Bogdan Robert Mateș's Reviews
Evil West's old-school sensibilities aren't what drag it down, although its linear levels might not appeal to everyone. Its combat feels glorious when it clicks, but the studio's latest third-person shooter struggles to find its stride, resulting in a fun but rather unremarkable adventure.
A Plague Tale: Requiem's trump card is the variety of gameplay sequences between which it alternates. At its best, it spices up the original's stealth action-adventure formula with new ways of eliminating foes or holding rats at bay. At its worst, it has you slogging through tedious or frustrating stealth sections.
Metal: Hellsinger's infectious blend of rhythm game and first-person shooter elements gripped me all the way through its story mode and beyond, despite its mostly disappointing boss battles. Its roaring metal soundtrack ebbs and flows around how well you deal death to Hell's denizens, constantly pushing you to do better.
Stray is at its best when it lets you do the things you'd expect from a cat – sleeping on cozy pillows, meowing, or scratching sofas – but fails to build consistently compelling gameplay around these flavorful bits. Although it creates a believable world, I found it hard to connect with the robots you encounter across its forgotten city, making the game's admittedly grand climax feel hollow.
There's not much about Sniper Elite 5 that's particularly remarkable. That, however, didn't stop the visceral X-Ray kills and the simple act of mowing down Nazis to see me through to the end of its campaign. There are plenty of other games out there that do stealth, action, or World War II better, yet the series' formula is very much its own and does manage to carry a game that otherwise struggles to do anything interesting.
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters' focus on clarity and aggressiveness allows for a calculated, more active approach to its tactical battles. A varied enemy roster that consistently outnumbers you coupled with the Bloom's effects make each fight feel like a battle against the odds. This feeling extends to the campaign as a whole, your barracks consistently housing Knights recovering from their wounds earned in painstakingly won battles.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands plays it safe, never leaning enough into its fantasy elements or bringing any significant changes to the Borderlands formula, but offering more of the fun looting and shooting the main series is known for. It boasts better writing and humor than Borderlands 3 while throwing in interesting spells and class powers that spice up its otherwise familiar combat system.
Ghostwire: Tokyo's mechanics aren't fleshed out enough to support its open-world gameplay, failing to come together and form a cohesive experience. It has a premise that could easily hook you but doesn't do anything to capitalize on its eerie rendition of the Japanese city.
Far: Changing Tides largely sticks to the same recipe as its predecessor, making its vessel more complex and sending players on a journey through a different world. Its description as a companion game is fitting – although you will get slightly more out of it if you play the series in order – and while I loved the original, the sequel didn't grab me as much.
After more than 55 hours spent playing, I'm still awed by just how great God of War is. This is the result of a clear, determined vision, its separate elements harmonizing almost perfectly to deliver an experience that understands the series' blood-soaked origins but is also not afraid to push it into a more mature and nuanced direction.
Total War: Warhammer 3's only major "downside" comes from it being the final part of an established trilogy that (successfully) iterates on its predecessor's structure without changing it fundamentally. If you're not a fan of its streamlined empire management, fantasy setting, and sometimes floaty-feeling combat, there's not much here that will change your mind.
Crusader Kings 3: Royal Court adds plenty of flavor and introduces new ways to obtain bonuses for your realm while fleshing out how deeply you can interact with it. The feature that gives it its name isn't as grand as it could be, due to repeating events and a 3D space that becomes a bit boring to look at even if you change its architectural style.
Dying Light 2 was my first contact with the series and it can certainly be an exhilarating open-world game. Its gorgeous city, intense chases, fluid parkour, and visceral, meaty combat are well worth experiencing. Although they never completely overshadow its accomplishments, boring gear, repetitive side missions, and a story that never finds its focus do, unfortunately, keep it away from greatness. But, if you keep some of your expectations in check, all these missteps can easily be drowned in an ocean of freshly-cut zombie limbs and peaceful paragliding.
Nobody Saves the World's form switching and punchy, responsive combat carries the game where its other elements let it down. The star of the show is its surprisingly dynamic twist on aRPG mechanics that makes figuring out builds to counter the dangers of its dungeons rewarding enough to warrant spending 20+ hours killing monsters and helping its sometimes oddball NPCs.
Bigger But Not Necessarily Better.
Unleashing a flurry of rockets from our Supremo backpack and blowing up a tank that never saw it coming.
Hiding in plain sight using an upgraded Aether slab and surprising and invading Julianna with a swift machete stab she never saw coming.
The psychedelia-infused trip inside the Psi King's Sensorium.
Mowing down the last Xenomorphs in a swarm using the Smartgun and barely making it out alive to the nearby extraction point.
While it probably won’t be a “Civ killer” – not that it necessarily aims to be one –, it’s clearly a game that historical 4X strategy fans looking for a different spin on the subgenre’s formula should definitely consider trying out at some point.