The Level

Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Metal Gear Survive’s strange monetization scheme, DOOM, and we do a Free Play Multiplayer. The Brief: Papers, Please inspired a short film adaptation. Warcraft III gets an official tournament and widescreen patch. Metal Gear Survive has a possibly exploitative monetization scheme. Colonel Campbell reads the recent Mueller indictments. The Multiplayer: Free Pla...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Year of the Dog celebrations, Prey, and we ask you how you name your characters in games. The Brief: Overwatch does some year of the dog celebrations. Konami explains the MGS V disarmament bug. Dab on ‘em Haterz is a game about bad YouTube comments. Twitch has added new chat channels for channels who chat. New loot box laws in are falling into place. The Mul...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talka bout Monster Hunter: World, the shuttering of Mayfair Games, and we ask you about your worst grinding stories. The Brief Settlers of Catan developer is shutting down. Shadow of the Colossus has new secrets. Vampyr is releasing June 5. Video games and monks. The Multiplayer What’s your worst story of grinding for something in a game? The Grind Dennis: DropMix. Wat...

Kole, Ben, and Jala talk about Subnautica, the Red Dead Redemption 2 delay, and we ask you which games you respect but dislike. The Brief: Red Dead Redemption 2 delayed to October. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 announced for Switch. Video game hearing aids. Metal Gear Solid V disarmament ending triggered on accident. The Multiplayer: What game do you respect, but not like? The Grind: Jala: Persona 4:...

Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Dragon Ball FighterZ, Apple’s changes to loot crate rules, and we ask you how you get over difficulty walls. The Brief: Nintendo Labo announced. Speed Running stories. Mario 4-2 and Dragster. Apple does the least it can possibly do about Loot Boxes in games. Bioware delays Anthem. Yume Nikki followup revealed. The Multiplayer: How do you get over difficulty wa...

Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about the Nintendo Direct announcements, Sundered, and we ask you what your favorite winter game is. The Brief: Nintendo Direct news. The Overwatch League has launched. Theme Hospital is getting a spiritual successor. Sega attempts to fix the Ugandan Knuckles meme. The Multiplayer: What’s your favorite winter game? The Grind: David: Sundered. River City Ransom: Unde...

Kole, Ben, and Jala talk about some crazy VR stuff from CES, Human: Fall Flat, and we ask you about your gaming relationships. The Brief: Tesla Suit is full body haptics. VR for exercise. The Switch has already out-sold the Wii U. Top download list for PS4. The Multiplayer: Have games started or helped any relationships or friendships for you? The Grind Jala: Vermintide. Corpse Party: Book of Shad...

Kole, Ben, and Dennis talk about some game preservation stories, T.I.M.E Stories, and we hear what you’re most exited about in 2018. The Brief: Nintendo killed it with game sales last year. Gravity Rush 2 players are rushing to complete the game ahead of server shutdowns. The MADE is petitioning for a DMCA cutout for MMOs. The Multiplayer: What game thing are you most looking forward to in 2018? T...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about A Way Out, Doki Doki Literature Club, and we ask you about your most delightful moments in games for 2017. The Brief: A Way Out, a game made by the team behind Brothers, looks neat. Mount Your Friends 3D announced. Catherine is getting an updated remake. Metal Gear Solid V graphical teardown. The Multiplayer: What was your biggest gaming delight this year? T...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about the Game Awards, the Evil Within 2, and we ask you about your video game alter egos. The Brief: The Game Awards happened, and they Fromsoft reveals a new game. VR headphones exist. There’s a new Harry Potter mobile game coming that’s not the Niantic one. The Multiplayer: What’s your video game alter ego? The Grind: Dennis: Destiny 2. X-COM 2. Stephen’s Sausag...

Kole, Ben, Jala, and Davi talk about the Mega Man 30th anniversary announcements, New Dangan Ronpa V3, and we ask you if games have introduced you to other hobbies. The Brief: Streamer inventively pirates a UFC PPV event. Mega Man 30th anniversary announcements are exciting. Some great and funny new Magic cards are coming. Snake and boxes and Santa. The Multiplayer: Have games introduced you to an...

Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Cuphead, that time Epic sued a teen, and we ask you which game deserves a VR adaptation. The Brief: Epic sues a Teen. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is being ported to mobile. Desert Bus is being ported to VR. Demon’s Souls multiplayer servers shutting down 2/28/2018. Bungie screwed the pooch with an XP event. The Multiplayer: What game do you wish had a VR ver...

