Game Industry News

Over the past two weekends, Activision opened up a Call of Duty Modern Warfare II beta to the press and other invited guests. GiN had a handful of reviewers, columnists, and podcasters in the thick of the action. This is what three of them found in this thoroughly modern take on shooters.

With stunning visuals, a soundtrack that practically oozes tranquility, complex controls, and well-developed fish artificial intelligence, Ultimate Fishing Simulator 2 is about as close to a real fishing experience as we can currently get in a video game. If you enjoy sports sims, you should definitely check this one out.

This has been a very good year for role-playing games, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 helps to further that trend. Right from the start with its wildly interesting premise to the final climatic battle, role-players will find a lot to enjoy with this adventure.

Cult of the Lamb is a unique game that combines elements of village-building, community management, role-playing, and combat. As the newly resurrected lamb cult leader, the player is tasked with going into the various regions to build a community of followers, and then lead the flock while keeping them in order, content, and safe.

South of the Circle is an interactive novel type of game set during the Cold War in a place that is even more frigid, Antarctica. This carefully crafted adventure is a cinematic experience with top notch storytelling.

Stray is one of the most unique games to come out in a long time. It offers players an open cyberpunk world to explore, and places them into the paws of a cat as the main character. And experiencing this brilliant sci-fi world through the eyes of a clever cat is absolute purr-fection.

The pre-October festival of horror games continues this week with the review of Ikai, a game that adds Japanese folklore and culture to a somewhat traditional ghost story. Be ready for some serious jump scares if you journey into Ikai’s dark world.

Mixing elements of traditional golf games with horror, miniature golf, rogue-likes and even a bit of Dark Souls, Cursed to Golf may be one of the strangest and most difficult golf titles to master. But it’s very fun to try.

If you are looking for one of the most terrifying gaming experiences available right now, look no further than The Mortuary Assistant. It’s destined to become an instant classic in horror gaming even though many players will rightfully be too grossed out or even afraid to fully enjoy all that it has to offer.

Midnight Fight Express is an over-the-top, two-fisted action-adventure that nearly anyone can pick up and play for hours on end. This is one of the most stylish and simple beat-em-ups to come out in a long time.

ZooKeeper is a low-pressure simulation that allows players to sit back and relax while building their own ultimate zoo in a delightful low-polygon world. This title also has the player manage all the operations within their zoo. Players must keep their animals happy and content, and also must appease the frenzied public that comes to visit their park.

Norco presents a distinctively sci-fi look at a fairly dark future. Set in and around Norco, Louisiana, it weaves its haunting narrative through the eyes of a young person who recently came back home following the death of their mother. This is not an experience that adventure gamers will want to miss.

This week, Fresh Look Columnist Michelle Sayatovich takes a look at video games and their adaptations through the decades, and she shares some of her favorite animated ones. She also discusses video game based animated series on Netflix including Castlevania, Dota: Dragon’s Blood, Pokemon, and the very popular Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime series which has driven a million players back into the game itself.

Michael Blaker’s back covering another set of chapters for his fanfiction Synth Saturday column. This column returns to look at more chapters from one of Michael’s favorite Potter Fics called “Price of Being Noble” by Driftwood with Chapters 21-30.

Thousands of people came together over the weekend for BLERDCON 2022, a fun and safe space designed to celebrate people’s diversity in color, culture, gender and sexual identities. And the convention just keeps getting bigger and better every year.

Our Save State Columnist Vincent Mahoney has been a fan of the Yakuza series for a while, but last played the series back in the Yakuza 3 days. He picks it up again with Like a Dragon and finds that the series evolved into a true RPG while keeping a high level of its delightful absurdity solidly intact.

Katz puzzles over some absurdities of the English language with it having such a large number of words that are spelled differently, sound the same but have different meanings, and ones that are spelled the same but have different meanings and sounds.

This week, the Trekker’s Delight crew featuring Marie, Keith, and Jason talk about Star Trek: Lower Decks fourth episode of season three called “Room for Growth.”

G2 Esports, one of the world’s leading entertainment and esports brands, is proud to announce the launch of its newest team, Hel, that will compete in Riot’s main title, League of Legends.