Why The Course of the Inevitable is the Perfect Album for Lloyd Banks to Release in 2021 Like many I first encountered Lloyd Banks on 50 Cent’s epochal Get Rich or Die Tryin' debut for Interscope/ Aftermath. Late in the album he puts in one of two guest verses on…

Monster Hunter Rise is My Feel-Good Game of the Spring As well as being an immaculately tuned action RPG, Monster Hunter Rise is a jaunty, jovial romp where everyone is your friend and is rooting for you come rain or shine. And shine it does, for this is one of…

Crew Expendable: Why the Alien Trilogy’s Worst Horrors are Often Human Crew: Expendable. Those words are the climactic nightmare reveal of the original Alien. Ellen Ripley, the space trucker who had come face to face with an organism capable of killing everything she knew, was reminded just how important she…

How Hitman 3 Uses the Series' Design and Gameplay to Tell its Climactic Story *Spoilers throughout.* I am a late but zealous convert to IO Interactive’s long-running franchise, having purchased Hitman 2, its expansion pass and the 2016 GOTY DLC pack for a steal a year ago. I spent many…

Why the Opening Levels of Dark Souls II are So Good “One day you will stand before its decrepit gate, without really knowing why.” The opening hours of a game, especially one you might take 50 or 60 hours to complete, are important for establishing tone and playstyle and generally…

The Lore and Design of Dishonored 2’s Famous Clockwork Mansion “Welcome to the final mystery, Jindosh.” The Clockwork Mansion is the point at which Dishonored 2’s level design goes from being simply magnificent in scope, detail and intricacy, to being also conceptually awe-inspiring. Lady Boyle’s Last Party is very clever…

Naughty Dog’s latest opus has been much discussed for its story and characters. However it also has some of the best level design in recent years. …

Despite one almost fatal flaw in its final mission, Thief II: The Metal Age contains some of the most purposefully crafted and well-designed levels of any game you could hope to play. This is the 2000 sequel to 1998’s Thief: The Dark Project, which was a stealth-based immersive sim from…