I wanted desperately to find a good game underneath all the bugs in Redfall, and every now and then a tiny ray of light would shine through and give me hope. I took my time to give it a fair opportunity where others wrote it off only a few hours in. Unfortunately, they were right, and this will go down as one of the more disappointing games that I’ve played in recent years. All we can hope for now is that Redfall’s disastrous journey serves as a warning to Microsoft and its stable of development studios. Not because the world’s second-largest company can’t take the hits, but because players deserve better.
There is no doubt in my mind that six months from now Breakpoint will be a more playable game. Ubisoft Paris will iron out the bugs, bring back AI teammates, concede to player demands on some design, and tweak the experience to be more playable. However, this is the Breakpoint that was offered up on release, and it’s a mess.
Fallout 76 is a bit of a disaster, which is a shame because there are good ideas and good bits of content here. There wasn’t a single play session where I didn’t have a lot of fun, but there also wasn’t a session where something ridiculous didn’t cause frustration. It feels like it should have been released into early access as a work in progress for the next several months, thus alleviating some of the frustration from poor performance, bugs, and balancing issues. However, Bethesda opted to release Fallout 76 in a broken state, and this time I’m not laughing along about the bugs simply because we’ve come to accept them as a part of the Fallout franchise. How does Fallout 4 look infinitely better than Fallout 76, with the former coming out in 2015, more than three years ago? Fallout 76 is a decent game, but all the good is being crushed by the plethora of problems that just shouldn’t be problems.
Every year I poll my friends on whether they’ll buy the new NHL game. Last year was tough, and to play together we had to give a couple of people copies of the game. When I polled them this year, it was nearly unanimous. Anyone who had to play NHL 24 for work was getting the game, and the four other people had zero interest. That may not seem noteworthy, but that’s about $400 in lost sales for EA among my friends alone. That is four people who are looking for games that can bring our group together and give us a nightly social experience opting out because the price tag has long outgrown the product. I said as much last year, and this year remains no different.
As harsh as this may sound, I’ve lost faith in the NHL franchise. My first game was NHL 93, and although they haven’t all been good, it’s clear that this franchise has settled into an annual loop of delivering the bare minimum. There is zero justification for a full-game price tag when you consider that other games offer free updates larger than what’s on offer as new in the entirety of NHL 23. It’s mind boggling.
Way of the Hunter is a game that I should love, and despite the plethora of problems, there are fantastic ideas here and a world that could be incredible if it’s given a lot more attention from Nine Rocks Games. However, it’s not there yet. It’s not even close to where it needs to be, and I’m not talking about the amount of content on offer. There is more than enough game to play here. What holds Way of the Hunter back is that most of it doesn’t feel fully realized or polished. Performance is an issue, bugs are an issue, accessibility is an issue and, in many cases, the quality of the game’s systems are an issue. While I suspect things will improve over time, Way of the Hunter is a long way from where my expectations lie.
NHL 22 doesn’t feel like the next leap forward for video game hockey. It barely feels like meaningful DLC.
Whether it’s a wonky voice performance, silly mechanic, or the feeling that it ends far before it’s finished, Unheard fails to realize its maximum potential.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a worthwhile experience for invested fans of the series. It’s going to give you that stealth and stab gameplay that you’ve enjoyed before, even if it doesn’t build upon it outside of the tools. It’s bookended by exceptional first and third acts, but Ubisoft has again failed to create a detailed and meaningful world that you want to explore beyond its waypoints.
The Angler has a lot of soul. Every time I log in and see the (approximate) time and weather, I know exactly what spot I want to go to and what fish I’m looking for. I get excited when the conditions are just right to target that pike, and I know just the spot. The pull is there to keep me coming back. Even though it’s rough around the edges and somewhat feature-bare, you’re going to find your own spot that you don’t tell anyone about. Your own little slice of Golden Ridge heaven where you hope to one day land your Diamond.
The gameplay of UFC 4 is stellar and rewarding, but once the novelty begins to wear off, there’s not much more to keep players invested.
Trials Rising hits all the right gameplay points for an experience that needs to balance entertainment with challenge.
Ubisoft brought many of their strengths to the table in Far Cry New Dawn.
Like a biker, though, Days Gone lacks a certain level of polish. It took me a long time to care about the story that was being told and the characters in it, and it always felt just a bit out of sync for me. I think that’s partly due to the world not feeling very welcoming, which may have been intentional, but robbed me of that precious exploration and downtime that open-world games should offer.
Big wins outscore annoying misses, and overall NHL 18 is a step in the right direction.
A few things missed the mark that shouldn't have, but I generally got what I expected from Far Cry 5; a fun, open-world game worth the price tag and not to be taken too seriously.
Even with a few missteps, Far Cry 6 is a triumph in a few ways that should be celebrated.
Ubisoft is known for their fun open worlds, but it appears that experience and previous stumbles have seen them take big steps forward, making Valhalla one of their best Assassin's Creed games in recent memory.
I’m not old school like the coaches and GMs that still make up a large part of the NHL, but I’m old school in that I grew up in the 80s and 90s and value hard hockey played the right way over flashy dekes you might see once a season. I love dekes as much as the next person, but not at the expense of solid core gameplay. EA Vancouver tried to sell dekes, cosmetics, and the idea of being a superstar, but what resonated with me, an old-school hockey guy, were the core gameplay improvements.
NHL 20 is close to the best video game hockey experience ever made, and that should be celebrated.