"Martian Isolation" is an upcoming single-player, first-person survival horror game that's just been revealed with a suitably creepy launch trailer. And yes, it does look an awful lot like "The Martian," doesn't it?
There's a lot of survival gameplay on display here that mirrors Mark Watney's tale of survival on the Red Planet, as your stranded protagonist is forced to explore the Martian surface to acquire resources, grow plants, and repair their base.
That comparison to Andy Weir's sci-fi masterpiece does fall away as you get further into the trailer, though, when the horror part of the game's description comes into play: Flickering lights, creepy figures stalking the halls of your Martian habitat, and blood dripping from the walls.
Oh yeah, that's some good creepy sci-fi horror right there. It's giving "Event Horizon", and that's always getting a thumbs-up from me.
There's no release date scheduled at this time, with the 'Martian Isolation' Steam page simply listing it as "coming soon," though the YouTube trailer description does say it "will be available on Steam in 2027".
You can't pre-order yet, but if this looks like your jam, you can add it to your wishlist.
Beyond that, we know shockingly little about this title. It's the debut game from Golden Milestone Studio, but there's very little information out there beyond a name. The latest blog post on the game's Steam page says that they're a "small team," but what we've seen so far is encouraging.
There seems to be a pronounced split between the survival and horror elements of the game along the day/night cycle. Daytime sees you exploring the Martian surface, smashing rocks, cleaning solar panels, and doing sick jumps on a quad bike.
The psychological torment only begins once the sun goes down (they mostly come out at night … mostly), as your character starts encountering cosmic horrors and weird naked zombie men.
Mars rover, nice.Golden Milestone StudioSpacesuits, check.Golden Milestone StudioCrafting, of course.Golden Milestone StudioOH SWEET JESUS! Get it away, get it away.Golden Milestone StudioOK, we're good. Mining, cool.Golden Milestone StudioRiding a quad bike on Mars, yes please.Golden Milestone StudioGrowing potatoes on Mars, just like that guy in the movie.Golden Milestone StudioOpening a box with power tools, seems excessive but sure.Golden Milestone StudioNOPE! Nope, nope, nope, I'm out!Golden Milestone Studio
Are they hallucinations, or is there some malevolent presence hiding in the blood-red sands of Mars?
I'm always looking for new ways to shatter my psyche and possibly soil my pants, so I'll be keeping a close eye on this one. In the meantime, I do need to get back and finish "Routine." I left my character hiding under a desk months ago, and I haven't been brave enough to go back. As Mama always said, you can't have any Martian horror until you finish your lunar horror first.
Millennials get a lot of flak for being overly nostalgic, but I don't think that's fair. When the modern-day world has nothing to offer us but AI slop, shrinkflation and a sad acceptance that we can't be bothered to do anything about global warming. It's easy to see why we yearn for the days of Pogs, the Backstreet Boys, and Saved by the Bell.
One area that we definitely had it good in the 90s was sci-fi, when legendary shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stargate SG-1, and — of course — The X-Files ruled our TV screens long before the age of streaming services. You can relive those glory days of alien conspiracies, spooky happenings and cell phones the size of a brick with the Lego Ideas The X-Files set.
This 1478 piece set is essentially two dioramas crammed into a single display piece. The top of the model depicts a spinning UFO floating above one of those iconic coniferous forests that dominated 90s sci-fi. Why? Because — thanks to some generous tax credits — it was cheaper to shoot in Vancouver, so that's where they all flocked.
Disney Plus / Hulu bundle: was $12.99 now $11.99 Catch Mulder and Scully in every season of The X-Files on Hulu, which is available bundled with Disney+ for only $11.99/month for the first six months, then increasing to $12.99/month.View Deal
Mulder and Scully closing in on our "Grey" alien friend in the woods. (Image credit: Future (Ian Stokes))
Beneath the woodland scene, though, is the real star of the show: Mulder's office, squirrelled away in the basement of the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. This dingy little office is where Scully meets "Spooky Mulder", kicking off a glorious sci-fi odyssey that would last for eleven seasons (and two movies).
