There was no shortage of amazing games this year, with many offering hundreds of hours worth of content to dive into. But as it goes with all large-scale, mechanically complex adventures, there's often a learning curve you need to get adjusted to. You need only look at games, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Divinity: Original Sin II, and Destiny 2, which are all games that offer a multitude systems and mechanics that you might not get all at once. With so many of this year's biggest games being so involved, we've gathered all of our beginner's guides below for your reference.
This year was a fantastic year in gaming. If you want to see our choices for the best games this year, check out our Game of the Year 2017 Top 10 List. And for more on our picks of the best games of the year across various categories, as well as features focusing on the year's performance for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, check out our Best of 2017 hub.
Assassin's Creed Origins is an immense game packed with an abundance of quests to complete and new systems to experiment with. From the get-go, the game quickly pushes you forward, lightly familiarizing you with its mechanics and expansive skill trees, while putting you on a path towards the numerous regions of its vast world. With so much to do all at once, you're likely to get overwhelmed--or even worse--you're likely to neglect essential information that could be of great help to you. That's why we've put together a beginner's guide focused on helping you through the game's early hours. Put these handy tips into practice and you'll be a master Assassin in no time.
This year's Call of Duty multiplayer mode beckons. Trading in its sci-fi path to return to its roots, Call of Duty: WWII's multiplayer mode brings several new things to the table. Abilities and loadouts are now fully customizable and there's a brand-new mode called war mode. Whether you're a recruit or a veteran, that plight might seem a little overwhelming, and we've got just the guide to make jumping in a breeze.
Destiny 2 is one of those sequels that's easy to get into without having played the first entry. But for a game that can be described as Halo with an RPG-style progression and loot system, it can feel like a foreign experience even for shooter veterans. If this is your first time playing, here's what you should know to make the most of the first five or so hours in Destiny 2.
Whether you're a seasoned Guardian or a newcomer joining the good fight against the Red Legion, Destiny 2 presents a few challenges early on that you'll need to overcome before you head out in the galaxy to rebuild your power and influence. There have been many changes to the core mechanics and systems of Destiny that will feel a bit strange to returning players, and not all of it is explained in depth for newcomers. To help you out, here are some essential Destiny 2 tips to get you fighting fit.
Original Sin II is a difficult game that eagerly punishes your mistakes in combat or even when talking to NPCs. With so many factors to consider as you explore, it can be tough to survive. To help newcomers to the series, we've gathered nine tips to know before you set off to Fort Joy and into the world of Rivellon.
It's dangerous to go alone in the world of Breath of the Wild; the unwary can perish in a matter of seconds. That's why we've compiled beginner's tips to help you become a veteran survivalist of Hyrule. For a condensed take on what you need to know, watch the video above. Otherwise, check out our comprehensive guide for the full details.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds can be an intense multiplayer experience, but the only way to really learn how to play it is to actually jump in. The battle royale-style game pits up to 100 players against each other, with the single goal of being the last player standing. Now that it's on Xbox One in addition to PC, it's a good time to jump in and try to get the coveted chicken dinner.
With no tutorial, single-player mode, or other traditional ways to pick up how the game works, most players just have to spend lots of time getting killed in PUBG in order to learn the ropes. But with a little information about the essentials, you can cut the learning curve significantly. Here are 12 essential tips to get you started in PUBG that'll help you hit the ground running.
Unlike the last few Mario games, Odyssey fits into the same gameplay mold as Super Mario 64 and Sunshine. It presents large, open areas and lets players hop, skip, jump, and buttstomp their way around in search of collectibles. Nintendo has put in subtle gameplay mechanisms that can help you on your quest to get Power Moons--both obvious and hidden. Some of these systems are explained in-game but may be easy to miss, while others are left a bit vague. We've put together a collection of tips that'll give you a little leg-up, and get you skipping on your way to rescuing Peach. You can also check out the condensed video version of the guide above.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus does a great job of explaining its game mechanics thanks to a simple tutorial system. While these introductions explain basics like movement, stealth, and combat, there are still some things that would be good to know when starting a new game. What difficulty should you choose? Is it worth searching every inch of every level to find all of the game's collectables? And how does that early story choice affect your game going forward? The answers to these questions and more can all be found in this list of 10 things we wish we knew before starting Wolfenstein II.
Never Stop Sneakin' isn't a game that's shy about showing its influences. If anything, it wants you to know right from the title screen--with a fully voiced, self-referential theme song blaring in the background--that you're in for a parody of Hideo Kojima's absurdly over-the-top, yet narratively earnest Metal Gear Solid. Out now on the Nintendo Switch, Humble Hearts' Never Stop Sneakin' (the same team behind Dust: An Elysian Tail) goes a lot further than you'd expect with its bizarre but loving sendup to Konami's already strange stealth-action series.
The original Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite games, but even I can admit that it's starting to look its age as it approaches its 20th anniversary. Never Stop Sneakin' seems to agree, and goes all in when parodying the game and the era it came from. As a throwback to games from the era of the original Playstation--complete with a low-res aesthetic and focus on elaborate if somewhat jarring story beats--Never Stop Sneakin' sticks pretty close to the source material that it's lampooning, but goes a bit further with its own story. When former Vice President Amadeus Guildenstern builds a time-machine to kidnap all of history's presidents--vowing to become the president for all of eternity--it's up to the best Sneakin' agents to invade his island headquarters, amass resources, and create a counter-time machine to stop the evil madman's plans before it can be set into motion.
As your agent comes to blows with Guidenstern's army, they'll encounter the villain's evil cabinet--which includes Vice President Helicopter (a sentient helicopter holding a political position), and the vampiric health secretary, Dr. Acula. While it may seem like low-hanging fruit to poke fun at MGS, Never Stop Sneakin' does it in a way that tells its own story effectively, while still coming off as endearing and tongue-in-cheek. It pokes fun at the inherent ridiculousness of Kojima's homage to western action-films, such as scenes with characters making elaborate and absurd introductions, and poking fun at over-long cutscenes. But above all, it celebrates--in its own weird way--what makes Metal Gear so beloved.
When you're not waxing poetic with your handler--you'll head out into the field to raid Guildenstern's island bases for supplies and POWs to flesh out your operation. As the title suggests, Never Stop Sneakin' is a stealth-action game, where movement and timing are key. While you'll dash through each floor of the base and get the drop on your enemies in the broad sense, this game simplifies many of the more nuanced mechanics found in traditional stealth-action games. Using only the control stick or touch screen, you'll move your agent to evade enemy vision and sneak up behind them for an attack--triggered automatically when in close proximity. Despite the number of things to keep track of, such as enemy cones of vision, security camera and turret blind spots, and procuring keycards to open locked rooms, Never Stop Sneakin' keeps things pretty simple. Each level is done at a brisk pace, only lasting a few minutes each, with your performance graded right after.
It can be very satisfying to clear several straight missions without failure, where pulling off chain kills and amassing an arsenal of randomized perks--which offer buffs to hacking, stealth, and gaining bonus points--can make you feel all kinds of skillful in your mission. Unfortunately, the core gameplay can oftentimes come off as a bit one-note. To put it plainly, the game you play during the first hour is the same game you'll play after the many more hours it takes to beat the main story. Moverover, Never Stop Sneakin' isn't that difficult. Along with AI that doesn't really react much to your behavior--sticking to its patrol routes even when nearby guards are sacked-- there are a number of support items like smoke grenades and your pistol that will instantly get you out trouble when you're discovered.
