Science fiction themes

Ever since it was first announced, I’ve been completely entranced by El Paso, Elsewhere. Developed by Strange Scaffold, the indie shooter looks like the developers of Max Payne were asked to create a Constatine game, and then someone made a PS1 demake of the result. It’s a wild and weird action game that sees its trenchcoat-wearing hero gunning down monsters during slow-motion dives. It’s a premise that sells itself once you watch a trailer of it. Going into my first hands-on demo with it at this year’s Game…

The Nintendo Switch has one of the greatest first-party lineups of any Nintendo console. In addition to several outstanding original games, a lot of awesome Wii U games like Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, and Mario Kart 8 finally got all the love they deserved when they were ported to the Switch. Even some 3DS games like Miitopia have made their way to Nintendo Switch. Still, that isn’t all-encompassing, so when the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShops are discontinued on March 27, we will lose access to some…

Crash Team Rumble is a shining example of a game that you really need to play to understand. When it was first revealed at The Game Awards 2022, I was left entirely baffled by the Crash Bandicoot spinoff. A breakneck trailer teased a 4v4 action game that had classic Crash characters spinning into one another, breaking boxes, and platforming around a small map. I had no idea what it was and fans watching at home didn’t seem to either. But any disappointment I felt at the time entirely evaporated the moment I got…

VR, or Virtual Reality, is a technology designed to make you feel immersed in a virtual world. It’s a distinctly different feeling than playing a game or navigating a 3D environment on a static 2D monitor, giving a real feeling of presence in the virtual space. This is typically achieved with a VR headset that places one or two displays very close to your eyes, whilst tracking your position so that it can be translated into the virtual world. The technology has grown and improved in leaps and bounds over the past…

What I’ve always appreciated about the SteamWorld series is its unwillingness to settle. Rather than taking one successful idea and running it into the ground, almost every game runs in an entirely different direction. SteamWorld Dig is a modern twist on Dig Dug, SteamWorld Heist is a stylish turn-based strategy game, and SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech goes truly left field with a card-based mecha-fantasy RPG. Though what makes all these games work is that they’re all equally well-thought-out and fun, too.…

The release date for Crash Bandicoot’s competitive multiplayer game Crash Team Rumble has been revealed, and it is not that far away. The game will launch in just three months, on June 20, and a Closed Beta for it will be held in April. Video Games Chronicle confirmed this date and additional launch details following years of leaks surrounding the game and its official announcement at The Game Awards 2022. Crash Team Rumble is a 4v4 multiplayer game where players fight to get more Wumpa Fruit than their…

The eShops on the 3DS and Wii U will shut down on March 27, so players are splurging on great games that they want to pick up in the final days of each storefront’s life span. If you can’t drop any cash on games for these systems before then though, you’re probably wondering what’s available from them for free. For the most part, it’s demos, as the 3DS and Wii U weren’t really known for their free-to-play offerings. Even then, many of the available free-to-play games — or “free-to-start” titles as Nintendo called…

Sonic Frontiers will receive its first of three planned updates on Wednesday, March 22. The free DLC — dubbed Sights, Sound, and Speed — has a load of new features, including Photo Mode, Jukebox, and new challenge modes. Sega previously detailed its plans to support Sonic Frontiers in the long term last November, but it didn’t share a timeline for when the updates were coming. Now that first wave is finally here, giving the game it’s first significant update since it launched last year. Photo Mode can be…