While the long-term staying power might be arguable, "Dungeons 2" gives some great mechanics, good animation, and mixups to the gameplay loop that influence how players approach each situation.
The game shows off some truly cool concepts, and offers Oculus Rift support for those that want to see how the minimal UI and experience change, but at it's core is a good game hamstrung by a few lacking areas.
"Cities: Skylines" brings us forward, while looking over the shoulder and providing an ever so slight nod to the proud history of city management games.
Minor gripes like the netcode and kill trades aside, the game delivers an online experience that can be cathartic, tense, and ultimately an adrenaline rush – something that echoes the core tenets of a "Battlefield" game.
For those looking for something different from the standard "Civ" experience, or something that's an even larger departure than "Beyond Earth" was, this may just be the scratch for said itch.
"DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition" not only tweaks and enhances the overall experience of the 2013 game, but adds in small dashes of greatness that elevate the title to new heights. Although a mouthful, the title is expertly descriptive. If you want an action game that is truly the "Definitive Edition" of the 2013 entry, as well as a great core "Devil May Cry" experience, this collection reigns supreme.
While the game is most fun when played with friends or a team with communication in the strength column, it's just as enjoyable to get into a solo match and hunt, be it a monster, or hunters.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris proves a great downloadable title for your collection. It's not only a great Tomb Raider game, but a great isometric in the vein of Gauntlet that keeps your interest, and easily pushes you along without dragging.
There are some genuinely great things about the racing action, the beautiful environments, and the vehicles are incredible looking, but overall the physics bugs and frustrations outweigh the adrenaline and elation of winning.
While Assassin's Creed Rogue isn't the technical mess Unity seems to be, it's an uninspired title that seems to check the box of "get a last gen title out the door". There are some good elements here, but nothing that actually innovates or pushes forward. The game is a decent Creed game, and another great pirate game, but it's ultimately just more of the same.
Far Cry 4 deserves your time. While I don't want to say run out and spend hard earned money on it, that's your choice, but it serves as one of the best games I've played on the new generation of hardware. I look forward to organizing some incredible and random co-op hilarity, and will easily dump hours upon hours in to this game. If you're a fan of shooters, good story, and overall immersive experiences, Far Cry 4 is on a Golden Path of it's own.
Overall Assassin's Creed Unity is by far my favorite total experience in the series. While not without flaws, the story, acting, and content packed into the disc is pretty incredible, and will keep you busy for quite some time. While yes, it's a bit disappointing to see microtransactions show up, they're entirely optional, and the technical hiccups are there but easy to look past. Unity stands as move forward, and proves that even without awesome ship combat, we can get a great game about the order of Assassins.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare represents a return to form for the franchise. While the campaign likely won't win story of the year, we don't expect it to. A solid campaign that teaches the basics, and tells a competent story are all we ask, and exactly what we got. Multiplayer is of course a big deal, and Sledgehammer proves they are not only up to the task, but in to innovate the space, as the Exo additions, supply drops, and operator customization will keep this Call of Duty on your hard drive for a while.
Sunset Overdrive is not the best game I've played on Xbox One, it's the best game I've played all year. From start to as finished as an open world game can get, the game keeps you engaged, dangles carrots enough to keep you motivated, and injects such a fulfillment of power fantasy that the game sticks with you. Sunset Overdrive energizes, and proves that giving an extremely talented studio like Insomniac the trust and funds to do what they creatively envision on a new IP is a huge bet, but one that Microsoft saw value in. This bet pays off in the best way imaginable.
Project Spark is an inspiration. A wide open toolbox that quite honestly isn't getting the marketing it deserves. A brilliant execution of a tough to perform idea, Team Dakota deserves to be proud of what they've done. While creation isn't everyone's thing, the ability to pick up and play other players creations or the premade campaigns while progressing characters is fantastic.
Overall Crimes and Punishments serves as a deliberate, well put together mystery game. It serves as a great change of pace from the shooters and action fodder out there now and that will undoubtedly follow in the coming months. Unfortunately, lack of a cohesive story, feeling of being on a set, and the overall vapid nature of those sets lead the game to a somewhat boring end.
The Sims 4 is an enjoyable life simulator, and looking beyond its omissions is a fantastic game that keeps you entertained, for a bit. Ultimately The Sims 4 showed much initial promise, but the inclusions do not outweigh the omissions in this game, and the total package leaves us wanting.
Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition represents a few things; a good value, a solid game, and a good time. The story, as mentioned earlier, is one of the best stories in the series (if not the best), fun to play, and only better with a friend. Dead Rising 3's co-op allows players to jump in and search, collect, and slaughter together, with shared collectible findings so you don't have to worry about losing progress. I truly enjoyed Dead Rising as a game, and appreciate what it does. While it might not win awards for the best story, or the best anything really, it's a fantastic game, and deserves your attention.
The long and short of Madden 15 is this; if you are a year in year out Madden fanatic, you will enjoy the latest addition to the series. It might not have a ton of new features, nor a breadth of new content, but there are enough changes to entertain, keep the games fun and challenging, and you have your football game for 2014/2015's season.
Sniper Elite 3 provides a unique take on an overpopulated time period, in an overpopulated genre, but still manages to stand out. Utterly enjoyable, and customizable if you are not one for the X-Ray kill-cam, Sniper Elite 3 manages to make the carnage of killing something more about a means to an end. While the story may leave wanting, the experience within, and the collectible content, is enough to call Sniper Elite 3 a definitive step forward, and one we hope continues for Rebellion and 505.