The lack of scaling difficulty can make the longer stretches of the game, where you'll have to clear 12 consecutive floors without failure, feel like a chore. It can be fun battling Vice President Helicopter and the rest of the cabinet early on, but encountering the same bosses numerous times thereafter can turn them into tedious, routine affairs--which misses a strong part of the series it's trying to parody.
The core gameplay of sneaking and looting enemy bases struggles to have the same lasting charm as its story, which remains one of the high points. The story remains a fun and amusing sendup throughout--which made me want to continue playing, just to see what sort of dumb plan the main villain has up his sleeve. It's just a bit disappointing how the core gameplay peaks early, and that the game doesn't show any growth beyond character and weapon skins, and additional perks found after story missions.
Never Stop Sneakin' feels like it overstays its welcome at times--but as a whole, it manages to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for one of the PS1's most iconic games. Despite how much ground Never Stop Sneakin' retreads, I still found myself enjoying parts of its replication of a bygone era where games were just starting to tell grander and more elaborate stories with growing tech to back it up. While this parody may be best experienced in small doses, it still has its heart in the right place, and knows exactly how to make fun of the series it has tremendous respect for.
When it comes to video games portraying the atmosphere and tone of its film influences, Alien: Isolation is in a class of its own. Translating the Alien film series into a unique horror game focused on persistent terror as opposed to fleeting cheap thrills, this survival horror experience channels a sense of dread and slow-burn tension that forces players to respect the very thing that stalks them. Though its reception at launch was met with some polarizing responses--including from GameSpot's former reviews editor Kevin VanOrd--and along with modest sales, this comparatively unorthodox take on the Alien franchise became a favorite in the years since its release--even prompting fans to make an unofficial VR mod to amp up the scares.
On the third anniversary of its release and in time for Halloween, GameSpot is taking a look back at Creative Assembly's uncompromising horror game, and how it made players to learn to fear the Xenomorph once again.
Right from outset, Alien: Isolation sets the tone for what players can expect. Its eerie 1977-era 20th Century Fox fanfare opening is a throwback to the beginnings of the Alien franchise. Creative Assembly wears its reverence for the source material on its sleeves, reveling in the iconic 70s retro-futurism that defined the movies. In the game, the nostalgia of it is alluring, but Isolation does more than pay its source material lip-service, it builds on and presents a story of its own that both fits into and enhances the movies.
Ridley Scott's 1979 film is still regarded as one of the most influential and powerful horror films ever. Channeling elements of slasher films and science fiction, the crew of the Nostromo stumble upon a strange alien life-form of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, quickly spiraling out into a fight for survival. Despite their reliance on futuristic, yet run-down technology capable of interstellar space travel, the film was very much a humbling experience for its characters. For survival horror, this feeling of vulnerability and perilousness is an especially vital pillar of the genre--which Alien: Isolation ratchets up considerably throughout.
Initially developed as a third-person stealth action game with an in-depth cover system, the developers at Creative Assembly soon shifted to first-person to have a more intimate feel. Along with this, it introduced design tenets from the immersive-sim sub-genre--a la Dishonored and BioShock--and leaned on the tension and gameplay of classic survival horror games. Set 15 years after the Nostromo's destruction, Alien: Isolation brings Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda to the Space Station Sevastopol to uncover clues behind her mother's disappearance. But of course, an alien organism is already onboard, unleashing a seemingly unstoppable creature focused entirely on picking off members of the space station one by one.
Unlike the bombast of movie's sequels, the game stays true to the first movie's subdued, disquieting feel. Aside from the flamethrower, firearms are the least useful of tools at the player's disposal, as the Alien is invulnerable to bullets, and is always lurking in the vents and tunnels of the station. Alien: Isolation is a re-examination of what horror and the fragility of character is in gaming, hammering the notion that you're trapped, and with no way out.
Video games as a medium have quite a history of boiling complex, highly-intelligent apex predators into a moving target for players to unload bullets into. This is especially true for how the Alien series has evolved in the gaming medium, with most of these games revolving around shooting swarms of Xenomorphs with smart-guns, pulse-rifles--and even with the Predator making an appearance. Because of this, the Alien creature became the quintessential video game cannon-fodder. However, Isolation was cold and cruel in showing players how futile this approach was, instead forcing players to relearn their relationship to the Xenomorph and, ultimately, respect it. While your goals and destination are mostly one-note, Isolation allows players to come up with their own solutions, either from sacrificing resources to craft new items, or by making a bold move to take advantage of nearby enemies as a distraction to make a quick getaway.
With a focus on staying on top of your resources, avoiding enemy encounters when possible, and a static save system that makes simply recording your progress a risk in itself--the main hook of Isolation's design is making players constantly aware of how vulnerable they are. Coming a year after the lackluster and uninspired action-horror game Aliens: Colonial Marines, the developers at Creative Assembly distinguished their Alien game with authenticity. Alien: Isolation, in many ways, relishes in subverting expectations; whether that's making players the prey instead of the predator, or giving players conditioned to expect a shooter something entirely different.
Though Isolation's lead character comes from one of the sequel's deleted scenes, Isolation benefits from extrapolating out what made the original movie memorable. In addition to Amanda, however, are an assortment of side-characters that can be played as in the Survival mode, offering their side of the story on the Sevastopol. As a ramshackle space station falling apart, populated with knock-off Working Joes androids that couldn't be sold off due to how creepy and off-putting they look, the setting feels like a haunted house floating in the cold depths of space. And to make matters worse--there's a high-intelligent, merciless killer lurking about.
Alien: Isolation saw its release in a particularly interesting year for horror gaming. The genre had gone through a rather surprising upswing with notable releases from independent developers like Five Nights at Freddy's, to some more larger scale releases like the enigmatic P.T--the teaser for the now dead Silent Hills. What these games have in common with Alien: Isolation was that they forced players into a position of disempowerment, either keeping them in a specific location, or tasking them with making to it one location from another, while avoiding the gaze of the antagonist.
With the survival horror genre, much of the experience is about humbling the player and getting them to feel the sense of uncertainty that looms throughout their trek. Alien: Isolation isn't about the big victories of taking down bosses over the course of several hours, but rather the smaller victories scattered throughout; slinking back into the shadows as the Xenomorph enters the room, narrowly avoiding certain death, or managing to grab an item of a desk in the same room as a Working Joe. Broadly speaking, Alien: Isolation spends 12-15 hours ratcheting up the tension when needed, and then gradually loosening it up. But in the midst of it all, the ever-present threat of the Xenomorph feels like the touch of fingertips on your neck, threatening to choke the life out of you at a moment's notice. Its delicate cycling of tension feels more like a constant chokehold.
While Creative Assembly and Sega may never make a game like Isolation again, it will be remembered for its bold, brave inventive realisation of the Alien franchise's potential. It understood what the property was capable of beyond the shooting galleries and recycling of cheesy one-liners. Alien: Isolation stands as a remarkable achievement for its re-examination and re-invigoration of the horror experience in gaming, and is likely one of the best things to happen to the Alien franchise in a long time.
2007 was a year in gaming that many still remember fondly. With the successful launches of several remarkable franchises--including Mass Effect, Uncharted, The Witcher, Bioshock, and many more--this particular year in gaming was a whirlwind of high-quality games that pushed the medium forward. Further more, many of the games of 2007 expanded the gaming community in a big way, propelling interest in videogames even further to the general masses.
