A few months ago, I wrote about how the apocalypse can be used in storytelling as a powerful means of conveying the “true” nature of a world by stripping away distractions—how, despite being a story about the end of the world, the destruction is ultimately not the focus, but a lens through which the truth may be glimpsed more clearly. This month I’ll apply the same model to two substantively similar apocalyptic tales, examining how they use the details of their respective apocalypses to illuminate important elements of the worlds they’re set in. Interestingly, while both stories have radically different setting and tone, they address many of

Set in an alternate 19th century, Herald: An Interactive Period Drama is an adventure game that is as much about uncovering the mysteries surrounding the game's characters as it is about discovering who you are. In Herald, you play as Devan Rensburg, a young man from the Protectorate who has taken work as a sailor aboard the titular ship, the HLV Herald. This Protectorate is a colonial superpower made up of multiple European nations that have branched out to conquer the rest of the world; at the start of the game, Devan is rescued from drowning, only to be taken prisoner somewhere in India. His captor, a mysterious Rani, interrogates him...

I spent a significant amount of time playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on a hammock today. You could have something like that experience before — it’s not like Mario Kart 7 wasn’t a thing that existed on the 3DS — but this isn’t a portable version of Mario Kart that’s struggling to look like the real thing. This is the flagship Mario Kart of 2017, with all the bells, whistles and curse words you would expect from the real thing. And you can play it wherever you want.

Dead Island 2 is still alive, despite no news emerging on the game in over a year. The last time Dead Island owner Deep Silver piped up about the franchise was in March 2016, when the company announced UK studio Sumo Digital was making the zombie-killing sequel. That announcement followed a period of development hell for Dead Island 2, which was once in the works at Spec Ops: The Line maker Yager before Deep Silver parted ways with the studio in the summer of 2015.

Okay, let's be cautious here but this Reddit post could be the first shot of Assassin's Creed, possibly called Origins. I'm in the process of trying to verify this, so treat it with extreme caution for the time being.  

As Nintendo continues to celebrate an incredibly strong launch for its hybrid Switch console, a looming question remains about whether major third-party publishers will lend significant software support to the system. In a recent earnings call, mega-publisher Electronic Arts suggested that strong hardware sales may be convincing the company to give the system a second look.

Mark Kearns, 38, a web designer and gamer from Chicago, stumbled upon a new video game called Star Citizen while online in late 2013. The game, which was in development, promised to revive the spaceflight simulation genre with a sprawling universe for players to explore. Intrigued, Mr. Kearns decided to pledge money to see the game come to fruition. In total, he donated $175, which gained him access to Star Citizen’s alpha version — a playable version of the game in its early stages — plus a virtual ship to use in the game.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V is the perfect game to relax with at the end of a long day. Unfortunately, the game falls flat in the department of theme. To be clear, I’m not talking about the way that Civ V sets things aesthetically- from my own western viewpoint, the game does a good job portraying the character of the world’s leaders and nations within its own scope; even the game’s music is different based on which civilization you pick. Where Civ V fails thematically is in its own gameplay.

May 17th saw a Nintendo Direct focused on ARMS broadcast to the gaming public, and with it the reveal of multiple new game modes, new weapons, and - perhaps most importantly - new characters to fight with. However, following the Direct, something happened that few predicted: the internet became awash with ARMS fan art! One new character, Twintelle, appears to be the target of a large proportion of this art, suggesting gamers are particularly fond of her glamorous design.

Fallout 4 is pretty fantastic, but it's also been out for well over a year and so there must be a reason if you haven't played it by now, right? If that reason happens to be price (which is still hanging in at the $60 mark), then get ready to rub your face in the post-nuclear future, because beginning tomorrow and until May 28, Bethesda is making the game free to play on Steam.

Monster Hunter XX is coming to Switch, Capcom has announced. More details about this version of the game will be shared at the Monster Hunter Championship 2017 on Saturday. This will include a Japanese release date for the game.

A new report from Financial Times claims that Nintendo is increasing production of Switch. The outlet’s report is based on information obtained from “people close to the company”. With demand not being met and consumers becoming frustrated, production is apparently seeing a boost.

It's been coming up to a decade since we last saw Advance Wars, the brilliantly characterful turn-based strategy game from Intelligent Systems, and it seems it might be a little while longer until there's a new one. We at least have some insight into why it's taking so long, though.

In a first for the Far Cry series, Far Cry 5 will feature a character creator and a campaign that can be completed entirely with a co-op partner. The first-person shooter takes place in Montana where The Project at Eden’s Gate is overwhelming fictional Hope County with its cult influences. In single player or two-player co-op, players will work with the Resistance in Hope County to stop The Father and The Heralds controlling the region with fear.

Bohemia Interactive today revealed that its new tactical first-person multiplayer shooter, Argo, will be launched on June 22nd for free to everyone on Steam. Argo features a variety of multiplayer game modes, a weapon and gear unlock system, leaderboards, a scenario editor, and more. The announcement of Argo’s release date is supported by new screenshots that can be viewed below.

During a speaking appearance today, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed a number of interesting topics, including microtransactions, virtual reality, and the Nintendo Switch. Starting with microtransactions, Zelnick said Take-Two is not trying to nickel-and-dime players, though he did acknowledge that the company has received some amount of criticism on the subject. Microtransactions are part of what Take-Two calls "recurrent consumer spending" and this is big business for the company, and highly lucrative given the margins on digital content.

The legacy continues with Mega Man Legacy Collection 2! Bringing together four of the Blue Bomber’s adventures in one package with loads of bonus content and challenges, this collection spans the evolution – and retro revolution – of the classic side-scrolling series starting August 8th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for $19.99 both digitally and at retail in North America! Read on for the trailer and more info below.

Their latest game, Old Man’s Journey, is much simpler in terms of scope and gameplay, but no less beautiful than their other works. In Old Man’s Journey, you play as the titular old man as he walks across an idyllic and hilly countryside, sometimes sitting down on benches or riding boats and falling asleep on a journey to… Somewhere. The journey begins after the bearded and balding protagonist receives a letter- there’s no word as to what’s in the letter, but it’s his primary motivation to keep walking. It’s a brief adventure puzzler with a poignant but ephemeral story.

In 2012, as work on Mass Effect 3 came to a close, a small group of top BioWare employees huddled to talk about the next entry in their epic sci-fi franchise. Their goal, they decided, was to make a game about exploration—one that would dig into the untapped potential of the first three games. Instead of visiting just a few planets, they said, what if you could explore hundreds?

Microïds is proud to present its line-up of upcoming releases! Traditionally a publisher of multi-platform games, Microïds is expanding its catalogue while confirming its support for French production and its desire to reach out to as many players as possible by developing most of its titles for the Nintendo Switch as well.