Buying drugs, selling drugs, becoming the number one low-life of all time... Does any of that sound appealing to you? Then this game is for you.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night originally planned for a roguelike mode that would feature procedurally generated dungeons during its Kickstarter phase back in mid-2015. The campaign broke the threshold to unlock that mode as a stretch goal. Ever since the game’s (eventual) launch, I’ve checked the Kickstarter page frequently in hopes of promised content, especially a roguelike mode.

Overall, the audience of this title seems a little narrow and the purpose a little inaccessible to new players.

While you can pay to skip grinding out a playset of all the skills, you risk nothing but your time by giving it a try. So really, I guess the more apt question is, why haven’t you played Phantom Dust?

While it may have been only a brief preview, Song of Horror shows genuine promise for what could be a very successful horror game.

Areia’s creators, Glip Studio, go beyond wearing their influences on their sleeves, but influence is far from a bad thing.

A solid and frantic PvP FPS for VR, Telefrag makes use of 3D space to create awesome arenas where death can come from any direction and your movement is only limited by your creativity.

Though it’s not intended to launch until this summer, OPNoobs was given the opportunity to preview Eko Software’s Warhammer: Chaosbane, a love letter to the Diablo franchise set in the grimdark atmosphere of Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy universe. Despite having only the bones to show us for now, Chaosbane is shaping up to be an enjoyable addition to both the Warhammer franchise and the dungeon-crawler genre.

Outward, developed by Nine Dots Studio and published by Deep Silver, is a survival open-world RPG. In it, you play not as a chosen one, but a random villager seeking to pay your way out from under a blood debt to their clan. Rather than “a life for a life” sort of blood debt, this one is a mere monetary fee passed down from generation to generation as fiduciary reparation for past wrongs. After your most recent merchant expedition fails, you’re left with a handful of days to make your next payment before your hometown riots against you.

Bug Academy has a playful charm that might initially seem childish, yet the wacky fun it delivers is undeniable.

Genesis Alpha One is downright fun. I have found myself in awe each time I’ve booted the title up and begun my journey through the beautiful and despair-filled Alpha Quadrant. Each planet, enemy, and ship module feels unique and intimidating. Towards the end of this review, I will talk about some improvements I would like to see in this title, but keep in mind this titleis in Early Access until early 2020.

The Long Dark inspires a different, more primal kind of fear than a lot of other survival entries. Bye-bye zombies, hello hypothermia.

Laser fire, boarding torpedos, and gigantic ships fill the void of space. Commanders shall organize, deploy fleets, and engage enemy armadas in epic real-time conflicts, all the while managing skills that each vessel can deploy against its enemies. Welcome to the 41st millenium in Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2.

Have you ever thought about acquiring a new profession or changing your hobby in a video game format? A wide variety of simulators are released every year. What are the best ones that are available for PC? Check these Top 3 Simulation Games on PC GamesMojo.com prepared for you.

From the developers of PayDay 2 comes the zombie-smashing, bandit-blasting, loot-scavenging, 4-player co-op title, OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead (OTWD). While this title is set to release on November 6th, the beta weekends have begun and testing is well underway for the pre-order masses. Bugs are plentiful and “clunkiness” is fairly rampant, but that’s what betas are for, right?

I've been playing this game for weeks and I still haven’t actually escaped. Every character I’ve started has died a miserable death. What’s been surprising to even me over that last twenty or so hours of gameplay is that I’m still eager to learn and improve. We’ll have to see if that continues being the case, but at this point it feels safe to say that Battlestate Games has struck a dangerously satisfying balance that might be as fun as it is intimidating.

Fast-paced, tactical, unforgiving and downright fun. Insurgency: Sandstorm is an upcoming first- person shooter being developed by New World Interactive, the company behind the original Insurgency, as well as Day of Infamy (both of which boast Very Positive overall review ratings on Steam). Sandstorm was announced back in February of 2016, but didn’t really gain traction or too much hype until about mid-2018. With the pre-order beta going live in early August, I leapt at the chance to try out a sequel to one of my favorite shooters. After about four days of gameplay, I can’t think of a more fun first-person shooter that has released this year.

Free from bugs, but otherwise not having much to recommend it, Insane Robots suffers from a series of poor design decisions that wind up making it exceedingly average.

In celebration of Dead by Daylight’s two-year anniversary and the feat of surpassing over 4 million copies sold across all platforms, Behaviour Interactive released the newest DLC — Curtain Call.

Dauntless wears its inspiration openly, showing similarities to Monster Hunter: World. This could be a draw or a drawback for fans of Monster Hunter, but overall seems to be catching on quickly for players who enjoy its simplistic combat system.

Kickstarter darling Agony is a fascinating blend of gripping storytelling and heart-stopping scares. It’s a first-person survival horror indie that, rather than shy away from the grotesque, embraces it as it paints a lurid picture of hell in all its gory glory. If the preview is any indication, Agony will be a benchmark title in how ambiguous plots and graphic scares can be successfully fused into one unforgettable experience.

Jengo, the point-and-click adventure currently being developed by Robot Wizard, is a rather fantastical beast. Its elaborate and irreverent art style immediately causes it to stand out in the crowded indie segment, as does its serious lack of seriousness. Co-developers Louis DuPisani and Graeme Selvan make it abundantly clear from the get-go, both in the demo and on their Fig campaign page, that Jengo is not your average point-and-click title. Not by a long shot. A very long shot.

Some video games can take the art of driving a little bit too seriously. If you’re tired of incredibly detailed simulations that spend more time calculating body roll and tire pressure than actually letting you have fun, help is at hand. Here are a few of the wildest, wackiest driving games ever developed:

Steam is a beautiful money-making machine for developers and a riveting entertainment hub for customers. However, this machine can also break down, as is the case when small indie devs place their hopes in the exposure they get during early access and the feedback they get from their player community. Commonly, they don’t have a large marketing budget. Thus, their buoyant spirit is sunk by pushy critics who expect finished games or by customers who look for honest reviews and get mostly trolling or fake testimonials.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (PoE2) is the highly-anticipated sequel to what’s considered by many to be one of the best RPGs of all time. An early April release date puts PoE2 three years after its predecessor, which definitely isn’t as long a wait as many notorious sequels (I’m looking at you, Half-Life 3. Lols just kidding; of course there will never be such a thing.), but the pressure is on and expectations are high.

