Karl Smart's Reviews
Diablo II is one of those games where you could recommend till the cows come home, but Diablo II: Resurrected, on the other hand, is one of those remasters where you should expect something more than a fresh coat of paint. Diablo II: Resurrected should have been a game that was a true remaster, fixing the remaining few issues with Diablo II, but instead is another horrible remaster from Activision-Blizzard that removes more than it adds to the overall game and experience.
Back 4 Blood is a good game, it improves on the Left 4 Dead formula in a way that is challenging and creative. However, the move to forcing people to advance the overall game by going online, being forced to work with randoms in a very badly connected cross-platform multiplayer games where without a solid communication base, resulting in Back 4 Blood being an experience in frustration rather than a very enjoyable game. If Turtle Rock allows for private games where you can do under 4 players with bots instead, then maybe this game can truly be something that is a must-own. But at the moment Back 4 Blood is only worth playing if you have a premade group of friends.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a great introduction to the world of Final Fantasy for both new and old fans of the series, as well as people looking for a new or different MMO to play. While still having a lot of the standard tropes that an MMO does have, along with a lot of ones from the Final Fantasy series, the combination of both are a breath of fresh air for those people who have been stuck inhaling the stench of World of Warcraft for over a decade.
Resident Evil Village is a great entry into the otherwise weird third trilogy of the Resident Evil franchise. Taking a lot of what made Resident Evil 7 work as a great horror experience and adding to it with things that people enjoyed about Resident Evil 4. However, Resident Evil Village does feel like by adding things from Resident Evil 4, that CAPCOM is about to remake some mistakes of old.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is one of those games that people are going to find their own value out of. For me, the story campaign was a great experience, and the Zombie mode is always a fun bonus. Graphically the game is one of the best I've seen on the market for any video game of this cross-over generation and would recommend people who have high-end PCs or Next-Generation consoles give the game a play. However Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War does nothing to change the reputation of the online multiplayer mode, from the push to buy season passes to a very toxic community, this would be the only huge negative I would point out, which will upset a lot of die-hards. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a game the die-hards will love, but won't do much to convert new players to its fold.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands shows that the whole World of Warcraft game is really showing it's age, not to mention that since losing a lot of their key development people from the Blizzard side like Chris Kaleiki and many others, leading to this being a more "by the metrics" Activision based game experience than what Blizzard is renowned for. For a lot of people, the heart and soul of World of Warcraft is dead at this stage, but since it is still early days, future patches and content additions can revive the game into a playable state for those who are still addicted to the game after over 16 years… But only time will tell at this stage.
MARVEL Spider-Man created a huge benchmark for MARVEL Spider-Man: Miles Morales to shoot for, and it not only achieved that benchmark, but surpassed it with new gameplay, attention to detail, representation, and story. Well worth a full-game in itself that also continues the saga of Spider-Man, while carving out a piece of the overall universe for itself. Visually pushing the PlayStation 5 as far as it can go at launch, while also giving people the option to sacrifice those visuals for extra gameplay power. Should be a Game of the Year contender due to being more of what made the first game an amazing game to play. A must-own for PlayStation owners of any generation.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 is the remaster that gets just about everything right. The graphics are amazing, the skaters are here from both games alongside some newer skaters from the modern era, the gameplay is lifted from the best games in the series with the option to customize things to your liking, and the music brings that good wave of nostalgia that the series is famous for. Though there are some missteps here and there, the remaster is right up there in the realm of the best remasters available for any video game. Working nostalgia into a very satisfying recreation of two of the best games in the genre is something that will have you smiling from game to game.
CARRION is a game that only someone associated with the madhouse publisher that is Devolver Digital could create.
Money aside, Street Fighter V: Championship Edition doesn’t do much to fix a long list of problems that the fighting game community has pointed out about this game since the beginning and doesn’t look like they’ll do anything about it either. Long term fans will know to avoid this like the plague, diehards would have all of the content already at triple the price, and newcomers are smart for waiting out to buy this game cheap.