Crimson Desert Steam Reviews Jump to 'Mostly Positive' as Latest Patch Makes Significant Improvements

Crimson Desert Steam reviews are improving, moving up from ‘mixed’ to ‘mostly positive’ on Valve’s platform as developer Pearl Abyss releases game-changing updates.

As IGN has reported, Crimson Desert launched big on Steam with nearly 250,000 concurrent players, but was met with a "mixed" user review rating. Much of the early criticism from players revolved around the controls, which some had called clunky and unnecessarily complicated. There were some performance complaints too. For example, PS5 owners joined forces to work out the cause of blurry visuals — an issue that was also on the PC version.

Meanwhile, Pearl Abyss saw its stock price plunge nearly 30% in what was seen as a reaction to review scores from critics. A day after launch, the company stock fell a further 9.78% — despite the announcement of 2 million sales. According to the Korean business press, Pearl Abyss reportedly spent seven years making Crimson Desert, with development costs coming in at 200 billion won (approx. $133 million).

Today’s patch addresses keyboard and mouse control complaints, and improved control responsiveness with the promise of more to come. But it also made a long list of quality of life improvements, including the addition of an actual storage box, nerfs to a lot of the difficulty in the game, and more fast travel points. And there are some key fixes, too, detailed in the patch notes below. This update, which arrives just a few days after Crimson Desert came out, really does change the experience in quality of life terms, and should make the game more easy going overall.

Now, Crimson Desert Steam reviews are 'mostly positive' across both English-only reviews, and all reviews. At the time of this article's publication, 70% of the 37,660 Steam user reviews were positive. That percentage jumpts to 77% for English language reviews. Today, March 23, Pearl Abyss’ stock price was up slightly, by 0.6%.

“We are currently reviewing various gameplay elements based on your feedback and will roll out further improvements and fixes in subsequent updates,” Pearl Abyss said. “We remain committed to improving Crimson Desert and your experience in Pywel. Thank you once again for your continued support.”

Over the weekend, Pearl Abyss said it had launched a “comprehensive” audit of all in-game assets after admitting the use of AI-generated images in the final release should have been disclosed. The AI assets will be replaced via patches, the developer added.

Pearl Abyss is pumping out updates at a surprisingly fast rate — something that has pleased players, although some are concerned that nerfs to difficulty take something away from the experience. But there is no sign of the Korean company slowing down as it works to improve the experience.

Crimson Desert update 1.00.03 patch notes:

Quests

• Fixed an issue in the Chapter 2 quest "Reunion" where the cat would sometimes stop leading the way.
• Improved the Chapter 4 quest "Mysterious Pot" by making the symbol stop briefly when it reaches the correct position while repairing the ancient generator.
• Fixed an issue in "Turnali's Request" where the quest would not complete if a Bekker Shield that had already been refined was refined again.
• Improved the notification to appear when crime status prohibit the quest from progressing.

Content

• Added more Abyss Nexuses across the continent of Pywel to improve fast travel via teleportation.
• Added the Private Storage that can be used to store items from your Inventory.
  • The Private Storage is located at the initial temporary lodgings in Hernand and at the Howling Hill Camp.
• Reduced the time required to acquire knowledge.
• Changed skill observation to be only required once to learn before being able to use it.
• Adjusted when Force Palm is learned to allow players to use it much earlier in the game.
• Reduced the number of hits required to log trees.
• Changed logging so that trees are chopped with basic swings without aiming first.
• Decreased the QTE difficulty in the Arm Wrestling minigame and when pinned by an opponent (Mount).
• Improved the visibility of items that can provide knowledge by adding icons and tooltips that show the total number of knowledge acquired.
• Changed ore veins and collectibles to be discovered automatically when you are within a certain proximity.
  • Regular Ores: 8m
  • Tools: 2m
    • Bonfire, Special Cooking Tool, Grindstone
• Improved Skybridge Alignment Devices in the Abyss to trigger immediately when placed in the correct activation point.
• Improved the visibility of Skybridge Alignment Devices within the Abyss to make them easier to locate.
• Improved the visibility of the circuit board attached to Axiom Force to show its lines while being moved.
• Improved camera movement when aiming a bow at a brazier and adjusted the range for lighting arrows accordingly.
• Added an indestructible brazier in front of the Lioncrest Watchtower.
• Improved the Trading Post UI to display Damiane, Oongka, and Kliff's horses' Inventory.
• Added effects for destroying facilities at enemy strongholds. The effects of facility destruction are as follows:
  • Infirmary: Wounded enemies no longer return to the fight.
  • Storage Facilities: Enemy Max Health -10%.
  • Barracks Facilities: Enemy Attack -5.
• Improved the visuals of certain puzzles for clarity.
• Increased the Health restored by ingredients and food items, and added new food to the Hernand Tavern.
• Increased the Lantern's range for detecting clues.
• Reduced Stamina consumption for Nature’s Grasp.
• Fixed an issue where pets would fail to loot items under certain conditions.
• Changed certain items in the Witches' shop to reset daily.
• Changed the properties of bismuth ore and how it is gathered.
  • Petrification is now applied by default when you approach bismuth ore.
  • Bismuth ore can now be mined using regular methods like a pickaxe, rather than requiring Lightning damage attacks.
• Lowered the difficulty of the Marksmanship and Archery Contest minigames.
• Fixed an issue where the Abyss cell's electric field would not disappear.
• Improved the visibility of the part that needs to be grabbed with Axiom Force on the Skybridge Alignment Device.
• Changed Visione to be automatically equipped and play after reading memory fragments with the Lantern.
• Fixed an issue in the Ethereal Pathway Abyss where players could not observe Force Palm if they did not step on the Abyss Nexus.
• Fixed an issue where Stamina was not consumed after a certain quest cutscene.