As the Verdun World Cup looks to enter its penultimate qualifier on February 10th, let's take a look at the teams participating in the North American region, both veterans, and rookies alike.

Any PC gamer worth their salt will attest to the hours spent combing sale catalogs and online marketplaces, searching for their next upgrade or compiling the parts list for their next build. Lately, those searches have been coming up empty or wildly overpriced for one of the most crucial component of any build:

Aftercharge is a 3 versus 3 FPS made by Chainawesome Games and set for release in 2018. Screenshots I saw on Steam resembled a team-based shooter, and so my interest peaked.

With the Yeti Hunter arcade brawl that graced Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland event this year, conversation has once again piqued on the Blizzard forums: is this a subtle indication that the Overwatch dev team may be bringing a role queue to the game at large?

Scrolling through any gaming site these days turns up dozens of articles regarding VR. Companies keep popping up, trying to bring an immersive experience to the gamingvers. And while VR is probably the most highly anticipated gaming development in recent memory, it has actually tantalized gamers for decades…

WARTILE is a creation that is meant to bridge the gap between a real time strategy and a tabletop games, with elements of card play mixed in. Figurine characters that you control begin scenarios on dioramas that are intricately designed and is comprised of many hexagonal tiles that characters move throughout. Each scenario has multiple objectives that are as simple as killing every enemy, and as complex as lighting tents on fire to prevent reinforcements, while also preventing an alarm from being sound when killing sleeping soldiers.

Fighting games are hard to access. The moves, the combos, reading (guessing the opponent's next move) all raise somewhat of a barrier for newcomers. How many times was I pinned down in the corner by Dhalsim, at a loss for how to break out of the combos the other player was laying on me?

David Su’s video game musical features a unique playthrough with an award-winning soundtrack. Although short, the game provides a very relaxing experience, embarking on the archer Yi’s journey to save the village. After several playthroughs, I was craving to play more story games with a focus on original music. However, the market for these games is limited, leading me to believe that this could be an excellent platform for more original composers to feature their music in a unique, visual way.

The most intriguing game of PGW was Vanishing Stars Colony War, developed by Ninpo — mostly since we were surprised to hear that these two genres could be merged into one; the independent scene allows this type of originality. And to hear Cedric's passion for his tower defense MMO, we can’t wait to play it!

The massively successful Kickstarter campaign for Re:Legend, developed by indie studio Magnus Games, is a testament to the gaming community’s excitement over Magnus’s product: a co-op-capable mix of the most addictive elements from farming, monster raising, and dungeon crawling games. Rich, bright visuals alongside promises of a dynamic environment and mod support paint a bright future for the experience Magnus Games aims to deliver.

The development team of Goblinz Studio, founded by Johann Verbroucht, met with OPnoobs at the Paris Games Week and presented us with their new title, Robothorium: a futuristic, turn-based, tactical RPG where you run robots with several various skill trees — it’s up to the player to choose the one that suits him or her the best. Campaign mode and PvP are also present.

He captured our hearts and minds since he was 8-bits of pixel jumping across abstract floating platforms, smashing similarly-floating bricks with his gloved hands. Mario (Mario Mario, to be precise) is one of the most iconic figures of anything in the world – not just gaming.

Shining Pixel Studios released Oriental Empires on September 14. The action is set in ancient China, where warring factions fight for supremacy over what is to become a tremendous empire. While at first sight, Oriental Empires appears like other 4X games, with a campaign map, factions, and armies engaging in battle, there are key differences. The battles are not being decided on a tactical map anymore, but take place on the campaign map in real-time.

It’s hard to pinpoint the inception of the esports movement, but much speaks for placing it somewhere around the year 2000. Fueled by fears of the end of the world (brought about by the Y2K bug), public sentiment took a downturn. In Asia, specifically South Korea, a financial crisis had ravaged the economy and conjured a bleak outlook onto the future. Scores of yuppies were fired and turned into NEETs. Instead of browsing the internet and doing nothing at their office jobs, they now passed their time in cyber cafes, playing online multiplayer games.

Early access games give developers and players a unique relationship as a game goes through early-to-final development stages. As a player, you don’t have to be among the select few for the game’s alpha and beta phases; you can play immediately and experience a new perspective as the developers continue to build and improve the game based on your feedback.

The studio itself was established in 2012 by three people — two programmers and one artist — who had gained experience working in different studios before, but mostly with one studio (that is) in Quebec City, which is called Frima Studio. They decided to try it on their own and began working on a project which was later canceled because it had been too ambitious. Their first successful project was BeatBlasters III which is a game they released on PC. It’s a rhythm game with platformer and puzzle elements — a unique take on those genres. It didn’t perform very well, like most first games of a studio. They didn't invest much in marketing.

Devil Daggers is created by Matt “m4ttbush” Bush, under the company Sorath. I’m greeted with screenshots that depict a hand engulfed in embers, firing countless daggers from its fingertips at hordes of lovecraftian enemies. The room is dark: there are no walls or ceilings, only a dark void. The faint illumination from the main character reveals ancient stone floors beneath. The entire color scheme seems to stick with three, maybe four colors at once — all dusty reds or luminescent yellows. They are hugging vertices that I have not seen since Quake, and they look brilliant combined.

Lust For Darkness, a first-person psychological thriller, combines a duo that few would have ever thought to merge, and even fewer would ever want to see: Cthulu-like horrors and limitless sexual bacchanalia. Developers at Lunar Cult Studios staged an immensely successful Kickstarter, amassing over 500% of their original goal for their game centered around “erotic and occult themes.” Taking clear inspirations from Amnesia: The Dark Descent and amateur pornography, the pre-release demo for Lust For Darkness is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a video game.

An atmospheric adventure called Growbot takes shape under the watchful eye of Lisa at Wabisabi Games. Classic point-and-click gameplay twines around puzzles like a clever vine. It’s all part of Lisa’s vision of integrating a diverse, dreamy score with biopunk illustrations and a picture book feel.