GameSpot is taking a look back at some of the more notable games of 2007, and the impact they've had in the ten years since their respective releases. While some of these games became the stepping stones for something greater--and others have since fallen into obscurity--the impression they have had is still undeniable, and are worth recognition for their tenth anniversary. Here's a quick selection of games--in order of their respective releases--that made 2007 a year to remember.
Crackdown -- February 20, 2007
For many, buying Crackdown was a necessary obligation, as Microsoft packaged Halo 3's much-anticipated beta with the game. But the second I saw Crackdown, I was immediately intrigued: here was what appeared to be a novel twist on the open-world game, one that wasn't merely trying to mimic GTA. The end result was flawed--driving was terrible, the story was forgettable--but those issues mattered little. Why would you want to drive when you're a superhero who can run at high speed and jump over buildings (letting you collect orbs, further enhancing your jumping ability and producing one of the all-time great sound effects)? Who needs a story when the ones you'll create will inevitably be far better?
Even a decade later, I still have have, crystal-clear memories of two moments showcasing the game's freedom. In a co-op session, my friend wanted to board a tanker full of enemies, but he couldn't yet jump high enough to get on board. We improvised: He got in a car, and I picked it up and threw it onto the ship, letting him go about his business. Another time, a friend and I took part in a race across the city, which involves scaling huge buildings and bounding from one rooftop to the next. My character was outclassed, and as we neared the final checkpoint, I did the only thing I could: I kicked him. Bear in mind, we were high up in the air and I'm playing someone with super strength, so he went flying off the roof, and I casually strolled to victory.
Even today, Crackdown remains a fun game to return to, as there is little like it (some imitators, like Saints Row IV, aside). That's only made the wait for the frequently delayed Crackdown 3 all the more difficult to bear.
-- Chris Pereira, News Editor
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl -- March 20, 2007
Even in 2017, the FPS-RPG hybrid S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is still a shining example of world building. Atmosphere is a nebulous concept when it comes to games, but STALKER nails down the feeling of scraping by in a dangerous, foreboding world. Dynamic weather effects along with smart sound design, especially when it comes to rainfall and thunder, compound the uncertain nature of trekking across a nuclear wasteland. The X-ray graphics engine also featured dynamic lighting and HDR rendering which, to this day, presents a lifelike environment; lamps illuminate rooms realistically and the sun beams between the breaks in the clouds. Character models and animations definitely show their age, but some of STALKER's set pieces stand the test of time.
In many ways, STALKER had issues at its foundation with technical performance and difficulty balance. Around its initial release, frequent crashes and unstable framerates hampered the experience, which was cranked up more than you'd expect by the jankiness of a first-person open-world game. NPCs clipping through walls and spawning inside of geometry--sometimes breaking quests--are just a few examples. Difficulty worked in an odd way in that 'easy' meant everyone (including you) deals less damage, forcing you to pump already-scarce ammo into enemies.
But underneath the lack of technical refinement is a special game that never held my hand. I created my own approaches to combat; often times I questioned whether or not I should engage at all, akin to an immerse sim. Enemy AI is unpredictable and kept me on my toes, making STALKER suspenseful, but it also threw in survival-horror elements alongside its supernatural themes cohesively. But I found the quieter moments just as valuable, like sitting at a campfire with fellow Stalkers as one of them strummed their acoustic guitar.
-- Michael Higham, Tech Editor
Bioshock -- August 21, 2007
Coming from Irrational Games, the creators of the classic PC Action-RPG System Shock 2, the original Bioshock was a throwback in more ways than one. Releasing in August of 2007, it marked the beginning of several high-profile releases for the end of the year period, and this immersive sim ended up being a rather seminal game for console players. For all its action and scenes of grotesque body-horror, this 1950s art-deco inspired romp made a number of surprising and innovation choices when it came to conveying its richly-detailed attempt at a utopia--as imagined by a mid-20th century industrialist--would look like.
Truth be told, this ended up being one of my first encounters with an immersive sim game--albeit scaled back a bit compared to the developer's earlier games. I was instantly taken in by the suspenseful and exciting atmosphere of its setting. Added to this were the creative plasmid abilities and the bizarre, jury-rigged weapons scavenged from the environment. It's not often a game lets you shoot bees out of your hand, and follow up with a shot from your ridiculously modified pistol with a drum barrel attachment.
But above all, I was blown away by the narrative that tied it all together. From listening in on the various audio-logs--which revealed some rather heartbreaking backstories--to witnessing the mad and horrifying musings of deranged artist Sander Cohen, the city of Rapture featured a lot to uncover. The original game was a solid release, and its follow-ups were even better--so it makes me sad to see that the series is now in a state of limbo due to the game studio's restructure. Still, the effect Bioshock had on me--and it's incredibly subversive twist--is something I'll never forget.
-- Alessandro Fillari, Editor
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption -- August 27, 2007
Retro Studios' third take on the Metroid series, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, arrived within the first 10 months of the Wii's lifecycle, and it served as a proof of concept for the motion controlled console. Prior to the system's launch, Nintendo had advertised the Wii Remote as the perfect controller for first-person shooters, but the only notable one to release for it up to that point was Ubisoft's Red Steel, which many fans and critics--myself included--found to be mediocre.
As such, Corruption was the first major showcase for the Wii Remote's potential for "hardcore" games, and it brilliantly proved how the unorthodox controller could benefit certain genres when used smartly. As much as I loved the first two Metroid Primes, Corruption was a much snappier experience; you could shoot enemies much more quickly and accurately than before thanks to the Wii Remote's IR pointer. Also, the game made clever use of motion controls by using them to disengage locks on some doors or cast your Grapple Beam and rip shields off of certain enemies.
That wasn't the extent of Corruption's innovations. For the first time in the series, players could control Samus's gunship and use it to travel between different planets or call it in to carpet bomb an area via a special visor. The game also featured some of the most visually stunning environments in a Metroid title to date; I'll never forget the awe I felt the first time I stepped into the overgrown briar jungles of Bryyo or the floating steampunk city SkyTown. Corruption's controls were so influential that Nintendo would apply them to both previous Prime games and re-release the entire trilogy in one collection, which still stands as one of my personal favorite game compilations.
-- Kevin Knezevic, Associate News Editor
Skate -- September 13, 2007
There isn't a single sports game that captures its respective culture better than Skate has with skateboarding. And as someone who has been obsessed with skateboarding since 1999, I couldn't have fallen harder for it. While Tony Hawk's arcade-y gameplay feels more like what would happen if Superman jumped on a board, Skate introduces players to the actual foundation of skating: the repeated tackling of a specific spot until that elusive trick is finally nailed.
Watch any skate video, and you'll see these monstrous feats performed by seemingly ordinary people who make it look easy. Heck, I can't tell you how frustrated seven-year-old me got when I realized I had no idea how to do a Benihana. I'd try my hardest to pull off the simplest trick, attempt after attempt after attempt. And that's what you don't see in those videos: the dozens and dozens of tries it takes to perfect these tricks.
Skate puts you into the shoes of an actual skater, pushing you to pull off your most daring trick with nothing but your thumbs. There are no stat upgrades, level ups, or higher-grade boards. You get better the same way real skaters do: practice. Mastering Skate's revolutionary right-analog trick system is something you have to do all on your own and, just like real skateboarding, it's endlessly rewarding to see your hard work pay off. I can't even begin to describe the feeling I have when I learn something new, which is still something I experience from time to time as I continue to play the series.
