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OpinionImpressionsFrog Fractions‘ New $8 Hat DLC Contains A Lot More Than Just A Hat
Yesterday, Frog Fractions, the notorious 2012 browser game that is much more than it appears, came to Steam with a new Game of the Decade edition. There is also a new $8 DLC pack that is, purportedly, just a hat. You will not be shocked to learn that it is more than just a hat.…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 3, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsLet’s Talk About Ghost Of Tsushima‘s Ending
Ghost of Tsushima has been out for almost two weeks. Maybe you’ve already finished it. Maybe you’re creeping up on the end and want to know what you’re in for. Maybe you love the game so much you don’t want it to end and instead want to read vicariously about the finale. Let’s talk. Heavy…
By Ari Notis Published July 28, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOh No, I’m Hooked On Warframe Now
Warframe has been out for over seven years. For the longest time, I looked at it like Destiny or EVE Online—games that I find conceptually compelling, but that now contain so many systems I’m intimidated by the mere idea of starting. Well, I started Warframe the other day. Within a 24-hour span, I played for…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 24, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsHalo Infinite Looks To The Past To Bring The Series Into The Present
Everyone remembers their first big Halo moment. For some, it might’ve been crash-landing on a strange, ring-shaped alien world. For others, maybe it was the slow discovery of an all-consuming, nightmarish parasite. Or the realization that said ring-shaped alien world wasn’t actually a world but an interstellar superweapon designed to purge all sentience from the…
By Ari Notis Published July 23, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsCrossfireX‘s Campaign Doesn’t Seem Like A Remedy Game Yet
During today’s Xbox event, Remedy Entertainment revealed the single-player campaign for CrossfireX, the next installment of a long-running multiplayer franchise developed by Smilegate Entertainment. Later, I sat in on a preview of a single mission, which lasted around 15 minutes. Even with the folks behind Alan Wake and Control at the helm, I didn’t see…
By Ian Walker Published July 23, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPanzer Paladin Is The Retro Throwback I Needed This Summer
My new favorite thing is chilling in the pool while trying not to drop my Switch in the water as I bash pixelated sprites in the face. This is more relaxing than it sounds. In fact, Panzer Paladin is the 8-bit inspired fuel holding my summer together. In Panzer Paladin, out today on Switch and…
By Ethan Gach Published July 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsRogue Company Is Fine, Just Fine, Nothing More, It’s Fine
Rogue Company is totally, utterly fine. There’s nothing remarkable about it and yet nothing inherently bad with it, either. However, is that enough in 2020, when we have so many amazing online shooters to play on nearly every platform? I’m not sure it is. Developed by Hi-Rez Studios, Rogue Company is a third-person team-based tactical…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 20, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOoblets Is All About Dance Battles, Cute Critters, And Chillin’
Dog fighting sucks. Not a controversial opinion, but one that always enters my mind when I see or think about Pokémon. While I understand all the reasons why folks claim it’s different, it still feels too much like that terrible “sport.” Ooblets, out now in early access, fixes this major problem with Pokémon and also…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 18, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsHyper Scape Is High-Flying Fun, But It’s Still Another Battle Royale
In competitive shooters, I prefer to be above my enemies. I grew up playing Tribes, a game about jetpacks and split-second geometry calculations. In Overwatch, my favorite hero is Pharah, whose specialty is jetpack with a side of rocket launcher. Maybe I just really like jetpacks. Still, Hyper Scape is the ideal battle royale for…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 14, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsDeath Stranding Plays Very Well On My PCs
Death Stranding, a very, very good PlayStation 4 game from Hideo Kojima and his game-making friends, launches on PC tomorrow. I cannot say the game runs well on every gaming PC, for there are too many gaming PCs and my home is small. I have tested it on two of the gaming PCs I have…
