Indie games have arguably become a cornerstone of PC gaming, even more so with modern-day entries becoming huge hits such as Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades 2, and a superhero surprise from developer Adhoc, Dispatch.

In comes Blackwood, a cinematic third-person action indie, set in New York in 2012. You play as Anton Blackwood, an ordinary DVD store owner by day and an assassin by night, taking on contracts and dealing with the challenge of balancing two lives at once.

After playing two hours of Act 1 (the only one available so far) during my short preview at Gamescom 2026, I can see Blackwood's promise. It's quite evident what developer AttritoM7 Productions is aiming for with its gun-fu style gameplay, heavily focused on explosive, cinematic enemy takedowns, intense gun fights, and stylish maneuvers.

Blackwood is very clearly inspired by classic martial arts and gun-fu movies, notably John Wick, and even borrows elements from classic games like Dead to Rights and Max Payne. Players can either choose to challenge enemies in a gung-ho play style, rushing out and executing different takedowns you can pick before setting out on a mission.

A more tactical approach is also possible, staying in cover and strictly going for headshots only (fitting for a John Wick-styled game), which would perfectly suit the hardest game difficulty.

Blackwood nails enemy takedowns, which is easily the one aspect that will keep me coming back to replay missions I can once Act 1 is complete. (Video Credit: AttritoM7 Productions)

The takedowns swiftly shifting straight back into gunplay are where Blackwood absolutely shines, and I can't go without stressing how impressed I am with what AttritoM7 developers were able to pull off there. In so many sequences, I was instantly taken back to those iconic moments in John Wick movies, where Keanu Reeves pulls no punches.

Ultimately, what holds Blackwood back is jankiness in combat, especially during hand-to-hand encounters. During multiple scenarios, there are bugs and stiffness in certain animations from Anton and enemies that I couldn't ignore.

Controlling Anton can be a struggle sometimes, as certain button prompts are unresponsive while in cover, and since enemies can flank the player, that unresponsiveness can lead to some pretty frustrating deaths.

The weapon recoil feels great, and I can see that AttritoM7 designed Blackwood's gunplay to have players make every shot count — which is especially important, since preparing for missions requires you to purchase ammunition with dirty money earned from fulfilling contracts.

However, I set aim assist to its lowest level (minimal), and it felt like the reticle was fighting against my control of the joystick — and it also doesn't help that the ultrawide field of view resolution desperately needs adjusting.

The opening street shootout was a great way to kick the game off, and I very quickly learned that enemies are unforgiving, requiring the player to be wary of a gung-ho playstyle. (Video Credit: AttritoM7 Productions)

Some of the audio in both combat and some NPC dialogue feels a bit out of place too, particularly during one of the early contract missions in a subway station. There are many elements like this, especially involving animations (notably Anton's run and other NPCs' movements), that end up impacting immersion.

Fortunately, while Blackwood isn't launching in early access, its remaining Acts will be released later for free (for existing owners), with Act 2 planned for March 2027 and Act 3 in September 2027 on Steam. Hopefully, with the release of the following content, patches can be made to significantly tweak and adjust those pain points.

Blackwood is a very promising game and has plenty of opportunity to shine among some of the best indie games available. However, it's a little rough around the edges at the moment, and a few steps away from realizing its potential.

Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember feels like a massive step up from its predecessor, purely from a combat standpoint. With a large variety of weapons to use, several character and weapon abilities to unlock, and armor to find while exploring, there's so much to look forward to at launch.

I played a demo of Koei Tecmo's upcoming title via the Xbox booth at Gamescom 2026, and was left thrilled by just how approachable Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember feels. As a soulslike, it can certainly be punishing, especially when fighting foes above your character's level.

However, Koei Tecmo has given players more than enough ways to battle, with different deflect combinations, standard blocking, and smooth movement for evading in and out of danger zones during combat.

Using the new nunchucks weapon felt like I was stepping into Bruce Lee's shoes, easily flying through standard enemies and deflecting their unblockable attacks. The finishers and overall speed of combat are very much PlayStation 2-esque, almost reminiscent of the stylish combos and animations in Capcom's God Hand.

Enemies often spam unblockable attacks, but the great thing is the attack patterns are very well designed, as they're easy to react to without unfair or nearly indecipherable movements — which is an issue I've had with most soulslike games over the years.

Similar to many soulslike games, though, Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember encourages players to build a build that caters to a specific play style, specifically based on which weapon one decides to use.

Levelling up different elements like wood, fire, water, earth, or metal virtues increased specific base character stats, element abilities, and ultimately improved proficiency with particular weapons.

Since I used wooden nunchucks throughout my playtime, I chose to upgrade the wood virtue, which aided me with more damage against enemies.

If you're fast enough at deflecting, Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember features some of the most satisfying back-and-forth combat against regular enemies and mini-bosses, and that's right up my alley. (Video Credit: Koei Tecmo)

Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember carries the levelling system from its predecessor and builds upon it, but the additional aspects to combat elevate it to a far more exciting level.

I never finished the first entry, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, but I was already very impressed by its fast-flowing gameplay and accessibility, which Koei Tecmo looks to be doubling down on in this sequel.

Story sequences were kept short in my preview, but honestly, gameplay is where the focus is with Koei Tecmo's upcoming entry. If my short demo is anything to go by, I can only expect Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember to deliver for stylish combat fanatics like me when it launches early in 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

• Steam achievements of upcoming and unannounced games have leaked
• The achievements include spoilers for games like Control Resonant, Kingdom Hearts, and Persona 6
• Valve hasn't commented on the achievements or recent prototype leak on Steam

Steam achievements for both upcoming and unannounced games may have been leaked by Valve and spotted on the third-party site Exophase.

As reported by PC Gamer, the leak includes nearly 90 games, including Control Resonant, Kingdom Hearts 4, Gears of War E-Day, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and Persona 6.

The leaked achievements are listed for each title on Exophase, including spoilers for major plot points, character reveals, and even weapon unlocks (notably for Kingdom Hearts 4), despite missing full descriptions. It's effectively created a minefield of spoilers to avoid, which is made worse since the list includes games that don't even have a release date.

It's not exactly clear how this leak occurred on Valve's end, but it doesn't appear to be a breach of the Steam platform. Instead, it may very well be an issue with Valve's API exposure, at least according to Exophase owner Mike Bendel, who claims it's a "possible screw-up on Valve's end", which makes this the second slip-up in just a few weeks.

Recently, around 12TB to 13TB of early prototypes, unreleased titles, and scrapped builds of games between 2003 and 2013 were leaked from Steam, including games such as GTA 5, The Binding of Isaac, and even some of Valve's very own games like Left 4 Dead.

It's possibly the worst spell of game leaks for publishers launching games on PC platforms like Steam, especially with the leak of builds for games like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Forza Horizon 6 before launch.

There's clearly a major security issue at hand with Steam, and until it's addressed, game leaks seem inevitable. Game achievements, while potentially spoiler-filled, are minor in comparison to the very recent game prototype leak.

Valve hasn't made an official statement on the Steam prototype or achievements leaks, but with its impact on both publishers and consumers, it wouldn't be surprising to see both cases addressed soon.