Esports in fighting games makes for huge business, with the likes of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Smash Bros. hosting regular international tournaments where big prize money is at stake. One game that you seldom see reach the same highs? Dead or Alive, a franchise that has always had the potential to not only offer thumb-blistering competition, but spectacular matches for fans to watch as well. This year, Dead or Alive wants to get cereal.

There will be blood in the post-apocalypse, as well as a few unique weapons which showcases humanity’s ability to still find novel ways to murder one another when given the chance. Upcoming Russian FPS Metro Exodus is well aware of this, and happens to have an entire arsenal of weapons that happen to be based on reliable Jack of all trades icons and more murderous MacGuyvers that were churned out by survivors.

There’s a reason that this RedLynx/Ubisoft series has been with us for so many years (20 if you include the original Java version). Basically it’s fun. We could’ve said flat-out fun, but there’s much more finesse to the experience than that, as players soon discover. Just like learning to ride a real bike, the basics of Trials never truly leave you. But as the series has evolved, the gameplay has become ever more nuanced, and now it’s time for more people to explore the many ways that flipping two-wheeled rides around like a fool can be so very fulfilling.

Is Resident Evil 2’s remake worth its day one price tag? Well here’s what the critics have to say so far.

Anthem has a pair of demos out this week and the week after that, kicking off for pre-order and EA Origin Access pals on January 25 and everyone else on February 1. What do you get for your gigabytes? A hopefully solid taste of Bioware back on form and ready to rock with their Destiny-killer that has you piloting advanced warsuits across hostile terrain and lighting up the land with lethal ordinance. Basically, a taste of things to come. Here’s the catch though: That taste may differ from the main course.

This week’s announcement? A bunch of new characters that includes a bunch of ninjas: Boruto Uzumaki, Gaara, Kakashi Hatake and Kaguya Otsutsuki from the Naruto universe. If your AMV senses aren’t tingling yet, that’s a stable of powerful fan favourite ninjas (and Boruto) that’ll be joining Uzumaki Naruto in action. Plus a certain someone else from the Joestar bloodline looks set to make the cut.

In many ways, fatalities are the very essence of Mortal Kombat. Bloody to the extreme, so vicious that they’re actually hilarious and that little extra dig in the ribs when you’ve beaten a friend and you want to rub your victory in their face. So how does a game like Mortal Kombat 11, which already features Baraka literally ripping the face off of an opponent, come up with those pugilistic punctuation points?

In the latest Bungie blog, Destiny franchise director Luke Smith penned a letter on the game and it’s “bright future”. “In the short-term, we're continuing to build the content we’ve promised for the Annual Pass,” Smith wrote.