Damien Chambers's Reviews
Gears Of War: Ultimate Edition takes everything that made the original games great and improves upon it substantially. However, despite its many improvements, GOW: Ultimate Edition isn't without fault due to inconsistent and laughably bad friendly AI and a few technical glitches. Overall, it is a great entry point for newcomers and returning Gears veterans to dive back in to true, skill-based online multiplayer.
Despite a few matchmaking glitches and standard multiplayer connection issues, Armello is a fun, tactical, fantasy board game that should be played by all strategy fans. The game will make you ally with, or betray, your friends and family as you work to win the throne of Armello and restore order to the land. Will you control through violence, peace, espionage and deceit, or through winning favor with the king? The choice is up to you as you forge your own path through the fantasy world of Armello.
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition will be loved by hardcore RPG fans who enjoy Baldur's Gate and the original Diablo titles. Fans of new RPGs and Diablo 3 will be turned off by an overabundance of menus and UI issues and cumbersome inventory management. However, if players can look past the gameplay flaws there is a great story being told and the characters are all interesting and have their own stories and motivations.
Star Wars: Battlefront is a game for the truly devoted Star Wars fans—those who eat, sleep, and breathe the original trilogy. Battlefront captures the look, feel, and spectacle of the franchise and compiles it all into one fantastic shooter that will undoubtedly be played for years to come.
Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 improves upon the original in nearly every way imaginable. With expanded modes and character classes and the inclusion of a solo campaign rife with humor and collectibles, PVZ: GW2 firmly plants its roots amongst the titans of the Third-Person Shooter pantheon. For fans of POPCap and shooters in general, there is no other game that offers as much fun, whimsy, humor, and satisfaction as PVZ: GW2. Despite some balancing issues between the plants and zombies teams in multiplayer and the inclusion of micro-transactions ,this is a game for the ages that can be enjoyed by all players.
Firewatch is a breath of fresh air in the adventure game genre. While the game is primarily dialogue based like other adventure games, gameplay is more FPS-like as you will climb cliffs, rock faces, rappel, and cross over make shift bridges as you work to solve the mystery of the Shoshone National Forest. While some navigation issues make getting around the environment difficult, the real salt in the wound is the abrupt, and illogical revelation that makes no sense in the context of the events leading up to the finale.
Quantum Break is a fun, thrilling, and astoundingly gorgeous new IP for Microsoft. From Sam Lake, creator of the original Max Payne games and Alan Wake, comes some of Remedy's best work yet as Quantum Break sucks players into the vacuum of time that exists in the world of its main characters and players will want to work just as hard as Jack Joyce to stop time, and their own time with the game, from coming to a catastrophic end.
Ratchet & Clank on PS4 is a great point of entry for newcomers to the franchise and a wonderful walk down memory lane for returning fans.
While I loved Star Fox Zero for the fanfare and the simple fact that it finally exists, I can't help but feel disappointed by what Nintendo has done to one of its most criminally overlooked franchises.
With each mission lasting between 30-45 minutes with no real checkpoint system, Battleborn can became an exercise in tedium.
With a unique cast of characters, shared gear, an emphasis on crafting for gear upgrades, and a deep and complex combat system The Technomancer is a surprising newcomer in a genre that is normally populated with games featuring mages, dragons, castles and the like.
Telltale Games is off to a good start with this new series. However, I do not think that the moments as Batman lend well to the genre.
No Man's Sky innovates but not enough for it live up to the monstrous hype it received upon in its initial reveal.
Offering something for everyone, Federation Force has a lengthy campaign, online co-op play, as well as a PVP Blast Ball mode.
ReCore is an example of a good first attempt at a new franchise that hits a few stumbling blocks along the way.
Batman The Telltale Series Episode Two: Children Of Arkham improves greatly upon its introductory chapter.
Champions of Canaan has a lot of new ideas to offer to the Action-RPG genre and is another title to add to a slowly growing list of "good" Christian games. While I had some issues with how the story is told throughout the game and encountered many technical issues during my play sessions I strongly recommend the game to fans of Guardians Of David. Kingdom Games is certainly on to something with this franchise and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
Titanfall 2 improves upon the original Titanfall in nearly every way imaginable. Despite a few questionable changes to the multiplayer, Titanfall 2 easily falls into the rankings as one of the best first-person shooters of 2016.
Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 3 is arguably the best episode of any game that Telltale has ever done and is easily the strongest episode of this particular series. Simply put, it is an experience that no true Batman fans can afford to miss out on.
Overall, WATCH_DOGS 2 is the most fun I have had with an open-world game this year. From a cast of characters almost anyone can empathize with, to a fun, diverse array of missions and side quests, there’s so much to love. Ubisoft has essentially done the exact same thing they did with Assassin’s Creed—taking an innovative, yet flawed, new IP and improving nearly every aspect of it with player feedback. Fans of the original should definitely pick it up, and series newcomers will find a lot to love.