Pragmata’s mix of hacking and action creates an explosive, multi-layered type of combat I didn’t know I needed

Having played a bit of Capcom’s space action-adventure game Pragmats at Summer Game Fest last year, its AI-infused story and lunar setting, as well as its original combat that mixes both hacking and gunplay, drew me in.

I now know that the game responded to these intriguing themes – and much more.

Combat is a real success, and the combination of simultaneous hacks, weapons, and the need for agile movement and being constantly aware can make for some excellent encounters, full of flow and sequence, and high-stakes danger. Almost without exception, the hacking and weapon balancing also works perfectly – yes, it requires you to multitask in the heat of battle, but somehow you quickly learn to look at both the enemy and the hacking screen like an Apache pilot, and execute a quick combination of the two. It’s incredibly satisfying.

The setting and story also provide the perfect capsule for the fight, and Diana and Hugh’s journey together is memorable. There’s an AI representation that feels pretty current, the moon base is superbly designed, with some extremely cool areas, and while it’s not entirely unique, the relationship between the central pair is warm and sweet and develops over the course of the game.

Pirate

Visiting the Deplhi Corporation’s moon base to investigate what happened after his communications were cut off, astronaut Hugh is saved from peril by young android Diana and soon learns that she is not someone who simply needs to be protected, but someone he can work with in every combat scenario to gain the upper hand against hostile security robots.

With Diana perched on her back, eliminating enemies involves solving a small on-screen matching puzzle (representing the girl’s hacking abilities) as well as traditional third-person shooting with Hugh’s arsenal of futuristic weapons. Not only does Diana’s hack make enemies more vulnerable to Hugh’s weapons with one punch, but there are also status effects and additional damage boosts that can be obtained from each successful hack – although this often means spending a few more vital seconds fighting your way through a tricky matrix to pick up a few extra points.

Get PragmatsThe action is still incredibly satisfying: pulling off a tricky hand hack, quickly avoiding an attack, then following up with a shower of damage with a proton laser or shotgun to the head is just awesome. Once you factor in the level of awareness you need and the ability to quickly dodge to slow down time at just the right moment, the complexity increases, but never overwhelms you.

From low-level walking robots to ranks of tougher specimens to some pretty explosive boss fights, there’s a deep satisfaction to be had from focusing on combos, hacking nodes, and learning enemy moves and weak points. This last one about the bosses reminded me a lot of the Horizon games; identify and learn weak points to target while avoiding attacks around an arena.

Another thing to consider is that Hugh’s weapons are disposable and discarded when empty. This means you have to constantly think on the fly and adapt to available weapons once your favorite runs out. For example, at first I hated rechargeable laser weapons, but I grew to appreciate them and rely on them out of necessity, demanding that I use them when needed.

You can also tailor your methods to your preferences, with a range of upgrades, abilities and augmentations for combat, ready to be applied in a central hub once you’ve gathered enough resources. However, it’s worth noting that you won’t be able to enjoy the full suite of weapons and gear before venturing into a New Game Plus adventure, which is slightly saddening as I would have liked to experience it all in one go, trying out every weapon type and creating fully custom loadouts from all the options to master the game’s adventure and climax, in a single sitting.

Lunar atmospheres

The moon base also provides the perfect backdrop for these enemy encounters.

It’s incredibly well done and fantastically done. featuring several very cool environments, from a 3D printed and AI-generated New York cityscape in the style of MJ Escher to a nature-filled biome, as highlights. All areas are spectacular and full of nooks and crannies to explore and design oddities to enjoy. These contrast well with the clinical, almost NASA-like aesthetic of the rest of the base, with its massive domes, towers and walkways.

There’s also some quasi-metroidvania in the world: opening shortcuts, having strategically placed save and fast travel points, and even a bit of Dark souls upon the return of enemies once killed in areas when you return there.

The narrative isn’t outrageously new or unique, and it starts off a little slow, but among all the robots, AI, and sci-fi, there’s a very human throughline. There is a particular sequence in the second half of the game where Hugh and Diana slowly explore a series of rooms and offices; a nice change of pace, with a slow reveal of information through found files, a relaxing soundtrack, a noticeable change in the mood of our protagonists as they understand more, as well as the discovery of events that had happened before Hugh’s arrival. Magic.

The relationship between Hugh and Diana works and evolves nicely over time. At first, Diana’s playful innocence offsets Hugh’s gruffness – not entirely unlike elements of The last of us, for example, but soon they want to spend more time together and start making plans. Hugh begins teaching Diana about Earth and human ways of life, and it’s all quite sweet and parental. Both characters are wonderfully voiced and by the end I couldn’t help but care about them both.

Pragmats is a wonderful compact space adventure with heart and soul. But that’s not to say it’s completely without a few shine-staining elements, like those of Diana and Hugh in the game, the moment-to-moment commentary that gets a little boring, a few lazy enemy encounters in the back half that lock you into smaller and smaller areas for obligatory multi-enemy fights, and a final section that drags on a little too long.

But, overall, Pragmats It was worth the long wait and deserved its place in Capcom’s pantheon of action games. Even though it’s over in a flash, its mix of combat and hacking is exciting enough to lure me back into another adventure through New Game Plus.

Should you play Pragmata?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility Features

Pragmats has several grouped accessibility settings that can be adjusted in sets, although there are no options for colorblind people, which is a shame. These include a visual accessibility preset that changes the language, subtitle size, and background; an audio accessibility package that changes captions, speaker display, and closed captions; and a motion sickness accessibility feature set that includes center crosshair display, motion blur, lens distortion, and depth of field.

How I rated Pragmata

I played Pragmats on a PS5 Pro paired with a Samsung Q6F 55-inch 4K QLED TV and a Samsung soundbar for around 10 hours, completing the main story and doing a bit of exploring to boot.

I used a standard DualSense wireless controller and also played for several hours on my PlayStation Portal. When using headphones, I relied on a SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite or an Audeze Maxwell 2.

First revision in April 2026

Editor-in-Chief, TechRadar Gaming and Streaming

Rob is the Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar Gaming and Streaming, a video game journalist, reviewer, editor and writer, and has years of experience from multiple publications. Prior to being editor-in-chief of TechRadar Gaming, he was deputy editor of TRG and a long-time member of GamesRadar+, serving as editor-in-chief for hardware there for years, while serving a short stint as a games editor at WePC just before joining TechRadar Gaming. He is also a writer on technology, gaming hardware and video games, as well as gardens and landscapes, and has been writing about virtual landscapes in games for years.

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