This War of Mine manages to convey an important message very well. By turning the player into an active participant in the cutthroat rationale of life as an ordinary person attempting to survive a warzone, it encourages a level of empathy only possible through interaction. Instead of simply hearing the stories of people who suffer unimaginable hardship as civilians during war, the audience is asked to inhabit these narratives. When our choices became their choices—as completely awful as they may be—we can better understand the ground-level tragedies taking place across the globe at this moment. 11 bit Studios' greatest success with This War of Mine, it turns out, is in creating a videogame that is profoundly unpleasant to experience.
This is Call of Duty coming to terms with itself—pushing and pulling between social responsibility and the joy of instinctual, itchy trigger-fingered chaos. Not since Modern Warfare has an entry to the series felt much more than casually disinterested in humanity.
Civilization: Beyond Earth is, in many senses, the next logical step forward in a series that has always been about celebrating the human drive to understand, control, and expand our environment.
Costume Quest 2 is at its best when the repetitive role-playing combat system takes a backseat to its adventure-style exploration and dialogue.
As superb as the experience of simply exploring [The Vanishing of Ethan Carter's] eerie environments is, unravelling the plot's mystery isn't terribly enjoyable.
Every part of [Dead Rising 3] exists in service to the simple act of knocking over zombies like so many shuffling bowling pins.
[Halfway's] developer is an enormous fan of a few things: well-crafted pixel art, 1980s science fiction movies, and XCOM.
I have a feeling that even [Gaiman's] most devoted fans will be disappointed with the experience.
Fortunately, Soul Suspect's fairly uninteresting play takes a backseat to a fast-moving plot that, as predictable as it often is, remains engaging from start to finish.
Among the Sleep is not just a great horror game, but a well-told, emotionally affecting story that has more to offer than just an unique premise.
Vagabond Dog has developed a title that, despite its rough edges, ends up offering an interesting look at a character coming to grips with themselves and their place in the world.
Supergiant Games established itself as a remarkable, highly creative studio with the release of 2011's Bastion, and its sophomore effort proves that the development team isn't running short on worthwhile concepts.
Without either a compelling cast or plot, there's little to draw the player into the mundane gameplay.
The Last Tinker, despite nailing the aesthetic of the games that inspired it, doesn't have this strength. For every one of its lovely vistas there is an unsatisfying bit of platforming to be done; for every quirky character there is a group of enemies at which to swing some floaty punches.
The promise of Daylight—never feeling safe because random scares defy predictability—ends up seeming like the main cause of its problems instead of a genre-changing bit of design.
The same design elements that give the experience [of playing Betrayer] such a wonderfully palpable sense of dread are misused to the point of tedium.
This is as good as Resident Evil 4 has ever been and that will likely be more than enough for anyone interested in the re-release.
Bravely Default is, for better or worse, a pretty good '90s RPG
The Banner Saga's combination of well-designed strategy gameplay with grand storytelling make for an exceptional title.
Tearaway takes its developers’ aims further by coupling the tactile nature of touch screens with constant prompts to bring the player’s face, surroundings, fingers, and creativity into most every gameplay scenario.