Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
Hitman, Brussels, and Showing Restraint After a Tragedy
This morning, I couldn’t sleep. At about 3:30 or 4:00 AM I went online; the first reports of what had happened in Brussels were just coming in. I switched on BBC News and felt like it was 7/7/05 all over again. Commuters and travelers were targeted just going about their day, just as they had been nearly 11 years ago in the London attacks. Not much was known this morning, as it had pretty much just happened, and amidst the chaos, everyone was just trying to get their bearings and get to safety. About the only thing that was known was that it had to be terrorism. Coordinated explosions in crowded public places during peak travel times are not a coincidence. It was terrorism, and someone had intended to hurt and kill people.
Last week, it was Ankara and Istanbul; in December, it was Tell Tamer and San Bernardino; in November, it was Beirut and Paris. Every time it happens, it catches us momentarily off guard, and we think, “Really? This crap is still going on? When is this going to end? Will it ever end?” And the usual societal discourse ensues: the condolences, avowals of justice and solidarity, strategies to prepare for the future. These we expect. This is how we grieve.
What we don’t generally expect is, I don’t know, let’s say, news for a video game whose objective is to target and kill people to be announced just a few hours after a horrible terrorist attack. (more…)
Doom’s six multiplayer modes include Freeze Tag, Soul Harvest, Team Deathmatch, more
While Doom has excited solo players with its promise of a 13-hour campaign, id Software’s reboot of the beloved franchise will also include six multiplayer modes for those with a competitive streak.
In addition to a traditional Team Deathmatch, Doom will include other multiplayer modes that prove you can always teach an old dog some new tricks. For example, Freeze Tag teleports the childhood favorite to Mars, while Warpath adds a rampaging Demon to a King-of-the-Hill-type mode. A new trailer, embedded above, will give you a quick overview of all six modes. Bethesda also provided a more in-depth description of each mode, which is available after the break.
And don’t forget, Doom will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
Hyper Light Drifter will be released for the PC (Windows/Mac) on March 31
Hyper Light Drifter, the overhead action RPG from Heart Machine, finally has an officially release date… and it’s next week. The Kickstarter success story will be released for the PC (Windows/Mac) on March 31. A Linux launch will hopefully happen on the same day, though it may slip if the team needs a bit of extra time. To celebrate the release date announcement, Heart Machine has also uploaded a brand new trailer for Hyper Light Drifter that feels suitably epic and looks absolutely gorgeous.
Hyper Light Drifter will also make its way to consoles (PS4, Wii U, Xbox One) and Sony’s Vita handheld sometime this year.
Hitman: Intro Pack Review: For Better or Worse, the Same Old Hitman
As long as I have been playing the Hitman games, I have always been struck by the strange dissonance between the way the series is marketed and the way it actually plays. In adverts, cutscenes, and promotional art, Hitman games are always presented as offering a power fantasy in which you play as a globetrotting, sharply-dressed, dual pistol-wielding assassin. This is strange because, as anyone who has played a Hitman game will tell you, the games are actually much more about dressing as an engineer and rigging an oven to explode, or disguising yourself as a waiter and spiking your target’s drink with a laxative so that you can murder them in the privacy of the bathroom. This pattern holds for IO Interactive’s new entry in the Hitman series, and, for fans at least, this is good news. Even if this game is something of a known quantity, it does still manage to deliver that same incredibly cool feeling that comes with watching a chandelier “accidentally” fall on your target and walking out without anyone suspecting foul play. (more…)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow developer is working on a strange new adventure
Mercury Steam, the developer behind Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 has unveiled a countdown clock for their next game, which is set to expire on April 15 at noon (Eastern Time).
The clock is embedded in an interactive section of their official website, which refers to the game (or perhaps just a portion of it) as the “Lira Expedition.” The developer also revealed a trio of teaser images (a devilish figure, a ruined temple, and the pilot’s cabin of a mecha) that can be found after the break.