In many ways, it feels like Skate's ideals come from a different era. Many games at the time and even today make you feel like you're getting better by giving you a new, cooler-looking way to kill your enemies. However, being in complete control of your board, and knowing you can do anything with it, feels similar to when you've mastered Mario and memorized all of his levels. The biggest difference is that you can't break any of Mario's bones and get rewarded for doing so. 1-0 Skate.
-- Mat Paget, Video Producer
Halo 3 -- September 25, 2007
If Halo 2 sparked the existence of Xbox Live, Halo 3 made it a necessity. Bungie's third game in the revered series was a confluence of seamless matchmaking and remarkable design, and to this date, still one of the best multiplayer titles the medium has produced.
Halo 3 took everything that made its predecessor's multiplayer excellent, and expanded upon it in every way. Curated playlists attracted millions of players, ranked matchmaking ensured a balanced experience, and new game modes poured out of the customization options available, creating one of the more vibrant multiplayer communities we've seen. This all ignores the fact that Halo 3's maps were stellar, unfolding across industrial landscapes, urban environments, and alien facilities. Halo 3 became the paragon for the multiplayer games that followed.
And while its story is serviceable, it remains one of the series' weakest. It's convoluted and self-indulgent, and relies on the franchise's outside lore far too much. The Master Chief was never the most compelling character to begin with, but in Halo 3, Bungie's writers wandered in circles before settling on a cliffhanger that never felt earned. In terms of gameplay, though, the campaign's level design and momentum make up for any of its blemishes elsewhere. Halo 3's campaign is good, and nothing more.
Many developers today seem attracted to the idea of "games as a service," creating platforms rather than games, adding incremental features and attractions to sparse foundations. Bungie itself does so with Destiny 2. But 10 years after its incredibly hyped release, Halo 3 is still alive in the form of its Master Chief Collection re-release. Its playlists hum with the sound of players who remember why they fell in love with Bungie's work to begin with. It's 2017, but Halo 3 is still proof: that the best way for developers to keep players invested is to make an amazing game.
-- Mike Mahardy, Video Producer
Portal -- October 9, 2007
When Valve released the Orange Box back in 2007, the addition of Portal seemed like an interesting, experimental extra that was meant to balance the package's otherwise big name titles. And while Team Fortress 2 continues to be an important franchise (albeit just on PC), and the hankering for a conclusion to Half-Life still haunts gamers today, Portal was the true blockbuster standout.
Spawning enduring memes, a sequel in Portal 2, and a glut of merchandise (including plushies and mugs), the original Portal holds up today as both a brilliant puzzle game and a hilarious, well-acted comedy. Since it was part of a larger package with other well-known franchises, Portal's relatively short three-hour runtime didn't seem like as much of a detriment as it would if the game had been a standalone release. But in hindsight, the game's length is what makes it such a fine-tuned experience. The game's challenging puzzles ramp up in difficulty, and it provides a satisfying slice of Half-Life side-story while never outstaying its welcome by dragging the experience down with tedious busywork.
But the performances of Portal's central character is what make it a modern masterpiece. While you serve as a silent protagonist throughout the game, you're constantly talked to by The AI construct GLaDOS. Over the course of events, GLaDOS slowly reveals its true intent and personality through both witty dialogue and deadpan delivery. And the game's ending credits song, "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton, rounds out the experience--like the game itself, it's a humorous earwarm that sticks with you long after you're done with it.
Ten years later, Portal has a strange legacy. Few games have tried to imitate it, and none have approached the same level of enduring popularity or pop culture relevance. And Valve itself only followed up Portal with a single sequel before ignoring the Half-Life mythos entirely. Portal stands alone, an example of concise, carefully constructed design that marries puzzle-solving, clever gameplay mechanics, and hilarity in a way that is still unmatched by any other game.
-- Justin Haywald, Managing Editor
Team Fortress 2 -- October 10, 2007
What started as a Quake mod (Team Fortress) evolved into the model example of what a class-based competitive FPS should be. Building off of the popular Half-Life mod in Team Fortress Classic, Valve refined the multiplayer shooter with exceptional map design for both symmetrical and asymmetrical gameplay in objective-based game modes. Many of my Summer and Winter days were dedicated to pushing the payload back-and-forth while keeping a watchful eye for Spies at the iconic 2fort map. I'd lead flag capturing as a Scout, hopping across corridors, furiously dodging Soldier rockets and Demoman grenades only to be met by Engineer turrets around the corner. It was a never-ending game of adapting to enemy tactics and team composition.
The most striking difference with Team Fortress 2 was in its presentation. Instead of using the Half-Life aesthetic as its foundation, TF2 went for a light-hearted, cartoon art-style that exuded personality and breathed life into characters who would've otherwise just been avatars for a particular class. This visual approach fed into the gameplay; the expressive and colorful nature allowed you to spend more time assessing situations instead of trying to figure out what's even happening.
Like many modern multiplayer games that hope to have a long lifespan, changes need to be made aside from balance fixes. Team Fortress 2 went free-to-play in 2011 and introduced microtransactions for cosmetics and equipment. This shift bolstered the player-base and provided major profits for Valve, allowing the game to live on and stay relevant without sacrificing its foundation.
Today, Blizzard's Overwatch carries the torch for class-based multiplayer shooters, but the seeds were sowed by Team Fortress 2 which is still going strong considering it has been a decade since its launch.
-- Michael Higham, Tech Editor
Half-Life 2: Episode Two -- October 10, 2007
Fact: we've been without a new Half-Life game for ten years. Originally released alongside Team Fortress 2 and Portal, Half-Life 2: Episode Two picked up where the previous part left off, with Gordon and Alyx Vance on the run outside City 17. Since the release of Half-Life 2 in 2004--which was also the first game I played when I purchased a new computer after high-school graduation--it set the bar for storytelling in a single-player FPS, showing that it was possible to balance fast action with a solid and rich narrative. While the concept of the series is simple--a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time being the only hope for humanity--the execution is anything but.
Though the Half-Life series is known for its approach to linear storytelling, Episode Two opened things up a bit with more explorable spaces, along with a handy makeshift vehicle that could over great distances in short time. This installment did a lot of interesting things with the familiar set-pieces and battles that its predecessors pushed forward, and with a cliffhanger ending that teased the intersection of storylines from Portal--a sequel in the form of Episode Three or even Half-Life 3 looked to be an exciting thing. But that follow up never came.
While fans have made certainly made the best of it with creative mods, along with a full remake of Half-Life 1 in Source--which Valve gave their blessing to--reports in the years that followed Episode Two showed that development on the sequel never gained much traction. The one glimmer of hope we all had recently was former-Valve writer Marc Laidlaw releasing a script for one of the proposed games--which fans promptly turned into a playable mod. Still, we've now been without a Half-Life game even longer than it took Valve to make HL2. Which is a rather depressing thought.
-- Alessandro Fillari, Editor
The Witcher -- October 30, 2007
Between titans such as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Mass Effect, a small team in Poland developed an ambitious RPG based on a popular polish book series. The developer set out to make a dark, role-playing adventure that took the atmosphere and grit from the source material, and translate it into a game. That game was The Witcher.
Rather than giving the player the option to role play as a hero or villain, CD Projekt Red presented the player with morally grey choices that led to unforeseen consequences. There is no good vs evil in The Witcher. Sometimes the "right" decision, could be a fatal one. You navigate this world as the famed Witcher--or monster slayer--Geralt of Rivia. As a Witcher, Geralt isn't supposed to show emotion, intervene in the affairs of humans, elves, and dwarves--and must only keep to himself. But anyone who's played a Witcher game knows that there are multitudes to Geralt's personality.
