It's not the reigning champion of this hybrid genre, but Mage's Initiation is a promising challenger. If sequels expand on the basics shown here, this could well be a series worth watching.
Beautiful, explosive, and endlessly creative - but hampered by similarities to its predecessor, some repetitive mission design, and not many leaps forward in its core mechanics.
Deck Nine have finished off Life is Strange in sterling fashion. Saying farewell to Arcadia Bay with Before the Storm is sad, but the best farewells usually are.
Deck Nine have finished off Life is Strange in sterling fashion. Saying farewell to Arcadia Bay with Before the Storm is sad, but the best farewells usually are.
Not as fresh as its predecessor, but a really well-written single-player shooter with plenty of options and plenty to do.
Mixing open-world and linear survival horror is a brave experiment that largely pays off for this enjoyable, schlocky stealth-action horror title.
I've got plenty of minor quibbles, but this is still an impressively solid start to a product that has an awfully special predecessor to live up to. I'm just hoping that this doesn't end up feeling like a prequel that nobody really needed.
Some flaws in perspective and a few attempts to do a little too much don't detract from a solidly entertaining shooty sneak-'em-up.
The Surge has a lot of nice ideas, but most of them are stomped on by conflicting with the game design. Not a bad Souls-like, but not one that's particularly easy to recommend either.
The fact that it's not as breathtaking as its predecessor shouldn't really stop horror fans from picking up this creepy run-and-hide simulator.
A love letter to the old LucasArts adventures. A must-play if you fondly remember them, and a should-play even if you don't.
You don't have to be a soulless, unthinking machine to dislike NieR: Automata, but it helps. This is a very, very special game - sufficiently special that it honestly deserves a better port than it got.
You can shoot Nazis in the junk, across bigger maps than before, with more options and better AI. Were you expecting something else? Do you really want something else?
Over-linearity and rubbish dungeon design bog it down a bit, but the combat, characters, and rather unusual plot still make Tales of Berseria a tale worth experiencing.
A wonderful return to creepy form for the venerable horror franchise.
Fun, jolly, and with tongue planted firmly in cheek for most of the game: Watch Dogs 2 isn't a must-have, but it's still a rather good time.
Make no mistake: Dishonored 2 is an exquisite game that's likely to please anyone who enjoyed its predecessor. That's assuming they can play it at a reasonable framerate, though, and right now that's a pretty hefty assumption.
Titanfall 2 offers the complete package: a solid, inventive single-player campaign that manages to avoid being yet another cover shooter with respawning enemies, combined with a frenetic and unique multiplayer mode.
Brilliant, infuriating, beautiful, frustrating, fantastic, and hateful. Battlefield 1 is a great game, but perhaps not one for the more casual solo player.
Mafia 3 occasionally shows off the fantastic game it could've been, but most of the time, it just leaves you with an impression of - and a longing for - the game that it isn't.