Controls

• [General] Improved the response speed of the interaction UI.
• [General] Improved the responsiveness of jump inputs.
• [General] Fixed aiming to target the center of the screen when using a Lantern or while unarmed.
• [General] Improved the Equipment Quick Slot so that re-selecting your current equipment will stow it.
• [General] Improved the responsiveness of the Main Menu UI.
• [General] Fixed an intermittent issue where the Main Menu would not open.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Improved the responsiveness of character movement controls.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Added the following shortcuts to open and close certain menus:
  • Inventory: [I]
  • Skills: [K]
  • Journal: [J]
  • Map: [M]
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where the key guide at the bottom right of the screen would not update when using Guard or Aim.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Added default control options for Guard/Aim (Side Button 1) and Evade (Side Button 2).
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Changed controls to maintain movement input when using Axiom Force.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where duplicate keys could be assigned in Shortcuts and Input Settings.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where certain inputs did not function correctly after changing the Shortcuts and Input Settings.

Boss Fights & Combat

• Reduced the Health and Attack of specific enemies and bosses.
• Reduced Stamina consumption for blocking attacks.
• Lowered the difficulty of the ambush encounters triggered while heading toward the Reed Devil boss stage.
• Adjusted certain attack patterns for Kearush the Slayer.
• Increased the accumulation of the stun gauge on bosses upon a successful parry.
• Changed boss weakness effects to display even if the player has not acquired the specific knowledge.
• Fixed an issue where comrades remained when entering a boss fight.
• Fixed an issue where fire arrows failed to ignite enemies on hit.
• Fixed an issue where certain bosses fell unnaturally in specific situations.
• Fixed an issue where certain bosses ran away too frequently when hit under specific circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where the Blinding Flash weakness was not being properly applied to certain enemies.

NPC & NPC Dialogue

• Fixed an issue where some English audio lines were not playing.
• Reduced the price of restorative items sold by Carl at Howling Hill Camp from 10 Silver to 1 Silver.
• Improved animal behavior to appear more natural when near the player.
• Fixed abnormal behavior and placement positions for certain NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs would catch each other cheating during the minigame Duo.

UI Fixes & Improvements

• Improved food items to automatically register to a quick slot upon first acquisition.
• Improved the display positioning for the Homing Pigeon letter UI.
• Improved the camera movement when observing skills.
• Fixed an intermittent issue where the UI failed to remove the destination on the Map menu.
• Fixed an intermittent issue where the cursor did not display correctly when navigating the Shop menu.
• Moved the Knowledge and Notifications menu from the Others tab to the Journal tab and adjusted the order.

Graphics & Settings

• [PlayStation 5, Xbox] Added a toggle for 120Hz mode within Settings.
• Fixed an issue where settings were not saving correctly after using the Default option in the Settings menu.
• Fixed an issue where resolution and upscaling settings were not retained when restarting the game.
• Fixed an issue where character equipment and cats were invisible on the minimum performance quality setting.
• Fixed an issue where screen quality appeared abnormal when activating FSR Ray Regeneration or DLSS Ray Reconstruction.
• Fixed an issue where monitor size was incorrectly detected at certain resolutionsm causing abnormal display output.
• Fixed an issue where the game screen appeared cut off or misaligned in Fullscreen, Windowed, and Borderless Window modes.
• [Mac] Fixed an issue where default graphics settings were incorrectly set to Cinematic on certain MacBook models.
• [Mac] Fixed an issue where the game would occasionally crash under specific graphics settings.
• (Mac) Fixed an issue where the game would occasionally freeze when Frame Generation was disabled.
• (Mac) Fixed a letterbox rendering issue in cutscenes when Frame Generation was enabled.
• Fixed an issue where the Abyss remained visible in specific situations while on the ground.
• Improved and fixed various visual effects triggered during specific NPC animations.
• Improved the appearance of the waterfall in the Abyss tutorial.
• Fixed awkward animations that occurred when a character collided with a wagon.
• Fixed an issue where letterboxing failed to deactivate after certain cutscenes.

Performance, Stability, Gameplay

• [PlayStation 5] Fixed an issue where the game would occasionally crash when opening the Map menu.
• Fixed an issue where the game would not launch because dedicated graphics cards were not recognized in environments using both integrated and dedicated graphics cards.
• Fixed an issue where graphics cards were not correctly recognized on versions below a specific build of Windows 10 (Improved detection for graphics card versions that could not be found).
• Fixed several stability, performance optimization, and crash issues across PC and console platforms.
• [Xbox] Fixed an issue where gameplay was unavailable while offline.

Localization

• Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality across all languages.

Others

• Fixed an issue where the death and loading sequences were delayed.
• Improved horse behavior to approach the player after being called.
• Fixed an issue where the character would be pushed sideways when using Force Palm or Stab while against a wall.
• Fixed an issue where DualSense Controller vibration failed to function in specific Windows environments.

If you’re jumping into Crimson Desert’s huge open world, we recommend you take a look at our guide to Things to Do First in Crimson Desert, plus Things Crimson Desert Doesn’t Tell You (we’ve got 28 and counting!). We’ve also got a guide to the Best Early Weapons we recommend picking up, the Best Skills to Get First (including a handy explainer of the skills system), and 34 Essential Tips and Tricks to help you succeed in Pywel.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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'I Just Want It to Be Known That I Did This Before the Patch' — Crimson Desert Players Who Beat Its Rock Hard Archery Minigame Before Today's Update Are Flexing Now

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss just released a patch that makes a number of significant improvements, but one that players are already praising lowers the difficulty of one of the hardest activities in the game: the archery minigame.

