Culture

Glitched Half-Life Speedrun Teleports Through The Game In Under Seven Minutes

A team of speedrunners have annihilated Half-Life, crafting a speedrun that uses a strange teleportation glitch to finish the game in a little over six minutes. The run was performed by members of the SourceRuns community, which is dedicated to hosting speedruns for games that use the GoldSrc (called “Gold Source”) or Source engine. It…

The PS1 Strategy Game That Nails Robotic Destruction

In Front Mission 3’s 18th battle, I’m on a naval base facing down two giant walking artillery cannons, four Gundam-like mechs, and an apache helicopter. It isn’t the most challenging tactical role-playing game from the PS1 era, but like lots of games from that era it’s prone to the occasional difficulty spike. Unlike many other…

The Week In Games: Sonic And Chicken Assassins

It feels like we’re right in the middle of summer, but lucky for you there are a lot of games to sink your teeth and time into coming out this week. If you’re the kind of person who likes a retro romp, you might enjoy the revamped stylings of Sonic Mania Plus, an even-more-stuff edition…

Track: Corona | Artist: The Minutemen | Album: Introducing The Minutemen Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Palpatine Deserves To Be Everywhere

Dice have decided that Emperor Palpatine is too powerful, so they have removed him from the game until he can be brought down to normal human power levels. That dude’s a Sith lord, though, so he should be powerful. And he should also be everywhere. I have a lot of love in my heart for…

Listen To Us Talk About Octopath Traveler

Tim Rogers and I have both played a lot of Octopath Traveler, the next big role-playing game for the Nintendo Switch, and you can hear us talk about it on this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen Kirk’s off this week, but Tim’s around to help me dissect what’s good and bad about Octopath Traveler. We both love…

Sunday Comics: Scary Cuddle

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. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published July 9. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published July 12. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

Track: Baby Don’t Go | Artist: Katie Von Schleicher | Album: Bleaksploitation Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Create More Fortnite Mysteries, Winners!

Fornite keeps upping the ante with its strange world developments from season to season, and last week’s ‘Shop Contest was all about adding even more mysteries to the pile. I’ve had a chance to play in the altered, post-anchor world of Fortnite since last weekend, and I have to say that the game would be…

This Week In The Business: Struggles on Steam

QUOTE | “If they upped the cost of Steam Direct to something like $500 or even $1,000, that’s not going to deter a small developer who’s put years of work into a passion project – but it is going to make asset flipping and bottom-of-the-barrel games much less profitable.” – At Develop:Brighton, Tomas Rawlings of…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for making the heck out of this slow cooker peach cobbler from our excellent sister site The Takeout. Using the slow cooker means you can bake and play video games at the same time! I really need to make more progress in Hollow Knight, even though I am wretched at boss battles. I…

Track: Slow Blues | Artist: John Coltrane | Album: The Lost Album Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Total War Steam Community Was ‘Awful’ Until The Devs Brought In A Moderator

According to developer Creative Assembly’s Grace Carroll, the Total War series’ Steam community was, until very recently, a mess. Largely left to their own devices, forums became “toxic” and “an awful place to be.” Instead of letting the trash fire burn, though, the developer decided to dedicate resources to putting it out. Speaking at the…

Big Shark Punched By Bigger Squid

Today on Highlight Reel we have huge squids, Fortnite moments, Road Rash fails, Breath of The Wild tricks, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for…

Pillars of Eternity II is getting an expansion. The Beast Of Winter takes place in an area occupied by worshipers of the god of cold and decay who believe that your character heralds the end of all things. Fun! It’ll launch on August 2 alongside a 2.0 patch full of tweaks, fixes, and challenge modes.

I’m Hooked On A Game About Cleaning Up Murder Scenes

Playing a preview build of Body of Evidence, I found myself working against the clock to clean up crime scenes and hide dead bodies. As I meticulously scrubbed blood out of hardwood floors and tabletops, I felt exhilarated to play a role in a situation I hope I never take part in. In Body of…

Track: Teenage Blues | Artist: Sunny Car Wash | Album: Teenage Blues Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Best Cosplay From Anime Expo, The Hottest Show Of 2018

Anime Expo is one of the biggest nerd shows of the year, but this year it was also the hottest. Literally. Held between July 5-8 in LA, temperatures soared during the con to reach well over 100 degrees, which wreaked havoc with cosplayers and attendees alike. For anyone just visiting the show, those are gross…

A Two-Faced Opponent

Elias Ravanetti is an artist and illustrator from Italy. You can see more of Elias’ work—he’s got a particular affinity for creature design—at his ArtStation page Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional and personal portfolios. If you’re in the business and have…

Valve has overhauled Steam’s “upcoming” tab. It was an unfiltered list of games (and asset flips), but now it’s decided upon by wishlists and other data. Valve said that “less than half” of 1% of users clicked the old upcoming tab, while only 4% click “top sellers.” Steam users don’t really use Steam, I guess?