Lance Karrasch's Reviews
Sniper Elite Resistance is yet again a great addition to the series. Hats off to the team over at Rebellion for sticking to what works and building on an already amazing and fun franchise.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the Indy game we’ve always wanted. The game’s story, exploration, and puzzles have all been thought about carefully, giving us the perfect Indiana Jones experience while keeping the action we all know from the films.
Need For Speed Unbound doesn’t try to do anything too different, but instead, takes some of the gameplay mechanics that made the last few titles stand out and build upon them, slowly taking the series back to its glory days. If you enjoyed the last few titles and grew up with the older games, you’re going to have a fun time with Need For Speed Unbound.
Exploration is a must. While the game is fairly linear, paths that seem out of place usually suggest a hidden item. Each area has a certain number of collectibles to be found such as chests, lore items, and money. It’s the chests and money that are most important. Money found in a chest, laying around, or by leveling up, is used to upgrade your weapons, as mentioned earlier.
God of War Ragnarok is a prime example of how to continue a franchise and is yet again a contender for game of the year for me. Sony Santa Monica has done an outstanding job at delivering an incredible sequel with a great story, unforgettable characters, amazing visuals, and combat that I couldn’t get enough of.
Other than a fancy new visual makeover and a crazy amount of new accessibility options, The Last of Us Part 1 sports a ton of new features made only possible on the Playstation 5, such as faster loading times and 3D Audio, making use of the Playstation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, which delivers richer soundscapes and bigger explosive moment through Naughty Dogs newly upgraded audio engine drivers.
Crypto’s arsenal of weapons and abilities make a return, from his trusty old Zap-O-Matic gun to his Psychokinesis ability allowing Crypto to throw objects and his enemies flying. This all feels even better with how tight and responsive the gunplay and combat feel in general. While the classic 3rd person-style combat is simple, it works, and using all the different weapons and abilities at your disposal can be a lot of fun.
Sniper Elite 5 is the latest installment from the team over at Rebellion. Set in Nazi-occupied France and taking place just before the events of D-Day, you once again play as Karl Fairburne, where he finds himself sneaking past the Atlantic Wall to rendezvous with the French Resistance. Sniper Elite 5 is easily the best entry in the series. Hats off to the team over at Rebellion for sticking to what works and building on an already amazing and fun franchise. If you’re a Sniper Elite fan, this latest entry won’t disappoint.
Taking place around 6 months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West begins with a recap cutscene of the events of the previous game before Aloy heads off where she must rebuild a super-AI called the Gaia in hopes to save her world. This is the part where I say, if you’ve never played Horizon Zero Dawn, I strongly suggest you go back and play through that first. Horizon Forbidden West is easily my current contender for game of the year. It’s got everything you need, an interesting story, satisfying combat, and visuals so good you’ll be forever in “Photo Mode”. Horizon Forbidden West is a must-own for anyone with a PlayStation 4|5.
We played Dying Light 2: Stay Human on an Xbox Series X and it’s a gorgeous-looking game and does offer a few graphical options from the menu. Three to be exact: “Performance”, “Quality” and “Resolution”. Performance mode runs at 1080p while offering a smooth 60fps, the Quality mode offers 1080p but adds ray-traced lighting support, while Resolution is all about hitting 4K, with both Quality and Resolution aiming for 30fps. With a game like Dying Light, I personally found the game and parkour more enjoyable to play running at a smooth 60fps, as long as you don’t mind the visuals taking a bit of a hit.