And all of this fed into a twisted, dark fantasy tale that broke conventions and flipped the genre on its head. But more importantly, The Witcher laid the groundwork for CD Projekt Red to continually push their vision and expectations further and further. Now, despite CDPR's humble beginnings, The Witcher series has become the gold standard for an RPG experience.
-- Jake Dekker, Video Producer
Super Mario Galaxy -- November 1 (Japan) 12 (US), 2007
Nearly a full 10 years before Mario's first Switch title, Super Mario Odyssey, took players on a globetrotting adventure to some of the strangest locales in the series' history, Mario boldly went where no other plumber had gone before in Super Mario Galaxy. Expectations typically run high with the release of any Mario game, but Galaxy in particular had a lot to prove to me when it debuted back in 2007. Not only was it the first Mario title to launch for what was at the time Nintendo's latest console, the Wii, it was also the plumber's first 3D adventure since Super Mario Sunshine--a fun game that I ultimately thought was disappointing compared to the groundbreaking Super Mario 64.
Despite the lofty expectations it faced, Galaxy would quickly become another classic Mario adventure and mark the beginning of a veritable renaissance for the series. Rather than following the sandbox-style approach of Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine, Galaxy pared back its levels to more linear platforming challenges, affording the developers greater control over the pace and flow of the adventure. And they certainly took advantage of it, crafting a breathlessly creative series of challenges that surprised and delighted me at every turn. New Galaxies and objectives would open up at a rapid pace, and the game introduced and discarded gameplay ideas so frequently that it never had a chance to grow stale.
The game's sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, would arrive three years later and further refine the gameplay ideas it introduced, but the first remains my personal favorite because of how it continually surprised me and laid the foundation for all future 3D Mario games. That traces of it could still be felt in some of Odyssey's levels and challenges further illustrates just how influential Super Mario Galaxy was to the series and why it remains one of the best titles Nintendo has ever released.
-- Kevin Knezevic, Associate News Editor
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- November 5, 2007
When it came out in 2007, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare marked the blockbuster series' first foray out of WWII and into a contemporary setting--and the first shooter I'd ever played that took place in the present, inspired by a war that was currently being fought.
While the campaign was still bombastic action-movie fare, it had (and still has) some of the most memorable and impactful moments in the series. The opening credits, in which you, the president of an ambiguous Middle Eastern country, witness a coup d'etat as you're driven to your execution was a haunting introduction to the game's conflict. The nuclear explosion in Shock and Awe and the short death sequence in the following mission, Aftermath, took me out of the power fantasy and forced me to face the futility of war. And All Ghillied Up and Mile High Club remain two standout FPS missions for their level design and total change of pace from the rest of the campaign.
Modern Warfare also moved multiplayer forward, introducing the now-standard Create-a-Class. Being able to customize a loadout, coupled with the new perks system, redefined multiplayer for the series and inspired many other games to come.
-- Kallie Plagge, Associate Editor
Crysis -- November 15, 2007
Back in the 2000s, PC Gaming had gone through a significant resurgence. With games like Half-Life 2 and World of Warcraft offering players rich experiences that pushed their genres forward, there were also other titles that put the average PC gamer's rig through its paces. Crysis was released on November 13 2007, and it would eventually go on to become the benchmark for PC performance at the time. In 2007, my PC was mostly built for games like Half-Life 2 (three years old at this point), so seeing videos of Crysis running at max settings was a sight to behold, and it had me wondering if I would be able to experience the game.
Crysis is a standard shooter putting you in the shoes of a super-soldier who could single-handedly take down an opposing army and alien invaders. The main setup and story is unremarkable and cliche, but what it did do well was mixing linear storytelling with an open-ended mission design in a lush jungle setting. While the story took itself seriously, the gameplay often revelled in goofy action, allowing you throw chickens with maximum strength, to even strange an enemy soldier with one hand and firing a rifle with the other.
Playing Crysis for myself was somewhat of a mixed experienced, as my rig struggled to run it at medium to low settings with several FPS drops throughout. Still, I was blown away by the game, and it still stands out an incredibly solid and varied shooter. While Crysis is no longer the PC benchmark--and its two sequels fell short of matching the original--Crysis is still a solid shooter that manages to impress with its visuals to this day. It also made me more aware of general PC upkeep, which is always important.
-- Alessandro Fillari, Editor
Assassin's Creed -- November 16, 2007
I'll always remember the first Assassin's Creed trailer: a mysterious hooded assassin running through a busy crowd and jumping onto an unsuspecting evildoer to stab him with a hidden blade. These elements would go on to define the series, but in that moment in time, it was all so fresh and new. From its distinct setting and time period to its crowd-based stealth mechanics and free-running maneuvers, the first Assassin's Creed exuded a design philosophy that was innovative and different from most contemporary action-adventure games of the time. And the surprises didn't stop. People widely assumed that Assassin's Creed was strictly a period-piece, but when the game first released, it was revealed there was actually a modern-day component to its narrative.
As a game, Assassin's Creed was unable to truly live up to the high expectations set by its ambitious ideas. Its overtly bland main protagonist and repetitive mission structure often brought the game down. However, its conspiracy laden plot, its authentic recreation of a historical era, and the allure of the Animus as a device that could explore the memories of a person's ancestors were fascinating elements that still remain with series.
While the first Assassin's Creed may not be my favorite in the series, it's difficult to deny how exciting of a beginning it was to the then fledgling franchise. In many ways, Assassin's Creed set the tone for the seventh console generation, pushing the level of interactivity you could have in a game with not only the environment but the characters encounter. To be able to climb any building in the world, evade enemies in plain sight, and explore an era barely touched upon in games was a jaw-dropping experience. Ten years later, the first Assassin's Creed is still an impressive display of creative ambition that's well worth looking back at, despite the stronger execution of its subsequent entries.
-- Matt Espineli, Associate Editor
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- November 19, 2007
As a PlayStation first party developer making a transition to the PlayStation 3, Naughty Dog left behind the cartoony aesthetic of its PS2-era Jak and Daxter series to a new richer-looking franchise for Sony's third console. Their answer was Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a Tomb Raider-inspired adventure that strove to package engaging gunplay, exploration, and puzzle solving in one cinematic escapade. While all those elements were seldom delivered in equal measure in the series' 10-year history, it established Uncharted as the best Sony exclusive series of the past decade.
Uncharted improved upon early 21st century gaming trends, particularly the rise of cover-based shooting, innovated by Kill.Switch and popularized by Gears of War. This type of combat was well-suited in capturing countless pulse-racing moments its protagonist, Nathan Drake faced. Whether hiding behind a column or a low wall, the player connected to Drake's precarious situations. His less than confident here-goes-nothing approach to harrowing predicaments was emblematic of the late 2000s wave of everyman heroes that dotted the story-driven gaming landscape.
Although I had missed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune the year it released, I discovered its greatness in anticipation of the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. As a lover of the cinematic qualities of narrative-driven games, I had the strong drive to play each of those games in single sittings. These aren't essential ways to play those games, but such playthroughs allow the player to appreciate the well-crafted and cohesive movie-like flow of Nathan Drake's treasure quests. By the time Uncharted 4 came out, I was content beating that epic adventure in multiple sittings, which you can say speaks to how the series had long since transcended the film medium that so heavily inspired it.
