Tag: News
Instead of looking up the definition of “joy” in the dictionary, you can just play Astro Bot. One of our best games of 2024, Astro Bot is an ingeniously innovative take on platformers – filled with creative levels, wild power-ups, and big set pieces.But the game is built upon another central pillar: nostalgia. It’s a grand celebration of PlayStation’s history and all the games and characters that have made up those decades. While those little nods may provide instant delight, it’s something holding Astro Bot, and developer Team Asobi, from reaching the true heights they can. The little platformer has proven Astro Bot has a bright future, and he doesn’t need to be chained down by the past of PlayStation.Taking off Launch party Astro Bot review: “Soars above and beyond to serve up a near-perfect platformer”Saying Astro Bot is bound to PlayStation’s past has a double meaning – both on an obvious superficial level and on a deeper, more structural one. Astro Bot, right now, simply doesn’t exist without the PlayStation, the brand. The bot’s entire world is designed after the iconic four symbols (X,O, Square, and Triangle), the story has y…
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There’s a whole host of upcoming video game movies on the way, adapting everything from classics to recent hits. Among the line-up, there are some horror outings from the likes of Until Dawn and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Then we also have new movies such as The Sims and Street Fighter to add to our calendar as well.Too often, video game movies get a bad rap. However, it looks like Hollywood has finally seen the light and we are getting more adaptations than ever before now. Most recently, we had Sonic 3 prove yet again that video game films are better than ever (read our Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review for more details on that). So yeah, adaptations are bringing in audiences and the big bucks, so as you can imagine 2025 and 2026 are already stacked with flicks and there is so much more to look forward to as we await more release windows for confirmed films as well.Alongside some long-awaited sequels like The Super Mario Bros Movie 2, there are dozens of video game movies that have been in various stages of production over the past few years, such as Ghost of Tsushima and the Minecraft movie. There’s a lot to keep track of, but we’ve ma…
Balatro is the viral indie poker roguelite that’s taken the world by storm, and also caused quite a few of us to lose our senses a little bit. Maybe none more so than Final Fantasy 16 star Ben Starr. Balatro has become an absolute sensation, causing our team members to definitely (not) play it during meetings and winning some Critics’ Choice awards, too.The voice of Clive has become somewhat of an industry darling in recent years, and most recently used his talents to play a live-action Jimbo, the funny and slightly disturbing jester that’s become the mascot for the game.Starr features in an advert that promos the new card themes in Balatro, allowing you to change the face cards in your deck to cards inspired by Don’t Starve, 1000xResist, Divinity Original Sin 2, Shovel Knight, Enter the Gungeon, Warframe, Potion Craft, and Cult of the Lamb. It’s already a little unhinged, showing him swiveling around in full harlequin makeup, laughing maniacally, and chomping down on some bananas. The outtakes are even more baffling.Behind the scenes insanity of #Balatro. pic.twitter.com/uLflxriXdMDecember 21, 2024″Behind the scenes insanity of Balatro,” Starr tweets alongside a video of hims…
What appears to be a knock-off version of the immensely popular Black Myth: Wukong has appeared on the Nintendo online store and is due to launch December 26.Wukong Sun: Black Legend, is a 2D platformer that strongly resembles Black Myth: Wukong, at least in terms of its story description and the art used to advertise the game.Wukong Sun: Black Legend is being developed and published by Global Game Studio. Its description on the Nintendo store reads: “Embark on an epic Journey to the West in Wukong Sun: Black Legend! Ssports bettingtep into the role of the immortal Wukong, the legendary Monkey King, as he battles through a chaotic world teeming with powerful monsters and untold dangers. Explore a story inspired by Chinese mythology, filled with action-packed battles, stunning environments, and legendary foes.”This obviously sounds incredibly similar to Black Myth: Wukong, but the story is a very popular one from Chinese literature. A criminally underrated game came out back in 2010 called Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, developed by Ninja Theory, and follows a man named Monkey as he gets his companion Tripitaka back to her home throu…
