I was more than pleasantly surprised when HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones turned out to not only be competent, but a good experience in its own right that complements the property and offers its own merits. Now Telltale Game is taking a turn at the trough with a game based on the show. Despite the pedigree of all of the principals, I'm currently not optimistic about the project.

Certainly, my early opinion is forming in the absence of any hard info about Telltale's Game – all we have to go on is the initial announcement, which doesn't say anything other than the game is episodic. Please read my words accordingly. However, my initial reaction is one of skepticism rather than hope.

The most crucial question I have naturally carries the most weight for the game and its success: When does the game take place in relation to the show, and therefore the books? If it's the same path, that would severely dampen the impact of any decisions you could make because they'd be naturally limited by the events we know to occur throughout the series. And what fun would it be to simply re-live what I've already seen? On the other hand, crafting something original could be very difficult. Matching Martin's tone or even being a better writer is not out of reach by any means, but as we've found out through the years over countless different properties, capturing the essence and making something equal to the original is not easy.

To what extent Martin is involved in the game is a related point. The shows creators understand the broad strokes of where Martin is going with the remainder of his as-yet-unreleased books, but I doubt the producers at HBO are going to cede this uncharted territory to the game (which comes out in 2014) since it would undercut the show. Therefore, the game could try and squeeze itself in the cracks between events already covered on the program. Again, however, this could leave players little room to maneuver. Political life in Westeros is a grand game of chess, something that could be significantly blunted if certain avenues of action, families, or lands aren't available because of timeline or story restrictions.

I also take issue with matching Game of Thrones mature content with the art style that Telltale has used to date. Unless it's changed dramatically, I just don't think it's going to convey the grim, harsh events in the series. Speaking of which, it's vital that Telltale keep all the swearing, sexual situations, and grisly violence – not for sensationalism, but because they're germane to the world. Conveying these elements with the right look and animations is going to be very tough.

I will say that Telltale's game will have a leg up on previous titles simply because the studio knows how to handle a story and entwine the player within it. In some ways it's a good marriage of developer and property with a lot of potential, but perhaps one of Telltale's strengths – giving players choices – will be one of the aspects its not fully able to utilize.

This year was obviously a huge one for gamers, thanks in no small part to the recent release of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That said, last year was no slouch even though it wasn't as big on the hardware front (sorry, Wii U). We decided to list the big releases of both 2013 and 2012 and let you decide which one had the best releases.

What do you think? Did this year trump 2012 on the software front?

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have been out for eight years now. For those of us that purchased them at launch, digital libraries have grown with the advent of Games on Demand, PlayStation Plus, and more compelling digital-only titles. If you’re like me, after eight years (especially with the more recent digital sales), you might not remember everything you’ve purchased.

There are many times when weekly deals hit Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network that I’m surprised to find out that I’ve already purchased a game. I contrast that with Steam and GoG, both of which have easy to organize libraries that are always just a click away.

Microsoft’s online Marketplace portal has been established for a number of years. Sony’s is more recent, but equally robust. Nintendo has just merged its Wii U and 3DS accounts (though its system still involves licensing to hardware rather than a user).

My hope is that as platform holders increase the emphasis on digital that their web portals will grow to match. I also hope that Microsoft and Sony make library browsing a bigger part of the console experience. Without a way to peruse my digital collection, I lean more heavily toward retail purchases. It's less convenient to have to change discs, but being able to easily look at what I own makes up for it and then some.

The problem is compounded when a game becomes unavailable for purchase. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been removed from the PlayStation Store and is scheduled for the same on Xbox Live on December 26, 2013. If you purchased this title (or its Ultimate edition follow-up), the only way to re-download will be to go through your transaction list until you locate the item(s). The same thing happened to Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Ultimate Alliance 2 DLC.

For games that are still available, the only way to find out if you own it is to search for it (unless you purchased recently, and then it might still show up on your list of recent items). It’s not possible to simply browse a collection as you would look at a shelf of disc-based games. 

If Microsoft and Sony want to further incentivize digital adoption, the experience must be as easy as browsing a collection of retail discs. Both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 have a lot of room to grow in terms of user experience. A sortable, searchable library should be high on the priority list for both manufacturers.

It's Christmas Eve and we're in the spirit of giving. We owe each and every visitor to the website and reader of the magazine a sincere thanks for sticking with us throughout the year.

Two years ago we wished you all a happy holiday season, and we decided that it was time to say thanks again. The holiday season is a good time to reflect on the quality of our Game Informer community and to drag editors that hate being on camera into the spotlight.

Watch the video below to receive your annual holiday well wishes and thanks from every Game Informer editor.

