconds, is pretty ludicrous. It’ll cease when an enemy spots you, at which point the flow state ends and your beating probably begins.

I also found great use in using the Vault technique after an attack deflection—you’ll use the enemy as a mini jumping castle and then capitalising on his discombobulated state that follows. I also saw huge success with a Shallow Water Breathing technique for basically staying underwater forever as a means to crocodile snatch anybody near the water’s edge.

When my time came to an end with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, my impressions were of something familiar that's finally leaning hard into what has always been its most ideal and aspirational form. The original AC blueprint, from its very inception, was really just a Middle-Eastern-flavoured ninja sim. AC Shadows—well, half of it at least—feels like a stealth experience homecoming that’s been ages in the making.

Naoe is my jam, and while this Japanese sandbox isn’t as painterly as the islands of Tsushima and Iki, Shadows has the edge in terms of interesting major metropolitan areas. They're all built around what I consider to be the most satisfying to climb jungle gyms ever built—multi-tier Edo-period fortresses.

I simply cannot wait to scale them for the purposes of springboarding into repeated death-from-above executions (or just insane haybale dives). The new release date of March 20th can't get here soon enough.

Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

After id Software’s brilliant revival of Doom in 2016 and its even tighter 2020 sequel Doom Eternal, it’d be hard for Doom to soar any higher. So it isn’t. Instead, it’s keeping both feet planted firmly on the ground and bringing the high-speed, high-skill-ceiling first-person shooter even closer to the scores of Hell’s minions in the medieval-tinged prequel, Doom: The Dark Ages.

Yes, the new Doom pivots from Eternal’s platforming and instead literally grounds its combat in strafe-heavy gameplay with an emphasis on power. Sure, the great guns are still there – this is Doom, after all! – and that very much includes the new Skull Crusher that stood out in the reveal trailer. You know, the one that eats the skulls of your fallen enemies as ammunition and spits them back out at the still-living bad guys in smaller, higher-velocity chunks. But The Dark Ages also places a huge premium on your three melee weapons: the default electrified gauntlet, which can be charged up; the flail; and the star of the reveal trailer from last summer, the Shield Saw, which can be thrown or used to block, parry, or deflect. “You’re gonna stand and fight,” game director Hugo Martin said after my demo of the new Doom.

Perhaps it won’t surprise you, then, that Martin says The Dark Ages is inspired primarily by three other seminal pieces of pop culture: the legendary original Doom, Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, and Zack Snyder’s 2006 classic movie 300 – perhaps not coincidentally based on a graphic novel by Miller.

As further evidence of this, the modern series’s trademark Glory Kill finishing-move system has been unsynced, meaning the fatalities can be performed from any angle on the battlefield and will change accordingly. This is to account for the hordes of enemies that will be around you all the time. Yes, like 300 (and the original Doom), you’ll be surrounded by bad guys in combat bowls that have been significantly widened in The Dark Ages. You can accomplish objectives in any order you want, and wander anywhere you feel like in the levels (which, by the way, Martin says have been shortened a bit where needed to stick closer to his sweet spot of each being about an hour long).

Even better, addressing a criticism I cited in my review of Doom Eternal, The Dark Ages will no longer force you to read its story in the Codex. Instead, the story will play out in cutscenes. And the story will “take you to the far reaches of the Doom universe,” id says, with a big story described as “a summer blockbuster event with everything on the line” as your power as the Slayer is coveted by your enemies.

Martin also made a point to emphasize that the development team is focusing on simplifying the control scheme, believing that in hindsight, Doom Eternal made the controls too complex. Martin said the team wanted something that felt intuitive so that when they pressure the player, they’re not reaching for buttons they’re not familiar with. The aforementioned melee options, for example, will be equipped like equipment (meaning, one at a time). Meanwhile, not only will there be more secrets and treasures hidden around, but the economy has been simplified to one currency (gold), and those secrets will focus on furthering your skill progression. Meaning, tangible, gameplay-altering rewards rather than lore deep-dives.

One thing you definitely can deep-dive into, though, is the difficulty. Custom sliders now let you tweak the challenge however you see fit, with adjustments for things like game speed and enemy aggression (and a whole lot more) at your fingertips in the UI.

I also learned a bit more about two standout gameplay sequences from the reveal trailer: the giant 30-story demon mech (called the Atlan) and the cybernetic dragonback riding. They won’t be one-offs, by the sound of it, but you can’t just call in either one anytime you like. Each has a full suite of abilities and even minibosses to battle. Oh, and one more key bit of information: there won’t be any multiplayer mode this time around, as the team wanted to focus all of its resources into making the best single-player campaign possible. Not that Eternal’s Battlemode was bad, but I imagine most players won’t complain.

But for me, someone for whom the original Doom was transformational in 1993, I just keep coming back to Martin’s pivot away from the (very successful!) direction they were heading in Eternal and his renewed adherence to the design principles of that 30-year-old foundational classic as he designed The Dark Ages. “It’s just gotta be different [from Eternal],” Martin said. “Especially if I loved the game. [If] I wanna play a Doom game, I wanna feel strong, but I’m OK with changing what that power fantasy is, especially if that change brings it closer to classic Doom.”

Hearing that has got me more hyped than ever. May 15 can’t come soon enough.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.