The games from this generation that you've already forgotten
The tidal wave of new games announcements that characterise every E3 is very exciting, isn’t it?
mcvuk.com news
gamingeek
Next Level feels they've proven themselves
as able to revive Nintendo franchises
nintendolife.com
gamingeek
Wii U eShop sale: Save money on ZombiU and Trine 2
Bugs snap up Trine 2 at half price it's a steal
officialnintendomagazine.co.uk
gamingeek
Remember Me review: Pedestrian gameplay
-in an extraordinary city 7/10
computerandvideogames.com impressions
gamingeek
PlayStation 4 would be a 'great' platform for MMOs
- DC Universe Online producer
computerandvideogames.com
gamingeek
Ex-Human Head developer attacks Prey 2 "lie"
that Prey 2 was only ever "just a demo"
eurogamer.net
gamingeek
Eurogamer Remember Me review
7/10 - "The result is a game that a small number of people will rightly love and cherish, but overall it's an uneven experience"
eurogamer.net impressions
gamingeek
Videogamer reviews Remember Me
4/10 - "Its horrific dialogue, sickening camera and regressive combat are major blips"
videogamer.com impressions
gamingeek
Shacknews reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
"It's an adorable game that has been polished and improved through the years. That makes it a perfect game for eager fans"
shacknews.com impressions
gamingeek
Gamesradar reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
4 stars out of 5 - "a few bolder steps forward and this would be utterly essential. As is, it’s ‘merely’ one of the finest social games ever made"
gamesradar.com impressions
gamingeek
Spong reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
9/10 - "Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a breath of fresh air for veteran players of the series, and an enticing new experience for those who have never had the delight"
spong.com impressions
gamingeek
Gameinformer reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
8.5 - "Some may find it cheesy or without direction, but I enjoyed this endlessly charming outlier in the current gaming landscape."
gameinformer.com impressions
gamingeek
Nintendo World Report reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
9/10 - "Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a beast of a game, featuring hundreds of hours of open-ended gameplay"
nintendoworldreport.com impressions
gamingeek
Destructoid reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
7/10 - "A new leaf has not been turned. Rather, an old dog is on display. Faithful, loyal, and hard to dislike"
destructoid.com impressions
gamingeek
Joystiq reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
4.5 stars out of 5 - "I've developed a hatred for Beardo, a blue bear with a mustache and sideburns that built his house right next to mine"
joystiq.com impressions
gamingeek
IGN review Animal Crossing New Leaf
9.6 - "New Leaf is a truly magical game, one that you can easily expect to invest hundreds of hours in over the course of years. "
ign.com impressions
gamingeek
Harmonix Xbox One game is Fantasia. Trailer.
Bruno Mars music? I'm so confused.
youtube.com media
Dvader
Gamespot's Animal Crossing New Leaf Review
8/10 Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a welcome return to the world of unabashed materialism that should entice veterans and novices alike.
gamespot.com impressions
Nintyfan17
Trailer for Square-Enix's New IP Murdered: Soul Suspect!!
players take the role of Ronan OConnor, a detective with a checkered past, whose life is brought to an untimely end by a brutal and relentless killer.
youtube.com media news
Nintyfan17
Gunpoint Out Now!
2d stealth puzzle game that lets you rewire its levels to trick people.
gunpointgame.com
Mondo Zappa
The Daily Telegraph reviews Animal Crossing new Leaf
5 stars out of 5 - "Unfailingly generous and constantly surprising, Nintendo’s charming, humane life sim is another 3DS delight"
telegraph.co.uk impressions
gamingeek
Halo: Spartan Assault lands exclusively on Windows 8
Top-down shooter heading to Windows 8 PC, Windows Phone 8 and tablet next month. iOS and Android versions still to be confirmed.
videogamer.com
gamingeek
EDGE: How can Nintendo turn Wii U around?
