Samuel Tolbert
- Halo 2
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Bloodborne
Remedy Entertainment crafts a suspenseful journey full of twists, examining its title character in spades. It's a messy, imperfect narrative that doesn't even try to wrap up every plot thread, but delivers a raw, emotional ride. Solid third-person survival horror-gameplay helps carry that journey outside of a handful of technical issues.
Star Trek: Infinite is a fun strategy game and a great entry point to the genre for newcomers that doesn't cost as much as many big games, but a plethora of bugs bog down the gameplay and mission design.
Total War: Pharaoh introduces a number of great new systems and mechanics for the long-running strategy franchise, and there's plenty of fun to be had staving off an ancient apocalypse, but a large number of bugs bring down the experience.
Mortal Kombat successfully resets the timeline with a strong campaign and fun gameplay. Not everything receives the same care and attention, as customization in multiplayer leaves a fair bit to be desired, with microtransactions aplenty. It's still a game worthy of the Mortal Kombat name however, and a great excuse to test your might by yourself or with friends.
CD Projekt RED brings a thrilling race against time where you must save the president and go undercover, all while trusting no one. Combined with the free but accompanying 2.0 update, Phantom Liberty delivers an experience that even disappointed players of the base game should definitely check out.
The latest DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3 has some fun new lords and units, but a steeper cost means it's not quite the obvious jump-in point that past packs have provided. All three Legendary Lords provide new ways of engaging with the existing factions, with the Changeling's campaign providing a particular highlight.Whether or not you should jump on this pack immediately depends on just how many of the three leaders you're interested in trying.
Immortals of Aveum provides a great deal of first-person spell-slinging fun, but writing and balance issues keep this new adventure down from what it could have been.
A great new storyline and a stellar new class mean Necrom is a fantastic addition to the long-running saga of The Elder Scrolls Online.
With better exploration, fantastic combat, and emotionally-resonant story, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a must-play adventure marred only by some performance issues.
Ultimately, 'Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores' feels like a good tease. It flirts with the concept of some biggest things yet in this story but doesn’t quite commit to most of them in full. It’s always great getting to spend more time with Aloy, and while I wish a couple of things were explored further, it’s still a fun ride that hints at some of what is to come.
Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs is a must-buy DLC for any fans of strategy games looking to challenge themselves, but the difficulty and higher price tag should be noted.
Motive Studios delivers a remake that isn't just a faithful adaption of Dead Space for the modern age, but a love letter to the entire franchise. New narrative tweaks, the addition of a talking protagonist, and open exploration across the ship add up to a stellar horror experience.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has a deeply satisfying core loop, with amazingly faithful art direction and audio. There's a wide variety of optimization and server problems right now however, so the technical side of the experience may vary wildly.
Striking Distance Studios' debut title is a horror game that delivers a high-quality experience all the way through. It won't sway anyone new to scares and frights, but fans of the genre should make this a priority.
INTERIOR/NIGHT's debut drama swings boldly, and it hits far more often than it misses. If you're looking for a choose-your-own-adventure story that isn't afraid to take some risks, give it a shot.
The newest expansion for ZeniMax Online Studios' role-playing experience provides a great experience unlike anything in the game so far. There's plenty to do and enjoy, even if it doesn't explore certain political aspects as heavily as it could have.
New features, factions, and gameplay options make Total War: Warhammer 3 a must-play strategy game. Lacking blood at launch was expected, but still disappointing.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's campaign and multiplayer are serviceable enough, but nothing exceptional for the series, while Zombies is disappointingly limited in scope and ideas.
Alan Wake Remastered compiles a polished compilation of the original game and its DLC. A few more extras would've been nice but this is the best way to play through Remedy's horror adventure.
With its striking art direction, haunting soundtrack and focus on exploration, Sable is a great journey about understanding yourself. Frequent stuttering and some bugs bring the experience down though.