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ReviewsMultiplatformStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: The Kotaku Review
There hasn’t been a better time to be a Star Wars fan. As this is being written, the ninth and final entry in the saga that began with George Lucas’ 1977 film Star Wars is one month away from release, concluding a story over forty years in the making. The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star…
By Joshua Rivera Published November 19, 2019 -
ReviewsPCUnity Of Command II Is A Really Solid World War Two Strategy Game
The first Unity of Command game was good, and had some very smart ideas on how armies are bound by their logistics, but its limited scope and weird graphical choices held it back a little. Its sequel is a big improvement in almost every respect, and I’m in awe at just how good it is.…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 14, 2019 -
ReviewsSwitchPokémon Sword and Shield: The Kotaku Review
Roughly 10 hours into Pokémon Shield, I stepped into a stadium packed with screaming fans to face off against ghost-type gym leader Allister, a shy and awkward mask-wearing kid. I reliably made it through three of the four Pokémon on his team before getting my shit completely wrecked by his last monster. Even without Dynamaxing,…
By Gita Jackson Published November 13, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformDisco Elysium: The Kotaku Review
The most important thing about Disco Elysium, an oddly titled role-playing game that came out last month for PC, is that it’s funny. Set in a beautifully ugly world of smudged watercolors and throbbing noir music, Disco Elysium appears at first to be the type of game that might take itself too seriously. It seems…
By Jason Schreier Published November 8, 2019 -
ReviewsToysMcDonald’s Brings Back Classic Happy Meal Toys
The McDonald’s Happy Meal has produced some pretty iconic crappy, french fry-scented bits of colorful plastic over the years. Tomorrow through Sunday, November 11, Suprise Happy Meals will be packed with one of 17 classic toys from the past four decades, including Power Rangers, Tamagotchi, Furbies, and more. The good news is there are 17…
By Mike Fahey Published November 6, 2019 -
ReviewsPCPlanet Zoo Has Cute Animals, But The Management Sucks
Ever wonder what would happen if someone made a traditional theme park management game, but with animals? Planet Zoo is here to help us find out. I’d love to tell you that pitch is more nuanced, and that I was just being sassy for a lede, but really, it’s not. If you’ve played Rollercoaster Tycoon,…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 5, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformCall of Duty: Modern Warfare: The Kotaku Review
Across thousands of years of existence, we as a people have come to regard war as pretty bad. Senseless violence and the loss of irreplaceable lives, usually in the service of petty men who wield the power of nations indiscriminately, is just fucking stupid. Yet it still happens, and in America, the necessity of the…
By Joshua Rivera Published November 4, 2019 -
ReviewsToysLego Pays Homage To Its Heritage With A Wonderful Wooden Minifig
In 1932 Ole Kirk Christiansen, founder of The Lego Group, started making and selling wooden toys out of his shop in Billund, Denmark. The company continued making wooden toys until 1960, two years after the Lego brick as we know it today was born. Now The Lego Group celebrates old and new with a seven…
By Mike Fahey Published November 1, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformDeath Stranding: The Kotaku Review
There is no elevator pitch for Death Stranding. Every inch of Death Stranding teems with meaning or implication. Even the stupidest and most pretentious developments build to create a multi-layered game, one with numerous potential points of attack to analyze. It is a story about fatherhood. It is a broad dig at the gig economy.…
By Heather Alexandra Published November 1, 2019 -
ReviewsToysLet Us Dream Of LEGO Transformers
There have never been official LEGO Transformers, and there likely never will be. But boy, these fan-made efforts by Alex Jones come real close to filling that void. Via Brothers Brick, he’s somehow managed to get both the vehicle and robot forms looking good, which when you throw in the transformation process must have taken…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 31, 2019 -
ReviewsSwitchLuigi’s Mansion 3 Is An Eerie Delight, From The Lobby To The Penthouse
Why is Luigi still scared of ghosts? After all, it was nearly 20 years ago that he Hoovered up an entire building full of poltergeists in the original Luigi’s Mansion. Then he cleared out six haunted houses in 2013’s Dark Moon. As he enters a massive spook-infested hotel in this month’s Luigi’s Mansion 3, one…
By Chris Kohler Published October 31, 2019 -
ReviewsToysCute Japanese Action Figure Line Not So Cute Now, Is It?
