Kirk Hamilton

PlayStation VR: The Kotaku Review

Let’s cut to the chase: PlayStation VR should be better. At its best, Sony’s new virtual reality headset manages to conjure the astonishing, immersive wonder of modern virtual reality. Just as often it is frustratingly held back by outdated hardware that can’t quite do what’s being asked of it. This piece originally appeared 10/5/16. PlayStation…

Thumper Is The Best Kind Of Music Game

Thumper is the type of rhythm game I’ve been missing: Savage, relentless, and fierce. This game’ll bite your head off, man. Music can be sweet and harmonious. Ah, a lovely flute solo! Such a shimmering string arrangement! It can also be brutal and physical, with the power to shake your bones and rattle your spirit.…

The Video Game Horror Of HBO’s Westworld

HBO’s new series Westworld has probably got a lot of people reconsidering their most recent Grand Theft Auto V murder spree. Reconsidering, though probably not regretting. On the one hand, the first two episodes of HBO’s new sci-fi drama have asked us to at least entertain the idea that the computer-controlled civilians we just mowed…

What Video Game Shit Are You Too Old For?

I am old, Gandalf. I know I don’t look it, but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I’m in my mid-30s, and as of tomorrow I’ll officially be in my mider-30s. In video game years, that means I’m like 90. I’ve finally reached an age where, as Tracy Moore pointed out last year…

Inside’s evocative soundtrack was recorded using a human skull. Seriously? Yes, seriously. Composer/sound designer Martin Stig Andersen has written a fascinating post-mortem for Gamasutra detailing how he gave Playdead’s game its distinctive, otherworldly sound. Give it a read.

Podcast: The Good And Bad Of PlayStation VR

This week, Kotaku EIC Stephen Totilo joins the Splitscreen podcast to talk about PlayStation VR. What does it do? Does it virtually create reality? Let’s find out. I reviewed PlayStation VR yesterday, and Stephen and I have been using it and discussing it for the past week. We decided that it wasn’t difficult enough to…

A Note To Destiny Players Regarding This Week’s Iron Banner

Hi! It’s me, your favorite Guardian. Let’s talk about Iron Banner for a second. Yesterday, Destiny’s week-long PvP tournament returned with a twist. In honor of the new Rise of Iron expansion, this week’s Iron Banner matches aren’t the usual Control game-type. They’re Supremacy. In Supremacy, you score points by collecting red crests from fallen…

Destiny players: Did you compete in the first Trials of Osiris? If so, how’d it go? Let me know how you did, what you thought of the new map, what weapons you had success with, etc. My own quick thoughts: The map (Last Exit) is weirdly balanced for 3v3, and I really didn’t like it…

Why Inside Is One Of The Best Games Of The Year

Have you played Inside? I hope you have. If not, go play it. If so, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast, in which Jason Schreier and I discuss the many, many reasons we love it. I reviewed Inside when it first hit the Xbox One back in June, but Jason hadn’t…

Destiny: Rise of Iron: The Kotaku Review

A brief history for those who are new to Kotaku and our on-again, off-again obsession with this game. Destiny is a first-person action game in which players fly around the solar system fighting with aliens, evil cyborgs, and occasionally each other. Collectively, our staff has played over 2,000 hours. I account for more than half…

Destiny’s New Raid Shows What Bungie Can Do By Ditching Last-Gen

Since Destiny launched in 2014, we’ve wondered what the game might look like if it didn’t have to run on PS3/Xbox 360 as well as PS4 and Xbox One. The new Wrath of the Machine raid, which is part of the current-gen only Rise of Iron expansion, gives a pretty good idea. If you want…

On last week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, Jason and I answered a reader question about Dragon Age: Inquisition Given how big that game went over when it launched, why don’t more people talk about it now? Find the full episode here

The Five Best Guns To Buy In Destiny: Rise of Iron

Whenever Destiny gets an expansion, the vendors in the tower finally get new weapons in stock. Those of us who obsess over perks and rolls and stats promptly have an anxiety attack deciding which one to buy first. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after two years of Destiny, it’s that I’ll be able to…

Video Games Are Better The Second Time You Play Them

Everyone remembers the first time they played a really good video game. The constant surprises of Half-Life, or the drama of Final Fantasy VI, or the stress and catharsis of Far Cry 2. As good as those games were the first time around, they’d almost certainly be better the second. Or the third. Or the…

Quick Thoughts On Eldritch Horror, An Appropriately Stressful Board Game

Last night a buddy and I made the possibly ill-advised decision to learn and play a game of Eldritch Horror in a single evening. Once we finally figured out how to play, we had a lot of fun. We even managed to stop the coming of Azathoth and save the world. Eldritch Horror is a…

If you’re gonna climb a ladder, climb a ladder My character in Divinity: Original Sin 2 might be a downtrodden prisoner, but that doesn’t mean she can’t crest a laddertop with style. And the dismount! Even better!

A Musical Character Customization Trick For Everyone To Copy

Most role-playing games let you customize some aspect of your character. Their hair, or outfit, or voice, that kind of thing. Divinity: Original Sin 2, which hits Steam early access today, lets you go one further and customize your hero’s theme music. The developers at Larian Studios already talked about this concept in a dev…

Here’s a good video response to the latest Every Frame a Painting essay about Marvel movie music. It’s by critic/musician/smart guy Dan Golding, who takes a deeper look at the reasons why modern film music is less melodic and hummable than music from older films. We’ve republished a couple of Dan’s essays about film music…

The Unbearable Lightness of Lost Video Game Saves

A few days ago, I accidentally deleted a batch of saved games. Collectively they represented a couple hundred hours’ worth of time spent playing a dozen or more games. Years of hard-won progress, gone in the blink of an eye. It started when my sister found my lost Nintendo 3DS. I’d unknowingly left it at…

This Was A Good Video Game Joke

I like jokes, which is why I’m here to celebrate a good video game joke from last year. No time like the present, eh? I’ve been playing some Destiny lately, mainly to get ready for the upcoming expansion. Yesterday I wound up replaying “Lost to Light,” an old mission that takes place in the tunnels…