Zack Zwiezen
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Writing For
KotakuLatest Reviews
Avowed is a special game that I’ll likely replay multiple times over the next decade not just because I want to see every option, but because I want to return to this world and its people again and again.
As a big Star Wars fan and video game lover, I’ve long dreamed of a game just like Star Wars Outlaws: a massive open-world action game set in the Star Wars universe that would let me rub shoulders with Jabba the Hutt while freely exploring every inch of a planet like Tatooine. It’s wild that it took this long to finally get a true open-world Star Wars game. And while it has some frustrating flaws, the experience Outlaws offers is worth it.
If you skipped the last game, Mortal Kombat 11, you might be a bit confused about this one’s name. Why is this, the 12th main entry in the franchise, named Mortal Kombat 1? Well, because the whole timeline from the last few games was reset by MK mainstay Liu Kang, who’s now a demigod. And when he reset everything, he got a chance to reshape the entire Mortal Kombat universe. His plan was to make sure evil people like Shang Tsung were nobodies who would never become powerful and screw things up. But, well, you can probably guess how well that plan worked out.
Celebrated filmmaker Jim Jarmusch once said, “Originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it.” Back 4 Blood, a new zombie-themed co-op shooter developed by Turtle Rock Studios, sure puts this principle into practice. Even its name is a direct callback to the studio’s earlier creation, Left 4 Dead, which heavily “inspired” this game.
Early on in Far Cry 6, a character explains that a revolution isn’t something that happens once, but rather something that will keep happening. History is destined to repeat itself over and over. The irony of Far Cry 6 using this as a theme isn’t lost on me. And yet, here I am, unable to break free of this franchise and somehow still enjoying it all.
I play a lot of games for this job. That’s not a brag, it’s just a fact. And while many of those games are good, most of them tend to blend together. But whenever something comes along that is not only great but also feels fresh and incredibly memorable, it reminds me of how awesome games can be. Lost in Random is one of these games. It combines a unique world with great writing, wonderfully quirky visuals, and a combat system that’s unlike anything I’ve played before.
The Medium is stuck between two types of video games. It seems like a throwback to classic, claustrophobic horror titles such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil, but it also feels like a more modern non-combat, narrative-focused scary game. The end result is a game that feels middle of the road. This is disappointing, because it contains some great ideas and has a strong second half. But too much of the game buries these bright spots under stretches of boredom.
Raz is finally back in the long-awaited sequel from Double Fine and good news: It's good!
Some four years since open-world action RPG Biomutant was first revealed to the world with a cool trailer, it’s finally out. Although for those who’ve waited so patiently to play it, they may well be disappointed to discover a gorgeous but janky mess, overly ambitious but under-achieving, and really rather broken.
Outriders isn’t what I was expecting. In the lead-up to launch, it looked like one more Destiny-like looter shooter to toss on the pile. But while it does have looting, shooting and even online co-op, Outriders isn’t just another live service game. In a lot of ways, it feels like an experiment to blend looter shooter mechanics with single-player design and hectic, old-school combat. It doesn’t completely succeed, but enough of it works that I want more.