If you’ve played Crimson Desert for a few hours you’ll probably have encountered this minigame, which challenges you to an archery contest against an NPC. The idea here is to be the first to score 10 hits, with targets popping up one after another.

It’s worth noting the control scheme for firing an arrow, which involves holding a button to aim then releasing the button to fire. It is NOT a quick process — certainly not quick enough for what’s to come. The further into the contest you get (it costs you coin to participate), the harder your opponent. Later opponents start doing their best Robin Hood impression, seemingly predicting where the target will pop up and landing a hit in the blink of an eye.

Players had called this minigame impossible before today’s patch (we here at IGN even had some useful tips for it), with some suspecting it was so hard it was bugged.

If this archery part doesn't get nerfed in a future patch, I'D BE SURPRISED!

I'm a keyboard and mouse guy for shooting games but I'm using 🎮 and with no friction on target, I KNOW folk are going to RAGE at this part. 😭😭😭

Crimson Desert devs really said ffffffffk YOUUUUU 😭 pic.twitter.com/iWoifEzgEd

— Gaming Since NES (@GamingSinceNES) March 22, 2026

“Fair warning, archery competition is literally impossible to win,” said one disgruntled player. “When the target shows up you have, and I’m not exaggerating one bit, about 250 milliseconds to register that the target is there, aim then hold the button to fire (for some reason????). The NPC f***ing predicts where the target is gonna be and almost pre-fires before the target even shows up.

“Pretty sure it’s a bug, so if you see the archery competition then better save your coins and ignore it until they fix it.”

“It’s hilarious, I’m not even kidding, the AI shot the arrow before the target started lifting and hit it before it went all the way up lmao,” said another. “I swear AI was letting arrows loose before the target was up several times, instant shots,” another said. “S**t like this fucking ruins games. How the f**k did this get past testing?” said another player.

Thankfully, the archery contest is easier, thanks to the update. And that has sparked something of a flex within the community, with those who managed — somehow — to beat it crowing that they did so pre-patch. “I just want it to be known that I did this before the patch,” said the appropriately named FreddyLeeSavage.

I just want it to be known that I did this before the patch
by u/FreddyLeeSavage in CrimsonDesert

But how did they manage such a feat? “Yeah there were even times where I shot my arrow first I know I did and they still gave the CPU the point,” FreddyLeeSavage explained. “This particular one I did get pretty lucky tho just locked in and was close to the spot where the target popped up most of the time.”

“He is John Crimson Desert himself,” one fan said. “I beat Radahn before the patch so we are basically the same,” another fan quipped. “I honestly don’t know why it was nerfed, very winnable competition just not a complete walk in the park,” a player, perhaps Robin Hood himself, commented.

Making the archery contest easier isn’t the only meaningful change hitting Crimson Desert today alongside the patch. Pearl Abyss has also adjusted some gamepad and keyboard/mouse controls, increased health restored from food and items, and, crucially, added new item storage in the Howling Hill Camp.

And if you’re jumping into Crimson Desert’s huge open world, we recommend you take a look at our guide to Things to Do First in Crimson Desert, plus Things Crimson Desert Doesn’t Tell You (we’ve got 28 and counting!). We’ve also got a guide to the Best Early Weapons we recommend picking up, the Best Skills to Get First (including a handy explainer of the skills system), and 34 Essential Tips and Tricks to help you succeed in Pywel.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Crimson Desert Patch Adjusts Some Keyboard/Mouse Controls, Adds Storage

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has outlined a few improvements that have been applied to Crimson Desert in a new patch released today.

The studio has made some adjustments to both keyboard/mouse controls and gamepad, increased health restored from food and items, and introduced storage at the Howling Hill Camp to be able to stash inventory items in.

“[W]e have been paying close attention to your experiences across issue reports, videos, livestreams, and community discussions,” the studio wrote in a new post detailing the patch notes on Crimson Desert’s official website. “Your feedback has been invaluable to us, and we appreciate the time and care you have taken to share it with us. This patch includes some of the improvements and fixes we were able to prepare first, including changes based on player feedback, like the addition of a Storage at Howling Hill Camp for storing your Inventory items and some improvements related to keyboard and mouse controls.

“However, this is not the end to our control improvements; we will continue to improve both controller and keyboard/mouse controls moving forward.”

Pearl Abyss states that Patch 1.00.03 will become available on Xbox, Epic Games Store, and Mac App Store at a later time.

Crimson Desert made a big splash on Steam with nearly 250,000 concurrent players, and sold an impressive two million copies in just a day. It’s currently among the most-played games on Steam, despite facing some criticism from players concerning the controls, and shipping the game with images made with generative AI. Pearl Abyss issued a statement calling the inclusion of generative AI images an “oversight” and explained it was “currently conducting a comprehensive audit of all in-game assets and… taking steps to replace any affected content.” Updated assets will reportedly be included in “upcoming patches.”

If you’re currently playing Crimson Desert, be sure to check out IGN’s guide on the things to do first, plus all the things Crimson Desert doesn’t tell you. And, if you’re not currently playing it, perhaps you can head to IGN's Crimson Desert review and our Crimson Desert PC performance review to see if it’s for you.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

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The Best Deals Today: Code Vein II, My Hero Academia: All's Justice, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, and More

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Code Vein II, My Hero Academia: All's Justice, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, Square Enix RPGs, and more. Check out our top picks for Sunday, March 22, below.

