Despite including several different game types and modes, Ubisoft clearly designed Rainbow Six Siege with a very specific kind of player in mind. If you have an abundance of patience, fortitude, and maybe a few gamer friends you can wrangle up, Siege could be just the tactical shooter experience you're looking for. If you're looking for a fun game you can kick back with and enjoy in a more casual way, you might want to look elsewhere.
Dark Souls 3 doesn't take many risks, but when you have fans that played Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne, you need something to keep the series fresh and new. Dark Souls 3 doesn't offer anything like that, which means you should already know if you'd enjoy the new game. It's more of the same, with slight adjustments to differentiate it from the other games in the series.
As someone who has admittedly grown a bit tired with the Assassin's Creed series, I found Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China to be an invigorating breath of fresh air. The minor quibbles I had while playing it weren't enough to ruin what is, to me, an expertly-crafted side-scrolling adventure.
Aztez may not be for everyone, but if you’re looking for a game that brings two distinct genres together in a very compelling and unique manner, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Marvel's Avengers isn't quite a slam dunk, but as a co-op friendly superhero game it does a lot more right than wrong.
Unlike its predecessor, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint risks alienating the very community it was built for due to its over-reliance on RPG-esque looting and leveling mechanics. However, shooter fans who can make peace with the game's loot-driven economy and pervasive microtransactions will find a lot to enjoy in the moment-to-moment gameplay. Breakpoint isn't quite the tactical shooter sequel fans asked for, but there's no denying the amount of long-term value it offers to shooter fans of all stripes.
Sequels aren't always a safe prospect to bet on, but The Surge 2 is one investment that Souls-like fans definitely won't be disappointed with. The game's visceral combat, robust RPG elements, and immersive exploration mechanics come together to create a second outing that's just as compelling, if not more so, than its predecessor.
Insurgency: Sandstorm's slower, more realistic approach likely won't win over any Call of Duty fans, but then again it's not really trying to. Sandstorm was made with a very specific type of player in mind, and if you fit that mold you'll likely get dozens if not hundreds of hours out of the game. And even if you don't fit that mold completely, there are enough ancillary incentives to make Sandstorm an excellent pick-up-and-play game, especially if you have some friends to recruit.
Death's Gambit wholly embraces the Dark Souls way of giving players just enough leeway to barely survive against unrelenting adversity, for good and ill. A compelling story, smooth and frantic melee combat, and a robustly grim 2D world come together to form a game that's wholly unafraid to embrace the Souls-like moniker.
It still remains to be seen how much long-term potential Absolver has, but I'm confident that Sloclap will slowly build the game up into a unique hybrid of a story-driven martial arts adventure and a sustainable (not to mention unique) online fighting game. Again, I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I could see Absolver becoming one of the big standout hits of 2017 and beyond, and I hope Sloclap sees that as well.
Games can serve as an excellent vehicle for exploring heavy concepts like death, the loss of family, and forgiveness in a more digestible manner, and few games I have ever played prove that adage as much as Pinstripe. It may not be perfect, but the latest from Thomas Brush should absolutely be on the must-play list of any platformer/adventure game fan.
I understand that, as a CCG fan who prefers PvE play, I am in the minority, but The Elder Scrolls: Legends has honestly been the first digital CCG that felt like it was welcoming me in with open arms instead of forcing me to either play PvP or make do with subpar alternatives. Bethesda certainly has some stiff competition going up against games like Hearthstone and CD Projekt Red's upcoming standalone Gwent game, but as far as first impressions go, I have never been more pleasantly surprised by a CCG than I was by The Elder Scrolls: Legends.
If you can play it with an open mind and forgive the lack of multiplayer, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is a game which could easily suck up hours of your time as it continues to challenge you in new and exciting ways.
Chasm may not be the most original or engaging metroidvania game out there, but it's still a delightfully charming adventure/RPG game that's sure to appeal to fans of The Legend of Zelda series, old-school Castlevania and Metroid games, or anyone else whose idea of a good time involves delving into monster-infested dungeons.
I enjoyed my time with We Happy Few mainly because it both respected my time as a gamer, and also immersed me in an fascinating world that was driven by an equally fascinating backstory. The game's potential may get a little tripped up on the technical front, but if you can look past the occasional unloaded texture or random loading screen, you'll find that Compulsion Games' latest was well worth the three-year wait.
I wouldn't go so far as to say The Division is the online shooter experience that will usher the genre into a new golden age, but it is a worthy alternative for those who are looking for a more methodical and immersive experience than what games like Destiny can offer. There are still no guarantees about The Division's long-term sustainability, but the strong out-of-the-gate showing it has already made is certainly a good start.
If you've enjoyed playing deck-building card games and roguelikes in the past, you owe it to yourself to give Slay the Spire a try. It might take a bit to fully wrap your head around the game's concept, but once it click, it's addicting. Now's also a great time to get in on the action, since Slay the Spire will only continue to grow in the future.
The Division 2 is everything a player could want in a sequel. It reinvents and recalibrates where it must, but it also wisely builds off all the work Ubisoft put into refining the first Division. This sequel definitely makes you work for your rewards, but its fine-tuned gameplay and expansive suite of different activities ensures the journey towards earning those rewards is one worth taking.
With Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, From Software has proven once again that has no qualms about pushing its own boundaries. The studio has made a name for itself by creating incredibly difficult games, but the breadth of innovation spread across the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, and now Sekiro shows how good the studio is at defying fan expectations. Sekiro isn't perfect, but like the various Soulsborne games before it, From's latest shows the wisdom in pushing players beyond their pre-conceived limits.
If you're the sort of gamer who usually looks down their nose at the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops 4 might just be the game that changes your opinion ever so slightly. Old-school purists can find their competitive multiplayer fix, and with the revamped Zombies and new Blackout mode, there's no denying that Treyarch's latest stands well out from the pack.