The little demon that revives you every time you die in The Messenger is a bit of a git. It’s an often quoted idiom made famous (but not originated by) Benjamin Franklin, that “…in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. Quarble is both of these things. When he first appears, he gleefully informs you that every time you perish, he will take all of the gems you collect until his services have been paid for. He’s forever hiding in the background, waiting for you to slip up, so he can note your debt in his little ledger.

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If you like your violence from the perspective of a duck, or of a child who held onto their kite during a gale, then the two free games on Epic Games Store this week are very much for you. Both Ruiner and Nuclear Throne are top-down shooters, given freely as long as you grab them before next Thursday. Then the cycle of free stuff begins anew.

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They just keep coming don’t they? A lot of games were announced at E3 2019, things that we didn’t know about, as well as stuff that’s previously announced, or expansions to already released games. Now, to the casual outsider, what we’re doing might seem absolutely nuts, but we thought we’d put together an alphabetical list of all the PC games that have been confirmed to appear at this year’s E3 show. With well over a hundred of them now in the books, the next year or so looks packed.

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They just keep coming don’t they? A lot of games were announced at E3 2019, things that we didn’t know about, as well as stuff that’s previously announced, or expansions to already released games. Now, to the casual outsider, what we’re doing might seem absolutely nuts, but we thought we’d put together an alphabetical list of all the PC games that have been confirmed to appear at this year’s E3 show. With well over a hundred of them now in the books, the next year or so looks packed.

(more…)

They just keep coming don’t they? A lot of games were announced at E3 2019, things that we didn’t know about, as well as stuff that’s previously announced, or expansions to already released games. Now, to the casual outsider, what we’re doing might seem absolutely nuts, but we thought we’d put together an alphabetical list of all the PC games that have been confirmed to appear at this year’s E3 show. With well over a hundred of them now in the books, the next year or so looks packed.

(more…)

Oh dear god, there’s a lot of games announced at E3 2019. A lot of new things that we didn’t know about as well, especially coming out of Microsoft’s conference. It might seem absolutely nuts, but we thought we’d put together an alphabetical list of games that have been confirmed to appear at this year’s E3 show. With well over a hundred of them now in the books, the next year or so looks packed.

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While I’ve my issues with Amazon’s global mega-monopoly, I can’t deny that the monthly sack of games that Twitch gives out to Amazon Prime subscribers is an oft-impressive bunch. This month more impressive than most – it’s a bundle of Devolver Digital’s best, including Broforce, both Hotline Miami games, Strafe (much improved by updates), Crossing Souls, The Swords of Ditto and recently lauded ninja platformer The Messenger. You can grab a month of Prime (even the free trial) and once it lapses you get to keep the games, to be launched through the Twitch desktop app.

Update: Until December 31st, Twitch Prime also gives you the SNK Bundle, Hacknet: Complete Edition, Smoke & Sacrifice and Poi, all of which you get copies for yourself to keep and a spare to give to friends. The Devolver pack doesn’t come with extra gifts, but is available until January 31st.>

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I am officially declaring this Metroidvania Month. As much as The Messenger is openly inspired by Tecmo’s merciless Ninja Gaiden games, a little ninja bird tells me that it, too, blossoms into a non-linear platform adventure, joining a long list of similar launches this August.

Out now, The Messenger is the debut game from new studio Sabotage. Players bounce and stab their way through a linear 8-bit world of demons and big boss monsters, eventually gaining the ability to travel into the 16-bit era and explore. Below, a trailer and a peek at some of Ninja Gaiden’s original developers giving it a try.

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I’ve always been a sucker for a good ninja-themed game, and The Messenger captures that Ninja Gaiden/Shinobi vibe well. Sharp pixel art, catchy chiptunes and an interesting twist define this Devolver-published platformer. While The Messenger looks like a perfectly solid Shovel Knight-esque platformer on the surface, the release date trailer below shows how players will be hopping between 8 and 16-bit versions of the game, and doing some clever things with this power. There’s not long to wait, either. The game will be launching in just under two weeks, on August 30th.

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I’ve always been a sucker for a good ninja-themed game, and The Messenger captures that Ninja Gaiden/Shinobi vibe well. Sharp pixel art, catchy chiptunes and an interesting twist define this Devolver-published platformer. While The Messenger looks like a perfectly solid Shovel Knight-esque platformer on the surface, the release date trailer below shows how players will be hopping between 8 and 16-bit versions of the game, and doing some clever things with this power. There’s not long to wait, either. The game will be launching in just under two weeks, on August 30th.

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