Dan Stapleton

Oakland

Director, Reviews at IGN

IGN's Director of Reviews. Due to Elon's insistence on making this place worse on a near-daily basis I don't really post here anymore - Find me on Bluesky.

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Articles

Monster Train 2 Review

1 month ago | ign.com | Dan Stapleton

Monster Train 2 proves that there was no need to reinvent the wheels on the Boneshaker train in order to relight the fires of this outstanding deckbuilding roguelike.
Les tests de Nintendo Switch 2 ne commenceront pas avant le 5 juin

1 month ago | fr.ign.com | Dan Stapleton

Nintendo garde ses cartes en main cette fois. Par Dan Stapleton, Aekonimi Mis en ligne le: 17 mai 2025 08:33 Aujourd’hui, le monde du jeu vidéo a les yeux rivés sur le chrono. Le doigt suspendu au-dessus du bouton A, prêt à bondir dès le départ du grand prix : la Nintendo Switch 2 s’apprête à débouler sur la ligne de départ le 5 juin. Mais voilà que Big N glisse une peau de banane juste avant le feu vert.
Nintendo Switch 2 Reviewers Won't Get Started Until June 5

1 month ago | ign.com | Dan Stapleton

Today, the gaming world collectively hovers a metaphorical thumb over the A button, watching the Nintendo Switch 2 launch clock count down to June 5 to get that all-important boost off the starting line. However, there’s been a bit of news that IGN readers should know: Nintendo has informed us that there will be no traditional pre-launch review access to Switch 2 hardware, as there usually is with console launches.
Nintendo Switch 2 Reviewers Won't Get Started Until June 5

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Dan Stapleton

2 hours agoJust like Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong is getting a minor makeover as Nintendo moves into the next generation. And like the elder DK, Diddy will look a bit more like his The Super Mario Bros. Movie counterpart, with the addition of… teeth. A poster on the Famiboards forums noticed this week that the …
Tempest Rising Review - Multiplayer

1 month ago | ign.com | Dan Stapleton

Note: This review specifically covers the multiplayer mode of Tempest Rising. For thoughts on the story mode, check out the Tempest Rising single-player campaign review. The problem with Tempest Rising's multiplayer is that while it's perfectly competent at recreating a slice of the old Command & Conquer multiplayer with a pair of new and interesting factions, it's just that: a slice, rather than the whole pie.
Tempest Rising Review - Single-Player Campaign

2 months ago | ign.com | Dan Stapleton

Note: This review specifically covers the single-player campaigns of Tempest Rising. For thoughts on multiplayer, stand by until after launch. It was only a matter of time before someone got tired of waiting for EA to announce a new Command & Conquer real-time strategy game without canceling it a few months later, and finally, Danish developer Slipgate Ironworks has become the one to take matters into its own hands.
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Review

Jan 28, 2025 | za.ign.com | Dan Stapleton

It occurs to me that the Orcs Must Die! series – and the tower-defense genre as a whole – are something like a cousin to factory games like Satisfactory and Factorio. Those games focus on feeding raw resources like iron and coal into complex machines to efficiently produce spaceship parts, while Orcs Must Die! is about feeding hordes of cartoon monsters into machines that produce… mulched cartoon monsters.
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Review

Jan 27, 2025 | ign.com | Dan Stapleton

It occurs to me that the Orcs Must Die! series – and the tower-defense genre as a whole – are something like a cousin to factory games like Satisfactory and Factorio. Those games focus on feeding raw resources like iron and coal into complex machines to efficiently produce spaceship parts, while Orcs Must Die! is about feeding hordes of cartoon monsters into machines that produce… mulched cartoon monsters.
Awards Vs Reviews and Why They Don't Always Sync Up

Dec 12, 2024 | ign.com | Dan Stapleton

As we head into game awards season – IGN’s Best of 2024 Awards and many others – as always there’s plenty of talk of surprise nominations and winners, snubs and unforeseen upsets. That’s the drama that draws people to award shows in the first place: nothing is for certain until the proverbial envelopes are opened and the names of the winners are read (except for that one time).
Empire of the Ants Single-Player Campaign Review

Nov 8, 2024 | me.ign.com | Dan Stapleton

This is not the anthill to die on. + Posted Nov. 8, 2024, 9:10 a.m. This review covers the single-player campaign of Empire of the Ants. For the multiplayer modes (which are much better!), read the multiplayer review. It may be nice to look at, but Empire of the Ants’s single-player campaign is outright terrible and dull.