Matt Heywood's Reviews
Even with its short length, ABZU stands out as an amazing video game that is not so much a game in the traditional sense, but more of an experience that will affect us all in different ways. Like Journey before it, this game proves that the medium we all know and love is just as much of an art form as writing a book, painting a picture, or filming a movie. In fact, it may even provide an even more personal connection to someone than these other art forms, because it can be interacted with to formulate a unique experience for everyone that plays it.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a perfect example of how video games can weave highly emotional narratives into their gameplay to provide very deep experiences for the player. It may be short and very eclectic, but it will definitely be on many outlet's game of the year lists, so just play it already to find out why.
Gears of War 4 packs a great story, interesting new characters, and very sound gameplay. Its visuals are stunning to say the least, especially if you have a 4K TV that supports HDR and the Xbox One S. It's definitely one of 2016's best, and should be played even if you've never played a Gears of War game before.
Forza Horizon 3 not only packs in quality racing gameplay and a massive world ripe for exploring, but if you have capable 4K gear, it's easily the best looking game in 2016, if not during this console generation, thanks to its HDR support.
Telltale's first Batman episode is a gem and offers up a great narrative for the characters of Bruce Wayne and the Batman, but a few technical miscues such as poor framerate performance and stiff character animations keep it from being a perfect experience.
Forza 7 is a gem of a game to look at and play. The MP lobbies require a bit of wait time, and there are micro transactions, but the visual fidelity and gameplay make both of these downsides relatively forgettable.
Gris, in my opinion, is a Journey-level game in terms of how it completely sucks you into its artistic experience and doesn't let your senses go until its credit roll.
Farpoint for the PSVR is probably what most people envisioned when this era of virtual video games was first announced. Simply put, this is the game that justifies a PSVR purchase. A system seller if you will.
Destiny 2: Forsaken provides the most complete feeling Destiny experience to-date, which is due to its more structured campaign, the new weapons and skills, the new Gambit multiplayer mode, and of course all of the new endgame content you can play in its two new locations. If you've been away from your Guardian since last fall, now is the time to return.
Forza Horizon 4 and its new shared world offer up seemingly never ending gameplay options to get mixed up in, as well as one of the most beautiful looking video game visual presentations around. This is an open-world gaming experience worth getting lost in.
Halo Wars 2 is a great console-based RTS game set in the Halo universe that offers a compelling campaign, amazing cinematics, and a breadth of multiplayer modes to keep wannabe Halo commanders busy for months.
Telltale continues to tell a unique Batman tale (see what I did there) in the second episode of its series featuring Gotham's most iconic vigilante. The gameplay may be brain dead, but the story is well worth pursuing if you're a fan of the Bat, or just like a solid video game narrative to consume.
Telltale is back with the third season of its The Walking Dead series, and the first two episode do not disappoint in the least. There's no reason not to pick them up and play if you've been with the series since the first season.
This classic holds up well on the Xbox One, so if you've managed to miss it all this time like me, it's highly recommended to play on a MS console for the first time ever.
Destiny 2 improves upon the original Destiny in all facets. It plays great, looks amazing, sounds even more amazing, and it's just a damn good time.
Nex Machina is a stellar arcade style twin-stick shooter from Housemarquee that embraces the Bullet Hell mantra perfectly with frenetic action and precise controls. This game is just a pure blast to play, and easily a standout type of title in 2017.
This game is a pleasure to play and experience thanks to its many homages to classic games from the old school JRPG era. It's a no brainer must-play for fans of the genre.
This finale episode provides a unique spin on the creation of the Joker, while also offering up tough choices that have lasting impacts on the episode and the franchise moving forward if Telltale continues to create new Batman stories. It redeems the season as a whole, and really provided some entertaining DC Comics moments.
EB: You should play this sequel even if you missed the original thanks to its great homage to the Metroidvania genre.
Blazing Chrome completely nails its homage to the Contra franchise, so much so, that it feels like a better version of it.