Val Hull

Val Hull

Resident role-playing RPG game expert. Knows where trolls and paladins come from. You must fight for your right to gather your party before venturing forth.

Diablo Series Retrospective

The original Diablo launched on December 31, 1996, and has since celebrated its 20th birthday. The folks at IGN took this occasion as their cue to begin writing a detailed retrospective of the demon-slaying series. It took them a while,…

A Brief History of MMO Games

This PC Gamer article looks back at the history of MMOs and lists some of the more influential games of the massive multiplayer variety we’ve had a chance to play over the years. Apart from a chronological list of influential…

Pyre Developer Q&A Livestream

The folks at Gamastura have managed to get ahold of Supergiant Games’ Greg Kasavin and Amir Rao for a livestream dedicated to their recently released title, Pyre. With how unique Supergiant’s games have been so far, it’s quite a treat…

Immortal Planet Released

Immortal Planet, an isometric sci-fi action-RPG that the developers themselves describe as “a love letter to Dark Souls,” is now out and available for purchase on both Steam and GOG for $14.99 or your regional equivalent. Apart from the isometric…

Phoenix Point Update #24

In the new Phoenix Point Fig update we’re reminded to use CrowdOx for all our backer survey needs, and after that, we’re treated to a tour of the new Snapshot Games offices in Sofia. During this tour we’re introduced to…

Middle-earth: Shadow of War Kumail Nanjiani Trailer

A new Middle-earth: Shadow of War trailer features Kumail Nanjiani, a talented actor you might know from such TV shows as Silicon Valley and Franklin & Bash. In the trailer he introduces his Shadow of War character – The Agonizer.…

Ash of Gods Update #15

The latest Ash of Gods post-funding update deals with the logistics of running a Kickstarter campaign. The backers are reminded to fill out the questionnaires they’ve been sent and PledgeManager is announced as the platform where you can manage your rewards…

How Firaxis Saved XCOM From Complete Disaster

Whether you like the innovations Firaxis has brought to the XCOM series or not, there’s no denying that their games are widely successful and popular. Eurogamer’s Chris Bratt took it upon himself to figure out how exactly Jake Solomon and…

Secret World Legends Livestream Q&A

Funcom’s Scott Junior and Romain Amiel have participated in Gamasutra’s Secret World Legends livestream recently, where they answered a number of questions about the game and shared some of the underlying design ideas behind the MMO’s relaunch. Here’s the full…

System Shock Remastered Edition Update #35

The latest Kickstarter update for Nightdive Studios’ System Shock brings us a dev diary by James Henley, the lead level designer on the project, where he talks about the iterative process of updating the original System Shock’s levels with some…