GAMES + REVIEWS
The Gaming Database
Here is the latest Combat/Action game news...
Mortal Kombat X Michael McWhertor - May, 18 2015
While Mortal Kombat X's initial character roster is smaller than that of previous games, NetherRealm has essentially tripled the number of characters to choose from, thanks to the new Variations system. Every character in MKX comes with three fighting styles that dramatically mixes up their special move set, which have a big impact on each character's tactics. A fighter like Jax, for example, might play more like a grappler in one variation (Wrestler), but be more effective in zoning his opponent in another variation (Heavy Weapons).
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Oli Welsh - May, 18 2015
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the game that Poland's iconoclastic CD Projekt Red has been threatening to make for a while now, ever since it debuted this dark fantasy series, based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, in 2007. Made by a rogue operator with independent funding (the studio's parent company owns the distribution platform GOG.com), it pays little heed to the franchise-building fads of Hollywood or the focus-tested game design methodologies of Montreal, instead drinking deep draughts from Central European folklore and the narrative traditions of Western role-playing. It exists because a group of people in Warsaw knew exactly the kind of game they wanted to play, and made it themselves because no-one else would. It is that rare thing in contemporary video games: an epic with a soul.
Final Fantasy XV GamesRadarStaff - May 2015
Whether it's hardcore sword and sorcery or steampunk, Final Fantasy has always been a more unpredictable series than it gets credit for. But who could've guessed that the game's debut trailer would focus on the four spiky-haired characters driving down a highway? Okay, we probably could've guessed the spiky-haired part, but it's surprising to see that airships might be replaced with driving around the world in a fancy convertible.
Of course, the demo shows that even in fantasy worlds car trouble is an inevitability, so Team Handsome McFauxhawk spends a lot of time exploring the world on foot. That means running into a lot of ferocious local wildlife, but that's all right, because killing beasties is how you win trophies like horns and pelts to sell. That may be pretty standard since the days of FFXII, but XV also lets the quartet collect meat from their various kills, and earn status boosts by cooking it up for dinner. I haven't personally been on any road trips where I had to stab my own food, but hey, these guys seem adventurous.