It's a Pachter quote-fest
edge-online.com editorial
gamingeek
Animal Crossing: New Leaf EDGE review
9/10 - "this iteration does enough to feel like a high watermark for a series that has never been far shy of excellent."
edge-online.com impressions
gamingeek
Animal Crossing: New Leaf CVG review
9/10 - "Gorgeous to look at with a suitably captivating soundtrack."
computerandvideogames.com impressions
gamingeek
Animal Crossing: New Leaf Eurogamer review
9/10 - "Why do I care what this leopard thinks of me? Why am I losing sleep over the construction of a virtual bench?"
eurogamer.net impressions
gamingeek
Konami shows PES 2014 new in-engine screens
Konami has confirmed that PES 2014 will not release on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It won't release on Vita or 3DS, either.
eurogamer.net media
gamingeek
Rock Band dev Harmonix resurfaces
working on Kinect-powered Fantasia: Music Evolved
eurogamer.net
gamingeek
Xbone LA meet up on June 10th
Meet Jack Bauer... I mean Major Nelson in LA for Xbone
majornelson.com
gamingeek
Game Under Podcast Episode 8
It's a humdinger this week.
gameunder.net editorial impressions media news
aspro
The Crew - Ubisoft Reflections info
Similar to Driver -Open world (New York and Los Angeles) but smaller cities
microsofttranslator.com
gamingeek
Capcom putting together real-life Scrooge McDuck money bin
to promote DuckTales Remastered
gonintendo.com
gamingeek
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut - impressions
Looks like they haven't implemented FXAA yet
dailyjoypad.co.uk impressions
gamingeek
Sniper Elite V2 devs say they focused on graphics
GamePad use for Wii U version
gonintendo.com
gamingeek
Murdered: Soul Suspect is being developed by Airtight Games
Dark Void developer
videogamer.com
gamingeek
Square Enix Invites You To a Special Final Fantasy Event
"Held At The Exact Same Time As Nintendo's Event Because We Don't Want You To Go"
neogaf.com
gamingeek
Zelda: A Link to the Past II - 60 FPS, 3D not required
"The faster the framerate, the more stable the 3D effect, so 60FPS is a big deal.”
videogamer.com
gamingeek
State of Decay (8.9) GREAT! Review
For many, State of Decay is the zombie game they’ve always wanted. It’s janky, but that’s highly forgivable in the end.
ign.com impressions
phantom_leo
Nyko Wii U Power Pak - GAF users give it the thumbs down
Wait for the official battery
neogaf.com
gamingeek
Polygon Animal Crossing: New Leaf review
9/10 - "Animal Crossing: New Leaf has a magical way of making you care about the littlest things before it metes them out in liberal fistfuls. "
polygon.com impressions
gamingeek
Shadow of the Eternals crowdfunding ending
Precursor refunding money and starting a new one
precursorgames.com
gamingeek
Modojo reviews Animal Crossing New Leaf
4.5 out of 5 - "Cherish it."
modojo.com impressions
gamingeek
Sniper Elite V2 - no DLC plans, no word on screenshot update
"The game also runs at a higher resolution on Wii U than it does on Xbox 360 and PS3 due to the platform's hardware strengths."
coffeewithgames.com media
gamingeek
Wii U basic bundle discontinuation - more evidence
The 32GB Deluxes version was always the better deal and apparently sold better from the start. Closer to launch, we heard from many retail sources and readers who said they'd see Basics in stock but n
kotaku.com
gamingeek
Fight With Your Friends Or Fight Against Them In Gaist Crusher
I think the 3DS could use more action games.
siliconera.com
Mondo Zappa
More Info On Square Enix's New IP Murdered : Soul Suspect
"interrogate the ghosts of past Salem citizens"
siliconera.com news
Mondo Zappa
Square Enix's New IP
Murdered : Soul Suspect
New trailer. Shows some gameplay.
youtu.be media news
Mondo Zappa
Animal Crossing: New Leaf Needs Over 6000 SD Card Blocks
For digital only
nintendolife.com
gamingeek
'Missing' Tekken creator found: Harada was at home drinking
"Ono got a car late last month so I took it for a test drive"
computerandvideogames.com
gamingeek
Square Enix reveals E3 2013 line-up
Thief, Murdered, Deus Ex and Final Fantasy headline.
