Richard Scott-Jones
- Dark Souls
- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
- Total War: Warhammer
Richard Scott-Jones's Reviews
Beautiful and mechanically robust throughout, but weighed down by repetitive missions, a flabby structure, and a lot of the people you meet in Fort Tarsis. Even the strongest beats become tiresome if repeated or drowned in white noise, and that's Anthem in a nutshell.Richard Scott-Jones
The new features simulate an essential aspect of humanity and do help Humankind feel more complete, but seldom have the impact you'd hope for from the 4X game's first major expansion.
Improves on its predecessor in clever ways and still boasts the most gorgeous dinosaurs ever made in a game. But dealing with disastrous events beyond your control still isn't any fun, even if it's thematic for the Jurassic Park IP.
Total War fans after a bold twist on the High Elf or Greenskin campaigns will find this less creative than other Lord packs, but Warhammer fans excited to recreate this storied grudge match will find it no less essential.
Its core combat is probably better than XCOM's. If only it did a little more with it, Gears Tactics would be one of the greats.Richard Scott-Jones
PvP still needs work, and the story is once again more style than substance. However, abundant content elsewhere - including new PvE challenges and a build system with actual depth - means Shadowkeep does what it needs to.Richard Scott-Jones
The new World Congress and climate change mirror real-life in that they're partly beyond your control, making them hard to factor into your schemes. The new civs are among the best and most novel in the game, though.
Creative Assembly's art team has outdone itself, building a visual treat that drips with detail. However, Curse of the Vampire Coast's sheen is let down by a one-note campaign.
Aesthetic brilliance and great gunplay can't wholly save Destiny 2's campaign from trivial difficulty, repetitive action, and a go-nowhere plot. Its best content in the mid-game and beyond is betrayed by a reward economy that nudges you instead toward a vacuous treadmill made of public events, and which truncates the endgame.
A strong strategy game tarred by its unfinished feel and the influence of luck, but fans of the setting will be able to overlook its flaws
Superhot is a groundbreaking idea wrapped in a slick, minimalist aesthetic. Though its gameplay offers little variety, it is fun and truly unique, and comes at a fair price.
Garden Warfare 2 looks great, boasts a huge roster of inventive characters and contributes much to the social shooter genre. Single-player and PvE content is lacking, however, and this exacerbates the already glacial pace of progression.
A mostly successful step out of Civilization V's shadow, Rising Tide is a fine strategy game that only suffers in comparison to its truly great predecessors.
The most direct challenger to Civilization yet is full of brilliant ideas which could yet change the genre, although bugs and underdeveloped features occasionally get in the way of the fun.
A hefty expansion that offers up to 20 more hours of what Valhalla does so brilliantly, slightly marred by some half-baked side quests.
Beyond Light is undoubtedly in the upper tier of Destiny expansions, but its arrival has disrupted the game in ways that pose big challenges for Bungie in the months ahead.
It doesn't do anything fundamentally new and too much of the series' jank remains, but when Valhalla works, it's a marvel, and it works far more often than not.
Vast, beautiful, and every bit as epic as its subject matter, Troy's designation as a 'Saga' doesn't reflect a brief spin-off, but a soaring remix of the Iliad, with just the occasional annoyance or backwards step.
Firaxis trades a global war for an urban mission to defend a multicultural, multi-planetary peace. There's a lot to like in this more intimate, experimental spin-off, but the main sequence games are still the ones to beat.Richard Scott-Jones
Gameplay is rock solid from the start and only gains depth, giving a real sense of transformation into a Jedi badass. Respawn has also nailed the Star Wars universe, both good (sights, sounds, and cinematic flair) and bad (cringey dialogue and vacuous plot).