Steve Hannley
Fighter Within could have been a demo disc for the power of the Kinect 2.0, but instead is an absolute mess that recalls all of the original sensor's faults.
It boggles the mind that a good Godzilla game hasn't been produced yet; it's a franchise about a giant lizard destroying things for Pete's sake. Until a studio like Platinum is given the reigns, however, perhaps it's time for the King of Monsters to hang up his size 1000 video game shoes for good.
NBA Live 14 isn't awful. Faint praise, to be sure, but with the way the internet has erupted the past few weeks, one would think that this is the Fighter Within of sports games.
NHL 15 is one of the most frustrating sports releases to date. The core experience has been markedly improved.
After almost two years of anticipation and endless hype, The Order: 1886 introduces itself with the bravado of a dead fish. With a premise interesting at surface level, enormous backing from Sony and technically incredible visuals, The Order seems like it would be a sure-fire hit.
It's starting to feel pointless to review Just Dance titles since it's hard to grasp what exactly Ubisoft is trying to accomplish with them at this point, but darn it I've come this far and I'm going to see this through, even if it takes until Just Dance 2049.
This is our third year in a row criticizing Just Dance, but we’re not trying to beat up the series.
Just Dance 2017 on Nintendo Switch is the definition of a port as besides allowing for new control options, there's nothing to distinguish it from other consoles.
It's shocking how little content there is in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. As much as we'd love to explore the title further, the rabbit hole doesn't go any deeper.
[W]hat we're left with is a solid game of basketball with meat and potatoes features. It doesn't hold up to NBA 2k16 and doesn't do enough to be the breakthrough the series needed. That being said, EA Tiburon is on the right track and if they spend the next year truly fine-tuning the mechanics and coming up with a dazzling career mode, this could be the penultimate chapter before the Live takeover.
Just Dance is a series that's hard to hate as it genuinely wants players to have a good time, but 2015 is a misstep. Hardly anything has changed and practically nothing has for those who don't partake in the online functionality, some features are missing and the interface has become too basic.
It’s good to have Bomberman back and in a meaningful way.
Zoo Tycoon may be one of the lesser known Xbox One titles, but it's not one of the lesser quality ones. With four modes, a deep interface and multiple activities, it's clear that a lot of effort went into its development.
Codemasters has lost a lot of goodwill for their F1 series in the past few years. In a perfect world, everything here (minus the updated racing info, of course) would have debuted last year as F1 2014.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare improves upon the Xbox One debut thanks to the addition of a few more maps, characters and modes.
Skylanders Imaginators remains the same great game on Nintendo Switch as it was on other consoles, but with a few drawbacks and additions.
Until Dawn is gripping through its nine-odd hour running time and never lets off the gas. It's scary — although sometimes cheaply so — and does a great job illustrating the butterfly effect. What Supermassive has accomplished so early in their tenure is impressive and something all horror fans should experience.
The third iteration of the series on current-gen platforms, Madden NFL 16 continues its growth. There's not a myriad of changes this year, but what has been tweaked is noticeable and makes for a fantastic game of pigskin.
NHL 16 is a triumphant return to form. After the debacle that was the razor-thin NHL 15, EA has restored all of the beloved modes to the game and they're better than ever.