Mike Mahardy
polygon.com
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Mike:
Total War: Pharaoh’s politics and subterfuge are more exciting than its battles
Total War: Pharaoh, which now has a release date of Oct. 11 on Windows PC, has slick combat, but its political subterfuge and paths to victory steal the show. → Read More
Assassin’s Creed Mirage feels like more of a throwback than it should
Ubisoft Bordeaux’s new Assassin’s Creed game features detective work and in-depth assassination missions, but also frustrating controls and technical hitches. → Read More
If video games taught real-life skills like in Gran Turismo and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem…
Gran Turismo made Jann Mardenborough a real racer. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles says Forza Horizon is driver’s ed. So we should be experts in all these skills: → Read More
Shadows of Change marks an uneven step for Total War: Warhammer 3
The upcoming DLC for Creative Assembly’s strategy game introduces three new Legendary Lords to Kislev, Cathay, and Tzeentch with varying degrees of success. → Read More
Baldur’s Gate 3’s ‘crate trick’ is the OP solution to all of my problems
In Larian Studio’s new CRPG, characters can carry heavy objects like crates, barrels, and chests. Stacking them lets your character reach tall ledges. → Read More
Baldur’s Gate 3 can be your angel or your devil
Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you many options for talking your way out of — or killing your way through — NPC encounters. Here’s how we’ve handled each of these extremes. → Read More
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom owes its design to one of the most overlooked developers
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom expands on the physics-based puzzles and combat of Breath of the Wild, calling back to PC-game developer Looking Glass Studios. → Read More
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a playground for goblins
In the lead-up to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s May 12 release date on Nintendo Switch, we played 90 minutes with Link’s Ultrahand, Fuse, Recall, and Ascend abilities. → Read More
Get these essential PS4 games before Sony’s PlayStation Plus Collection goes away
PS Plus members have access to classic PS4 games until May 9. Before Sony yanks access, here are the best games to get, including Bloodborne, God of War, Resident Evil 7, and more. → Read More
Total War: Warhammer 3’s Chaos Dwarfs turned me into Succession’s Roy family
Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC, which will be released on Windows PC on April 13 alongside update 3.0 for Total War: Warhammer 3, introduces one of the game’s best factions. → Read More
3 games to play while waiting for Diablo 4
Diablo 4’s open beta has come and gone. In the lead-up to its June 6 release date, here are the best games like Diablo to play on PC, PS5, Xbox One, and more. → Read More
Resident Evil 4 has never felt so influential
With remakes to Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space, and The Last of Us becoming a tentpole TV show on HBO, third-person survival horror is having a banner year. → Read More
Where to find the Wrench in Resident Evil 4 remake
In Chapter 13 of Resident Evil 4 remake, Leon S. Kennedy must track down a wrench near the Incubation Labs in order to obtain the Level 3 Keycard. Here’s where to find the Wrench. → Read More
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is embracing Skyward Sword’s best mechanic
In Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct gameplay presentation from Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma, we saw Link making use of Skyward Sword’s most thrilling ability. → Read More
How will Life By You compete with The Sims? Deeper role-play
Life By You, the upcoming life sim game from Paradox Tectonic and Rod Humble, will offer in-depth customization of towns, real languages, and character “observable” webs. → Read More
The best video games of 2023 so far
The best new video games, including Resident Evil 4 remake, Metroid Prime Remastered, Fire Emblem Engage, and more on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox. → Read More
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s creepiest boss has returned to haunt me
Dead Hand, the creepiest enemy in Nintendo’s 1998 N64 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is making a comeback in the form of 3D models, and everyone needs to chill out. → Read More
The 11 best Zelda-likes to play while you wait for Tears of the Kingdom
Many games have drawn inspiration from The Legend of Zelda’s focus on dungeons, puzzles, exploration, and boss fights. Here are the best of the bunch. → Read More
Octopath Traveler 2 makes the case for more ‘short story’ games
Acquire and Square Enix’s 2.5D JRPG weaves the stories of eight strangers, borrowing from FromSoftware, The Count of Monte Cristo, Akira Kurosawa, and more on Switch, PC, and PS5. → Read More
Company of Heroes 3 propels real-time strategy past the real-time part
Company of Heroes 3, the upcoming World War II strategy game from Relic Entertainment, borrows from Total War and Civilization to make the lauded series on PC even better. → Read More