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ReviewsEndless Space 2: The Kotaku Review
There have been a lot of 4X games set in space lately, from Stellaris to the Master of Orion reboot. Some of them have been good! None, however, have been as good as Endless Space 2 A lot of 4X games, and I’m especially talking about ones set in space, often struggle on two fronts:…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2017 -
Reviews
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia: The Kotaku Review
There’s a special kind of beauty in tactics games. Navigating the intricacies of battle and bringing your soldiers home alive is a unique thrill; half puzzle, half bloodbath. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia excels in providing such thrills. Rich combat and a well-presented narrative drive a satisfying experience, even if it might be a…
By Heather Alexandra Published May 17, 2017 -
ReviewsInjustice 2: The Kotaku Review
The fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us gave us a world torn apart by conflict between between two of comics’ greatest heroes. Now brutal murderer Superman and “I don’t want to fight you” Batman are back, joining forces against the most diabolical foe the DC Universe has ever faced—loot boxes. When we last left our…
By Mike Fahey Published May 16, 2017 -
ReviewsTopre Realforce RGB Keyboard Review: Life Beyond The Rubber Dome
If rubber dome keyboards are at the bottom of the keyboard hierarchy and mechanicals near the top, where does that leave Topre’s electrostatic capacitive switches, which combine a rubber dome and a spring? While the mechanical keyboard community launches into a massive debate, let me tell you about Topre’s Realforce RGB. Nothing sparks heated debate…
By Mike Fahey Published May 15, 2017 -
Reviews
Prey: The Kotaku Review
Early on in Prey, I accidentally killed a main character. The game let me keep playing until I lost my nerve and reloaded. Later, I jerry-rigged my way off the space station of Talos I well before I was supposed to. Prey let me get there. It figured I knew what I was doing. At…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 12, 2017 -
ReviewsVolta V Wooden PC Review: An Heirloom Gaming Machine
I’ve spent the past few weeks gaming, working and pretending to work on theVolta V, the world’s first commercially-produced handcrafted wooden computer. It feels like it’s part of the family. There was a time when most of our electronic entertainment equipment was either made of wood or, at the very least, stylized to look as…
By Mike Fahey Published May 3, 2017 -
ReviewsMario Kart 8 Deluxe: The Kotaku Review
Mario Kart 8 is an excellent game. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is even better. Normally in a situation where a game we’ve reviewed in the past gets an updated version on a new console, we’d simply republish the original review with some notes on any significant differences. The Mario Kart 8 situation is a little…
By Mike Fahey Published April 28, 2017 -
ReviewsRazer Blackwidow Chroma V2 Yellow Review: More Gaming, Less Typing
With the debut of Razer’s new linear yellow keyboard switches, one of the gaming-est keyboards going gets a lot gamier. It’s a board for playing, not so much for typing. Razer’s Blackwidow line has been carving out spots in best mechanical gaming keyboard lists for years now. And why not? It’s got a striking look,…
By Mike Fahey Published April 28, 2017 -
ReviewsDawn Of War III: The Kotaku Review
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war. And more Warhammer games. Before we get into things with Dawn of War III, it’s time for a quick history lesson (and yes, this is relevant and important to the new game): the first Dawn of War was released on PC back in…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 27, 2017 -
Reviews
What Remains Of Edith Finch: The Kotaku Review
What Remains of Edith Finch is a story about family, the nature of life, and the unknowability of mortality. In the end, whatever flaws Edith Finch may have are outshined by its imagination, wonder, and the sincerity with which it approaches these topics. You play as Edith, the last member of the Finch family, returning…
By Gita Jackson Published April 24, 2017 -
Reviews
AMD Radeon RX 570 And RX 580 Review: A Little Extra Power Goes A Long Way
While enthusiasts eagerly await to coming of the next-generation of high-end Radeon cards, AMD shores up its starting lineup with the RX 500 series, featuring small but significant improvements over last year’s RX 470 and RX 480 graphics cards. 2016 was a busy year for the video card business, with both major players introducing their…
By Mike Fahey Published April 19, 2017 -
Reviews
Full Throttle Remastered: The Kotaku Review
Full Throttle Remastered feels like a supernova. It’s bombastic, head-turning, and holds your attention during the brief time it flashes. The classic adventure game holds up today, but, unlike other Double Fine games, it doesn’t benefit from a remaster. The original was already as good as it needed to be. It’s an entertaining tale of…
By Heather Alexandra Published April 18, 2017 -
ReviewsPersona 5: The Day Breakers: The Kotaku Review
When Persona 5 came out last year in Japan, an animated short called The Day Breakers was released to help promote the game. It’s only 20-minutes long, but is definitely worth watching if you’re a fan of the game. While Persona 5 itself has around an hour’s worth of excellent anime cutscenes, made by Ghost…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 17, 2017 -
ReviewsHyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review: A Happy Minimum
This is the HyperX Alloy FPS, a mechanical gaming keyboard. It consists of a steel frame, a printed circuit board, a plastic base, 104 Cherry MX Brown switches with red LEDs and the corresponding keycaps. It doesn’t do a lot, but it does what it’s made to do very well. The HyperX Alloy FPS mechanical…
By Mike Fahey Published April 17, 2017 -
Reviews
Mr. Shifty: The Kotaku Review
Just going by the title “Mr Shifty,” you might expect something cute. Little Mr. Shifty. He sounds adorable, right? He isn’t. He’s a thief, he can teleport through walls, and he beats the hell out of a lot of dudes. Mr. Shifty is a violent action game for computers and Switch set across the many…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 14, 2017 -
Reviews
Yooka-Laylee: The Kotaku Review
Yooka-Laylee is a bright and enthusiastic throwback to classic 3D platforming. It is adventurous and full of discoveries. It is silly and irreverent, never taking itself seriously. But it also wears out its welcome fast, spiraling players into a ceaseless collectathon full of frustrating puzzles, technical difficulties, and aimlessness. It has brought back the best…
By Heather Alexandra Published April 11, 2017 -
ReviewsPersona 5: The Kotaku Review
Imagine your old high school. Picture the doors you’d pass through at the start of each day. See if you can recall the awkward conversations you had with your friends, or the smell of the cafeteria at lunchtime. Now throw all that in the garbage and replace it with something impossibly cooler, impossibly more stylish,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published April 4, 2017 -
ReviewsBoard GamesV-Commandos: The Kotaku Review
V-Commandos is, in everything but name, a board game adaptation of 1998’s stealth strategy game Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Kickstarted back in 2014, the game has recently been released to retail, and over the last few months I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it. It works like this: players choose from one of a…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 3, 2017 -
ReviewsThimbleweed Park: The Kotaku Review
Early in Thimbleweed Park, a new graphical adventure game, a pair of pigeon-suited plumbers tell you not to worry about dying, because there’s no way to lose in this game. “But playing classic adventure games has taught me to save often,” your hero replies. “That was true up until Monkey Island,” say the plumbers. “Then…
By Jason Schreier Published March 30, 2017