Indiana Jones Looks Thrilling, Tactical Breach Wizards Is Brilliant, And More Of The Week’s Opinions
Image: Tom Francis, Raccoon Logic, Marvel, Screenshot: Bethesda / Kotaku, Warhorse Studios, Donât Nod Entertainment / Kotaku, Techland, Red Thread Games / Kotaku, Illustration: Lucasfilm
This week, Gamescom gave us fresh looks at Starfieldâs upcoming Shattered Space DLC as well as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Weâll tell you all about what we thought of those. We also have hands-on impressions for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, speak to the folks behind Dying Light: The Beast, get nostalgic with Donât Nodâs upcoming game Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and more.
Image: Tom Francis
Tactical Breach Wizards, the next game from Tom Francis (Gunpoint, Heat Signature), has everything you could want out of a game with such a name. There are 1) wizards, 2) tons of tactical breaching, 3) a huge conspiracy to unravel and 4) so many windows to throw people out of. What might not be apparent at first glance is just how deeply funny the game is (beyond just the inherent humor of defenestration) and what a biting satire it turns out to be. – Moises Taveras Read More
Screenshot: Bethesda / Kotaku
Shattered Space, the upcoming first major expansion to Starfield, feels like Bethesda returning to an old, comfy chair. Albeit a horror-driven, combat-intensive chair set in a half-destroyed capital city thatâs the victim of a tear in space-time. But rather than another galaxy-wide sprawling set of adventures like the base game, this is a tale told on one planet, a confined and controlled narrative that is far more reminiscent of the old Elder Scrolls approach. – John Walker Read More
Illustration: Lucasfilm
Thereâs a fairly good chance that you, like us, keep forgetting that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person game. Each time we see any footage, itâs a jarring moment to remember that this isnât a reskinned Tomb Raider or Uncharted, but instead puts us directly inside Dr. Jonesâ head. This is exacerbated by so much of the stuff weâve seen in trailers constantly jumping to cinematic third-person views, given how odd of an angle it is when trying to show off the game. But now weâve seen ten minutes of in-game footage, and itâs starting to make more sense. – John Walker Read More
Screenshot: Warhorse Studios
Thereâs a fine line between medieval gameplay thatâs historically accurate and medieval gameplay thatâs fun. The overall reception to Kingdom Come: Deliverance indicates Warhorse Studios struck that balance well in 2018, but as noted in Kotakuâs review, plenty could be improved. After playing (the recently delayed) Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 for roughly three hours, itâs clear the team is aware of the first gameâs misses, and its strengths, too. KCD2 is, on the surface, a classic video game sequelâbigger and better, with more to do. But Iâm surprised by just how âimmersive simâ it is, even if I get the sense Warhorse might shudder at that characterization. Though its introduction is slow and narrowly focused on familiarizing newcomers with the gameplay, what I play much later in the game feels like an exciting digital LARP session I canât wait to experiment in further. – Wesley LeBlanc Read More
Image: Raccoon Logic
Journey to the Savage Planet is a 2020 first-person Metroidvania that sold pretty well and was absolutely fantastic if you played it, but strangely thereâs a really high chance youâve never heard of it. Itâs a fate all too often reserved for bright, colorful, fun-first games that donât obey the industryâs furrowed brow of grimdark severity. Well, apart from the ones with PokĂ©mon in them. – John Walker Read More
Image: Marvel
Iâve enjoyed every game Iâve played in NetEaseâs Marvel Rivals. The comic book take on the hero shooter genre is a lot of fun, even if it takes some blatant inspiration from Overwatch. It feels less sanded down and polished than its obvious competitor, but that opens it up to chaos and fun plays that are no longer possible in Blizzardâs game. However, I do think the game will have to carve out its own space to get a leg up on the competition, and after taking the newly-announced Captain America and Winter Soldier for a spin, both are a lot of fun, but only further cement the notion thatMarvel Rivals is riding Overwatchâs coattails. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
Screenshot: Donât Nod Entertainment / Kotaku
Donât Nod, the studio behind the original Life is Strange and its (stellar) numbered sequel, has an earnest quality to its writing that still gets me, almost 10 years after Max Caulfield first strode down the halls of Blackwell Academy. So even when Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the next game from the studio set to launch next year, leans into some of the hokiest, most saccharine dialogue Iâve heard in a hot minute, that earnestness keeps me invested. I recently played about two hours of Lost Records, and though the build I got to mess around with was a little janky, especially as it oscillates between its â90s-era flashbacks and present-day framing device, Iâm already even more intrigued than I was when I talked to the developers at Donât Nod about the project earlier this year. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
Screenshot: Techland
How do you know when a DLC isnât a DLC any more? That was the question that faced Dying Light developers Techland as they worked on the next entry for the long-running zombie-battling parkour franchise. Intended to be the second major piece of DLC for 2022âs Dying Light 2, what has now been announced as standalone release Dying Light: The Beast made this transition through a process of disaster and inspiration. – John Walker Read More
Screenshot: Red Thread Games / Kotaku
In its first few hours, Red Thread Gamesâ Dustborn flaunts so many of the qualities I look for in a story-driven adventure game. Itâs full of relationship-building with complex characters, has stakes that are just high enough to draw me into the weight of each dialogue choice I make, and its supernatural elements donât feel so overbearing that they detract from the humanity at its center. Iâm hooked. I want to learn more about protagonist Pax and her group of nomadic, superpowered roadtrippers. But, my god, I havenât hit a momentum killer like Dustbornâs action combat in a game Iâm otherwise enthralled by in a hot minute. – Kenneth Shepard Read More