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Happy holidays, Replay community! The Game Informer staff tracked down an odd little game crammed to capacity with holiday cheer. In Funcom and Sunsoft's Days Before Christmas, Santa bounds across perilous pits to rescue woodland elves trapped in presents, and to reclaim his prized star collection. In a strange twist, he also transforms into a hideous Anti-Claus, using a bag full of toys as a weapon to beat the life out of mice in scuba gear. Yes, this game is a real trip.

Our second segment begins with an unexpected visit from a Replay fan, who hands us a gift that we didn't want, but you surely did. If this guest ever shows his face again, we're taking him down.

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Be sure to visit the Replay hub to watch previous episode.

In the world of video games, the only way to store your valuable goods is in a chest. Bank protected lock-boxes simply do not exist, and the chests must be placed somewhere dangerous, preferably requiring puzzle solving or a certain number of enemies defeated in order to gain access. We love seeking them out, we love opening them, and we love listing our favorites.

Presumably, you're opening presents today, or will be, or have recently, and as a way of celebrating, we're looking at some of the best chest openings in video games.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Link has been, and I assume he will be, opening chests to uncover goodies for years and for many more years to come. Something about the animation that accompanies opening chests in Ocarina of Time takes the cake, though. I think it's the way he has to nearly hop into the wooden box to retrieve whatever is inside that makes it so charming.

God of War III

Kratos delivers impossible feats of strength on a minute-to-minute basis. He can lift gigantic creatures and stone structures, tear the fingernail off of a titan, and even rip the head off of a god, but nothing seems to offer him the same consistent struggle as opening a chest. He always seems to have a hard time accessing his bonus red orbs, grunting frantically as he tries to open a box. I guess he just likes to save his strength for the important stuff.

Ninja Gaiden

Ryu Hayabusa's swift kick used to open chests has always done a good job of defining his character. Sure, he could easily lean over to open the chest and inspect its contents, but he doesn't have time for that. He has to kick the crap out of it, and move on.

Darksiders II

Death doesn't just open chests. That's how mortals do things. Death obliterates chests with his magical floaty-arms, which I believe is their canon designation. It's too bad he can't use those ares for other tasks, like reaching through bars to grab an out-of-reach item, or for pulling himself onto a high ledge. The floaty arms are for violently opening chests only.

Aliens Versus Predator

In the 1999 PC game, players were afforded the opportunity to play as a chest buster, and it did exactly as its name implied. The chest buster does not open chests, climb into them like an adorable child, strain against their might, kick them, or break them with magic floaty arms – he bursts them.

Obviously there are more, but these are our favorite. Are there more memorable chest openings that should be included here?

It’s the holidays, which means that many of us are spending some quality time with family members that we don’t get to see very often during the rest of the year. A lot of us have a goofy uncle that won’t stop with the bad jokes or grandparents that need you to explain "the Google" to them, but that’s nothing compared to some of the family issues gaming characters deal with. Here are five of the more dysfunctional family trees in the video game industry.

The Bowser clan

For those of us that grew up on Mario’s 8- and 16-bit adventures, the situation with Bowser’s kids is a bit confusing. We were originally introduced to the Koopalings, seven delinquent kids that exist solely to help their dad be a total jerk. In 2002, we were then introduced to Bowser Jr., who Nintendo now claims is his only kid (they’ve retconned the Koopalings at this point). If you’re keeping score, Baby Bowser is just Bowser as a baby, and Koopa Kids are wholly unrelated. Confusion aside, Bowser’s kids don’t seem to have any idea who their mother is, and none of them seem to have anything to do other than fly air fortresses and be a general thorn in Mario’s side.

The Snakes

Few characters in gaming can claim more family drama than Solid Snake. After being cloned from Big Boss, he was ordered to kill his “father” and (sort of) succeeded (twice). Then, his cloned brothers both lost their minds and decided that they had to see their father’s misguided plans for Outer Heaven through. Snake (kind of) killed his brother Liquid, and then dealt with his brother Solidus being killed in a swordfight on a New York City rooftop. These three brothers all felt a need to live up to the legacy of their conflicted father, and a whole lot of people died as a result.

The De Santas

It’s hard to like Grand Theft Auto V’s Michael De Santa, but it’s just as hard to like his lazy, money-grubbing family. His wife is constantly cheating on him, his son is useless and constantly asking for money, and his daughter is constantly hanging out with the skeeziest of Los Santos skeezeballs. That said, we’re guessing the De Santas are basically Beaver Cleaver’s family compared to Trevor’s.

The Belmonts

For decades, this gang of vampire hunters has bravely marched into ominous castles filled with werewolves, zombies, mermen, and flying Medusa heads with one goal – to kill Dracula. Things get tricky, though, when one of them turns into Dracula, and another is a half-vampire whose parents got lazy and just named him “Dracula” backwards. Starting a grocery business or just about anything else sounds a whole lot safer than their selected family trade.

