Everybody's Gone to the Rapture has a subtlety and nuance that is extremely refreshing. Calling this a "game" is doing it a great disservice. It is an experience. Thusly, this might not be everyone's cup of tea. However, those that chose to invest their valuable time in this 5 hour gem will be rewarded with one of the most compelling experiences in recent memory. The truth is out there, just waiting to be discovered. Don't miss out.
On paper, everything about Kyn looks like it should amazing. Mystically powered Viking super-soldiers? Check. A diverse collection of loot and weapons? Aye. Long campaign, wrought with mayhem and peril? You better believe it. With all of these crucial boxes checked, it would be hard for the game to be bad, right? Sadly, not even these high points can overcome a title that has more bugs than a re-run of Fear Factor.
Every year people justify not purchasing Madden using the time tested line, "Well it is just a glorified roster update anyway…" Unfortunately for those poor jaded schmucks, no such excuse exists this season. EA Sports has went all out to deliver changes to the core gameplay mechanics, resulting in an authentic football experience, with unparalleled levels of depth and complexity.
Forza Motorsport 6 is a love letter to racing fans that greatly makes up for the shortcomings of the last installment in the series. There are more tracks, racing styles, and vehicles than ever before, complemented by a robust single player campaign. These features join an already stunningly beautiful graphics engine and their already state-of-the-art multiplayer and community tools.
As an immersive and anxious experience that also manages to be just as beautiful as it is terrifying, SOMA is in a class all its own. The stunningly well-realized world melds brilliantly with the outstanding score and sound design, begging the player to buy into the atmospheric world that Frictional Games has so painstakingly crafted. It genuinely feels like this is the natural evolution of everything that was started in Amnesia, just done with a bit more careful attention to detail and polish. This is an experience that completely justifies its budget price tag and more than validates the game's five-year development cycle.
To say that FIFA 16 is a return to form may very well be one of the biggest understatements of the year.
Much to our chagrin, EA Sports has once again proven that they can't make a quality basketball game. Like the Toronto Raptors, it is hard not to speculate how much more of a beating NBA Live can take before they just throw in the towel permanently. Hopefully the answer to that question is never, but they still have a seemingly insurmountable amount of ground to make up in order to even be competitive.
The over-arching theme of Rock Band 4 has been fan service. It seems like every aspect of the game from its' backwards compatibility for both instruments and DLC, to its playable music platform approach, ultimately has every Harmonix fan at heart. This culminates in a very welcome return to form for the series, and a very worthy first entry to the new console generation.
If you are looking for a bit more dudebro dipshittery in your life, then look no further. Broforce is a heaping helping of nostalgic happiness in concentrated game form. Aside from a rather repetitive set of mission goals and overly complicated level designer, this is the kind of game that is worth sitting down with four friends in the living room and having at it. This is a perfect reminder of what makes couch play coop so much fun. So party up and buckle in, because this is a ride down memory lane that is sure to have some amusing collateral damage.
When you zoom in on the true core purpose of Rainbow Six Siege, as an exclusively online tactical multiplayer shooter, the game makes a hell of a first impression. Though its features are fairly limited, what the developers chose to focus their efforts on, is exceptionally well put together.
What is it about routine that is so comforting? Punch Club somehow manages to not only make this endless cycle of grinding fun and immensely rewarding, while still keeping a few surprises very close to the vest. Even though micromanagement style games have been a staple on PC for as long as the platform has existed, something about this game feels like it would be more at home on mobile, where the repetitiveness can be indulged in more approachable, bite-sized doses.
In many respects, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharah had the potential to be a really tough sell to longstanding supporters of the Homeworld brand. Yet somehow it managed to not only meet expectations, but exceed them in a surprising number of ways. This is far from a reinvention of the RTS genre, but it is certainly a much needed rebirth for this series. At long last, the king has returned.
This is a gloriously mature adventure that is well worth liberating from retail captivity.
Somehow Jonathan Blow has once again managed to prove that his elevated opinion of his own abilities is 1000% justified. Though I am admittedly well within his target demographic, it is hard to shake the feeling that The Witness was a game that was made specifically for me.
Coldwood Interactive has managed to generate a refreshing new take on the puzzle platformer, starring an endearing protagonist that will steal your heart. For those looking to scratch that puzzling itch without having to bite of something as overwhelming as The Witness, this will prove to be a more than adequate salve. As long as you are not a fan of scissors, that is…
If you are looking for "toddler's first shooter," then you have come to the right place. Plants vs.
Ubisoft most definitely rolled the dice when it came to Far Cry Primal. Stripping down the series to its raw base risked alienating their entire audience. Fortunately for them, the shift seems to have gone off without a hitch. However, the lack of mission variety and combat tools hold the game back from being something truly groundbreaking. Hopefully they intend to continue to transplant the franchise into other settings, because if Primal is any indication, they are at least on the right track.
If you are already an Xbox One owner, it would be nigh impossible to make the argument for buying the game on PC instead of on the console. Make no mistake: this is a buggier and less convenient way to consume something that was designed exclusively with the console in mind.
Despite having a substantial batch of non-career modes, a deep roster of vehicles, and a substantial collection of maps, Sebastien Loeb Rally EVO seems to disregard a couple of the key pillars of the racing sim genre. It doesn't matter how many different ways you can play a game, if its handling and physics cannot be depended upon to produce consistently realistic results.
Charles Darwin would be a big fan of UFC 2. This isn’t just because of the natural selection angle of the combat, where the only the strongest and smartest survive, but rather because this is the most natural evolution of MMA games as a whole. There is certainly plenty of room for continued improvement in the future, but it is still far and away the best take on the sport to date. Those who have already found themselves smitten with the series will find plenty to enjoy the second time around.