It’s been a helluva week for video games, with mass layoffs at Destiny 2 studio Bungie, and a few hands-ons for upcoming high-profile releases like Marvel Rivals and Star Wars Outlaws. As usual, we weighed in on the goings-on of the week, so click through to read all of our big opinions and spicy takes.
Shortly after starting my remote Star Wars Outlaws hands-on, I get what I’ve been waiting months for: a chance to ride protagonist Kay Vess’ speeder bike. There are few things that feel more apt for a Star Wars game than streaking across the surface of a planet on a motorcycle that hovers a few inches off the ground, so I’m ecstatic that I get to it so soon into the demo. But then I actually drive it, and it’s as unwieldy as a shopping cart with a 650cc moto engine strapped to it, and I sigh. The potential. - Alyssa Mercante Read More
I always tell people that I’ve been with Destiny since the first alpha test. For some reason, it’s always been a point of pride for me. My own way of saying, “Hey, I’ve been behind this vision since the beginning. I’ve been there through the highs and the lows, and I’m still here.” But following a second round of brutal layoffs that have seemingly gutted Bungie and most of the teams working on Destiny 2, I’m not entirely sure what’s going to be left to be “here” for. - Moises Taveras Read More
I have over 1000 hours in Overwatch, but only about a dozen hours in Marvel Rivals, the megalithic comic makers’ attempt to cash in on Blizzard’s once-winning formula. In all the matches I’ve played in the game’s beta as the Guardians of the Galaxy leader Star-Lord alongside other heroes and villains in the Marvel universe, I find myself using Overwatch’s terminology. Escort matches are “payloads,” Star-Lord’s “Blaster Barrage” ability is a “Reaper Ult” because both have dual-wielding gunners dancing in gunfire and shooting enemies within a small radius. As new players have joined, my friends and I have relied on Overwatch comparisons as shorthand for how different heroes work. Marvel Rivals is pretty unapologetic in inviting those comparisons, but I can’t help but wonder what NetEase’s take on the genre has to offer players if I can’t boot it up without thinking of a different game. Maybe it’s that it doesn’t have ten years of drama and fan in-fighting to shape it yet. - Kenneth Shepard Read More
In 2002, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter launched on PS2 and GameCube. The third-person action-adventure game let players hop into the bounty-hunting boots of Jango Fett aka Boba Fett’s clone dad from Attack of The Clones. It wasn’t great, but was a fun prequel to Episode II. Now, 20 years later, it’s been remastered, improved, and ported to new consoles, and while it looks and plays better than ever, it’s still mostly the same not-great PS2-era action game, but now with a flashlight. - Zack Zwiezen Read More
