Video Games

In today’s gaming landscape, you might be forgiven for never having heard of Dark Souls, but you would definitely be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t played a game either directly inspired or affected by it. Enter The Surge 2, a tactical hack- and-slash experience that follows hot off the heels of its predecessor,…

Dino Verano has a long career in games, working as a producer on numerous Activision titles. He’s also someone who understands the value of community in helping to polish and balance a game ahead of launch thanks to his prior career in quality assurance. Now a producer and team lead on Infinity Ward’s Call of…

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a remake of the 1993 Game Boy title of the same name. In many ways, Link’s Awakening is an ideal game to remake — because it appeared on a system that many players today would never have owned, and has never been considered a must-play entry in the series, it will…

The NBA 2K series has become for many, including myself, the definitive basketball gaming experience. While each iteration tries to evolve in interesting ways, NBA 2K20 remains an evolutionary experience rather than a revolutionary one. In many ways, NBA 2K20 is superior to any of its predecessors, presenting stellar basketball gameplay paired with authentic presentation…

My relationship with Borderlands might be different from that of other people, I don’t know. What I do know is that, contrary to a lot of other games I tend to like, I don’t come to Borderlands for the story or the characters or the world. I show up because Gearbox Software makes an idiot…

The Ghost Recon franchise returns yet again, giving gamers a tactical option in a world full of run-and-gun looter shooters. I must say that I rather enjoyed Ghost Recon Wildlands, boasting a large, if a little bland open world, and a truckload of content to complete. Gameplay was tight, responsive and ‘tactical’ in its nature….

Former Sonic Youth bassist-singer Kim Gordon, pop musician-producer-songwriter Benny Blanco, and actor-comedian Cheech Marin have been announced, among others, in an initial line-up regarding keynote and featured speakers for the 34th annual South By Southwest Conference and Festival (March 13-22 2020). “We’re kicking off the 2020 season with a captivating group of speakers. From Keynotes…

I’m not sure why I did this to myself. Glutton for punishment maybe? Whatever the reason, there are times I regret picking up Catherine: Full Body, which has caused painful flashbacks to almost 10 years ago when I almost reverted back to 9 year old me – the kid who was totally fine with smashing…

Like most gamers of the 90’s, Spyro thje Dragon was one of the first ever games I’ve ever played and when the Spyro Reignited Trilogy was announced I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Until it was only released for the PS4 and Xbox One (versions we’ve previously reviewed). Having only Nintendo Switch…

When most people think of Gears of War, they’re probably not thinking about high fashion. For games about blood and guns with chainsaws attached, jewelry seems like an odd merchandising vertical to explore — but finding an unexpected point of connection and running with it has become Xbox Australia’s signature approach to promoting new games….

The common thread that runs through the Xbox’s two biggest exclusive franchises is that they are no longer being made by the developers that created them. The Halo series has been under the stewardship of 343 Industries since Halo 4, and the Gears franchise has been with The Coalition since Epic wrapped on Gears of…

Ideally, a good expansion pack extends the life of a game with something new. That something new could be an addition to the story, a new area to visit, or new moves and mechanics. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne goes all in, throwing a truly staggering amount of fresh content at returning players. Here’s the thing…

Have you been looking for a new place to play? Fortress Melbourne is a 2700sq.m spanning three entire floors of Emporium Melbourne dedicated to gaming of every kind. From esports to tabletop RPG’s, Fortress Melbourne has been purpose built to cater to gaming fans of any stripe. Seriously, take a look at the feature list…

Nintendo were not messing around this morning. After announcing yesterday that a 40-minute Nintendo Direct broadcast was scheduled for 8am AEST this morning, the Big N followed through with an E3 level slew of announcements. There’s so much to get through that we’re just going to bulletpoint this and sprinkle some trailers. Ready? Here we…

Untitled Goose Game, the goose-based civilian torment simulator by Melbourne developer House House, will finally launch on September 20. In development for nearly three years, the game caught the internet’s attention for its exceedingly irreverent pitch — you are a goose and you mess with the life of a put-upon farmer just trying to go…

