Scott Butterworth
The arcade classic returns, bringing challenging, cooperative tank combat into modern virtual reality. The results are flawed but ultimately still fun.
Resource gathering and city building have never been more tedious.
Abzu is deeply, transcendentally beautiful--not just visually splendid, but emotionally evocative. Without question, it is this year's Journey.
Though its patience-testing puzzles hit a few sour notes, Song of the Deep still delivers a rich, imaginative undersea adventure.
With its customizable missions and randomly generated areas, Underground's Operations breathe new life into an ailing game.
Catalyst's combat stumbles, but the fluid freerunning and enticing open-world challenges overshadow most of its shortcomings.
Despite its ambitious premise, Homefront's efforts to reclaim Philadelphia are sabotaged by technical issues, faulty mechanics, and predictable storytelling.
The combat is frantic and tense, but often feels samey and superficial. The in-match leveling works wonderfully in the campaign, but can become problematic in multiplayer. The varied cast of heroes adds longevity, but the game still feels relatively content light. With so many moving parts that never quite gel, I found plenty of things to love but just as much to feel confused by and ambivalent about.
The studio behind imaginative indie hits Machinarium and Botanicula debuts its most ambitious game yet: a beautiful yet simplistic point-and-click adventure.
Despite oddly overpowered enemies and repetitive level grinding, The Division succeeds thanks to its rich world, strong campaign, and impressive online functionality.