Mulder's dingy little base of operations has been stunningly recreated here, with both overt references and subtle nods that X-Files fans will appreciate. The iconic "I want to believe" poster adorns the wall, alongside photographs of crop circles and a newspaper clipping from a paper called "The Lone Brickman" — a nice nod to "The Lone Gunmen". There's even an actual X-File sitting on the desk, and a cute Lego spoof of the "Face on Mars", with a photo on the wall that shows a Lego head on the moon.
The iconic "I Want To Believe" poster.Future (Ian Stokes)Newspaper clippings were a staple of the X-Files office.Future (Ian Stokes)The show's legendary tagline is proudly displayed on the front.Future (Ian Stokes)X(Files) marks the spot.Future (Ian Stokes)
It's been a hot minute since I watched The X-Files (that DVD box set beside my TV is calling to me), but even so, I had a blast building my way down memory lane, remembering episodes as I assembled the diorama. I love the little touches, like the display cabinets filled with artifacts, the VHS tapes scattered around the office and the black oil spillage on the floor.
As with most Lego sets, the minifigures are half the joy. You get Mulder and Scully, obviously, with the dynamic duo of FBI agents both rocking flashlights (no smartphones with built-in lights back in the 90s). Mulder is wearing dark blue, while Scully is rocking an orangey brown suit, with both of them sporting an FBI badge.
Outside of the principal pair, you also get Skinner, Mr X, and the Cigarette Smoking Man. Mulder's partner-turned-nemesis Alex Krycek also gets a suitably devious-looking minifig. It's the gloves, they just make him look like a bad man (which, to be fair, he is). Finally, to ramp up the paranormal scale, we also get a pair of monster minifigs: a grey alien and Flukeman minifigures. The grey alien was a must-have, especially given the UFO floating atop this display piece, but the one-off monster of the week, Flukeman, felt like a weird choice.
Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI.Future (Ian Stokes)Assistant Director Skinner, Mr X, and the Cigarette Smoking Man in Mulder's Office.Future (Ian Stokes)
Also, this John Doggett erasure will not stand. Sure, he could never replace Mulder, but Robert Patrick's seasons eight and nine run was excellent and he deserved a spot here.
And while I'm voicing minor gripes, the usual Lego FOMO tricks were in force with this set; if you pre-ordered, you got an exclusive gift set — Scully's Lab — free of charge. This extra little diorama isn't necessary, but it does feel like the collection is incomplete without it and it's not for sale separately, so you'll have to try your luck with eBay scalpers if you want it.
Speaking of Scully, Gillian Anderson has stated that after season 11 wrapped in 2018, she was done with the role. That wasn't entirely accurate, though, as she donned the lab gloves one more time for the Lego X-Files set advert. It's a short bit of fan service, but a nice touch, and, once again, it sparks those 90s neurons.
All these delicious Member Berries come at a price, though, and that's the price. This blast from the past will set you back $199 (£179 in the UK). That's no small chunk of change. But then again, anyone who wants this set is in their thirties or forties and can probably afford that outlay for the nostalgia trip. And look at it this way: when The X-Files debuted back in 1993, the price would only have been about $86.
I had a great time building the Lego X-Files set and if you're a fan of the series, you will too. Nostalgia often feels like a cheat code to our hearts, but there's nothing wrong with that. We deserve to remember the good times and the truth is that The X-Files was about as good as it ever got for sci-fi fans.
The truth is once again out there, as Disney & Hulu confirmed today that they have picked up a new "The X-Files" show for a full season.
Described as a "reimagining" of the classic series, the project comes from Ryan Coogler, the acclaimed writer and director of "Creed", "Black Panther", and "Sinners", and will star Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel.
The show's premise will sound very familiar to fans of the original, as it centers on "two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents who form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena."
