Look no further than the integrated proximity chat, which incorporates voice and text. It's not nearly as nuanced as the Teamspeak plugins utilized by dedicated military simulation groups like Shack Tactical (a group of which I am a member, for what it's worth). Camelpoop420 sounds just as loud and shrill when he's across the street as when he's right next to you, and the directional audio in these situations is a bit hit-or-miss. But it gets the job done. You can heckle, you can taunt, you can make people panic as you stalk them through the smoke... or you can make friends.
Ultimately, it’s that modern-day Mr. Rogers moralism that saves Bugsnax in the end. I’d happily recommend it to any family, and to any parent looking for a few hours to themselves — either in front of the screen for a bit of casual gameplay, or in the next room while the kids enjoy it all on their own.
From inside my HTC Vive Pro, I feel totally immersed in the action. I'm surrounded by cockpits that look just like they do in the classic films. My ears are filled with familiar Star Wars sounds that I can immediately recognize, and Squadrons' excellent binaural audio brings it to life all around me. I can look in any direction, moving my head as fast as I want without the game struggling to keep up with me. Even while boosting, rolling, and turning to keep a bead on other players during multiplayer, I always felt in control.
I’m looking forward to the dozens, if not hundreds, of more hours yet to come.
Even if you just show up to take in the sights, it’s an experience that is well worth your time. Just turn on the AI pilot, kick back with a glass of Champagne in first class, and enjoy the ride.
This is a near miss, but as anyone who has ever played a turn-based game will tell you, a near miss can be all the enemy needs to take you out. This is an interesting, but hardly essential, addition to the Gears family.
Despite its imperfections, fans of tactical strategy games should snatch XCOM: Chimera Squad up as soon as possible.
Sadly, Days of War feels like its developers tried and failed to reach a bridge too far, and that’s a real shame.
MechWarrior 5 is impressive when it’s able to work long enough to live up to its own potential.
The theme is a bait and switch, but the gameplay is at least somewhat interesting
It all adds up to a game that feels like an excellent first draft. Fans of battle royale games and open-world survival games should feel right at home — that is, until they run up against a mob that’s too big to handle on their own.
Sci-fi adventure set in ’60s Germany is a beautiful, artsy letdown
There were moments where it felt like I was playing the same game that came out when I was 11. But the look was just a bit more lavish, and the funky bass line was arranged just differently enough. Back in the Groove is the perfect mix of polish and nostalgia, and one that I can’t wait to play through again.
DayZ is still broken, still beautiful, and still unfinished
All these issues of performance and balancing make for an unenviable situation for the developers at DICE.
Gris will only take you a handful of hours to play from start to finish, but I can’t recommend it strongly enough. I only wish the experience lasted longer.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 certainly has some interesting elements, things that have the potential I feel to move strategy gaming forward.
The environments are scaled well and comfortable to move through using the standard quarter-turn method or by spinning in place in an office chair. In that regard, the technology behind Transference is a triumph.
The easy way out for Dontnod would have been to take the most time-worn tropes from dime store horror novels, season to taste with period melodrama and serve it all up for players to enjoy. Vampyr reaches for more, and I'm very interested to see if the finale does it all justice
Raid: World War II disappoints on all levels. It's not that one thing in particular is badly broken; it's that so many aspects of the game are clumsy or incomplete. It made playing the game a chore, even in its best moments. Sometimes a terrible movie or game will still have things that make it enjoyable — hilariously cheesy dialogue or over-the-top action that I end up liking in spite of the low budget or poor production values. With Raid, there's just nothing here for me, and I can't imagine there being much here for anyone else.