Steven Wong
Artifacts of Power hits most of the right marks. . . . At the same time, there's a feeling that the game lost something when it went fully 3D.
Quiplash is a new game from the makers of You Don't Know Jack, and it aims to get the party started. But like any party, you need a lot of fun and interesting people to make for a good time. That goes doubly so for this game.
The Game of Thrones adventure game is really good at piling up bodies, but has trouble finding direction in between the bloodshed.
Although A Plague Tale: Innocence features spectacular artwork and excellent characters, they can't make up for the boring, predictable gameplay.
Pagan Online's fast-paced action is weighed down by its disappointing lack of depth. If you want the thrill of being trapped in a barrel full of monsters all day, this game is for you. If not, then it's best to look elsewhere.
Although the castle-smashing combat and humor remain enjoyable, Castlestorm II is bogged down by half-baked systems that often undermine each other.
Wayward Manor is a puzzle game created in collaboration between The Odd Gentleman and Neil Gaiman. That alone is enough to catch some interest, but whatever charm the game has quickly wears thin.
Ryse is a decent game, given its length, but it's one that is certainly more fun to look at than it is to play. If you're looking for a game that will push your gaming hardware to the limit, then Ryse certainly fits, especially if you're itching to game on 4K hardware. Otherwise, there are better ways to pass the time.
Even though its puzzle isn't very difficult, minus the falling, it does provide an entertaining experience. Perhaps Grow Home will evolve into something more someday. As it is right now, it's a short and sweet experience with a lot of free falling involved.
All taken together, getting through Satellite Reign can be a painful and slow process until you can amass enough tech, skill and firepower to repel waves of soldiers. It wants to be a game that gives you different choices, but the stealth gameplay wears thin so quickly that the game just gets boring.
Although We. The Revolution has the potential to be a deep and challenging political strategy game, its gameplay becomes too shallow to be much of anything.
We can treat the Revelations 2 experiment as a learning experience. This game should be dissected, studied, catalogued and put into storage. I genuiniely hope that there will be another Revelations game--one with better cooperative gameplay and perhaps doing away with episodes altogether.
Godzilla puts you into the destructive feet of the King of Monsters. Unfortunately, being the king is kind of boring.
Escape Dead Island disappoints on multiple levels, from its lackluster gameplay, to its awful storytelling. The revelations found in this game are not profound enough to justify the long slog, filled annoying characters and lousy stealth and combat systems. Not to mention the ending is insultingly stupid and lazy. The best way to escape this island is to never visit it.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that Beyond Earth fully captures the feel of the Earthbound Civilization games yet, but Rising Tide makes for a far better game than the original.
Fortunately, both the original and enhanced version of Metro Exodus looks fantastic – the enhanced lighting just provides more opportunities to better appreciate everything the game has to offer. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s like playing the game for the first time, but it’s pretty close.