The Kongs

When thinking about the Kong family, one of the first obstacles is figuring out who’s actually related. We’re not even sure if Kong is a proper surname, as obvious relatives like Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong don’t seem to share much in common with lesser-known simians like Karate Kong and Dread Kong. Hell, Diddy is a chimp and he’s somehow the nephew of Donkey Kong (a gorilla). I’d tell them to get their family tree organized, but they usually seem tied up with the constant theft of their banana stockpile. My money’s on that burnout Funky Kong being behind a heist or two.

It's the time of year when everyone is talking about the most spectacular and impressive games of the year...but not every game in 2013 was worth celebrating. As a counterpoint to all of the "best of" lists, this is a look at the most broken and abysmal gaming experiences the year had to offer. The games below all scored 4 or lower, and are accompanied by excerpts from their reviews (and videos, where applicable). The text says it all; these are real stinkers. If you're lucky, you were so busy with awesome games like The Last of Us, GTA V, and BioShock Infinite that you barely even knew they existed until now.

Aliens: Colonial Marines
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Score: 4 (review)
Release Date: February 12
"I was stunned at how ineffective my squadmates were, particularly my pal O’Neil. I don’t know how this mouth-breather managed to squeak through basic training. He’d routinely sweep a room by darting into the nearest corner and keeping a close eye on both walls. There were moments where I’d glance at him in a firefight, and he’d just be staring off at nothing, the tip of his Smartgun clipping through a snarling xeno’s domed head." – Jeff Cork

MLB 2K13
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Score: 4 (review)
Release Date: March 5
"MLB 2K13 is one of the most embarrassing whiffs I’ve seen. Whether I was playing CPU or human opponents, games frequently hinged on something that shouldn’t have happened on the diamond. Only play it if you have a YouTube account dedicated to archiving video game glitches." – Andrew Reiner

Ride to Hell: Retribution
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Score: 2 (review)
Release Date: June 25
"Checkpoints will activate fractions of a second before dynamite instantly kills you. Instructions on hand-to-hand fighting are sometimes displayed while you’re in a racing level. The legs of enemy motorcyclists magically grow ten feet, causing you to compete against a freakish, convulsing giant. At one point, my entire body disappeared and I was nothing but a floating miner’s cap that could fire a gun. Oh, and there’s a tutorial screen that basically explains that any woman that you help out will automatically have sex with you and restore your health. Incidentally, when these sex scenes occur, all characters involved go through the motions fully clothed." – Dan Ryckert

Dark
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Score: 2 (review)
Release Date: July 9
"I’ve played a lot of bad Xbox 360 games for achievements, but hardly any are as unpolished and poorly executed as Dark. It’s easily one of this generation’s worst titles. Even when the stealth is working moderately well, the slow pacing is a killer, and no amount of blood sucking brings satisfaction. Most levels were completed through trial and error, failure after failure, and then success coming from exploiting an AI bug or an odd design decision." – Andrew Reiner

Flashback

Score: 3 (review)
Release Date: August 20
"It would be an easy joke to say I wish I could erase my memories of playing this game and stow them in my own ocean-bound holocube. But I need to remember; someday, someone might ask if that Flashback remake was any good, and I’ll have to draw on those memories before responding with a 30-second-long 'No.'" – Jeff Cork

TMNT: Out of the Shadows
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Score: 2 (review)
Release Date: August 28
"TMNT: Out of the Shadows is terrible, and offers nothing as a video game or even as a piece of nostalgia. The ugly turtle models didn’t bring back any memories of the fun cartoon of my youth, and the gameplay is among the most unenjoyable experiences I’ve had during my time as a gamer." – Dan Ryckert 

Deadfall Adventures

Score: 4 (review)
Release Date: November 15
"During one shootout, I came across an invincible soldier who was immobile and holding an invisible gun. Later, I shot a bad guy whose leg flattened out and wrapped around railing, suspending the rest of his body in the air. At one point, my character reloaded the pistols he was dual-wielding with an inexplicable third hand." – Jeff Marchiafava

NBA Live 14

Score: 4 (review)
Release Date: November 19
"The vast gulf in quality between NBA 2K and NBA Live right now makes this a tough matchup to watch. Like an old player attempting a comeback after multiple knee reconstructions and several years away from the game, NBA Live 14 doesn't have enough skill or composure to keep up with the competition." – Matt Bertz

Mario Party: Island Tour

Score: 4 (review)
Release Date: November 22
"Nintendo has managed to dumb down the already-basic formula Mario Party has featured since 1998. Island Tour eliminates stars and coins on most boards, instead tasking players with simply reaching the end of a course before others." – Dan Ryckert

