Compared to the first DLC, Turf Wars is much more combat focused. Overall, I didn’t like it as much as the first DLC, not because combat isn’t fun, but it’s gotten quite repetitive and tedious. Still, I suspect part three, arriving next month, will strike a better balance overall, as it completes the City That Never Sleeps story arc.
Overall, Shadow Warrior 3 was fun to play through, but I’m glad it ended relatively quickly because the gameplay loop is very repetitive. Flying Wild Hog has some great ideas here, but the lazy arena battle design and some (not all) lackluster level design needed to be more robust and creative. As it plays now, the gameplay is just paper thin like an arcade game — and I love arcades games, but those are short by design because they don’t have enough substance and breadth to hold the player’s interest for very long. All that said, I still enjoyed playing through Shadow Warrior 3 mostly, though I won’t be coming back for seconds. With due caution, I recommend it to anyone that enjoys the franchise or likes a raw run and gun FPS experience, and especially if you can play it on PSNow or GamePass.
Every old school franchise should be so lucky to get such a great sequel that obviously had a lot of thought and care put in by the teams involved. Clearly, if you enjoy Streets of Rage or the side scrolling brawler, especially when playing with up to three other people, Streets of Rage 4 should be on your list of titles to get.
Even if you do the minimum amount of side content and just stick with the main story as much as possible, you’re in for a long, interesting, and fun game. The story matter is heavy, though, and might tax some players into taking breaks more often than they might typically. To balance that, there is a lot of good humor and zaniness that you would expect from this studio, but also some endearing missions in the School Stories section where you do everything from lead a dance team, help engineer robots, box, join a motorcycle gang, and partake in a Virtua Fighter 5 tournament. Additionally, the changes that LJ has compared to the original are all positive, too — big new areas to explore, new gameplay elements in both the action and adventure portions of the experience, and yet the best parts of the original are carried over. Ultimately, this is an excellent game that I readily recommend.
At the end of the day, SS4 is what it sets out to be — a racous, over the top, arcade FPS that is best played with up to three friends. If that’s the kind of game you’re looking for, it’s very easy to recommend it. With a launch price of $40, it’s a lot more feasible to get some friends to buy in as well than if the price were $60, so keep that in mind, too.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a concise, focused sniping experience that packs a good punch at just $40. With lots of long range shots, fun gadgets, and good mission design, it’s an easy recommend if you’re looking for a summer sniping romp.
Overall, Darksiders 3 is a good game, and at times it’s very good. It’s just regrettable that it’s not better given the quality of the first two games and the long wait since DS2. Some of the issues can be patched, and may very well be in time; but at least for now, Darksiders 3 falls short of expectations.
It was never a ground-breaking game per se, but it is well put together and worth checking out.
Tormented Souls gets way more right than not, and I came away from it very impressed. This was the kind of game that once I got the hang of it (I have not played many survival horror games at all) I became enthralled with playing and exploring every area and uncovering all the secrets and story material I could. This game does not try to advance the genre; it doesn’t do anything particularly new or better than previous champions of the genre have, but for all that it does, it does it very well. I’ll always say there is room in any genre for another solid entry, and that’s what you get here — a great survival horror game built with intentional classic/retro design.
The ending of this first installment of the DLC certainly ends on a cliffhanger, leaving us excited for November's content. Whether you play it now or wait until all three DLCs are out, The Heist is definitely worth the price of admission and the four hours it takes to complete.
If you’re looking for an okay FPS sniping experience, SGW Contracts is not a bad choice, but it leaves a lot of room for growth.
In sum, Marvel's Spider-Man is not only the best Spider-Man game to date, and one of the best games this year, but it's also the best superhero game since Arkham Knight. It's sure to appeal to any fan of Spider-Man, superhero games, or open world sandbox games in general.
For those that missed NNK the first time around or maybe sold their copy with their PS3 over the years, the remaster makes a strong case for itself simply because the game is still great and time has not tained the experience.
The sum of the parts makes for a game that’s very much aimed at GI Joe fans, and that’s great. There are a lot of fan service games out there, most of which have no interest from me, but this one did. Between that nostalgia and innate interest, and recognizing very early on that this game is by far best played with a couch co-op buddy, GI Joe Operation Blackout is fun in spurts. I enjoyed the different feel to the characters and the story was entertaining as well. There’s a lot of pretty good elements to the game, but repetitive level design and gameplay, blah AI, and aiming woes taint the experience considerably — not necessarily to deal-breaker territory, but just proceed with caution.
Being that the game is unchanged from last year, it's no surprise that the Become As Gods Edition doesn't disappoint. If you're Xbox-only and haven't given this game a go, there's no better time than the present.
I’d recommend keeping an eye on this one and seeing what develops, but RTS fans should definitely make it a point to play this series if they haven’t yet.
On the whole, Soulcalibur VI does an excellent job of advancing the series while also stay true to its roots. Character creation, two new battle mechanics, new playable characters, two story modes, online play — there's a lot of meat here for fight-hungry fans to dive into and it's crafted and presented with the skill we've come to know from Project Soul.
It should hardly come as a surprise, Sega Ages: Fantasy Zone is another solid release that retro gamers should strongly consider picking up
In sum, Lamplight City is a bit of a departure from a typical point and click adventure, but it more than holds its own. While a little bit light in terms of gameplay and difficulty, it's well compensated for with good characters, stories, multiple endings per mystery, and a fine presentation. Any fan of the genre or a good mystery should give this a serious look.
For fans of the game, Atlantis is most certainly worthwhile. In playing Atlantis, I realized how far removed I had become from this ARPG franchise, and it was good to revisit. Quality new content as well as immediately-beneficial time of life upgrades to the game in general make Atlantis easy to recommend.