The autumn trees and serene color palette that blends in with the military outfits was a welcome change of pace from the mansions and coastal riviera’s of past episodes.
Once you get used to the gameplay loop after the first few missions, different types of Jackals and Titans that sport progressively tougher armor begin to be introduced, but it turns into a bit of a chore after a while. Extinction is just too simple of a game to justify its price tag and didn't hold my interest for the entirety of the campaign or its side activities—which include time trials, your everyday horde mode, and basic multiplayer functionality. It just seems like a project that is too big, yet too small, for the developers at Iron Galaxy, and the times when it does all click together are few and far in between.
Observer is brilliant in dozens of ways, yet deeply flawed in just as many. The quality of its story ranges from a confusing mess to some of the best written characters of this generation. The game's biggest issue is its inconsistency on when and where to deliver its moments of horror. There was little to keep me going besides the next opportunity to speak to a troubled citizen of futuristic Krakow's most interesting building block.
While Absolver is up and down in a lot of places, the game just doesn't come together well. There's something about the underlying design that makes it feel disjointed. Most of this comes from the quasi-open world aspect, but the ridiculous level of grinding involved and the disconnected PvP mode makes Absolver feel like a game that's at war with itself. It certainly has the potential to be great though, with more of a focus on interweaving the PvE and PvP content as well as some expansions to the tight and narrow world of Adal and a very much needed mini-map system.
(I cannot confirm the existence of a Top Gun Easter egg or character appearance in the game because I did not watch the movie, but I can say that, on behalf of PixelTrip Studios, Tom Cruise's likeness was nowhere to be found in case any lawyers are reading this.)
Arca’s Path is at once a flowery, majestic adventure that immerses you in the magic of its world and in the madness of its moments, while also presenting another side that consists of a mundane, empty trek through a dead world.
There's a lot of fun to be had on the first playthrough, but the game simply doesn't offer enough content or complexity to keep my attention. It's classic art-style and gameplay are a tribute to a bygone era, but there is no excuse for the lack of content present in a title being ported to current gen consoles in 2018.
Evil Genome is a metroidvania that gets the most important part right, and left me wanting in every other category.
Players can simply ignore the walking dead and focus on killing as many foes as possible, but that strategy is a sure way to lose a game.
For those who insist graphics and technology comes over gameplay, The Journey will be a welcome addition as it is hands down the best looking VR title I’ve played.
Battlezone seems more suited to this type of co-operation as opposed to its single-player missions that have you fight wave after wave of enemy tanks all alone.
Dodging projectiles and eliminating enemies while trying to figure out how to defeat the boss is when Flat Kingdom is at its best.
Sora succeeds in providing a satisfying toolset for players to mix and match playstyles and attacks.
Bangkok’s opportunities just aren’t interesting and the thrill of the kill when executing said opportunities is lost.
PES 2018's gameplay feels incredibly random when playing against the AI, and it's incredibly frustrating to have to deal with.
It doesn’t do anything necessarily bad, but its moments of elation are few and far in between.
The sandy Moroccan environment isn’t as inspiring as Sapienza in the last episode, and I felt IO Interactive could have done more with the Mediterranean backdrop other than to include a busy bazaar and private shisha club.
Far too many times, the game moved the plot forward through a story beat that I specifically chose not to explore, instead opting for the other side of the tale.
This lead to rampant experimentation on how far I could go and the extent to which I could combine multiple swings without ever stopping.
That is the quintessential fun of Hyper Jam and it allowed me to look past a few of its annoyances. Slowly ticking toward the end of the game as the 1,500 point marker draws closer and tactically choosing which power-ups and battle strategies would yield greater chances at victory became an addicting affair. The joy of winning a closely contested match by knocking an opponent out of the arena or timing a perfect block that would send their own projectile back at them is the reason that competitive games were created.