Scott Ellison II's Reviews
Iron Harvest is an incredibly solid RTS with a fantastic setting that will keep you enamored during the entire 20+ hour campaign. KING Art games have crafted a beautiful game with destruction backed by solid and balanced gameplay. It’s missing a few nuts and bolts to hold the rest of it together, but what’s here is sturdy to stand tall for now. I look forward to seeing the game expand and grow beyond its current state to fulfill its promises. For what you get, Iron Harvest is unique, rewarding, and full of depth; it’s absolutely worth playing.
Crusader Kings III is all about the dynasty you’ve built, and the legacy you leave behind for a future of fame, fortune, and family in an ever-unfolding drama that’s brought unto you, or what you create for yourself. There’s a chasm-wide cast of characters to play as from real royal families from hundreds of countries, many of which you’ll want to see them through. Whether a new or returning player, hours will pass like minutes, and you’ll realize the game has a hook on you that you won’t want to remove. This is grand strategy at its finest, and Crusader Kings III is an immensely replayable, unscripted narrative masterpiece.
WRC 9 is the fully realized game that KT Racing has been building towards all these years. And it being so good sets up both the already announced WRC 10 and WRC 11 with incredible foundations to work from and build upon. It has some persistent and pesky bugs, but they should be ironed out. Future updates will include new cars and multiplayer where you can be the co-driver giving pacenotes, all for free. This is a richer and fuller experience over WRC 8 in every way. WRC 9 is not only the best WRC game to-date, but one of the best rally simulations to exist.
CONTROL‘s second and final expansion raises more questions than it answers. AWE is a great on its own, I just wish there was more to it. It feels like it’s going to do bigger things with this crossover, then doesn’t. So I feel like Remedy set expectations a bit too high with this one. AWE is still incredibly well written, has great main and side stories, and the unique gameplay changes things up in clever ways. With the Remedy Connected Universe in motion, things are now falling into place, and AWE gives a glimpse into the future of Remedy’s games and universe at-play that we’ve never seen done before. After all, it’s not a lake… it’s an ocean.
It took me a while to realize how much these interactions, whether it be the interpersonal conversation or combat encounters themselves, stuck with me. Wasteland 3 has rules, but they only exist for you to bend them. With limitless character creation combinations, branching dialogue choices that affect what quests you do or don’t experience, and multiple endings, Wasteland 3 is an expanse of content and opportunity. The change in locale does wonders, no longer relying on a tired post-apocalyptic biome. Wasteland 3 has a wonderful backdrop in Colorado’s frozen wastes, making it the perfect place to spend a nuclear winter.
Anyone who didn’t like what Project CARS and Project CARS 2 offered, will love Project CARS 3. But also, the inverse is true; if you loved the first two for their pure unadulterated simulation, you’re likely to be turned away with this third entry. I found it a bit of a balanced approached that’s way more focused and in-line with other games in the genre, that remains appealing to me. Project CARS 3 is incredibly deep, retaining a lot of the DNA of what makes it so good. When you’re able to open up cars in straight lines to hear their exhaust notes, you’ll be sporting a Grinch-like smile that extends from ear-to-ear. That’s a priceless reaction you won’t get anywhere else but in Project CARS 3.
Flight Simulator at launch is only the beginning, as it’s set to be a game that evolves and grows over time rather than being a static product. If this was all the game would be, it’s great as-is. No matter whether you buy it, or download it via Game Pass, you’re getting the best flight simulator to-date. Microsoft Flight Simulator soars to new heights, and has easily been worth the the fourteen year wait.
Bite the Bullet is mostly worth what they’re asking for it. It’s an unfocused gem, relying on a lot of mechanics, systems, and subsystems that gets in its own way. The traditional run and gun gameplay is amplified by being able to eat almost everything in sight, and the artful precision one must employ keeps you always thinking when other games wouldn’t. Bite the Bullet is a clever, but flawed game drenched in nostalgia that never existed, while also reminding you to be careful what you eat.
Hellbound isn’t a bad game. It can still be enjoyed, so long as you get it on a steep sale and you’ve got a spare afternoon for some mindless killing. This is a first-person shooter that emulates the past, but fails to recapture the magic of it. When you just turn your brain off, the game is at its best, but it just doesn’t last long. With a woefully short campaign mode, and a repetitive wave-based survival mode, Hellbound is surprisingly… deficient.
