Children of the Sun Review: "A Darkly Beautiful Assassin Simulator"

There isn’t another game series more loaded with pop culture references than Goat Simulator. Pilgor, the crazy, ragdoll-tossed, licking protagonist of the series has been getting up to endlessly stupid hijinks for 10 years, and what started as a daft premise built from a game jam idea has now spawned a decade of insanity, spoofing almost every major video game along the way such as Skyrim, Dead Island and even P.T.

One of the developers behind No Rest for the Wicked recently talked about the usefulness of early access releases, suggesting that even well-regarded titles such as Dark Souls could have benefited from this practice. Early access is becoming increasingly popular in gaming, and No Rest for the Wicked is just one of the many recent projects to use this release model.

Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler has taken the time to sing the praises of early access, going as far as to say that FromSoftware’s seminal action RPG, Dark Souls, might have benefited from the communication-driven model if it had been around upon its release.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a gaming Trojan Horse. I don’t mean to suggest that, instead of the beloved heroes in a half-shell, this 2D side-scrolling beat ‘em up stars a squad of teenage mutant wooden horses. Rather, Wrath of the Mutants has used a cunning disguise to sneak past the discerning gamer’s ‘bad game’ sonar, just as the Greeks cunningly snuck into Troy all those centuries ago. This console release rides on the coattails of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, but while the two games share many similarities, Wrath of the Mutants pales in comparison.

Combat Arena: Lair of the Beast is an easy to learn and well-balanced game that pits powerful warriors across the 40K universe who are trying to defeat the Dreaded Am bull and score the most victory points to win.

Accompanied by strains of vocal-led orchestral music, the Moon Studios title rises into view. For many, this is reason enough to sit up and take notice of No Rest For The Wicked. For the studio behind the sublime Ori series, a visually arresting and emotional pair of platformers, this is the tricky third album: a new IP, a new direction, and a launch into Early Access along with it. Taking a swing at the action RPG genre, there’s echoes of From Software alongside Diablo here, and yet, Moon Studios’ enigmatic outlook shines through. On first impressions alone, there’s nothing to be worried about for fans of the studio – excusing the decadent horrors that lie within.

If Dave the Diver proves anything, it's that one shouldn't make judgements based on appearances. Not only does the loveable lead character exceed the expectations of his cohorts at every turn, but the game itself goes well beyond what it looks like. At a glance, this is a charming adventure about exploring the sea, catching fish, and running a sushi restaurant. It is all that, but it also refuses to settle, constantly evolving the experience in surprising and compelling ways.

In a year already stuffed with terrific games, Children of the Sun stands out as something truly special. Developed by René Rother, the psychedelic puzzle-shooter plays like a spiritual mashup of Sniper Elite and Superhot by way of the anarchic noise rock sensibilities of Suda51, dropping players in the role of a vengeful masked assassin on a one-woman warpath across a surreal version of the American South to kill the leader of an army of cultists.

Playing video games together is some of the most fun you can have on a couch, especially when you’re working towards the same goal. Here are some of How-To Geek’s favorite couch co-op titles that will tempt even non-gamers.

Over the months since release, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has been very open and honest about what it left on the cutting room floor during development. We've seen all kinds of plot threads, unused locations, and gameplay mechanics that almost made it into the final version, and Larian recently revealed an alternate recruitment scene for Astarion.

By now, you've probably heard the buzz surrounding Amazon's live-action Fallout show. And as it turns out, it is a faithful and fun adaptation of the hilariously grotesque post-apocalyptic role-playing game series. The live-action show offers a glimpse of the wild world of Fallout and all the bizarre hijinks just waiting to be uncovered, and it's likely got you wanting for some games to try out that have a similar conceit.

Apple’s iPhone 16 range is rumored to arrive with multiple hardware upgrades to boost its AI capabilities. However, analysts are still skeptical of the launch, predicting that a limited artificial intelligence features set is expected to arrive later this year. However, for those who have intended to skip a purchase in 2024, 2025 has some notable internal changes arriving with the iPhone 17 lineup, likely boosting its AI-related functionality. Let us take a look at more details here.