"I've loved 'The X-Files' for a long time, so getting the chance to write and direct the pilot has meant a great deal to me," said Coogler. "What Chris Carter created is special, and we wanted to honor everything that made the original series connect with so many people while also finding our own way into that world."
Coogler wrote, directed, and executive produced the pilot for this new show, which impressed executives over at Hulu enough to give the show the greenlight. He's certainly got the pedigree when it comes to "spooky", as "Sinners" was a modern horror masterpiece, winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar at the 2025 Academy Awards. The X-Files is one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time, and we can't wait to see what a modern take on the classic formula looks like.
(Image credit: Getty Images (Gilbert Flores))
Alongside the leads, the cast will include Amy Madigan, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand, Sofia Grace Clifton, and Hollywood legend Steve Buscemi (an inspired casting choice for any show, but especially here. He looks like a man who's seen the truth).
Both Coogler and Hulu are being coy about how this new series will fit into the continuity of the original show. It's being described as a reimagining, but they've stopped short of calling it a reboot, which could leave the door open for Mulder and Scully to return in some capacity.
The original creator of "The X-Files", Chris Carter, is also on board as an executive producer, which is great news for fans who are hoping this new incarnation keeps the spirit of the original alive.
There is no confirmed release date yet, but Ryan Coogler's The X-Files project will launch exclusively on Hulu (US) & Disney+ (UK).
Well, this wasn't a headline I ever thought I'd be writing.
Premium cookware brand Le Creuset, best known for its striking orange cast iron casserole dishes, has collaborated with Star Trek to produce a branded series of kitchenware. OK, that's a weird partnership, but whatever; Trekkies gotta cook too, and a Star Trek casserole dish is a neat curiosity. It's got the USS Enterprise embossed on the top, a Starfleet logo handle, and the iconic phrase "To boldly go where no one has gone before" embossed on the inside of the lid.
What really caught our interest was the marketing campaign for this collaboration, because Le Creuset strapped one of these limited-edition casserole dishes to a high-altitude balloon and sent it into space (almost, more on that in a bit). No, we're not kidding — there is video evidence, as you can see below.
The USS Enterprise-themed casserole dish* was elevated to the edge of space by way of a hydrogen balloon. Since hydrogen is lighter than air, these balloons can easily exceed altitudes of 100,000m. At the end of the flight, the dish was then safely returned to the ground via a parachute and collected by the team (can you imagine spotting a parachuting casserole dish outside your window?).
Let's get the obvious thing out of the way first; by conventional definitions, the casserole dish did not actually go into space. It reached a maximum height of 110,095 feet (just over 35km), which is well below the Karman line — the most widely accepted barrier to space. Still, at this altitude, the casserole dish was above 99.9% of our planet’s atmosphere.
The Karman line sits at an altitude of 100 kilometres (54 nautical miles; 62 miles; 328,084 feet) above mean sea level and is something of an arbitrary divider because defining exactly where space begins can be rather tricky. The atmosphere doesn't just stop, so we had to draw a line somewhere, and this is the line that most scientists and governments have accepted.
(Image credit: Le Creuset)
So, it didn't really go to space, but it still boldly went where no casserole dish has gone before (to our knowledge, I don't think they're cooking up fresh batches of gumbo on the ISS).
This impressive feat was achieved thanks to a company called Sent to Space — a UK-based aerospace company that specialises in "upper stratosphere" launches for "global marketing stunts, space cinematography, video production for documentary and cinema, scientific research, aerospace R&D, educational projects and even ash scattering memorial services."
As cool (but also dumb) things to do in the name of brand awareness and fun go, sending a casserole dish to the edge of space gets a big thumbs up from us, and we'll be having some fun of our own with this Le Creuset Star Trek collection later this month, so stick around for that too.
*Fun fact: This style of casserole dish is known as a cocotte in French, though Cocotte also has another meaning that's a little more risque. The more you know.
