Ryan Hartmann
A game of unparalleled scope and ambition, with breathtaking visuals, a broad-ranging but intimate story, and an incredible sense of identity and purpose, Red Dead Redemption 2 will go down as one of the greatest games of the generation, and perhaps video game history.
I have been writing about video games for almost 20 years now, and in all that time I have never given any game a perfect score. Until now.
After 50 hours with this game, my biggest complaint is that I wanted more. A lot more.
With the exception of some questionable choices regarding microtransactions, Destiny 2 is a game that improves upon the original considerably, in every key area. This is, without question, Bungie's best work yet.
There’s a lot of heart, a lot of innovation, and a clear feeling that this game wasn’t just created by a talented group of developers, but by people who are truly passionate about Spider-Man.
It could best be summed up as "Inglourious Basterds meets Fast and Furious" – a multicultural group of irreverent, colorful characters on a globetrotting quest to ruin Hitler's day, week and life in a fantastic revenge fantasy setting.
Shadow of the Colossus isn't just a successful remake of a beloved game. It has set a new bar for what a remake should be in the first place, and left me optimistic, for the first time ever, about the prospect of revisiting old games on new systems. This is how every remake should be.
I've enjoyed the freedom to make my own decisions and mistakes, the challenge, the complexity, the attention to detail. It's been one hell of a ride.
Indie games have shown the value of smaller studios making unique games beholden only to their vision and not the economic constraints of AAA development, and Demimonde's Octahedron now stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of them, thanks to an amazing soundtrack, creative level design and presentation, and singular vision.
City of Brass is a beautiful, highly-polished and mostly successful attempt at turning the genre on its head by making it more accessible to everyone, from rogue-lite veterans to first time players. With a unique and intuitive new combat style and some innovative takes on genre conventions, you'll find plenty to like about City of Brass no matter what your skill level.
Aragami is not for everyone, especially casual fans of the genre; it's too demanding. Those of you who truly relish the hunt and welcome the challenge, though, will surely find that Aragami: Shadow Edition has what you're looking for.
Supremely difficult, extremely rewarding and, above all else, absolutely unrelenting, id Software has once again set the bar for the hyper-violent twitch shooter genre with Doom Eternal.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is among the odder entries in the new trend of remastering old games for new hardware. It’s not simply a remaster that only increases visual fidelity, and it’s not a remake that overhauls the games in a fundamental way. Existing somewhere in the middle, the games definitely look a lot better than their original versions but won’t ever fool anyone into believing they were made for modern hardware, and while some of the mechanics have been updated/overhauled, there are a lot of areas where BioWare could have made minor tweaks leading to significant improvements in the experience. It’s understandable that they may have wanted to keep the games as close to their original versions as possible, but in a lot of ways it just feels like missed opportunities.
Ultimate Chicken Horse is a simple game isn't the kind of game you pick up and play every night, as it benefits most from fresh bouts of sadistic creativity, but for the $20 price tag, it's one of the best pick-up-and-play party games you'll find on the PS4.
Hob is definitely a game that is larger than the sum of its parts, which come together almost perfectly to create a truly singular adventure. Hob not have the AAA budget and polish of the franchises it draws inspiration from, but it has lots of heart and something to say, which is impressive for a game without a single spoken word.
Detention likely will not win over many people who aren't already fans of either survival horror or adventure games, and that's a damn shame. While the game has some pacing issues, and a few puzzles can only be described as having illogical solutions you'll mostly come to simply through attrition, this game is a triumph.
Overall, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is mostly a triumph. The few issues that do exist aren't enough to detract from the overall quality of the underlying game, and most of the updates, upgrades and tweaks really work in the game's favor. For too long, Square Enix has let one of their most compelling and ambitious games languish while lesser titles received multiple and unnecessary re-releases.
When you get right down to it, there isn't much that needs to be said about this game. After five entries in the franchise, spanning ten years and three different systems, you know if Uncharted is your kind of game. If you're new to the series, this isn't the place to start.
If you love bullet hell shoot 'em ups and have the patience to master your moves, there's a lot of bang for your buck here, especially if you owned the original Sine Mora; anyone who bought the original version can upgrade to EX for free. The campaign is short, but there's plenty of replay value in the various alternate modes for people looking to push themselves in pursuit of the leaderboard glory or just waste some time with a buddy.
Slightly Mad Studios seems to have aspirations towards this being the next big thing in e-sports racing, and while they've got the foundation to do that, key elements of the game will need to be addressed. In a genre starving for fresh blood, Project Cars 2 is a welcome addition, but also a currently incomplete one..