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Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda’s new role-playing game is finally free enough to be all things to everyone, even those with a dim and narrow view of humanity. Filipe Salgado looks at the why and how of self-expression in Skyrim.
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Review: PataNoir
A new interactive fiction game builds a surreal world out of metaphor. So why does it feel all too real? Jason Johnson interrogates the subject.
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Reset: Mortal Kombat
When did Mortal Kombat get so tame? J.P. Grant on why the archetypal arcade series is the square peg in the round hole of modern platforms.
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Review: Batman: Arkham City
In contrast to the urgency of Arkham Asylum, the latest Batman installment nearly suffocates with its diversions. Filipe Salgado chronicles his turn in Arkham City.
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Review: SpellTower
A new iPad word game by independent developer Zach Gage illustrates some fundamental conflicts about operating within game systems, and then writing about them. Jason Johnson tries to untangle the letters.
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Review: Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
Jon Irwin meditates on the pink blob, whose latest game on the Nintendo Wii is an easy, frictionless antidote to the zeitgeist’s interactive murder.
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Review: iBlast Moki 2
Drew Millard uses some complicated metaphors to describe the also-complicated physics puzzle game iBlast Moki 2.
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Review: Dead Island
Is Dead Island lacking the blood of a real horror? Kyle Lemmon examines the territory where the mechanics of gameplay distract from genuine fear.
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Review: Dance Central 2
The new dancing game from the Rock Band creators might make you happy, self-conscious, tired, or all of the above. Can you picture yourself in our illustrated take?
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Review: Fallout New Vegas Add-Ons
Why the post-apocalypse isn’t all about you.
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Review: Aquaria
A game about underwater exploration ironically drowns the player in its own vast world. Jason Johnson wants to chart new territory but finds his mind wandering.
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Review: Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
For Richard Clark, Uncharted 3‘s player-character Drake is so close, yet so far.