Adam Beck's Reviews
Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires has all the entertaining, albeit repetitive combat the series is known for, but lacks the features to back it up. While this is par for the course for an Empires game, it's still hard to recommend as little has changed over Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires outside of some insignificant updates to the highly strategic politics that go on outside of battle.
It's always scary to try new things, but what Capcom has done with Penal Colony helps relieve some of the concern fans may have had going in. While it's not the most innovative Resident Evil to hit the market, the new episodic format is a breath of fresh air, especially with Capcom following through with the weekly schedule.
If you're still playing Dead or Alive 5 after three years on the market and have the desire to continue on a new set of consoles, then the price of admission shouldn't mean much to you. Even then, it's difficult to recommend only because of how little Team Ninja has added to the overall experience.
If there's one game that deserves the remaster treatment, it's Resident Evil. The thirteen year old remake is arguably the best game in the long running series, not only staying true to its source material, but expanding upon it greatly with new content directly built into the core story.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a nice bite-sized piece of content that will help players get a good grasp on what to expect when The Phantom Pain is released sometime next year. It retains the stealth features hardcore fans have come to enjoy, while at the same time implementing various modern mechanics that will appeal to an even greater audience.
The Crew can be fun under the right circumstances, but unfortunately those are too far and few between. It's not a bad game, as there's a lot to like in this package, but there's also a fair amount holding it back
While BioWare is well known for their strong role-playing games, it's perplexing how they were able to reach this level of quality with Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's one of the most overwhelming experiences on the market, containing not only the best character development found in any RPG, but an open world that's actually polished.
Tales of Hearts R is a straightforward RPG with a heart of gold.
Some parts of Lords of the Fallen are surprisingly enjoyable, but many weigh it down.
There are few games like Sunset Overdrive. It's a comical, highly diverse shooter that has a strong focus on being fun rather than realistic.
Samurai Warriors 4 is the best entry into the franchise, and is the one most mechanically sound Warriors title available, but there are still some drawbacks. Even with the diverse cast, the level-specific combo system is something that may turn people off at first as it requires a grind of thirty minutes for each character before the experience gets any better.
It's hard to follow-up on what Gearbox Software has created over the last two iterations and what The Pre-Sequel brings is nothing short of a letdown. While 2K Australia were able to replicate certain parts of what made the Borderlands series fun, the frequent bugs, dull script, short campaign and repetitive world design will leave fans disappointed.
Final Fantasy XIII has its own set of problems, mainly consisting of a mediocre story and incredibly linear progression for the first forty hours, but the poor PC optimization puts it over the top.
For those who missed out on Sleeping Dogs two years ago, the title is correct: this is the definitive version. Unfortunately, those who already visited the compressed streets of Hong Kong will have almost no incentive to go back.
If you played Ryse: Son of Rome on Xbox One, there's little reason to return on PC. It may contain higher resolutions and a more flexible frame rate, but otherwise it's substantially the same game.
Dark Souls II: Crown of the Ivory King is arguably the best of the Lost Crown Trilogy, but it's not without its faults. The main complaint revolves around the conclusion not having a big pay off, despite sinking ten to fifteen hours into the entire set of quests.
There's an exhausting number of features that have been implemented into Forza Horizon 2. The open world isn't just an empty free roam field to drive through; there's so much stuff packed in that it's a little daunting.
Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate is purely for the hardcore fans of the series, or newcomers wanting to finally jump in. There's little incentive to upgrade, especially if you played the the Hyper version in late 2012, but if you're looking for a fix of one of the best Warriors games available, then this is best solution.
Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition is a beefy port of a great Xbox One game and its decent post-release content. It may come with its own set of issues that could be fixed in future updates, but they matter little if you have the gaming rig to back up.
If Infamous: Second Son didn't do anything for you, First Light won't either. While maneuvering through the city is greater than anything Sucker Punch has done before, and Fetch's family story helps expand her character, it's weighed down by its own lack of change.