-- Miguel Concepcion, Editor
Mass Effect -- November 20, 2007
2017 has been a rough year for the Mass Effect franchise with the disastrous launch of Andromeda being the butt of many jokes. Its initial goal was a noble one, looking to the first game's unique ideas for inspiration. That's why now more than ever, it's important to look back on what the original game did ten years ago.
As the introduction to the expansive Mass Effect universe, BioWare created a world filled with loveable characters and plenty of detail. The game's Codex functioned as an in-game encyclopedia letting dedicated players learn everything about the Milky Way's many planets and species. The core of it though is a fun sci-fi adventure, where as Commander Shepard, you get to make meaningful choices that not only affect the story, but the story in future games to follow. This commitment to player choice along with the creation of the now ubiquitous dialogue wheel, is probably Mass Effect's most lasting legacy for many other RPGs and story based games. For BioWare, it represented a new era of cinematic RPGs. The dynamic camera angles and facial detail brought, for the time, an unseen level of quality to the game's presentation.
Many aspects of Mass Effect have aged poorly such as the weak combat, and its beautiful but empty collection planets. While its sequels' with their improved combat and design are arguably better games, it's the original's ambitious attempt to create an explorable galaxy that still in many ways hasn't been matched and maybe one day a game will realize that vision.
-- Jean-Luc Seipke, Video Producer
Rock Band -- November 20, 2007
In 2007, peripheral-based rhythm games were starting to experience massive success in the West thanks to developer Harmonix's Guitar Hero series. The genre was initially more popular in Japan, but Harmonix's work allowed it to gain a wider reach in Western markets. While the company garnered massive success with Guitar Hero, it wasn't until its work on Rock Band where it reached greatness.
On the surface, Rock Band felt like a simple collection of established ideas, copying and pasting the timing-based mechanics of other peripheral-based rhythm games into single cooperative experience. But the way the game elegantly brought together each of its disparate parts made it so much more than what came before. By virtue of its premise, the game was undeniably alluring. After all, who didn't want to feel like they were playing in a rock band? The game allowed you the opportunity to feel like you were in a live band, playing together in (at times) perfect sync.
When Rock Band first released, it became the pillar of every party I went to during that year. Hours upon hours were spent jamming out with the game's array of plastic instruments, with eyes transfixed on the incoming notes down instrument lanes. Vocal cords were worn down, as the mic was traded between players from song to song. When Rock Band was in the room, it didn't matter if you played games or not, everyone wanted to be a part of the experience. And with how easy to pick up it was, there were often little boundaries to overcome to get enjoyment out of singing or playing guitar, bass, and drums. Rock Band possessed universal appeal, easily bridging the gap between casual and hardcore players.
Unfortunately, the rhythm game phenomenon that spurred from Rock Band's success eventually ended. With the oversaturation of rhythm games in the market, the series declined in popularity not long after the release of its third entry. However, the Rock Band series has since maintained a cult following. In fact, a Rock Band 4 was eventually released in 2015. While its latest entry received lukewarm reception, Harmonix continues to support the community, continually releasing DLC songs to this day.
By Anonymous on Dec 23, 2017 06:30 am GameSpot has been around for a very long time, here is a video with every game we have every awarded with GameSpot's Game of the Year award.
By Anonymous on Dec 23, 2017 06:30 am This years collection of the best trailers from film and TV is truly exceptional. Greg is here to countdown the 10 best trailers of 2017!
The video game medium and its community are no stranger to weird rumors and stories that can slowly spiral into something more. From the early days of gossip at the arcades to the 24-7 cycle of communication on the internet, certain games have managed to latch onto our collective interest, pulling us into a deeper web of intrigue and suspicion that can blur the lines between fact and fiction. Because of this, several stories--some skeptical, and others entirely fictional--have added a level of scrutiny and mystique to certain games.
With this in mind, GameSpot is taking a look back on the many urban legends that have sprouted out from video game community. While some of these stories are hotly debated, and others have since been admitted to be an elaborate hoax or misunderstanding, the impact of these events have had--and what they've done to the gaming community--still lingers. Here are nine of the most bizarre and strange urban legends in gaming.
The Legend Of The Nude Tomb Raider Code
Starting off with one of the more infamous gaming urban legends, the Lara Croft nude code was a phenomenon that surrounded the original Tomb Raider in 1996 and ended up drawing far more attention to the game than it could on its own. Originating from a nude patch from the developers at Core Design, which was intended for generic character design and programming purposes, gamers on PC caught wind of this and sought ways to produce this for their own games.
Eventually, rumors began to spread online about a secret nude code for console versions of the game. While the developers continually denied the existence of such a code, crafty gamers on PC eventually made their own custom mods that allowed them to create their own "Nude Raider." Most console gamers were unaware of the specifics of PC mods and assumed it was a secret part of the game after searching for images online, adding further mystique and attention to it. Moreover, game cheat devices jumped on the wave of interest, even advertising that their devices would allow access to naked Lara Croft.
It didn't take long for news outlets to pick up the story about a naked female character in a video game, adding more scrutiny to Tomb Raider. Due to the unwanted attention, publisher Eidos took action against websites that hosted mods and access to data on nude mods, resulting in several cease and desist letters from their legal team. Though proving they still had a sense of humor about it, the developer added the rumored nude code in the Tomb Raider sequels, resulting in Lara Croft suffering an instant death from spontaneous combustion. Still, this particular code became infamous due to its unusual nature and how the internet gossip machine turned a simple developer tool into something more than it really was.
The Strange Prank From The Classic Gaming Magazine -- Street Fighter II: Shen Long Unlock
In the pre-internet era, gaming magazines were an invaluable resource for fans to gain knowledge and stay up to date on the latest news, tips, and tricks. But when Electronic Gaming Monthly--one of the premiere video game outlets of the time--took the opportunity to pull a prank on fans of Street Fighter II, it started a lasting and common misconception about an incredibly popular game, which ironically inspired the developers at Capcom to introduce new features to the game.
In Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, there were references to a specific character known as Shen Long, the master of Shoto fighters Ryu and Ken. According to EGM in a 1992 issue, there was a way to battle and unlock the character if players managed to clear the game on a no-damage run with Ryu. When fighting M. Bison, players would have to force the match into a draw by avoiding damage from the Shadaloo leader and without dealing any damage themselves. After several rounds, Shen Long would come onto the scene and engage in a fight to the death. Due to the popularity of the game, there was a large amount of interest in uncovering its secrets, and tips on how to unlock a new character quickly spread around the world. EGM eventually stated it was an elaborate prank in their following issue, but the scrutiny the magazine received from this prank didn't stop the editors from doing it once more in the 1997 April Fool's issue for Street Fighter III.
However, this particular urban legend resulted in a pleasant turn of events that put a surprising end to this myth. Over the years, the developers at Capcom were continually hounded by rumors and references to Shen Long from fans, but were still humbled at the wave of interest that came to the game. This hoax would eventually go on to inspire the demonic antagonist Akuma, who barges into fights in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and is now an established characters in the series. When the long-awaited Street Fighter IV was finally ready for its release--which was set sometime after the events of SFII--they introduced Gouken to the roster. While similar to Shen Long, Gouken is an original character and separate from the Shen Long referenced in-game, and the game features more advanced versions of Ryu, Ken, and Akuma's fighting styles.
