The holiday season is here, and there’s no better time to give yourself the gift of gaming this month. We checked out the latest content drop from UVS Games, suited up to take on VR alien threats in MIB: Most Wanted, threw some pigskin with fantasy creatures in Mutant League Football 2, and more. Check out our recap of gaming reviews in our Gamebox 2.0 below.
Astro Busters – Early Access (Chris): Astro Busters is an ambitious project from two indie developers who clearly wanted to bring back the feel of classic arcade space shooters. Astro Busters is a retro-style arcade shooter created by Michael Prymus and Piotr Przybył after they noticed there weren’t many space shooter titles they could quickly jump into. When they realized no one else was making the kind of game they wanted to play, they built it themselves.
Astro Busters draws inspiration from games like Asteroids, Gravity Force, and X-Pilot, all of which focused on flight physics and accurate shooting. Players pilot a ship that rotates to engage enemies and obstacles, emphasizing precision and well-timed laser fire. The single-player mode is structured around a series of missions with simple objectives, such as collecting coins, activating switches, or eliminating a target enemy ship. Finishing a level unlocks minor upgrades that make it easier to take on boss fights that get trickier. Multiplayer offers a cooperative mode that lets two players tackle missions together and a deathmatch mode that focuses on competitive, head-to-head encounters.
Prymus and Przybył set out to create a game that is instantly approachable yet challenging to master. The presentation is where Astro Busters struggles the most, with many assets appearing heavily AI-generated and textures and sound effects that feel extremely basic. This makes the overall package feel rough when compared to other polished indie titles on the market. That said, Astro Busters does attempt to offer depth through its scope and feature set, positioning it as more than a simple experimental project. In its current state, the game feels like a passion project that asks players to look past placeholder visuals and audio design to appreciate its old-school arcade roots. Players seeking a highly refined indie experience may find better value elsewhere. Still, those interested in a straightforward arcade action with experimental ideas may appreciate what these developers are trying to build. Astro Busters was released in early access on December 5 and is aiming to have a final build at the start of 2026. You can check out the free demo on Steam to get an idea of the gameplay.
Men in Black: Most Wanted (Zach): You can virtually put on the last suit you’ll ever wear and join the MiB in the new Meta Quest VR game, Men in Black: Most Wanted, from Coatsink and Sony Pictures VR.Set in 1995, you play as Agent I, who gets accidentally neuralyzed while on a mission with their partner, Agent L. With no time to wait for the De-Neuralyzer to be ready, you have to relearn the skills of an MiB agent and help stop an invasion by the evil shapeshifting Cylathians and hunt down the six top members of their group. You get to use an array of MiB gadgets and weapons, and there’s a fun mix of investigation and combat. You’ll use gadgets like the Omniscanner, Teleporter, or Scout Bug to solve puzzles and progress through each stage. Then you’ll usually find the hidden Cylathian operation at that location and bust out weapons like the Series 4 Deatomizer to take them down. The main gadget you’ll use constantly, the Magnet Gloves, which you use to pull and throw objects, can feel a bit wonky at times, and it takes some finessing with your hands to get the indicator lined up correctly to activate the ability. There’s a bit of a stealth element in that you can sneak up and take down some of the Cylathians quietly by pulling a lever on their exosuits, but this is definitely much more of an action game than Jurassic World: Aftermath, which had you hiding and avoiding the roving raptors and other dinosaurs.
The shooting feels pretty solid throughout, and the weapons handle differently, each with its own feel. It doesn’t do anything new or unique for shooting in VR and definitely isn’t on the level of something like Pistol Whip, but it does the job and mostly feels good as you battle the various alien threats. During the levels, you can find Weapon Mod Chips that you can use to buy upgrades and mods for the weapons, like adding a charge or ricochet shot. The game does a solid job of representing the world of MiB, with cameos from the Worm Guys and stuff like the ability to practice your weapons on the shooting range that Will Smith’s Agent J famously used to shoot little Tiffany. The music also has a quirky Danny Elfman-style, though it doesn’t seem to feature the MiB themes from the movies. If you’re an MiB fan and are looking for a solid, fun shooter in VR, Most Wanted is a good time with solid shooting and some fun gadget-based puzzles. It’s out now for the Meta Quest 2, 3s, 3 and Pro headsets.
UVS Games – Guilty Gear -Strive- Blitz Box (Chris): The latest GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- expansion arrived this early December. Players got their chance to build a new deck from the new Blitz Box, which introduces new fighters and strategies for players to explore. Each box contains 12 Blitz Packs, each featuring a character card along with a mix of attacks and foundations to expand your deck or try out new tactics. Each pack contains 11 total cards: 1 character card, six commons, three uncommons, and one of the following: Rare, Ultra Rare, or Secret Rare. Collectors can hunt for six serialized Manga-style Chromes and complete a nine-card pearlescent alt-art mural, with the final piece exclusively available at pre-release events.
Fans of GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- will get a thrill from the new expansion packs, which bring even more of their favorite characters into UniVersus. Bridget, May, Sol Badguy, and Ky Kiske each receive new cards that capture their signature moves and fighting styles, allowing players to expand their decks in exciting ways. This release emphasizes style, power, and intensity, featuring characters from the latest installment of the GUILTY GEAR series and incorporating signature mechanics such as Roman Cancel to enhance gameplay. Alongside these cards, new playmats bring these iconic fighters to life on the table, making every match feel like stepping into the world of GUILTY GEAR with stylized flair. If you have your decks ready and are looking to size up some competition, check out the Universus Gaming Network to find a tournament to enter.
