Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game 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)
All Articles: PC
Iron Crypticle Review – A Nostalgic (But Middle-of-the-Road) Twin-Stick Shooter
Iron Crypticle is a medieval-themed twin-stick shooter that evokes the look and feel of several classic games from yesteryear. Developers Tikipod and Confused Pelican even tried to stoke the memory of players by namechecking Smash TV, Gauntlet, and Super Ghouls N Ghosts in the game’s marketing. But while this kind of comparison can often be used to puff up a slight game, Iron Crypticle really does its best to resurrect that trio of titles. (more…)
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Iron Crypticle, PC, PS4, Xbox One
SteamWorld Dig 2 Review – Groundbreaking
It’s hard to believe that four years have already passed since the original SteamWorld Dig first graced gaming systems. Image & Form’s platformer came out of left field and garnered attention and praise from gamers and critics alike (it was even in the running for the “‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson Award” in our annual Golden Pixel Awards roundup). At the time, we couldn’t wait to return to the SteamWorld universe and see the characters “fleshed out” in a sequel, so-to-speak.
Instead, the next entry we got in the series was a spinoff, SteamWorld Heist. It was still set in the same universe as Dig, but Heist wasn’t a direct sequel, and took place much further in the future. Gameplay was also different, as Heist took on a turn-based strategy approach as opposed to Dig’s resource-collecting, mining, MetroidVania style. While fun in its own right, many wanted to see a return to SteamWorld Dig’s roots.
And almost half a decade later, we got our wish. (more…)
Distrust Review – Go a Little Mad in the Cold
Distrust is a game about survival in the harshest of climates. The game opens with a mysterious bright light and a helicopter crash. From there, you are stranded in an unforgiving Arctic environment with limited supplies and an ever-growing sense of dread. You take control of two survivors trying to make their way to the safety of an abandoned scientific research facility, and along the way you have to make harsh decisions that will lead to your success… or doom. (more…)
Rumor: Rime is coming to the PS4 in 2017… and the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC
Originally announced in 2013 as a PS4 exclusive, Tequila Works has been steadily working on Rime, a cel-shaded “adventure platformer,” ever since. Last year, the developer reacquired the publishing rights to the game, and many fans assumed that Rime would eventually make its way to the PS4 (and maybe additional platforms) when it launched in 2017. Now it looks like that might be happening.
A now-deleted rating (spotted by Eurogamer) on the Brazilian Ratings Board for Rime lists the game as in development for the PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Though Rime has been in the works for over three years, it’s still mostly shrouded in mystery:
Rime is a single-player puzzle adventure game about a young boy shipwrecked on a mysterious island after a torrential storm. Players must use their wits to decipher the challenges and secrets of an expansive world strewn with rugged terrain, wild creatures and the crumbling ruins of a long-forgotten civilization. With subtle narrative, colorful artwork and a sweeping score, Rime offers players a meaningful journey filled with discovery.
But a notice on the game’s official website has promised that we’ll hear more about it early next year.
The Sacred Hero will be released for the Nintendo Switch and PC in 2018
Featuring a teaser trailer very reminiscent of Link’s adventures in The Legend of Zelda franchise, indie developer Simplistic has announced they will release The Sacred Hero for the Nintendo Switch and PC in 2018.
While it’s not very much to go on, we know The Sacred Hero is being directed by a teenage developer named Kane Goodridge, with music by Ruven “Music Proposition” Wegner.
An earlier trailer, embedded after the break, make the Zelda parallels a bit more clear. The Sacred Hero is clearly influenced by A Link to the Past, as well as older Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles.
Good luck to the young team at Simplistic, and hopefully we’ll learn more about The Sacred Hero soon. (more…)
Dark Souls Trilogy might be in development for Nintendo Switch
From Software was one of the most surprising names to be found on Nintendo’s partial list of publishers and developers that are currently working on games for the Switch. The prolific developer has supported Nintendo hardware in the past, but always to a much lower extant than PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
That might change in a big way in 2017.
According to a new rumor report on Let’s Play Video Games, From Software is currently developing a “Game of the Year” re-release for Dark Souls III, and the brutal action RPG might also make its way to the Switch. The site’s source claims that “development on a Switch port has been underway for several months via a small team” though “From Software [is] waiting to see initial sales data before committing to producing ports.”
Furthermore, Dark Souls III might be joined on the Switch by the first two games in the franchise, as the source also said, “discussions internally at the company have discussed the financial viability of re-releasing the main three Dark Souls titles on the Switch with their DLC bundled in.”
Let’s Play Video Games has reported on a number of Switch rumors that turned out to be true, so it seems very possible that Nintendo fans will get their first crack at the Dark Souls franchise beginning next year.
Posted in News
Tagged Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Battlefield 1 blows away the competition with five nominations from Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2016
The Game Critics Awards has announced their annual Best of E3 nominations, and DICE’s Battlefield 1 has asserted its greatness with five nominations, including one for “Best of Show.” Battlefield 1’s other nominations include “Best Console Game,” “Best PC Game,” “Best Action Game,” and “Best Online Multiplayer.”
Five other games will compete with the historical shooter for top honors including Dishonored 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Sea of Thieves, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Titanfall 2. With four nominations apiece, Dishonored 2 and Horizon: Zero Dawn will surely provide some stiff competition for Battlefield 1.
The Game Critics Awards will announce the winners for Best of E3 2016 next Tuesday, July 5. A complete list of this year nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged Batman: Arkham VR, Battlefield 1, Civilization VI, Dishonored 2, E3 2016, Final Fantasy XV, Forza Horizon 3, God of War 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Injustice 2, Inside, PC, PS3, PS4, Sea of Thieves, Skylanders Imaginators, Steep, Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, TitanFall 2, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Bethesda delivers more than 20 minutes of Dishonored 2 gameplay at E3 2016
Strap in, because Bethesda had a lot to say about Dishonored 2 during their E3 Press Conference last night.
Dishonored 2 will be available on November 11 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. And because it’s less than five months away, Co-Creative Director Harvey Smith had a lot to say about it. That includes stopping by Bethesda.net to offer up plenty of details about the game’s coastal setting:
While Dishonored 2 begins and ends in Dunwall – the bleak industrial city of the first game – most of the action takes place in Karnaca, often referred to as the Jewel of the South. The capital of Serkonos – which is the southernmost island in the Empire – Karnaca is a dazzling Mediterranean-inspired metropolis with distinctly different culture and style.
Players will be able to experience the story of Dishonored 2 as either Corvo Attano (Stephen Russell) or the grownup Emily Kaldwin (Erica Luttrell). But both characters will meet a wide range of allies and enemies including Vincent D’Onofrio (Luca Abele, Duke of Serkonis), Rosario Dawson (Meagan Foster, Captain of the Dreadful Wale), Jamie Hector (Vice Overseer Liam Byrne), Pedro Pascal (Paolo, leader of the Howler gang), Sam Rockwell (Mortimer Ramsey of the Dunwall City Watch), and Robin Lord Taylor (The Outsider).
Bethesda also confirmed that Corvo and Emily will learn several new abilities, and fight their way through Themed Missions such as the time-bending “A Crack in the Slab” and the shifting walls and floors of “The Clockwork Mansion” (which was originally seen in the E3 2015 trailer).
For a more in-depth look at Dishonored 2, I recommend watching the 20-minute gameplay demo, which is available after the break. (more…)