With August winding up and the gaming release calender getting more and more packed, what better time to add another couple of free games to your teetering pile of shame? PlayStation have announced their PlayStation Plus lineup for September and it includes a PS4 classic and a 2019 title you may have missed. First up,…

I really love the spirit of what Supermassive Games is trying to do with Man of Medan. The first episode in The Dark Pictures Anthology, a compendium of short-form video game horror stories, Man of Medan is cut from the same cloth as Supermassive’s 2015 effort Until Dawn but shrinks its scope and scale to better…

It’s time to get primal. Unleash your inner Hominoidea and become one with your senses. In Minecraft, you begin by punching trees. In DayZ, if you make it off the beach, you start rummaging for weapons. In Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey you begin as a scared, lonely ape in a dense forest with nothing but…

When the blue shell hits, please try not to have a meltdown in public. Mario Kart Tour, the latest entry in the storied racing franchise, is coming to iOS and Android mobiles in September. The game seeks to provide a complete Mario Kart experience for your mobile with the iconic tracks, items and Nintendo racers…

Control had me scratching my head in the lead up to its release. Nothing I saw about its main character, its world or its premise engaged or excited me. I can safely say that I have never been more glad to be proven wrong. Control puts players in the shoes of Jesse Faden, a young…

Boy, Nintendo sure have been dropping high profile titles like there’s no tomorrow. It wasn’t that long ago that we got our hands on Fire Emblem: Three Houses and here now we have Astral Chain. This Switch-exclusive got its hooks in early, keeping me from sleeping on a 12-hour flight and some subsequent nights after….

Rad marks another genre turn for developer Double Fine, the studio behind classics like Psychonauts, Grim Fandango and Broken Age. Inkeeping with Double Fine studio lead Tim Schafer‘s abstract sense of humour, Rad is an imaginitive, colourful and wonderfully wacky rogue-like dungeon crawler. Bursting with colour and character, Rad might not be the best game…

Fans of Gears 5 will treated to a pretty special night in Melbourne next week when Gears Ink kicks off in Docklands. The one night only Gears Ink pop up event will be hitting LA, London, Berlin, Paris, Mexico City and Melbourne throughout September. Melbourne’s turn is on Thursday, September 5 from 7pm-10pm. The event,…

After suffering something of a false start at its cinematic-only E3 reveal in June, Marvel’s Avengers has finally pulled back the curtain with a lengthy look at gameplay. The trailer clocks in at just shy of 20 minutes, and focuses on what appears to be the early part of the game, beginning with Thor fighting…

Damsel is the debut title from Brisbane-based developer Screwtape Studios, and a that weilds is distaste for corporate culture like a cudjel. It’s a balletic, side-scrolling arcade shooter about a special agent on a mission to investigate Red Mist, a drink created by a corporation owned and run by literal, actual vampires. Damsel’s pulpy, comic…

This one feels like it’s been a long time coming. Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games have been acquired by Sony. The acquisition makes Insomniac a first-party PlayStation developer within Sony Worldwide Studios. Insomniac’s history with Sony goes back as far as the PlayStation 1. It’s a company responisble for numerous Sony exclusives…

The Coalition has used Gamescom 2019 to lift the curtain on the few remaining details surrounding Gears 5 ahead of its September 10 launch. One of the most vaunted aspects of its Gamescom appearance was the reveal of Horde, the return of a beloved multiplayer mode from earlier Gears of War games. The trailer promised the…

I never used to be the kind of person who was interested in collecting coloured or limited edition controllers, but that’s all changed in the last hardware generation. Both PlayStation and Xbox regularly release beautiful, stylish new controllers and every one of them demands I buy them immediately. Perfect example: look at these beautiful new…

Here’s a video game truism for you: Given a long enough timeline, all games in the Civilization tradition will eventually find their way into a sci-fi setting. The Age of Wonders series is no exception, using its fourth full instalment to trade high fantasy for science fantasy. This is not to suggest that it strays…

In early May, I was among the first in the world to play Borderlands 3 at the official gameplay reveal event in Los Angeles. That preview gave us access to two of the game’s four classes — the muscular Siren Amara and the cloak-and-dagger Operative Zane. We were promised then that we’d get to spend…