With a slew of high-profile games on the horizon and the recent launch of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs, it’s an exciting time to be a gamer.
We just came back from CES 2025 where we got our hands on the latest and greatest gaming tech, which we’re excited to pair with games like Avowed, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Monster Hunter Wilds, all of which launch just next month.
New games and tech means higher graphical fidelity and frame rates, so we need to be prepared if we want the best. Here’s a look at what’s coming down the gaming industry pipeline and what we’re most excited about.
Avowed on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
I’ve been gushing about Pillars of Eternity ever since I heard Critical Role blasting its soundtrack during their actual-plays, but I didn’t have the courage to dive into 200+ hours worth of out-of-date gameplay mechanics. That is until Avowed was teased for the Xbox Game Showcase back in 2020. Since then, I’ve completed every quest in the Pillars of Eternity universe and find myself more than prepared for the Elder Scrolls-like entry into its world.
We’ve seen some gameplay at this point, and I’m most excited about the spellsword-esque combat. Granted it was years ago, but playing Skyrim as a spellsword didn’t feel intuitive. In the latest trailer, the player could swiftly freeze the enemy with one hand and smack him with an axe in the other. And when a spell took two hands to cast, like the trapping vines, the swap back to melee looked smooth. When I play an RPG, I focus on making my build look and feel as stylish as possible as opposed to maximizing my damage output, and I’m pleased to report this game has style.
With Avowed launching on February 13, it may not align with the launch of my favorite gaming laptop at CES 2025. However, if I do get to play Avowed on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, it’ll be a treat. I’ve been particularly fond of the Zephyrus G14 model ever since it launched back in 2020 (coincidence?). So I jumped when I saw it could support the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU as well as a 14-inch, up to 2880 x 1800, 240Hz, OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 and 500 nits of brightness. Translated: It pretty and I want.
— Rami Tabari
Little Nightmares 3 on the Lenovo Legion Go S
Little Nightmares is among my most cherished series, solidifying my adoration for lovingly crafted worlds occupied by unimaginable horrors. Both games make my skin crawl, from their eerie sound design to the otherworldly manner in which every antagonist shifts and moves. I have wonderful memories huddling beneath a mountain of blankets in my bedroom, glued to my Asus ROG Ally past midnight as my heart pounded while traversing Little Nightmares 2.
Little Nightmares 3 is set to launch in 2025, and it’s no secret that I’m excited, even if it’s being developed by a new team rather than Tarsier Studios (although it’s working on the fantastic-looking spiritual successor, Reanimal). What better way to celebrate my history with the series than to play Little Nightmares 3 on another Windows gaming handheld, particularly the affordable Lenovo Legion Go S powered by SteamOS.
The Lenovo Legion Go S starts as low as $499 and launches May 2025. It can be built with an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go or AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, integrated AMD Radeon 700M series graphics, up to 32GB of 6400Mhz LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 1TB of PCIe SSD storage all wrapped up in an 8-inch LCD display at a 1920 x 1200 resolution. And since it’s running on SteamOS rather than Windows 11, the lightweight Linux-based operating system will yield greater performance. In short, it’s the perfect indie game machine, making it ideal for a title like Little Nightmares 3.
— Claire Tabari
The Outer Worlds 2 on the Lenovo Legion Go 2
I’ve been waiting years for two big gaming releases: an update to the End in Minecraft and a sequel to The Outer Worlds. While the former might never happen, the latter is finally going to launch this year. The Outer Worlds is one of my favorite RPGs thanks to its snappy gameplay, vibrant world, and an endless supply of sarcasm and satire. In 2025, Obsidian Entertainment is finally releasing the sequel.
The first gameplay trailer promises The Outer Worlds 2 includes “everything that should have been in the first game,” which apparently includes more action, more weapons, and more graphics. Personally, I’m hoping to also see some lovable new companion NPCs and even more opportunities to upend the galaxy through poor dialogue choices.
