Reviews

Hunting Down The Fourth Season Of The Walking Dead Action Figures

With the fourth season of AMC’s hit television series underway and the promise of the second round of comic-based interactive adventure coming from Telltale, it’s the perfect time to peruse the painted plastic people (living and dead) of McFarlane Toys The Walking Dead series four TV figures. Now I am more of a comic book…

Battlefield 4: The Kotaku Review

Let’s just admit it. Battlefield 4 was never a game you were going to play for the single-player. And thank god for that, because in DICE’s latest entry in their fantastic, consistently polished military first-person shooter series, the campaign is useless and forgettable. There are these big set-piece moments—the Michael Bay explosions and extravagantly violent…

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag: The Kotaku Review

The loading screen is always the same in Assassin’s Creed. Your character stands, clad in the robes of his people, armed to the teeth and surrounded by empty space. A desaturated digital landscape fades into the distance and out of sight. You press the thumbstick forward, and he begins to jog. What’s left to do…

The Snacktaku Monster Cereal Review Spooktacular will continue on Monday. Due to an amazing amount of horrendous back pain that’s left me in not a very eating-things-and-talking-about-them mood, Yummy Mummy and Franken Berry will have to wait. In the meantime, enjoy Count Chocola, Boo Berry, Frute Brute, and this amazing GIF.

Batman: Arkham Origins: The Kotaku Review

Troy Baker’s Joker voice is one of the best things about Batman: Arkham Origins. But it’s also a disturbingly reverent impersonation of Mark Hamill’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Therein lies the conundrum of the latest video game featuring the Dark Knight. On multiple levels, this game is about finding one’s voice. Players…

Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate: The Kotaku Review

The worst thing Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate has going for it is its mouthful of a title. The second worst thing is its plot and setting, a less interesting retread of the first great Batman game, 2009’s Arkham Asylum But past those two flaws, we gamers are getting a gift with this game: a Metroid-style…

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies: The Kotaku Review

A shout. “Hold it!” The camera cuts between stunned faces as everyone waits, sweating, wondering what sort of interjection will shake things up next. This happens so often, you’d think they would be used to it by now. But no. Shock. Disbelief. Someone barges into the courtroom—someone new, someone unexpected. Maybe someone shouts a new…

Persona‘s Greatest Heroine Is Also One Of Persona‘s Coolest Models

Mitsuru Kirijo from Persona 3 is amazing. She’s Gekkoukan High School’s valedictorian, student council president, and the leader of its Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Such a complicated character, yet everything she is can be captured by a simple resin garage kit. That stoic expression — as if she’s almost bored with the idea of risking…

Steins;Gate Gets a Live-Action Play and It’s Terrific

Steins;Gate is one of the most popular visual novels in recent years. It spawned not only several other side-story games but also an anime (and sequel movie). But that’s not all. This past week saw the close of the Steins;Gate live-action play. And like the anime before it, it proved to be an excellent adaptation.…

Sonic: Lost World: The Kotaku Review x2

There are two new games called Sonic: Lost World coming this month. I’d like to refer them as “the good one” and “the bad one,” if you don’t mind. The good one is on the Nintendo 3DS and is co-developed, apparently, by Sonic Team and Dimps. It’s a mostly-3D, occasionally 2D Sonic game that slows…

Total War: Rome II: The Kotaku Review

**Updated with final verdict** Oh dear. I wanted to love this game. I really did. I am, as anyone on staff here will tell you, a tragically obsessive Total War fan. I’m also a history nut, who was looking forward to conquering the known world at the head of some thundering (and in this game’s…

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams: The Snacktaku Review

Jeni Britton Bauer gave up her art studies at Ohio State University to persue her passion for food. Now, as the owner of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, she makes frozen art for your mouth. Let’s taste what many consider the country’s best ice cream. Ice cream is a magical thing. For one, it’s the perfect…

Skylanders: Swap Force: The Kotaku Review

It’s taken 40 long years, but it’s finally happened. I’ve finally become an adult, and it’s all thanks to the latest Skylanders game. I just don’t understand the Swap Force The first Skylanders game gave us a batch of toys we could place on a portal to use as characters in a well-crafted action role-playing…

Pokémon X & Y: The Kotaku Review

It’s impossible to escape the influence of Charles Darwin: even if you’ve never paid attention in class, his theory of evolution has influenced everything from science to pop culture—including, yes, the highly popular Pokemon games. You could say evolution is the backbone of the series: from its inception back in 1998, the idea behind the…

The Greatest Sith Warrior In The Old Republic Is Even Scarier Up Close

Star Wars: The Old Republic couldn’t have Darth Vader, so it got Darth Malgus. Now that I’ve got him standing 20 inches high on my desk in the form of Sideshow Collectibles’ Darth Malgus Premium Format Figure, he might be my favorite Sith Lord ever. I mean, Darth Vader will always be an iconic figure…

Beyond: Two Souls: The Kotaku Review

In Beyond: Two Souls, you‘ll do some things you rarely get to do in video games. You’ll control a young, frightened girl as she hugs a stuffed animal and tries to fend off nightmares. You’ll decide whether to accept beer at an awkward high-school party, and you’ll try to pick music that’ll impress a group…

I’m Playing Assassin’s Creed IV Right Now. On My Desk. With Toys.

While the rest of the world has to wait until the end of this month to get their hands on Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I’ve got Edward Kenway and friends right here on my desk, ready to pillage, loot, burn, and maybe make-out a little. With three generations of Kenways — Edward, Hatham and…

Scribblenauts Unmasked: The Kotaku Review

I have a lot of action figures. Every once in awhile I like to pull them down from their shelves or out of their boxes. I admire each one. Maybe I’ll pose then and take a few pictures. Then I get bored and put them away again. Playing Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure feels…

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: The Kotaku Review

Final Fantasy XIV Online, massively multiplayer online role-playing game — an MMO barely alive. Square Enix rebuilt it. They had the technology. They had the capability to build the world’s first relaunched FF title. A Realm Reborn is that game. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster. Unlike 1970’s action heroes, video games don’t…

Rain: The Kotaku Review

Rain is one of those games that comes so close to getting everything right that it seems unfair not to praise it just for the proximity. Rain is basically a stealth game, with some elements that might remind you of puzzles and platformers. Generally, you’ll spend your time devising the best way to avoid the…