Justin McElroy
The return trip to Rapture is welcome, but Burial At Sea's first episode is confusing
Crimson Dragon is a total misfire
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood has good elements but inconsistent quality
Taken as a whole, Broken Age is still a easy-to-recommend, extremely charming game with some lovely messages about growing up. But it isn't quite the landmark achievement in video game narrative I spent its year-long intermission hoping for.
When the bizarre controls make mundane tasks impossible, Dadliest Catch is just too funny to be frustrating. When it piles on the weight of traditional video game challenges, controlling the tendrils of an uncooperative marionette becomes instantly less appealing.
Smoke and Mirrors wants to know how far you'll go to preserve your humanity
Obsidian finds a happy home in South Park
Burial at Sea too often feels like well-made fan fiction
A Crooked Mile is the most focused episode of Wolf Among Us yet
There have been many worse Spider-Man games than this. But I can't recall one that's swung so conceptually close to greatness only to let poor execution drag it back to Earth.
Tex Murphy has been fairly successfully transported to the modern era, and maybe that's enough for the established fans. It's just a shame he didn't pick up enough new tricks in his sixteen-year hiatus for everyone else to take notice.
In Sheep's Clothing gives in to the dark side
Cry Wolf wraps The Wolf Among Us on a high note
D4 is so weird, strange and different that it's hard to pass up
Crimes and Punishments is the best Sherlock has been, but it's just short of great
Costume Quest 2 has charm, but not much imagination
While I'm in no great rush to play it again, the appreciation I gleaned for a culture I knew practically nothing about is something I really cherish. If you can patiently plod your way through the game entwined with the story of the Iñupiat people, I suspect you'll cherish them too.
From a very cynical perspective, Far Cry 4 is "more Far Cry," but it's delivered in such a sophisticated fashion that I can't really see how that's a negative. If each iteration is this smart and silly and beautiful and ridiculous, I don't see this series wearing out its welcome with me anytime soon.
In Gat Out of Hell, the joke feels like it's on us
Though it nails some of the fundamentals, The Order: 1886 has been released without answering the essential question of what it offers that other games aren't already doing better.