Scott Ellison II's Reviews
Other motorized job simulation games of its ilk are about the journey, and in Bus Simulator 18‘s case, this is purely about the destination. As such, I found myself burning out quickly, even with new districts of the city unlocked for me to expand into. There’s a lot of small details that make up for the game’s other deficiencies. Ultimately, the repetition of Bus Simulator 18‘s actions is what holds me back from enjoying it more, as I’ve seen everything that’s available in the first several hours. Bus Simulator 18 is no doubt enjoyable, and will vary person to person, but I’m very excited to see what happens to this game in terms of updates, DLC, and eventual future releases.
MXGP PRO is the best version of MXGP yet, but there’s still something dry about the overall experience. Perhaps there’s no avoiding this, but it could stand to have some personality injected into it. MXGP PRO is an incredibly competent and technical racing game that could do so much more, but doesn’t. Hopefully future entries will finally see some more energy and enthusiasm, but it’s not bad having a game that looks and plays as well as it does.
If anything, Hours of Darkness has made me wanting next month’s Lost on Mars and August’s Dead Living Zombies to be better and more fulfilling. Far Cry 5 is an incredible game that the Hours of Darkness DLC fails to live up to, story-wise. It does however exemplify how good the stealth can be if you play things right. This Vietnam story carries some weight, but none of it emotional to make it stand up to the main game in any meaningful way.
Rather than just making more game, Arkane made a different game within their game, and done to an excellent degree. Making the game into a AAA roguelike is daring, bold, and pays off incredibly well. Mooncrash is a wildly different game than what you find its main mode, and this is to the game's benefit, as Mooncrash exemplifies what makes the combat so good. There's a story to tell here, and while I wish there was bit more exposition, Prey - Mooncrash excels at what it sets out to do. R. Yu ready?
Gunheart has a lot of heart, and a lot to offer. The accommodation for players like myself in desktop mode is wonderfully done. Drifter Entertainment sets a standard that a game designed for VR shouldn’t stay exclusively there, and with the right game, can make it so those without can find a place in the game to still play with friends. Gunheart is fun from start to finish, except you won’t be putting it down anytime soon.
This game is a wonderful homage to "One Thousand and One Nights" / "Arabian Nights", utilizing the episode written about the City of Brass to its fullest and bringing it to life in a unique way. This game is the best implementation of the first-person roguelite I've ever seen. While it lacks permanence, it makes up for the great blessing and burdens system. The combat is a one-two punch of success, and nimble movement make everything feel fluid. In addition to each gameplay element being so well thought out, City of Brass is excellent at delivering stunning visuals and storytelling that other games dare to try.
BATTLETECH is a massive game. There are several dozens of hours in the campaign to enjoy, and when the main story is complete, you're able to continue and work the Inner Sphere to increase your reputation and expand your ragtag group of MechWarriors. Skirmish mode helps extend your gametime against AI, or against a friend. Harebrained Schemes ushers in a new style of tactical combat for all skill level of players to enjoy. It is as rewarding as it is deep. BATTLETECH is complex, immersive, and most of all, a tactician's dream.
Minit’s delightful minute-to-minute gameplay is as rewarding as it is decisive. Having Minit be so focused is to the game’s benefit. Never before has a game’s core mechanics been in such succinct harmony with the gameplay. The short run times ensure that whether you have a few minutes or hours, the game accommodates any amount of time you’re willing to put into it. And it the satisfactory return on your investment is nothing but respect for the player.
MX vs ATV All Out fails to do anything new or interesting that we haven’t seen before. It’s visually unimpressive and auditorily disappointing, seeming like like a lost game from the last generation of systems. The game-hampering bugs are problematic, though admittedly being fixed. Each of the different event types are well-made and offer a lot of variety and satisfaction with the core gameplay is fun to play once you get a handle on the mechanics of the dual-joystick controls. There’s a lot of basic things MX vs ATV All Out should already have figured out – but it doesn’t.