videogamer.com
gamingeek
No one’s complaining about not being able to trade iOS games
Avalanche defends Xbox One again
gamingbolt.com
gamingeek
Sky committed to 'longstanding partnership' with Xbox
but won't sell its hardware
mcvuk.com
gamingeek
Analyst: Wii U is struggling mightily
has abandoned the field to Microsoft and Sony
mcvuk.com
gamingeek
New Sonic Lost World details
- Players can share and charge up items by sending them into Miiverse and sharing them with others around the world
nintendoeverything.com
gamingeek
LTTP 2: features a massive surprise that will shock players
Aonuma says
officialnintendomagazine.co.uk
gamingeek
Ubisoft: Don't write off Wii U yet
Nintendo is not holding an E3 press conference but will unveil a raft of new games on the showfloor. It will only take one to 'rescue' the console, according to EMEA exec director Alain Corre.
mcvuk.com news
gamingeek
PS4/X1 clock speeds aren't a good measure of performance
Avalanche Studios says "Modern processors are capable of processing much more data than last-gen processors, even at lower clock-speeds."
gamingbolt.com
gamingeek
FIFA 14 preview: A different game
but not necessarily a better one
eurogamer.net impressions
gamingeek
Games veteran calls for Nintendo IP to go multiplatform
Nintendo should go multiplatform, industry veteran and Eidos life president Ian Livingstone has said.
mcvuk.com
gamingeek
A Link To The Past 2 will include a dark world
run at 60fps and reveal “a big surprise”
edge-online.com
gamingeek
Sony to Show 40 Games at E3 Between PS3, PS4, and Vita
Meeting MS head on with a conference "all about games"
ign.com news
robio
Wall Street Journal: Xbox One
"You own an object, but you merely access a service"
wsj.com
gamingeek
Major Publishers Silent On Xbox One Used Game Policies
Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega were the only companies even willing to issue a vague response
giantbomb.com
gamingeek
Slightly Mad wants Project CARS to be the Forza of Wii U
Interview here other stuff discussion
neogaf.com
gamingeek
Pachter: Publishers won't block Xbox One used games
"They would face a huge backlash. They wanted manufacturers to do the dirty work, and both refused," he said.
gamespot.com
gamingeek
Geoff Keighley: Saw something truly incredible last night
that will be a big E3 debut
twitter.com
gamingeek
Claims MS employees monitoring Reddit
Making positive posts about the Xbox1 - WTF? READ THIS
reddit.com
gamingeek
Nintendo Should Aim to Produce Mature, Genre-Defining
Storytelling Experiences - The Last of Us sets a standard
nintendolife.com editorial
gamingeek
PS Plus update: Uncharted 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown free
and LBP Karting going free
computerandvideogames.com
gamingeek
Deus Ex: The Fall is six hours long, the first of a series
and will contain in-app purchases. JUST WHAT YOU WANTED
eurogamer.net
gamingeek
Sonic Lost World - new Wii U/3DS IGN details
Development of Lost World began before Sonic Team knew about Wii U
ign.com
gamingeek
CVG: Publishers remain quiet on Xbox One pre-owned fees
Major publishing firms not ready to declare position
computerandvideogames.com
gamingeek
Skylanders going Next gen and current
Basically hitting every platform on earth
eurogamer.net
gamingeek
Forbes: Shortsighted Xbox One Might Have Killed itself
"Microsoft made it official that the new Xbox One will have draconian limitations"
forbes.com
gamingeek
U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms
Microsoft, Apple, Google and more involved
washingtonpost.com
gamingeek
Xbox One: It's For Publishers, Not For You
Microsoft is no longer worried about pleasing you.
nowgamer.com editorial
gamingeek
Xbox One: the record is broken, long live the record
I thought I’d break these bullet points down one-by-one to try and make sense of the PR omnishambles that has clouded these matters
vg247.com editorial
gamingeek
Microsoft Cancels 1 on 1 Interviews with the press
with GB, GI.biz, Tapezilla...MCV?: "Scheduling conflict"
neogaf.com
gamingeek
When Will Gamers Say Enough Is Enough?
