Christopher Byrd
"The Division" rewards tactical thinking. One memory I retain from my week with the game involved running up and crouching behind a concrete abutment, while on the other side an enemy was shooting. I tossed a health station behind me to regenerate my health then tossed a turret behind the armored gunner. As he staggered from the turret, I popped up from behind cover and eliminated him.
An interesting science fiction game let down by its live-action series tie-in
With its handsomely-crafted labyrinths and rigorously paced combat, "Dark Souls 3" hits all the notes that aficionados have come to expect. Still, I hope Miyazaki's next creation finds a new way to cut against the grain.
Along with games like “Cibele” and “That Dragon, Cancer,” “1979 Revolution” sets a new path for games by providing a template for how the medium can tell stories grounded in ordinary life. Some of my favorite episodes in the game were much less spectacular than the incidents one normally sees in games like the aforementioned family dinner or tending to the wounds of an injured protester.
‘Samorost 3′ is a strange and beautiful point-and-click adventure game
"Battleborn" is an okay shooter but it's certainly not a memorable one.
What "Doom" gets noticeably right is its pacing. The ebb and flow of combat is as balanced as a keystone.
A flawed but effective take on parkour
Prospective players should be ready to look outside the game for solutions — there are online images to consider, timestamps to mull over, a reddit thread to consult, and even emails — actual emails — to send.
The game is a procession of stately, grim exclamation marks. It is visionary art.
I Am Setsuna is the polar opposite of a subversive work it. It’s earnest and conventional but also alert to the vast scope of human fallibility and treachery.
[A]ll told, “Headlander” left me in a mellow state with few regrets over the three days that I spent with it.
A nice swim through a virtual world
Perhaps “No Man’s Sky” will, over time, evolve into something more interesting if players are given the tools to terraform planets and to make them more fulfilling sites for exploration. For now, this is a game whose concept is more interesting than its execution.
The Turing Test” achieves a rare harmony of gameplay and narrative. It should make one think about the flexibility of the mind and what it means to consider one’s species the apex of creation.
Too many diversions lead to too much wasted time
Sorry all of you “Pokemon Go” players, “Gears of War 4” is my social game of the season.
When the missions come together, they can be thrillingly indulgent. More often than not, though, they stick to a basic pattern: infiltrate a building, carefully pick off the guys with the sentry signs above their heads to prevent calls for reinforcements, and kill your way to your goal.
If you go into “Titanfall 2” looking for nothing other than sensory-stirring action and pitch-perfect controls, you won’t be disappointed.
“Dishonored 2” is one of those games that seems ripe for YouTube or Twitch. It offers an excellent platform for high-level players to strut their stuff. Alas, because it is a decent but inessential sequel, I will not be revisiting the game to perfect my technique.