Dalton Cooper's Reviews
Deracine is a bizarre story-driven adventure game that mostly nails the story, but is oftentimes frustrating to play due to some unfortunate design choices.
LEGO DC Super-Villains does next to nothing to distinguish itself from past LEGO games, even carrying over some of the franchise's usual glitches and technical issues.
Super Mario Party has some strong new ideas, but the game suffers from issues that have plagued the franchise for years, and the online mode leaves much to be desired.
Vampyr delivers top-notch story and atmosphere, but it's held back by serious technical issues, frustrating exploration, and dull, uninspired combat sections.
Perception has some good ideas, but it is ultimately a disappointment thanks to an annoying art style, frustrating gameplay mechanics, and an underwhelming narrative.
Brut@l is a clever homage to old-school ASCII dungeon crawler games, but its stiff difficulty, cheap deaths, and repetitive gameplay limit its appeal.
One Piece: Burning Blood is an unremarkable adaptation of one of the franchise's most popular story arcs, and may not even appeal to diehard One Piece fans.
Toy Soldiers: War Chest could've been a great followup to Cold War, but technical issues and questionable DLC practices hold it back from reaching its full potential.
Donut County has a great art style, hilarious writing, and unique gameplay, but it's too short and its gameplay never evolves far beyond its core concept.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia is the third and final installment in the Assassin's Creed 2.5D spin-off series, and it also happens to be the weakest entry yet.
Arizona Sunshine 2 has its flaws, but it's still a competent VR shooter game that gives players a great deal of freedom when it comes to interacting with the game world. Killing zombies is perfectly functional, and the combat can be fun, though it's best experienced in short bursts. That being said, it's head and shoulders above the first Arizona Sunshine game, and an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a new VR shooter to play despite its shortcomings.
That's really the story for Modern Warfare 3 across the board. The campaign is made up of Warzone content, the multiplayer is comprised of maps that are 14 years old, and the Zombies mode uses a map that will be recycled for the battle royale. $70 is a high asking price for what's here, but those that do decide to take the plunge will find the best Call of Duty multiplayer experience in years and an intriguing open world Zombies mode that, while not quite as fun as the classic round-based Zombies maps, can still dish out memorable moments with friends.
Amnesia: The Bunker is genuinely scary, and its puzzles are fun to solve. Old-school survival-horror fans in particular will find a lot to like about the game. It randomizes certain elements in subsequent playthroughs to keep things interesting and that combined with its open-ended nature makes it the most replayable Amnesia game, even though it doesn't quite stick the landing like its predecessors. Luckily, Amnesia: The Bunker is a day one Xbox Game Pass game, so horror fans can brave its terrors for themselves without making any kind of major financial commitment.
The Last of Us is truly one of gaming's best, but the PC port is not the ideal way to experience it. Eventually, The Last of Us Part 1 on PC will be in a state where it lives up to or even exceeds its PlayStation 5 counterpart, but right now it's difficult to recommend. Buried beneath the poor performance is still one of the best games ever made, though, so PC gamers who don't mind playing with Medium graphics may still be able to enjoy the incredible story and gameplay if they absolutely can't wait for everything to be fixed.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are an ambitious attempt to take the Pokemon franchise open world, but they fail to live up to expectations.
Overwatch 2's core gameplay is an absolute blast, but it mostly consists of content that already existed with annoying progression added to the mix.
Immortality is a one-trick pony when it comes to gameplay, but there's a brilliant story buried beneath its hundreds of film clips.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is an easy recommendation for Borderlands and D&D fans, but those who have had their fill of the franchise may get tired of the repetitive combat and constantly looting useless items. The technical problems are the biggest issue, so hopefully, Gearbox Software releases new Tiny Tina's Wonderlands updates to address them soon.
The Jackbox Party Starter features three of the best Jackbox Party Pack mini-games, but one would be better off buying a full game instead.
Mario Strikers: Battle League's core gameplay is a blast, especially with friends, but the game suffers from a severe lack of content.