The Best Japan-Only Games of 2015

Each year, a ton of games are made and released in Japan. But many of them don’t come out in the rest of the world at the same time—and others never leave the island nation at all. So with that in mind, here are the best Japanese games of 2015 that have yet to come…

One Of Halo‘s Most Loved Maps, Reborn In Counter-Strike

No, that’s not a screenshot from the first Halo. That’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Counter-Strike player Itszu went above and beyond in recreating the famous/infamous site of many a brutal fight, tested friendship, and timeless rivalry—most of them in the classic Rooster Teeth series Red vs Blue. Also I guess some people played Halo matches there…

Assassin’s Creed’s Terrific Concept Art, Collected In One Place

I got an early Christmas present yesterday when a copy of Assassin’s Creed: The Complete Visual History arrived at my doorstep. It’s a shame I’d already written my gift guide for art books, because this would have jumped straight on it. While Ubisoft is generally pretty good with its Assassin’s Creed art books, releasing one…

Taking Smite‘s New Mecha Thor For A Test Drive

The ultimate unlock in Smite’s 2016 World Championship-funding Odyssey is finally live, and I get a chance to put Ragnarok Force X Thor through his paces. Religion would be a lot more entertaining if each different god across all the many and varied pantheons had a mecha form. Alas we’re going to have to settle…

My Witcher Sense Just Melted Down

Corneline’s Priscilla was one of the nicest surprises in a year of very strong Witcher 3 cosplay, and that was just when we thought all she was doing was dressing up. Turns out she can sing Priscilla’s song as well (in French), and did so live in Paris earlier this year.

Look At This Fallout 4 Figure

ThreeZero, makers of fine, large and expensive adult collectibles, is working on a Fallout 4 action figure. And it’s fantastic. See how he’s wearing power armour? And how it looks good, but not amazing? Well, the power armour can be removed, piece by piece, revealing not just the frame, but a Vault jumpsuit as well.…

Oh… Sir! Is A Game Where You Fight With Insults 

Today the Steam surprise fairy dropped a particularly peculiar game on our doorsteps: Oh… Sir, a one-on-one fighting game where you duel not with sticks, stones, or guns that fire cars, but words. It’s a small game born of a game jam, but it’s charming and good for a few hate-laughs with your friends, rivals,…

Counter-Strike: Global Awakening. WeAreSOLST1CE took Counter-Strike and added a dash of Star Wars. How? Perhaps they spoke words with such mellifluous power that we’re collectively hallucinating something that isn’t there. Or maybe they, you know, edited a replay. One of those.

That Time Team Fortress 2 And Borderlands Changed Art Styles Mid-Development

Video games change a lot between announcement and release, but most of that happens under the hood. What the game looks like is usually set in stone. But that’s not true of every video game, and it certainly wasn’t true for Borderlands and Team Fortress 2, games that looked very different by the time they…

Huck Is Like Superman Mashed Together With Forrest Gump

The idea of a Superman-like figure dropping into the ‘real’ world—more like ours, in that it’s not filled with superheroes—is one that’s fascinated genre fiction writers for decades. Now, we’ve got an odd take on it that merges moments from America’s past and present in a quasi-fairy tale. Spoilers follow. Huck is a new series…

Shadow of Mordor Producer Fights Rare Form Of Cancer

Earlier this year, Shadow of Mordor executive producer Michael Forgey learned that he has a malignant form of brain cancer. Although the tumor is inoperable, Forgey is doing everything he can to battle against the disease. Forgey’s family and friends at Monolith Productions are raising money to help him cover medical expenses and support his…

Arkham Knight’s Big, Season-Ending DLC Hits Tomorrow

The final story-centric add-on for Batman: Arkham Knight throws multiple archvillains at the Dark Knight when it comes out on December 22. And the Season of Infamy is apparently taking some cues from Arkham Asylum, the first Batman game from dev studio Rocksteady. In a new video detailing the upcoming DLC, members of Rocksteady talk…

What We Thought About Star Wars: The Force Awakens

We recently took a break from our usual back-and-forths about video games to chat about the new Star Wars movie: what we liked, what didn’t make sense, what we think will happen next. Join us, if you will. Warning: this one’s full of spoilers. Don’t read it unless you’ve already seen the movie (or don’t…

The Good, New Assassin’s Creed Expansion’s Unexpectedly Bold Depiction Of Prostitution

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s new Jack The Ripper expansion is a compelling if rough-edged remix of the base game that cleverly works in one of history’s most famous killers. It pulls off another trick, too, going to extraordinary lengths to engender empathy for a group of people who don’t get much of it in video games:…