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Gears of War: E-Day is now XBOX’s flagship franchise. The campaign’s brutal and stunning recount of Kalona’s fall is immaculate storytelling, featuring revived gameplay via reworked movement systems and the visceral combat we know and love. Although Versus is well-made, it’s lacking depth to promote engaging with the high learning curve. Horde Siege is the best iteration of the mode we’ve ever seen, with a gameplay loop you want to play again and again. E-Day might be one of the easiest recommendations we'll make all year, for purchase and awards season.
Echo Weaver is a very compelling concept for a Metroidvania, and presents some truly great gameplay ideas that I don’t think I’ve seen before. It’s a melding of various mechanics and while some of the resulting design choices make the game stumble just short of reaching excellence, the overall experience is one I can still see echoing in my brain for a long time to come.
Mewgenics is a rare long-delayed passion project that arrives justified.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer exceeded my expectations to the highest degree and provides a dream combination of Star Wars Podracing and Burnout. With an engaging Campaign Mode, an interesting usage of Podracers, plenty of characters to meet and interact with, tons of customization, cross-platform multiplayer, and beautiful visuals and music; this game is everything I could have hoped for and more! Star Wars: Galactic Racer did more than bring racing back to the Galaxy, it made me believe there’s nothing faster or more dangerous than Podracing.
Taking into perspective the complete package of Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted, Sucker Punch have delivered some of its most distilled, compelling, and well-executed content yet.
End of Abyss is a challenging yet rewarding adventure, at once boasting gorgeous graphics and grotesque visuals, and featuring an intricately crafted facility to explore.
Big Walk is an incredible puzzle game, an incredible co-op game, and an incredible exploration game. If you have a group with even a passing interest in one of those things, big run, don't big walk to play this with them.
Remedy’s choice to bet on themselves is another one worth making. CONTROL Resonant is a stellar sequel that risks everything yet succeeds in nearly every area it touches. Certain design choices and a slow start aside, Resonant has the heart of CONTROL inside it with a beautiful story that reaches your soul, vicious combat, and a spectacular world to explore that only they could build. Shaking things up usually works best with Shake 'n Bake, but Remedy cooks with Resonant's shift from the status quo.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is a phenomenal game, but places so much focus on its story that the gameplay can occasionally feel like an afterthought.
Audio, visuals, haptics, and incredible combat comes together with a solid story that hasn’t been done to death, making Marvel’s Wolverine easily Insomniac’s best comic entry to date. While there is some filler side content, the game never overstays its welcome as it tells its dark and brutal story.
Groove might appear to be a tough and demanding cookie on the surface with its emphasis on precision timing, but the way the game teaches and rewards you for playing are boundless, and it’s a breezy pick up and play game with a treasure trove of extras that’ll keep you wanting and craving more of it.
It feels like we’re still just scratching the surface of what co-op only games can be with the likes of A Way Out, Split Fiction, and now Orbitals. Orbitals is full to bursting with incredible ideas, more than it can properly execute on, but it remains an incredible, fun, and charming experience the whole way through.
Star Wars: Zero Company brings the best of Star Wars to the XCOM style of gameplay. References abound for any Star Wars fan, no matter your favorite era of the Galaxy Far, Far, Away. It’s such a unique angle to tell another story of The Clone Wars from the perspective of contact workers from different backgrounds. Clones, Umbarans, former CIS advisers, Republic royalty, and lots and lots of mercenaries. Star Wars: Zero Company looks great, plays great, and keeps you on your toes (no matter how many you might have).
Mafia: The Old Country - Man of Honor might be more of the same, and that’s perfectly okay with me. Hangar 13’s nod to the original game is appreciated, as is the narrative flair The Old Country has already. Seeing Free Ride revamped is also a pleasure, alongside a meaty amount of content via Salieri’s introduction to the map.
Despite how enjoyable and devilishly moreish it can be, Splatoon Raiders does feel like a seismic rinse and repeat. The levels are lavish, the challenges are plenty, the compulsive qualities are undeniable, and its whimsy is as wonderful as always, yet it is hard not to feel like something more ambitious was left on the cutting room floor and Raiders really could do with more variation to keep the sense of monotony at bay.
Duskfade offers a heartfelt, emotional story, gorgeous visuals, excellent boss design, and plenty of hidden goodies to keep you scouring its beautiful locales for a couple dozen hours. The voice acting can occasionally feel a little awkward, and combat timing can take some getting used to, but it still remains one of the best platformers of the year.
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is another excellent fighter from Arc System Works, able to capture casuals and veterans alike thanks to a refined, simple control scheme while retaining cavernous depths. Outside of that, it can feel pretty bare bones though, so you better be willing to hop online and put your dukes up.
Mistfall Hunter is a fun but flawed ARPG extraction title that won’t be for everybody. The classes provide meaningful variety, but the game handles multiple archetypes more frustratingly than its contemporaries. If you enjoy ARPGs and extraction games, you’ll definitely get $25 worth of fun out of the game, but your mileage may vary due to repetition fatigue and a list of concerns about the game and its future.
While no masterpiece, Beast of Reincarnation’s engaging combat and bond-based core render it an endearing debut from a storied publisher. Check it out if you’re in the market for something different.
A good remake with a great additional story makes Halo: Campaign Evolved a worthy endeavor. My cherished memories of Master Chief in his original fight are here – almost too similarly crafted – and they look beautiful and play well. Operation: METEORITE and the seamless co-op are tremendously implemented, and here’s hoping this taste of future Halo is a sign of things to come.