Opinion Archives - Page 118 of 150

Let’s Talk About Crypto’s Mustache

During last night’s EA Play, Apex Legends developer Respawn announced the game’s next collection event, Lost Treasures, alongside upcoming crossplay and a Switch version of the battle royale game. Lost Treasures will feature everything you’d expect—new gameplay, new cosmetics—as well as technophile character Crypto with a mustache. I’m here for it. Crypto’s mustache appears to…

By Riley MacLeod Published June 19, 2020

Opinion

It’s Time For Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Cops To Quit Their Jobs

As a general rule, I don’t like cop shows. Until recently, I made one exception. That show was Brooklyn Nine-Nine, an NBC series that just wrapped up its seventh season. It’s more of an office comedy than a cop show, which is what I liked about it. Many of its situations, which involve an admirably…

By Nathan Grayson Published June 18, 2020

OpinionImpressions

The Destroy All Humans! Remake Demo Has Me Excited To Do Exactly That

The cult classic game Destroy All Humans is getting a full remake courtesy of Black Forest Studios. A new demo released this week on Steam has me optimistic for the full release in July. It captures the spirit of the original game while looking and playing in a sharper, more modern way. In video games,…

By Zack Zwiezen Published June 18, 2020

OpinionImpressions

Hardspace: Shipbreaker Would Be More Relaxing If Not For The Bone-Crushing Space Capitalism

A growing number of games focus on turning monotonous work, like running a border checkpoint or renovating a home, into compelling gameplay. Hardspace: Shipbreaker, the new simulation game from Homeworld 3 developer Blackbird Interactive, fits that description perfectly. It tasks you with stripping spaceships under the constant gaze of a megacorporation that sees the main…

By Ian Walker Published June 17, 2020

OpinionImpressions

Desperados 3 Is A Modern Stealth Masterpiece

It has been a weird and quiet year for video games this year, both because we’re in a pre-next-gen lull and, you know, everything else. Out of this downtime though has come a pleasant surprise: a genuine game of the year contender emerging out of the long-dormant Desperados franchise. Despite this being the third game…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 17, 2020

OpinionImpressions

I’m Loving Pokémon Sword And Shield’s First Expansion So Far

Just a few hours in, I’m already enjoying Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC more than the base game. While much smaller in size, it feels more free flowing and open ended. There’s a lot to explore, and plenty more Pokémon to catch, including a bunch of my favorites that didn’t make the…

By Ethan Gach Published June 17, 2020

Opinion

The Future Of The Video Game Labor Movement

When I left the gaming labor group Game Workers Unite International in late 2019, I had sent them a letter that criticized how they handled racism, power, and transparency. After two years of intense burnout and unsupportive leadership, I never intended to involve myself with the labor movement again. Then came the revival of the…

Sisi Jiang Published June 17, 2020

Opinion

Even The Wii U Lived Longer Than The Confederacy

Did you know every major gaming generation has lasted longer than the Confederacy that sparked the American Civil War? That nascent nation only managed to hold out for a little over four years. And yet, instead of erecting statues to the Xbox, the United States continues to honor Confederate figures with memorials across the country.…

By Ian Walker Published June 16, 2020

OpinionImpressions

Little Orpheus Is A Fantastic Cold War Era Journey To The Center Of The Earth

In Little Orpheus, the latest game from Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture developer The Chinese Room, Soviet cosmonaut Ivan Ivanovich is debriefed on the 1962 mission that saw him exploring the secret world beneath the planet’s crust in a massive atomic-powered drilling machine. It’s got dinosaurs, lost civilizations, and all the excitement and adventure of…

By Mike Fahey Published June 15, 2020

OpinionImpressions

Persona 4 Golden PC Is The Definitive Edition Of A Damn Good Game

Trapped on a dead Sony handheld no longer: The ultimate version of Persona 4, the once Vita-exclusive Persona 4 Golden, launched today for PC via Steam I’ve been playing it for a couple weeks now, and I have no new complaints. Old complaints, sure. The fourth game in the storied series, originally released in 2008…

