The original Portal basically caught everyone who played it completely off guard. It was the product of Valve Software’s time-honored tradition of benevolently devouring smaller companies and teams that they think are being unique or creative. Conceptually beginning as a student project being made at DigiPen, the game (and its …

Okamiden is a fitting tribute to the end of the much-beloved Nintendo DS. Arguably the system’s swan-song, the game is an example of what is possible near the end of a device’s lifecycle. Packed inside its cartridge is a sprawling adventure lasting more than twenty hours in a fully realized, …

I read once that when designing a game, it is important to not include mechanics just for the sake of having them.  For example, don’t include a crafting system in your roleplaying game if you don’t have the time or resources to make it seriously compelling.  To take this idea …

The story of Killzone 3 picks up mere moments after the events of the last game. Series protagonist Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko, Rico, and the rest of the ISA forces are left stranded behind enemy lines, deep inside hostile Helghan territory. The third installment in Sony’s vicious sci-fi shooter is a …

With the original LittleBigPlanet, developer Media Molecule sought to create a platform for user-generated content, putting the same tools they used to craft levels into the hands of their users. Over two million levels later, the community of LittleBigPlanet continues to grow and amaze. For LittleBigPlanet 2, the creators haven’t …

Platinum Games has made a name for itself offering unapologetically hardcore games like the monochromatic blood-feast  Mad World, the hyper-sexual beat ‘em up Bayonetta, and the methodically paced RPG Infinite Space. Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil and founding member of Platinum Games, has directed the company’s latest creation.

Set in …

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a milestone for Nintendo in a couple ways. It marks the first time a Mario game has seen a direct sequel and it’s the realization of many of the goals first purported in the original Super Mario 64. It is the culmination of a decade’s …

It’s not too often a game is able to completely surprise you. When Bioshock 2 was first announced, my initial reaction was a mix of resistance and skepticism. As a fan of the first Bioshock, I was wary of how a sequel could undercut the richness of the original. These …