Mutant League Football 2 (Zach): The brutal sport of Mutant League Football is back with Mutant League Football 2 from Digital Dreams Entertainment. The spiritual successor to the cult favorite Sega Genesis title and building off the 2017 reboot, Mutant League Football 2 is set in the post-apocalyptic world of Mutant League, where the undead, mutants, robots, and other bizarre athletes take to the gridiron. While the basic rules of football remain the same, things are taken to an over the top extreme with on-field traps and hazards that can kill your players and “Dirty Tricks” that can allow you to do things like bribe the refs to make BS calls against your opponent or pulling out a literal shotgun out of the snap and gunning down your opponents on the run. Luckily, you have a roster of substitutes you can swap in if someone gets too injured or outright killed, but part of the strategy is keeping an eye on your best players and trying not to lose them, especially in the game’s Dynasty mode as you try to build a team and work your way to a championship.
Gameplay-wise, the game takes its cues from the iconic NFL Blitz series, emphasizing arcade-style speed, passing bombs downfield, and massive hits during or after plays. You choose your play from several formations, then either run the ball or look for an open receiver and press their corresponding button to pass to them. There’s a turbo for running that is essential for evading defenders, and you can also stiff-arm or dive. On defense, you can call various blitzes, and you have a few options for tackling whoever has the ball. Real NFL teams inspire all the teams, but with a horrific twist, like the Karcass City Creeps, Killadelphia Evils, and Blitzburgh Steelheads. Adding to the Blitz feel is the commentary from Tim Kitzrow, the voice of Blitz and other games in the franchise, such as MLB Slugfest. There’s constant commentary about how the game is going, but I did notice that even in the first game I played, the jokes and commentary started to repeat. It might get tiresome after several games if you hear the same bits over and over. The other humor in the game is a mixed bag as well, with some genuinely funny comments from your or your opponents’ players, but some are trying to be edgy and topical that already feel dated, so your mileage will vary depending on how you vibe with the game’s humor. You can play a single game in arcade mode against another player or the CPU, but the real meat of the game is Dynasty mode. Similar to how it works in Madden or other games, you can either choose one of the 32 teams in the game or create your own team and then work your way through an entire season, earning points to upgrade your players, trade for new, better players, and eventually compete for the Mutant League championship in the Mayhem Bowl. You can earn Player Cards that give you special characters to add to your roster or a boost to specific attributes. You can also design your own stadium, adding all kinds of deadly traps, like mines, to the field. It’s shockingly in-depth for a game that is, on the surface, more simplistic and goofy, and it seems like you can really sink your teeth into it if you are really into the game. If you are looking for something that captures the feel of games like Blitz, Mutant League Football 2 is a fun arcade-style football game with its own distinct attitude and gimmicks, such as on-field hazards and Dirty Tricks, that make each game feel unpredictable and chaotic in an entertaining way. It’s out now on PS5, Xbox, and PC.
Kingdom of Night (Zach): If you’re looking for some more 80s set creepiness as Stranger Things comes to an end, Kingdom of Night by developer Friends of Safety and publishers DANGEN Entertainment and Game Source Entertainment will probably scratch that itch. An action-RPG set in 1987 in the town of Miami, AZ, you play as John (or whatever you’d like to rename him) as he is thrust into a battle against dark forces that threaten the town. You can choose from two classes, melee and magic, and then you can specialize within those classes, such as sorcerer or necromancer for the magic class. The melee class is easier to control, and you can dodge with a dash to get in and get some quick hits in, and then dodge out to avoid damage. The magic classes are more advanced but offer a wide array of spells that you utilize by entering button combos. As John, you make your way around town, completing quests and leveling up, and there are plenty of side quests and hidden corners to explore. The game features a map that shows the locations of your active quests, and your backpack holds your inventory. You can equip different gear to give you stat boosts, and you’ll find increasingly powerful weapons as you progress. All the weapons and items are fun, real-life objects, like soda to refill your health or cool leather gloves that boost specific stats. You’ll also unlock new abilities for your chosen “archetype” as you level up, gaining passive and active skills that you can use in combat. Combat is played in real time, and the attack and dodge, while simple, feel solid and, at least for the melee class, are easy to get the hang of. You’ll need to have a handle on it fairly soon into the game, as the first major boss comes up fairly quickly in the story and offers up a skill check to see if you’ve mastered the basics of combat.
The game has a great pixel art style that is animated fantastically, and you’ll run into all kinds of unique characters and creepy monsters. It’s got some cool, grotesque creature designs, and you’ll run into some massive, highly detailed characters that are a treat to see. There are lots of 80s stock characters in the mix, from the town bully Jimmy to rich kid Daniel and your crush Ophelia, who has been kidnapped by the evil demonic forces that are attacking the town. The dialogue is well written and offers up a fun mix of serious and goofy, and it utilizes the slang and lingo of the 80s to good effect. There’s also fantastic music from 80s legend Vince DiCola, who scored movies like Rocky IV and The Transformers: The Movie. The locations are all interesting to explore, from the bizarre crypts and sewers beneath the town to the local mall and the neighborhoods around town. There’s a great sense of freedom and exploration as you make your way around the map, which opens up shortly after starting the game. After completing the first major leg of the main quest, you’ll get a quest to find all the kids who were at a big party that was interrupted, which will send you all over the map. If you can find them and send them to the local bar, Stinky’s Tavern, you can head there and usually gain some bonus for helping them out, like getting a full heal or some other perk. If you want to team up with a real-life friend, the game also offers local co-op. Kingdom of Night is a great action/RPG that offers great atmosphere, fun characters, and solid, fun combat. It’s out now on Steam.
