At just $14.99, Duty Eternal introduces some fantastic new mechanics that seamlessly integrates into an ongoing game or a brand new one. Unleashing the awesome power of the Venerable Dreadnought, I cannot imagine playing Daemonhunters without it – truly, a must have.
With improvements in literally every single area of the game, Tactics Ogre: Reborn is the new standard for remasters.
With a fresh story, AAA quality gameplay, a solid amount of gameplay, and now complete freedom of movement in the controls, Marvel's Iron Man VR is absolutely phenomenal. This is a major win for the Meta Quest 2, and a must-have for your library.
It's rare to see a sequel nail it this hard, but God of War: Ragnarök has once again raised the bar for every action adventure title. It's the best game I've played in a very, very long time, and is, in a word, perfect.
Aesthetically disgusting, Scorn touches on several deep-seated phobias all at once, ensnaring you with its alien and disgusting universe. While the worldbuilding shines, the combat can be pure frustration. Come for the visceral stomach churn, and stick around for one of the stranger stories you'll ever see. While the combat will frustrate, the setting is worth the fight.
Ultimately Triangle Strategy gets an excellent port, albeit one with fewer frills than we'd like. Still, that's nothing the modding community can't fix in very short order. Performance is fantastic on PC, and equally as good on Steam Deck. While the long-winded story might need work, there's no denying the tactical combat.
Cute and fun for a period of time, Lemon Cake is a familiar comfort food. Small slices taste good, but consuming the whole cake in a few bites is just going to give your stomach the rumblies.
A top-tier example of what a roguelike can be when combined with a colony sim, Cult of the Lamb is pure addiction. From managing your minions, to slaughtering the bizarre Eldritch gods that dare defy you, Cult of the Lamb has converted me completely.
Charming to the point of overflowing, Two Point Campus is hilariously funny, endlessly engaging, and has improvements to the formula around every corner. Attracting and keeping your students while fleecing them for everything they're worth has never been more fun.
Perfectly encapsulating the Paul Verhoven film, Starship Troopers: Terran Command strikes the right balance of cheesy and challenging, at least in the latter missions. While it doesn't have multiplayer or a scenario editor, the single player is a blast. We'll fight, and we'll win, I just wish my troopers weren't so dumb while we do it. Oh well, more meat for the grinder.
Summary: If you are a fan of deckbuilding card battlers, with a dash of RPG, then Gordian Quest is the best of the bunch. While there are a few tutorial elements and stability challenges to attend to, the endless replayability and randomization element makes every run unique.
With its incredible gameplay loop, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is as unique as it is addictive. A handful of minor bugs do little to hold back what is an incredibly immersive and rewarding experience.
Rifftrax: The Game is a fantastic way to bring your funny friends together to riff on infamously-bad movies. With over 2000 groan-worthy tracks, and more on the way, it should make for some genuinely funny moments at your next party. Just be prepared to type as the Write a Riff is the best way to play.
Even five entries in, Sniper Elite 5 manages to deliver on the core gameplay sniping loop while managing to provide us with a handful of new features to keep things fresh. There are a few bugs to hammer out, and some movement systems are underbaked, but fans and newcomers alike will find a lot to like here.
Cities: VR delivers a vignette version of the Cities: Skylines experience. The controls take a brief moment to get used to, but the hardware limitations of the Quest 2 are harder to overcome. That said, the experience is here, even if it's in a much-slimmed and slightly blander version of the broader experience. While there are some crucial features missing, what is here is a fun slice of the core gameplay loop, and that's impressive for a self-contained package.
Where so many games in the Warhammer universe feel generic and uninspired, Daemonhunters manages to give us a game with tight tactical combat, a decent story, and a careful balance that is challenging but not punishing. The Emperor demands you pick up this game!
A physics-based platformer on the surface, Time Loader carries a weighty and heartfelt story that is bound to consume far more mental bandwidth than the screenshots and videos might have suggested. It's rare for games to surprise me, but Time Loader did exactly that.
It's somewhat unfair to compare the next-gen console versions to a PC as my video card costs more than both consoles combined. That said, what Rockstar has pulled off here is as close to a PC running at max settings, but with a slightly lower draw distance and less feature-rich anti-aliasing. On the other hand, if you are coming from the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One, the difference is staggering. Most of the time a next-gen native version of a game is just a higher-resolution minimal-effort wallet hug, but here it's clear that the developers are looking to deliver the best version of their most successful game ever, ahead of finally getting another proper installment in the series.
As is often the case for live service games, what we reviewed today is the launch product and is likely to evolve over time. As such, realize that this title's features (and soundtrack) is likely to have expanded greatly if you read this review a year from now. Still – what's on offer at launch is very much worth an ongoing subscription, and best of all you don't have to take my word for it – pop over to the Oculus store and sweat it out for yourself.
There’s a lot to see and experience in Lost Ark, and the asking price to try it is just your time. It’s very clear that this game is a juggernaut, and even friends of mine who aren’t into the genre have had their interest piqued enough to give it a go. Here’s to hoping Smilegate, Amazon, and Tripod Studios can capitalize on an incredibly strong start and fulfill the promise buried under all these screens.