Good Smile Company’s Nendoroid line of action figures is known for huge heads on tiny bodies and incredible cuteness. Or at least it was. It has changed all that. Nendoroid Pennywise is not an adorable scamp at all. The rictus grin, the cracked forehead, both somehow even bigger than the one actor Bill Skarsgård sports…
By Mike Fahey Published October 31, 2019 -
ReviewsHeadsetsNew Wireless Gaming Headset Can Go At Least 80 Hours On One Charge
Sennheiser’s $200 GSP 370 Wireless Gaming Headset boasts “up to 100 hours of wireless gaming” on the back of its unassuming package. I used it for 80 hours before finally getting nervous and putting it on a charger. Known for excellent sound delivery devices, Sennheiser isn’t a company that needs loud and flashy advertisements for…
By Mike Fahey Published October 31, 2019 -
ReviewsBoard GamesArkham Horror: Final Hour Is A Terrible Introduction To Lovecraftian Board Gaming
I wrote about Mansions of Madness last week, because it’s a great game and I loved every second of it. This week, I’m writing about a different, newer Arkham game from Fantasy Flight, and yikes, this one I don’t like anywhere near as much. Final Hour is a new game that massively strips back the…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 28, 2019 -
ReviewsToysBorderlands 3 Replica Pistol Is A Real Handful
The coolest thing about Borderlands 3, or any Borderlands game for that matter, is the guns. Colorful guns. Plastic-looking guns with corporate logos, flashing lights and explosive sounds. Due out in December, PDP’s $150 Prop Replica Maliwan Pistol captures the spirit of Borderlands weaponry without anyone exploding (probably). Stretching the definition of the word “pistol,”…
By Mike Fahey Published October 25, 2019 -
ReviewsToysMagic Meets My Little Pony In Ponies: The Galloping
Friendship is Magic. Magic is Gathering. Why not both? Going on sale today at noon Eastern from Hasbro, Ponies: The Gathering is a collection of special limited edition cards and Ultra Pro playmats celebrating the series finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Magic: The Gathering’s November 2 Extra Life charity event. Sold…
By Mike Fahey Published October 22, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformThe Outer Worlds Will Rattle Your Idea Of A Perfect Planet
The very first quest in The Outer Worlds, Obsidian’s highly anticipated first-person RPG out October 25, asked me to make what felt like an impossible choice. On one side was a community of outsiders frustrated by corporate control. Their outpost was something like a worker’s paradise—they were well fed and mostly happy, surviving by relying…
By Gita Jackson Published October 22, 2019 -
ReviewsHeadsetsI Don’t Think I Need A Wireless Switch Headset
Bundled with a first-of-its-kind USB-C 2.4GHz dongle that fits nicely in the bottom of the Switch, SteelSeries’ $99 Arctis 1 Wireless gaming headset is the first truly wireless headset for Nintendo’s latest console. It’s very nice. I just don’t see myself using it a lot, at least not on the Switch. The Arctis 1 Wirelessly…
By Mike Fahey Published October 22, 2019 -
ReviewsPCReturn of the Obra Dinn: The Kotaku Review
“Realistically I think it’ll take me around half a year,” Lucas Pope wrote four and a half years ago about his game Return of the Obra Dinn, which he released today. What’s four extra years when the results are this brilliant? Meticulously constructed, from the stippled black-and-white graphics to the intricate, devious logic puzzle at…
By Chris Kohler Published October 18, 2019 -
ReviewsSwitchNintendo’s New Exercise Adventure Game Is Ingenious, Even If It Makes Me Look Ridiculous
Nintendo’s newest Switch game, Ring Fit Adventure, is an amusing generator of unusual, unprecedented experiences. Never before have I lost a 20-minute video game boss battle because my form could have been better in one or two yoga stretches. Never before have I opened an in-game treasure chest by doing squats. Never before have I…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 17, 2019