Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: PC
Kickstart This! Freja and the False Prophecy
One genre that is recently enjoying a resurgence, in large part thanks to the Nintendo Switch, is the “MetroidVania” style of 2D action platformers. While the console is fully capable of rendering 3D games like Super Mario Odyssey and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, its portable screen is absolutely perfect for platformers. And indie developers are taking the confines of the genre and shattering them with stunning visuals and epic storytelling, especially with the likes of Dead Cells and the more recent Gris.
And hopefully, with your help, we can add Freja and the False Prophecy to that list if it reaches its first Stretch Goal. (more…)
Posted in Features, PC
Tagged Freja and the False Prophecy
John Romero will release Sigil, a new expansion for 1993’s Doom, in February 2019
John Romero is famously known as the co-creator of Doom, and back in 2016 he started dabbling in building a handful of new maps (known as WAD files) for his baby (“Tech Gone Bad” and “Phobos Mission Control“).
Today, in celebration of the landmark game’s 25th anniversary, Romero announced that he’s completed a brand new “MegaWAD” for Doom consisting of nine new single-player levels and an equal number of Deathmatch maps. Romero’s creation will be known as Sigil, and it will serve as the unofficial fifth episode for Doom:
Sigil is a free megawad for the original 1993 Doom created by John Romero. It contains nine single-player and nine deathmatch levels. The free megawad will be released in mid-February 2019 and requires players own the original 1993 registered version of Doom in order to play. Sigil is the spiritual successor to the fourth episode of Doom, and picks up where the original left off.
Sigil will be available as a free download in February, but megafans will be able to obtain one of two special limited editions of the MegaWAD through Limited Run Games.
According to Romero’s official website, the Standard Box will feature artwork by Christopher Lovell and a soundtrack CD from Buckethead. Those bonuses will also be included in the Beast Box, but that hulking package will also include an art print, a Sigil-themed coin, a t-shirt, and a pewter statue of John Romero’s head on a spike.
A trailer for Sigil has been embedded above. Suck it down!
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Doom (1993)
Skybound will launch Episode 3 of The Walking Dead: The Final Season on January 15
There’s not much that’s funny about an undead apocalypse (unless Bill Murray or Simon Pegg is involved, I suppose), but Skybound Games took the stage during the Kinda Funny Games Showcase earlier today and announced a release date for The Walking Dead: The Final Season – Episode 3: Broken Toys anyway.
According to the developer (and the semi-new trailer embedded above), Episode 3: Broken Toys will be available to download for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on January 15.
In addition to completing work on The Final Season after Telltale’s unexpected closure, Skybound also announced that they’ve restored previous seasons of The Walking Dead to the digital storefronts for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Supergiant’s Hades is now available in Early Access through the Epic Games Store
Supergiant Games unveiled the first trailer for their next game, Hades, during last night’s Game Awards. The indie developer also didn’t waste anytime making it available to fans… and that’s because Hades is now available in Early Access through the Epic Games Store.
Building on the developer’s history (which includes Bastion and Transistor), Hades is an isometric dungeon crawler that asks players to escape from the darkest depths of the Underworld. But according to the developer’s official website, Hades also carves out some new territory as Supergiant’s first procedurally-generated title. This stylistic choice is a new direction for the developer, but Hades will feature a strong focus on story, as well as almost two dozen “fully voiced characters”:
Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler where you defy the god of death as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth. It’s never the same experience twice: Each time you play, you’ll combine the divine might of various Olympian gods with your own, brave nefarious new challenges, and unravel more of the story featuring our award-winning art, audio, and narrative.
Hades is currently available to download exclusively through the Epic Games Store, and will remain that way for at least a year and a half as Supergiant fine-tunes “every aspect of the experience.” This includes several free updates (and a handful of minor ones) that will add new “features, events, characters, weapons, powers, environments, and more” to the game over the coming weeks and months.
And don’t worry console gamers, once the Early Access period is complete, Hades is expected to launch on “a variety of platforms.”
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Game Awards 2018, Hades
Mortal Kombat 11 will be released for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One on April 23
NetherRealm Studios has worked on a pretty steady schedule since the release of Mortal Kombat in 2011. Thankfully, they’re not breaking the pattern in 2019.
