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Battlefield V is the best Battlefield campaign in years, and Tirailleur proves it
"I know what we did. And at what cost."
9411 months ago
Feature: Netherwhelmed
Mortal Kombat’s fighters are growing up, even as time collapses around them
In the second chapter of Mortal Kombat 11, it's reasonable to believe the world is going to end. Beloved characters have died. Long-slain demigods are rising from their graves. The fabric of time itself is breaking down, and the greatest problem faced by Johnny Cage in this moment is that his unrepentant asshole of a younger self won't take his feet off the table. It’s…
1 year ago
Feature: Gimme a high five
It is terrifying to be an independent developer right now. Before, small teams might compare themselves to a ‘soulless’ billion dollar industry built on games where Very Large Men shoot other Very Large Men (regardless of the merit of that claim). Now, those same big studios are bringing their absurd levels of manpower and polish to titles that are more empathetic and experimental than ever…
Feature: "I know what we did. And at what cost."
Battlefield V is the best Battlefield campaign in years, and Tirailleur proves it
This article contains some spoilers for the Battlefield V campaign story Tirailleur. It’s a shame that the opening of Battlefield V is a bit of a po-faced mess, because it provides a wildly inaccurate idea of what you can expect from its singleplayer portion. The Battlefield V vignette campaigns are, together, one of the best FPS campaigns in years. One of its tales, about colonised…
Feature: That'll be the Deimos
Contains some spoilers. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a proper action-RPG, complete with romance opportunities, conversation trees, branching storylines, and bales of soft material to leap into from improbable heights. While well-written and expansive, much of the story’s appeal can be laid at the feet of its charismatic leads. Greek actors Michael Antonakos and Melissanthi Mahut provide the voices and performance capture for Alexios and Kassandra,…
Feature: Having your cake of ethically aware nuance and eating it too
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey presents a ‘softer’ version of slavery
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey attempts to address the historical nuance of a slave’s status through a series of quests. Its presentations are universally sympathetic. In some cases, they’re downright positive. Scheming cultists who mistreat or acquire slaves are exceptions, not the standard. It’s true that slavery in ancient Greece often operated differently than similar systems in the American South. Unfortunately, since Odyssey is a game about…
Feature: Sibling similarities
The subtle differences between Kassandra and Alexios in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
The argument raged for millennia. Titans clashed on an appropriately dramatic field, with internet armies raging between their massive feet. “Will you choose to play as Alexios or Kassandra?” my local grocer cried, eyes wild with suspicion. "They’re both the same!" screamed a man set aflame. “Yeah, I’m picking Kassandra,” said literally everyone else. However, after playing through the three-hour opening of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey…
Feature: Once more, for those at the Bayek
Don’t forget about Bayek when you’re kissing Kassandra’s feet
There are a lot of dads in video games, and their number only grows. A rising tide of stubbled, emotionally-reserved dadflesh, heralding a new age of "serious storytelling" in games. Assassin’s Creed Origins stands out from this paternal wave by showcasing a different kind of videogame dad. Egyptian proto-sheriff Bayek, who displays as much tenderness as he does the ability to stab things really, really…
2 years ago
Feature: Radically normal
The Yakuza series is known for all things bizarre and unapologetically weird. Quests in Yakuza 0 range from training a timid dominatrix to let out her inner S&M Queen in front of a group of children, to helping a woman solve a crossword puzzle so she can find a proposal hidden inside by her boyfriend. However, alongside a sense of the strange and unexpected, there…
Feature: BA! RA! NOR!
Warad, a child from the southern lands of Middle-Earth, is taken from his family and sent north as a hostage of peace. Adopted by one of the principal families of the country, he takes on a new name — Baranor — and rises through the ranks of the Gondorian army to become second-in-command of one of its principal fortresses. One of the few men capable…
Feature: A cold-hearted city builder
When I signed the law drafting children into my city’s workforce, I should have felt resistance. Some sense of remorse, or an impulse to explore other options—anything but this. Instead, I was simply surprised at just how many kids lived here. Then I sent them to the coal mines.
