Batman v Superman Release Date Change Explained

With Warner rolling out their DC Extended Universe from next year, the superhero film market is going to become a crowded place, as rival studios fight for key release slots. Warner's much-anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has already shifted release dates twice, first from July 2015 to May 2016, and then forward to March 25 of next year, to avoid a clash with Marvel's Captain America: Civil War.

Game On: China Lifts Console Ban, but Not Censorship

The communist nation's embrace of video games is in part a censorship strategy.

A man plays a Sony PlayStation 4 in Shanghai in March. The Chinese government has lifted restrictions on selling and manufacturing video games in the country.

God of War 3 Remastered Review

It's one of the most thrilling openings in all of video games. As warrior-turned-deity-killer Kratos, you climb the Titan Gaia, who functions as a colossal, moving level upon which you battle Poseidon, the god of the sea. Gaia herself is one of Kratos' few remaining allies; her cries of pain pierce the air as you swing your chained blades, launching ghoulish soldiers into the air and slicing away at Poseidon and his many-legged steed. It is all sound and fury, almost unparalleled in its sense of scale and its translation of a protagonist's anger into bloody, brutal interactions. When Kratos strikes his final blow, you see it not from his perspective, but from his victim's point of view, in the first person. It's a striking and vicious design choice that sets the tone for the game to follow. You are no longer conquering the Greek gods as an enraged antihero, but as a full-on villain.

The question, then, is this: How could God of War III hope to top this sensational introduction? It doesn't, though it certainly tries, and allows God of War II to retain its position at the peak of this beloved series in the process. That's not to say that the game isn't terrific fun, only that its unimaginative final encounter has nothing on the phenomenal opener. Gaia casts a long shadow over the hours that follow, and even a similar battle upon Cronos' massive body can't escape it, though it, too, remains a technical marvel in this remastered edition.

Lego Jurassic World Review

When we think of high-budget games, we may think of the cinematic experiences that drag you along a roller coaster-like ride through scripted set pieces and quick time events, like Call of Duty orUncharted. Or we may think of the glut of open world games we've seen flood the market, all complete with minimaps covered in dots of things to do or collect, compelling you to comb the landscape and visit every single one. The Lego series of games by Traveller's Tales has perfectly embodied these conflicting design philosophies across the many franchises it's taken on and put them in a kid-friendly package. That's why setting a Lego game in the Jurassic Park world is such an enticing prospect: it's a series that naturally combines the cinematic with the sprawling. Lego Jurassic World encompasses just that with style and undeniable charm that will melt your cynical heart, but the boring things the game makes you do hamper the joy.

If you've played any of the recent Lego games, you know exactly what you're getting into: solidly designed platforming amidst a world made of bricks. Combat takes a back seat to simple problem solving as you find ways to clear environmental obstacles, which often takes the form of building new things out of loose bricks that are lying around. Cooperation is also encouraged thanks to hop-in multiplayer and a cavalcade of characters to take control of, each of which has special abilities you need to use to progress through the game. Tying everything together are hub worlds that you can

Traverser Review

Let us for a moment consider the idea that, one day, the sun might poof out and that the surface air of the earth will vanish in the process. Let us suppose that the remnants of humanity will flee below the earth's surface, where the core remains surprisingly warm. Furthermore, let us imagine that humanity will embrace a vaguely steampunk aesthetic straight out of Dishonored in the process and that, even with all that's happened, some folks will find the time to express the desire that their home be painted in garish hues of red, green, and blue. Considering the circumstances, it's a pretty uplifting message, isn't it? That's the world that Traverser presents us, and it has all the ingredients of a scrappy adventure that can grab the hearts of millions in a way that the most blockbusters never could. It's such a shame, then, that this isometric 3D platformer and puzzler becomes such a stark reminder of the fact that good concepts amount to little if they don't have good gameplay to match.

