Andrei Dumitrescu's Reviews
Playing SUPERHOT is fun even when I constantly fail because I know the game is now cheating in any way and that next time I have a chance to be more stylish, better prepared, smarter and faster to reach a new high score in Endless Mode or deal with another of the challenges.
The Flame in the Flood has a unique style, offers some great decisions and can keep a fan of the roguelike engaged for many hours, but it might need a little more refinement before it can also draw in other types of players, despite its hugely attractive art and music.
Far Cry Primal is a good video game that's part of an overexposed series, and it will disappoint all those who want to see something unique coming from Ubisoft, although it has plenty of great moments to offer.
Cities: Skylines - Snowfall is a good expansion for dedicated fans of the city builder genre who have seen everything that the core game and the After Dark expansion have to offer regarding gameplay.
Pillars of Eternity: The White March in its entirety represents a worthy expansion for the classic role-playing experience that Obsidian has created and shows how the studio can tackle other regions of Eora in the future.
Firewatch shows how a good combination of narrative, character interactions, exploration, and visuals can create a unique experience that keeps gamers engaged despite the limits of the actual gameplay.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 could have tried to be a little more accessible for those who are not yet in love with the Naruto canon but even they will be impressed by the combat sequences and intrigued to find out more about the main cast of characters.
But The Political Machine 2016 can also serve as an entry-level video game for those who are interested in politics and its limits serve as a good way to push a player to find out more about the process and to cast his votes only after careful consideration.
Crusader Kings II: Conclave represents the best incarnation of the veteran grand strategy title from Paradox Development Studio, a great experience for any player who loves history and wants to explore the many what if situations of the past.
XCOM 2 is a great turn-based strategy experience that delivers plenty of tension, a wide range of ways for gamers to navigate missions and choices and enough procedurally generated maps to keep engagements interesting even after 50 hours or more of play.
Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders is a gentle game, constantly giving players information via observation, conversation or reasoning, without ever pressuring them to solve the puzzles and to move forward with the story.
Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends is a good brawler, but it's a shame that the development team at Vicious Cycle has only sought to draw inspiration from the leader in the genre and failed to introduce any truly innovative feature.
Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo is not a perfect game, and Milestone would do well to make the progression a little faster via coming updates, but the mechanics as they are now are well suited for those looking for a deep sim.
Steve Jackson's Sorcery! can seem like a small game, with a focused player able to get through the two included chapters of the quest for the Crown of Kings in a little more than three hours, but there's enough depth in the world to support two or three campaigns.
Life Is Strange is an imperfect video game and the actual mechanics of playing it, including the time rewind, can become annoying of frustrating, especially when the development team tries to borrow from another genre. But the game makes it easy to create a connection with Max and to care about her choices and trials, a rare feat, and that means any fan of narrative-driven experiences should try it out to see how he deals with the feelings of the protagonist and the impact they have on Arcadia Bay.
Fear Equation is a hard game that can frustrate players but offers a unique mix of management and terror that fans of both strategy and survival genres should try out.
The Westport Independent might be set in the '40s, but its commentary feels very modern, seeing how we live in an age where newspapers, even if they do not wield the same influence that they did, still represent one of the main ways for the public to learn about political, social and economic events.
Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons is a good expansion for those who loved the base game and wanted to see a new class in action while also finding ways to take out the powerful new dragon enemies.
Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster is a relatively unappealing game when evaluated from a modern point of view, but a good one for those who experienced it for the first time before 2005 and fell in love with its mechanics and story.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a good mainstream real-time strategy title that offers a solid prequel story and shows that the core ideas of the series can easily be adapted for planet-based warfare.