Mark Delaney's Reviews
Stranger Things 3 has taken over the pop culture world like it always does when a new season hits Netflix. If you've binged it already and need more, the console game is a fun adaptation worth any fan's time.
Sea of Solitude is a deeply personal experience, but it carries the nervousness of a studio desperate not to be misunderstood, delivering this allegory via spoon-feeding.
Crash Team Racing has long been remembered fondly by players and Beenox's Nitro-Fueled remaster proves, for the most part, we haven't been blinded by nostalgia.
Lousy combat and a low-res, buggy, lifeless land are blemishes for sure, but overall while this may not be the best of the bunch, The Sinking City is certainly the most ambitious of all recent Lovecraftian horror games.
Team Sonic Racing is Sumo's third race around the track with SEGA's flagship characters. It's not their best effort of the trio but because of the intriguing teamplay focus, it stands up as a worthy game for fans of the genre and families alike.
Across the board, Void Bastards is unforgettable.
Layers of Fear 2 ups the ante from the original game's haunted house simulator style of horror, but that still leaves it all feeling too scripted to instill any real sense of dread.
The amazing gunplay and combat of RAGE 2 shouldn't easily get so stale, but because of an open world all too familiar and a story that hardly gets going before it ends, players are left to rule over a kingdom of dirt.
All of this makes it hard to argue that anyone new to the series should try V2 Remastered. It offers too many 2012 issues in a prettier 2019 package. However, if you're already a fan, these poorly aged issues are more forgiving, making Sniper Elite V2 Remastered worth aiming for.
If you don't know the name Asobo Studio, you will after A Plague Tale. It clearly had a vision for what it wanted this game to be and despite the presumably lower budget than similar games, it rarely feels hamstrung by financial constraints. It's a game that looks, sounds, and plays great, and is all wrapped up in a story that unfolds irresistibly. For anyone who still longs for single-player games they can just sink their teeth into and enjoy, A Plague Tale should shoot to the top of your list. It's one of the year's best games.
Fade to Silence is nothing if not interesting, which helps keep the game afloat even with several short- and long-term issues. From a studio that has never done this sort of thing and comprised of just a few dozen developers, it’s clear its downfall is its own ambition as virtually all of Fade to Silence’s many systems need refinement. A lack of good tutorials will scare off genre newcomers, while half-baked elements like poor combat and controls will upset the veterans too. Still, the story drips out irresistibly and base-building is deep and engaging, which makes surviving the storm of problems worthwhile. Black Forest Games bit off more than they could chew with Fade to Silence, but they deserve some credit for taking the bite.
Before launch, World War Z seemed to be spoken of with skepticism, perhaps due to its curious choice of IP.
My Time at Portia tries to do so much at once and impressively gets most of it right anyway.
Generation Zero isn't the game I wanted it to be today, but in a world where games are alive and changing all the time, I'm hoping the singularity is still near.
Thankfully, the final episode delivers a sendoff worthy of Clementine's arduous and emotional journey. Beautiful and tragic often at once, and thematically tight, "Take Us Back" is a finale the team can be proud of as they move to whatever is next, and the fans can cherish as the story comes to its end.
The Occupation brilliantly blends elaborate levels, breadcrumb-chasing, gotcha journalism, and a politically-charged drama to become one of 2019's most interesting games.
Degrees of Separation opens like a touching fairy tale complete with well-written narration and a soft tone of lovers determined to find one another. Sadly, the game betrays them and the player alike by structuring progression exclusively around collectibles.
Yonder is the type of game I wish we had a lot more of on Xbox.
Puzzles and controls leave a lot to be desired, but Conarium does much else well, making it an easy recommendation for any fans of the author.
It survived the purge where Fable Legends and Scalebound did not, but even in its best moments, Crackdown 3's campaign feels like it was born too late.