Mark Delaney's Reviews
For those that go into it with a co-op partner and with the knowledge that its design is as unforgiving as it is beautiful, it will be a unique and rewarding game. Always unabating but never unfair, Cuphead is tough to overcome but even tougher to put down.
Prison Architect is a deep offering of gameplay elements, interconnected systems, and emergent storytelling, all of which remain addictive for fans of such micromanagement. If all this sounds like more work than fun, you're probably right; this game just isn't for you. There were times when I looked at the game in my library and became stressed at the idea of playing it some more. Controlling a population of inmates who, by the basic nature of prison, don't want to be there, can feel like a second job. More often, though, I was amazed by the game's intense level of detail to the human element of being behind bars, and I walked away from the experience with an appreciation for such a stellar genre title. If you're a fan of simulations, Prison Architect is one of the best there is.
Speeding around colorful tracks launching missiles, dodging oil slicks, and earning coins is something we've seen countless times in the past, but TTR gets most of it right so it still feels like a race worth winning.
Rivalries will form and bonds will be tested, but in the end, Videoball does more good than harm and exists as something unlike anything else that you've played.
Anode is a highly replayable falling block puzzler whose only major flaw comes in its indifference toward advancing the genre in any way. It's a mostly been-there-done-that offering that manages to change up just enough to merit playing alongside similar titles. The limited but excellent soundtrack and local competitive modes make the overall package well worth playing if you're a fan of this type of game. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking -- pun intended, again.
Like all of the best first-person adventure games, or "walking sims", Virginia works better than its movie inspirations because of the inherent interactivity that comes with telling a story in this medium. It goes all in on delivering a surreal, Lynchian narrative and hits that nail of unreality on the head, all the way down to leaving you wondering what exactly you just witnessed.
In traditional Telltale fashion, "Children of Arkham" ends on a high note and I'm already anxiously awaiting the next episode.
Amnesia: Collection groups one exceptional must-play horror game with two good ones in a trilogy that is well worth the time of any horror fan.
"Guardian of Gotham" is some of Telltale's best writing to date. It masterfully paces several dangling story threads into one tightly delivered penultimate episode while also seeming to build the greater Bat-verse for future seasons. It's exciting and uniquely theirs at this point.
Controversially written and unflinchingly scary, Outlast 2 is a remarkable game that solidifies itself and its franchise as one of the greats in the genre. Although it gets slowed down by infrequent issues with AI and sequences that will feel familiar to series veterans, the end result is an atmospheric, dread-inducing, and contentiously biting narrative horror. Even more, above all of those attributes it needed to be terrifying, and holy hell is it terrifying.
In an age of remasters that don't always feel earned, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is one for which fans have been rightfully clamoring. Vicarious Visions' recreations are simply stunning.
Unlike the nightmare realm out of which Six is desperate to escape, Little Nightmares is a dream of a game that, upon completion, you may wish you could experience anew.
To say Thicker Than Water is the season's worst episode is both true and deeply misleading. It does take a step back from the extreme highs of the first three episodes, but this is still a story well worth seeing through to the end. Hopefully enough of the Garcia clan survive this season because they're worth another of their own. Some gripes with dialogue aside, the thematic elements remain strong, the characters are some of the best the studio has born, and this episode contributes to the still very high expectations for the season finale.
NBA Playgrounds follows in the footsteps of games like NFL Blitz, FIFA Street, and (of course) NBA Jam. It takes a simple premise — over-the-top arcade sports — and nearly perfects it. It misses an easy layup by excluding invitation options online, but hopefully the promised patch arrives to bring this game closer to an all-time great. Everything else, from the aesthetics and the music to the gameplay and the special wrinkle of wallet-free card collecting, is an uncontested slam dunk.
A New Frontier could have been the beginning of the end for Telltale's The Walking Dead. Risks were taken but they paid off brilliantly. Players will still be chasing the summit reached by the first season's teary final moments, but this episode closes a season-long arc that is Telltale's most thematically satisfying and emotionally resonant to date. It's a tale of family, responsibility, atonement, and inevitably, loss. It captures what this whole season stood for and breathes new life into the series.
For anyone who still plays the games with glee every November, Call of Duty: WWII is a better-late-than-never return to the series' roots.
Little Nightmares is a pick for Game of the Year right now and its first DLC chapter, "The Depths", enjoyably builds on the intoxicating and mysterious mythos of The Maw.
Most aspects of the game come with caveats, but none of them go to lengths that unforgivably diminish its entertainment value. Fans of local or online multiplayer games, especially those that can be as casual or competitive as you want them to be, owe it to themselves to check out Infinite Minigolf.
The first episode of Batman: The Enemy Within is yet another great debut that does most of the things you'd want it to do.
We'll know if The Enemy Within is a truly memorable Telltale product if they can avoid their middle episode valley, but for now, it remains worth getting into costume.