Category: Video Games

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PC Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Forza Horizon 5” Review

 

We like our video games sequels like we like new albums by our favorite bands: we want some evolution, but not to the point where it seems unfamiliar. Which is going to be a problem for some fans of the Forza Horizon series of open world racing games, since Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC) doesn’t add much in the way of gameplay to distinguish it from previous installments. But for people just looking for an engaging racing game — i.e., me — Forza Horizon 5 provides the same level of racing excitement as, well, previous installments.

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Comics PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy” Video Game Review

 

It doesn’t matter what you put on a pizza; if the cheese, sauce, and crust aren’t good, the pizza won’t be good, no matter what you pile on top. The same is true for combative action games. If the combat is bad, the game is bad, no matter what other mechanics there might be. Which is the problem with Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC), a story-driven, sci-fi, third-person shooter whose problematic combat and other rather basic problems somewhat undermine an otherwise entertaining space adventure.

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Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Divine Wind” Author Troy Denning

 

For Halo fans, Halo Infinite‘s December 8 release date can’t come fast enough. But it might come a little quicker — or at least seem to — if you read Troy Denning’s new Halo novel, Halo: Divine Wind (paperback, Kindle, audiobook). In the following email interview about it, Denning discusses what inspired and influenced this sci-fi space opera spy thriller, including why he thinks it might not work as a Halo game.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Back 4 Blood” Single-Player Review

 

Like their previous games Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, and Evolve, Turtle Rock Studios’ Back 4 Blood (Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC) is a first-person shooter that’s meant to be played co-op. But unlike those games, Blood is also clearly made for people who’d like to play solo. Not to the same point a Call Of Duty sequel or Halogame, where there’s a dedicated story-driven campaign, but certainly enough that you can still have a good time even if you don’t play well with others.

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PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games

“Subdivision Infinity DX” for PlayStation 5 Review

 

This is going to sound like an odd thing to say about a game that only costs $15 to begin with, but you might want to wait for a sale before picking up the space dogfighting game Subdivision Infinity DX, which has just come to PlayStation 5 after being available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch for years. Which is not to say it’s bad — it’s not — more that it’s a little thin.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games

“Deathloop” Review

 

In theory, it sounds like a great idea: “James Bond meets Edge Of Tomorrow.” But in practice, the deeply flawed time looping sci-fi first-person shooter Deathloop (PlayStation 5, PC) is just okay.

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Reviews Switch Video Games

“No More Heroes 3” Review

 

If South Park, Rick & Morty, and Saints Row IV have shown us anything, it’s that you can smart and stupid at the same time, even if the stupid stuff is immature or scatological, so long as it’s ultimately fun. It’s something I thought about while playing the third-person hack & slash action game No More Heroes 3 (Switch), which would be idiotic and immature, and also kind of annoying in how flawed it can be, if it wasn’t so much silly fun.

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Books Video Games

Exclusive Interview: “The Ultimate History Of Video Games, Vol. 2” Writer Steven L. Kent

 

Twenty years after writing The Ultimate History Of Video Games, video game journalist Steven L. Kent has finally released a sequel: The Ultimate History Of Video Games, Vol. 2: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, And The Billion-Dollar Battle To Shape Modern Gaming (paperback, Kindle). Though as he reveals in the following email interview about it, this second installment — like many video game sequels — not only offers something new, but it fixes some of the bugs from the first one.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Quake (2021 Enhanced Re-Release Version)” Review

 

I’ve been very open about the fact that if you remake a classic game, you need to update it to modern standards (my reviews of the Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 remakes speak for themselves). But I’ve apparently found the exception with the 2021 Enhanced Re-Release version of the sci-fi first-person shooter Quake (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC), which is mostly just a better looking version of an old game, but adds something new (maybe two) that makes it worth buying…especially at this game’s low price.

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