Star Wars Outlaws Review
Being sandwiched between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi could have been Star Wars Outlaws‘ greatest failing. Instead, it is the game’s greatest strength. Shadows of the Empire was similarly set between those two films and, I would argue, became a relatively beloved slice of Star Wars canon before much of the Extended Universe was annihilated. I played Shadows of the Emp...[Read More]
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Review
“Oh yeah,” I thought as I had to crouch to go under a door, “I’m ten feet tall.” Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora asks players one simple thing: lose yourself in this world, let it absorb you. There is a kind of poetry in a game that allows its players to inhabit a central character. Not just a character that stands on two legs and shoots guns or slays demons or triumphs ...[Read More]
The Division 2 Warlords of New York
Before the announcement of The Division 2 Warlords of New York, it had been several months since I had set down and played a hearty amount of my favorite “living world” “games as a service” open-world looter shooter. Unfortunately, my large group of friends who bought the game at launch and played semi-religiously had dwindled away. We all did. Time and the allure of countl...[Read More]
The Division 2 Review: National Treasure
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is an exceptional video game. Often I choose to belabor a point, craft a thesis, or reflect on a metaphor that inspires me to pour forth my thoughts for a review. It is easy to become wrapped up in the emotions and memories a game can trigger in you, especially after playing it for nearly 100 hours over the course of ten days. What made the game fun or memorable o...[Read More]
Talking The Division 2 with Massive and Red Storm
Massive Entertainment’s arduous process of shaping The Division into more than just a competent looter shooter was one that went well past the game’s initial development process. Only after a year of tinkering with bugs, cheaters, content drips, and quality of life improvements did the game truly feel as if it lived up to that incredible–if not lofty–E3 2013 reveal trailer....[Read More]
The Division 2: A Brighter Dark Zone
On March 8, 2016, I took off work and celebrated my birthday with a few friends by binging on Tom Clancy’s The Division until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. We had all been frothing at the mouth for the game’s release, poring over footage and losing ourselves in pre-release betas. Destiny, the catalyst for our tight-knit bond of companionship, had hit an exhausting slump. The Take...[Read More]