Fighter Within

Score: 1 (review)
Release Date: November 22
"In theory, it’s a fighting game that features trademarks of the genre like throws, counters, and combos. In practice, it’s a whole lot of flailing at your television as you watch your character perform approximately zero of the things you want him to." – Dan Ryckert

The holidays are about giving, so what better time than now to show our appreciation for those who donated during our Extra Life 2013 livestream marathon. We raised over $16,000 for Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, part of the Children's Miracle Network (you can still donate here!). Some of those generous donations came from viewers who requested the Game Informer crew play specific games as a token of thanks for their charity. We've rounded up all those request videos into one convenient post for you to watch while recovering from your big holiday meal. Join GI staff and friends like Benjamin Reeves, Jeff Cork, Kimberly Wallace, our former winter interns, and more. Prepare for some loopy, sleep-deprived dives into a wide array of games.

WCW Wresting

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Gotcha Force

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Fox Hunt

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Dark Cloud

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Spartan Total Warrior

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Mario Party 5

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Tokyo Extreme Racer 3

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Watch the rest of the 24-hour livestream in its entirety on Game Informer's Twitch TV channel.

Even with a hood-wearing hero and hidden blades, Black Flag is a deviation from the series' tradition in many ways. It delivers a swashbuckling adventure more focused on gold and glory than previous installments, allowing players to plunder and pillage around the West Indies (read our review here). The pirate theme is a new direction for Assassin's Creed, and we talked to Black Flag's creative director Jean Guesdon about how the team approached the challenge and the changes made along the way.  

Edward is a more self-interested character than other heroes in the series. How does his reception by fans compare to previous protagonists?
We’re really pleased by how fans received Edward as the first “non-assassin” main character. We think they got the point that in order to deliver a true pirate experience he couldn’t be an Assassin from the start, and that provides us with a very nice human story – one of a man progressively discovering himself more noble than even he would have thought at first.

Response to the Homestead in AC III seemed positive. What was behind the decision to make the Hideout in Black Flag less complex?
In Black Flag we, very early, made the decision that the Jackdaw would be the main asset to upgrade. This made sense from a captain's point of view, but we know that a lot of people love to develop an estate. This is why the Hideout is also part of Black Flag. The thing is, there are so many different things to take care of (Jackdaw, Edward, Fleet, Hideout…) that we thought this level of upgrade for the Hideout was enough when looked in the perspective of the overall experience.

Players have tons of satisfying activities to undertake in Black Flag. How do you approach creating the side content without overwhelming players with too many options?
We think that as long as the side activities make sense in the setting, they will be accepted by players. We didn’t “throw” activities in just for the sake of “adding content” in the game. It’s all a matter of, “Are these activities fun to do? Do they make sense for the player/character?” In the end, the players are the ones who decide if they care enough to invest in these activities. Our job is to provide them with things that they might enjoy. When you like things, there is never the “too many” feeling.

The sea shanties are some of the best collectibles in the whole series. How did their inclusion come about?
Our super talented audio director Aldo Sampaio and lead scriptwriter Darby McDevitt researched these shanties first for the audio atmosphere, and they ended up being so excited about them that they came to the design team asking to find a way to make them even more important in the game. We quickly realized that the “flying pages” introduced in AC3 would be the perfect “mechanic” to make them interesting collectibles. To me, this is the perfect example of a nice idea that came out of our historical research work, harmoniously tying the Assassin gameplay pillar (free-run to catch the songs) with the pirate flavor of the game (crew singing shanties when at sea). The team instantly fell in love with them, and we knew it would be a success.

The prevalence of stealth/eavesdropping missions appears to be a common complaint about Black Flag. Was this ever a concern during playtesting?
We always said we wanted to get stealth back in Black Flag, and this is the reason why we had these stealth/eavesdropping missions. These missions have always been key parts of the AC franchise. Playtests always gave us valuable information to make them as fun and challenging as possible. To be honest, we know that some players are more action-oriented, but we felt these missions were also important for the rhythm and pacing of the game. It makes the experience really varied from ground to naval, from stealth to action.

Edward isn’t able to call on assassin allies in battle, which is a change for the series. Was that mechanic too easy to abuse?
Our main focus was always to create things that made sense based on the setting and the main character. Having decided that Edward was a pirate first, it became difficult to justify that Assassins would help him everywhere he would go. We thought it was more interesting and relevant to get the crew helping him out during naval boarding and fort attacks. Once again, the use of a feature has to be decided based on the relevancy in the game. We don’t have to use something because it has been used before.

Including naval battles in multiplayer seems like a natural fit. What about the concept wasn’t working as you tried it out?
We've never hidden that this was one of the very first thing we tried. We, like anybody else, felt that it would have been a great addition to the game. That being said, after a convincing first prototype, we looked at the situation with honesty and decided that we were not 100% sure to be able to do it in the timeframe we had. This is why we focused in delivering a very solid solo experience while improving the multiplayer we know by exploring user-generated content with the Game Lab. We think that this is a great addition to the multiplayer mode.

