Month: March 2018

On the heels of the Western release of Kazuma Kiryu’s last chapter with Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Sega has announced that we’ll soon be able to relive the earlier days–Yakuza Kiwami 2 is coming to PlayStation 4 in North America on August 28, 2018. The Japanese version, called Ryu ga Gotoku: Kiwami 2, has been out since December 2017, but the localized version is now on the way. Kiwami 2 is the remake of the original Yakuza 2 that came out for the PlayStation 2 back in 2006 (Japan) and 2008 (North America).

Yakuza 2 picks up one year after the events of the original game where Kiryu finds himself stuck in inter-clan drama yet again. Turmoil inside the Omi Alliance (rivals of Kiryu’s own Tojo Clan), turns animosity into a war in the streets of series-long home Kamurocho. This is all thanks to a coup within Omi led by the main villain Ryuji Goda. The son of an old Tojo chairman has to return to the yakuza lifestyle to protect the families, with plenty of help from Kiryu of course. And the beloved, yet unhinged Goro Majima also has to pitch in to keep the clan afloat.

Familiar faces like Makoto Date, Osamu Kashiwagi, Haruka Sawamura are central characters to the plot, alongside the Osakan detective Kaoru Sayama who makes her series debut to keep a sharp eye on Kiryu. This is only the setup for the rollercoaster ride that is Yakuza 2.

A completely new addition in Kiwami 2 is a whole campaign called The Truth of Goro Majima where we get to play as the man himself and uncover how he became a construction business tycoon just before the events of Yakuza 2. Playing as Majima was a highlight in the prequel Yakuza 0, and fans got to peer into the personal life of one of the series’ most distinguishable characters.

We get another dose of everyone’s idol, Goro Majima!

Kiwami 2 uses the new Dragon Engine which is the graphical foundation for Yakuza 6. It provides the best visual fidelity the series ever had, but also allows players to enter shops and buildings without loading times, even during fights. Yakuza 2 brings fans back to Tokyo’s fictional red-light district of Kamurocho and also takes us to the riverside Osakan town of Sotenbori; these two locations will look better than ever with the Dragon Engine.

Yakuza isn’t complete without its minigames; Golf Bingo and Virtual On are a few of the smaller things to get into. However, the fan-favorite Cabaret minigame from Yakuza 0 makes a return along with the most-valuable platinum hostess Yuki. Majima will also get the Clan Creator minigame as seen in Yakuza 6.

This isn’t the first time a PS2-era Yakuza game was remade. Yakuza Kiwami came to the West last year and modernized the series’ first release with additional substories, the Majima Everywhere subplot, and tweaks that made the storytelling more cohesive. Voiceovers were re-recorded to capture the improved localization, one aspect the series is known for, and Kiwami 2 is getting the same treatment.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be available both digitally and physically for $50; pre-ordered and first-run copies will come in a special steelbook with artwork of Kazuma Kiryu and Ryuji Goda.

For more on this long-time series, check out our Yakuza 0 review, Yakuza Kiwami review, and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life review. If you want a deep dive into how the series has evolved over the years, be sure to watch our History of Yakuza video.

With its release date bumped from May to April 27, the countdown to Avengers: Infinity War has jumped ahead by a full week. Now, with promotional material pouring out from every nook and cranny, it’s time to to start taking a good, hard look at what we hope this movie actually pulls off–both for the immediate fight against Thanos, and as fuel for the future of the MCU.

We already know five out of six Infinity Stone locations, and the missing Soul Stone’s whereabouts will almost certainly be revealed before Infinity War’s conclusion. We’ve broken down every scene in the latest trailer, and we know from the newest poster that Peter Dinklage is in Infinity War. We’ve noted where every hero is leading into the movie, and wondered whether Hawkeye and Ant-Man are in it at all. And we’ve figured out the best order in which to catch up on all the MCU movies.

In other words, we’re prepared. Now here’s what we want from Avengers: Infinity War when it hits theaters April 27.

If you’re having a bit of a rough time playing Fortnite on PS4, PC, and Xbox One, it’s because the game is going through a spell of login, matchmaking, and social connection issues, according to the game’s official Twitter page. These began as a result of a big influx of new players and, in response, developer Epic Games has scaled up to accommodate the new traffic.

Epic has since said login and matchmaking services have recovered, but is monitoring the situation to ensure full recovery. The troubles aren’t completely remedied as of yet, based on reports from players, but it’s expected that things will smooth fully out soon.

The new influx of players could be due to the launch of the Fortnite Mobile test. Invites for the portable version of the game, which connects to other platforms, have gone out on to iOS users. Epic has promised the mobile version delivers the full Battle Royale experience with cross-play.

It could also be because there’s a greater interest in the game as a result of the recent stream in which rapper Drake played Fortnite with Twitch streamer Ninja. The stream proved to be incredibly popular, reaching more than 600,000 concurrent viewers at one point. This smashes the previous record of 400,000 for an individual stream. Drake revealed that he played Fortnite a lot while in the studio.

Like its predecessor, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 for PC bears tons of similarities to Left 4 Dead. They’re both games about holding off hordes of foul enemies while you head to safety. Survival is the name of the game for you and your party, and the game will throw all sorts of surprises at you to make that goal hard to achieve. But Vermintide 2 is more than a clone of Left 4 Dead; it goes the extra mile to make sure you are always on the edge of seat and that is a very good thing. Check out why in the video above.

Vermintide 2 even looks like Left 4 Dead 2 at times, with its same starting camera angles and chatter between characters. But Vermintide 2 is much less predictable; its AI does its best to continually throw new strategies at you. There is no sense of safety, making winning far more satisfying. Tomes and grimoires, which are rewards for risking rat-induced peril and exploring levels, also change the game considerably, adding extra layers of strategy and difficulty. Meanwhile, the diverse class system adds a huge layer of replayability that keeps things fun and varied.

Vermintide 2 takes place during Warhammer’s apocalyptic End Times. Your heroes hack, slash, and shoot their way through 13 levels as you take on the combined forces of the Skaven army and the barbaric Chaos faction. You’re given your choice of five characters for each level, and the game allows you to choose four to take with you into battle. Each of your heroes has three careers to choose from, with each career providing them with a set of passive and active abilities, along with a talent tree to advance your characters’ abilities.

The game came out on PC just last week, and already the game has hit a high level of popularity. On March 12, just four days after its release, it had sold 500,000 units, according to developer Fatshark. The game has already received its first patch, fixing several bugs and performance issues, and Fatshark has announced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are on their way later this year. To see more rat hack-and-slash action, check out our latest gameplay livestream of Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

The 1990s was a decade of amazing growth for the gaming industry. However, 1998 in particular pushed the medium further than it had gone before. From the rich competitive experiences of StarCraft to the revolutionary storytelling of Metal Gear Solid, several games–some of which became watershed moments for the industry–would go on to set the standard for what games could be. In many ways, 1998 was the year video games had finally evolved into something more.

In this gallery, the GameSpot staff will be taking a look back at the biggest games of 1998 that made their way to the Western market, and the impact they left on us in the 20 years since their respective releases. This includes the likes of Xenogears, Resident Evil 2, and the original Half-Life, and our Game of the Year of 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Here’s a selection of games–in order of their respective releases–that made 1998 an amazing year. And if you want to see the biggest games that turned 10 this year–and for last year as well–be sure to check out our respective features for both.