Dan Stapleton's Reviews
Game of Thrones Ep 1: Iron from Ice is a strong start for Telltale's adventure in George R. R. Martin's fantasy world.
Defense Grid 2 is just as addictive as 2008's Defense Grid: Awakening, but lacks the original's surprising heart.
Goat Simulator is a clever piece of interactive satire powered by hilarious ragdoll physics and its embracing of bugs.
Cinematic starship combat and a (final) frontier atmosphere give Rebel Galaxy a great hook.
Relatively simple in concept but complex in the possible manipulation of the market, Offworld Trading Company manages to make a type of gameplay that’s traditionally slow into something fast and exciting. It’s a tad too easy to trip yourself up before you even begin, but once it gets rolling this multiplayer-friendly cold war of capitalism forces tough, rapid-fire strategic choices.
The story mission of Shen’s Last Gift is briefly interesting for its new location and escape mechanic, but the real reason to get this DLC is the sixth soldier class that expands your squad composition options with super-durable mech troops.
Prey's space station is fantastically explorable and its shape-shifting enemies maintain tension when combat doesn't.
With a set of thieving and assassination tools that beg to be used creatively, Heat Signature's puzzle-like missions are great for jumping into for a few goes at a time to try something just crazy enough to work. That's when the fun stuff happens.
Doom VFR is a brave shooter that proves that VR games don't have to be conservative with movement to work. Fast-paced action with a great stable of recognizable weapons and enemies makes it a challenging rush, once you find your VR legs. It's a shame VFR story didn't get the same self-aware treatment as Doom did, but even if it's all about warping and gunning, that's more than enough.
Donkey Kong Adventure feels almost big enough to be a sequel to Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle rather than just an expansion, and it packs in a lot of tactical fun. Donkey Kong is literally a game-changing character with abilities that are fun to learn and use, and Cranky Kong's alright, too. The main downside is that you're locked into one team composition, which limits your ability to change up your playstyle or replay battles differently.
Rage 2's moment-to-moment combat is outstanding, making it shine among open-world first-person shooters.
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw does a great job of modernizing the spacefighter gameplay of classics like Wing Commander: Privateer and Freelancer.
Black Mesa is the best way to play the classic original 1998 Half-Life today, but it's a remake that already feels old enough that it would benefit from a remake itself.
Gears Tactics does an excellent job of grafting Gears' signature look and feel onto XCOM's turn-based battle format and looks great doing it.
Watch Dogs: Legion's bold use of roguelike mechanics in an open-world action game pay off in interesting ways, making this visit to near-future London feel more varied than the previous two games.
Chorus gives you fun and flashy superpowers that make its space dogfights stand out, along with its strong main characters and beautiful scenery.
Weird West's five dark-fantasy adventures contain a wagonload of bizarre encounters, twists, and reveals, and its stealth and chaotic combat are challenging but come with the built-in safety nets of unlimited slow-motion and an old-school quickload system.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is an expansive tactical RPG that makes great use of card game mechanics to inject variety and unpredictability into its excellent combat.
Arizona Sunshine 2 keeps the pressure on for a long campaign of zombie slaying full of satisfyingly gory head shots, entertaining humor, and the bond between a lonely man and his dog.
Some of its new ideas work better than others, but Civilization: Beyond Earth retains its addictive 4X qualities.