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Action movies don’t get the same kind of respect as straight dramas, which are considered to be prestige projects. Action tends to be dismissed as pure entertainment, but there are plenty of action movies out there that rank among the finest masterpieces in the history of cinema, like Die Hard, The Killer, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. There’s a lot of underrated craft that goes into making a great action movie....

Pokémon Sword & Shield recently saw the release of their second expansion titled The Crown Tundra. On top of adding a ton of older Pokémon to the Galarian pokédex, it also introduced a handful of new legendary creatures to the franchise. Whenever Pokémon does this fans are often holding their breath hoping they get introduced to new and exciting Pokémon designs. Over the years the series has seen its fair share of uninspired additions, but among the hundreds of Pokémon, there are more than a handful that are too alike to ignore....

For readers old enough to remember, the original PlayStation was an inescapable cultural phenomenon. Nintendo and Sega had their ongoing competition for several years, and then suddenly Sony comes in to shake up the whole system in 1995 (1994 in Japan) with their new hardware made for 3D games. The aggressive marketing campaign, strong relationships with third-party developers, and affordable price tag all helped the company’s console debut come out of the gate swinging....

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a unique game. Releasing on the Nintendo Switch and PC, Monster Hunter Stories 2 combines the expansive monster lore and designs of the Monster Hunter series with top-notch JRPG gameplay. Adding monster collecting and charming characters to that, Monster Hunter Stories 2 makes for a great sequel that appeals to old-time fans as well as people who aren’t into mainline Monster Hunter titles....

With the launch of PlayStation 5, everyone wants to know what games they could enjoy with the new, addicting DualSense controller. First, a few words about some of the best features of the DualSense controller. Everyone remembers PS4’s DualShock controller, arguably the best controller in PS history. PS5 used its design and took it to a whole new level. They also made the haptic feedback far more sensitive, creating a much better experience for players....

Grungy, gritty, and full of life, Midgar is the city to remember when it comes to Final Fantasy 7. At least, that’s what the creators of the remake believe and it’s difficult to disagree. Midgar is the city that welcomes you to Final Fantasy 7’s world in all its dark themes, harsh realities, and, sometimes, the beauty hidden within. You only spend around five or six hours in the city and you don’t even get to explore every part of it but the remake aims to change that....

As everybody knows by now, Assassin’s Creed Unity has some problems. Many, many problems. Recently, Ubisoft released a patch that was supposed to fix those problems, but guess what? The patch had problems too. The Assassin’s Creed Initiates website, which Ubisoft created as a hub for the Assassin’s Creed community, also suffered some issues. And that’s not even counting the French politicians who called Unity “propaganda against the people” or the game’s mediocre reviews....

It’s the one nagging criticism about the Assassin’s Creed series: while the developers at Ubisoft have made their name in the third-person action genre, their heroes are more accurately described as one-man-killing-machines than ‘deadly assassins.’ While the hero of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag may be a pirate above all else, that doesn’t mean they won’t be countering old criticisms. The previously-released stealth walkthrough video showed that a few gameplay additions make stealth a legitimate strategy - but can it still be as cool as running in, guns blazing?...

Fans of Assassin’s Creed have been demanding a game set during the French Revolution for years, and they’re finally getting it with Assassin’s Creed Unity. The new hero, Arno Victor Dorian, may already look the part of a full-fledged Assassin, but the game’s creative director warns that the actual story will be quite different than fans might expect. Unity is Arno’s story - not France’s - and it all hinges on a story of love and honor....

The original Auditorium was pretty much a dream come true for music lovers. Today, developer Cipher Prime has announced the game’s sequel, Auditorium 2: Duet. Cipher Prime will be taking a page out of Double Fine’s book, as the developer plans to fund Auditorium 2: Duet through Kickstarter. Double Fine garnered much success through the service, and the Auditorium developer hopes to emulate that success. Auditorium has launched on a myriad of platforms, from iOS to PSN, but today it finally comes to Steam....