Sea of Thieves is what pirate dreams are made of. It's got some holes that need plugging, and I think time will be it's biggest benefit - there's plenty of hours of entertainment to be had with the existing voyages and things to see and do, but I'm incredibly excited to see how the game evolves from here. Sea of Thieves relies a lot on playing with friends and some repetition to get to legendary status. This is an incredibly social game, both verbal and non-verbal, that you'll undoubtedly have fun playing for hours upon hours singing sea shanties while drinking grog and firing off cannon shots for no good reason.
Far Cry 5 is a shining example of how to revitalize the open world, as this is the best realized game in the series to date, with a convincing villain and a tale to match its tone. Far Cry 5 will make you a believer.
Burnout Paradise Remastered is a masterpiece, just as the original was ten years ago. While I think this could have released with a slightly lower price point, what’s here is cheaper than the base game and all of the DLC on Xbox 360. While Burnout Paradise is the first open-world Burnout game, it also the only. I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the series, and I hope that this release garners attention of EA to make another. Burnout Paradise Remastered is stunning in 4K and at 60fps, the breadth of content available from the get-go will keep you busy for hours upon hours. Oh won’t you please take me home.
With clever integration with Twitch to change up how the game can be played, Crema have ideas that work well. In making connections to games like Rogue Legacy and Ziggurat, they were only the building blocks of what Immortal Redneck is, a game with its own ideas and systems that stand above its contemporaries. Immortal Redneck is a game so silly it just works, and the jokes land well – I laughed until I was Horus.
Into the Breach is enthralling from the moment you start playing, and doesn’t let go. Every calculated move by the enemy can be countered. Every mistake is your own. And as death will come swift and often, in time, so too will victory. And being victorious has a greater sense of accomplishment because it feels earned with each battle being hard fought. Subset Games have crafted a game that absolutely excellent from the gameplay to the music. Into the Breach is near perfection.
GRAVEL does just enough to keep you interested enough to keep working through each of the episodes and trying to dethrone each of the champions of their respective disciplines. It just doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, even with the conceit of a TV show being the driving force. Milestone has the foundation of something great with GRAVEL. It is a solid first entry that needs some more attention to its delivery of the campaign structure to make it more fully realized as a TV show for future installments.
The Station from the developers of the same name have made something gorgeous and engaging. Whether you choose to find every audio log and entry or not, the developers have provided a unique science fiction point of view that usually isn’t given in a game, provoking thought. And while The Station isn’t very long, it is full of clever surprises and fascinating story that absolutely delivers.
With over 40 hours in Subnautica, I have cannot recommend the game more. I enjoyed the crafting, base building, and survival elements based on the difficulty I chose. At no point did I feel like I was ever safe, though, as the underwater tranquility can make you feel that way. Even if you don’t like survival games, playing Subnautica is likely to change your mind, and show you that it is not like others you’ve played before. The narrative threads that string you along Subnautica‘s story are intriguing from moment one as you unravel it so carefully. Unknown Worlds have made an incredible game that subverts expectations of what a crafting and survival game have been, and shows you what they should be.
Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition brings additions and fixes that make it more than worth it if you already own the game. if you have yet to play the game for yourself, you’ll be pleasantly surprised and engaged for dozens of hours. The game is also available on the Nintendo Switch, making it such a great portable game as well as a home console experience. Tribute Games continue to put a lot of time and energy into a game that is clearly made with love and care.
SteamWorld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt is still a great game, but it is undoubtedly a more compact game than what’s come after this game’s original release. SteamWorld Dig offers little exploration for curiosity as it is usually out of necessity to gather as much ore as you can find to sell for cash to then buy upgrades to make Rusty more effective. If nothing else, SteamWorld Dig serves as a reminder at how much Image & Form learned from this game when making SteamWorld Dig 2 – but thankfully there’s so much more to this game to appreciate. Whether you’ve played this before or not, Image & Form make beautiful looking, sounding, and playing games that deserve to have a place in your library.
Joakim ‘konjak’ Sandberg’s Iconoclasts is a one person show that’s a decade in the making. And it pays off so incredibly well in ways you wouldn’t expect. It has its frustrations with certain boss battles, but those can be easily looked over when looking at the larger picture. The game released at a time where in our current climate in the games industry and as a people where Robin is what we all want, and need to be. Iconoclasts is a game that defies expectations and norms, and has been worth that wait.