The Instruments of the First Will are introduced in Black Flag. Without divulging everything, is it safe to assume that this is a signal of the upcoming direction of the series’ ongoing modern-day plotline?
We have opened up a few narrative threads and themes in the present day that we would like to play with, but like we already said the “new” present day is our real world and this has impact at many different levels. For example, as you can already see on ACInitiates.com we now have several entry points to the modern-day. In short, we have shifted to the present day being more of a "persistent context" for future games.

I suspect that Naughty Dog's The Last of Us is going to be many people's game of the year. It's certainly mine. It's an experience that has stayed with me long after I finished it. In the months that have passed since it released, I've continued to think about the game's ambivalent ending and what it means.

[Note: This article contains many spoilers]

I reviewed the game in June. One of the challenges of being a game critic is the delicate balance that must be struck between discussing the impact of the experience while, at the same time, not spoiling any major plot points and robbing the reader of the opportunity to experience the game for themselves.

So, while I alluded to the ending and expressed some of my feelings about it, I couldn't deal in many of the specifics. I'm writing this to go into more detail, because The Last of Us's ending was, to me, a watershed moment for gaming, a work of genuine daring on the part of the game's creators.

If you're still reading, I'm going to assume that you've finished the game. If you haven't, stop reading. Don't cheat yourself of the opportunity to experience the full impact of the moment.

The Last of Us's deft dialogue and characterizations of its protagonists Joel and Ellie allow the it to build a bond between the player and the characters that few game achieve. Both Joel and Ellie are built from familiar archetypes: the taciturn tough guy and the young girl in distress. But The Last of Us turns these stereotypes on their head. In many ways, Joel, still haunted by the shocking death of his daughter which plays out in the game's opening, is the one who's emotionally needy. Ellie, despite her age and inexperience, possesses a steely grit that comes forward in the last third of the game when when the player takes control of her in a particularly grisly segment involving a cult that's imprisoned her.

At various points, both defy our expectations - and both do things far beyond the pale in order to survive. On the one hand, they are doing what we expect video game characters to do: they kill in order to survive until the end of the experience. However, Naughty Dog doesn't flinch from the implications of their deeds. In its own Uncharted series, Nathan Drake is portrayed as a charming rogue - despite the fact that he murders dozens and dozens of human beings over the course of each game. For Joel and Ellie, who are traversing a post-apocalyptic world that's a good sight more grim than any Uncharted adventure, the death toll is higher - and much more gory. Though we remain attached to them, in large part due to their increasing affection for each other, the game's ending doesn't allow us the cognitive dissonance that usually comes from "likeable" protagonists who, from another perspective, could be considered mass murderers.

This moral bill comes due in the game's final half-hour, which is as gripping a sequence as I've played. After surviving untold dangers, Joel and Ellie have finally found the "Fireflies" - a group of survivors who are reportedly working towards a cure to the plague that has decimated humanity and turned millions into blind, grotesque mutants. Ellie, who discovered she was immune to the disease after being attacked by a "clicker", hopes that she holds the key to the cure. As it turns out, she does - but the procedures needed to be performed on her to extract a vaccine will kill her. The Fireflies, who will see it as their only chance to save humanity, are prepared to to whatever is necessary - including ending Ellie's life.

After they take Ellie, Joel escapes his captors and fights through throngs of Fireflies to save her. Its a set-up we've seen many times before: the embattled hero fights against the odds to save the object of his affection, in this case his adopted daughter figure. At the end he succeeds, and murders Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, in cold blood with an unconscious Ellie in his arms. As Marlene, already wounded, pleads with Joel to reconsider and allow Ellie to be sacrificed for the good of humanity, he walks up and says, "You'd only come after her." - and shoots her in the head.

The game cuts to Joel in the car. We soon see Ellie, waking up from the anesthesia. She's unharmed, and ask Joel what happened. He lies, saying that the Fireflies had discovered that there was no cure, that they had given up trying.

The travel back to the wilderness compound occupied by Joel's brother and a band of survivors. On the way, they talk, Joel saying how he thinks that his daughter would have liked Ellie. It appears that we're headed for a conventional conclusion, with Ellie and Joel picking up the pieces of their lives and walking off into the sunset.

But then Ellie stops. She tells Joel a story of the first night that she was bitten, how she watched her friend turn into a twisted creature before her eyes - "I'm still waiting for my turn." She looks Joel in the eyes and asks him to swear that he's told the truth about the Fireflies and the cure. He looks back and says, "I swear." Ellie gives and inscrutable look, and says, "Okay."