Who doesn’t love cats? (Rhetorical question, folks — I’m awfully allergic to the diminutive felines, myself.) But still, even in ancient Egyptian and Asian cultures, cats have always seemed to be… around. Enter one of the last survivors of the Greenlight program: Chronicles of NyaNya, a cRPG ]by  Ilona Myszkowska, Polish comic artist and creator of the very popular chatolandia.pl. [EN: I looked it up, and no, the “c” does not stand for “cat”]

Every gamer has her story of creation, his moment of revelation, the guidance of a universe-ordained path that lead to their own grand, epiphanous moment in which they became a gamer. Each one has their own unique testimony that lead to them pressing start for the first time. What is my story, I wonder?

My drug dealer, “Dub,” runs an independent cafe in the Dallas metroplex. Keep in mind, my drug is black pu-erh tea, so he's not actually as sketchy as I've made him sound. His shop's a quiet place, and even when it's busy, he gets a lot of down time. He walks around, chats a bit with everyone, and then settles down behind the counter, where he keeps his unoptimized, but still respectable, PC. He plays turn-based strategy — usually single player, usually cheap or free.

I interviewed Luca Dalcò from the small Italian indie studio LKA located in the picturesque landscape of Chianti, Italy. Luca Dalcò recently released The Town of Light (ToL). Particular about this title is its treatment of the subject of mental health. While it is an important issue here as well as across the big pond, it is a topic that, if it doesn’t receive a sexy packaging like the Joker in the Batman franchise, seldom is subject matter for video games, because of the stigma and taboo it still carries.

Prime Arena as it stands today is a fantastic taste of what a game it truly could be. It has stunning potential if it can fully deliver on the brilliant concept, but for now, it is falling short. That being said, it is only in alpha testing stages still, and the developers are very active in seeking out feedback from their community to better the game. In the period of time it has taken to write this review, strong changes have already been seen, improving the game drastically in real time. Prime Arena may only be in its early stages, but it is constantly evolving, and is more than worth keeping an eye on.

My father in law was visiting for the weekend. He came to see his daughter (my wife) and his granddaughter (my daughter). When the in-laws come to visit, it seems to me that we often experience an all-too-human desire to 'validate' or 'prove' ourselves to them, as if to reassure them that their kid picked the right mate.

 What I played, I enjoyed. However, Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates feels like it could use something more, as parts of the dialogue felt clunky; the musical and ambient sound overtly monotonous; the story intriguing, but not fully fleshed out. But, these are all minor musings. Ultimately, Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates completes exactly what it set out to: create an entertaining addition to the top-down RPG genre.

An event like no other has been gearing up in the ecosystem of New York’s conventions. We attentive observers of the indie game scene first took note of it through articles on OPN, Polygon, and TechRaptor — we who broke the news that Playcrafting was organizing New York’s first dedicated video game convention. After having interviewed Dan Butchko, the CEO of Playcrafting, in the week leading up to PLAY NYC, I was curious about how the event would turn out. Was the excitement justified, and especially: would it be a seminal event in a series of many to come, setting a movement into motion to grow the video game development scene in New York?

We play games for all kinds of reasons—primarily for that dizzying, juicy hit of dopamine. But, a surprising side effect of staring at boxes and hitting buttons is the cultivation of quick and efficient decision-making abilities, particularly for those players partial to rapid-fire and high-pressure genres, like RTS. Thus saith science.

I enjoy being a filthy casual, much to the chagrin of my online friends. Allow me to wax nostalgic for a mo, taking you back to the space year of 1989 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES.

Rise of Industry's polygonal trucks and farms draw onto your map with a cuteness that belies their capitalist designs. Towns that once boasted a single grocery and tailor develop greater appetites, and then consume the countryside. Toxic fumes from factories pollute the air next to water supplies and chicken farms, because it was efficient for you to build them that way. Health risks? What's that? You don't have to care about pollution yet in Rise of Industry, or competitors, or zeppelins — but that'll all change before you can say “Newarktown needs more hamburgers,” according to the development roadmap [2] provided by this fledgling title's mama bird, Dapper Penguin Studios.

Born in Portugal, but moving around a couple continents, before eventually growing up in France, Antoine Meurillon was a keen fan of playing on the SNES and Game Boy -- until he was about twelve years old. Then, he got a 486DX at home which came with Strike Commander, Doom, Magic Carpet, and Ecstatica. After finishing the first System Shock, he was left in awe of what he had just experienced. He claimed to have never stopped playing games since then.

I never played Destiny. While it seemed to check so many of the boxes I wanted in a game, unfortunately, it could only be played on a platform that I didn’t own. A Borderlands-style loot system merged with a Halo-inspired combat experience sounded like a winning combination and, in many ways, it was.

Enzo Scavone, senior journalist at OPNoobs, traveled to Mexico and met some of the leading figures of the wider professional videogame community in Mexico. Although his wallet was picked, his interest in the state of game development was also piqued, and he shares his thoughts here.

In Starsector, Fractal Softworks has created a solid title that stands out in what is becoming more and more a saturated genre. While longtime space-shooter fans will find much that rings familiar, Starsector’s unique and polished take on sci-fi space-shooter economics, combined with frantic battles, strong fleet command options, and an effective character progression, set this title apart.

Who's the hero in an MMORPG? How do you know when you accomplish a great feat? Can “winning” ever feel singular? When I raided with at least one crazy Canadian (you know who you are), a Discipline Priest who kept me alive over all the other DPSers (because dwarves gotta stick together), and a guildmaster who trolled us all by crafting arrows in the middle of boss fights, with this motley crew — like so many others — I “enjoyed” [1] experiences at once common to the player base, and unique to my team.

Despite a flourishing indie game development scene, New York does not have host a games convention. Many claim that the need is covered by PAX East, in Boston, or GDC, far away on the West Coast. Furthermore, the supposedly little interest that is suspected to exist locally would be covered by branches of New York ComicCon or the Tribeca Film Festival. The success of the video game components of the two events, however, shows that the interest is growing and might not be satisfied as it is.

OPN had an opportunity to speak with the developers at length about their continuing work with Slime-san. Their answers show inside-track glimpses of the challenges and expectations of indie studios who seek to maintain and expand a title after release.

“Jus’ watch me, you joyk,” New York might say. While the city doesn’t attract big name game studios yet, it has a growing and energetic indie game scene. The members of this scene are gaming devotees looking for communal support and wishing for New York to support small entrepreneurship and can-do attitudes. Programs to help start-ups exist, like NYU-Poly, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, and NYC Seed. However, the landscape lacks initiatives which support video game developers, specifically.

