Luke Plunkett

Massive Chalice: The Kotaku Review

If you want to understand Massive Chalice, you need to understand XCOM I don’t mean that lightly. Double Fine’s Massive Chalice has been hugely influenced by Julian Gallop’s seminal 1994 strategy game. It exists as its own game in as much as it has a different name, and you’re controlling people with bows instead of…

Pokebro, Do You Even Cosplay?

First there was Musclebound Digglet. Then Beefcake Misty. Now, there is Buff Magikarp. Nine more and we’ll have one hell of a calendar. Cosplay by Sev Cosplay, photo by John Jiao

How A Video Game Is Released In 2015

A history of how a video game is conceived, developed and marketed

A City-Building Game Of The Future, With Giant Buildings & Flying Cars

Building the cities of today is boring. DotCitywants to build the cities of tomorrow Inspired by everything from Mirror’s Edge (duh) to Star Wars, DotCity is a city-building game that’s less concerned with laying water 20th-century water pipes, and more worried about planning and expanding a megalopolis to make room for the breeding millions that…

Dinosaurs > Camels

Lloyd Allan is a concept artist at Guerilla Games, the developers of the Killzone series. He’s also worked at Atomhawk, who we’ve featuredhere previously. You can see more of Lloyd’s work at his ArtStation page and Facebook page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can…

Like Minecraft, But With Laws

ECO looks like the 1,543rd (and counting) Minecraft clone. But it’s actually a multiplayer survival game where players form a community, vote on laws, balance a living ecosystem and try to avert a looming apocalypse. If players survive, good for them! If they don’t, the server is perma-killed and that world is dead forever. No…

A Sad Comic About The Star Wars Pilot Who Blows Up The Executor

It’s an act of suicidal heroism that helps tip the entire Battle of Endor in the Alliance’s favour, but the pilot responsible for the Executor’s destruction—Arvel Crynyd, aka Green Leader—is basically an unknown. A random face attached to a giant explosion, whose actor wasn’t even credited in Return of the Jedi. This comic looks to…

A Very Special Edition Of Return Of The Jedi

Slave Leia is such an overplayed subject for cosplay that these days it takes a lot to get people to notice it. Or, if not a lot, then a beard and some balloons. Cosplay by Bearded Leia Cosplay, via fashionably geek

Track: The Mountain | Artist: GUNSHIP | Album: Gunship Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Now This Is How You Do Star Wars Art

So a new Star Wars game got announced today, and people seem pretty ho-hum about it, mostly because it’s for mobile. But it got my attention right away, mostly for the art. Four images of the game’s characters, all drawn by Brian Matyas, were released today, and I don’t think I’ve seen a Star Wars…

Spike Lee Is Writing A Video Game Campaign

Welcome to 2015, everyone. Director Spike Lee has signed a deal with 2K where he’ll be writing the singleplayer campaign for NBA2K16. The game’s cover will even carry his trademark branding of a “Spike Lee joint” If this sounds weird, remember, NBA2K16’s career mode isn’t like your typical sports game.It’s as much an RPG as…

One minute, you’re driving along enjoying Project CARS. The next minute, you’re not. (via oktnxbai)

Valve Thinks It’s Cracked Typing With A Controller

Since the dawn of controllers, companies have struggled with the challenge of getting people to type words using just a stick (or d-pad) and some buttons. The latest company to take a shot at this Holy Grail Of Couch Gaming is Valve. Many others have come before them, and have either failed, relied on stupid…

The second season of Knights of Sidonia—our pick for the best anime on Netflix—kicks off on July 3. Here’s a trailer.

Assetto Corsa, a very serious PC driving game, is coming to the Xbox One and PS4 in 2016.

Building The Buildings Of Assassin’s Creed

Encho Enchev is an artist who works as an environment artist and designer for Ubisoft, where he’s helped out on games like Black Flag, AC: Rogue and Liberation. You can see more of Encho’s work at his ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you…

How Not To Introduce A Video Game

So my yesterday went something like this. “Oh, hey, Dirty Bomb is in open beta! Nobody is talking about this game, but the people who made Brink are behind it, and the art looks cool, so what the hell, I’ll give it a shot”. Thirty seconds later I’d quit to desktop. Why? The first time…

Worth it, though.

Gordon Freeman Comes To GTA V

And he’s brought his gravity gun with him. The gravity gun is neat and all, but it’s the first-person crowbar stuff that feels more Half-Life. Especially when you’re getting some back on those soldiers for abseiling into Black Mesa and shooting the place up. You can get the Gordon Freeman skin here

Trolled Kickstarter Gets Paid Second Time Around

Not every shitty Kickstarter story has to have a sad ending. Dimension Driver, the game that was so cruelly cheated of its funding by a troll a few weeks back, has hit its goal second time around. Asking for the same amount as their first campaign—€30,000—the team has at time of writing made €32,000, and…