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.
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.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising isn’t the game I was expecting. I was prepared for a big Ubisoft open-world action game filled with colorful vistas, Greek gods, and some elements inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. It is all of that, but it’s not just Assassin’s Creed: Hyrule. It’s a welcome streamlining of large-scale Ubisoft game design, full of great puzzles and amusing storytelling.
While plenty of games over the last few years have let lightsaber and blaster fans live out their dreams, it’s been a while since a big Star Wars game focused exclusively on starships and space combat. Thankfully for more dogfight-obsessed fans, the newly released Star Wars: Squadrons lets you become an ace pilot for both the Empire and the New Republic. But while the narrative, space combat, and Star Wars details are strong, some bugs and multiplayer issues add a little turbulence to an otherwise smooth flight.
We get a lot of funny video games. We get a lot of strange games. But wacky video games are rare. Journey to the Savage Planet, a short new sci-fi first-person shooter, is, despite some flaws, wonderfully wacky.