Bethesda

CHICAGO – I’m more or less “over” the whole killing evil aristocrats thing. Between “Skyrim”, “Assassin’s Creed”, “Mount and Blade”, “Ultimate” and dozens of other games that take place in some sort of medieval setting, I think I’ve killed every Lord, Duke, and Earl in Europe.

CHICAGO – “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” passes the ultimate test of the best role-playing games — entertaining tedium. RPG fans have to be willing to spend hours grinding away to upgrade their character or sometimes just trying to get from point A to point B. There’s a fine line between repetition that feels worthwhile and that which feels boring. Even doing the most mundane tasks in “Skyrim,” one knows they’re playing a near-miracle of a game, one of the best RPGs of all time.

CHICAGO – After months of build-up in which we were promised a game that would finally merge several game types (single-player campaign, co-op, and multi-player combat) into one glorious package of endless hours of entertainment, Bethesda’s “Brink” is finally here and it’s… just OK… I think.

CHICAGO – We’ve become spoiled by the next generation of gaming. Most high-profile games have gone through enough research and development during their production and are made by such experienced developers that they rarely come out of the industry machine with little to no redeeming value at all. Sure, there are disappointments, but you don’t see as many complete bombs in the gaming world as you do in film, music, or TV. The exception to the rule is the truly awful “Rogue Warrior”.