Joseph Bernstein

Can a terrible level ruin a game?

A great thread on r/games right now features recollections of levels so frustrating, or difficult, or obnoxious that they prevented gamers from returning for a second playthrough. There are some classics, like the “Cortana” level of Halo 3, the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time, and the descent into B

Adorable real life lumberjacks played the game about lumberjacking

We told you about Jack Lumberjack last April, then we recommended it to you in our Playlist. It’s just as fun as a game about a grief-mad lumberjack taking his revenge on trees sounds like it would be. It turns out Owlchemy Labs had bigger plans that we thought. They took a copy of the game to the 2

How does World of Warcraft grieve for its players?

If you think about human death vis-à-vis World of Warcraft, you probably think of the unfortunate 2006 incident in which a guild raided the digital funeral of a player from a rival guild who had died of a stroke. That story was one of those things that you tried not to think too hard about, so poten

One man attempts to remake the incredible and nauseous Descent

Descent broke my vestibular system and I didn’t care. The mid 90s spaceship-trapped-in-mining-bases shooter is famous for its “six degrees of freedom” – essentially, you can flip over and up and around whenever you want. I got stomach-sick every time I played it and I kept playing anyways. A hero of

Halo 4 "impressive and throbbing"

We’ll render a verdict on Halo 4 next week, when everyone has had a chance to calm down and we’ve had a chance to venture into the terrifying darkness of Lower Manhattan, where our copy of the game rests, very much unlooted. In the meantime, if you need to get excited for the game, Joystiq has you c