Scott Ellison II's Reviews
Showing it can be more than just “Rocket League with human feet”, Sloclap understands what makes multiplayer soccer engaging. The Prologue teases what a story mode could be like, and it would be really good had there been a campaign. REMATCH can be a little dry in its presentation, but is a grounded and surprisingly strong soccer game that only a well-executed competitive sports game can provide – the last-minute goal, the perfectly executed pass, the coordinated defensive stop. Sloclap has mastered multiplayer for Absolver, and then excelled at creating fluid animations in Sifu, for this all to coalesce in REMATCH to be a wonderfully flowing soccer game that has legs.
I wanted to love FBC: Firebreak, but I’d settle to even just like it. The lack of dynamicism gives me no want to replay any of the jobs because you’ve seen and done it all after just the first time you’ve completed it. While this isn’t an Early Access game, the emaciated amount of content makes it feel like one. This is a big misfire from Remedy. FBC: Firebreak is stands out in the space only because of its genesis, and that’s just not enough when everything else here is so boring and underwhelming.
Dune: Awakening is a compelling and ambitious entry into the survival MMO landscape. Funcom has managed to weave together challenging survival mechanics, engaging combat, and a satisfying progression system within a rich, atmospheric setting. While it might benefit from further content expansion and minor polish to reach its full potential, the foundation here is undeniably strong. Dune: Awakening is best when you’re in the safety net of PvE, but even then, the net has a few holes to be patched up. Though two things are certain in Dune: Awakening, no matter how far you’ve come, you’re never clear of danger or free from death.
For every challenge I was faced with, I felt like I was solving problems in equal measure. The Alters often faces existential complications and the human condition with gravity and weightlessness to allow you to laugh. You’ll be exploring, fighting for survival, or chasing a intriguing narrative, but each system feeds into the other so seamlessly, you’ll never be bored or want to leave a task unfulfilled. The Alters science fiction at its finest, and one of the best and weirdest games of the year.
Codemasters are operating at peak performance this time. This feels like a next-generation release through and through. F1 25 is absolutely brimming with feature after feature of high quality, the driving model is stellar, and is the best it’s ever looked. F1 25 is the reason you get into racing simulation games.
Frog Legs is a solid, thoughtful game. I wish each of the games you so briskly go through offered so much more. This decidedly short game has some great ideas I wish were more fleshed out, simply because they are so fun to partake in. Frog Legs is fun, while it lasts.
Ultimately, the challenge just isn’t there for RoadCraft, and it’s just a shame as the series deviates from what made it so special. The activities and missions you do are by far the best in the series, to just make this game worth it. Longtime fans will find this to be a game that’s too much work, especially for how fiddly everything is. RoadCraft is a construction and restoration sim that makes it hard to find the fun.
The Precinct plays in a smaller sandbox that you might be used to, and there’s a finite number of things to do, but it’s all well worth it. The developers have learned a lot since their last game, and it’s a richer and deeper experience for it. It lasts just as long as it needs to, and is not filled with any unnecessary bloat. Like its predecessor, The Precinct serves and protects as a homage to games of the past, and Fallen Tree Games offers restraint in its simcade police game.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is id Software firing on all cylinders. This game fixes everything I didn’t like about DOOM Eternal, and enhances everything I loved about DOOM (2016). It’s a first-person shooter that smartly incorporates timing and challenge in a whole new way, with lots of replayability. A customizable parry window ensures The Dark Ages can be for anyone, regardless of skill level. DOOM: The Dark Ages finds refinement upon excellence to be a bright spot in the dark ages for this third and hopefully not final entry for the venerable first-person shooter.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered successfully revitalizes a classic RPG with significant visual and technical improvements, making it a must-play for fans of the genre. While it doesn’t feel wholly modern, anyone playing this for the first time will find so much to love and enjoy here. Prepare to lose yourself once again in the captivating world of Cyrodiil and all the locations within its borders. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is not a perfect remaster, but it’s a damn good one, preserving the heart and soul of Oblivion while making it shine on modern hardware.