"But they're still letting us trade games!" "We can still play games if we login once a day!"
kotaku.com
gamingeek
Next-gen ripe for reboots, says Eidos Montreal
The launch of PS4 and Xbox One is a “good time to reinvent classic games.”
mcvuk.com
gamingeek
Q1 2013 halts decline of US games market
as digital grows 15% to claim majority share
edge-online.com
gamingeek
Legacy of Kain: Nosgoth in development
"The community should not be thinking of Nosgoth in terms of a single-player experience.” No Crystal Dynamics
vg247.com
gamingeek
Major Nelson denies eSRAM Issues with Xbone
Storys' original poster responds: pr=$$$ to shil for corps
imgur.com
gamingeek
UE4 game Daylight announced for PlayStation 4
Zombie Studios - wikipedia them
eurogamer.net news
gamingeek
Microsoft kills game ownership and expects us to smile
Last time they shipped a console that didn't work by accident. Here's one that doesn't work on purpose
eurogamer.net editorial
gamingeek
Killer is Dead trailer is a montage of blood-fountains
swords and blondes
polygon.com media
gamingeek
Nintendo turns to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
as alternative to E3 press conference
polygon.com
gamingeek
Xbox One pre-owned backtrack
OPINION: puts the blame where it belongs - on publishers
mcvuk.com
gamingeek
Xbox One needs to be online every 24 hours, Microsoft confirmed
No rentals, no lending
edge-online.com
gamingeek
Six months out, Nintendo's Wii U is a harder sell than ever
Engadget
engadget.com editorial
gamingeek
Why Nintendo isn't hosting a E3 conference
Reggie explains in video and hypes next week
gonintendo.com
gamingeek
THQ's sale of assets to 505 Games and Nordic Games
- the sale of Darksiders, Red Faction, MX, other owned software...
gamepolitics.com
gamingeek
RUMOR - GameStop facing 3DS nationwide sellouts
Animal Crossing 3DS XL, Pikachu 3DS XL
neogaf.com
gamingeek
Namco Bandai unveiling multiple unannounced games at E3
- two new unannounced PAC-MAN titles - an unannounced racing game - an unannounced fighting game
neogaf.com news
gamingeek
NBA 2K14 not coming to Wii U
2K didn't want to take resources away from other versions
cnet.com
gamingeek
New Retail Releases Week of June 9, 2013
Last of Us, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and SimCity Mac. And that's all.
gamespot.com news
aspro
Lego Marvel Super Heroes Preview
Where next for LEGO? After tackling Harry Potter, The Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars and Batman, are there any popular films left to render in gleaming yellow plastic?
officialnintendomagazine.co.uk impressions
Nintyfan17
Game Under Podcast #009
Remember Me, E3, Xbone ad a mystery game impression you will not believe.
gameunder.net editorial impressions media news
aspro
North American Launch Details For Shin Megami Tensei IV
North America on July 16 for the Nintendo 3DS
gameinformer.com news
aspro
Ubisoft/ Patrice Court Documents Leaked
Maybe Ubi really is just bad at file security after all.
gameinformer.com news
aspro
EA has no Fall Wii U games, will consider in future
Gibeau added that the developer and publisher does consider the Wii U a generation four console
polygon.com
gamingeek
Sony Hinting at Demon's Souls II
Destiny of Spirits is a codename for From Software's new title with Sony
neogaf.com news
Nintyfan17
PS4 to launch at under $400 - analyst
Xbox One to be more expensive, expects industry analyst
computerandvideogames.com
gamingeek
Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Siliconera review
"3DS Gets The Best Animal Crossing Ever"
siliconera.com impressions
gamingeek
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"Multiplayer captures the ideology of single-player beautifully..."
At&T strikes again!!!!
Well Leo, how is State of Decay. I will probably buy it the second I get home.
I plan to buy it when it goes to steam, looks smexy.
lol
GG I tried to talk about Lego City at GS and just got "I', sick of lego games". "That is why the Wii U lineup stuff, the best game is Lego City"
So yeah.
You ain't going to believe what game I am playing right now. Nor my reaction to it.
I am under emabrgo though, can't say anything until the next podcast.
Today at 1pm EST KONAMI CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pre Taped, at GS at 1pm est.
TONS OF MGS5!!!
A recent game? That is shocking.
Hey I beat Tomb Raider! And I get Last of Us next week.
I'm proud of you.
I will be working during the Konami conference. Will have to pop in a few hours later. Also later at night Kojima will be on GTTV.
E3 basically begins tomorrow.
Personally I think Lego City should be seen as Wii U's first system seller. It's even feasible that some reviewers just played through the campaign which is literally only one third of the game.
