There were a lot of raised eyebrows going around when PlayStation announced late last year that they’d be pulling out of E3 2019. PlayStation’s departure from the show floor and the cancellation of their annual press conference meant that competitor Microsoft would be the last of The Big Three hardware makers to have a press…
Borderlands 3 has been in development at Gearbox Software for five years at two different studios. It has become the worst kept secret in the video game industry. Today, it finally gets its moment to shine and Gearbox gets to stop sidestepping the question everytime they’re asked about its existence. During the company’s hour-long PAX…
Yoshi’s Crafted World has been made with all the love and care in the world – and it shows. From the subtle, crafty touches to the gorgeous soundtrack, cutesy worlds and stellar gameplay, everything about it screams wholesomeness. The game is so wholesome that it makes me want to be a better person. Story If…
One of the gaming industry’s worst kept secrets might finally be about to step into the light. It’s been common knowledge that Gearbox has been hard at work on a new entry in the Borderlands series for several years now. Despite never formally confirming anything, the project has seen it all — leaks, tech demos,…
We’ve known for a while that PAX Australia, the nation’s biggest gaming convention, will return to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for its seventh consecutive year. However, in a break from previous years, the show will shift slightly from its traditional late-October slot to the middle of the month. The show’s new dates are…
The more of them I play, the more I’ve come to understand that From Software’s catalogue of games are not for me. My Souls-loving friends assure me there will be a moment of clarity, a a beautiful instant suspended in time where the final piece of the Souls puzzle snaps into place. In that moment, they say…
In the crowded age of looter shooters, it is understandable that The Division 2 could scare off gamers with the worry of repetitive gameplay, an unfinished story, and an underwhelming lack of initial content. It is on that note I begin this review, as The Division 2 has managed to surpass its predecessor and stands…
God, Trials Rising is good. At its heart, a physics-based puzzle game that wears the trappings of extreme sports. It’s the modern equivalent of the old Dirt Bike games on Mac from the 90’s, a formula that has grown more showy and complex over time but retains their “get up and try again” spirit. Indeed,…
I’m not far into One Piece: World Seeker. It’s a solid game with fun mechanics and a great cast of characters – but I’m having trouble making progress. See, in the game, you play as Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece‘s long-serving protagonist (going on a good 22 years now). He’s got rubber powers, which basically…
FromSoftware are good at making games writers nervous. We head along to these hands-on previews with our heads held high (metaphorically, many of us have terrible posture), confident in our ability to kick some serious digital ass and wow any observers with our mad skills. Demon’s Souls? A cake walk. Bloodbourne? Orphan of Kos was…
Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2019 is a mere two months away. Boasting a $250,000 prize pool, IEM Sydney is Australia’s premiere esports tournament, attracting some of the biggest names in competitive gaming from here at home and around the world. To date, a total of five teams have been invited to compete in this year’s…
The Occupation immediately hit me with a refreshing change of pace. For a game of this nature, throwing you into the thick of a terrorist plot might seem like an action packed outing, but rather takes the subdued approach, opting for investigative intrigue over the running and gunning. It’s safe to say that The Occupation…
The Lego Movie 2 Videogame is based on a movie not yet released in Australia. Despite the heavy involvement of Australia’s Animal Logic animation studio in the production of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, the release date is still firmly on March 28th, nearly two months after the official United States release. For…
Kirby has always been the spark of joy in the occasionally cheerless games landscape. I mean, how can he not be? He’s a literal ball of cute pink fluff, and in this cotton-themed adventure, he’s every bit the pure, shining saviour of games that he should be. Kirby is wholesome, Kirby is brilliant, Kirby is…
I went into my preview of Days Gone with a lot of questions. The handful of trailers PlayStation had released since its announcement gave me neither a feel for the game, or what it was setting out to do. The short time I spent with it answered quite a few of them, most positively. I…
