James Stephanie Sterling
Charming, funny, and only sometimes exasperating, Rayman Legends is the kind of game that makes this industry a better place for its existence.
[T]he bottom line is that DmC is a beautiful, bold, and supremely enjoyable videogame in its own right. It deserves to be praised.
Aside from some problematic resource balancing and some unavoidable repetition, Hand of Fate is a clever game of risks and rewards that is well worth getting dealt into.
I'm still waiting for things to kick into high gear and truly take hold of me, but chapter two of House Forrester's tale leaves me in no doubt that such a moment is coming.
Zer0 Sum is a great start to the series. It brings Borderlands to life in promising new ways, it's genuinely funny, and it has a terrific cast. The choices one makes are naturally not as gut-wrenching as those found in Telltale's darker games, but that doesn't really matter.
Had it not been mired by bizarre lapses in design and a plethora of disturbing problems, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt would be almost bloody perfect. As it stands, CD Projekt Red has still put together something downright delicious. A truly great game that rises its head above its own hot water to proudly present a prosperous experience that only the most deliriously expectant could feel shortchanged by.
I'm thrilled it's on PC, and I'm delighted we'll finally get to see the series continued – this prologue and two full-fledged episodes are great, but I really need to know what happens next!
Minor annoyances aside, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse continue's Kirby's hot streak of lovable, imaginative, joyful adventures. As shrewd as it is straightforward, HAL's latest effort provides an afternoon of unassuming fun for a fair price, and no matter how much I try, I just can't ever over how damn wondrous it looks!
Nevertheless, being half a decade old and still kicking plentiful quantities of arse, God of War III Remastered is definitely one of the recent double-dips that I feel confident to recommending, even to those who have already played it.
Quantum Break is not the most revolutionary of games, and its box of time toys cover what is, at heart, a fairly standardized shooter. However, it carries itself with style and speed to create something genuinely fascinating to play, flavored by a story that, while failing to pay off in the final stretch, is more detailed and engrossing than most in its league.
Thankfully, the main game itself is easily worth the price of admission. A gripping story in spite of its cliches, with an expanded serving of the gameplay that made Tomb Raider such a wild ride, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a damn fine sequel that does everything a sequel needs to do. What's more, it truly cements Lara's new adventures as a series with a solid future, and I'm excited to see where Croft and Trinity go next.
As cornball as it can be, however, Uncharted 4 remains a damn classy romp with a sensitive side, and fans are undoubtedly going to adore it. If this is to be Naughty Dog's series swansong, they ended on a note to be proud of.
Battleborn constantly pops with a charmingly garish visual style, a small army of exotic characters, and disorderly combat with just enough strategic edge to keep it from being sloppy. While some may find the clashing colors and overall derangement to be a little too busy, I personally felt right at home with its special blend of stupidity and style.
While other venerable franchises like Call of Duty are afraid to challenge themselves and make only halfhearted gestures toward invention, Primal plots a course through uncharted waters with a battle-tested vessel and actually commits to making its new ideas more than vapid window dressing.
If you’re sick of all the military shooters vying for your attention but still want an honest, straightforward FPS experience, Hard Reset has the cure for your fever.
Despite my grumbles, I have to admit Sun and Moon gets its hooks in even if it’s tough to get into at first. Once it clicks, it can instill obsession as well as any prior game, and that’s before getting to the new minigames and features that only serve to make the adventure more rewarding.
In its current form, Resident Evil 7 is a damn fine game. Damn, damn fine. Although it initially looks like a desperate chase for Outlast‘s credibility, it slowly reveals itself to be more of a traditional Resident Evil adventure than one might believe, while taking successful elements from contemporary horror games and utilizing them effectively.
With three great games and additional content that some would say is even better, The BioShock Collection is worth picking up for pretty much anybody interested, be they existing fans of totally fresh to the series. Despite some annoyances, each game runs better and looks better than ever before, and the content to price ratio is more than favorable.
Despite a few missteps, Valley is an overall rush of an experience. Taking cues from BioShock with some Fern Gully on the side, there are few games that can claim to put players into the metal legs of an interdimensional necromantic freerunner, and be bloody infatuating while it does so.
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood may be a brief and silly spin-off, something far removed from 2015’s fantastic adventure game, but it’s the most fun I’ve had with a virtual reality game to date, and it’s just a brilliantly entertaining pop horror experience with enjoyable shooty-bang-bang combat.