There are some great ideas in Darwin Project, but it's far too shallow to keep them interesting in the long term.
Antigraviator has a strong foundation for an fast-paced sci-fi racer, but lacks the content and unique footprint to really stand out. It's hard to recommend it over the likes of RedOut and WipEout, which offer highly similar experiences in much stronger overall packages.
This latest entry in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series sports the best collection yet of minigames and events, but is hampered by a tedious story mode and overall poor execution.
Darksiders III will go down as the black sheep of the franchise. While the core gameplay itself is fun and it does a good enough job streamlining things with a more interesting cast of characters, it all just comes across as a bit too by-the-numbers to turn heads and doesn't push boundaries enough to really stand out. If it weren't for the technical issues this could be more highly-recommended, but as it stands, only die-hard fans should consider checking this one out.
This was a hard game to score because I really wanted to love it more than I did. The unique storytelling format and intense musical score carry what is an otherwise perplexing narrative that tries very hard to be profound but ends up feeling a bit muddled.
Call of Duty: WW2 - United Front is a bit all over the place. The three new multiplayer maps do very little to deliver anything fresh or new, and the new War mission is also mostly more of the same. But the changes to the Zombies formula in The Tortured Path really shake up the experience and deliver something that feels more nuanced and original from what we've seen out of that mode in years. As a package, it's mostly just okay, with only a couple of true high points.
Days Gone seems like a classic case of a game that grew too big for its own good. The production values are excellent and it packs some tense gameplay and emotional stories, but the poor pacing, tedious open world, and padded length significantly drag it down overall.
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a narratively-driven adventure game in which you travel across Depression era USA collecting stories amid a beautiful backdrop of hand-drawn story vignettes. However, the experience is heavily bogged down by a clunky overworld and purely disruptive gamification of an otherwise pleasant collection of stories.
Unfortunately lacks the originality it so desperately needs to really stand out from the pack. Even though the art style is striking and bold, combined with an inventive cultural focus, the gameplay and overall design weigh it down to be little more than a passable action adventure title.
Whether you really wanted it this way or not, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is about as pure of a remaster as you're ever going to find. The visuals and sound are all upgraded for a modern era without changing the heart of the game. However, with the vastly superior Age of Empires II HD already in existence with five years of community built up around it, there is little reason to recommend this game unless you're just dying to play extremely early era civilizations.
NBA Playgrounds aims to bring the best elements of NBA Jam into the modern era of basketball, but falls short in some areas. The core of the high-octane gameplay is there, but it's not enough to push past all of the game's shortcomings.
Bugsnax is memorable for its writing, world, and creative premise, but its more gamified elements somewhat spoil a delicious meal.
Hellbound is a rip-roaring homage to classic Doom that hits almost all of the right notes.
As of now, it's a fun addition to the Resident Evil 3 package but isn't available separately. It's got a good foundation to work with and feels unique enough to stand out if it gets the support it needs.
Even though DBZ: Kakarot retells the same story the franchise has been telling for decades, it manages to do so in creative new ways for hardcore anime fans.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Phoenix Point just wrote a love letter to XCOM, for better and for worse.
With delightful visuals, pulsing music, and snappy gameplay, Black Future '88 is a solid roguelike that won't revolutionize the genre.
Supermassive Games proves that lightning can strike twice with Man of Medan, which (mostly) successfully carries the torch handed down by Until Dawn while adding a clever co-op twist.
With only two new Dungeons to explore, Wrathstone is a far more reserved DLC than Murkmire. However, its higher difficulty and prelude to Elsweyr make it thrilling never-the-less.
While it may not bear the name Road Rash, Road Redemption is a spiritual successor that channels everything which made the original violent racer a classic.