The Most Dangerous Arcade Game: Polybius
As one of the more infamous gaming urban legends, the Polybius arcade cabinet has a reputation for being the most dangerous video game ever made. But of course, the claims and lack of evidence make this one hard to believe. According to myth, an arcade in Portland, Oregon during the early '80s possessed a strange arcade machine named Polybius. It was essentially a top-down shooter with bright and chaotic vector graphics, and you'd have to clear out waves of enemies to make it on the high-score list.
What makes this particular game so unusual was that players who came in contact with it were apparently met with severe nausea, night terrors, panic attacks, and other psychological effects after playing. Eventually, witnesses claimed that several men in black visited the arcade to take data from the machine before carting it off. The game was never seen again after that.
There were never any public records of Polybius, nor any details of the developers or even a publisher. While there have been many instances of players falling ill after long-term gaming from other titles, particularly of the tragic case of a young teen playing several hours of the arcade game Berzerk and suffering a heart attack, Polybius looks to be a tall tale resulting from an amalgamation of true gaming horror stories and government conspiracy theories. Some communities online focusing on retro-gaming have even made mock versions of Polybius based on descriptions found online. Hoax or not, the myth of Polybius continues to live on.
The Curse Of The Madden Cover
Becoming the cover athlete for the annual Madden football series should feel like a high honor, but over the years it's become something that many fans and players dread. Dubbed the "Madden Curse," almost every athlete that has graced the cover of the EA's Madden series over the last twenty years has either performed poorly during the following season or received an injury. As one of the few urban legends with real-world ramifications, this supposed curse has many fans and pro football players nervous. While some cover stars managed to avoid the curse, many were not so lucky, giving this urban legend some added believability.
While there are many years to cover, there are a couple notable standouts for the Madden Curse. On the cover of Madden 2002, Daunte Culpepper of the Minnesota Vikings made a name for himself as a starting quarterback straight out of college. But he soon found himself with a serious knee injury in the following season after making the cover and subsequently missed the rest of the 2001 season. In another, more unusual instance, Madden 2010 featured two cover athletes--Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals and Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers--resulting in further belief of the curse. While Fitzgerald had a largely solid season that year, Polamalu did not, with two injuries that caused him to miss several games.
Currently, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is the cover athlete for Madden 18. Though his season has been spectacular so far, and he's gone on record to say that the Madden Curse isn't real, though there's still that apprehension from fans who are worried that the curse will strike at the worst possible time.
The Strange Occurrence Of The Voxel Doppelganger: Minecraft
During the early years of Minecraft's dominance of the gaming market, there were many stories of players experiencing bizarre and strange events from the game. Since Minecraft is set in a procedurally generated world, and has many enemies hiding underneath the dense caverns and ruins under the surface, players can encounter all sorts of surprises if they dig long and hard enough. But there have been other instances where players have come into contact with something so unusual and haunting that it would seem like it wasn't supposed to be part of the game.
On an online forum, a player claimed to have encountered a strange, white eyed doppelganger of the hero while exploring. Initially keeping its distance, this character known as Herobrine continually stalked the player, even venturing inside his home. One streamer in particular encountered Herobrine, which was documented on his livestream, but many claim it to be a hoax. Since it came from an online forum, many speculated that it was an elaborate trick to attract interest. Still, that didn't stop players from becoming fascinated by the event, even coming up with their own backstories for the character and where it came from.
Due to the popularity of Herobrine and other scary moments players had in-game, Mojang introduced a number of horror themed updates, including Slenderman-esque creatures known as Endermen, and other creatures that unnerve players while exploring at night, which attracted the interest of horror enthusiasts. Still, Herobrine in particular is an odd case, and while many players believe it to be just an elaborate story, the developers aren't shy about making references to the community legend in their patch notes, continually stating over several updates that Herobrine has been removed from the game.
Ben Drowned: The Haunting In The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask
In another strange case of a cursed video game, Ben Drowned is an infamous urban legend about an elusive and apparently haunted copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. While the game on its own is creepy and remarkably bleak, detailing a world on the brink of destruction, the Ben Drowned myth created a far deeper sense of dread. One anonymous user who came across this copy of the game detailed his experiences with the corrupted version Majora's Mask online.
As the story goes, the user found an unmarked copy of Majora's Mask for the N64 and went home to play it on his Nintendo 64. After loading up the game, he entered the menu screen and saw a lone save file with the name "BEN" listed on the page. Ignoring this, he created a new save file, but over the course of his playthrough, characters referred to him as only "BEN". What followed took the user through a nightmarish version of Majora's Mask, with distorted music and visual effects populating the many safe areas, and even an enigmatic statue resembling Link routinely stalking the player throughout his journey--which he detailed with videos and pictures on his personal social media pages.
This story hits many notes found from a popular urban legend, but what is interesting about it was the reaction it got from other players. Many were entranced and disturbed by the journey this particular user went on and followed along with the updates and media that were posted after. Due to its popularity, the urban legend eventually spiralled out into a popular ARG event, with users online trying to figure out what or how the game came to be. Even many years after, the case of Ben Drowned still stands as one of the strangest events to happen online.
The Shadow People of Shiverburn Valley -- Super Mario Galaxy 2
While Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a vibrant and colorful game focusing on Mario's exploits venturing out into a vast universe and that tests your reflexes, there's an odd and unsettling presence in one of the levels that put a number of players on edge. In the Shiverburn Valley level, there's a cluster of dark figures standing atop one of the nearby mountains. While they make no contact with Mario, nor do they ever come down from their cliff, their presence had many players bothered nonetheless.
Some players, not looking to leave this well enough alone, began extracting data from the game's files and uncovered some odd details about the level. According to people that sifted through Super Mario Galaxy 2's data, the file with the image of the shadow people is known is "HellValleySkyTree," giving players the impression that this could be a part of a something hidden in the game. This caused many players to look around the stage for clues and hidden passages, though none were found. Despite many fans strongly believing that this has a connection to an elaborate secret held within the game, the shadow people standing on top of the mountain are never seen again after Shiverburn Valley.
What makes this particular event so unusual is that it often conflicts with the style and visuals set by Super Mario Galaxy, making the Shadow People really stick out. While claims that they're the remnants of a lost level for Galaxy 2 are still common, with clues pointing to "Hell Valley" being a level that's no longer in the game, there's been nothing conclusive. Nintendo unfortunately hasn't been much help, choosing not to comment on the strange presence in the level. With no comments from the developers, this has left fans to come up with their own theories and ideas of who the shadow people are and where they came from.
The Search For The Elusive Bigfoot Of San Andreas -- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
At the time of its release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was biggest game in the popular open-world series. Featuring three distinct locations, along with deserts, forests, and coastal areas surrounding the main cities, there was a lot of ground to cover. Because of this, players claimed to have seen some rather bizarre sights and oddities while traveling--such as a strange run-down car with no driver and derelict houses with a strange presence inside. But one of these stories sticks out more than others, and that's of the infamous Bigfoot, who many claimed could be found inside one of the game's more dense locations.
San Andreas featured a plethora of easter eggs, secrets, and odd references to real-life events and locations,so it wasn't too hard to believe that there would some secrets that would go a bit further than others. As the legend goes, Bigfoot could be found lurking deep within the woods of Flint County. This rumor began to spread when players noticed the name "Big Foot" in the game manual's Special Thanks section, making players believe that this was in fact a clue that the infamous Sasquatch was in the game. While some players posted videos and pictures of their encounters, the veracity of their evidence came into question. With countless players searching for Bigfoot in the PS2 release of the game, everyone turned up short with little to show for it.
