Rod Oracheski
Inside is a remarkable second effort from Playdead, surprisingly outshining their first outing, and a must play.
No Man's Sky has been compared to Minecraft, but as it sits that's not a very apt comparison. The game is, as a friend called it, a mile wide and an inch deep. It's a sandbox without the bucket and shovel. They have big plans for future updates, so perhaps it'll be a game to check out at that point.
If Episode One is just setting the stage, I can’t wait to see what the next four will bring. A must-play for Batman fans.
The Final Station has a nice look to it and the generous checkpoints mean you will worry more about supplies than a surprise death. It’s a bit short, clocking in at about five hours, but worth a look.
theHunter: Call of the Wild is a fantastic looking game, and does a great job of bringing some of the thrill of the hunt – and the chase – to the home.
Assassin's Creed Origins is a gorgeous and well-realized world filled with danger and excitement in equal measures. A stellar return from hiatus for the franchise.
Call of Duty World War II is a retread of places the franchise has been before in. If the multiplayer worked it'd score higher, but this is just a broken game and an awful experience right now.
Metal Gear Survive is likely to see ongoing additions to improve it, and at this point I’d recommend waiting for some of those before jumping into it. Right now it’s a survival grind in the Metal Gear universe that’s more busywork than fun and it's only the gameplay carryover from Metal Gear Solid V that make it worth a look at all.
What you’ll think of Sea of Thieves seems to depend on what you expected going in. Those that wanted a single player pirate adventure are bound to be disappointed by the relatively simple gameplay loop of going to find chests and returning to port with them, earning money to buy cosmetic rewards. Those looking for a multiplayer game with solo or co-operative play options are much more likely to be happy with what Sea of Thieves has to offer.
I had a lot of fun with Extinction, especially the great swordplay and traversal, but it's held back by issues with the camera and the repetitive, bland story.
Frostpunk is used to carry messages you don’t often see in games, forcing gamers to make – and think about – the kind of difficult choices nobody should have to make. A must-play game.
Alec Mason’s adventures on Mars are just as much fun as they were nearly a decade ago. Worth a look as a low-cost summer game.
The game’s 31 missions will challenge even experienced wargamers, while still approachable enough for those new to the genre to pick things up. Worth checking out.
No Man's Sky has come a long way from that humbling start for Hello Games. There could still be improvements to some gameplay systems and the user interface, but overall this is a greatly improved package that's brand new for most Xbox One gamers and well worth going back to for PC and PS4 players who dropped it shortly after launch.
Amazing graphics and spectacular webswinging/webslinging help overcome a sometimes-frustrating camera and repetitive missions.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is an impressively crafted open world action-RPG that challenges gamers to see and do everything it has to offer.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a stellar first game in what could be a great series. It’s available ‘free’ for those with a subscription to Xbox Game Pass, but it’s worth the price of admission regardless. A great intro to the tactical strategy genre that eschews the stats-heavy side of things to keep it fun.
Wargroove will leave Advance Wars’ long-forgotten fans beside themselves with joy.
Long-suffering Crackdown fans finally have a worthy sequel. The campaign was every bit as campy and fun as expected, with Terry Crews a perfect addition to the cast, and the multiplayer proving to be surprisingly entertaining.
Control is the culmination of nearly two decades of Remedy's work in the third-person action-adventure genre and it's a pedigree that shows. Firing enemies through barriers to take out their friends is ridiculously fun, start to finish.