This is only the beginning, as Fall Guys is poised to evolve and grow from its launch to reach new, dizzying heights. You won’t find anything so dynamic and unpredictable. Fumbles, stumbles, and successes are all the reasons why you watch physical game shows like newcomers “Holey Moley” or “Cannonball” or classics like “MXC”. Mark my words: Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the hit of the summer, the year, and beyond.
For all of its frustration and foibles, Skully's traversal and puzzles make-up the most interesting parts of the game to keep you invested. With a story that manages to actually hit emotionally, it balances out the missteps of the platforming. The collectibles are rather unexciting and the color palette of earth tones lends itself to looking bland, but it'll surprise you. Much like the character, Skully is unassuming and meek, and will fill you with wonder throughout.
This is the 15th anniversary of the original Destroy All Humans! release, and the remake is wonderfully timed and priced for a comeback. Black Forest Games remained faithful to that release, and modernized it in all the right ways to make it even more enjoyable. It’s a much better and richer game experience because of it, and I really hope this paves the way for a Destroy All Humans! 2 remake. Crypto-137 and Destroy All Humans! is the perfect way to beat the heat this summer.
F1 2020 is the most accessible Formula One game to-date. And the MyTeam is hands-down the best mode of the past few years. It allows you to forge a path all your own, and truly get invested in the things that take place as both an owner and a driver. Codemasters strips what didn't work in F1 2019, kept what did, and then built on that. The result is that while the real 2020 season of Formula One is abbreivated, F1 2020 is bigger and better than ever before.
ELDERBORN spent five years in development to include Steam Early Access, and it doesn’t feel like enough still. It’s an unremarkable, yet interesting bite-sized Souls-like that’s worth playing, but at a discount. There’s a lot of squandered opportunity here, but the small team at Hyperstrange clearly has passion and talent. ELDERBORN wears its influences on its sleeve, and I can appreciate that.
Whether you’ve played Mimimi Games’ prior game Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, the earlier Desperado games, or you’re coming in fresh, you’ll find Desperados III is just an incredible experience. Every character’s ability is unique, and combining it with another’s in showdown mode for a synchronized attack is always satisfying to pull off. It’s rare you see a game utilize quicksaves as a core feature, though it works to great effect here. Mimimi Games’ touches on the real-time tactics genre for this once-dormant series are elegant and brilliant, and not to be missed. Desperados III is simply one of the best games of the year.
Sneaky Bastards understands that stealth doesn’t have to be boring, and encourages creativity in Wildfire. With each upgrade or new passive meteor shard, I was drawn back to older levels to see if it was easier to complete a task I had to skip out on prior. The game has a great flow of risk and reward amid its stealth. Add in the emergent layer of manipulating your environment and the enemies around you, and you have a game teeming with unpredictability. Wildfire is chaotic and wonderful, all enacted by the spark of a flame.
It’s evident that 80’s OVERDRIVE takes inspiration from games like Outrun and Rad Racer, and thankfully does a lot new things to separate itself from what came before it. The racing feels good, and is backed by an appropriate synthwave soundtrack. However, later races have too much going on and with some randomness of collisions will force you to restart more often than you’d like. Some issues aside, 80’s OVERDRIVE is a solid racer with depth in a gorgeous and vibrant palette.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered looks fantastic thanks to the work Beenox has put into it. The story still holds relevance, and there’s some wonderful nostalgia to go along with it now. This is a game begging to be a more complete package with additional modes, that just aren’t here. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered comes in at a scant $20, and remains one of the best single-player experiences ever.
Streets of Rage 4 is the surprise of the year. The grinding towards unlocking additional and retro character is a lowlight, the rest of the game is a highlight. The story is in-tune with prior games in the series, the artwork doesn't deviate from what you'd imagine this series looking like in 2020, and it's responsive and laser focused. Streets of Rage 4 keeps the history of the series in the rear view, yet moving forward by adding exciting and quality improvements to the series.
Milestone has this series dialed in so well, it’s hard to fault it for things that have been removed or reduced when the racing is so solid. On one hand, managing a team feels way more robust, but the downside is that the TV broadcasting element is almost nonexistent. With what MotoGP 20 is, it charts more in a straight line than the incline that was MotoGP 18 to MotoGP 19. That said, MotoGP 20 offers a comprehensive and detailed career and a series of modes that offers something for everyone, old and new, experienced or not.