Code Vein II for $49.99

Code Vein II is on sale for the first time since launch, and you can save $20 off a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S copy. This soulslike action RPG features an open world and multiple other evolutions from the first game. If you're someone looking for your next RPG, this could be a great option, especially for $49.99.

My Hero Academia: All's Justice for $39.99

My Hero Academia: All's Justice covers the epic conclusion of MHA, featuring the climactic final battle of Deku and Class 1-A versus Shigaraki and All for One. This weekend, you can score a copy of All's Justice for $39.99. One of the best new features of this game is the Hero's Diary mode, bringing brand-new original interactions and scenes between MHA's cast.

Castlevania: The Complete Series Blu-ray for $108

The Castlevania series is one of the most popular video game adaptations in recent memory, and this box set is the perfect way to experience it for yourself. For $108, you'll get all four seasons of the original series, plus a 72-page color booklet, window clings, tarot cards, and an ouija game board and game piece. Both English and Spanish audio are available, with support for 2.0 and 5.1 surround sound audio.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for $49.99

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is the very first entry in the beloved Trails series, and this remake from last year brought new life into the original game. Considering 2nd Chapter is set to release later this year, this is a great time to pick up 1st Chapter if you've never had a chance to check it out.

Project Hail Mary LEGO Set Available at Amazon

Project Hail Mary's film adaptation was an absolute treat, and if you're like me, you're probably searching for more ways to immerse yourself within this world. There's no better way to do that than picking up the LEGO Icons Project Hail Mary set, which is pretty hard to find right now. You can order this now at Amazon, so don't wait before it's sold out.

Mario Kart World for $64.99

Mario Kart World is the best-selling game on Nintendo Switch 2, and this weekend, you can save $10 off a physical copy at Woot. This is the most expensive game on the Switch 2 thus far, and sales are extremely rare. If you have been waiting to pick up a copy of Mario Kart World, don't miss your chance to save this weekend.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined for $49.99

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is one of the biggest RPG releases of the year so far, and this weekend, you can score a copy of the game on any platform for $49.99! This is a great entry to start with if you've never played a Dragon Quest adventure before, or if you're keen on exploring more of the series after the HD-2D Erdrick Trilogy Remakes!

NZXT Kraken Core 360 RGB for $89.99

You can save $40 off this NZXT Kraken core 360 RGB AIO liquid cooler today at Amazon. If you're looking for a reliable, stylish AIO that will get the job done and not break the bank, this is a great option. The 3,100 RPM pump ensures a cool CPU even in the heaviest of games or multitasking, and each fan can individually spin at up to 2400 RPM.

Octopath Traveler 0 for $39.99

Octopath Traveler 0 was easily one of the most overlooked RPGs of 2025. This massive game packs in a huge amount of content, with over 100 hours required to 100% the game. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, "Octopath Traveler 0 asks you to stick with a 100-hour journey, and it rewards you with the kinds of moments only lengthy RPGs can pull off with its overarching story, an intricate turn-based combat system, and a soundtrack that'll leave you absolutely floored."

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $24.99

The second chapter of the Final Fantasy VII remake project brings Cloud Strife and the iconic cast into the world of Gaia for the first time, as they step out of Midgar following an eventful escape. Many new characters join the party, including Yuffie Kisaragi, Cait Sith, and more. With the third entry in the project currently in development, now is the perfect time to catch up and prepare. Pick up a PS5 copy for $24.99 and enjoy this massive open world adventure.

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'We Should Have Clearly Disclosed Our Use of AI' — Crimson Desert Dev Launches 'Comprehensive Audit' of All In-Game Assets After AI-Generated Art Was 'Unintentionally' Included in Final Release

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has launched a “comprehensive” audit of all in-game assets after admitting the use of AI-generated images in the final release should have been disclosed.

After the hotly anticipated open world action game launched this week, players were quick to spot signs and paintings that looked very much like they were generated by AI. IGN’s Brendan Graeber found further examples of in-game images with the telltale signs of AI.

Crimson Desert’s use of generative AI art put Pearl Abyss in violation of Steam's AI Content policy, which requires generative AI use to be disclosed on the game's store page. There was no disclaimer on Crimson Desert’s Steam store page as of yesterday, but today one is included as follow:

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Generative AI technology is used in a supplementary capacity during the creation of some 2D prop assets.

Any such assets are replaced through our production pipeline by our art and development teams, ensuring they meet our quality standards and creative direction.

In a statement, Pearl Abyss said the AI generated assets “were unintentionally included in the final release,” and admitted it should have disclosed the use of AI to players. “We sincerely apologize for these oversights,” the Korean company added. Now, it’s scrubbing through the entire game looking for all AI generated assets, and will replace them via patches.

Here’s Pearl Abyss’ statement in full:

We would like to address questions regarding the use of AI in Crimson Desert.

During development, some 2D visual props were created as part of early-stage iteration using experimental AI generative tools. These assets helped us rapidly explore tone and atmosphere in the earlier phases of production. However, our intention has always been for any such assets to be replaced, following final work and review by our art and development teams, with work that aligned with our quality standards and creative direction.

Following reports from our community, we have identified that some of these assets were unintentionally included in the final release. This is not in line with our internal standards, and we take full responsibility for it.

We also acknowledge that we should have clearly disclosed our use of AI. While these tools were primarily used during early production, with the expectation that these assets would be replaced prior to release, we recognize that this does not excuse the lack of transparency.