I love getting a new Civilization expansion. Each one is a near-complete revision of the game as the community has come to know it, a wave of changes large and small that address mechanical shortfalls and community concerns, while adding complex new systems into its existing web of other complex systems. With Civilization VI: Gathering…
Devil May Cry 5 is a game that might never have existed without its vocal fanbase. While I enjoyed the DmC reboot of 2013, probably more so than most, I missed the original game series sorely. The announcement of the main franchise’s return had me drooling the minute I saw it, and after all this…
Before I start this review, I’d like to begin with a eulogy. The last time I reviewed a Sims game, I told the story of the vampire Solomon, and the object of his affection – a cantankerous and evasive scarecrow. I had intended to continue their ill-fated love story in this article, but unfortunately, during…
I’ll preface this review by saying that despite owning a Sega Mega Drive, I never played either of the original ToeJam & Earl games in their heyday. I also never played the series’ abortive third entry on the original Xbox either, though I understand that this is probably for the best. Well may you say,…
Ape Out is not a terribly long game, but it is a fun one. It’s an entertaining and creative riff on the format popularised by Hotline Miami, a barbarous explosion of violence that belies its more rhythm-based gameplay. You play an angry, caged gorilla ready to throw off the shackles of oppression and embark on…
As a major racing fan, it’s no secret that developer Codemasters is quickly becoming the king of racing games, nearly perfecting the Formula 1 racing series. Dirt Rally 2.0 is absolutely no exception, proving to be not only one of the best rally games from Codemasters, but one of the best rally games of all…
Claiming Final Fantasy IX is your favourite of the PSOne era FF titles is a bit like saying Ringo is your favourite Beatle — most people think you’re a wanker and that there are far better musicians in the group. But what Ringo fans know is that he’s often unfairly overlooked. Sure, he’s responsible for…
Those (everyone) who saw it coming when Game Freak announced that they would be working on a set of mainline Pokemon titles for Nintendo Switch have finally got the revelation that they’ve been waiting for. We all clamored over each other for the fairly recent Pokemon Let’s Go titles, and now it seems that we’ve…
I have started and deleted this review three times in the week and a bit since our review codes arrived. It’s been a long time since I’ve found myself so conflicted about a game I’m reviewing, but Anthem has had me doubling back a lot, second guessing myself. The nutshell version is that I like…
Observer walks a line between cyberpunk, noir and psychological horror that displays a deep love of all three genres, drawing its most obvious inspirations from films like Alphaville, Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner. The story follows cyborg detective (or Observer) Daniel Lazarski, played by Blade Runner’s Rutger Hauer. Daniel Lazarski is your quintessential hard-boiled detective; as analytical…
It’s hard to believe this is the second Tetris review I’ve written in three months. Even harder to believe, the franchise’s raw adaptability. Like the patterns its falling blocks create, Tetris seems able to change its shape at will, wholly altering the core experience with the addition of a single extra mechanic. Tetris Effect leveraged…
Most of us went through a Shonen Jump phase at one point or another in our lives, whether it was inspired by Naruto, Goku, Ichigo or any of the other dozens of characters that have shined in the magazine over the years. Jump Force brings their worlds back to life, leveraging the nostalgia and dedication…
I think we all knew, deep down, that Crackdown 3 was never going to be anything special. Years of delays don’t seem to have given developer Sumo Digital the space they needed to build on even the original game’s most basic concepts. It seems content to replicate the parts of the original that worked best…
Crackdown 3 is a game about an agency of highly trained, superpowered cops taking back the city of New Providence from the claws of an evil corporate empire called Terranova. Each sector of the city is overseen by a different brutal crimelord under Terranova’s control. The game’s main campaign has the player baiting these supervillains…
Aragami: Shadow Edition is a rather clever blend of modern stealth elements and old school action-adventure. Its most obvious mechanical influence seems to be Tenchu: Stealth Assassins with a little of Splinter Cell‘s shadow cover thrown in for good measure. It adopts an animated look reminiscent of Okami. Indeed, like Okami, Aragami is steeped in…