We all know Valve is trolling us about Half-Life 3 by now, and the common argument tells us that if they ever did release it, after all this time, it’d never live up to the hype. It’s just bad for business. But would we really want it, at this point, anyway?

Why am I like this? Why did I let a few frame drops in Overwatch annoy me to the point of spending hundreds of dollars on new PC components that will just inevitably annoy me in the exact same way a few years from now?

I was privileged to sit down with Sam and Scott. It was enthralling and informative to be let inside the OPUS world and the minds that have worked so hard in creating it. I look forward to the release of OPUS: Rocket of Whispers in the next few months. Until then, I shall be listening to some alluring musical compositions from SIGONO’s previous game, OPUS: The Day We Found Earth.

What you are experiencing, E.A., is gamers. Gamers who had to grow up telling people they hated games, because being the ‘gamer nerd’ was social suicide. Even the ‘comic book nerds’ could point and make fun of you… because games are for kids, after all, right?

Antihero is fairly well balanced and the mechanics are solid, but there just isn’t enough of it yet to make it stand out. It definitely has potential to entertain with its funny-yet-dark art and play styles, but so far it lacks any sort of story or variety. While I have high hopes for this title, we will just have to wait and see if it lives up to its potential.

If you thought Chivalry’s combat was too tedious or frustrating, Mirage is definitely worth keeping an eye on and checking out when it has an inevitable ‘free’ weekend on Steam. Torn Banner Studios has set the bar high for me, and for any fan of their previous release. Whether or not the new layer of complexity actually adds to the experience is yet to be seen, but after playing through the content currently available, I can say it’s a rewarding and admirable effort that deserves the attention and recognition it receives.

After tinyBuild’s CEO, Alex Nichiborchik, emailed OpNoobs a second round of controversial announcements to further defame G2A, I closed his email with a sour taste in my mouth. “Cheap,” I thought. Whatever that was felt like High School drama, in this case with Mr. Mario Mirek, a Senior Account Manager at G2A who, Alex states, at the GDC “came over to the Q&A line, and started shouting that he was the guy dealing with me calling them out last year - embarrassing himself in front of a room filled with industry professionals.”

It didn't have a reputation right away. In fact, some time would pass before its very name would suffice to derail Steam community threads. Dragon Age II was the new example in what not to do.

Our second installment rounds out the devs we visited, and the amazing work they showed us. While Fred, Shane, and I were grabbing some captive-market-ly priced food at PAX, we overheard a group of attendees, gamers, beside us in conversation remark that the “Indie (Mega) Booth is growing” every year, it seems. Kyle (LessPvtParts) and a leather-jacket clad man – known only as Montana – echoed this sentiment over a nice, sub-zero smoke break.

In the far future of the 41st millennium there is only war, but in the near future of April 27, 2017 there is Dawn of War 3. The beloved big, medium, and small scale strategies set in Games Workshop's setting comes back after several years of waiting. What does the third installment of Relic's franchise is going to bring us? Let's find out.

Traffickers of any product banned in broad daylight utilized chat rooms to connect with consumers, distribute goods, and transfer payment. Bookies ditched their telephones for email accounts and websites with automated betting. Particularly, producers and consumers of child exploitation material thrived; closet pedophiles made predators rich and swapped images anonymously to complete their explicit collections.

I still laugh when I hear someone complain that they have to wait for a game's auto-update to finish. I am just as guilty, but I also remember when getting the patch for your game required waiting till your magazine subscription came in the mail with a disc of updates, or bringing a zip drive up to the college computer lab and hoping you could find it on the internet.

My uncle used to call me Bumper. I have no idea why; quite possibly because of my unique ability to run into or trip over anything, at any time. This 'gift' earned me the nickname "Helen Keller" while I was in the Coast Guard. I don’t remember a lot about my uncle, and the only real memento I have from him is a card for my birthday – or Valentine’s Day, I can't recall – that he gave me when I was very young (less than 5).

A Filet De Boeuf Braise Prince Albert costs you about $60 to make, which is oddly the same amount that the fourth release in the Mass Effect franchise will run you. But the filet of beef has an incredible amount of thought, love, and passion; none of that was present in the making of Mass Effect: Andromeda. 2/10. You could waste $60 on one of the most reviled titles in recent history and log countless hours playing alone in the basement, or you could spend the same amount on the most fabulous dinner you’ve ever made, and more than likely get laid.

The PAX team should be commended for the exceptional management of the event itself. The "Red Shirts," or "Enforcers," that is, event staff, were generally very helpful and polite. A majority of the staff was local to either Boston or the state of Massachusetts, so their demeanor reflected very positively on the locale.

Hanging out at Pax East 2017, The OPN Team was blown away by the talent and creativity of the Cosplay gamers, so much that we decided to take their pictures left and right. Here are some of the most epic people we've met along the way.

Many games are based on real-life events, but to my recollection, I’ve never witnessed a real-life event based on a video game. That is, until the recent rivalry between entertainer Chris Brown and rapper Soulja Boy, which resulted in negotiations for a sanctioned boxing match between the two. It took 15 years, but the Def Jam fighting games have finally crossed over into reality with what could have been the story arch for the next entry in the series.

November 2nd, 1999, PC gamers around the world heard, and answered, the call of Asheron Realaidain. Asheron’s Call became one of the first significant MMO’s available, and with its extensive lore, evolving plot, and plethora of features, it came as no surprise. In Asheron’s Call, players and their actions felt as though they truly impacted the world of Auberean. In addition, Bael’Zharon, the Hopeslayer, stands firmly in my mind as one of the most imposing, powerful villains in all of video game history.

When both of you are geeks finding the right things may be a little bit hard, what with the steadily growing number of shops catering to all of the geeky needs, the ever-growing number of new fandoms, and the sheer number of cool and geeky things outside of pop culture.

Video games are made to entertain, to provide a challenge, or maybe to let the player escape the stress of real life for a while. This is why gamers buy games, for the most part. That’s why series like Fallout, Battlefield, and Civilization are so popular. We feel accomplished and thrilled when we rank-up or complete an objective. Game can also tell stories and let the player shape the worlds of those tales.