Unfortunately for City, it's being tarnished by the series heritage, people cannot see outside that. In the GAF thread, if you read from page 41 onwards it peaks at a certain point when people realise how much fun they are having and they love it. It took me 13 hours to get to that point and then I had another 47 hours with it. People who don't like the Lego games, or who have played the others, found this to be much better. A GAF guy said it was his GOTY so far and at the point I was playing it I could not see it. Then if you do get hooked by the collecting bug and try to do it all it becomes your potential GOTY. It's just brash, exuberant and unabashedly gamey. To me it's a shame that Zombi U is seen as the best game on the system.
GAF individual users:
"So I beat the story mode just now and let me tell you guys that you have no idea what is waiting for you. This goes from 80's cop movie to (massive end game spoilers cropped). Holy crap this was goddamn amazing, my jaw was to the floor for the entire final sections. Nintendo, lock these guys down. You would be fools not too. This game needs a sequel so bad. I never saw this coming, I never dreamed it would get so epic."
"So far this game has exceeded my expectations, the world is more detailed and interesting than 90% of the open world games on the market. Its smaller than most but the attention to detail is better than anything ive played this gen besides red dead redemption. Also the voice acting and sound track is top notch. Ive played almost all of the lego games and this is by far the best, just wish it had co-op "
"Im really blown away by the writing in this game, its really clever and has made me laugh a lot. Also it seems like every inch of the map has somthing to do or collect. I really hope the game does well"
"If you have a Wii U you need to buy this game! The 49.99 price makes it even more of a steal. No more thinking... go find a copy (if you can! "
"Wow, this game is truly something special. I am having a blast with it, and I can't imagine how much fun I would have had when I was ten. So far my mission play time:scavenging-around-for-super-bricks play time ratio is like 1:4. Nintendo would be wise to keep this developer happy and exclusive as long as they can. Lego City has the potential to be a huge franchise, especially if someone were smart enough to make a cartoon."
"Aside from the ridiculous load times, this is by far my favorite game on the Wii U. It's humor is absolutely brilliant and it's a lot of fun. Would love to see this become a big franchise on the Wii U."
"No seriously man, GET THIS GAME. It's a hilarious, intensely fun, addictive open-world collecathon that feels like a blast from the past. It's also great value for your money--the game is hundreds of hours long if you want to 100% it."
"I can say with confidence that LEGO City Undercover has been the most fun, most addictive, and most hilarious experience that I've had with the Wii U. It would be my #1 recommended game for anyone who is looking to buy a Wii U, and in my opinion, it's a reason to go out and buy the console now. It's a TRUE video game."
"Ive put 10 hours into this game and this might be my favorite open world game, you can tell the love and care put into it every corner you turn in the city. The game is filled to the brim with little touches and details, there literally something to do everywhere you look."
"Overall, this game is amazing. It's doesn't set the world on fire but it does so much and does it so well that I almost forgive all of its shortcomings. I see myself keeping my copy as a permanent staple in my Wii U catalogue."
"This game just gets better as it goes and is overall a better game than I'd have suspected. I think as word of mouth spreads it will have some legs to it and have an impact on wiiu sales. After Mario this is the must have wiiu title."
"This game is awesome. So many corny jokes, all delivered by such good voice actors. Each mission has been a delight. The city design is just outstanding too; maybe the best in any GTA clone. I've spent hours goofing around and I've been finding optional paths, jumps, bricks, easter eggs, and mini-missions every few minutes. I especially love the free run missions, which are like little slices of platforming joy."
"The more I play this game, the higher up the list of "favorite open world games" this game rises. This game is really incredible. Just unlocked time trials, so fun. I can't believe I am saying this, but this game has a real chance of unseating San Andreas for me."
Nintendo's E3 presence. Great picture to use if their showing is total fail.
Last of Us reviews
IGN 10/10
Its unrivaled presentation in particular sets the bar even higher than the Uncharted trilogy already did, and its writing, voice acting and layered gameplay combine to create what is very easily the game to beat for Game of the Year 2013.
And it ended perfectly.
It combines DNA strands from across the genre, yet reworks and recontextualises them to become far more than the sum of its parts. Its storytelling is peerless, as affecting and multi-layered as it is grounded, underplayed and real. In terms of everything the modern action game has strived to be, The Last of Us is the full-stop at the end of the sentence, leaving no more to be said. Until next-gen. If this is our starting point for that, then the next five to ten years could be truly amazing.