Then...the credits roll. There's no conclusion, no resolution. We'll never be sure if Ellie believes Joel or where the two will end up. I remember feeling pinned to my chair, struck dumb by a game that - for once - wouldn't wrap things up neatly.

Was Joel a hero, saving the life of a young girl from the ruthless Fireflies who would have sacrificed her? Was he a villain, dooming humanity to save someone who didn't want to be saved, who desperately wanted to know that she died helping save millions of survivors?

These questions remain; we've debated them in the office many times since the game was released in June. For me, I think The Last of Us hit so hard because, ultimately, I think it made me relate to a man who, in many ways, was a monster. Joel killed often and remorselessly, all to save a girl that he hoped would replace his own daughter - without asking her if she wanted to be saved. In the process, he wiped out humankind's last chance of survival - and Ellie's last chance for her life to truly mean something. At the same time, I look at my own daughter and realize what I might do to save her. On some level, I'm disgusted by Joel, but wonder what I myself would be capable of in the same situation. It's an incredibly bleak ending to an incredibly bleak game, and it's one of the many reason that The Last of Us is the game that affected me the most in 2013.

I doubt I'll play The Last of Us again. Having been through the harrowing journey, as expertly crafted as it was, I have no desire to relive it. But I can guarantee I will never forget it.

In the final installment of our month of Destiny updates, we chat with investment lead Tyson Green about how you'll upgrade items and abilities on your characters. Learn about specific focuses for all three classes and what makes Destiny's progression system different from Call of Duty's prestige structure.

Flexible Character Tweaks

Green: We want to have a well balanced upgrade experience for your gear but also for your abilities. And we want to give players the ability to actually commit to some of the decisions that they made so they can distinguish themselves from one another. But that sort of comes along with, “Well, what do you want to do when someone wants to change their mind about something? Do they have to throw their character away?” And that was really unappealing.

We want to say “No, you are your character.” When you decide to roll an Exo Hunter that’s because both being an Exo and being a Hunter were things that were exciting and appealing to you. So when you want to change your mind about something, whether it’s a weapon or whether it’s what abilities you’re using, we let you change the stuff that your character is using and we let you upgrade the stuff that your character is using rather than having to reset your character or throw your character away. 

I think Call of Duty is really interesting in this respect because they have the prestige system. You might say, "Why would anybody reset their character and throw all of their guns away?" The answer is people actually like that. People like making progression with their character. And if doing that let you be different or distinct from your friends or your competitors in some way, I think that’s a really exciting experience for players. So we really sort of looked at that and said, “People enjoy this, so let’s build a good system that lets them do that, that doesn’t make them throw their character away.”

Upgrade Categories

Green: The three things that all characters can upgrade are their weapons, their armor, and their focus. Those all level up as you use them. So when you’re wearing your armor and earning experience your armor’s leveling up. When you’re using weapons to get kills, those specific weapons are leveling up. And your focus also levels up when you’re getting kills or completing activities. 

Describing Focus

Green: A focus is a thing that captures all of your abilities in one bundle – sort of a thematic bundle, but also a functional bundle. It carries your grenade abilities, your super attacks, it carries certain passive abilities that change the way your character plays. The focus is the thing that defines how your character is going to play at both the lowest and the highest level. It’s what your character is thematically about and it’s also functionally what abilities you have available to use. 

You could call it a spec. You could call it a build. You could call it a lot of things. For a long time we called them builds, but your build is a bigger thing because it also brings into account which weapons you’re using and what modifiers are on your armor. I want people to be able to talk about playing a Void Warlock sniper build, which is something that encompasses more than just the focus item. 

Experience Distribution

Green: Everything gets the XP [reward] unless you have an XP bonus or something. You might have a piece of armor that gives plus XP to your weapon. So you might take that 10 XP on every piece of gear except your weapon, which might get 11 XP because of the modifiers. You might have a consumable or a perk active that gives you a bonus to how fast something else levels. It can vary from object to object. But generally speaking we’re definitely not asking anyone to make any hard decisions like, “Maybe I should only equip this one piece of gear because that’s the only thing that needs to level up so it power levels that one thing.” We’re trying to keep those mechanics very straightforward. 

Tuning Weapons To The Task

Green: You can absolutely have more than one weapon that you’ve configured differently. Like you have one sniper rifle which is really good in competitive multiplayer because it has high burst damage and a good precision damage modifier. But you might have another sniper rifle which is better in cooperative campaign where you’re looking at doing more damage to an enemy. You have to be able to burst a target down over a longer sustained period of time so it’s got a bigger magazine and can carry more ammo. Those could both be the same base weapon just configured differently.

