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Stalker 2 Is A Very Good Game Buried Under Bugs And Performance Problems
21.11.2024
It was nighttime and I was creeping through grass of S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2's digital recreation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. I needed to meet up with someone, but getting anywhere in the “Zone”— the eerie, desolate, but oddly beautiful irradiated setting of the game—is dangerous. To make sure I...
The PS5 Pro Sure Is Cool, But Who's It Really For?
6.11.2024
In September, Sony announced the PlayStation 5 Pro and its $700 price tag. Immediately the reaction from folks online was negative. Many were confused by the high price point and weren’t convinced by Sony’s initial videos that the upgrades to games like Spider-Man 2 were worth it. After playing...
Pokémon TCG Pocket Already Feels Like A Well-Laid Trap
31.10.2024
I’m really averse to trading card games. Despite loving me some Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh as a kid and tween, I’ve largely kept my distance from them in the time since. I’ve played a few hands of Hearthstone, I never touched Artifact, and I am straight-up dogshit at any card game baked into an...
My Favorite Thing About Black Ops 6 Is The Return Of A Classic Zombies Experience
25.10.2024
Earlier this week, I felt a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long while: I was looking forward to the release of a Call of Duty game. Black Ops 6, the latest installment in the long-running Call of Duty sub-series, has spent the last several months hyping up audiences about all of its changes...
Capcom's Latest Collection Of Arcade Classics Gives The Punisher Its Due
9.9.2024
Folks, I think Capcom is doing the work that most of the industry seems allergic to. Companies like Digital Eclipse are enshrining historical moments of gaming culture with releases like The Making of Karateka, but Capcom appears to be one of the few AAA devs and publishers actively preserving...
Dustborn Has A Great Story To Tell When Bad Combat's Not Getting In The Way
23.8.2024
In its first few hours, Red Thread Games’ Dustborn flaunts so many of the qualities I look for in a story-driven adventure game. It’s full of relationship-building with complex characters, has stakes that are just high enough to draw me into the weight of each dialogue choice I make, and...
Tactical Breach Wizards Is A Sharp, Hilarious, And Brilliant Strategy Game
19.8.2024
Tactical Breach Wizards, the next game from Tom Francis (Gunpoint, Heat Signature), has everything you could want out of a game with such a name. There are 1) wizards, 2) tons of tactical breaching, 3) a huge conspiracy to unravel and 4) so many windows to throw people out of. What might not...
Splitgate 2 Feels Way Faster And More Conventional, And Not In A Good Way
16.8.2024
Splitgate 2 is fast. It’s the dominating thought of my hours spent sampling the sequel’s new maps, weapons, loadouts, movement, abilities, and more. Despite the fact that it literally chugged on my PC (my own setup’s inadequacy, not the game’s), everything about it was quick. I barely had time...
You Play This Bullet Hell With Just One Button And It’s Terrific
7.8.2024
Everything you need to know about the new bullet hell game One Btn Bosses is right there in the title. You press one button and you take on a series of bosses. It’s a simple premise that developer Midnight Munchies delivers on and then some. With just one button, you might think that the game would...
Borderlands Movie First Impressions Call It 'Lifeless' And 'Really Bad'
7.8.2024
After a very long wait, the live-action Borderlands movie finally arrives in theaters this weekend. But before that, the movie was screened for fans and critics in Los Angeles. And, based on the first impressions being posted online, the Borderlands movie sounds like a complete mess.Read more
Cat Quest 3 Is A Fun New Swashbuckling Action-RPG
6.8.2024
Cat Quest 3 is the latest entry in the ever-adorable series of action RPGs starring a heroic kitten on a quest for glory and, this time in particular, treasure. Set in the “Purribean” with a whimsical piracy theme, Cat Quest 3 doesn’t just see you fighting on land and in dungeons and castles....
Marvel Rivals Feels Like Overwatch Without All The Baggage
1.8.2024
I have over 1000 hours in Overwatch, but only about a dozen hours in Marvel Rivals, the megalithic comic makers’ attempt to cash in on Blizzard’s once-winning formula. In all the matches I’ve played in the game’s beta as the Guardians of the Galaxy leader Star-Lord alongside other heroes...
Flock Is This Summer's Best Chillfest
17.7.2024
As a New Yorker in my late twenties, it’s only a matter of time until I get into birding. Flock might be the thing that finally makes me take the plunge into the hobby. The new shepherding/creature collecting game from developer Hollow Ponds is full of color and life, inviting you to explore...
Zenless Zone Zero Is Stylish, Fun, And A Letdown
8.7.2024
Above all else, Zenless Zone Zero is beautiful to look at. HoYoverse’s latest action RPG gacha title, following 2020’s Genshin Impact and last year’s Honkai: Star Rail, has a lot much going for it, with a beautifully detailed world, characters, and animations. Underneath that style there is even...
I Spent A Weekend With Remote Play And Cloud Gaming And It Was Kind Of Awesome
2.7.2024
I used to consider myself a certifiable cloud hater. I’ve never enjoyed my experiences trying to engage with cloud gaming, which allows players to stream their console games to PCs, smartphones, and dedicated handhelds, as well as adjacent remote play technology. In my limited experience, it...
Every Game We Played At This Year's Not-E3 Summer Game Fest Extravaganza
14.6.2024
Summer Game Fest, aka Geoff-con/Keighley-palooza, has come and gone. The E3 replacement included multiple online showcases and onsite events, each aimed at drumming up excitement for a flood of upcoming games. Which games rocked? Which ones sucked? Which ones will become video game industry...
This Gris Follow-Up Has Big Last Guardian Vibes And Will Definitely Make Me Cry
13.6.2024
When the action-adventure game Neva was first revealed a year ago with a trailer that included the immediate emotional death of a large wolf-like creature, I knew this game would be a tearjerker. That isn’t surprising given developer Nomada Studios’ track record. Its first game, 2018’s emotional...
Hands-On With Astro Bot: Pure Joy
12.6.2024
I can’t remember the last time I played a PlayStation game and felt this happy. I’ve loved plenty of first-party Sony games and their expensive melding of Hollywood cinematics, refined gameplay, and dense systems. Astro Bot is in many ways the antithesis of that. It’s no less refined, perhaps even...
Star Wars Outlaws Hands-On: Good Gameplay, Wonderful World
11.6.2024
Kay Vess, lovable scoundrel and star of Ubisoft’s upcoming action adventure game Star Wars Outlaws, has a data spike shoved through her ponytail like a number 2 pencil. Alongside Kay at all times is her adorable companion Nix, a Merqaal that can help her snag hard-to-reach objects or distract...
Destiny 2: The Final Shape's Campaign Is A Messy, Moving High School Reunion
5.6.2024
There is something about returning to many of Destiny’s previous locations, including the very first areas of the original game, that makes The Final Shape reek of high school. A lot has changed about the series in the ten years since our ghost first found us just outside of Old Russia. Moreover...