By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2020

Opinion

Is Chris Redfield Okay

Chris Redfield is an amorphous blob. The veteran Resident Evil protagonist seems to fill whatever shape Capcom needs at the time, resulting in several drastically different appearances across the franchise. With yesterday’s reveal of Resident Evil Village, we’ve been treated to a glimpse of how Chris will be carrying himself in the next game and,…

By Ian Walker Published June 12, 2020

Opinion

Video Games Have To Reckon With How They Depict The Police

The depiction of police in video games has taken many forms over the years. Officers might appear as antagonists exemplifying corruption and violence, or as benevolent forces doing their best to protect and serve. Recent weeks of protests against police brutality and racism have upended video games’ ability to depict the police as neutral arbiters…

Imran Khan Published June 12, 2020

Opinion

Itch.io’s Anti-Racism Bundle Gave Me Space To Reflect, Rather Than Look Away

Earlier this week, online indie game store Itch.io released a massive Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, with proceeds benefiting the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the ActBlue Community Bail Fund. The growing bundle, which now contains over 1,500 games, has raised over 5 million dollars so far. It’s phenomenal. With this, plus…

Shonté Murray-Daniels Published June 12, 2020

OpinionImpressions

The Excellent Ys: Memories of Celceta Just Jumped From Vita To PS4

If you want to know why I love Nihon Falcom’s long-running Ys series of fantasy action role-playing games so much, look no further than Ys: Memories of Celceta, which is easier than ever now that a PlayStation 4 port has been released. Though released for the PlayStation Vita in 2012, three years after Ys Seven…

By Mike Fahey Published June 10, 2020

OpinionImpressions

The Good And The Bad Of Destiny 2’s Season Of Arrivals

I’m enjoying the little things in Destiny 2’s latest season. A giant bow that looks like you could windsurf on it. An ominous black pyramid hogging the horizon on Io. Another overpowered exotic whose exploding projectiles bathe enemies in a pool of fluorescent liquid. I’m not sure they can redeem the game’s extremely uneven third…

By Ethan Gach Published June 10, 2020

OpinionImpressions

Disintegration Tries Mixing RTS With FPS, Succeeds At Neither

Disintegration has a weird setup. You are a hotshot pilot who is also a robot with a human brain. You ride a hoverbike and command a squad of similar robots with human brains. The idea is to mix real-time strategy mechanics and first-person shooting. After playing a few hours of the game’s campaign I’m not…

By Zack Zwiezen Published June 10, 2020

Opinion

Valorant Takes Aim at the King

I’ve been excited to play Riot’s Valorant for a long time, and not just for the sake of the game itself. I’m a long-term Counter-Strike player and, over the decades, have seen that series evolve as its potential competitors, for the most part, came and went. While other games’ viewing figures vary wildly and some…

Rich Stanton Published June 7, 2020

OpinionImpressions

If You’ve Never Played Xenoblade, The Switch Version Is A Great Starting Place

Kotaku’s Mike Fahey put it best when he said that Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition “makes an excellent third impression.” As a newcomer to the series, I’d like to add to that: It makes an excellent first impression, as well. Nintendo’s latest Switch game isn’t exactly full of surprises. Monolith Soft’s venerable role-playing game, spiritual successor…

By Ari Notis Published June 4, 2020

OpinionImpressions

The Outer Worlds Looks Terrible On Switch

The Outer Worlds looks so bad on Switch I’m tempted to tell even people who have no other means of playing it to stay away. The Switch port of Obsidian’s sci-fi role-playing game by Virtuos Games comes out June 5, and it’s clear the journey to Nintendo’s handheld home-console hybrid has been anything but smooth.…

By Ethan Gach Published June 4, 2020

Opinion

Black Lives Matter

For the past several days, the police killing of a black man, George Floyd, has stoked righteous anger and protest across the United States. It should never have taken a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes, as Floyd begged for his life, for protests of this scale to finally materialize, for…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 1, 2020