By Mike Fahey Published July 13, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFour Hours With Watch Dogs: Legion, A Game That Might Be Too Timely For Its Own Good
Bands of protesters begging apathetic passersby to rise up. Officers detaining and brutalizing people, seemingly without cause. Fresh graffiti alluding to a dizzying array of injustices: xenophobia, the surveillance state, war. The first thing that struck me about Watch Dogs: Legion is that, despite a multi-year development cycle and a futuristic setting, its open-world city…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 12, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsEverything We Learned About Assassin’s Creed Valhalla After Playing It
Last Tuesday, I played a preview build of this fall’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for three hours by streaming it directly from one of Ubisoft’s computers. That’s how Ubisoft is doing E3-style previews this summer. It’s useful. Three hours is a lot of time to spend with a game that’s not even out yet, but it’s…
By Ethan Gach Published July 12, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsTwin Mirror, Dontnod’s Upcoming Game, Looks Like A Less Sci-Fi Life Is Strange
Over the past decade, Dontnod Entertainment has established itself as a capable developer of solid adventure games. The French studio’s upcoming game, Twin Mirror, looks like a promising continuation of that thread, at least based on a hands-off preview shown this week. Those expecting another adventure game in the vein of Life Is Strange both…
By Ari Notis Published July 10, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWorld Of Warcraft‘s Improved Character Creator Will Enable A Lot More Diversity
My first World of Warcraft character is still around, largely unchanged even after 13 years. WoW’s character creator, too, exists in nearly the same, unchanged state. But with the upcoming Shadowlands expansion, character creation is getting a long-overdue upgrade that’ll give me something I’ve been yearning for: a real afro. This has been a long…
By Ash Parrish Published July 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsRuinous Effigy Is One Of Destiny 2‘s Best Guns Yet
Destiny 2 has had a ton of great, overpowered guns over the years, but Ruinous Effigy, the latest exotic weapon to get added to the game, already feels head and shoulders above most of them. Introduced on Tuesday as part of Season of Arrivals’ new exotic quest line, Ruinous Effigy is actually pretty straightforward to…
By Ethan Gach Published July 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsHow Paper Mario: Origami King‘s Puzzle Battles Work
Nintendo’s next big Switch game is Paper Mario: The Origami King, announced less than two months ago via a humble tweet and arriving on July 17. The Paper Mario series’ reputation has been a bit spotty as of late, but Origami King has by and large gotten rid of the more annoying parts of the…
By Chris Kohler Published July 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsDeadly Premonition 2 Is Incredibly Rough But All Sorts Of Charming
FBI special agent Francis York Morgan (call him York, everybody does) should not be a likable character. He’s eccentric. He’s self-absorbed. He holds lengthy, movie reference-filled conversations with a voice inside his head while the real people around him stare and shrug. Despite his many flaws, he’s one of the most engaging protagonists I’ve played.…
By Mike Fahey Published July 8, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOne-Of-A-Kind Action RPG CrossCode Is Out On Consoles This Week
In October of 2018 I fell in love with CrossCode, a solo PC action RPG disguised as a retro 2D fantasy MMO. I put it on my top games of 2018 list, where Jason Schreier saw it, played it, and fell in love as well. On Thursday CrossCode finally comes out for consoles. Now everybody…
By Mike Fahey Published July 7, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsNier Creator’s Fairy Tale RPG Is So Grim It’s Silly
In SINoALICE, a new mobile RPG for iOS and Android directed by Nier creator Yoko Taro, fairy tale characters brutally murder everyone and everything in order to somehow revive their authors and make their bloodiest wishes come true. At first it’s shocking. Then it’s silly. Little Red Riding Hood just wants to play all day,…
By Mike Fahey Published July 2, 2020 -
OpinionImpressions200 Players Isn’t Too Many For Call Of Duty‘s Warzone
Call of Duty’s Warzone just got a little more crowded with the addition of 200-player battle royale matches. You’d think this would be total chaos, but so far it doesn’t seem to have changed things much. Modern Warfare’s mid-season update for Season 4 arrived on June 30 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and…
By S.E. Doster Published June 30, 2020