Mark Delaney's Reviews
The zombie subgenre is plagued with tropes. Movies, books, games, whatever format in which they're found, the undead just seem to feast on cliches. The better of those stories still insert something new to the landscape, though, and Zombi doesn't really do that. Managing your backpack and scanning environments for supplies and routes might have been fun on the second screen of a WiiU, but on Xbox One those features are watered down to just another mini-map and inventory menu. If that's what ZombiU added to the genre, then Zombi isn't left with much to hang its hat on. What does remain are genuinely tense interactions with the undead, at least, and the difficulty of survival is well executed. Ultimately, however, that's the case for a dozen other similar games, many of which do a lot of other things better than Zombi. At times it felt deserving of a score slightly higher or much lower than the one you see below, but ultimately, with a little getting used to, it's a functional but unpolished experience shambling down the streets of London.
My time with The Swindle was littered with failure. I blame myself for plenty of those attempts, but the game roots against you in a way that's nearly unrivaled in the past two decades of video games. Not since the Wet Bandits attempted to invade the McCallister residence has burglary gone so laughably wrong. Yet still, it had its moments and surely there are those that will appreciate this sort of beating more than I did. Perhaps it hearkens back to a time when games didn't hold our hands as much, and if that's the case, perhaps I've been coddled by quick-time events and cutscenes that do the hard stuff for me. I don't believe that's the case, though. 2015 is my 20th year as a gamer and I have played few games that challenge your patience as much as The Swindle. Maybe the game's robots have achieved sentience and human-like emotions. That would explain all the menacing satisfaction they seem to derive out of my failure.
Rocksteady's first game in nearly a decade can't shake the superhero-as-a-service genre's ubiquitous feeling that it exists to keep players mindlessly engaged.
Saber's arcade-like interpretation of American football is a few yards shy of a touchdown.
Madden continues to improve on the field, but surrounding that attribute with worthwhile modes or features still eludes the franchise.
Bloober Team's horror series is reimagined from the ground up, but the foundation still feels shaky.
This forgettable genre-blender chases several trends but adds nothing of note to any of them.
Much like a feline, Cat Cafe Manager can be unwieldy and directionless, which at different times makes the game fun or frustrating.
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.
Far Cry 6 sits at the dead-end of a decade of sandboxes. Existing primarily as a sprawling checklist, its story shows flashes of excellence in a barrage of bad jokes and sometimes fun but familiar tasks.
Hot Wheels Unleashed gets its racing and assortment of cars so very right, but the way you go about unlocking more content is unfathomably restrictive and leads to frustration.
Lake drops players in a quiet Oregon town and tries enticing them to uproot their life for something new, but I couldn't wait to leave Providence Oaks behind.
Chernobylite is one of the most inconsistent games I can recall ever playing, with fantastic highs and frustrating lows, leading to someplace in between.
Forgotten Fields is a flawed, sometimes frustrating experience, but its best moments are authentic and relatable enough to still make the journey worthwhile.
Dead Age 2 tries to rise above other games in the zombie survival genre, but while it does some things well, it does others quite poorly.
Observer System Redux is a prettier, smoother version of a good game, but its setting and characters are so grotesque and dark that it can be hard to get through.
This Is The Zodiac Speaking salvages a faulty setup by offering a secondary story mode that is much more enjoyable to play than its main draw.
Maid of Sker carries a proper tune in its story and setting, but faulty AI leaves much of this horror story feeling flat.
In 2020, Mafia 2 is a game greater than the sum of its parts. It shows its age in several areas, and though flawed, it still has its merits.
Hot Garbage was assumed to be aimed at players who have seen the whole game by now, but it ends up playing best for those still scanning the alien world.