Life Is Strange has already proven itself to be capable of making an interesting story out of its premise, but it's in this third episode that it has begun to develop a real level of confidence in its narrative.
As interesting as exploring the ramifications of [the main character's] time-manipulation abilities are here, the most resounding moments are those centred on less fantastic issues.
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.
The Banner Saga's combination of well-designed strategy gameplay with grand storytelling make for an exceptional title.
The hand of [Her Story's] developer never intrudes far enough to spoil the basic thrill of solving a narrative puzzle completely on one's own.
What Everybody's Gone to the Rapture accomplishes with the well-worn post-apocalyptic genre is remarkable.
Regardless of a few messy puzzles, the way The Last Guardian communicates this message is worth paying attention to.
Because the challenge stays reasonable enough throughout, Volume's stealth systems remain satisfying and, most importantly, a consistent echo of the game's narrative.
The 2016 DOOM's rebellion is smaller than its predecessor, but still impressive: it is unabashedly itself. It's a game with confidence in the worth of revisiting its history and an earnest belief that doing so can result in much more than an empty exercise in nostalgia.
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.
Astral Chain is loud, brash, exciting, and, in the end, a warning about the dangers of unquestioned loyalty. Its hyperkinetic action sequences and colorful characters might make the game seem like it isn't interested in offering more than intricately designed fights and a straightforward genre story, but stick around for its entirety and its cast of 2070s police officers show themselves to be more than just cartoon cut-outs of sci-fi cops.
MachineGames' latest take on Wolfenstein is a very good shooter that is only a few missteps away from being, like its predecessor, a truly great one.
Chrysalis, Life Is Strange's debut episode, introduces a fascinatingly weird tone where the ordinary is coupled with the bizarre.
It's surprising that, given the breadth of activities on offer, State of Decay manages to make every one of its objectives feel essential to the overall experience.
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.
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.
Enemy Within [is] not only an excellent expansion, but a more fully formed vision of the base game as well.
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.
Wasteland 2 makes a strong case for the revival of a long dormant style of videogame design.
It isn't an overstatement to say that the attention paid to diversifying the look and tactical possibilities of the levels is key to what makes XCOM 2 work.