A Titan Focus

Green: The Fist of Havoc focus [Editor's Note: not a final name] is really about close quarters combat. It’s about getting into melee range and using powerful arc damage attacks to take your foes out. It can be built slightly different so it’s more about area control. It can be a little bit more defensive or a little bit more aggressive, but fundamentally that one is about smashing the door down, leaping into the room, and just absolutely nuking everything inside with point blank melee range damage. Fist of Havoc is the name of the super attack for that focus. That’s the one where you basically just smash the whole area around you. And there are some twists on that super like you can project more of the force forward so it becomes a longer range attack. You can have it leave behind damage in an area so it’s more of an area control ability. That’s true of all the supers. They have different ways to be built. 

A Hunter Focus

Green: The Hunter build that we show off the most is the Gunslinger build. That’s centered around the Ghost Gun ability. Ghost Gun basically allows you to bring out this weapon which you only get a couple shots on, but they’re very devastating thermal damage shots. Very good for taking down high value single targets at a distance. Very much feared in competitive multiplayer. People see that Ghost Gun come out and they’re just like, “Either I’m going to get really lucky or I’m going to be respawning in a second.” Any abilities that support that super are abilities which are about maintaining a standoff distance with your targets. There’s sort of an area control aspect to that build where you can say, “I want to make you come out that door and not that door because I’m going to have my crosshair on that door.” It’s an offensive oriented build with subspecs that are more about standoff and zone control.

Two Warlock Focuses

Green: The Warlock build that we show off is the Circle of Night build. And that build is built around the Warlock ability Nova Bomb. Circle of Night is a really offensive, almost glass cannony build where you have lots of ability to deal damage at a distance and not a lot of ability to take damage.This is sort of true for a lot of our offensive builds that they can specialize for direct offense or zone control from direct offense. Some of those will be better in competitive multiplayer. Competitive multiplayer a lot of times you just want to go for the direct offense, you know, go for the kill rather than the potential for a kill. But you might find that when you’re doing cooperative scenarios that a zone control build is capable of doing a lot more damage. Persistent damage fields are really effective against the AI. They do a lot more damage per ability use. The Circle of Night build can be built in either way for more persistent damage and zone control or more direct damage and burst. There’s one version of Nova Bomb which causes it to leave a persistent damage field, but there are also grenade abilities that cause it to do persistent damage, and then there are passive abilities that will be synergistic with those things, like make those last longer or give you advantages against people who are afflicted by those things. 

I think the other one that we’ve touched on the most would be the Solar Warlock. That’s the Heart of Fusion build. Heart of Fusion is built on an ability called Radiance, which provides beneficial buffs to yourself but also nearby people.And that build is more of a supportive, team-oriented build where it not only benefits you and benefits your allies, but it has fairly good zone control abilities. You can say I want to block that doorway off or I want to keep people at standoff. And the other thing that Radiance does is it can revive other players who have fallen and also buffs them, giving them health bonuses or damage bonuses. 

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Even though we have just entered a new console generation with brand new experiences, every so often our thoughts turn to the games of our past. These formative experiences shaped who we are as gamers today, and sometimes we remember things just a little bit more favorably than we actually experienced them.

In some cases, the rose-colored glasses become thick. Our memories of games gone by become heavily tinted with the hue of nostalgia. In others, we remember the goofy and absurd, but forget that underneath are still experiences that have value despite the absence of more recent technical advances.

I came to the Resident Evil series very late, and only after recognizing it was a giant hole in the fabric of my gaming experience. I played the original title in the series for the first time last year on my Vita and was surprised at how much I liked the 1996 game.

When people talk about Resident Evil today (the original, and not the Gamecube “REmake”), images of terrible full-motion video and sound clips of atrocious voice acting often surface first. And, yes, the tank-like controls are far from ideal.

However, the core concepts that form the basis of modern survival horror are still as potent today as they were almost two decades ago. Dodging the undead in the narrow hallways isn’t easy thanks to the controls, but doing so to conserve ammunition is the smart way to play.

Magical storage trunks that teleport your items around the gothic mansion is an absurd concept, but it allows players just a bit of much-needed flexibility. However, some items shouldn’t be constrained by carrying limitations.

Restriction on inventory is an important part of survival horror but the process of collecting typewriter ribbons (each of which represents one opportunity to save) from a crate, saving, and then returning the extras to the magic box is silly. It's time consuming, and since the ribbons are limited, there's no need for the added tension (and time spent) juggling them in and out of boxes.

Resident Evil’s approach to inventory isn’t entirely confounding, though. Once you’ve used a key in the last matching door, it’s discarded, freeing up a spot. Combining different colors of curative herbs not only frees up space in your pockets, but also creates items with greater potency.

The level design also shines, despite the very low polygon count. Wherever there is a staircase, there is likely a safe room. The puzzles are crafty and evoke a point-and-click foundation. Most importantly, areas aren’t repopulated by the same enemies after being cleared out. This is a little thing that balances the almost punishing inventory management on the default difficulty.