Last night at the Game Awards, the developer confirmed that Mortal Kombat 11 will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on April 23. The launch will be preceded by a “Community Reveal Event” on January 17, and fans who pre-order the game will receive a bonus fighter (Shao Kahn) and access to Mortal Kombat 11’s upcoming Beta.
NetherRealm will also meld the Character Variations mechanic from Mortal Kombat X with Injustice 2‘s Gear System to allow players to create Custom Character Variations in Mortal Kombat 11:
The all new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control to customize the fighters and make them your own. The new graphics engine showcasing every skull-shattering, eye-popping moment, brings you so close to the fight you can feel it. And featuring a roster of new and returning Klassic Fighters, Mortal Kombat’s best in class cinematic story mode continues the epic saga over 25 years in the making.
The goretastic first trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2018, Mortal Kombat 11
Sony Santa Monica’s God of War wins “Game of the Year” at 2018 Game Awards
In what is surely to be the first of many accolades, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War won “Game of the Year” at the 2018 Game Awards. Kratos’s latest adventure also picked up statuettes for “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
But the biggest winner of the night was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which picked up four wins last night. The publisher’s “Cowboy Game” collected some shiny hardware for “Best Narrative,” “Best Score/Music,” “Best Audio Design,” and “Best Performance” (for Roger Clark’s work as Arthur Morgan).
The all-mighty Fortnite picked up two awards, “Best Ongoing Game” and “Best Multiplayer,” but the most surprising news of the night might be that Insomniac’s Spider-Man was completely shut out. Best of luck next time to the ol’ webhead.
More than a dozen different games went home as winners at the 2018 Game Awards, and you can find them all after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, Celeste, Dead Cells, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Florence, Fortnite, Forza Horizon 4, Game Awards 2018, God of War 4, Into the Breach, Monster Hunter: World, Overcooked 2, Overwatch, Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of Obra Dinn, The Messenger
Below will be released for PC and Xbox One on December 14
Capybara Games originally announced Below, a procedurally-generated “roguelike-like” RPG, shortly before the launch of the Xbox One. Below was expected to be released within the then-upcoming console’s first year, but somewhere along the way, the developer hit a snag and indefinitely postponed the game.
All that trouble looks to be in the past, as the developer revealed that Below will finally be released for the Xbox One and the PC on December 14.
Test your adventurer mettle against The Isle’s procedural subterranean labyrinths. Explore a large, interconnected underworld crawling with cunning creatures, deadly traps, and a mysterious shadowy presence. Survive the perils of The Depths and unearth what lies below… or die trying. Below embraces exploration and discovery – illuminate the path ahead, find hidden passages and unravel the deepest mysteries hidden in the darkness your own way.
To commemorate the occasion, Capybara has unveiled a new trailer for Below, and it’s been embedded above.
PC/Xbox One owners will be able to compete in a Beta for Chainsawesome’s Aftercharge from December 14-16
Chainsawesome Games has announced plans to host one last Beta Weekend for Aftercharge, their upcoming 3v3 shooter, from December 14th through the 16th. Interested players who own a PC or an Xbox One can sign up for an invitation right now at AfterchargeKeys.com.
In case you’re unfamiliar with Aftercharge, the developer has temporarily taken over the Xbox Wire to explain their “invisible robots versus invincible guards” game:
Coordinating Distractions on Offense
Aftercharge is not asymmetrical in team size but it is in gameplay. The team on offense is made of invisible robots. They are trying to sneak up to the objectives called extractors and destroy them while the enemies are trying to find them. As the attackers, you are playing with distractions. One robot can strike an extractor at one end of the map to draw attention while the two others wait for the defender to leave their spot to destroy far away extractors unchallenged.Keeping Focus on Defense
On defense, since your enemies are invisible most of the time, you need to be always on alert and a react quickly. All three members of your team can’t be flocking to every objective point on each alert. That would be the best way to hear extractors blowing up in your back all game long. If you and your teammates are not calling shots like “I saw one going through that tunnel,” “I’m pushing this dead robot to you, cover me,” or “He’s coming right behind you,” you will get played by the attackers and ultimately loose.
Aftercharge will be released for the PC and Xbox One in January 2019 (and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to download it for free).
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Aftercharge