Kole, Dennis, Jala, and David talk about EA’s microtransaction woes, LISA: The Painful RPG, and we ask you about your favorite in-game creations. The Brief: EA backs down on some Star Wars Battlegrounds II Humble Care Package Bundle has some very good stuff in it. David explains what it means to be an outlaw. Games used as education about domestic violence. The Multiplayer: What's the coolest thin...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about Super Mario Odyssey, Sony’s weird trophy reward program, and we ask you which games pull you into a time hole. The Brief: Console sales are way up. TellTale lays off a bunch of their staff. Sony is monetizing Trophies, kinda. Ingress users can stalk each other. The Multiplayer: Which games pull you into a time hole? The Grind: Jala: We Happy Few. Final Fantas...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about SUPERHOT VR, the Switch adding GameCube controller functionality, and we ask you what’s holding back your favorite game. The Brief: Original Xbox backward compatibility coming to the Xbox One. Switch software update enables GameCube controller functionality. Bungie cancels “The Trials of the Nine”. Vermintide 2 announced. Overwatch team names announced. The...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about the closure of Visceral Games, Stardew Valley, and we do a Free Play Multiplayer. The Brief: EA shuts down Visceral Games. Late Shift is an interactive movie. Team Fortress 2 The Multiplayer: FREE PLAY The Grind: Jala: Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. We Happy Few. In Verbis Vertis. Jeanne d’Arc Ben: Breath of the Wild. Dennis: Destiny 2. The Binding...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Steamworld Dig 2, the new Star Control game announcement, and we ask you what your apocalypse game would be. The Brief: There’s going to be a new Star Control game. Blade Runner 2049 flops. Silent Hill 2 hidden bits. A gambling in gaming petition. The Multiplayer: It’s after the end of the world and you find a handheld gaming system with one game in it. What...

Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about the We Happy Few, the Atari Box, and we ask you about your feel-good games. The Brief: Atari mini console is a mini computer. University does study on action games and pattern recognition. Nintendo Switch prices are normalizing. Sonic 3D Blast facts. The Multiplayer: What’s your feel-good game? The Grind: Jala: Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Dishonor...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Steam’s Fake Game Problem, the Evil Within, and we ask you for your unconventional game problem solving stories. The Brief: The Witness released for iOS. A smattering of Breath of the Wild mods. Destiny faction showdowns. Steam and Fake Games. The Multiplayer: Unconventional problem solving. The Grind: David: Destiny 2. Dennis: Destiny 2. X-COM 2: War of the...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about Dishonored: The Death of the Outsider, Battleborn’s shutdown, and we ask you about your high score stories. The Brief: Colleges are rolling out eSports scholarships. Battleborn shuts down after 15 months. More Shadow of the Colossus remake details revealed at TGS. Knuckles & Knuckles and &Knuckles. The Multiplayer: What are you high score stories? The...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Destiny 2, PewDiePie’s latest controversy, and we ask you what your Pokémon-style evolution would be. The Brief thatgamecompany announces Sky. Fortnite gets a Battle Royale mode. Warframe team takes a shot at Destiny 2. PewDiePie fucks up again. The Multiplayer: What’s your Pokémon-style evolution? The Grind Dennis: Destiny 2. X-COM 2: The War of the Chosen....

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about PlayerUnknown’s Battleground sales, X-COM 2: War of the Chosen, and we ask you how much you indulge in game hype. The Brief: PUBG hit 10 million units sold. Resident Evil 7’s final DLC coming in December. Walking Dead AR game coming to phones. Zork minutia. The Multiplayer: What’s your relationship with game coverage and hype? The Grind: Dennis: Dreadnought....

Kole, Ben, and David talk about Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the post-facto Half-Life 3 story leak, and we ask you about video game remakes. The Brief: Valve writer posts what would have been the plot of Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Yakuza 2 is getting a Kiwami remake. How Wolfenstein 3D’s blood fizzle works. The Multiplayer: Let’s talk about game remakes! The Grind: Kole: Sonic Mania. David: Shadow War...

Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Sonic Mania, the Age of Empires 4 announcement, and we ask you which game you’d like to see made into a theme park. The Brief: Nintendo did it again. Bioshock 10th anniversary edition comes with a Tipped Daddy. Age of Empires 4 announced. Action games may inhibit your hippocampus. The Multiplayer: What game would you like to see made into a theme park? The Gri...

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about West of Loathing, Hellblade, and we ask you which games you love to watch. The Brief: For Honor exploit controversy. Swery65’s new game is called “The Good Life”. It’s about cat people. The Secret World might become a TV show. Magic’s new expansion will involve geocaching. The Multiplayer: What games do you like watching? The Grind: Kole: West of Loathing. D...