But there are moments of beauty in the tale, both physically and emotionally, between a mismatched duo that end up relying on each other far more than either thought they might. The bright moments are overwhelmingly powerfully so, the innocent ignorance of Ellie’s upbringing slotting perfectly between Joel’s dark, barbed decades of his own private hell, and those they meet on the way.
There’s one fleeting, momentary respite near the end of the tale as Ellie stares out onto a rich green field, Joel at her side. It’s quiet, poignant, delicate and shows an element of nature untouched by the disasters around it. A reminder that not all is bad, not all is lost, and, after everything that’s happened, it’s hard to fight back the tears. These things you can’t help but carry with you long after it’s all over, and few other games can have that kind of hook, that kind of reaction.
The Last Of Us does. Several times. Just be ready.
Examiner 5/5
However, it's the studio's ability to make this past-pandemic world and its contrasting cast of characters feel so believable and credible that really makes The Last of Us stand out from its peers.
Interesting thread from GAF: Putting Little Girls in Danger is emotionally manipulative
The Walking Dead
Bioshock Infinite
The Last of Us
Beyond: Two Souls
I'm beginning to notice a pattern here, and I'm not sure it's positive.
These games are all great, no doubt. I'm just afraid developers have found an easy narrative gimmick, exploiting a gaming audience that isn't used to nuance or complexity. It's not that these titles all feature a little girl as a character, it's that the emotional center of gravity rotates around her, and pretty much her alone. Putting defenseless women and children in jeopardy is a cheap way of generating emotional stakes.
Game Dev 1: "Alright, our game needs an emotional anchor. We need a character that players can really invest in, and develop a human relationship with. Who can we put in danger that people instinctively want to protect?"
Game Dev 2: "Uhh...should we just go with a little girl?"
Game Dev 1: "You're a goddamned genius."
Maybe this bothers me because I'm so susceptible to it. I'll admit I got choked up at the end of the Walking Dead. You'd have to have the emotion of Spock combined with a bag of bricks to endure the last scene of that game totally unmoved. I'm just afraid developers are starting to use it as a narrative crutch. And maybe that's not such a bad thing. Maybe interactivity means we have to eschew some degree of subtly to convey thematic elements other mediums take for granted. But I would hope to eventually move beyond it.
So yeah, the title of the thread may be a little hyperbolic, but I wanted to get you in here. Must we keep putting in jeporady the literal personification of innocence and fragility for our frigid hearts to feel the slightest twinge of human emotion? Anybody can make me feel for little Maddie, the adorable seven year old. But the first developer that makes me cry when Big Lou (sweaty, balding and overweight as he may be) takes a bullet at the end of the game -- well, that developer is the true goddamned genius.
All games critically acclaimed, mostly for story?
^This is not just present in gaming, but everything. It is ingrained into our very culture, in fact.
Also, Clementine was only part of why the ending of The Walking Dead was effective. She as a character by herself also wasn't the emotional core of the story.
How is State of Decay? It's totally unique! It's basically a Zombie Stealth game! Hordes of Zombies are everywhere and you must fend for yourself in a post-apocalyptic world. You are not a super-human... You can do things like climb small ledges and vault over small gaps, but that's it. You can melee attack; pick up a 4X4 and bash some brains in, if it comes to that. You'll find resources are the most important commodity since guns and ammo are in short supply. You can find some but they aren't plentiful. Gun play is the "hold the left trigger, fire with the right variety." You'll find other human beings but they may not always be willing to help...
Hmmm... this sounds familiar... can't place it though...
(NOT REALLY A) SPOILER: Go here! It has an incredibly similar premise to The Last of Us, but it has a lot of very unique features too. It's basically an action-RPG-Zombie game. You need to earn influence and Fame in order to gain command of groups of people around you to have them fight for you and with you, build fortifications and fend for themselves when you are not playing because the game is A PERSISTENT WORLD; game continues when you are playing and when you are not! It's very possible to load your game and find all of your people DEAD! There's (supposedly) a lot of data crunching in the background as you play as your decisions influence the world around you... yada, yada... but I couldn't go into detail about that as I have only played an hour or so. Read the review! It can explain much better than I can!