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0 CommentsWar, identity and the swanky '70s in Sunset
By Danielle Riendeau and Charlie Hall on May 22, 2015 05.22.15
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Tale of Tales' latest game, Sunset, is about a lot of lofty things. It takes on race, class, gender and war — all from the confines of a single, swanky '70s apartment. Join Charlie Hall and me as we explore the inner workings of Sunset and find a simple game that tackles a lot of complicated issues.
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9 CommentsWhy Destiny's Trials of Osiris is the game's most exciting mode yet
By Griffin McElroy on May 22, 2015 05.22.15
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Destiny's new House of Wolves expansion has a ton of new cooperative content in the form of story missions and the Prison of Elders arena, but its highlight might be the new weekly Trials of Osiris PvP event. It throws two teams of three against each other in a fast-paced, strategic survival match, offering huge rewards to the victor — but losing three games ends your run, and cuts off higher tiers of rewards. It's genuinely exciting, even if you're not that great at PvP, which is good, because we definitely aren't.
Check out the Overview video posted above to see me and Samit, the King of the Battlefield, take on the Trials of Osiris, and try not to focus too much on the parts where we embarrass ourselves. For more on Destiny's House...
Watch Deus Ex meet Thief in the cool, minimalist Neon Struct
By Philip Kollar and Arthur Gies on May 21, 2015 05.21.15
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If you like your stealth games extra stealthy or with a heavy helping of cyberpunk, Neon Struct: Die Augen der Weldt is the game for you.
Join us in the lengthy overview video above as we take a look at this game's stunning minimalist art style and tense gameplay where a single mistake can equal failure.
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37 CommentsHow Destiny's House of Wolves expansion gets right what the last DLC got wrong
By Griffin McElroy and Justin McElroy on May 20, 2015 05.20.15
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Destiny's first expansion, The Dark Below, wasn't very good. Other than the few exciting moments that came in the raid it added, it wasn't especially content-rich, and actually introduced mechanics that punished its longtime players. Fortunately, House of Wolves, the game's second expansion, gets a lot of stuff right that The Dark Below got wrong. There are some great set pieces and battles, an engaging arena mode and a new upgrade system that lets players choose how they want to progress, rather than chaining them to a harrowing slog.
Check out the Overview above to see me and Justin show off some of our highlights for what we've played so far. Also, prepare to receive the V-Blaster, which is now inarguably the best gun in Destiny,...
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15 CommentsOverview: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
By Arthur Gies on May 16, 2015 05.16.15
The Witcher 3 is big. Very, very big. So Phil and Arthur start small. Kind of. By hunting a griffin. But first, they walk through the investigation needed to kill a monster in The Witcher 3's big open world.
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7 CommentsDriving go-karts and three-wheeled sports cars in Project CARS
By Nick Robinson and Philip Kollar on May 16, 2015 05.16.15
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After spending quite a while in various states of pre-release availability, the final version of Project CARS sees its official release this month, with both console versions arriving in North America this week. Above, watch us take a look at three different races and car types in the PlayStation 4 version, including one very successful attempt at demolishing a Pagani Huayru with nothing but our awful driving skills.
Project CARS is out now on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with Wii U and SteamOS versions slated for release later this year.
How Invisible, Inc. takes the annoying guesswork out of the stealth genre
By Griffin McElroy on May 15, 2015 05.15.15
Invisible, Inc., Klei Entertainment's turn-based stealth title, which officially launched on Steam this week following an Early Access period, has a lot of great ideas about the genre. One big annoyance it sidesteps is any confusion about whether or not patrolling guards can see you or not — its turn-based system ensures that you always know when your spies are hidden, where the hired help is patrolling and what they can see. As long as that latter category doesn't include your team, you're golden.
Check out the Overview above for a quick rundown on how Invisible, Inc.'s take on sneaky dealings works. It's available now on Steam and GoG.
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3 CommentsCheck out TowerFall: Dark World's crystal prison stunts and remote mine mishaps
By Griffin McElroy on May 13, 2015 05.13.15
TowerFall: Dark World, the expansion to my favorite local multiplayer game ever, has more than enough content to keep me playing TowerFall for a good, long time. However, it's going to take me a while to wrap my mind around some of its new mechanics — like the Trigger Arrow, which you can manually detonate after firing, something I almost always end up doing inches from my own face. Or the Prism Arrow, which you don't want to catch, a concept that goes against all of my deeply ingrained TowerFall instincts.
