Overall this game is super easy to pick up and fun to play. It doesn't have great depth but uses a swift pace to iron out any disappointment that might have introduced. It's a good little time-waster, and comes in at an attractive price point for what's on offer.
Over the years Worms has tried a few times to freshen up its franchise by changing the formula a bit, sprinkling in 3D, and other gimmicks. Worms WMD is a back to the basics effort that proves the original formula is the best one. There is nothing broken about the gameplay. While it could use an injection of pace, it delivers a great experience both offline and in online multiplayer.
If you embrace the madcap, if you let go of expectations of narrative and plot and just give in to the cult of Far Cry, then there is a lot of entertainment to be had. It's not a game I would describe as good so much as entertaining.
Taking more of a narrative approach while not really offering all that much narrative but definitely adding a little more marvel in the form of cataclysmic weather events as the major antagonist, Just Cause 4 is a shade more than just another Just Cause game. The major gameplay loop of orchestrating chaos remains true to the series but it is meted out just a bit more slowly while unlocking the goodies to perform your opus just a bit more freely. The real shine of the game comes from just whipping about the game world transitioning between grappling, wing suiting, parachuting, carjacking, plane-jacking, and inviting the player to turn the entire island into their own X-games playground on steroids.
Remaining true to its roots with engaging ship to ship combat but shifting the gameplay to a more narrative focused exploration game, Star Control: Origins excels at it's prime directive. As we push out from that core loop there are elements that can drag on, but the central experience is where it stands tallest, incorporating a playful tale with entertaining delivery around excellent two dimensional, top down ship to ship combat.
This is the best 4x game to grace the current generation of consoles, possible the best 4x game to grace any generation of consoles; but that's kind of like winning a race when you were the only genuine competitor. It still suffers greatly from a frustrating mid-game but if you've got the itch to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate on a console this will scratch it.
An engaging 80's world is the playground for a romp through a procedurally generated dungeon crawl. But it's not really the changing landscape that spices up the experience, its the wildly shifting abilities earned via in-game mutations that drastically alter one run to the next. The package oozes style and has enough substance to back it up. I just find it lacking that last little bit of polish to help me decide how I want to play, not how the random number generator is going to direct me.
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is a great game.
The game is just as good as it was 10 years ago, and now looks even better.
The core of the game is excellent, the gameplay is fun, progression balanced, it has personality, and presents as much difficulty as you are willing to chase flawless runs through the levels. However, there are small quality of life challenges that hold the game back when receiving its due.
Torn between two games the could have been, Assassins Creed Valhalla is by no means a bad game. It's actually quite good, but it comes off ultimately as less than the sum of its parts. The core of the Assassin's Creed gameplay is there, but the environments don't lend themselves to exploit it. The core of an Ubisoft open world Viking game is also there, but story progression keeps pulling you from that space to force the narrative forward. The coolest bits of the combat are locked behind treasure chests scattered across that vast world, and other awkward inconsistencies. Interspersed are low notes dragging you forward to...well, not so much a present-day, but a near-future-day storyline that is even more stale than it was four or five major sequels ago when it well and truly jumped the shark. There are two competing experiences here: that as as Assassin, and that as a Viking, that either on its own feels like it might have been a triumph and better than this good but not great Assass-king hybrid we have.
An excellent puzzler that is let down only by a mediocre port onto a screen that it is doing no favors for. The game plays fine when docked onto a bigger screen, but then the controls let you down that much more when you lose the touchscreen to doodle on. There is a rhythmic, difficult challenge unlocked behind the awkward interface played across a level design that beautifully weaves the very canvas of each problem into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed Solas 128, if only I could shake the feeling I would have loved it more were I playing it on a PC.
Biomutant attempts to channel many inspirations into a compelling package. It does much of that extremely well, excelling at world building and creating a fluid combat system to drive the experience. The one area it falls short is in tying it all together with an engrossing narrative. It not only fails at the narrative, but even worse, fails at the very mechanics of delivering the story. Wander the world on your own initiative and experience a great game; follow the path of the main quest and suffer the letdown of a mediocre tale, told poorly.
Despite being physically hampered by the experience of playing the game, I could clearly see what the makers were going for here and I think they largely hit those notes well. I feel like this game has the potential to be a distinctly polarizing experience. Those that really get into it have the option to obsess over perfect, clean runs that lie within reach of those dedicated enough to perfect them; while those that don't are welcome to just put down the controller after a dozen hours of trial and error to completion. Don't give up on the first few failed attempts because the payoff when it all comes together is rewarding regardless of whether it took you ten tries or a hundred, and maybe even more so if the latter.
So is it worth it this year? That's a firm "yes". The Hypermotion 2 engine lives up to it's hype and delivers what it probably the best simulation of football I've seen. You have a variety of game modes to find your favorites with some like Volta that deliberately speed up the pace that the engine tends to slow down in Career. You also have the widest variety of stars to choose from featuring men's and women's teams as well as all the licenses and real player likenesses you can hope for. However, Career mode needs some love. And by love I don't mean more meaningless transfer cutscenes. I mean depth beyond just the UK pyramid: add some real lower division teams across leagues and stop neglecting everything outside of Europe.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II brings the core of what makes CoD games great and stays true to Infinity Ward's best efforts in the series. It's big step away in a positive direction from last year's Vanguard disaster. I just wish there was a bit more meat to sink my teeth into. The single player campaign makes no attempt at a commentary but will have you running through a series of competent missions and set pieces. Multiplayer is what you would expect from the series, both with competent gunplay as well as a map playlist that will need to expand over time. The new co-op mode seems a better experience with a friend than queuing with a random from the lobby. All in all there is good game on offer that moves slicker and the shine on your assault rifle looks more gorgeous than the series ever has.
For the most part, Tactic Ogre: Reborn is a good game. Heck, it's a great game. But my run took me headfirst into what feels like the cheapest and most unfair change of mechanics that I can remember in my entire personal gaming history. The entire playing experience was spoiled as a result. With the review finished, I am now deleting this game from my hard drive and never returning. I feel betrayed by a terrible design choice and look at the dozens of hours to get to this point as a waste of my time.
Helldivers 2 is truly a game of the year contender. The gunplay and gameplay is excellent. The variety invites you to keep hoping into one mission or another. The difficulty ramps from fun barrel shoots to harried and hair-raising struggles on the edge of a knife. However, the overall experience greatly suffers when playing as a solo player. If you have a group, dive in to hell. If not, be careful out there, soldier, and watch your back. The bugs aren't your only enemies.
Ultimately Hitman: Blood Money Reprisal is an 18 year old game that feels optimized for mobile, but yeah, also lands on the Switch. There are some decent quality of life upgrades but the visuals show their age. The story and missions stay true to form in what was always one of the best Hitman narratives. I expect a little more on the Switch and while this might seem a more premium experience on something like an iPad it doesn't quite hit that same height on Nintendo's console. It is still a good game, and is a cool throwback to a really accomplished peak in gaming's past.
A stealth game that sticks to its core values and offers some excellent level design, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid sequel. It is not without some presentation issues and could really benefit from some better controls on the more delicate maneuvers. If you can get past the crassness of the main character there is much to like.