Overwatch, DOOM, and Dark Souls 3 are just a few of the notable games released last year that garnered a slew of praise and awards. While the aforementioned games were, and still are, worthy of your time, I feel 2016’s “best game” distinction was most earned by IO’s Hitman. I say this despite initially passing on the game. Its episodic nature and perceived lack of content raised some red flags for me. So what makes Hitman a game that compels me to write about its virtues despite having no IO-Interactive stock? Well, let’s take a look.

Because Telltale's Game Of Thrones title was released in 2014, it’s not necessarily on a lot of our radars anymore. Sure, Telltale’s signature episodic release style kept the game running for a little while, but two years is a lot of time in the gaming world, and the 2014 title already feels dated. Throw in the fact that HBO’s Game Of Thrones show has been moving on in the meantime, with people now buzzing about season seven rumors, and the first season of this game feels even more like a relic.

Agony has done a great job thus far of making a version of Hell that is complex, unsettling, or even outright disturbing. I dare to say that Agony isn’t a title most people will pick up for its intriguing plot, and it definitely delivers on what it promises thus far: Demons, Hell, gore, and a desperate fight for survival. I look forward to seeing what the creative minds at Madmind Studio accomplish before Agony releases in its final version.

Overwatch was by far one of the most significant releases for the year 2016. Like many Blizzard releases, it made waves within the gaming community. But, the formula that can be attributed to Overwatch’s success is by no means original. They simply built upon and created their own spin a genre that has been tried and true. Though, what many are speculating is if this will pull the trigger on the influx of “clones” as companies attempt to throw their hats in the ring, attempting to profit from the trend.

What if PC games were brought to life? What if your boss came into your office to task you with something but instead you could click “go here” and send him back to his own office? Or build a room around him and trap him without doors and windows like I know you did with the pizza deliver man in SIMS.

A stealth-based experience that is as humorous as it anchors itself on a critical observation of America's suburban life. It's a satirical commentary of daily living, exaggerated to highlight our oddity as average human beings, on top of creating, of course, playable mechanics. In short, an experience for people like you and me, one we can all relate to, whether we might be the shady type, the law-abiding citizen, or the simply nosy.

One of my main critiques, of every video game I’ve played since I started my ESO habit, is a lack of John Cleese. There’s also other, smaller things, like new difficulty variety, masks, possibly guns, and likely a new level. But really, the main crux of this update is the sorely needed addition of John Cleese.

So, you turned instead to the plight of the working man, taking the sweat and toil of labor on your broad, heroic shoulders. This is a poorly advised sleight-of-argumentative-hand. Think of the writers! Won’t someone, please? How could Fred Brizzi, Presidente (he’s Italian), nuke the hard work of his writers?

I woke up this morning with some hundreds of text messages, emails, and tweets about OPNOOBS, the biased website that changes review scores to please industry professionals. At the source of the attack, is YouTuber SidAlpha and his video OPNOOBS site guilty of Review Manipulation and betray their writers.

If you’re going to keep going with a franchise, if you’re going to be repetitive, do it well. And I know that old/new balance is tough, but I’ll tell you right now, more weight needs to be placed on the story.

You have to stop and eat eventually. Here's how to cook your own grub, without digging into precious game time any more than is absolutely necessary.

My personal experiences aside, everyone else will have that same reaction, getting into space that fateful first time. 

Ever since the first game was released in November of 2007, the series has not been shy to explore territory that wasn’t as popular in the gaming world. Suffice to say, Ubisoft is open to trying new things, and they give their writers full creative freedom over the characters. And thus, Jacob Frye, the first canon bisexual Assassin in the series.

Going to work is essential for collecting a paycheck (believe me, I checked). Through the extended use of the public transit system, I find myself people watching.

If what I played was an actual final build of DA and exactly what we’re to expect, I’d still play it. The problems I encountered were present, but by no means game breaking, just thoroughly annoying. But in the event that it is, just know that your best bet is to start with a warrior. You can hire other classes at taverns once you’re a higher level.

Chris Park from Archen Games took it upon himself to realize everyone's dreams of playing as one of the most widely known predators and created In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor. Set for release on July 5th, it was pushed back to the 8th then once more pushed to the 11th until finally set on release again on the 21st.

Yes, comedy is a matter of taste. Some find Goat Simulator charming and hilarious, and some just won’t get it. Mediocrity in all facets other than the gag itself can push some back while others won’t care...

The Summer Sale of 2014 introduced me to the PC gaming platform. It was an unorthodox way to get into the class. It wasn’t the capabilities of PC gaming that drew me in. It was the community. How a community came together for a common goal: games for everyone. A synchronized effort culminated into a fair outcome to those involved.

Mighty No. 9. A few years ago, just hearing the name would make Mega Man fanboys squeal with delight. Now it only reminds them of a failed attempt at reviving their beloved series. Perhaps the disappointment with Mighty No. 9 stems from high expectations held by 67,225 Kickstarter backers. You can’t blame them, but outright saying Mighty No. 9 is a horrible game may be an exaggeration. However, while I think the reviews for the game are harsh, the overall goal to create a spiritual successor to Mega Man failed.

Peanuts titles are very rare on any platform but have been around for a very long time.  The chosen handful that can be found primarily feature Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s dog, as its main protagonist.  More often than not, only Woodstock and Joe Cool accompany him on his gaming adventures.

Behaviour Interactive has overdone itself with giving us Dead by Daylight. Every time I play my heart pumps and I feel the thrill of being scared or frightened. Everyone should at the very least give it a try. You will be scared, frightened, thrilled, excited, and have other sudden emotional changes as you are hounded down by randoms serial killers online. Enjoy.

Attacking G2A is anti-populist, it’s an assault on the downward spiral that the company brilliantly managed to create against all odds, fighting quasi-monopolies by increasing competition among suppliers, which consequently and undeniably led to a decrease in the inflated cost of gaming. Let’s not forget, shall we, that it is thanks to resellers that indie devs can do what they love best: play games, and lots of them.

With the announcement of her game developer model, Barbie’s long list of careers continues to grow. Critics of the doll’s former career choices write nothing but praise for the new design, calling it an accurate representation. Personally, I don’t know why she has a Macbook instead of a PC, but I digress…

If you've ever been afraid of what goes bump in the night, Krillbrite Studio's Among the Sleep teaches you how to conquer that fear. The award-winning horror adventure game brings to life the journey of a toddler trying to turn their home back to normal.