We sincerely apologize for these oversights.

We are currently conducting a comprehensive audit of all in-game assets and are taking steps to replace any affected content. Updated assets will be rolled out in upcoming patches. In parallel, we are reviewing and strengthening our internal processes to ensure greater transparency and consistency in how we communicate with players moving forward.

This is the second post-launch statement Pearl Abyss has released in the initial days after Crimson Desert’s massive launch. Having sold 2 million copies in just a day, Pearl Abyss told players it was going to release a patch to address complaints around the game’s clunky controls, and even apologized to keyboard and mouse players.

As IGN has reported, Crimson Desert launched big on Steam with nearly 250,000 concurrent players, but it currently has a "mixed" user review rating on Valve's platform. Much of the criticism from players revolves around the controls, which some have called clunky and unnecessarily complicated. There are some performance complaints too. For example, PS5 owners have come together to work out the cause of blurry visuals — an issue that’s also on the PC version.

Pearl Abyss will be keen to address the main complaints with Crimson Desert sooner rather than later in a bid to improve its Steam review rating. This week, IGN reported on how Pearl Abyss saw its stock price plunge nearly 30% in what was seen as a reaction to review scores from critics. Yesterday, the company stock fell a further 9.78%. According to the Korean business press, Pearl Abyss reportedly spent seven years making Crimson Desert, with development costs coming in at 200 billion won (approx. $133 million).

We’ve got plenty more on Crimson Desert, including patch notes for its day one update, IGN's Crimson Desert Review, and our launch interview with marketing and PR chief Will Powers. We've also got a Crimson Desert PC performance review.

And if you’re jumping into Crimson Desert’s huge open world, we recommend you take a look at our guide to Things to Do First in Crimson Desert, plus Things Crimson Desert Doesn’t Tell You (we’ve got 28 and counting!). We’ve also got a guide to the Best Early Weapons we recommend picking up, the Best Skills to Get First (including a handy explainer of the skills system), and 34 Essential Tips and Tricks to help you succeed in Pywel.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Screamer Review

Screamer isn’t subtle. Screamer is neon-soaked, maximum volume arcade racing that requires both the finesse of Wipeout and the tactics and aggression of Mario Kart, where dicing for position demands that you think offensively and defensively at all times. Requiring the use of both sticks to fling your car around corners – plus actively shifting the semi-automatic transmission at the perfect time to build crucial boost energy – it’s also a fascinatingly busy racing game. Confidently different, Screamer makes a good case for itself in a genre rarely recognised for a great deal of innovation, despite being let down on occasion by a few dud tracks that slow the pace too much, some unbalanced missions in its central tournament mode, and no clear characters to really care about in its story.

Screamer’s twin-stick racing mechanics see the right stick used to dictate drift angle by swinging out the rear. The pendulum-like effect is a little overly pronounced in a few of the cars – which makes me disinclined to drive those ones – but it remains a pretty approachable system in the majority of vehicles. You have to engage with it; you get mild steering force with the left stick – enough to navigate shallow bends – but if you try to take a sharp corner without using the right stick you’ll simply understeer like a whale on a rollerskate.

Beyond its unconventional steering, Screamer draws inspiration from fighting games with a power-up system driven by two linked meters. In simple terms, one is for boost, and the other is for combat – and you fill the combat meter by using the boost meter. In action, however, there’s a lot of granularity to the system. Each character, for instance, has meters split into different amounts of sections, and each has distinct strengths and weaknesses when it comes to boosts, attacking, and defending. It’s an interesting juggle, even if some of the characters have drawbacks that make them a poor choice for some of the tracks. For instance, one character – who will explode if he clips a wall while in the attacking ‘Strike’ state – is typically a deeply annoying choice for any particularly twisty tracks.

The twisty tracks are by far the weakest, as they take the pace of the racing down too much as you stab the brakes to cater for the constant switchbacks. As quick as Screamer seems at top speed, it’s surprisingly soggy at low speeds.

In contrast, the more open tracks – full of straights and sweeping, constant radius corners – are a hoot. These are definitely Screamer at its full potential – particularly the incredible-looking, neon-lit, rain-soaked urban circuits.

The cars, too, are fantastically designed – and each one looks like they’ve driven straight out of the frame of a ’90s anime. They’re characterised by colourful liveries, wild time attack-style aero, and imaginative flair. I particularly like the pop-up brake lights featured on one of the vehicles. Subtle flourishes like that suggest to me developer Milestone had a lot of fun bringing them to life, and it gives the cars real character.

You Gotta Keep ’Em Animated

Screamer invests heavily into its story mode, which follows five race team trios competing in an ostensibly illegal contest hosted by… a weird man in a mask. The bulk of the characters competing appear to be pop stars, astronauts, and private military contractors rather than actual racing drivers – and the whole thing seems to be managed by a single mechanic (who doesn’t know how shirt buttons work), and his apparently sentient dog (who can drive a car). This all feels a little odd and small-scale considering the prize is an eye-watering 100 billion dollars, but it does sync up with Screamer’s overt anime-inspired aspirations, nonetheless.

The sharply illustrated characters and accomplished cutscenes are very impressive, and the anime sheen Milestone has added here is not an afterthought. You can see the significant investment on the screen as you play, from its sizzling intro to its crisp and colourful cutscenes. It also boasts a lengthy script; seriously, some of these people won’t stop talking. It’s a nice touch having the characters speak in their native languages and yet still understand each other – a phenomenon that’s explained by some kind of universal translator chip. I did, however, miss the meaning of a bunch of early dialogue because I had subtitles turned off. I’d anticipated that, with the game language set to English, that would just turn off the English subtitles, but leave them on for languages other than English. However, that wasn’t the case. They were just off entirely.

