'Dark Room' exhibits the best and worst of what Life is Strange has to offer
Harry moves through the game, cut from the same cloth as a manuscript peasant. He has that resigned look of the perpetually damned. Nothing can surprise him, and this creates a fatalistic humor in his labors.
A Way Out has many faults, but a lack of heart isn't one of them. Seeing that heart translated into a cooperative play experience makes the journey worthwhile.
Knack 2 is an entertaining platform game like those of yesteryear. It's been created with due care and attention. Sure, it's old fashioned, and its story is appalling. But it's a reminder that the character-led platform combat game is still alive and well. Despite its good looks, it's more a work of engineering than it is a work of art. But, as my kid said to me after we'd mashed our way through a co-op level, it's kinda fun.
Bound is an imperfect but enchanting reminder of the power of art
Death of the Outsider offers a standard take on the Dishonored formula, tracking closely to its admirable ethos of freedom and choice in a world of subtleties and illusions. It's a decent finale with a solid central character. But it makes little attempt to try anything new, a sign that all the best ideas are likely going into whatever comes next.
Old Man's Journey is sweet and undemanding
Dawn of War 3 isn't evolutionary, but it is ferociously competent
Age of Wonders 3 is a challenging power fantasy
Attila is a satisfying simulation of a world in chaos
Last Day of June is a narrative puzzle game that makes full use of a wide range of powerful emotive devices to make its point. Its fairly straightforward puzzles won't keep you up, scratching your noggin at night, but the effect of its wonderful characters and the love they have for one another will leave you feeling like you belong to something bigger than yourself.
In essence, Assassin's Creed Origins is much the same game as the original Assassin's Creed, which came out a decade ago. It's a formula that people like to play, and it's certainly been honed and improved over the years. Origins is, then, undoubtedly the best iteration of this formula yet. But I yearn for a fresh approach and new ideas, something that astounds the senses as much as the wondrous world this game inhabits.
Turn 10 has become highly proficient in taking this basic mechanic and turning it into a full on fantasy, of conquest, of acquisition, of personalization.
Wilson's Heart is an important marker in VR storytelling's path forward
Blackwood Crossing's truth is unforgettable and wrenching.
Forza 3 Horizon is as beautiful as it is engaging
Civ 6 is smarter and more varied, but doesn't show much progress
Firewatch is the video game equivalent of a page-turner
At three hours long, A Case of Distrust held my attention all the way, but that's not to say it's without imperfections. The main character, I think, lacks the energy of her associates. She's rightly angry about how she was treated as a woman on the force, but her feminism falls somewhere between overly earnest and glib. Despite a strong backstory, she lacks emotional force and presence.
This expansion is a recognition that the magic of this series is in giving players lots of choices — sometimes difficult choices — as we all strive to stamp our own personalities on what is, effectively, a simulation of personal political leadership.