Reviews

XCOM: Enemy Within: The Kotaku Review

Few things fill me with dread like the first terror response mission in XCOM. Kidney stones, for sure. The DMV. But that terror mission—which costs you a nation on the spot if you flunk it—comes when your force is young and underpowered. I know I’m gonna lose someone. I’m probably gonna lose two someones. Not…

The Hori Gem Pad May Just Make You a Better Fighting Gamer

Hori as a company has been making video game controllers for years. These have ranged from joysticks and FPS controllers to a mouse for console gaming. Their newest controller, the Gem Pad, is specifically designed for those who think fighting games are best played with a pad, and not a stick. A little background before…

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: The Kotaku Review

What took so long? I’m not talking about a LEGO Marvel game. LEGO getting the Marvel license is a relatively new development, all things considered. They announced it in 2011, video game in 2013 — that’s fairly quick turnaround for a game as massive in scope as LEGO Marvel Super Heroes What I am talking…

Call of Duty: Ghosts: The Kotaku Review

Three men huddle around a campfire, eager to hear the story of an elite force of highly-feared soldiers. Ghosts, they’re called. Two of the men listening—the sons, Logan and Hesh Walker—are skeptical. Surely the tale-spinning father doesn’t expect them to believe such an outlandish story? They’re skeptical, but we know the story is true, because…

WWE 2K14: The Kotaku Review

Twenty-five years ago my best friend and I set up a wrestling ring in my basement—four barstools for the turnbuckles, some old mattresses for the canvas. The actual wrestling we did was hesitant, unplanned and uncompelling. But man, the stuff we did out of the ring makes me smile to this day. My facemask was…

Hunting Down The Fourth Season Of The Walking Dead Action Figures

With the fourth season of AMC’s hit television series underway and the promise of the second round of comic-based interactive adventure coming from Telltale, it’s the perfect time to peruse the painted plastic people (living and dead) of McFarlane Toys The Walking Dead series four TV figures. Now I am more of a comic book…

Battlefield 4: The Kotaku Review

Let’s just admit it. Battlefield 4 was never a game you were going to play for the single-player. And thank god for that, because in DICE’s latest entry in their fantastic, consistently polished military first-person shooter series, the campaign is useless and forgettable. There are these big set-piece moments—the Michael Bay explosions and extravagantly violent…

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag: The Kotaku Review

The loading screen is always the same in Assassin’s Creed. Your character stands, clad in the robes of his people, armed to the teeth and surrounded by empty space. A desaturated digital landscape fades into the distance and out of sight. You press the thumbstick forward, and he begins to jog. What’s left to do…

The Snacktaku Monster Cereal Review Spooktacular will continue on Monday. Due to an amazing amount of horrendous back pain that’s left me in not a very eating-things-and-talking-about-them mood, Yummy Mummy and Franken Berry will have to wait. In the meantime, enjoy Count Chocola, Boo Berry, Frute Brute, and this amazing GIF.

Batman: Arkham Origins: The Kotaku Review

Troy Baker’s Joker voice is one of the best things about Batman: Arkham Origins. But it’s also a disturbingly reverent impersonation of Mark Hamill’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Therein lies the conundrum of the latest video game featuring the Dark Knight. On multiple levels, this game is about finding one’s voice. Players…

Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate: The Kotaku Review

The worst thing Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate has going for it is its mouthful of a title. The second worst thing is its plot and setting, a less interesting retread of the first great Batman game, 2009’s Arkham Asylum But past those two flaws, we gamers are getting a gift with this game: a Metroid-style…

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies: The Kotaku Review

A shout. “Hold it!” The camera cuts between stunned faces as everyone waits, sweating, wondering what sort of interjection will shake things up next. This happens so often, you’d think they would be used to it by now. But no. Shock. Disbelief. Someone barges into the courtroom—someone new, someone unexpected. Maybe someone shouts a new…

Persona‘s Greatest Heroine Is Also One Of Persona‘s Coolest Models

Mitsuru Kirijo from Persona 3 is amazing. She’s Gekkoukan High School’s valedictorian, student council president, and the leader of its Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Such a complicated character, yet everything she is can be captured by a simple resin garage kit. That stoic expression — as if she’s almost bored with the idea of risking…

Steins;Gate Gets a Live-Action Play and It’s Terrific

Steins;Gate is one of the most popular visual novels in recent years. It spawned not only several other side-story games but also an anime (and sequel movie). But that’s not all. This past week saw the close of the Steins;Gate live-action play. And like the anime before it, it proved to be an excellent adaptation.…

Sonic: Lost World: The Kotaku Review x2

There are two new games called Sonic: Lost World coming this month. I’d like to refer them as “the good one” and “the bad one,” if you don’t mind. The good one is on the Nintendo 3DS and is co-developed, apparently, by Sonic Team and Dimps. It’s a mostly-3D, occasionally 2D Sonic game that slows…

Total War: Rome II: The Kotaku Review

**Updated with final verdict** Oh dear. I wanted to love this game. I really did. I am, as anyone on staff here will tell you, a tragically obsessive Total War fan. I’m also a history nut, who was looking forward to conquering the known world at the head of some thundering (and in this game’s…

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams: The Snacktaku Review

Jeni Britton Bauer gave up her art studies at Ohio State University to persue her passion for food. Now, as the owner of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, she makes frozen art for your mouth. Let’s taste what many consider the country’s best ice cream. Ice cream is a magical thing. For one, it’s the perfect…

Skylanders: Swap Force: The Kotaku Review

It’s taken 40 long years, but it’s finally happened. I’ve finally become an adult, and it’s all thanks to the latest Skylanders game. I just don’t understand the Swap Force The first Skylanders game gave us a batch of toys we could place on a portal to use as characters in a well-crafted action role-playing…

Pokémon X & Y: The Kotaku Review

It’s impossible to escape the influence of Charles Darwin: even if you’ve never paid attention in class, his theory of evolution has influenced everything from science to pop culture—including, yes, the highly popular Pokemon games. You could say evolution is the backbone of the series: from its inception back in 1998, the idea behind the…

The Greatest Sith Warrior In The Old Republic Is Even Scarier Up Close

Star Wars: The Old Republic couldn’t have Darth Vader, so it got Darth Malgus. Now that I’ve got him standing 20 inches high on my desk in the form of Sideshow Collectibles’ Darth Malgus Premium Format Figure, he might be my favorite Sith Lord ever. I mean, Darth Vader will always be an iconic figure…