There’s no question that Irrational Games’ BioShock Infinite is one of the most anticipated video games of 2013, so it’s not surprising that gamers are anxious for even the slightest of details regarding the fictitious floating city of Columbia. Despite the game being delayed yet again, the game’s designer, Ken Levine, seems confident that consumers will thoroughly enjoy the final product in its entirety. One thing he’s not entirely sure of, however, is whether or not gamers will actually like the ending of Infinite....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIXZOa1iS8Q Between Borderlands and Borderlands 2 the surface of Pandora has been explored pretty thoroughly, but upcoming title Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will take the carnage a little farther away, to Pandora’s moon: Elpis. Featuring former enemies among its four new playable characters, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel teams the player up with Handsome Jack as he tries to prevent the Lost Legions from destroying Pandora and Elpis with a giant moon laser....

Villains get a bad rap, it’s an unfortunate result of their role as the villain, but typically they are down right evil. Take for example The Joker, he is evil and Batman must stop him. Other times, the villain’s role isn’t so clean cut. Though the antagonist of Dead Island, Ryder White, revealed himself to be a significantly selfish individual, there was always the assumption that something about his story was missing....

The first official public reveal is set for tomorrow at The International in Germany but a few Dota 2 gameplay screenshots have leaked that give us a peak at UI and a character selection screen. The author of the post admits that the screenshots might be a few month old. As a result, the heroes shown on the selection screen might just be the roster at that time - meaning a larger set of characters might be on display tomorrow at Gamescom 2011....

Another one bites the dust. Turtle Rock Studios’ forthcoming cooper-petitive (that’s competitive and cooperative) shooter Evolve is the latest title to slip off the overcrowded fall 2014 slate. The game is now targeting February 10, 2015 as its new release date. Take-Two Interactive President Karl Slatoff broke the news during a quarterly earnings call and explained that Evolve “deserves and should have more time to be polished so it can reach its absolute optimal state before we release it....

Despite the negative press that is surrounding Ubisoft regarding Assassin’s Creed Unity, the publisher still has two more high profile releases slated for 2014. Next up is Far Cry 4, yet another sequel that hopes to build off the strong reception carrying over from its predecessor. With Far Cry 4 only a few days off from release, Ubisoft has decided it best to unveil the game’s launch trailer and hopefully turn some of the attention away from AC Unity....

Welcome to our regular gameplay impressions and video post where we record our first 10-30 minutes with a new game, and provide some general impressions on that early playthrough. Today’s game is: Glare from Phobic Studios. Glare is a side-scrolling platformer that uses light as its key mechanic. As the Shiner, the player must eliminate an infestation of dark energy-fueled creatures called Ramora by blasting light from the creature’s, while at the same time traversing the oftentimes treacherous landscape....

There’s no shortage of fans who already have their calendars marked for the launch of Halo 4, and 343 Industries seems to be doing their best to show that the fans come first. Specially made Xbox 360 bundles are nothing new to the Halo series, but the one being made to celebrate the studio’s first full title is on a whole other level. The Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 Bundle has now been detailed by the developer, complete with new images, details on construction, and even samples of the system’s custom sounds....

The first inkling that Rare might revive the Killer Instinct franchise came back in September of last year when Microsoft renewed their license for the fighting game franchise. Then came a post-Xbox One reveal quote from Microsoft, in which they hinted that Rare might be bringing back a “historic franchise.” Those two details (the license renewal and the tease) together seemed like clear indicators Killer Instinct was ready to make a comeback....

Although we assumed that Mass Effect 3’s Citadel and Reckoning DLC would be the last the game had to offer for both single player and multiplayer fans, respectively, BioWare has made it official. After BioWare called “all hands on deck” for the Citadel DLC, single player appeared to be all wrapped up, but there was still some hope the multiplayer would live on with one, maybe two, more pieces of DLC....