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ReviewsMultiplatformHeaven’s Vault: The Kotaku Review
“Stories don’t have tidy beginnings,” says the main character of Heaven’s Vault, outer space archaeologist Aliya Elasra, at the beginning of the game. “The past is always present.” I was immediately enthralled. I often see people hyper-simplifying history in bad faith and weaponizing it as propaganda, so I was excited to play a game that…
By Nathan Grayson Published April 16, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformThe Division 2: The Kotaku Review
A few days after The Division 2 first went on sale and after an initial wave of positive reactions, the game’s players discovered a big problem. Some of the gadgets in this giant Ubisoft game about shooting bad guys in a ravaged Washington DC weren’t working correctly. In battle, I could crouch my pseudo-soldier hero…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 16, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformFortnite Battle Royale: The Kotaku Review
It’s hard to say how Fortnite is turning out because it keeps turning into something else. Skins and storylines come and go. Landmarks appear and disappear. Weapons are added and removed. Recently, a mysterious excavation site appeared, but it was dug up and abandoned by the time I got there the next day. As I’m…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 8, 2019 -
ReviewsSwitch
Yoshi’s Crafted World: The Kotaku Review
I think I fell in love with Yoshi’s Crafted World when I discovered the costumes. You don’t know cute until you’ve seen Yoshi running around the place in a little shonky cardboard cow outfit. My heart melted. This piece was first published on March 27, 2019. We’re bumping it today for the game’s release. Sweet…
By Keza MacDonald Published March 27, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatform
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: The Kotaku Review
In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the thread between life and death is tenuous. As the One-Armed Wolf, a loyal shinobi seeking to save a young noble with a cursed bloodline, you traverse a feudal Japan so saturated with the remnants of war that the idea of mortality becomes fickle: dead bodies blending in with the…
By Natalie Degraffinried Published March 26, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatform
Devil May Cry 5: The Kotaku Review
Devil May Cry 5 is a wild mess of demonic magic, blood, brooding twinks, butt rock music, kung-fu homage, and joyous gameplay. By the end of it, I had killed literally thousands of demons and watched struggles of Biblical proportions. The experience itself is a blur, but I know two things for certain. The first…
By Heather Alexandra Published March 8, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformApex Legends: The Kotaku Review
I don’t try to be the best in battle royale games. I don’t troll or anything, but I’m not as concerned with skillful wins as I am with having fun or coming away with an exciting story. But Apex Legends makes me want to try. I also get some great stories in the process. Apex…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 1, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformDead Or Alive 6: The Kotaku Review
Despite several years of being best-known for its sexiness, Dead or Alive has always been a genuinely good fighting game franchise. With a focus on bringing new players into the fold and downplaying its more provocative features, Dead or Alive 6 serves as a strong reminder of the solid gameplay that has always remained at…
By Mike Fahey Published March 1, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatform
Anthem: The Kotaku Review
Every once in a while, a game comes along that that does something surprising, different, memorable. Anthem is not one of those games. Much of this PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC game feels incomplete, while other portions are borrowed from games that did it better. The things that make Anthem special, like flying through…
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatform
Trials Rising: The Kotaku Review
I look at my watch. It’s 9:48pm. I’ll do one more Trials Rising track, I think. After that, since I’m only two levels away from the next stadium challenge, I do a few more. The stadium challenge turns out to be a tough bastard that makes me want to bite my controller in half, but…
By Keza MacDonald Published February 25, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatform
Metro Exodus: The Kotaku Review
I take my anxious first steps into a desolate post-winter wasteland. All around me, I hear mutants scratching and snarling. One sights me. Three more follow. I rise to fire my rifle. It jams. I feel frightened, vulnerable, out of sorts. But also, at home, like I’ve stumbled into a lucid dream shared by Far…
By Nathan Grayson Published February 20, 2019 -
ReviewsPS4Yakuza Kiwami: The Kotaku Review
The Yakuza series combine deep melodrama with exploration through vibrant city streets. Yakuza Kiwami is a remake that recreates the feeling of the original game, adding new features to streamline the experience. It’s a glorious crime story that benefits from a fresh coat of paint. This piece was first published on August 28, 2017. We’re…
Heather Alexandra & Luke Plunkett Published February 19, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformCrackdown 3: The Kotaku Review
It’s been a while since I’ve played something as refreshingly uncomplicated as Crackdown 3. You’re a big dude (or lady) with genetically-engineered superpowers and a whole lot of guns. Out there is a futuristic city stuffed with militia and hostile robots. And after the briefest preamble, you’re free to absolutely go to town on it.…
By Keza MacDonald Published February 15, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatform
Far Cry New Dawn: The Kotaku Review
By the end of Far Cry 5, the modern world was no more. Washed away in a gout of nuclear fire, all there was left to do was retreat into our bunker and lament the loss. Far Cry New Dawn moves forward from that set-up. Mechanically, it is the same game we’ve been playing since…
By Heather Alexandra Published February 15, 2019 -
ReviewsPCCivilization VI: Gathering Storm: The Kotaku Review
For Civ fans, the future has been set in stone since October 2016: no matter how good Civilization VI was at launch, it wouldn’t be done until it had gotten two expansions. Well, now it’s got them. Building on the contentintroduced in 2018’s Rise & Fall, and adding a whole raft of its own new…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 14, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformWargroove: The Kotaku Review
Wargroove has everything: a charming 2D look, imaginative characters and toylike units placed on gorgeous little battlefields, and accessible turn-based strategy inspired and informed by Intelligent Systems’ classics of the genre, Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. So why am I not enjoying myself as much as I should be? This question occurred to me a…
By Keza MacDonald Published February 1, 2019 -
ReviewsMultiplatformResident Evil 2: The Kotaku Review
There’s a lot to love about the new Resident Evil 2, from its brash bloodiness to the wide variety of experiences packed into the game. Looking over the wreckage of my playthroughs, my own feelings are complicated. It is an exciting and astounding experience, but it feels compromised. Pushes towards modernization through changes to the…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 25, 2019 -
ReviewsSwitch
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes: The Kotaku Review
Goichi “Suda51″ Suda loves video games. Oh, sure, I love video games, and you probably do too. But when you play one of the games from Suda51 and his studio Grasshopper Manufacture, you can’t fail to come away with the impression that he lives and breathes this stuff—the passion for games, players, the culture around…
By Chris Kohler Published January 16, 2019 -
ReviewsBoard Games
Sonic Crash Course: The Kotaku Review
There’s a new Sonic the Hedgehog board game out. And having spent the last week playing it with my kids, I think that aside from Mania it’s maybe the best Sonic game I’ve played in years, regardless of the medium. Sonic the Hedgehog: Crash Course—designed by Sean Mcdonald and published by IDW—is a family board…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2019 -
ReviewsHeadsets
Razer Nari Ultimate Head-Vibrating Haptic Gaming Headset: The Kotaku Review
For years, gamers have been seeking ways to feel more connected to their games. The games industry has met that desire with force feedback controllers, flashing lights that synch up with on-screen action and evenfans that blow air to simulate movement. And now there’s Razer’s Nari Ultimate gaming headset, which vibrates my face numb every…
By Mike Fahey Published January 8, 2019