Forgettable characters with a lackluster storyline do not help a puzzle game that can be, at times, enjoyable and, at worst, downright infuriating.
A visually stunning game, Godfall suffers from repetitive combat and a lackluster story that is forgettable after the first hour. In an industry with so many Dark Souls-style games, this is not one to spend time on.
The beauty of Away: The Survival Series isn't the gameplay but the journey itself. While it has it's problems with bugs, the environment itself is lovely and the narration and musical score at least give the short expedition a quiet elegance.
The few positives do not outweigh the negatives. EA Sports continues to phone it in with the FIFA series while single-player gamers cry out for better options.
World Rally Championship 6 has some bright spots, including plenty of courses and types of vehicles to choose from. The negatives bring the overall product down below the positives, including bad frame-rate issues and questionable gameplay elements. If you are a massive fan of rally racing, you'll still enjoy this title. Everyone else should look elsewhere for their fix on racing.
Eyes of Heaven offers a wacky story with plenty of varying dialogue that will bring in even the most casual Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but the gameplay is average at best that doesn't offer much substance other than making sure the button mashes connect before the opponent's does. Fans of the anime will appreciate this game, but the casual gamer will not get much out of this title.
Garden Warfare 2 will be fun for those who enjoy the tower defense genre. Anyone else will want to stay away from this game that suffers from lackluster controls in third person shooting and a missed opportunity to create a much larger world to explore.
The PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn is still a fun game to play...so long as you aren't expecting a graphical powerhouse. The PC port suffers from framerate and graphics issues, crashes, and just an overall feeling of what could have been. I'm not mad, Guerrilla Studios, I'm disappointed.
Is the gameplay fun? Sure, but it's largely the same as last year. Career mode gets Champions League branding but nothing else noteworthy. Pro Clubs and Seasons get ignored. The Journey is fun, but cannot make up for the rest of the largely ignored modes. If you love FUT, you'll love this game. Otherwise, it just isn't worth banging your head against the wall for another year of much of the same. The rating might seem harsh, but when you've played this same game the last couple of years, you get tired of it.
Good gameplay improvements and a much needed change in commentary have made the in-game experience feel fresh, but the offline game modes have largely been ignored with the same boring options except for the minor inclusion of game planning that is generally determined by the CPU anyways. Madden is fun, but running game improvements aren't enough to suggest that this is worthy of another $60 purchase.
The in-game experience is excellent, with beautiful scenery, accurate courses, and the true feel of a broadcast. The overall product is hurt, however, by a lack of courses, big name golfers, and stripped down modes. Gamers expect to be wowed after two years of development, not left with an empty feeling.
The gameplay and presentation of NHL 15 are arguably the best we've seen in the franchise. The new commentary team of Emrick, Olczyk, and Ferraro really add to the in-game experience. Some AI bugs do exist and may frustrate players, but the true problem with this game is the lack of modes to justify the $60 price tag. It's unfair to call this game a beta, but with so many modes missing, even though some will be patched in, it doesn't feel like a completed product. The hardcore NHL fans will pick this up, but casual players may want to wait it out and see if EA can patch in some of the features that this game desperately needs.
A technically solid game that has some pretty glaring issues with presentation, I still found myself going back to play round after round. It's challenging and rewarding, even if it's not the best entry in the long history of golf titles.
PGA Tour 2K21 scratches the itch for the hardcore golf fans out there, but casual players are going to find a game that is lacking deeper options even though the game itself is beautiful. It's a good entry that hopefully is built upon in the future.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider should leave us wanting more from the rebooted Lara Croft game, but with some clunky controls and a lazy combat system, what saves the game from being below average are beautiful visuals, fantastic puzzles and tomb layouts along with true adventuring. It's as mixed up of a bag as one can get.
Fast paced and hard hitting, Speedball 2 HD combines full contact sports with association football and comes out pretty well. Since this title has some flaws and lacks online multiplayer, it isn't going to win the top division, but it holds its own and is certainly fun to play.
Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has addressed many of the issues that plagued the first title. There are still some issues with clipping, connections, and voice chat, but the game is still quite enjoyable with plenty of quests to complete and areas to explore. It isn't the perfect MMO by far, but at least it's one that won't cost you $15 a month and you can come back to it whenever you feel like exploring Tamriel.
While I'm not 100% in love with the game due to bugs and difficulty swings, Cyberpunk 2077 is still a solid pickup simply for its story and incredible world. Make sure your system is prepared for it and you'll get a good experience.
Career mode gets a much needed upgrade while the gameplay has been tweaked enough to feel like a challenge again. VOLTA Football is incredibly fun and a throwback to FIFA Street. It isn't perfect and career mode still has a lot that can be addressed, but EA listened and made upgrades beyond a roster update.
A revamped manager career mode and the second chapter of The Journey are both wonderful experiences, and while some aspects of gameplay have been addressed such as crossing and more tactical runs, there are still some glaring problems that weren't addressed. The game is still enjoyable, but this franchise can't rest on its laurels anymore.