After a very bumpy take-off, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has hit a smooth cruising altitude, with impressive new features and exciting modes that once again make it an outstanding achievement.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 plays it safe but is otherwise exactly what Call of Duty multiplayer should be: fast, fun, and a little on the ridiculous side. An excellent string of missions that offer variety and flexibility come together to make Black Ops 6 the best Call of Duty campaign in many, many years. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode is absurd and campy fun in all the right ways, with two interesting maps and a welcome return to round-based gameplay. [OpenCritic note: IGN separately reviewed the multiplayer (8), single player (9), and zombies (8) game mode. Their scores have been averaged.]
Station to Station is a relaxing, cozy railway planner with clear goals, flexibility in how you accomplish them, and the absolute perfect amount of challenge. It doesn't try to be anything more than a fun and easy going experience, and the fact you can randomize levels and crank their difficulty up a bit provides some nice variety to how you approach each session. I love its voxel-based graphics so much, the music is soothing, and it just oozes charm. Even failing a level didn’t frustrate, because it just meant I got another opportunity to roll through the blocky countryside and do a little better. Its biggest strength lies in its simplicity, and it doesn't stray too far from that initial gameplay premise. Honestly, it doesn't have to.
Octopath Traveler 2 is a very enjoyable JRPG sequel that feels a little too safe and familiar.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer moves the formula forward with bigger maps and more customization without sacrificing its bulletproof mechanics. [OpenCritic note: IGN separately reviewed the multiplayer (8) and single-player campaign (6). Their scores have been averaged.]
Call of Duty: Vanguard's multiplayer doesn't do enough new to distinguish itself from the last few years to be a great game, but its excellent maps and Champion Hill mode mean that it's still a reliably good time.
Exciting combat, fantastic art direction, and interesting environments only make me wish Boomerang X were twice as long.
A beautiful modern rendering of a PlayStation classic, Legend of Mana retains both the charms and the problems from its initial release.
Game Builder Garage is a robust, yet easy to learn, game engine that's absolutely delightful.
Bravely Default 2 is a long, familiar JRPG journey with excellent customizable combat and beautiful backdrops that pass the time as you work through its extended stretches of grinding.
Super Mario Bros. 35 is stressful, strategic, and quite a bit of fun, but its repetitive nature makes it feel a little less super after a while.
Dated design, clunky multiplayer systems, and unacceptable load times make playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition a terrific chore.
Unparalleled realism and an entire planet to explore makes Microsoft Flight Simulator a simulation like no other.
Fun, novel, and brimming with loot, Bounty of Blood: A Fistful of Redemption is the best of Borderlands 3's DLC batch so far.
Simple and fun to play, Minecraft Dungeons is a good entry-level dungeon crawler, but it doesn't dig too deep.
Trials of Mana is a great remake of a 16-bit classic, but its 16-bit roots are often hard to ignore.
The games in the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy still deliver, but the bonus features are pretty standard fare.
Moxxi's Heist of The Handsome Jackpot starts off a little bumpy, but when it goes all-in, it hits the jackpot.
Super Mario Maker 2 does nearly everything better than its already excellent predecessor, keeping the charm of a Mario game while introducing some incredible new ideas.
The great news is Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary DLC is more of the funny, loot-happy Borderlands 2 we know and love. It's a lot of fun and a novel way build anticipation for the sequel.