There's a lot going on in Black Ops 3, and all of it is a blast to play.
We can't tell you if Arkham Knight is indeed the end of this Batman's career, but if it is the last time Rocksteady works on the franchise, they've ended their era with a bang. Arkham Knight tells a mature story that cares about its characters. The missions are a little over-committed to showing how much the Batmobile can do, but it also feels like the car completes Rocksteady's vision of a living, breathing Gotham City; a war zone with lots of problems to solve and lots of fun ways to solve them.
Advanced Warfare is Call of Duty's true starting point for a new generation. The tech enhancements are an important evolution for the franchise, giving the online proceedings a necessary shot in the arm. The campaign is predictable but thrilling with enough exclusive tech tricks and set-pieces to make it a must-play. The co-op can sustain you for multiple hours, and it's hard to imagine playing Call of Duty multiplayer without an Exo-suit ever again. Sledgehammer has found fun in the future, and we can't wait to go back to it.
If you're fond of Tolkien, you should enjoy this side story without being too offended by the updates to popular lore. If you've enjoyed Assassin's Creed, you may appreciate the visceral change of pace the game brings to the genre of open-world stealth. The world feels alive and treacherous, the combat gives you lots of gruesome options, and the enemy army is always evolving. It might not offer the challenge you crave, but if you enjoy killing orcs, there are two maps filled with the savage monsters and they're all looking for a fight.
There are some incredible moments waiting for you. You just have to dig a little to find them.
The Live in Guitar Hero Live means a lot of things. In one mode, you're pretending to actually rock out in front of a packed arena, and in the other you're constantly competing against the rest of the world online. Your band mates overact sometimes, and you don't always get to pick the song you want to play in GHTV, but there's always a ton of music to play. So much is new, from the stage perspective, to the streaming service, to the updated guitar, that it feels like a worthy revival.
Far Cry 4 will enchant you with its lush forests, scenic vistas, and hostile wildlife but it's the mission and combat variety that will keep you exploring. You're bound to have a few gameplay oddities manifest themselves as Kyrat is a complex, open-world with many moving parts, but load times are rather pleasant and the textures and lighting are impressive. It doesn't take a lot of risks with the Far Cry formula, but once we enlisted we couldn't rest until the people of Kyrat were free of tyranny, and all the icons on the map were checked off.
If you need to buy all of Rock Band 4 to get a band going, it's a lot to pick up, but it's a worthy investment if you're in the market for a great party game. If you're fortunate enough to already have compatible gear or pre-purchased music ready to download, there's no reason not to rock again.
Any purchase you make in Disney Infinity will reward you in many ways, and between the Toy Boxes you build for yourself, the ones packed into the Hub, and those you download online, there's a crazy amount of levels. Few games today receive this much support throughout the year, and have such a dedicated community of people giving users more and more inventive creations to enjoy. If this year of Infinity is anything like the last two, 3.0 is something that kids of all ages will want to be a part of.