My Steam library is pretty small. And when I say small, I’m talking about 30 to 40 games here. That’s not a number to brag about or anything; I have friends who are well into a hundred, maybe even more. With such a huge list of titles, there’s no way I or any of my friends can properly sit and invest several hours into each one. We might be able to sink in a few hours, but for some of us, there aren’t enough hours in the day or months in a year. Sometimes it’s easy to be more of a collector than an actual gamer as AAAs and indie titles collect digital dust on a shelf.

Warcraft is a venerable IP, and given the lack of competition, this is the best video game movie I've seen since Wreck it Ralph. Outside of the fantastically well used CGI, this is not a bit of cinema that will be winning any awards. It is the beginning of a franchise, and my determined optimism says that Blizzard and Legendary Pictures could get better at making cinema together. If not, they managed to pen a love letter to their fans that anyone with even an ounce of Warcraft nostalgia should examine – and it was very much appreciated.

Hang back, play the games you have, wait for people to push a new game to its limits and the publisher to issue patches. Wait until a few trusted friends are insisting that you personally need this game. Put it on your Wishlist, wait for Steam to have a sale, then buy it. There's nothing like making a purchase that you know will be good--it's like having a seat all warmed up for you. Comfy.

Nothing says retro gaming like Atari, and for the 1970s and 1980s players that were kids in this era, having access to a collection of games featuring Pong, Centipede, Warlords, Millipede, Asteroids, and Space Duel may be just the thing to have to get through a midlife crisis.

I remember once when I was little I thought I liked roller coasters. We were visiting family in Uruguay (I’m actually half-hispanic though I look and act completely White) and I wanted to ride a nearby roller coaster. I don’t have many specific memories of the incident, but what I do remember is a strong impression that has stayed with me to this day: I don’t find roller coasters too pleasant.

Payday 2 is the type of title that reeks of development for the sole purpose of securing a film adaptation.  It’s vulgar display of Hollywood talent and over the top trailers that leave actual play dynamics lacking in the imagination department.  Take all of that away and you are left with a title that couldn’t even hold its own during the peak of Windows 98.

I'll never forget taking eight hours just to get to Garr in Molten Core, only to wipe into oblivion. Or finally defeating nefarious in the depths of Blackwing Lair and having our names shouted in the streets of Stormwind. Those days were hard. It was a challenge to dress up in epics. It's just not that way anymore. Oh well, you can never go home again I guess. But since I can't, I'll enjoy spending my days battling across the mountains of Lornar's Pass and swimming the blue waters off the Bloodtide Coast.

The future of Virtual Reality is not set in stone. It may very well be the way all of us play video games ten years from now. Then again, it may just be a passing craze. However, if there is any future for VR, it will be on the PC.

Little Green Men Games is bringing a lot to the table: an unofficial but all-the-more meaningful partnership, between the community and a development studio, to work together and create what, we hope, will be a fantastic experience for all those involved.

If the intent of this release is to bring attention back to a game that has been out for years, it worked for me. I haven’t thought about Skyrim in a while and now I’m really looking forward to October. Maybe someday I’ll even go talk to the Greybeards and find out what is up with this dragonborn condition I have. I should probably get that looked at.

September 28, 2011, is a date that will forever live in the minds of all of us PC gamers as the day the greatest game of all time was released. Yes, you already know, I’m talking, OF COURSE, about Dat Boi (The Binding of Isaac)* and all of its subsequent updates/releases/updated releases (more precisely, The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth). Now, you might be thinking, “Don’t you mean Skyrim: The Elder Mods V?” And my answer is, no. No, I’m not.

When Afro-Samurai released on consoles, the PC platform was intentionally skipped. No big deal, as its functions and character movement is identical to the Samurai Champloo game that was released a console generation back a few years before. The game was just okay, but nothing to write home about. After all, if you have seen the films, you pretty much know the plot.

It takes a special game developer to create a title that has an awesome, curiosity peaked trailer only to turn back around and make any astute gamer hate the fact that the entire development team’s parents lacked the usage of birth control and therefore are partially responsible for the boondoggle of a disaster entitled Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders their offspring created.

Let's call a spade a spade on a few entry points. When it comes to the PC platform, there are not that many bowling entries that make the cut. Most of the Triple-A titles are on consoles; those that rarely do make it to Windows are severely lacking in graphics, sound, controller support, customization, and control scheme. For all intent and purpose, great bowling sagas that are common on consoles are virtually non-existent on the PC.

It was Wasteland 2 free weekend on Steam this weekend. I haven't played this since back in 1988, so I covered up all the windows in the house and dug in deep. Twelve hours later, as usual, I'm seeing all the ways I could have made things a little better if I had known a bit more before I started. Now armed with 12 hours worth of hard-earned lessons, I decided it was time for me to build a custom party. Sadly there is no non-cheaty way to respec your characters, so here's how to get a solid start, without ruining all the fun.

In puzzle RPGs like Gems of War (which I have spent countless hours playing), or Puzzle Quest (which I have yet to play, unfortunately), it may seem at first that some of the main keys to successes are luck (particularly since what falls after a match is made is random) and grinding to level up. But this is not entirely true; rather, I believe that there is much more than what meets the eye when it comes to games such as these. A strategy should be a key component to the player.

It’s not very often a title comes around the PC platform that reminds players of a time when great moto racing entries were exclusively for consoles with little hope that a port would ever see the light of day on Windows.

With a game that has pre-made characters with little to no progression in themselves or story, how could you call it your game? But the game where you grow and develop your character, making choices and actions that shape the game differently than others to make it unique. That is your world. That is your game. And such fusion with a game is the best experience a gamer can ask.

 You see, the answer to the question of whether consoles or PCs are better for gaming is really all about personal preference and choice. Depending on your personal gaming preference YOU and you alone determine what is the better gaming system. Yeah, neither me nor Mehmed can answer the question for you. You and you alone decide what the best system is for you and everyone else will do the same for themselves. Just remember, whether you pick PC or console, don't try to force your opinions on others.

