Perspective
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Space and Place(lessness) in NieR: Automata
Despite outward appearances, NieR: Automata’s setting isn’t empty. It’s placeless.
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Fear of an Irradiated Planet
How games past and present echo and exploit our nuclear anxieties.
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Remedy’s Control Is Actually a Cold War Thriller
Despite the contemporary setting, Remedy’s action-thriller feels thoroughly historical.
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New York Tango: How Finnish Music and Culture Define Control
Remedy’s latest may be set in the U.S., but its heart is half a world away.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Is a Brutal and Disconcerting Portrayal of Combat
Just what is Infinity Ward trying to say?
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The Guilty Pleasures of Video Game Violence Are a Mirror for Our Consumerist Nightmare
In Hotline Miami, Katana Zero, My Friend Pedro, and real life, doing bad things is your fault—even when it isn’t.
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Analog Horror: Why Tapes Are Such Fertile Ground for Video Game Scares
Be kind, rewind, slowly lose your mind.
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What Science and Philosophy Teach Us About the Dream World of Link’s Awakening
The fate of Koholint doesn’t have to be tragic or meaningless.
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Jedi: Fallen Order May Be the First Game to Nail Star Wars’ Creative Spirit
Young George Lucas would be proud.
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Returning to Destiny 2 After Years Away Is Strange yet All Too Familiar
When nearly every big game is a service, what does it mean to take a break?
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Playing The Last of Us Part II Erased All My Doubts—Except One
Naughty Dog’s sequel looks, sounds, and feels amazing, but it still has to pass the smell test.
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Gone for Good: The Phantom Pain of Peace in Metal Gear Solid V
When it comes to unending war, we’re all as culpable as Big Boss.