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So, does Resident Evil stand the test of time? Yes. 

The level design, puzzles, and core concepts still have great value. Despite the dated graphics, terrible voice acting, and corny FMV, Resident Evil set the stage for the entire survival horror genre. There is a reason why people are excited for Shinji Mikami’s upcoming The Evil Within, and his work on Resident Evil is a big part of that. 

If you haven’t played Resident Evil (or want to revisit it for the sake of nostalgia), I’d recommend playing it on a Vita rather than a PS3. The graphics are a bit easier to digest on a lower resolution screen, and you won’t be sacrificing controls. Additionally, putting the Vita to sleep means you can pick up exactly where you left off, which is something you can’t do on the PS3.

From Doom to The Last of Us, we often begin video games clutching a humble handgun. Games tend to throw shotguns and machine guns at players along the way, but sometimes the modest pistol remains your best friend through much of the quest. We take a look at the trusty handguns wielded by heroes like Leon S. Kennedy, Squall Lionheart, and Solid Snake in this collection of bad-ass sidearms.

10. HE .44 Magnum – Resistance 3

Similar to Insomniac Games’ Ratchet & Clank, weapons in Resistance 3 become more powerful as you use them. The HE .44 Magnum’s primary fire packs a wallop on its own, but a secondary fire ups the ante by detonating the round. Upgrade it further and the bullet fragments into smaller pieces upon contact, each of which can be triggered to create a cluster of tiny explosions.

9. Pistol – Time Crisis Series

Light gun games are a thing of the past, but it’s hard to forget the first time you picked up the weighty pistol peripheral in Time Crisis. Unlike most cursor-based, shoot-from-the hip gun games, these arcade cabinets force you to aim down the sights and strategically use cover. The kick of each shot and moving slide make this plastic pistol feel genuine in the moment.

8. A.J.M. 9 – Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Sergeant Rex “Power” Colt wields an impressive array of guns, but his pistol is the first one players wield. This beefy firearm is reminiscent of officer Murphy’s sidearm from Robocop. The rapid burst fire, satisfying report, and blooming muzzle flash make it a gun to behold.

7. PP7 – GoldenEye

Rare didn’t have the license to use James Bond’s legendary Walther PPK, but the PP7 is close enough. This diminutive black pistol accompanies Bond on most of his missions, likely sporting a silencer for covert kills. Dual wielding a pair of suppressed PP7s turns Bond into a walking specter of death.

6. Gunblade – Final Fantasy VIII

The gunblades of Final Fantasy VIII are primarily used as swords, but careful timing allows players to fire off a round from the built-in handgun for extra damage. The gunblade brings the concept of a bayonet to a ridiculous new level.

5. Plasma Cutter – Dead Space Series

This sci-fi engineering tool isn’t technically a pistol, but it’s a handheld weapon and Isaac Clarke’s first defense against the necromorphs. Using the precise, rotating laser sights to dismember is a joy. Upgrade the useful gadget with enough power nodes and it becomes an unstoppable force.

4. M9 Tranquillizer Gun – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Solid Snake’s PlayStation 2 debut allowed the covert operative to finally aim in first person. Lining up shots with the custom M9 tranq was a sadistic treat. Who can resist firing a dart into an enemy soldier’s neck or crotch and watching them fall to sleep moments later? Even better, the M9 makes pacifism playthroughs more manageable. 

3. Ebony and Ivory – Devil May Cry

Dante deals the most damage with his massive swords and heavy gauntlets, but his trusty dual pistols are crucial for stringing together combos. These rapid-firing handguns are even capable of juggling enemies in the air or giving Dante a few extra seconds of hang time.

2. M6G PDWS – Halo: Combat Evolved

The cries of scorned Halo players still echo through the air thanks to this overpowered pistol. This standard issue pistol’s humble zoom function, steady fire rate, and impressive damage can drop enemies from clear across the Blood Gulch map. Who needs a sniper rifle when you start with an M6G?

1. Red9 – Resident Evil 4

Leon S. Kennedy has a selection of choice handguns at his disposal during his mission to save the president’s daughter, but this top-loading, Mauser Broomhandle pistol deals the most damage. The powerful handgun is shaky and slow at first, but fire rate upgrades along with an attachable stock make it into a devastating mini-magnum. Suddenly those 9mm round are more useful thank ever.

Did we miss your favorite handgun? Fire off on in the comments below.

One of the more ambitious titles of the PS2 era was Team Soho's The Getaway. Featuring large recreations of London and tons of voice acting, its planned release at the console's launch was significantly delayed. It finally released in January of 2003, and we're revisiting it over ten years later.

Watch below to see the Replay crew take to the streets of London.

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Check out more episodes at our Replay hub.