Once upon a time, there was the greatest turn-based sim strategy entry that ever was released in the mobster genre.  Eidos, who were in their prime, was responsible for the beloved Gangster franchise that did justice to revenge driven mob bosses that had to rebuild their name and family domination.  Since then, no other development house has come close to replicating the sheer pleasure and enjoyment those entries brought to the PC platform.

After watching the Microsoft E3 press conference, I’m more impressed than I was last year. The new hardware is no surprise; indeed the arrival of the X-Box One S was a pleasant reminder of why I own an upgradeable gaming machine. What really piqued my interest is the amount of convergence in multiplayer between Windows and the Xbone. Forza Motorsport 6: Apex and Killer Instinct, both available for free from the Windows Store, feature online cross-play, and are great examples of how this can be done well. A new Gears of War title also promises some multiplatform multiplayer mayhem but I will be reserving judgment for after its release.

To me, music is... I can’t even explain it. I tried to come up with a great analogy for the first sentence, and there are literally no words. If you have some time, look up amazing, supernatural, and effin’ sweet in the thesaurus, and you’ll get an idea. True, the vast majority of the time that I’m driving, I listen to NPR. It really helps to keep a sharp mind when you work in the business world. You learn stuff, you find great conversation topics, and you don’t speed to NPR. See, when I put music on in the car, unless its smooth jazz, I get a lead foot. Music has the power to make you go faster… and faster is better, right? And who doesn’t want to be better?

How in the hell did a former console and arcade classic wind up being pimped up in its yesteryear glory with no upgrades other than the logo on the title screen?  Ask developer DotEmu, who apparently has a vendetta against players as seen by the release of Double Dragon Trilogy.

When I first entered the world of gamers at the ripe young age of 15, I didn’t really know what games were “good” or “bad”. One series, however, stood out to me throughout the community, and that was the Bioshock series.

While I have always been a gamer, what attracted me to PC gaming was the ability to modify the games you played. My first experience modding video games were with TES III Morrowind, and though my time was limited, I knew I had discovered something great. The ability to add, subtract or change content completely altered my perspective on how to play games.

The term “value” has become a staple when discussing video games. It pops up in almost every comment section and forum thread on the internet. It seems the only thing people are concerned with, these days, is how much value they are going to get out of their purchase. It’s the reason we always see questions about how big the game map is going to be for Fallout 4 or The Witcher 3 before launch. How many quests will there be? How many NPC’s and towns for us to interact? How many hours will the single player campaign last? Unfortunately, there are a lot of gamers who won’t be satisfied with their sixty dollar purchase unless the game can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay, even though historically speaking, games are cheaper than ever, and God forbid a developer to try to charge for a multiplayer-only experience.

Like every other shoebox developer locked and loaded with an assumed awesome company name, internet connection, a PayPal account, and access to the over glorified Unity engine and subsequent theme packs, Pixel Maverick attempts to cheaply woo players into accepting offerings that look like they are twenty-two years past its initial shelf life.

Sometimes a great brain teaser idea should stay an idea. On the other hand, this has given governments everywhere new mechanisms for solitary confinement torture of political prisoners. Mind Games is the type of entry that makes players wonder whether or not this poor attempt at a puzzle game was a covert front for a clandestine government program.

How can things get any better for Square Enix? The daunting remake of Final Fantasy VII into an episodic All My Children adventure has put them on every shit list imaginable. Rumors of a declawed Wolverine and a cavalcade of watered down X-Men appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3 is about as bottom as a trip to rehab with Dr. Drew.

Hate is a complicated term

As always, members of the media and the government are attacking the video game industry, despite not having a national tragedy to thrust the latest battle in the war on video games into the public spotlight.

As a passive, lifelong gamer, I'd never really asked myself that question. I played for enjoyment. I played for relaxation. I played for no real reason other than to finish to completion. The minute it stopped being fun, I'd put my controller down and walk away, only to be drawn back to it moments later, my hands itching to feel the smooth buttons and ergonomic handles at my fingertips.

Crowfall is a crowd-funded MMORPG currently being developed by Austin-based ArtCraft Entertainment, Inc. The self-styled “Throne War Simulator” aims to break the mold established by more traditional theme-park style MMOs like World of Warcraft. To get there, Crowfall promises to deliver a host of novel game mechanics that will make it “a very different flavor of MMO.”

Remember those old arcade games? Eat the dots. Shoot the centipede. Whatever the difficulty, they were straight forward. You had a goal and, when you achieved it, you celebrated. How many frat boys once crowded around their Ataris chugging beer after defeating “the other solid line” at Pong? But with the recent trend of in-game decisions, video games take the player’s experience to a whole new level. It’s not about beating the game anymore, it’s about how you do it. At least, that’s what people say. Frankly, I’m tired of it.

Why is this exactly? Are players just aquaphobic? No, that’d be ridiculous.

Let’s be clear here. Kalypso Media should be commended for creating a cast of non-stereotypical multicultural characters for a tactical strategy bank heist title that takes place in an era where such characters would be exploited. Keeping true with the period piece nuances from the funky music to fashion is also a nice articulate touch.

The Hotline Miami franchise is one for the ages.  At first, it’s a cheeky little fun bastard for all the wrong reasons; most of the allure is to satisfy a niche fantasy of playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in 8bit.  The music is very decadent of the era and isn’t grossly overproduced or annoying.  And that’s fine, considering it pretty much is a spiritual copy destined for pixelated greatness.

Deadpool just won’t die.  Sadly, it’s been on life support for so long players are accepting the loss of oxygen and lowering their standards to accept the coma like state this title puts them in.

Calvino Noir is a peculiar little bastard; at first glance it is nothing more than a downscaled rip of platform titles in the same genre. The trailer alone lets you know it prides itself as beautiful fandom threesome between L.A. Noire, The Saboteur, and Mark Of The Ninja; to its credit this is a point of bold curiosity that appears unabashed and unashamed about such influences.

South Park titles for the most part have a unique history; as a cult classic of sorts the only players that seek out such debauchery and toilet humor are fanboys and girls of the franchise. Due to this slanted and bias support of the show, game adaptations are grossly tolerated for being below spec.

PC gamers have seen the Doom series expand and evolve for over 20 years, with the original Doom being released on MS-DOS in 1993.

