Kotaku articles

FIFA 18 is a good game of football with an absolutely incredible singleplayer mode. PES 2018 is a fantastic game of football wearing clearance rack kit. That's about the sum of it.

The underlying ethos of Shadow of War seems to be more. More types of orcs. Your playgrounds are bigger. The number of things you can do is overwhelming. There are also plenty of combat options. And with Talion's ability to swiftly climb everything, the game often feels like it is brimming with possibility.

Let's keep this simple: Total War: Warhammer was a very good strategy game. Total War: Warhammer 2 is better. The game continues Creative Assembly's tradition of building on the release of a new Total War with a sort of semi-sequel. Only this time TWW2 almost does feel like an all-new game.

The Super Nintendo Classic is a miniature blast of nostalgia, a sleekly packaged piece of hardware that will transport you back to the days of Dunkaroos and denim jackets. For $80, you get a tiny replica of the Super Nintendo, two controllers, a short HDMI cable, and a power plug.

Before the emergence of online stores, if you wanted to play old video games and they weren't available locally, there was simply no way to buy them. But you could download them, and one of the biggest and most important sites around was Home of the Underdogs.

Sonic Mania is a celebration, a digitized block party of blistering speeds and bright worlds. Sega's decision to hand their famous mascot over to fan creators and artists has paid massive dividends, creating a game that is not just a welcome return to form but a raucous, delightful experience.

If you've played video games, you've encountered a handgun. In the right game, a handgun can be an object of menace or empowerment. But video games often treat them as a starter weapon to be replaced as soon as possible. What makes for a great video game handgun?

This is an excerpt from Jason Schreier's upcoming book, "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels," which comes out on September 5 and tells the stories behind 10 different games including Diablo III, Uncharted 4, and Star Wars 1313.

If you don't care about 3D anymore-and even Nintendo's interest in it seems to be fading-then the New Nintendo 2DS XL is the absolute best model in Nintendo's line of portable gaming hardware. The New 2DS XL is a successor to, among other things, the 3DS XL, the New 3DS and the 2DS.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is a battle royale game where players fight to be the last person standing. It can be overwhelming for new players, full of different weapons to choose and smaller mechanics that aren't readily apparent. These tips will help you survive the battle royale and win yourself a glorious chicken dinner.

While Steam gets a lot of hype for discounted prices, you don't actually have to spend any money to enjoy some of the best games the service has to offer. Over the years, Steam has accumulated a number of great games that are free-to-play, and I'm here to tell you which ones you should check out.

Of the 100 billion games on Steam, one for every star in the sky, which are the absolute cream of the crop? Which have users rated the highest? To borrow a cliche from The Bad Internet, the answer may surprise you.

Prey gives players freedom at every opportunity. It's ripe with moments that will be unique to every player and is a game that shines when you take your time and forge your own path. It falters when it tries to tell you a story, but you only have to listen to that tale as a last resort to see the end. It's better when its flexibility is letting you make stories of your own.

Dawn of War III takes the player across a number of story-based missions as three 40K factions---Humans, Orks and the Eldar---clash over a mysterious world and an ancient relic. The campaign sees you playing as all three sides. There's also a multiplayer mode with a traditional series of RTS skirmish maps in which you fight over control points.

Full Throttle Remastered feels like a supernova. It's bombastic, head-turning, and holds your attention during the brief time it flashes. The classic adventure game holds up today, but, unlike other Double Fine games, it doesn't benefit much from a remaster. The original was already as good as it needed to be.

The same game can be different things to different people, with gender, history, age, cultural background and political beliefs working to influence and funnel its messages and meanings for every unique player. At a time as a young kid when important things were being decided around me, SimCity 2000 gave me some sense of control over my reality.