I didn’t quite know what to expect when I sat down in my living room to play Resident Evil 7. I had just spent the last two weeks doing multiple playthroughs of Resident Evil 4 so I could write a piece about that game’s legacy and the influence it had on the industry as a whole. Even 12 years later, I was still awestruck by 4’s innovations and how well it had aged, so I came to 7 with much trepidation, mostly due to Capcom’s strange and ill-conceived marketing campaign for the game, which lingered too long in boring mysteries and withheld information about what 7 was actually going to be until close to launch. When I learned that the game was going “back to the series roots,” I was both cautiously optimistic and skeptical.

With the exception of 4, Resident Evil has always been a series that I liked more as an idea than a game I enjoyed playing. I can understand why players loved navigating the mansions and cityscapes that comprised the first three titles, but the tank controls, occasionally tedious puzzles, and bad bad combat made them games that I played through more out of a duty to understand what place they had in gaming history rather than something that was fun to play.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been close to 15 years since the first Kingdom Hearts game released. This actually makes me feel a bit old. Since that game launched, I’ve graduated from high school and college. The amount of time elapsed feels almost surreal. I don’t think I ever could have predicted the bumpy ride I’d be on with the series. My younger self surely never thought I'd be waiting until 2017 for Kingdom Hearts III, but here we are. 

Resident Evil 7's first wave of DLC packs, called Banned Footage Vol 1, launched today. Included in the pack is a mode called Ethan Must Die, which has protagonist Ethan working through the Baker Estate to take on dastardly Marguerite in the Green House. However, the rules have changed from the main game. There are no save points, the house has been rearranged, enemies are deadlier, and items are randomized. 

Editors Kyle Hilliard, Javy Gwaltney, and Jeff Cork decided to put their skills to the test in a deadly game of Pass The Sticks. How did our trio do? You can find out right here:

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When I decided to turn the 12.31 Super Replay into an annual event, I knew the focus needed to be on bad games. People enjoyed watching us suffer; that was the hook that stood out. We used Overblood as the foundation for the type of game we were looking for each year. Blue Stinger, Illbleed, And Martian Gothic were all games that delivered a similar stench. They were perfect selections for the annual Super Replay.

When Tim Turi left Game Informer to work at Capcom, I realized this Super Replay event wouldn't be the same without him. He played through all of these bad games, and, well, I don't think it would have been fair to continue on without him. Out of respect to Tim, we are moving away from the survival-horror angle, and are falling back on my original pitch: it needs to be a bad game period.

As it turns out, there are many different flavors of terrible video games, and I think we found another example in Sonic the Hedgehog that is every bit as enjoyable, campy, and unbearably bad as the original Overblood. The game is simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's often referred to as Sonic '06. It's developed by Sonic Team for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and is another failed attempt to give the blue speedster new life.

After two seasons of traveling in the TARDIS, actor Peter Capaldi is leaving Doctor Who at the end of this season. He was the 12th Doctor, and a damn fine one at that. Capaldi didn't make me forget about David Tennant's brilliant run as the 10th Doctor, but he delivered a unique punch to his Doctor and made the role his own. Capaldi previously said the show's shooting schedule and workload were taxing for an actor, but said it wouldn't stop him from being a part of this universe. Although TV ratings are down this season, BBC won't be putting the series on ice again. It sounds like 2018's season is already locked in. BBC's content director Charlotte Moore says "It's not over yet – I know the next series is going to be spectacular."

I always hate seeing a Doctor go, especially when it feels like we are just getting to know them, but BBC has done a nice job of reinventing the role each time the baton is passed to another actor. Here's hoping the next Doctor shakes up the foundation a little.

Microsoft broadened the Xbox's focus from being a games machine with the Xbox 360 to an all-in-one entertainment device with the Xbox One. That strategy may not have attracted gamers in the early days of the new-generation transition, and the console continues to recover from those missteps. Even so, the Xbox One is home to an increasing library of great games. In our continually evolving feature, we're highlighting the 10 essential games on Xbox One.

Here are Game Informer's current picks for the top 10 games on the Xbox One.

10. Rise of the Tomb Raider “Rise of the Tomb Raider captures the thrill of being an adventurer and leaves you thinking about Lara's next move. You have daredevil sequences, heroic moments, fun exploration, and exciting fights that even Indiana Jones would envy. If Crystal Dynamics keeps raising the bar from here, I can't wait to see what's next for Lara.” — Kimberley Wallace

Last year, over the course of four months, we played through Shenmue for the Dreamcast in its entirety. It was an experimental video series, with an undefined schedule that allowed us to take in all the feedback for each episode by reading and responding to comments in (almost) real time. The experiment was a success! So we immediately decided (after playing through Dark Souls III, Tex Murphy: Under A Killing Moon, Shadow of the Colossus, and Resident Evil 4) that there was no time like the present to return to Yu Suzuki's masterpiece. For the sequel, we're playing the Xbox version that was published by Microsoft in 2002.

Codemasters recently announced Dirt 4 (coming on June 6 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC), a return to the multi-discipline racing of the series (which excludes the excellent Dirt Rally) which we haven't seen since 2012's Dirt Showdown. Since then we've not only had a new round of home consoles, but countless other racing titles – including a number of them from Codemasters – have brought their own ideas to the track.

What does Dirt 4 have to do to make its mark and elevate the franchise? Here are some things I'd like the game to address.

IS GYMKHANA IN THE GAME OR NOT?

When I decided to turn the 12.31 Super Replay into an annual event, I knew the focus needed to be on bad games. People enjoyed watching us suffer; that was the hook that stood out. We used Overblood as the foundation for the type of game we were looking for each year. Blue Stinger, Illbleed, And Martian Gothic were all games that delivered a similar stench. They were perfect selections for the annual Super Replay.

When Tim Turi left Game Informer to work at Capcom, I realized this Super Replay event wouldn't be the same without him. He played through all of these bad games, and, well, I don't think it would have been fair to continue on without him. Out of respect to Tim, we are moving away from the survival-horror angle, and are falling back on my original pitch: it needs to be a bad game period.

As it turns out, there are many different flavors of terrible video games, and I think we found another example in Sonic the Hedgehog that is every bit as enjoyable, campy, and unbearably bad as the original Overblood. The game is simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's often referred to as Sonic '06. It's developed by Sonic Team for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and is another failed attempt to give the blue speedster new life.

With the announcement of Marvel and Square Enix partnering for an Avengers game earlier this week, we decided to take a look at some Marvel games – some better known than others.

Joe Juba joins me, and office comic book super geniuses Andrew Reiner and Matt Miller as we play through a favorite, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. We discuss all things Marvel, talk about our favorite heroes, and celebrate the seven-year anniversary of our little video game show.

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