Dying Light 2 Stay Human combines a branching narrative, a massive open world and satisfying first-person parkour. It's a potent mixture, but repetitive combat and serious technical issues often spoil the fun.
The Quarry has blockbuster aspirations but never quite manages to rise above B-movie cheese. However, it’s still a well-structured interactive horror experience with a cast of mostly likable characters and a couple of highly effective twists.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 packs one of the best multiplayer suites in the franchise’s history. That’s no small feat when you consider that this Modern Warfare (2019) sequel is the 19th mainline Call of Duty game. However, a lackluster campaign and bland co-op diminish the overall package.
Alan Wake 2 weaves together two compelling protagonists across a unique, multi-dimensional, narrative that is often seriously strange but still surprisingly engrossing. However, the stretches of puzzled-laced exploration overstay their welcome, and the flabby first act may test your patience. Fortunately, even when the blemishes poke through, Alan Wake 2 always looks utterly stunning.
Unfortunately, its rough edges leave a noticeable mark, and the poor writing and seriously disappointing performance on next-gen hardware hold it back.
Battlefield 2042 occasionally captures the epic scale and multiplayer madness the series is known for. But the game often stumbles due to poor design decisions and technical issues.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a bland co-op shooter that coasts on the strength of its license.
Mario Golf Super Rush has plenty of initial charm, but comes up short in terms of content.
Just playing Dead Island 2 in 2023 feels like a minor miracle after such a protracted production cycle. Nevertheless, the novelty of finally experiencing this long-in-development sequel wears off pretty quickly. Then all that remains is a hugely repetitive experience punctuated by hackneyed story beats.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an unwelcome throwback to the era of truly awful licensed games. It looks and plays like a movie tie-in game rushed out to meet a tight deadline. This is baffling as it was one of the first ‘next-gen’ games announced in 2019, and seemingly had a long production period. But even so, it’s a game that conceptually, visually, and technically screams out for additional development time. Patches and updates may squash the bugs. But with core gameplay so dull and lacking, I can't see a saving grace for Gollum.