It's a concept that works well in part because it's so surreal. At the heart of the world, so to speak, stands a city called Brimstone that floats suspended above a sea of lava and below a cavern roof studded with crystals, and the rich and the poor occupy the top and bottom sides, respectively,

Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure Review

The Dr. Mario series' has always provided great puzzling action despite its no-frills design. Conceived during the 8-bit years, when Tetris had recently exploded on the scene, Dr. Mario stood out for its peculiarities. In the first proper 3DS installment in the series, Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, the formula is tweaked ever so slightly, providing you with something new to try even if you spent far too many hours playing the original version on the NES or the bite-sized chunks that appeared more recently in the NES Remix series.

Despite the adjustments, the core design remains intact. You still move colored pills as they fall into the play area, flipping them around in an effort to line up four or more pill segments and viruses of the same color. Find success, and maladies and medicine disappear, leaving you with more room to maneuver. You win when all the nasty bugs are gone, or you lose if the rising wall reaches the top of the screen.

The "Miracle Cure" part of the game refers to special new power-ups that now appear by default. These drop periodically once you fill up a meter that rests alongside the play area. There are four types. One variety looks like a bomb and vaporizes anything within range once it lands. Another is V-shaped. If you match it with several pills or viruses of the same color, everything on the screen that

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition Review

Devil May Cry 4 is excessive by design, from the mammoth swords to the boss battles rooted in elegant mayhem. The action can feel like a firework show that spurns a nuanced routine for a non-stop, thirty-minute finale, and there's a certain charm to this bravado. But the excessiveness takes away just as much as it gives. The structure of the extended campaign works against its own momentum, forcing you to retread recently explored locations and battle all-too-familiar enemies over and over again. While this Special Edition provides slight combat tweaks and additional characters to toy with, there's just not enough mechanical or architectural variation to justify the fluff. As a result, the endless combat rooms and recycled scenarios can be exhausting.

The re-progression is thematically justified by a character swap, giving you at least some reason to remain engaged during this slog. You spend the majority of Devil May Cry 4 with Nero, a silver-haired, sardonic punk whose emotions swing from caustic rage to lovesick sweetness at the drop of a sword. He's a suitable protagonist for the series, with enough emotional intrigue to carry the early portions of the story, but the eventual shift to Dante is welcomed. Collecting new weapons and

Batman: Arkham Knight Review

"A clean shot to the head," drones the villain known as Arkham Knight. "That's all it will take." At every opportunity, the Knight speaks of the horrific deeds he might perform, doing his best to drive fear into Batman's heart throughout the open-world adventure game that features his name. Scarecrow similarly trades on Batman's doubts, attempting to convince the troubled hero of his own impotence at every turn. "All eyes, all hopes upon a man who fails his friends," calls out Scarecrow through Gotham's public networks, reminding Bruce Wayne that he, too, bears responsibility for the losses his loved ones endure.

Batman is a troubled hero, and past Arkham games haven't shied away from exploring his dark side. Arkham Knight is no exception: the caped crusader growls his way through one confrontation after another in which he must question his role in Gotham's current crisis. We've seen these themes before, many times over, and Batman: Arkham Knight's villains repeat them ad nauseum, as if you weren't already choking on heavy-handed metaphors at every turn. It's fortunate, then, that Arkham Knight, for all its ham-fisted storytelling and frequent returns to well-trod ground, features the qualities developer Rocksteady has infused its previous games with: superb production values, hard-hitting combat, and a wonderful sense of freedom as you soar above the skies of Gotham.

God of War III (Let's Live it Again)

God of War III is a third-person action-adventure video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). Released for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console on March 16, 2010, the game is the fifth installment in the God of War series and the seventh, and last, chronologically. Loosely based on Greek mythology, the game is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist and former God of War, Kratos, after his betrayal at the hands of his father Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods. Reigniting the Great War, Kratos ascends Mount Olympus until he is abandoned by the Titan Gaia. Guided by the spirit of Athena, Kratos battles monsters, gods, and Titans in a search for Pandora, without whom he cannot open Pandora's Box, defeat Zeus, and end the reign of the Olympian Gods.