It’s worth noting that the main mechanical difference between Deathloop and Dishonored is that you can kill without moral consequence here. That’s liberating, but while it’s nice, and hilarious, that kicking enemies into the ocean is such a key part of Deathloop’s gameplay, there isn’t a whole lot that’s interesting about that. For a stealthy FPS that prides itself on the steady accumulation of power and understanding, the game also rarely makes either one feel particularly exhilarating. But, in the end, Deathloop’s almost perversely ironic saving grace is that it’s populated with charismatic weirdos who are just as irked about that as you are.
While the new features and missions are nice, the world around us has made Death Stranding better.
The newest iteration of Life Is Strange has a lot of love to give but just doesn't know where to put it.
The fallout of that ending makes what had been a wafer-thin murder mystery with a gimmick into an exercise in psychological sadism, where the player is nauseatingly complicit. Despite the immense pool of talent giving their all to breathe life into these characters, Twelve Minutes is a game thoroughly lacking in humanity, in any sense of the word.
Naraka Bladepoint's sharp new take on the Battle Royale formula gets off to a promising, but slightly awkward start
The Ascent looks and acts like a video game, but mostly feels like work.
The occasional moments of tonal dissonance stick out, but they don’t necessarily hurt the experience. And it can’t be underestimated how great it is to have a game that’s very much an allegory about Asian people fighting to be heard, and with two Asian voice actors actually playing the leads. Still, the episode is titled quite accurately. At five-to-seven hours, Episode INTERmission isn’t quite filler, but it’s also not entirely filling. It’s an appreciable detour on a much longer journey.
This set makes the galaxy that you'll gallivant across for 90-plus hours feel so much more immersive, beautiful, and tangible-seeming.
Village is marked by a maturity that’s new to Resident Evil. Even when it steers us toward the traditional climax set inside a laboratory, the route feels more intimate and thoughtful than it ever has in a Resident Evil game. What elements Capcom doesn’t bring into Village from its predecessor, they’ve carefully replaced with a striking sense of emotional logic. Resident Evil, as a series, reinvented itself in Biohazard, and with Village it continues to grow up.
The shotgun blast of gameplay types and tonal shifts isn’t quite as varied or seamlessly integrated as it is in Nier Automata, but it’s still impressive just how far ahead of the curve the original game actually was.
Judgment isn't quite so ready to put away childish things.
At its best, Outriders is a looter shooter that's surprisingly generous with its loot.
Strikers is still a well-earned vacation for our heroes, an emphatic, energetic punctuation mark to a much larger experience.
Bowser's Fury finds Nintendo again pushing the envelope of Super Mario Bros. in exciting directions.
The Medium is at its best whenever the player gets to lives up to the game's title.
The blandness of the gameplay might have been somewhat forgivable if the game's narrative didn't suffer from an identity crisis.
Along with being one of the most gentle and soothing games of the year, Haven is also gaming at its most compassionate.
It's an addictive, delightfully rowdy experience in spite of the creaky, decrypt gameplay and engine.
The game is fairly dedicated to correcting many of the worst creative decisions made across the lifespan of the Assassin's Creed series.
Star Wars Squadrons proves that Jedi: Fallen Order was no fluke. Video games have never been more empowered to immerse players in all the coolest parts of the Star Wars universe, and EA is no longer tripping on its own feet making it happen. We used to daydream of being so fully engrossed in a spectacular Star Wars dogfight. Now, after just an hour of Star Wars Squadrons, with the right group, the daydream is when we can get our friends back in the air.