What better way to play a sequel than with a sequel? Specifically, the Lenovo Legion Go 2. Much like The Outer Worlds 2, we don’t know exactly when the Lenovo Legion Go 2 will launch, but a 2025 release looks likely. I played the first Outer Worlds title on Nintendo Switch, and while I loved the portability, the graphics quality left a lot to be desired. So, I have my eye on the Legion Go 2 already. It features the handheld form factor I enjoyed playing The Outer Worlds on the first time around, but with far better gaming tech inside.
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 was confirmed early last year and finally unveiled this week at CES 2025. It will feature an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, one of the most advanced in any handheld gaming PC. While it’s heavy at 2.38 pounds, it packs a 74Wh battery, nearly twice the size of the original Legion Go’s battery. With an OLED display to top things off, the Legion Go 2 could easily be a contender for best handheld gaming device of the year, but we’ll have to wait and see.
— Stevie Bonifield
Gunman Contracts on the whatever laptop is connected to the ROG XG Mobile eGPU
Gunman Contracts was originally released as a Half-Life: Alyx mod back in 2021, re-jigging the genre of Valve's VR masterpiece from sci-fi adventure meets survival horror to gun-fu Hollywood blockbuster. It's about as close as you can get to living in John Wick's skin without flaying Keanu Reeves first, promising an adrenaline-fueled gunfight mixed with a liberal dose of judo flips in your one-man quest to bring justice to the criminal underworld.
While playable in standard first-person mode, I'll be opting for the PCVR experience, because as good as you might be with a mouse and keyboard, there's just no way you can juggle a knife into the air, take out three armed goons with a handgun and hip toss your remaining opponent into the path of said falling blade, as you can in VR. Not that I can in VR, either. But by God, I'll try.
Expected to release as a full standalone title this year, Gunman Contracts will initially take flight on Steam Early Access, which means if I don't want to play the game through a zoetrope as its developer works out any niggling optimization issues, it might be time for me to call in an upgrade.
However, perhaps I'd sidestep replacing my entire machine and instead opt for the new ROG XG Mobile eGPU, granting me up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 mobile-tier graphics (max TGP 150W) with up to 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM met with DisplayPort 2.1 goodness in tandem with the high bandwidth (up to 64Gbps for graphics, and 128Gbps of throughput in total) offered by its Thunderbolt 5 connection. Granted, that model is $2,199, but the RTX 5070 comes in at $1,199.
— Rael Hornby
WWE 2K25 on the HP Omen 16 Max
WWE 2K is my favorite wrestling game series and WWE 2K25 is set to release later this year. After a brief WWE 2K25 teaser during WWE RAW’s Netflix debut on January 6, I’m excited to see what’s next in the franchise.
Besides speculating that Roman Reigns will be on the cover of WWE 2K25 and naturally in this year’s 2K Showcase, I’m wondering about the graphical upgrades. I reviewed last year’s WWE 2K24 and experienced an issue where the game would run in slow motion. For context, my HP Pavilion Gaming PC features an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and AMD’s Radeon RX 5500 GPU with 4GB of dedicated memory.
Sure, I got it to work after updating my graphics drivers and adjusting my monitor’s refresh rate, but it was a stark reminder that games are getting more demanding. Although I’m a casual gamer, I’d like to enjoy newer games in the future without having to worry about running into issues.
That’s where a high-performance gaming laptop like the CES 2025-announced HP Omen 16 Max swoops in for the rescue. With configurations up to the latest AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 or Intel Core UItra 9 275HX CPU and graphics up to the new Radeon 890M and RTX 50-series, it likely more than surpasses WWE 2K25’s forthcoming recommended system requirements.
Although I’d be shrinking from a 32-inch, 2K, 144Hz monitor to a 16-inch, QHD, 240Hz display, I would benefit from a higher refresh rate. For games like WWE 2K25 that feature fast-paced combat, high-flying in-game acrobatics, and realistic cutscenes, gameplay would be smoother than room-temperature butter on the HP Omen 16 Max.
— Hilda Scott
