Keza MacDonald

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Keza MacDonald

I have played many Assassin’s Creed games over the years, but I’ve rarely loved them. Ubisoft’s historical fiction is perennially almost-great. A lot of players would say it reached its peak in the late 2000s, with the trio of renaissance Italy games beginning with Assassin’s Creed 2, and their charismatic hero, Ezio Auditore. Since then, the series has become bloated, offering hundreds of hours of repetitive open-world exploration and assassination in ancient Greece, Egypt and even Viking Britain.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Keza MacDonald

It’s easy to feel a bit beset by doom these days. The other week, I watched the heinous AI-generated “Trump Gaza” video and was so appalled that I impulse-bought a kayaking guide book. It felt like the only sane response was to take to the water and paddle away. Video games are a reliable antidote to existential doom, but layoffs, corporate homogenisation and AI slop are all encroaching on my safe haven, making it more difficult to get a brief reprieve from what’s happening in the outside world.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Keza MacDonald

Ahead of the 21st Bafta games awards this April, the institution is running a public survey asking people to nominate the most influential video game of all time. As the survey points out, this is an open-ended question: early, groundbreaking titles such as Space Invaders and Pong regularly crop up as answers because they helped write the rules of the form, but on a personal level, the right game at the right time can be exceptionally influential, too.

1 month ago | ca.finance.yahoo.com | Keza MacDonald

Happy Monster Hunter Wilds week to all who celebrate: Capcom’s thrilling action game has sold 8m units in three days, which means that quite a lot of you are likely to be playing it. I’m a huge fan of this series and am delighted by the latest entry, but after filing the review last week, I’ve barely had a minute to play it since it came out. Regular readers will know that this is a familiar problem for me: I have two kids, so my gaming time is tight, and the living room TV is very often in use.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Keza MacDonald

Happy Monster Hunter Wilds week to all who celebrate: Capcom’s thrilling action game has sold in three days, which means that quite a lot of you are likely to be playing it. I’m a huge fan of this series and am delighted by the latest entry, but after filing the review last week, I’ve barely had a minute to play it since it came out. Regular readers will know that this is a familiar problem for me: I have two kids, so my gaming time is tight, and the living room TV is very often in use.