Escape Dead Island squandered whatever opportunity it had to make a compelling story, while offering only sub-par gameplay to tide you over in the meantime. It has no business being a game, rather than a one-shot graphic novel for dedicated fans.
Besides that, you play through a bunch of boring, forgettable missions with a story that seems to be written as a total afterthought. Meanwhile, the only thing enticing you to explore is that need to gain Twitter followers, and it's a shame you have to do so many poorly designed side missions in order to hit that magic number. I truly pity anyone who actually spent money to get this.
On the surface, there's nothing wrong with buying and enjoying a product made by a company eager to provide exactly that product—in this case, busty dress-up dolls that want for nothing other than to fulfill your wants. I just don't find that very interesting or compelling. If that's what you're looking for, whatever floats your boat. But I can't help but feel you can get the desired half of “Dynasty Warriors with TnA” with some quick googling. The end result is the same, but one is free, and the other is Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal.
I've seen low-effort cash-grabs by people with no imagination, and Strange Brigade isn't that. The folks at Rebellion had a unique vision for Strange Brigade that wasn't content to merely tap into the typical 80s nostalgia or other hot cultural icons of the backward-looking 2018 pop culture. So there, I guess I found something nice to say.
And I might add a fourth column this into which fits: a knock-off. It’s as if someone played Mark of the Ninja and thought “we can make a worse version of this.” Just take away the depth of combat, the freedom of choice, and any semblance of longevity, and voila. That’ll be $15.
The problem with Vertical Drop Heroes HD is that it's not very fun.
While McDroid shoots for the stars with these additions to the tower defense genre, it mostly ends up flaming out in the atmosphere.
A game with the mechanics of both Total War and Sim City can be good, but Stronghold hasn't executed the core mechanics of either well enough to fit the bill. Taking the magic out of an often-fantasy-filled era is not the true crime here; it's that Stronghold fails to improve upon the formula of its previous titles.
While the return of Frank West and the added exploration potential are good, and will likely keep you interested for the game's full duration, it's not enough to make Dead Rising 4 a satisfying experience. The real issue is that, even if you've never played a Dead Rising game, you've seen this all before.
It’s not that Gears of War Ultimate Edition for Windows 10 is a bad game; it’s just that everything good about it is what’s good about Gears of War for any other platform. It adds nothing that can tangibly enhance the experience, and with a litany of technical issues and ignorance of its own virtues, Windows 10 gaming has not put its best foot forward here.
Overall, what we have here is your standard mixed bag. While people with patience for repetition without innovation or increased challenge, such as the audience of Cookie Clicker or Assassin's Creed, might see nothing wrong with Arslan, the truth is it could be a hell of a lot better, because the seeds of greatness are all here just waiting for something, anything, to help them sprout life.
Sacred went from a varied Diablo clone to a Gauntlet clone, but doesn't live up to either. While it may be a good hack-and-slash appetizer to tide gamers over, it never manages to distinguish itself in the genre.
But really the question should be what does the game add? Madden NFL 18 perhaps marginally improves on graphics that still feel stuck in the past, it introduces an ultimately flawed story mode and a gameplay mechanic that you're better off not using. All the while, it's most notable new addition, the “Play Live Now” feature, feels like you could get the same experience from a mobile phone app. Oh they have one of those, too, you say? Great.
But these fruits are soured by lazy, contrived storytelling, and a gear system that stands in opposition to what fighting games should be about. All of this ultimately makes Injustice 2 a step back not only from the original but also from the level of quality we're used to seeing from NetherRealm.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is the perfect game for someone who has never played Dragon Ball Xenoverse. It's little more than a remaster with an updated hub city, and, while that may be enough for some faithfuls, this game is much better experienced as a first-time DBX player. Untainted by the realization that you've done this all before, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 will be a good buy. Beyond that, Bandai Namco has essentially hit the rewind button.
Munin is a successful addition to the genre and, few issues aside, a largely entertaining experience. All a game like this has to succeed in is being innovative and challenging, which Munin has by the bucket, but buyer beware: this is not your typical fun-time brain teaser.
It's a really exciting time for the Sniper Elite. After three games of the same, generic third-person cover sniper nonsense, Sniper Elite 4 has put the series in a good position and showed a lot of potential for even more improvement, possibly elevating it to truly elite ranks. It's not quite there, yet, though. With no details you can boil down my review to "You're good. Now get better."
Headlander also has an extensive upgrade system for your helmet, but I found myself only making use of a small percentage of them, but this might act as the perfect example for the game itself: a ton of great ideas without fully making use of all of them.
Still though, while I can’t find a reason for Siege of Dragonspear not to exist, and while it completely entertained me throughout its unbelievable 30-hour run time, it comes off more as wholly unnecessary.
That's what is really at the core of the discussion on Snowfall—not simply if it added enough, but if it added enough for its asking price. At $13 on Steam right now, Snowfall is a difficult case to make for bang-for-your-buck, even while recognizing the amount of work I'm sure went into this expansion. Still, I'm left with a positive takeaway because Colossal Order never seems content with its already-enormous amount of moving parts. They continue to add more factors and more elements if only to show that they can juggle as many objects as you want to throw in their path. It's truly an impressive circus act, both playing and developing Skylines, and Snowfall is yet another example of Colossal Order flexing its muscles.