Screamer does feel very much like a passionate adaptation of a hypothetical anime series, which is perhaps unsurprising considering the direct involvement of Japanese animation studio Polygon Pictures. The partnership has paid off in this regard, because you really can see it. Unfortunately, in many ways, it feels a lot like an adaptation of season four of that series. The story fills in some of the gaps later, but I otherwise found the opening stanza to be a non-stop salvo of character introductions, and a lot of overly dramatic huffing and puffing about things that happened in the past that we as the audience are completely in the dark on. Characters are either anxious and brooding or twee and extra, and I quickly found it pretty exhausting how much they moan at each other. The story also jumps across all five teams, which made it impossible for me to warm to anyone anyway, really.

Screamer leans into its story immediately – indeed, the first string of events you’ll play are the initial handful of story missions. Only after completing these will you finally be able to back out to the main menu. I’ll concede that funnelling us directly into the tournament has merit, as it does essentially function as an initial tutorial. And this complex brand of racing honestly makes a tutorial crucial. It does, however, temporarily obscure the impressive breadth of the overall package. Screamer boasts a lot of additional ways to play it beyond its curated, story-based tournament mode, but there’s a non-zero chance that some people will bounce off before they see the rest of what it has to offer. It will really depend on your level of patience for mashing through angst-riddled anime characters bickering, flirting, and pointing at each other.

Anime-zing Race

The uneven difficulty of tournament mode may emerge as a source of real grief for some players. On regular difficulty I found myself able to punch through most events in one effort, but there are some that I found noticeably trickier. For instance, one event required me to chase a dog through one of Screamer’s twistiest tracks. All I would have to do is land one successful attack on the dog’s car (yes, it’s driving) and it’d be mission over. However, the dog was annoyingly perfect at negotiating the bends, and was able to consistently maintain a gap no matter how well I drove. Bored of literally spinning my wheels I simply stopped on track briefly, and blasted the dog once he lapped me. Was this method anticipated? Or was it what I was actually supposed to do? Either way, that solution makes this mission feel like a waste of time for all parties involved.

Other events are simply too prescriptive with their objectives to remain enjoyable. One such race will require you to win it, but also take out two ‘Green Reaper’ team members as you do so. But you can't take anyone out while leading, so you’ll need to let them overtake you. However, they may not be in second place, either, so you’ll need to let other people overtake you, too. And you shouldn’t take them out, because you’ll need to save your finite takedown juice for the Green Reapers.

Oh, and also, in this race the Green Reapers team don’t have green icons. The Green Reapers are blue.

It’s a bit of a miss. I don’t mind a challenge, but I’m skeptical of arbitrary ones that don’t make a lot of sense.

The good news is that, as mentioned earlier, Screamer features a welcome stack of other modes if the tournament becomes too tedious. Arcade mode, for instance, features an excellent array of options and modifiers to create exciting custom races of your own. It goes well beyond simply adjusting the amount of laps; you can change the rate at which your power meters fill, force all cars into the explosive ‘Overdrive’ boost state, and even shut down offensive attacks for pure racing.

There are also a variety of challenge modes with global leaderboards, online racing, and even four-player splitscreen. Four-player splitscreen, in 2026. Somebody needs to send Milestone a fruit basket for that alone. It is true that Screamer’s idiosyncratic handling and character-specific power-ups make it a lot less instantly approachable than, say, a typical four-player splitscreen kart racer – but the depth of the game modifiers you can toggle and adjust does give you a lot of scope to ease new players into Screamer’s racing.

Screamer features a strong suite of accessibility features, too, from a variety of colourblindness filters, an offline game speed slider, and even the ability to totally remap the controls for one-handed use. The latter deserves particular praise considering how fundamental using both sticks is to playing as ‘intended.’ It’s admirable that Milestone still baked in a workaround. The one-handed controls apply an auto-throttle, leave the trigger for braking, and fuse steering and drifting to a single stick. It’s actually a really effective solution, and may well be worth experimenting with for inexperienced racing game players finding the drifting tricky.

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How to Play the Metal Gear Solid Games in Order: The Full MGS Timeline

Whether it’s Snake’s elevator ascent to the rainy cliffs of Shadow Moses or the climactic battle between student and mentor in the final moments of Snake Eater, Hideo Kojima and Konami’s epic spy thriller franchise, Metal Gear, is home to some of gaming’s most iconic moments. Telling a story that spanned multiple console generations and pushed the creative capabilities of video games to their limits, Solid Snake and Big Boss’ adventures are legendary, so much so that many claim they’re among the most important releases the medium has ever produced.

Back in 2015, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain seemingly ended the franchise for good, with Kojima leaving Konami and the Metal Gear Solid IP behind to form his own studio. However, Konami has started resurrecting the series through re-releases and remakes, like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater coming out later this year. With so many new players experiencing this world of undercover espionage, shady government conspiracy and gruff-voiced dudes with cool eyepatches for the first time, we’ve laid out the chronological order of the Metal Gear Solid series so newcomers and returning fans can catch up.

Jump to:

• How to play in chronological order
• How to play by release order

How Many Metal Gear Solid Games Are There?

Not including remakes, ports or remasters, there are 17 total Metal Gear games: 11 mainline games, five on handheld devices and one on mobile. Although that’s a lot of games, a decent chunk of them are considered non-canon, with their stories overriding events from the main saga and spinning off into their own unique takes on the universe.

