Christopher Atwood
Ultimately Warhammer 40,000: Regicide is all about the gameplay. It's fun and well optimized to run on even lower end PCs, and as a result it represents an awesome time killer. It's worthwhile to boot up whenever you're idly hanging out with friends, in between classes, or when you're just interested in challenging yourself mentally.
Despite a tendency to force the player to work through a number of repetitive activities Dragon's Dogma delivers innovative, action-packed boss fights and the occasional twist in the story to keep things interesting. Graphically Dragon's Dogma isn't doing anything special, but for a game originally developed on the previous generation of consoles it delivers a satisfying gameplay experience on the PC.
All in all Automatron is a good bite of DLC, not a huge sandwich like we're used to seeing from Bethesda and not out of the norm for the current DLC market. But like a lot of good bites, it leaves us wanting more.
Total War: Warhammer is a lot of fun, but keeps the complexity that can make Total War titles intimidating for new players.
Crazy Machines 3 delivers on the machines and delivers on the crazy, and although it isn't for everyone there's a select group that'll love and cherish it despite its quirks. Unfortunately, it’s missing a hook, and has just enough quirks in the core gameplay that makes it frustrating for anyone outside that group. And a lot of cool ideas are held back by a few frustrating gameplay mechanics that need to be ironed out before Crazy Machines 4.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III is a fast-paced RTS that delivers a good blend of the old and the new to make it a lot of fun for both newcomers and veterans alike. With powerful hero units to break the mold and addictive combat to fill in the cracks, Dawn of War III manages to deliver an RTS experience that lives up to the Warhammer 40K legacy.
Endless Space 2 is an exciting fresh page for the 4X genre, delivering an immersive strategy experience with a subtle but strong ability to keep you playing not just for hours, not just for weeks, but for years. The title offers hundreds of ways to play, an interesting player-driven narrative experience, and above all the addictive turn-based gameplay we've grown to love.
Syren is an interesting survival horror game that lacks the polish to come together as a quality title.
Splatoon 2 manages to deliver an addictive and engaging online multiplayer experience with plenty of ways to keep you busy and layers of satisfying combat to keep you coming back. The lack of social features is a significant flaw, but it isn't a fatal one, and hopefully we'll see that aspect of the game improved in the near future.
Aeon is a VR shooter that will appeal to gamers who enjoy a serious challenge. It's much less casual-friendly than similar VR titles and will cause frustration for some, but for the right kind of player they'll find hours of enjoyement to be had.
Total War: Warhammer 2 manages to iron out almost all the rough edges from its predecessor while throwing in enough quality new content to keep things fresh and challenging. The result is a journey into the Warhammer fantasy universe that's both engaging and infinitely fun to play.
The Gallery: Heart of the Emberstone proudly carries the torch from the first chapter in The Gallery series. It offers an experience that feels totally unique in the gaming world. It does a fantastic job of breaking away from the stigma of short, proof-of-concept VR titles to deliver a quality narrative experience that's a must-have for any fan of the genre.
DOOM VFR delivers a fun VR experience that gives you a tiny taste of an excellent meal, a meal that's full of stunning visuals, demon stomping, and a satisfying blend of upgrades and the weapons we know and love from the DOOM universe. Unfortunately, a few bugs and some questionable design choices mar an otherwise fantastic VR game.
Fallout 4 VR is a splendid example of what every fan of VR hopes the industry is working towards. This is a AAA title that offers hundreds of hours of immersive, atmospheric gameplay that manages to nail the feel and aesthetic of VR without feeling like a cheap imitation of the main game. There are still a few flaws, and we would love to see Bethesda roll out mods and DLC from the main game, but in the meantime, it's an experience that's worth it for fans of VR and Fallout alike.
Killing Floor: Incursion is a VR game that's so close to being good that it's upsetting how bad it actually is.
A Way Out is a fun ride that shows off a great cooperative experience, an interesting story, and some of the coolest camera work to ever grace a video game. It's an extremely smooth experience with very few rough edges. That said, it lacks some of the content we've come to expect from interactive stories, which makes it a fun ride, but not something that you'll likely return to again and again.
As it stands right now Psychonauts In The Rhombus of Ruin is a fun little VR game that offers a few hours of entertainment but doesn't nearly live up to its potential. If you're a fan of the franchise and already own a good VR headset it's more than worth the $20, but for anyone looking for more will probably be disappointed.
State of Decay 2 feels like it's trying too hard to force the player to do too much. There's no way for the player to really control the way they absorb the experience and more than a few of the mechanics break the careful relationship the rest of the game tries to foster. Overall, it's the kind of game that you want to love, but that needs a lot of work.
Jurassic World Evolution is imagination candy for anyone that loves the movies, and despite its flaws it's worth playing if you're looking for a relaxing experience building a theme park full of dinosaurs. It's the perfect combination of engaging objectives and micromanagement to kick back and lose yourself in.
Budget Cuts is a fun VR game that creates an interesting, engaging world that's worth exploring, but only if Neat Corporations can iron out the bugs that mar an otherwise fun experience.