Eventually, San Andreas found its way to PC, resulting in a number of mods adding an actual Bigfoot to the game. Unfortunately, this was more of salve to the urban legend, and didn't actually offer resolution for fans. As the years went on, and other games from Rockstar had come and gone, the developers decided to make some acknowledgements of the myths behind Sasquatch in San Andreas in both Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V, which poked fun at the appearances of the fabled creature. While John Marston found himself responsible for the near-extinction of Sasquatch in the Undead Nightmare expansion, GTA V featured a more humourous take on the legend, having Franklin hunt down a Bigfoot impersonator who simply had an unhealthy interest in the creature.
The Curious Case Of Lavender Town Syndrome -- Pokemon Red & Blue
While many Pokemon fans remember the first generation of games fondly, there are a number of morbid and bizarre myths surrounding it. Along with the story of the rare Pokemon Black version--a supposedly hacked version of Pokemon Blue that features only Ghost Pokemon and an increasingly dark plot--one particularly dark urban legend surrounding the original Pokemon unfortunately has some basis in reality.
Known as Lavender Town Syndrome, this urban legend speaks of a strange trance-like feeling players fall into when inside the dark and moody Lavender Town. As one of the more creepy areas of Pokemon, the town featured graves of fallen Pokemon and also housed a number of Ghost Pokemon within its central tower. This gave the setting a somewhat haunted vibe, making it contrast heavily with other more whimsical areas. Adding to this was the music, which was equally eerie also a far cry from the hopeful songs heard in other towns. Because of this, Nintendo made some adjustments to the game's music for its western release--lowering the pitch and frequencies of some beats and notes of the theme--as they felt it would be too off-putting for international audiences.
Around the height of Pokemon's popularity in the '90s, there were several reports in Japan of fans developing an unhealthy interest in the game. During this time, many health experts attributed Pokemon to the wave of deaths among the young population at the time, most of whom were playing the game. Fans online noticed the differences between the songs for Lavender Town in the West and back in Japan, and wondered if there was a connection--which resulted in the Urban Legend of Lavender Town Syndrome. While these theories are purely speculation, this particular urban legend gained popularity over the years as Pokemon caught on in the West.
Looking for a way to ring in the new year that involves little more than your couch and a TV? Luckily for you, the start of a new month means new movies and TV shows added to several streaming services--including Hulu.
In terms of movies, there are a number of standout titles being added to the streamer, but none quite as excellent as both films in the Bill & Ted series. Both Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey arrive on January 1, along with movies like Zodiac, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Karate Kid 1-4, and Grizzly Man.
For TV, new seasons of Fear the Walking Dead, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Homeland all arrive. January will also see the addition of many cooking shows, with new episodes of Cutthroat Kitchen, Beat Bobby Flay, Cupcake Wars, and Great Food Truck Race among the titles arriving.
As expected after services like the PlayStation Store and Steam launched their respective holiday sales, Microsoft has followed suit. The Countdown to 2018 sale is now live on the Xbox Store, discounting hundreds of games for Xbox One and Xbox 360. All of these are available now, but there will also be a new daily deal rotated in every day to keep players checking in frequently.
Many older titles are on sale as well, including Forza Horizon 3 for $25 and its expansion pass (consisting of the Blizzard Mountain and Hot Wheels DLC packs, which are both great) for $10.49. There's also a pricing quirk that returns from the Black Friday sale; The Witcher 3 sells for $20 (or $24 without Gold), but the Complete Edition--which includes its solid DLC expansions--sells for the same price for Gold members (or $25 without Gold). Other deals of note include:
More than 650 deals in all are available across the two platforms, according to Microsoft. And, as noted above, you'll also find a daily deal; the first of these is Halo Wars 2 for $16 (or $20 without Gold). You can see all the deals for yourself here; the sale runs from now through December 31.
Just in case the big PSN holiday sale going on didn't offer enough ways to blow your money, Sony has launched another promotion on top of it. A limited-time flash sale is now live on the PlayStation Store, discounting a number of PlayStation games just before Christmas. However, unlike most flash sales on PSN, this one will last a big longer than usual.
Vita owners are completely out of luck with this flash sale, and there's very little in the way of PS3 discounts. PS3 owners can, however, pick up Persona 5 for $33. The two older platforms do have more games on sale as part of the existing holiday sale.
Rather than being a weekend-only event, this flash sale runs for a few extra days, ending on December 27 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. A day earlier, on December 26, we may see another set of deals added to the holiday sale, as we did this past week. That promotion offers additional discounts in many cases for PS Plus subscribers, but the flash sale offers the same pricing to all PSN members. You can see everything in the flash sale here.
Developer Polyphony Digital is rolling out the first big update for Gran Turismo Sport. Patch 1.10 arrives today, December 22, and introduces a load of additional content to PS4 racing sim, including a new mode and a dozen new cars.
Headlining the update is GT League, a new single-player game mode that features several different series of races to challenge. These include races that have appeared in previous Gran Turismo titles, such as Sunday Cup, Clubman Cub, and FF Challenge. Polyphony says you'll "be able to tune and race a wide variety of cars" in the new mode.
In addition to GT League, patch 1.10 introduces a total of 12 new cars to Gran Turismo Sport, including new additions to the Lamborghini and Ferrari lines. You can find the full list, as well as screenshots of some of the new cars, below:
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (C3)
Chris Holstrom Concepts 1967 Chevy Nova
Ferrari Enzo Ferrari
Ferrari F40
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
KTM X-BOW R
Lamborghini Countach LP400
Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD)
Nissan Skyline GT-R V Spec II (R32)
Nissan Skyline GT-R V Spec II Nür (R34)
Suzuki Swift Sport
Volkswagen Samba Bus Type 2 (T1)
You can read more about patch 1.10 on the PlayStation Blog. Gran Turismo Sport was released exclusively for PS4 back in October. GameSpot awarded it an 8 out of 10 in our Gran Turismo Sport review. Critic James Swinbanks said the game "offers a wonderfully detailed and responsive driving experience along with arguably the cleanest and most competitive online racing on a console to date."
Bandai Namco has released another new character trailer for Dragon Ball FighterZ. The latest video focuses on Super Saiyan Blue Goku, the Saiyan's most powerful form and one of the characters you'll unlock early by pre-ordering Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Like previous character trailers, the new video is fairly brief, but it provides our closest look at Super Saiyan Blue Goku yet. The powered-up Saiyan's moveset consists of many of the same abilities as his base form's, such as his signature Kamehameha, which can be fired upward or downward diagonally. However, Super Saiyan Blue Goku also has a few of his own unique tricks, primarily the ability to amplify his power even further with the Kaio-ken technique. You can take a look at Super Saiyan Blue Goku in action above.
Ahead of the game's release, Bandai Namco is holding an open beta for Dragon Ball FighterZ next month. The publisher hasn't revealed which characters and gameplay modes will be featured in the beta, but it will run from January 14-16. Those who pre-order the Dragon Ball FighterZ Collector's Edition or digitally from the PlayStation or Xbox Stores will get access to the beta one day early, on January 13.
Dragon Ball FighterZ releases for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 26. In addition to Super Saiyan Blue Goku, everyone who pre-orders the title will unlock Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta early. Bandai Namco is also offering a Dragon Ball FighterZ season pass, which will add six additional fighters to the game post-launch.
GameSpot has been around for a very long time, here is a video with every game we have every awarded with GameSpot's Game of the Year award.
This years collection of the best trailers from film and TV is truly exceptional. Greg is here to countdown the 10 best trailers of 2017!
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