2018’s Metal Gear Survive takes place in an apocalyptic reality where a zombie virus has overtaken the world, so it falls outside the main canon. As for the PSP’s Metal Gear: Acid and Metal Gear: Acid 2, they veer from the timeline and tell a new story, making them alternate-timeline spin-offs. Then there’s the Game Boy Color’s Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, which is an alternate-universe Metal Gear sequel that wipes away the events of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, thus removing it from the timeline. And finally, Metal Gear Mobile and Snake’s Revenge have since been deemed non-canon by the community and Kojima himself in interviews.

That leaves 11 games within the main storyline. Each game is considered part of the true Metal Gear Saga, spanning from a fictional alternate-history 1960s to the late 2010s. So, let’s run you through all the games in that story.

Every Metal Gear Game in Release Order

1. Metal Gear (1987)
2. Snake’s Revenge (1990)
3. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990)
4. Metal Gear Solid (1998)
5. Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel (2000)
6. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
7. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
8. Metal Gear Solid: Acid (2004)
9. Metal Gear Solid: Acid 2 (2005)
10. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (2006)
11. Metal Gear Solid: Mobile (2008)
12. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
13. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010)
14. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013)
15. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014)
16. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)
17. Metal Gear Survive (2018)
18. Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater (2025)

Which Metal Gear Should You Play First?

We recommend two potential starting points for Metal Gear. For those interested in the complete saga, we recommend 2023's Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, which includes the best available versions of Metal Gear Solid 1–3. Alternatively, for those interested in simply trying out the franchise (and for those with a lower tolerance for older games), we recommend starting with the series' most contemporary iteration, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Metal Gear Games in Chronological Order

These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and story beats.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The first slot in the saga’s timeline and the most recent game to get a modern remake, Snake Eater follows a US Special Forces operative codenamed Naked Snake during the events of the Cold War. Sent to locate and extract a Russian scientist from the Soviet Union to prevent him from building a weapon of mass destruction known as the Shagohod, Snake’s shocked to find his former mentor, The Boss, has betrayed the US government and sided with the Soviets.

After a heated battle, Naked Snake is brutally defeated and left for dead in the jungle. Surviving the encounter, he’s tasked by his commanding officer, Zero, to return to Russia, find his mentor and kill her, all the while tracking down the Shagohod to prevent nuclear war. By the end of the story, Naked Snake adopts the moniker of Big Boss, becoming a legend among the US Special Forces. However, his battle with The Boss and the secrets he’s uncovered throughout his adventure leave him disillusioned with his duty and the government he serves.

Read our original review of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater or our new review of the MGS3 remake.

2. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

Set six years after Big Boss’ climactic battle with his former mentor, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops picks up the legendary soldier’s story as he goes head to head with his former squad, FOX Unit. The game begins with Big Boss learning FOX has gone rogue, betraying the CIA and staging a revolt.

Captured and tortured on a Colombian base by FOX Unit, Boss breaks free but learns he’s been accused of treason. In a bid to clear his name, he decides to hunt down his former allies and pursue their ruthless leader, Gene. By the end of the game, Big Boss learns of Gene’s desire to create a nation of mercenary soldiers known as Army’s Heaven and acquires the mass of funds and equipment saved for the project. Returning to the US, he later forms a squadron of special ops soldiers known as FOXHOUND.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.

3. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Four years after the events of Portable Ops, we catch up with Big Boss, who has left FOXHOUND and the Patriots. Since leaving, he’s formed a new band of mercenary soldiers known as Militaires Sans Frontières (or MSF) with Kazuhira Miller. Using their newfound army to protect countries that don’t have the forces or means to defend themselves, Big Boss and Miller wage war against an armed militia known as the Peace Sentinels after they invade Costa Rica.

During his investigation, Big Boss soon realizes that his former mentor, The Boss, is somehow involved in the Peace Sentinels' plans. Worse, they have access to nuclear weapons, wielding a supremely powerful mech called the Peace Walker. Rallying on an off-shore oil rig known as Motherbase, Snake and the Militaires Sans Frontières take the fight to the Peace Sentinels, attempting to discover their true motive and secrets. The game ends with Big Boss battling his former ally Paz, who turns out to be a secret agent of Zero’s shady government organization, Cipher.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

4. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

A few months following the events of Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes acts as a prologue to the fifth entry in the Metal Gear Solid series: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The story sees Big Boss embark on a new mission after learning that Paz survived their climactic battle during the final moments of Peace Walker and is being interrogated by Cipher at a mysterious military base known as Camp Omega. Knowing that she has crucial information about Cipher and could reveal secrets about MSF to the shadowy organization, he rushes to extract her.

While infiltrating the base, he discovers a mysterious Cipher cell known as XOF, which is led by a sadistic, severely burned commander called Skull Face. The prologue ends with Snake extracting Paz only to realize his allies are being attacked by the XOF back at Motherbase. The onslaught destroys the oil rig and eradicates Militaires Sans Frontières, leaving Big Boss on the cusp of death.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes.

5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Nine years later, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain opens with a severely injured Big Boss waking up in a hospital in Cyprus. Evading an assassination attempt where he’s attacked by a man covered in flames, a telekinetic soldier and a master sniper, Boss is saved by Revolver Ocelot and returns to action as he leads a new mercenary group known as the Diamond Dogs.

Swearing to stop the XOF after they destroyed Militaires Sans Frontières, he adopts the codename Venom Snake and heads to Africa to pick up their trail, learning that the former-Cipher-affiliated group went rogue. Their leader, Skull Face, is instead working on a devastating parasitic weapon with the power to eradicate the Western world. The game ends with Big Boss setting in motion his plans to create a military nation known as Outer Heaven, where soldiers are free to live without being used to further shady government plans.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.