South of Midnight has so many characters I want to see more of because of their natural dialogue and strong relationships, both built and pre-existing. It does feel like it tries to do a lot in a single game, in the event that a sequel can’t be made. But there’s so much to like here, that Compulsion Games should get to make another game set in this world, for it’s so lived in. South of Midnight is bona fide storybook classic full of character and culture, and a game to be remembered and treasured.
Commandos: Origins is an exciting return for the venerable series. It introduces new players to the world and the genre, and returning players will find a lot new and experience everything the series is known for. It delivers the challenging and rewarding gameplay you remember with a modern polish. Commandos: Origins brings old faces to new places for an exciting real-time tactics game that sits in its throne once again.
Breakout Beyond doesn’t go beyond anything we haven’t seen before. It has its issues with paddle sensitivity and endless mode not being infinite, but both of which can be fixed in updates or patches. NeoBreakout by Digital Eclipse or any of the other games within Atari 50 collection do offer a more complete experience. Breakout Beyond is still a solid Breakout experience, in a pretty package to justify its own existence with a style and visual flair the series has deserved for some time now.
Whether incidental or intentional, Spilled! is contemplative and reflective of the current state of our planet, and the help it needs. It feels good to be cleaning up these waters, and it is empowering to know that you can start small to have an influence. There’s satisfying visual feedback to show you are having an impact on this world, where Spilled! is absolutely sublime in design and execution.
Rebellion have made a fresh, exciting post-apocalyptic world we haven’t seen before, formed from the results of a real-world accident. There’s some fantastic player agency that’s unlike anything else we’ve been able to have from this perspective. Atomfall has deep systems to engage with, an impressively unrestricted world to explore, guerrilla-style combat, and a leads system that takes you to unpredictable places for one of the best surprises of the year.
FATE: Reawakened is a solid remaster that won’t compete with Diablo IV, Last Epoch, or Path of Exile 2, but it also doesn’t have to. I wish some of the menus, UI, and other gameplay bugs didn’t bog the overall experience, but thankfully there’s still a solid game here. FATE: Reawakened is a reminder of a simpler time, and while it doesn’t hold a torch to the original, it’s still a nostalgia trip worth taking.
Like Overboard! before it, Expelled! is incredibly novel and satisfying that’s high school drama at its finest. Just getting the right ending doesn’t mean you’re done. It’s rare, but this game’s achievements will drive you towards its completion. Expelled! is anything but academic, there’s payoffs aplenty for this incredibly cunning mystery follow-up.
Two Point Museum is the best the series has to offer. Playing this gives you an appreciation for what goes into making museums viable and sustainable. It might even encourage you to visit a local one you haven’t been to lately, or have never visited before. There’s plenty of laugh out loud moments, and things that will keep you smiling as you play, it’s simply a joy. Two Point Museum is a much more focused game, but one that’s near perfection in its execution of first-class management tools.
What Obsidian did with New Vegas to improve Fallout as Avowed does for Elder Scrolls. While in separate universes, this feels like Obsidian’s take on an Elder Scrolls-esque game, and does so much more. Avowed is gorgeous and delightful, but equally grim and dark as its story unfolds. You needn’t play Pillars of Eternity to understand everything, but you’ll be inclined to after the credits roll. Avowed asserts itself into the pantheon of great first-person RPGs, offering best-in-class combat.
X-Out is back thanks KRITZELKRATZ 3000 and Rainbow Arts, as the legendary developer returns in a big way for X-Out: Resurfaced. I can only fathom of a few retro remakes that look and feel this good to play. It was a game ahead of its time, and the depths it goes to be an engaging and challenging shmup. X-Out: Resurfaced is faithfully recreated, and this unique shoot’em up is for all to enjoy once again or for the first time.