The best co-op games offer up all kinds of adventures you can experience with friends or family. At the very least, they’ll support two players and let you dive into a variety of differensports bettingt worlds and stories. No matter what kind of genre you enjoy, there are plenty of co-op games out there for you, from the best FPS games to games like Palworld.With some of the best PC games offering up multiplayer options to Nintendo classics that encourage teamwork with pals, we’ve brought together a selection of the best co-op games you can play right now across all platforms. From recent releases to long-standing favorites, there’s no shortage of options to try out and explore. And happily, there are plenty more yet to come, with new games for 2025 set to bring us more co-op goodness like Split Fiction.Read on below as we take you through our pick of the 25 best co-op games you can together right now.Recent updatesThis list of the best co op games was updated on December 23, 2024, ensuring that all the titles listed offer the best team player experiences on offer right now.25. Unboxing the Cryptic Killer Co-op style: OnlineP…
Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima took a momentary break from posting photos of Fragile actress Léa Seydoux on Twitter to instead post a photo of himself looking impossibly locked in while working on Death Stranding 2. “Building the game,” Kojima said on Twitter over a set of photos showing him staring at a blank desktop screen with an inscrutable look on his face and a mysterious pair of black sunglasses. He’s holding an Astro Bot PS5 controller sports betting– a gift, I think, based on the holiday card lying on the desk in front of him – up near his chin, hunching a little like a turtle. He rests his hands on the edges of the W-shaped controller, as if he’s an intelligent alien who beamed down to earth just to check out the PS5 Pro, but is too shy to do it in front of you. That’s where the sunglasses come in.In one of Kojima’s photos, there’s also a stack of unopened Lego sets and a giant, traffic cone yellow Lego bag looking slightly crinkled and neglected.”I see Kojima is a Lego fan, too!” one fan replies encouragingly. But Kojima is too focused on the purity of his male living space for…
Valve has revealed Steam’s most-played and best-selling games of the year, and when you narrow it down to new releases of 2024, Marvel Rivals is one of them despite just launching earlier this month.Steam’s ‘Best of 2024’ page breaks down the platform’s “top games measured by gross revenue,” and the winners aren’t entirely surprising. In the top-tier ‘Platinum’ group we have Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at number one, followed by Counter Strike 2, Dota 2, Palworld, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Helldivers 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and PUBG.Talking about games released in 2024 specifically, Marvel Rivals is in that same Platinum category in terms of most-played games. Ranked by gross revenue it doesn’t quite make the Platinum tier, but it is just below it in Gold alongside big-hitters like Hades 2, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Tekken 8.Of course, Marvel Rivals has the benefit of being based on one of the biggest IP of all time, but its success is still notable particularly in the wake of similarly budgeted live-service flops like Concord, xDefiant, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.We already knew Marvel Rivals had a suc…
I’ve not dipped my toe into the Persona games, but many of my friends and colleagues love them. According to Atlus developer Kazuhisa Wada, that’s a key and very intentional part of how the company makes the series.Wada recently spoke at the CEDEC+KYUSHU developer conference in Japan (reported by Game Makers with translation provided by Automaton) about how the company’s design philosophy has changed since making Persona 3 in 2006. Before Persona 3, Atlus’ values were coined as “Only One,” by Wada. It basically meant, “if they like it, they like it, if they don’t, they don’t.” Rather than making games with broad appeal that don’t do much of anything so as not to potentially put anyone off, the Persona series does what it does very well: stylish action, dungeon crawling, and deep relationship development. When I write it like that, I convince myself I should play.In some of the games even elements like time and the weather can affect fights and the story itself. It all sounds cool, and I appreciate it from afar, but for some reason they’ve just never clicked with me. Based on the company’s past values, that’s just fine. The games have done well by cultivating a dedi…
"The most visually impressive way to play games on PlayStation." That's how Sony is pitching the PlayStation 5 Pro, a mid-cycle upgrade that will cost a staggering $700 and as evidenced during a tonally odd technical presentation, will largely enable owners to gawp at upscaled versions of titles like The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon Forbidden West.It's been a few days since the console was unveiled by PlayStation lead architect Mark Cerny, who was given less than 10 minutes to convince consumers to part ways with an eye-watering wad of cash. After spending a good chunk of that time explaining why the base PlayStation 5 is still rather brilliant (see, there's no need to be jealous if you can't afford the upgrade), Cerny waxed lyrical about the Pro's prestige features.A turbocharged CPU with 45 percent faster rendering for FPS-drenched gameplay. Advanced ray tracing that apparently makes reflections and refractions look bloody marvelous. AI-driven upscaling that sharpens images by adding detail you wouldn't believe. Appealing? That depends on your disposition. Rampant technophiles who crave the best of the best won…