Video Games

I never expected jumping back into the role of Doomslayer was going to be a walk in the park, but the level of non-stop carnage and breathless, rhythmic gameplay still caught me off guard. It’s been years since I rage-quit the acclaimed 2016 iteration of Doom (I’ll pick it up again, one day), but even…

E3 2020 is officially cancelled. The Entertainment Software Association pulled the plug over concerns relating to the coronavirus outbreak. The ESA will explore other avenues for replacing the show, including the possibility of an “online experience.” The full statement from the ESA, available on the E3 website, reads: After careful consultation with our member companies…

Microsoft have announced a series of live-streams on Xbox Series X that will replace its now-cancelled slate of GDC 2020 talks. The live-streams, called Game Stack Live, will broadcast a series of panels on Mixer over two days. One of these panels is titled “Xbox Series X + Project xCloud = New Chapter in Gaming.”…

I remember the first time I saw the trailer for One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows. How is this ever going to work as a video game? I thought. Surely a game that features a hero able to defeat any enemy with a single punch would make for a pretty boring game. For the most…

In January, we brought you a report that Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn was headed to PC. That report has now been confirmed in a PlayStation Blog Q&A with Herman Hulst, the head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios. “Yes, I can confirm that Horizon Zero Dawn is coming to PC this summer,” says Hulst in the…

One of the most beloved aspects of 2016’s DOOM was its furious, hypnotic heavy metal soundtrack. Composed by Melbourne producer Mick Gordon, it perfectly complemented the game’s hellish atmosphere and balletic combat. With DOOM Eternal now only weeks away, metal fans are primed to hear Gordon’s new material. Part of that new material may surprise: Gordon…

For a hundred dollar gaming headset, the Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 200 represents pretty solid value for money. I’ve had an up-and-down experience with Turtle Beach’s headsets over the years but with the Recon 200, it looks like it may have turned over a new leaf. Strong hold The moment you put the Recon…

Beloved video game franchise The Last of Us is becoming a new HBO series. The game’s writer and creative director Neil Druckmann, and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin will develop the series. Carolyn Strauss and Naughty Dog president Evan Wells will executive produce. The series will be a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions….

When your goal is to remake a game like Final Fantasy VII, where do you even begin? Lets set aside its legendary status and the pressure of delivering on such a project. Consider instead the more intricate moving parts — its characters, mechanics and systems, its visuals, art direction, and score. Its sheer size presents…

My first experience with Hunt: Showdown sent shivers up my spine. Navigating a Louisiana bayou in search of a giant spider, the trail led me to an abandoned factory. Upon entering, it was clear; I had found my target. Cobwebs covered the walls and walkways, crunching underfoot as I scoured every inch of the place….

Kazuhisa Hashimoto, legendary Konami programmer and creator of the famous Konami Code, has died at the age of 79. Hashimoto’s death was announced composer Yuji Takenouchi on Twitter. Takenouchi’s tweet states that Hashimoto died on February 25 and that he hopes his friend will “keep making games in heaven.” Hashimoto was a staple at Konami…

Players who own Cyberpunk 2077 on Xbox One will receive a free upgrade to the Xbox Series X version. The upgrade is possible thanks to the Smart Delivery tech built into the new console. Smarter not harder Smart Delivery, announced today among a list of new info for the Xbox Series X, lets users play…

When they said the Xbox Series X was a monster, they weren’t kidding. Xbox head Phil Spencer has detailed a laundry list of tech specs for the forthcoming game system via the official Xbox Newswire blog. The key theme? Power and speed. Here’s a taste: Let’s break down a few of the new items Phil…

It’s safe to say Media Molecule took its time while it worked on its latest creative extravaganza, Dreams. After a reveal that seems like forever ago now, Dreams was long in incubation. Following a lengthy beta period, Dreams is finally available. Boy was it worth the wait. So much of the conversation around Dreams centered…

The Yakuza Remastered Collection is a watershed moment for Japan’s favourite video game crime drama. 15 years ago, you might never have heard of the Yakuza series. Today, it is beloved. The series has enjoyed a recent resurgence — a prequel in Yakuza Zero, remakes in Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2, a new game…

Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl is another RPG developed by Level-5 (developers of the Layton series). Originally released in Japan in April of last year, Snack World is now available for the rest of the world to enjoy. Why “Gold”? Well, because this worldwide release features all the DLCs available from the Japanese version. You…

Half-Life: Alyx, the newest entry in Valve’s legendary Half-Life series, has set its release date. The first new Half-Life game in 13 years will launch on March 23, 2020. Valve revealed the release date via their official Twitter overnight, along with preorder bonuses for anyone who has purchased a Valve Index. The Index is Valve’s…

The rumours were true. IEM Melbourne is real. For the last few years, IEM has been held at Sydney’s Olympic Park.  It’s the Aussie leg of the world’s biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. IEM Sydney drew sellout crowds and became known for its electric, competitive atmosphere. In August, IEM becomes the headline event at the…

BioWare has announced that it will be redesigning its embattled online shooter Anthem from the ground up. According to an official blog post from BioWare general manager Casey Hudson, the decision has been made to perform a larger overhaul of the entire game rather than focusing a series of smaller updates or expansion packs. Hudson…

In Journey to the Savage Planet, you are an explorer employed by Kindred Aerospace, the galaxy’s the 4th best interstellar exploration company. Your task is to explore the unknown planet ARY-26 in the hope that it can sustain human life. Theoretically, the job is a milk run. In practice, not that simple. A Sudden Stop…

Are you a gun at FIFA 20? If so, you’ll want to get involved in this month’s #PSPlusPlays competition on your PS4. So what do you have to do to get involved? Just complete this month’s challenge: Showcase your best one-two pass play with a mate in FIFA 20. Nail it, and you could win yourself…

You may have seen a lot of online chatter about Warcraft 3 Reforged lately. If you’re one of the nearly 27,000 people who downvoted the game on Metacritic, you will almost certainly not agree with the content of this review. Because here’s the thing: Warcraft 3 Reforged simply isn’t all that bad. Are there some…

Surviving a zombie apocalypse requires wit, intelligence, speed and strength. I know these things because I have survived many an undead doomsday scenario. Left 4 Dead, Dead Island, The House of the Dead, Deadrising, Resident Evil, The Last of Us, Telltale’s The Walking Dead, and – still my favourite – Dying Light (which gets extra…

If you’ve tried to play Kingdom Hearts III in the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed a pretty sizeable update to the game in the form of 1.09. It’s filled with some of the biggest updates the game has seen since its release in 2019. And it also paves the way for the…

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath first released back in 2005 on the original Xbox. Released in what was then the late-January dead zone, Stranger’s Wrath was critically adored but sank commercially when Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords launched around a fortnight later. I was one of the few that bought Stranger’s…

Two of the world’s largest game publishers are coming together to raise money for Australian bushfire relief The Sydney offices of Bethesda and 2K Games will unite on February 15 for a one-off broadcast. They’ll be taking to Twitch to play a couple of one another’s games, Skyrim and Borderlands 3. The goal is to…

Dan Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder and head writer on Bully and Red Dead Redemption 2, is leaving the company. Houser will depart the company on March 11 2020. His departure comes at the end of an extended break that began in Spring 2020 following the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2. The news comes from…

The last few weeks have felt like an eternity for PlayStation fans awaiting news on the PS5. The anniversary of the now-famous PlayStation Meeting, the event that revealed the PS4, came and went without incident. With the console arriving in stores at the end of the year, fans were getting understandably restless. And then, this…

Wizards of the Coast, known for tabletop giants Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, have recruited a number of former Bioware developers for their new video game studio. The studio, named Archetype Entertainment, is based in Austin, Texas. It is already at work on a new multiplatform science fiction RPG. But the news gets…

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is yet another Wii U game making its way to the Nintendo Switch. When the original Tokyo Mirage Sessions made its debut on the Wii U, it didn’t exactly make much of a splash. Like so many titles to launch on the Wii U, it languished in relative obscurity. Now,…