Dave Cox, a former Producer at Konami and one of the driving forces behind the Lords of Shadow games, will join Mercury Steam for this project. Besides working on Castlevania, Cox also contributed to recent entries in the Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid franchises before leaving the company in 2014. But his dream was always to resurrect Contra for a new generation of gamers.
I don’t think that’s happening, but I can dream. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Raiders of the Broken Planet
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins “Game of the Year” at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was on target once again as it collected another “Game of the Year” win this weekend at the SXSW Gaming Awards. In addition to its big win, The Witcher 3 won two other awards: “Excellence in Technical Achievement” and “Excellence in Narrative.”
The Witcher 3 faced stiff competition from several of last year’s other big releases, including Bloodborne and Rise of the Tomb Raider, both of which won a pair of 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards. From Software’s gothic RPG was recognized for its gorgeous environments in the “Excellence in Art” and “Excellence in Design” categories. Meanwhile, Lara Croft herself was named “Most Enduring Character” and her tomb raiding skills were honored with an “Excellence in Animation” win.
Finally, Her Story picked up some more hardware this weekend, winning SXSW’s “Mobile Game of the Year” award.
A complete look at all of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, Tabletop Games, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Telltale revealed a few details about their Batman series… including that it’ll debut this Summer
A team from Telltale Games took the Batplane down to Austin this weekend to talk to the crowd at SXSW about their upcoming Batman series. While it’s still too early for a sneak peek at the game, Telltale was able to confirm the first episode will be available sometime this Summer. A quick recap of the presentation was also posted to the Telltale Blog, where the developer revealed that players will spend just as much time with Bruce Wayne as they will with Batman:
Batman is the perfect character for the studio to explore in a Telltale series, giving the team the opportunity to dive deeper into the mind of the man behind the mask. Each night, Bruce Wayne chooses to change Gotham for the better. The team wants to explore what the consequences are of the player’s actions when decisions made as Bruce have a critical impact on his nightly crusade as Batman, and vice versa. Certain key situations will give the player the decision to approach a scene as Bruce or Batman, with consequences for both sides.
They would go on to say that their Batman game won’t be tied to any existing continuity, and that the Bat Family (Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc) won’t play a large role in the story. However, they did announce that Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner Gordon, GCPD officer Renee Montoya, and reporter Vicki Vale would all appear in the game. Naturally, the game’s villains are currently a closely guarded secret within the halls of Telltale.
Some of these characters will interact with both Bruce Wayne during the day, and Batman at night. And how players handle these interactions could change the outcome for certain characters. Whatever decisions you make, they’ll have serious consequences as Telltale also said that their Batman series will be rated Mature and have a “cinematic approach [that] will feel more akin to an R-rated film.”
Holy bursting anticipation, Batman!
New Releases: Hyrule Warriors Legends, TrackMania Turbo, Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo, Republique
Prepare to race into battle with this week’s new releases…
Koei Tecmo and Nintendo are mashing together the massive battles from the Dynasty Warriors franchise with the beloeved characters from The Legend of Zelda once again in Hyrule Warriors Legends, a 3DS re-release of the Wii U blockbuster. Players who opt for the portable version of the game will be able unlock several new characters (including Linkle, a gender-swapped version of Link) and a new level based on The Wind Waker.
A pair of racing games that’ll surely appeal to people who love anything with four wheels are also set to be released this week. First up is TrackMania Turbo, a “fantasy racer” for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One from Ubisoft. Players will be able to put the pedal to the metal on more than 200 tracks and even build their own using the included Tracker Builder. Also available is Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo, a new offroad rally racer from Milestone for the PS4 and Xbox One. Originally released for the PC earlier this year, console players will now get a chance to drive through the mud on the way to victory.
Finally this week, Camouflaj will bring their award-winning mobile game Republique to the PS4. Even with a controller in hand, players will get the same stealthy experience with all five episodes from the game’s first season.
We’ll be back later this week with a look at the new digital-only releases on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.