Zack Zwiezen

The Best Snowy Video Games And Levels

For many folks, December marks the start of colder weather, barren trees, and of course, snow. And just like real life, video games often include snowy and wintery levels or entire areas. Let’s put on some gloves and a good coat and trek out into the best snow in video games. Just a quick note:…

Teddiursa Is Always Sticky

Every Pokemon is interesting and worth talking about. I don’t play a ton of Pokemon, but I do enjoy the universe and I love learning more about the creatures in it. So, Here’s Another Pokemon! It’s Teddiursa! Teddiursa Details Type: Normal Average Height: 2′ 00” Average Weight: 19.4 lbs First Added In Generation II A…

Low Poly Animals Are The Best

There you are, playing a game, and without thinking about it you run by a bird off in the distance. However, the odds are very high that the bird you ran by was nothing more than a few simply textured polygons pretending to be a bird. And yet it worked. Back in October a new…

Where Is Goofy’s Wife?

This week we watch a bunch of new trailers for upcoming games, check out the latest characters coming to Fortnite and Smash, fight our dads, get our first look at strange PUBG spin-off and ask the burning question: Where’s Goofy’s wife? Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week I love posts like this, where someone…

So About That Batshit Ending To Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Between the rideable wolves, anime references, and random American baseball players, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is full of surprises. But the biggest surprise, without question, comes at the end. Two of us (staff writer Ari Notis and weekend editor Zack Zweizen, who also reviewed the game for Kotaku) have finally completed the main narrative of Ubisoft’s…

Vin Diesel Is Fighting Dinosaurs In Ark 2

Ark 2 starring Vin Diesel was announced today during The Game Awards, developed by Studio Wildcard. No release date was given. The studio also announced a new animated series with a surprisingly star-studded cast, including Kurt Russel, Elliot Page, David Tennant, and many more. In a trailer we see Vin Diesel running away from a…

Cyberpunk 2077 Is Surprisingly Fine On Stadia

Cyberpunk 2077 is the biggest game of the year, but currently the game doesn’t look great or run well on consoles, especially the older base machines. But how does this big blockbuster game fair on Stadia? Surprisingly, the experience isn’t terrible and might even be better than playing on a console. Though it’s not perfect…

Nintendo Cancels Splatoon Stream After Teams Show Solidarity With Smash Community

Over the weekend, Nintendo quietly canceled a Splatoon 2 tournament livestream, and participants believe it’s due to the names of some of the participating teams. While Nintendo hasn’t publicly stated their reasoning, the result was a last-minute makeshift replacement tournament for the multiplayer Switch shooter. The fill-in event was a big success. Word of an…

The Week In Games: Wake Up Samurai, Cyberpunk 2077 Is Almost Here

After countless delays, literal years of hype and trailers, and a ton of controversy, Cyberpunk 2077 is here. Easily the most anticipated game of the year for a lot of folks, Cyberpunk 2077 featuring Keanu Reeves drops later this week on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia I’ll be sitting out Cyberpunk 2077 for now. I…

Track: Wonderful Christmastime | Artist: Paul McCartney 

I’ll Never Get Tired Of Sending Enemies Flying In Immortals

Immortal Fenyx Rising, Ubisoft’s cartoonish take on an open-world game, has fine combat. It’s not amazing, being lifted straight from Assassin’s Creed Odyessy, but it works and it feels nice. However, killing enemies in Immortals is amazing because they don’t just collapse and die, but instead shoot off into the sky, like Team Rocket or…

‘Shop Contest: Monoliths

Over the last few weeks, strange monoliths have been appearing around the world. Is it the work of aliens? Secret government agencies? Time travelers? Bored artists, who have a bunch of free time during the pandemic? (It’s probably that last one…) And now I hear they are appearing in video games?!?! Your challenge this week:…

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory’s Soundtrack Was Perfectly Chaotic

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today I’m talking, quietly, about Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory’s soundtrack. You might not think Tom Clancy games from Ubisoft have great soundtracks, and for the most part you’d be right. That’s not to say the music…

This SNL Skit Is All About Begging Santa For A PS5

Right now, many people are desperately trying to buy a PS5. It’s been a real shitshow. In fact, it has gotten so bad that even Saturday Night Live has jumped in with a skit all about one man, Stu, begging Santa to get him a PS5. Stu is a clear parody of Eminem’s “Stan,” including…

Sunday Comics: Ray Tracing

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published Dec. 3. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Nov. 30. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…

‘Shop Contest: New Steppenwolf, Winners!

Time in 2020 works differently than in previous years. So the new Steppenwolf both feels ancient and yet somehow not that long ago. It’s odd. But yes, two weeks ago, we got our first look at the new Steppenwolf from the upcoming Justice League rerelease and it looked…uh… bad. Our winning image this week comes…

These Shoes Were Made For Crawling

This week… more screenshots from Miles Morales! But I’m not complaining! That game has such a great photo mode that I expect I’ll be getting screenshots from it for years to come. Some other great screenshots from Control, Assassin’s Creed, and more. Correction: SpecterOwl’s photo was actually from someone else! Removed the incorrect image and…

Monster Hunter: World Review Bombed On Steam As Backlash To Movie Grows In China

In the last 48 hours Monster Hunter: World has received over 2000 negative reviews on Steam after a racist joke in the Monster Hunter film has led to a backlash in China and calls to ban the film. Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at Niko Partners, tweeted a clip from the Monster Hunter film yesterday…

Huntail Is An Ugly Snake And A Bad Omen

Every Pokemon is interesting and worth talking about. I don’t play a ton of Pokemon, but I do enjoy the universe and I love learning more about the creatures in it. So, Here’s Another Pokemon! It’s Huntail! Huntail Details Type: Water Average Height: 5′ 07” Average Weight: 59.5 lbs First Added In Generation III You…

Turns Out Sully’s Plane From Uncharted Can Be Found In A Last Of Us Multiplayer Map

Rodney Reece, a former Naughty Dog developer, revealed on Twitter recently that Sully’s plane from Uncharted can be found in The Last of Us. And based on how folks are reacting to it, this seems to be something nobody noticed before. Probably because they were too busy surviving. The plane can be found in the…