Dan Stapleton's Reviews
Playing as The Bright Lord Celebrimbor isn't bad, but it's a big step away from what makes Shadow of Mordor special.
Cities: Skylines is all about building huge, bustling cities, but they don't need us to save them from disaster.
Sid Meier's Starships produces a few good tactical battles before its AI loses steam and its strategy gets frustrating.
Early excitement and newfound purpose puts Telltale's Game of Thrones back on track in Episode 3.
Invisible Inc's randomized and repeatable sci-fi heists create one tough, risky tactical decision after another.
Game of Thrones: Episode 4 - Sons of Winter delivers a dose of of the action we've all been waiting for.
You don't have to think outside the box to solve Magnetic: Cage Closed's puzzles, but there are a few head-scratchers.
Batman: Arkham Knight is an impressive game on almost every level, with non-stop variety and great action.
Massive Chalice's aggressive tactical combat would be stronger without so many opportunities to lose due to bad luck.
Don't blink, or you'll miss the Batgirl: A Matter of Family DLC. There's just not enough here to get excited about.
Game of Thrones Episode 5 takes a turn south with some out-of-character portrayals and lack of forward momentum.
It may seem ungrateful to be unenthusiastic about a content pack of miscellaneous upgrades, but the strongest reason to recommend this DLC is to say thank you to Colossal Order and Paradox for the great stuff we got for free in patches. There's plenty here, and some of it can give your city a little more regional flavor, but none of it stands out as a must-have feature that refreshes how Cities: Skylines plays. Instead, it serves as a reminder to return to this great city builder and see how it's improved since you played it last.
Cinematic starship combat and a (final) frontier atmosphere give Rebel Galaxy a great hook.
Kingdom initially impresses with striking pixel art and minimalist design, but later it proves complexity is necessary.
The world, exploration, crafting, atmosphere, and story of Fallout 4 are all key parts of this hugely successful sandbox role-playing game. Great new reasons to obsessively gather and hoard relics of happier times, strong companions, and sympathetic villains driving tough decisions make it an adventure I'll definitely replay and revisit. Even the technical shakiness that crops up here and there can't even begin to slow down its momentum.
We knew this wasn't going to end in happiness for the Forresters - if it had, I'd be crying foul that it didn't feel like Game of Thrones at all. The problem is that sense of inevitability mixes with the lack of resolution for major parts of the plot in an unappealing way. Most of what this uneven season finale has to offer is found in a few strong moments and continued hope for answers to questions in a hypothetical season 2.
Just Cause 3 is a playground where you get to be a physics-defying force of destruction, and its loop of liberating dozens of towns across this enormous scenic world would've gotten old much quicker if the combat wasn't so full of options for free-form mayhem. Getting the most out of it requires some creativity and tolerance for performance bugs on your part, so come expecting to make at least some of your own fun. It's a damn shame so many performance problems and punishing load times keep cropping up [on the PS4 and XB1 versions], because I love what Just Cause 3 does. But for game that's so heavily dependent on action to run this poorly is no laughing matter. [OpenCritic note: Dan Stapleton separately reviewed the PC (8) and PS4/XB1 (5.9) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
Darkest Dungeon is a grim and merciless tactical strategy game whose great tension comes from its many layers of complexity, unpredictable randomization, and willingness to put our fragile characters in mortal danger if we dare to venture into its depths in search of treasure and glory. Brilliant narration and stiff yet surprisingly expressive animation make it easy to be drawn into its vague but tantalizing world, though the end feels artificially out of reach.
With a focus on variety and replayability, this sequel has an answer to most of my complaints about 2012's excellent XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and aside from some mostly cosmetic bugs, it comes together brilliantly. Thanks to a new spin on the same great tactical combat, plus unpredictable maps and randomized objectives and loot, XCOM 2 is an amazing game I'll easily put hundreds of hours into.
Adr1ft doesn't pioneer any new types of gameplay with VR, which is a shame because it desperately needs some variety in that area. However, it does benefit greatly from blocking off the rest of the world, creating a feeling of isolation that aligns with what your character is experiencing. Floating out over the Earth and looking down from this perspective is truly impressive.