Remember when the Capcom brand used to actually mean something in this industry? These days Capcom comes off like a bad prescription drug commercial interrupting a game trailer. You’re suckered in with no way out to skip it; the crisis builds with only side effects to ease the pain experienced watching it unfold. In the end you’re left with a controller in your hands and mixed feelings about what the hell you just were forced to witness.

When Blizzard Entertainment announced that Project TITAN had been shut down, my disappointment went deep. Not because I might be stuck with World of Warcraft another decade, but more so because that studio known to define gaming trends had tossed the towel at their attempt to revolutionize an aging genre, instead seemingly reverting to a solution others have been excessively complimented on, the one that embraces walking the beaten path, the one that all too easily follows, in defining game dynamics and features, the dull philosophy of "let's add a fresh coat of paint to this relic called RPG."

It’s fair to say that one of the most appealing aspects of video games is having a choice. Unlike films or books, which have a linear progression, many successful video games give the player the option to take different pathways during the story, allowing players to play however they want, within limits of course. Other games have dialogue options, which don’t usually change the story’s progression, but do give you a sense of developing your character the way you want to. Unfortunately, most modern games do little to be innovative as far as players’ choices go, and this could not be clearer than in a game’s morality system.

I fully expect Valve to create more virtual reality support within their popular titles, much like making Team Fortress 2 compatible when the Oculus Rift came out, and the virtual reality Spectator Mode for Dota 2, teased recently with the Vive release.

Now more than ever, the world of Cinema and the world of video games are kindred spirits.

When PC gamers are asked what the 'classic' games on the platform are, there may be some mixed results, but standouts will occur. If you ask 100 people what their 5 classics are, it can be safely assumed that games like Half-Life, DOOM, and a few others will be in more than half. These games are the ones that innovated, connected with the audience, and are still relevant in some capacity to this day.

How in the hell do you take one of Sylvester Stallone’s most iconic works (before sequel bastardization) and turn it into a war epic that goes terribly wrong, then wait two complete years to let the shame die down and release a DLC as if it is an apology?

Esports has really taken off in the past decade.  Multiplayer games have evolved in such a way that it has revolutionized social interactions and experiences. Although I was not involved, Halo was the first time I witnessed an online community being formed. Sitting on the couch with a friend has become obsolete with the split screen format limiting each player’s FOV, especially if you’re playing on a smaller screen. Now, you can hop on your PC or Console and start playing enormous multiplayer games with people all around the world.

I know this question has been asked since the beginning of gaming. Console is better right? Well, it really depends on what you consider better and what you consider worse. Lets take a look at the pros and cons of both.

In a world where technology has become so commonplace that many of us are reachable 24/7 – assuming we bother to answer those texts, of course – could we be taking for granted the invaluable tool of online gaming as a long-distance social interaction? With countless apps available on our cellphones, the popularity of Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, not to mention the success of hundreds of Steam-based multiplayer games, it’s obvious that many of us are using these digital platforms as a means of interacting with friends and strangers alike.

One of my favorite possessions is a 1974 Jacobsen GT14 Hydro tractor. I don’t even need it with the amount of grass I have, but hey… it was free. Free, because it wouldn’t start, and the owner was tired of it collecting dust in his garage, and too lazy to fix it. $7 later and the electrical problem was resolved. This thing is a beast, essentially the Bentley of tractors back in its day. It sits outside all winter under the snow and ice, and on the first day of spring when I need to fire it up, I turn the key, and it just… starts. This is from “back in the day” when “people used to know how to build stuff.”

I think there is a fairly general consensus among gamers that the big budget games aren't living up to the expecations held over the years. Gaming isn't simply a hobby anymore; it's attained the status of art the same way novels and movies have. Games have the ability to place the player somplace artists dreamed of being able to do since the cave paintings first appeared on walls: allow the other person to experience what the creator wanted to have them experience.

There is no handbook on how to make the perfect game. It’s a fine-tuned art, with an insurmountable amount of risk, and often times, even after years of work, little reward. However...

Why do we spend our valuable time when corporate greed and socio-societal norms don't force us to? Why do burn countless hours staring at boxes?

Developers, starting with Four Door Lemon and Vision Games Publishing, need to be held at more accountability for teasing with false senses of playability security.  No one likes being left in a metaphorical epic failure paradox, with no choice but to uninstall the abysmal waste of space from their hard drives.  Ironically, they should be begrudgingly commended.  They promised 101 Ways To Die and lived up to the name and the experience, even if it went terribly wrong.

Hey Rockstar Games, where the hell is the overhyped, long fabled Bully 2 sequel?

So how in the hell did Hoyle Card Games get absolutely screwed up?

Go ahead and picture your average gamer. What do you see? What images first come to mind? A pimple-faced teenager holed up in his room playing World of Warcraft?

On April 7, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held its annual awards ceremony to honor the best in film, television, and video games.

We’ve all heard about various misuses of public and campaign funds from US political figures. Someone sending hush money to their mistress. Someone bribing an official to get law passed or to turn a blind eye. And then there are the little things: food, travel and booze. But what about video games?

I imagine it happening in a giant pristine mansion in Beverley Hills.

Interview with Luca Dalcò, Art and Technical Director and Screenwriter for Lka.it, a game development studio based in Florence, Italy, and maker of indie title, The Town of Light

Sandbox MMO and Space Ship Combat Game, EVE Online, experiences largest war to date. After successfully resisting a major coalition led invasion, the small band of pirate alliances known as Low-Sec Voltron showed the galaxy of New Eden that the seemingly invincible invading entity called The Imperium could actually be stopped, and with relative ease.

Good job, Varkian Empire.  Rome fell and now it’s your turn, my friend.

If Amazon is willing to shell out $970 million for Twitch.tv's online broadcasting empire , it is pretty safe to say that there is a booming market for live video gaming streams.

Growing up in the 90s, I never felt a real connection to the gaming industry or the gaming community as a whole.

Digital Homicide is a proud summa cum laude Common Core graduate.

Violence is visceral, satisfying, and it’s simply human/normal to take pleasure in exerting force over others. That is, it’s “normal” in the context of a simulation, where there are no long-lasting negative effects or guilt associated with it...

I used to troll people at school. Now I troll people at work. I troll my family at home. And you, who unwittingly made the egregious mistake of logging into my realm, I’ll troll you the hardest.

There are few companies in the world that have such a profound impact and reputation within their respective industries and Blizzard Entertainment.