Eric Frederiksen's Reviews
If you're craving a great shooter and you've already played Wolfenstein: The New Order, then Wolfenstein: The Old Blood might scratch your itch. If you're looking for the story and characters that made the former stand out, though, you'll find yourself wanting for something more.
State of Decay isn't a horrible game. It has a compelling idea that it executes well. The team at Undead Labs knows what it is about zombies that makes them so interesting to fans. Despite it being yet another zombie game when there are so many already, its concept gives it legs to stand on. For that, State of Decay is worth checking out.
Bloodborne is a frustrating game, and I don't want anyone to go in thinking otherwise. But it's worthwhile, too. Despite some yelling, I've enjoyed nearly every moment with the game, and it's a world I can't wait to dive back into for more punishment and triumph.
I died 542 times while playing Ori and the Blind Forest. I was frustrated at times, but this is still one of the better games to hit Xbox One (or even next-gen altogether) so far this year.
ScreamRide for Xbox One does't worry about all the detail of managing a park, you have one goal stretched across three game modes: Amuse and thrill at any cost.
The Order: 1886 is an incredible tech demo for the PlayStation 4 and, like Ryse: Son of Rome on Xbox One, will likely be one of the best-looking games on the system for quite a while. It stands tall and should be commended for that. The flat characters, paint by numbers story, and strictly workable mechanics, though, keep the game from being anything more than just a technical demo of the engine Ready at Dawn has created.
If you're going to buy The Escapists, do your research first and make sure you know what you're getting into.
Adventure games have always been tough to get into; they're mind-bending puzzles that many people don't have the patience for. This remaster, though, reminds us what was great about them without making us walk over hot coals to get there.
It feels like no one at Ubisoft played the game. No one stopped and asked if the game was fun. Or if they did, they knew what they had on their hands and released it anyway in hopes of recouping some of the money spent developing it. It's hard to imagine how a game could go through so many beta tests and still be lacking in so many ways. If a second iteration comes along, as it most surely will, it might be a fun game if they have time to build off the working core. But who's going to play it?
If you're a huge fan of the character or are desperate for some local cooperative play on the new consoles, you might consider it, but for most, it won't be worth the time. For the rest, though, there isn't much here aside from a time waster when there's a veritable flood of more interesting games available.
[T]here's so much to do, and so much of it is great fun, that I don't miss those elements like I might in a game with art and writing that doesn't climb as high as Dragon Age: Inquisition does.
Unity isn't a bad game. If you want to tour Paris, if you want to encounter some of the era's historical figures, that part of Assassin's Creed is intact and, in many ways, better than ever. There are some fun missions to enjoy, as well. But if a consistent, bug-free experience is even slightly your thing, wait on this at the very least. Give Ubisoft a few months to get it out of beta or maybe just wait for next year when the team has a better handle on the engine and the new consoles.
It's still Call of Duty, but it's a fresh take on the formula and shows that Sledgehammer was a good choice to bring into the yearly rotation of Activision's biggest shooter. I'll be looking forward to seeing what they have to offer next time around.
Disney Fantasia is a fun, family-friendly way to interact with and enjoy music. It's a great use of the Xbox One's Kinect sensor as well, one that shows how much fun the sensor can be to use and how much we're missing out on as it fades away. This is likely the Kinect's last big new title – aside from some possible Just Dance and Dance Central updates – but it's a very good one. If you're craving a way to use your Kinect or get your Harmonix fix, this is the way to do it.
I think what works against the game more than anything is a simple matter of time. Alien is a sparse movie, carefully crafted to show us as little of the alien as possible, both to hide the alien costume and as a way to keep us in suspense. By the end of the game, you've spent more time looking at the alien than every character in the movies (I'm including Aliens 3, Resurrection, and Prometheus here) combined and somehow come away intact.
DriveClub falls short in many small ways that pile up to become insurmountable. Whether it's the dated mechanics, mobile game progression, or the bungled online experience, DriveClub just doesn't have much to offer.
The original Sleeping Dogs presented a colorful, vibrant Hong Kong filled with interesting people and an entertaining, if a bit cliched, story of alliances and
Forza Horizon 2 is a great looking game. The southern European setting is gorgeous and provides a variety of roads and settings to race on. The presentation is slick all the way through, and the six radio stations ensure you'll always have something to listen to (even if they aren't quite as stellar as those in the first Horizon, which I still listen to regularly).
This game will be an absolute slam dunk for certain players, though others will find themselves severely disappointed if they're expecting it to light the gaming world on fire.
The soundtrack and gameplay come together to give what initially seems like a small package a lot of replay value.