How do you get a job writing the next Assassin’s Creed game? Alain Mercieca, who is leading the writing of this month’s Assassin’s Creed Origins, wrote a play that caught the eye of one of the series’ cinematic directors. Soon, he was writing an epic game set in ancient Egypt. In an interview we recently…
The Division’s relatively quiet second year continues to see small, smart tweaks made to the co-op cover-based game. Until next Tuesday, the game is running with modified rules as part of its second “global event,” this one changing how much damage players do to computer-controlled enemies (and vice versa) depending on their distance from each…
Forget the nemesis system, loot boxes, or the well of charisma that is Talion of Middle-Earth, the element of the new Shadow of War game that I’m currently most torn on is its ancient poetry mini-game. In the midst of this game full of bloody orc combat, in between moments of interrogating and decapitating your…
One, sixty-four, zero, two. That’s the order of release for Nintendo’s Star Fox series, and it’s the order that I’ve now played them. Star Fox Adventures and Command turned up in the middle, if we’re also counting releases with subtitles instead of numbers. The most recently released game on that list, Star Fox 2, was…
It’s not just Stardew Valley release day for the Nintendo Switch. Another celebrated indie, the Metroid homage Axiom Verge, is also now out for Nintendo’s system. That makes two Metroidy games released on portable Nintendo machines in just a few weeks. Is this real life?
The newest patch for excellent, difficult Japanese samurai action game Nioh adds a lot, including new moves and the option to increase your item shortcuts from eight to 16. (Wonderful news for us Onmyo specialists.) Plus, there’s now a way to track which hot springs you’ve bathed in. Handy! Patch notes here.
EA, a company willing to level with you about the deficiencies of last year’s sports games when it is time to sell you this year’s, is coming clean about the inadequacies of 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront. A new trailer for the game’s November sequel makes clear that, yeah, that last game was more short on…
The video game industrial complex wants you to play Destiny 2 right now, but spare a moment for the first Destiny. It’s on its way to becoming a ghost town. I got into the first game 11 months late in the summer of 2015. It was lively then, and my timing was good. Myriad patches…
Words I didn’t expect to type in 2017: I really like the new Knack. So much for the running joke that this PlayStation 4 exclusive is a sequel that no one wanted. Good thing we got it. Knack II is the follow-up to a mediocre PS4 launch game and is testament to the value of…
I got the new Metroid on Tuesday but waited two days to start it. I’d waited a long time for this, and I wanted the moment to be perfect. Metroid is my favorite video game series. Did I fall for these lonely sci-fi action-archeology games when I played the first one, as a 10-year-old boy…
Building off of a trailer released on Wednesday, the developers of The Division delivered an impressive livestream yesterday that shows that the game’s free 1.8 fall patch may be the best for players who are into combat in the game’s open world. Some changes to how combat unfolds were especially encouraging. The full livestream is…
It’s been a summer of major updates to disappointing games from last year. No Man’s Sky is finally delivering on its promises to PC and PlayStation players a year since it came out. Over on Xbox, ReCore has done penance for its flawed launch with a six gigabyte update that makes the game better, though…
The Division’s next big free update, slated for this fall, will add a new playable space on the west side of Manhattan, including what appears to be a real NYC landmark, the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. New PvE and PvP modes are also being added. A few more details are on Ubisoft’s blog, and an…
Here’s a brief look at the upcoming social-survival PC game Frostpunk You manage a city’s growth or decay amid frozen strife, choosing such dire things as whether to enforce child labor and put sawdust in people’s soup to make them feel full. From 11 Bit, the makers of This War of Mine. No release date…
As floods from Hurricane Harvey batter Houston, Texas and surrounding areas, we extend our sympathies and best wishes to everyone affected. Any readers who wish to help can do so by donating to the Red Cross (most easily by texting) or to numerous other charities.
“More is more” must be the mantra of the makers of The Division, Ubisoft’s fun but flawed post-disaster shooter that has somehow not collapsed beneath the weight of the latest mound of content added to it. Less really would be more, and probably will be when Ubisoft gets around to releasing a sequel that starts…
Microsoft is expanding their four-tier Xbox Insider program that lets users get early access to platform updates and software betas in exchange for testing features and offering feedback. New details from Microsoft explain how players can manually expand their access in the formerly invite-centric program. To join, download the “Xbox Insider Hub” app to the…
Similar to how reading Kotaku news stories will unlock rainbows of happiness in your life, reading a post on the Nintendo Switch news feed today will give you apples and a piece of raw meat in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild The rewards system is a byproduct of the game’s 1.3.1 update…
You’ll spend most of your time in Horizon Zero Dawn fighting giant mechanical dinosaurs. It’s the game’s most obvious strength, and it’s a fun, exciting thing to do. But I want to praise one of the game’s subtler successes: a remarkable set of audio logs that stand as some of the best background storytelling of…
Track: Captain Vegetable | Artist: Captain Vegetable with Eddie and Andy | Album: Sesame Street: Songs from the Street, Vol. 3
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