6. Metal Gear

11 years later, the story catches up with the first entry in the series: Metal Gear. The game follows Solid Snake: a rookie soldier and member of FOXHOUND. FOXHOUND is once again run by Big Boss, who acts as Snake’s mentor and commanding officer. On his first mission, Solid Snake is sent to track down a weapon of mass destruction being constructed in a military nation known as Outer Heaven.

During his mission, he finds another agent codenamed Grey Fox, who was also sent to track the weapon. Grey Fox reveals the mysterious weapon is a mech codenamed Metal Gear, which has the power to launch nuclear bombs. The game ends with Solid Snake and Big Boss coming to blows, with the latter revealing he was behind Outer Heaven's plans.

Read our review of Metal Gear.

7. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

Four years later, Solid Snake returns to action after he learns Big Boss survived the events of the previous game and is currently constructing a new Metal Gear for the fictional nation of Zanzibar Land.

Teaming with various characters, Snake infiltrates Zanzibar Land and attempts to destroy the weapon of mass destruction, battling Big Boss and his army of soldiers along the way.

See more about Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

8. Metal Gear Solid

Six years after Metal Gear 2, Solid Snake returns in a new mission. This time he’s sent to battle his former unit, FOXHOUND, which has gone rogue, turned against the US and taken over a mysterious government facility on an island known as Shadow Moses. Shadow Moses is allegedly a test site for a secret Metal Gear, with FOXHOUND threatening to use its nuclear weapons if they aren’t supplied with Big Boss’ corpse and a large sum of money.

Snake heads to the facility and fights various members of FOXHOUND, including Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis and a Cyborg version of his former ally, Greyfox. He also meets the eccentric leader of FOXHOUND, Liquid Snake. The game ends with Snake being declared killed-in-action by Colonel Campbell and presumed dead by the government after they intended to double-cross him. He flees Shadow Moses alive.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid or see more of the best PS1 games.

9. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty opens two years later, with a now-rogue Solid Snake infiltrating an oil tanker while hunting down a new Metal Gear being transported to the US. There he discovers a prototype Metal Gear known as Metal Gear Ray, which is subsequently stolen by Revolver Ocelot. Ocelot sinks the tanker and escapes, while Snake is blamed for the tanker’s destruction.

Two years later, we shift to a new protagonist: Raiden. An agent of FOXHOUND, Raiden is sent on a mission to an off-shore decontamination facility known as Big Shell, which was constructed to clear the crude oil spill caused when the oil tanker was destroyed during Solid Snake’s mission. Big Shell has been hijacked by a militant group known as the Sons of Liberty, which has taken the US president hostage.

Infiltrating the facility, Raiden soon discovers things aren’t quite what they seem, looking into Big Shell’s secrets and meeting a junior lieutenant named Iroquois Pliskin, who’s clearly hiding a big secret. By the end of the game, Solid Snake joins Raiden’s mission, telling him he’s going after Ocelot (who it’s revealed is possessed by the will of Liquid Snake) and the Patriots.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty or check out more of the best PS2 games.

10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Marking the end of the main story and Solid Snake’s final mission, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots catches up with Snake three years after the events of Sons of Liberty. Due to the cloning process used to create Snake and the rampant FOXDIE virus still coursing through his veins, we discover that his body is rapidly aging, with the protagonist being told he only has a year left to live. Donning a new nickname, Old Snake, he returns for one final mission.

He’s to assassinate Liquid Ocelot, who is currently running a new version of Outer Heaven which is comprised of some of the biggest private militaries in the Middle East. Equipping his body with nanomachines, Snake sets out to bring Ocelot down, learning that his nemesis intends to once again locate Big Boss’ corpse and execute a mysterious plan. As Snake battles his age and the lingering FOXDIE mutating in his body, he makes his way towards a final confrontation with his most ruthless enemy.

Read our review of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

11. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

The final story in the current Metal Gear timeline, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance focuses on Raiden who, as we learned during Guns of the Patriots, has transformed into a cyborg. The story picks up four years after Metal Gear Solid 4, revealing that Raiden now works with a private military company called Maverick Security Consulting.

During an operation in Africa, Raiden is attacked by a rival private military group known as Desperado Enforcement. Wounded and left for dead by its commander, Jet Stream Sam, Raiden continues his investigation into Desperado and learns some sinister secrets about the group and its allies. As the revelations about the private military grow darker, Raiden swears to bring them down, setting off on his own to deliver violent justice.

Read our review of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

What’s Next for Metal Gear?

Now that we've gotten our hands on the Snake Eater remake, questions remain about what we might see next in the stealth franchise. While there's still no indication that we'll get new MGS games without Kojima, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater developer Virtuous Studios did tease that remakes of other Metal Gear games aren’t off the table.

Speaking with IGN, the team said, “Regarding remakes of previous games in the series other than Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, we will listen to player demand and consider accordingly.” True to their claims, the studio is rumored to have been spreading a poll after Tokyo Games Show that let fans vote on which Metal Gear game to remake next.

In the meantime, Konami has announced a second volume of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection. The new collection includes Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (HD Collection version), and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, with a release date of August 27. That's up for preorder on PC and consoles, including Switch 2.

For more game timelines, also see Assassin's Creed Games in Order and a list of Far Cry Games in order.

Callum Williams is a freelance media writer with years of experience as a game critic, news reporter, guides writer and features writer.

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