Scott Ellison II's Reviews
Forza Horizon 3 Blizzard Mountain is not a required expansion, because there’s more than enough to the core game. But if you’re looking for more Forza Horizon 3, or to just do different things, Blizzard Mountain is an essential expansion to play. Blizzard Mountain also makes meaningful changes to the Forza Horizon 3 progression system. The way Blizzard Mountain looks, feels, and sounds is a treat to your senses, and a place you’ll want to spend a lot of time in this winter.
Dead Rising 4 is far removed from its predecessors, but I highly recommend this game, especially those who have been turned off by the time-limited and grind-heavy gameplay of the previous titles for something a bit more free-flowing and tons of fun. Dead Rising 4 simply puts the fun back in fun.
It is unfortunately hampered by its limitations on this platform. While its social elements are severely lacking, the act of playing, and most importantly, creating a level from your own mind is still really fun. If you find yourself not able to be creative, the 100 Mario Challenge and Super Mario Challenge provide the inspiration you’ll need to make fantastic levels and share them for the world to play.
It introduces challenges that to play without this DLC would feel naked otherwise. There may not be UFOs, but there is plenty to keep you on edge during your time getting back into Cities: Skylines.
While the game hasn’t aged very well in the years, and the ideas seen here are considered “old hat”, it remains a highly engaging experience that even if you’ve seen it all and know all its twists and turns. The updates to the game cannot be understated. However, it is packaged with Infinite Warfare through a premium purchase that having a simultaneous release of two Infinity Warfare games introduces a lot of choice that players will have to make. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare still remains best-in-show all these years later, and is a rebuilt masterpiece that’s worth experiencing again.
The campaign all congeals the way it should, and while it isn’t revolutionary, it is evolutionary in the way it pushes the sci-fi narrative and series forward that has been needed the past few years. While the other parts of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare are hit and miss, it’s a game that shouldn’t be overlooked. There’s some interesting ideas here, and it is great to see Infinity Ward doing new and exciting things again.
nfinite Air could be a lot better, but there’s not a proper attitude to excite you to want to keep playing. It just becomes hard to recommend with how shallow the game is. If you’re hard-pressed for something on PC, or even on consoles for snowboarding, there will be other options. If this is the one you settle on, buy it when it is discounted.
Everything you can do in Forza Horizon 3 is vying for your attention: championships, showcase events, barn finds, and speed traps – you’ll be pulled in so many different directions that you won’t ever feel bored or left without a challenge. There’s hardly anything to actively dislike. Playground Games has made a powerfully social, comfortable, and exciting racer that never imposes anything but the freedom to do with what you want, at any speed you’re comfortable with.
I think there’s more to do in Event[0] than what you’re given, but this is one of those games where the experience worth having, and will be different for everyone who plays based on how they interact with Kaizen. For me though, it felt a bit shallow for deep space.
Where PAC-MAN 256 pushed PAC-MAN forward, PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2 takes a single step backwards over iteration and innovation. PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2 just isn’t the second coming of the “PAC-MAN Jesus” we’ve come to praise with its first installment onto XBLA all those years ago.
Mother Russia Bleeds is a really interesting premise with a fantastic setting that delivers excellent combat. Le Cartel's vision of a brawler in 2016 with a retro aesthetic is executed beautifully for Mother Russia Bleeds to be one of the best beat'em ups in recent years.
Livelock is a fun ride, but it is short-lived that is to its benefit and detriment. The game never overstays its welcome, but with how brisk you can get through the game makes it hard to see its value. There's plenty of ways to replay the game, but I never felt compelled to do any of it again with another character or try to find someone online. Livelock has some interesting things going for it, but I won't be going back until some expansions add something worth coming back to.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has some wonderfully slick gameplay that lets you be loud or stealthy, and lethal or non-lethal. This is where the action becomes the vehicle that carries you through this compelling story of "Naturals" vs "Augs".
Codemasters spent the time listening to feedback, and while this may be the only F1 game in town, F1 2016 is feature-rich and mechanically sound, like a turbocharged Formula One car.
This inventive ball-rolling adventure is full of flair with crisp and clean visuals that is then accentuated by a punchy soundtrack. Road to Ballhalla is familiar by looks, but is anything what you expect when you actually start playing. Road to Ballhalla is a surprise in all the best ways.
While the game itself isn't a visual powerhouse, this is the best a Earth Defense Force game has ever looked. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair is also the best-playing game of the series – combine this with the ability to play cooperatively online with a friend, and you've got magic in the making. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 is not technically or visually impressive, but it makes a case for unadulterated fun being core to a game experience over the latter.
Lovely Planet Arcade is a game that proves it can be a first-person shooter worth playing without ever having to resort to showing you gore or anything grotesque, and still be enjoyable.
Dangerous Golf‘s greatest benefit is how little it has to do with golf, providing an immensely fun game that will remind you have Burnout 3 while a smile stretches across your face the entire time.
There's an odd compulsion to return to Ghostbusters but the lack of thrills, excitement, and overall enjoyment permeates throughout as it avoids letting you play as your favorite Ghostbuster (old or new) while delivering unsatisfying gameplay in what the publisher calls action RPG, but hardly resembles.
MXGP2: The Official Motocross Videogame is a decent motocross racing game that could benefit from some energy and life in the presentation, but the interesting modes and gameplay to keep it from falling over. MXGP2: The Official Motocross Videogame is a vast improvement over its predecessor, while still lacking a bit of personality, does make up for it in gameplay.