Monthly Archives: February 2015

In the early 2000s, the mega corporation and video game publisher EA decided to double down and focus on smaller projects. That kind of idea allowed EA to express a little bit more creativity in their titles; one of which was from Klei Entertainment, Shank. Shank is based on the classic 80s action films starring the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but also on more modern graphic novels.

The art style is striking; with thick lines outlining the action. It’s an extremely violent game, though; seeing your main character, Shank, leap and explode his way through levels dodging Russians, Germans and various sizes of animals all hell bent on his destruction. The game is extremely stylish as well; the game is extremely fast paced and allows for the player to perfect each stage. The game rewards the player for speed and accuracy of completing the stages, and for most stylish ways of execution. To get the full achievements the player will need to seriously push themselves.

If there is one game in the world that could be regarded as a phenomenon it’s DOTA. The game originally started as a mod for Blizzard’s Warcraft 3; the game pits two teams of five against each other on the same map every game. The variety comes much the same way sports does; from the tactics, players and choices the teams make during the game. The mod has ballooned in popularity and become one of the most played games across the entire world.

DOTA 2 is the spiritual successor to DOTA, despite being a numbered sequel. The rights remain with Blizzard, but Valve has taken on many of the original staff. The game currently has almost 10 million unique players every month, with almost a million players playing every single day. The game has also developed a massive following in eSports – or electronic sports. Millions of people watched the finals of last year’s The International with the prize pool reaching over 1 million dollars.