Destructoid review: Wheelman

Midway Studios Newcastle’s/Tigon Studios’Wheelmanis an open-world action title. In it, you control a digital Vin Diesel named Milo. He’s good at driving and doesn’t mind killing anything that gets in his way. He also wears extremely tight-fitting clothing, which is a plus for me. I enjoy staring at Diesel’s biceps and pectorals. I can only hope that one day I can achieve his greatness. (FYI: Vin Diesel bench-presses 415 pounds on a good day....

July 11, 2025 · 8 min · 1541 words · Terry Winters

DIRT 5’s Stampede track is a butte-bumping experience

Bring a cushion Codemasters has released another work-in-progress trailer for its upcoming off-road racerDirt 5. Following on from itsprevious Path Finder premiere, this new video offers an early look at the rock-solid, jarring surfaces that make up new circuit “Stampede.” Located between the iconic Arizona buttes, Stampede is a hard-wearing track – ploughed into the rock and offering very little give or suspension. Mastery of acceleration and inertia will be required when taking on this twisty, unforgiving course....

July 11, 2025 · 1 min · 184 words · James Mcdonald

Elder Scrolls Online feels fine on consoles, but it doesn’t fix the core game

Waiting for an overhaul To my surprise,The Elder Scrolls Onlineworks pretty well on a console. In fact, it feels almost identical to my experiences withMorrowindandSkyrimon the Xbox and Xbox 360 respectively (first-person mode helps). I was able to copy my character over almost instantly, log in, and pick up right where I left off on PC. Having to actually buy the damn thing is a hard pill to swallow, but since it’s subscription-free now, I can just hop back in at any time....

July 11, 2025 · 2 min · 301 words · Jennifer Dominguez

Fallout 76 Ghoul Within update lets players get Ghoulish in Season 20

Bethesda revealed today that playable Ghouls are officially now a thing inFallout 76with the release of the Ghoul Within update. The update is live now and launches alongside Season 20: Glow of the Ghoul which adds ghoul-themed rewards and C.A.M.P. items for the season. For the first time ever in theFalloutuniverse, players can complete a specific Level 50 quest that gives them the ability to turn their character into a Ghoul....

July 11, 2025 · 2 min · 295 words · Kenneth Brown

Friday Night Fights: Dead Space 2 edition

It has been a while since the last Friday Night Fights post on the front page, but we haven’t forgotten about it! I’ve now been placed in charge with bringing you all the information that you need to play games with your fellow Dtoiders. FnF’s are a long standing tradition here on Destructoid, so if you have some free time tonight, come join in the fun! This week saw the release of the much anticipated Dead Space 2, complete with a new multiplayer mode....

July 11, 2025 · 2 min · 382 words · Lindsay King

From insult to identity: What exactly is a nerd?

Exploring the boundaries of ‘nerdom’ Following a swift completion ofBioShock Infinite‘s 1999 mode last week, I was hit with a particularly potent wave of boredom. Quelling the bubbling cauldron of monotony was easy while skating through the battle-torn dystopia of Columbia. Feverishly hunting down achievements, collecting voxophones, and Bucking Bronco-ing my way to victory pacified me for a time, but that time had passed. Upon repetition, (three play-throughs, in fact) the vibrant collective of American idealism, religious fervor, and technological prowess dreamt up in the minds of Ken Levine and the folks at Irrational Games had unfortunately been reduced to a memorized script....

July 11, 2025 · 6 min · 1120 words · Jennifer Little

Frozen Endzone combines roguelike elements with sports

New game from the Frozen Synapse developers Mode 7, the developer behind the intense tactical strategy gameFrozen Synapse, has revealed its next project:Frozen Endzone. It’s an American football-esque game, but uses a command system similar to the one found inFrozen Synapse. The goal is simply to get the ball into the endzone, but both players create their own plays beforehand and watch the results unfold in real time. Holy crap does this game look super enticing....

July 11, 2025 · 1 min · 155 words · Daniel Thompson

Gallery: Our favorite cosplay from Comiket 88

Show us yours! This weekend in Tokyo, roughly550,000 peopleattendedComiket(Comic Market, if you’re nasty), a biannual event where independent creators sell games, manga, and other items directly to the fans. It’s also a hot spot for the cosplay community, who braved the heat and humidity to hang around outside the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center to pose and snap photographs for hours on end. Naturally, with so many folks in attendance, a lot of these pictures have been floating around on the Internet these past few days, which we’ve been sifting through to show you some of our favorites....

July 11, 2025 · 1 min · 100 words · Tiffany Parks

Gamestop: Ending second-hand sales will ‘upset’ customers

The debate over second-hand games rages on, and if you are a regular reader of Destructoid, you’ll quickly learn that most of us don’t quite see eye-to-eye with EA, David Braben and Epic on this one. Second-hand games are awesome, and the games industry should stop trying to be the exception to one of the most basic rules of trade. Simple as. Unsurprisingly, Gamestop is also a big supporter of second-hand games, probably because it makes a lot of bloody money from them....

July 11, 2025 · 2 min · 294 words · Jenny Martinez

GDC 09: How silly you’ll look playing WarioWare: Snapped!

So you thought Nintendo’s Bill Trinen looked nuts playingRock N’ Roll Climber? Forget that — it’s old news. The new hontesss for looking like a nutjob while playing a game isWarioWare: Snapped! One of the first available games for Nintendo’s DSiWare service, Snapped utilizes the consoles camera to capture your movements to completeWarioWare-style mini-games. Like shaking your head to dry off a miserable looking (but cute) puppy. It’s a headache and a straight-jacket waiting to happen, but could be a bit of fun....

July 11, 2025 · 1 min · 97 words · Jacob Underwood DDS

Getting the lowdown on Victoria II: Heart of Darkness

The Scramble for Africa Next toHearts of Iron, theVictoriaseries is the Paradox Interactive grand strategy title I have the least experience with. There are a couple of things that have contributed to this, but the most influential one is my declining interest in historical periods as they get closer to the 20th century. I’ve been seeking new challenges recently, though, and after Paradox announced a new expansion toVictoria II,Heart of Darkness, I decided to spend more time with the complex political and economic simulator....

July 11, 2025 · 7 min · 1478 words · Stephanie Jackson

Here’s a demo for that System Shock remake

Kickstarter kicks off You can lay your hands on a demo forthat reimaginedSystem Shockgamenow. Night Dive hopes to raise $900,000 onKickstarterto launch the refreshed game at the end of next year. To date, the campaign — which launched today — has secured over $335,000 via 5,100+ backers. “After two decades, we are remastering and re-imagining the original System Shock,” states a blurb on thewebsite. “We will keep the new game true to the classic experience, keeping all the things you loved, while updating the user interface and graphics to use a modern day engine (Unity)....

July 11, 2025 · 1 min · 150 words · Dominique Byrd

How to change time speed in Fields of Mistria

Let’s face it, there’s always too much to do and not enough time in any cozy game, andFields of Mistriahas always been a victim of this curse. Tending crops and caring for animals always eats into the days, but now there’s an option to make the days longer. As part of the second major update on March 10, players now have a newaccessibility optionto make time pass more slowly, allowing you to get more done each day....

July 11, 2025 · 3 min · 478 words · Justin Rogers