Friday the 13th: Ultimate Slasher Edition represents the culmination of the last two years of development for the iconic masked murderer and his dippy camp counselor victims. As a result, we find a well-balanced and fun asymmetric 7v1 slasher that we can take on the go. The only thing letting this ultimate edition down is the underpowered hardware of the Nintendo Switch. Come for the pure fan-service cat-and-mouse gameplay, but know that it'll be better on every other platform.
With a fresh coat of paint, higher resolution, and sharper textures, Ghostbusters: The Game Remastered brings the unofficial Ghostbusters 3 script to life for a whole new audience. While the multiplayer mode is still AWOL, Saber Interactive promises we'll see that pop out of a ghost trap in the near future. In the meantime, there's a fantastic swan song for the original Ghostbusters team.
Borderlands 3 is the modern looter shooter at its finest. The signature humor is alive and well, and with a cast of four fresh Vault Hunters and over a billion guns (and some with legs!), there's a lot to be excited about. It builds on and evolves everything that makes Borderlands great without changing the core looting and shooting that makes Borderlands, Borderlands.
I came away from Hunt: Showdown a little let down. The premise is good, the setting is something new, and many of the gameplay loop elements are unique. Better still, the combination of PvPvE sets the stage for something amazing, but that stage is just too damned small. With too deep a grind, and too few maps, Hunt: Showdown has just too little content (currently) to match its ambition. But hey...at least the hunting is cool!
From start to end, Westworld Awakening is a thrill ride. The Survios team has managed to give us something that doesn't feel like a tie-in, but instead an experience that could easily live in the well-written and twisted world HBO has created. While there are a few hiccups, and $29.99 is a bit steep for the length, these virtual delights have violent and genuinely hair-raising ends, and I can't wait to share them with my friends.
Greedfall is a highly ambitious step for Spiders, and one that shows that they are hitting their stride. With excellent voice acting and gorgeous environments, Greedfall serves as a grand adventure in a genre that is sorely needing a fresh face. There are still some bugs to crush, but once those are gone, only a memorable RPG capable of filling the open world RPG void will remain.
With procedural worlds, fantastic cooperative combat, and a storyline that makes you care about the entire Bergson family, Children of Morta represents the best example of games as art. There are still a few months to go in 2019, but Children of Morta is looking like my Indie Game of the Year.
With simple asymmetric gameplay, this game is great for kids of all ages, and a worthy tie-in to the movie. While the unskippable trailer is a poke in the eye, there's nothing better than the cackling of a five year old while he mercilessly throws his would-be helpers around a submarine full of bombs.
Control manages to take the awesome cutscenes we see in other games and makes them playable. A bizarre adventure with rewarding power fantasy, this is the culmination of all previous Remedy games. Part exploration game, and part sci-fi shooter, Control blends a tight narrative, stunning graphics with RTX-powered lighting, and a hub-based world to create something entirely new and absolutely gorgeous.
With a sour stomach and a lot of disappointment, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot delivers a gorgeous visual feast with more motion sickness than I've encountered in any VR game to date. Insult to injury, it's also painfully short, smacking more of AAA tech demo than meaty Wolfenstein tie-in.
Defector represents some of the best interactive elements in VR, with combat, gunplay, spycraft, and a little bit of puzzle work. While the wheels occasionally fall off on that puzzle aspect, and the story does feel a bit truncated, the ride is a blast while it lasts.
Once you've gotten over the thrill of assembling burgers, dishing out fries, pouring drinks, and serving ice cream, you'll fall into the grind. What I'm Hungry lacks is progression, and that means you'll have seen everything on the menu once you've completed the first level. There's fun to be had, but this is more "value meal" than a full course.
Igarashi-san has made another masterpiece. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an unapologetic celebration of the best parts of his previous work, bringing them all together with some fresh approaches to progression. Gorgeous and rewarding, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is phenomenal and is a worthy, near flawless successor to Symphony Of the Night, and that's high praise indeed.
From the compelling and well-acted story to its engaging combat, SIE London Studios has delivered one of the best VR experiences on Sony's platform. Like a hard-boiled blend of John Woo and any good London heist movie, Blood & Truth stands tall as one of the best PSVR games to date.
Warhammer: Chaosbane is a solid first entry into the ARPG genre for the franchise. There are some cool twists on the theme like the God Tier system, but there are equally as many baffling decisions such as the matchmaking system, lack of economy, and decidedly absent customization options. There are the makings of a solid ARPG in here, but it needs a little more time in the oven to bake.
Tremendous improvements to the core gameplay loop provide new reasons to use light mechs and jump jets. The new biome creates new fighting corridors and new mechs create a way to make those hallways dangerous. While it doesn't bring much new outside of combat, this is a must-have and a reason to revisit the BattleTech universe.
In the end, Everybody's Golf VR is an excellent new way to experience golf without the funny pants or rising greens fees. What it lacks in localization, it more than makes up for with immersive and light hearted fun. Tee up, this one is fun for the whole family.
With a magnificent storyline replete with devious puzzles and gorgeous vistas, A Plague Tale: Innocence is as beautiful as it is disturbing. A survival stealth title at its heart, Asobo Studio's approach to the story of the bubonic plague is completely unique, and one I can't recommend highly enough.
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is easily one of the best tactical games I've played in recent memory. The fact that it was made by just two people is mind blowing. If you are a fan of Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, or games like Banner Saga, Fell Seal will scratch that itch. Just know going in that it might be a little bit before we get our next content fix.
I have a lot of VR games because I think they transcend barriers for non-gamers, and they are also a whole lot of fun. Job Simulator was a great way to break in new players, but I have to say that Vacation Simulator will be supplanting (or at least supplementing) their previous effort. While some of the minigames won't keep you coming back, there's enough here to keep you busy for quite a while. Owlchemy Labs has spent four years hard at work, but I'm gonna enjoy bit of my Vacation Simulation.