Check out the video above for a rundown on what the expansion, which is out now on Steam and PlayStation 4, brings to the table.
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11 CommentsSurviving the goat-zombie apocalypse in the completely bizarre GoatZ
By Griffin McElroy on May 07, 2015 05.07.15
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GoatZ is an expansion to Goat Simulator, which probably tells you everything you need to know about the tone and themes of GoatZ. Imagine, if you will, the impossible physics and goat-based stunts of the vanilla product, but with actual survival mechanics, a crafting system and hordes of the undead to fight with. Also, you're technically a zombie, too? We guess zombies hate goats, undead or otherwise? We're still figuring it all out.
Check out the Overview video above to see Justin and I try to survive the horrors of the GoatZ zombie apocalypse, which, technically, we also caused. Really, though, throwing blame around isn't going to help anybody.
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11 CommentsWolfenstein: The Old Blood might be the closest thing to Riddick in years
By Nick Robinson on May 07, 2015 05.07.15
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This week, MachineGames released Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a standalone expansion and prequel to 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order that sees Blazkowicz storming the titural Castle Wolfenstein itself. We sat down to check out the familiar combat, the morsels of story, and the first hour's uncanny resemblance to The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay — a game many of Wolfenstein's devs helped create.
For more on Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, check out Justin's full review of the game to see what he thought.
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4 CommentsBad name, good game: let's look at evil overlord simulator Dungeons 2
By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on May 06, 2015 05.06.15
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What's in a name? Well, when it's a name like Dungeons 2 ... not very much. You may be tempted to ignore this, assuming it's a generic fantasy game, but you shouldn't make that mistake!
Instead, watch our video to see for yourself how Dungeons 2 turns fantasy tropes on their head by letting you take control of a merciless evil overlord. The result is a blend of simulation and real-time strategy that's not nearly as forgettable as its name implies.
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1 CommentFix bayonets: We go over the top in Verdun
By Charlie Hall on May 05, 2015 05.05.15
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This year marks the 100th anniversary of World War I's most horrifying siege, the nearly 10 month-long Battle of Verdun. Begun in February of 1915, it turned the rolling hills of France into a hellish moonscape. Then it filled it with poison gas, and marched millions over it and toward their death.
Many media outlets have taken the opportunity to launch WWI-themed experiences these past few years, from the BBC to Ubisoft and even podcasters. Add to their ranks the team behind the squad-based multiplayer shooter called Verdun. Now out of Steam's Early Access, the game is unlike any FPS we've played before.
Danielle Riendeau joins Charlie Hall for a trip over the top, into a wall of steel in Verdun.
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1 CommentGay, straight, everything is great in Kitty Powers Matchmaker
By Danielle Riendeau and Colin Campbell on May 01, 2015 05.01.15
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Kitty Powers is a famous, fabulous drag queen, and her game, Kitty Powers Matchmaker, is an appropriately juicy rainbow-powered dating sim. Watch as Colin and I try making matches and helping couples get through their difficult first dates.
Hearthstone's greatest challenge ever in the last week of Blackrock Mountain
By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on May 01, 2015 05.01.15
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Hoo boy, the team at Blizzard really saved the best (and hardest) of the latest Hearthstone add-on for the final week.
After last week's challenges, we jump into the final week of Blackrock Mountain ready for anything. And we proceed to get our asses kicked.
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12 CommentsPolygon plays D&D;, with special guest star Crag T'Nelson
By Charlie Hall on May 01, 2015 05.01.15
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Fantasy Grounds is a software platform that lets you play tabletop role-playing games with your friends through Steam. They recently added officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition content, which contains all of the information found in the core books. Earlier this week we took an hour out of our day and rolled for initiative.
This very special Overview stars Susana Polo as Melian Sparklefists, Nick Robinson as Yugi, Griffin McElroy as Crag T'Nelson and Charlie Hall as The Dungeon Master.
For more on Fantasy Grounds, you can read our interview with the developer and Wizards of the Coast here. There's more than one way to play D&D; online, and we've got a collection excellent alternatives right here.
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6 CommentsBrawl is Bomberman with a touch of Twisted Metal
By Danielle Riendeau and Nick Robinson on Apr 30, 2015 04.30.15
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Brawl is a multiplayer party game designed to scratch every Bomberman itch you've ever had, and a revamp of last year's Basement Crawl. Its dark '90s aesthetic may not be to everyone's tastes, but watch as Nick and I explore why that core gameplay loop holds up.
