The timer ticks down toward zero. We tear across the Boneyard, one of Halo: Reach's best multiplayer maps, my good friend Rus driving with me sitting shotgun. I'm clutching the blue flag in hands that would be sweating if they were real. We shed our red teammates like skin; they race past us going the other direction…

Inspired mostly by Medieval architecture and the Middle Ages, fortified stone castles in video games are always among the most exciting locations. These bastions are the keepers of many secrets, hidden cellars and lost knowledge all awaiting the player to find them.

In Dark Souls, death can be rough. Why not lighten the mood, then, with this mod for the PC version of the game, which takes the meme to its most brutal conclusion.

It's like the universe was trying to tell them something.

Months before I had played Dark Souls, I came across a list of things that players should finish up at the end of their first playthrough: fight optional bosses, farm humanity, collect and upgrade weapons, kindle bonfires. Trade for useful items, level up covenants. Then, quite simply: kill everyone.

You saw a bit of Dark Souls II yesterday, thanks to IGN's stream of a 12-minute demo. I saw that same demo a few weeks ago, and was given some screenshots and a trailer (below) to show to you today. But the screenshots are all what you've seen in video form already.

Hungry for more of From Software's brutally abusive fantasy RPG world? Watch IGN's reveal of Dark Souls II right here.

While totally not a real anime per se, this hand-drawn fan-made clip mashes Dark Souls with Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is "Dark Souls Neon NEET-gelion".

Godzilla and his atomic breath are one of the most recognizable metaphors for the atomic bombings of WWII—and they're also icons of Japanese pop culture. With a steady supply of Kaiju movies, giant monsters nestled themselves comfortably in video games, creating a huge library of monster mayhem-based titles. We have…