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Changes to the core systems, meanwhile, take two steps forward and one step back. The game's long list of improvements is paired with the return for grinding for grinding's sake. Check back later this week for our final impressions.
Battle for Azeroth is off to a weak start. The new zones are beautiful, to be sure, but the climatic introduction cinematic and quests lead into a whole lot of cliché and not a lot of action. If the War has come back to Warcraft, well …I've not seen it.
Empire of Sin delivers a clever, genre-melding experience that perfectly marries the world of 1920s organized crime with strategy gameplay. Bugs and a lack of combat speed or automation options can grind its pace to a halt, but it does a stellar job of putting the player in the mindset of a mob mastermind (or a gun-toting buffoon) with streamlined speakeasy management.
While not outright broken like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) or Sonic Boom, Sonic Frontiers is a heavily misguided game that muffles good ideas with questionable narrative, technical, and gameplay design decisions.
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark is an insultingly overt cross-marketing bid that isn't worth your time.
The Order: 1886 is a dull, plodding experience that's beautiful to behold but spends too little time giving players a reason to stick around.
Balan Wonderworld is a hodge-podge of half-formed platforming ideas that squander a whole lot of charm.
This spin-off is the unambitious median point in a triple-A market saturated with zombies and stealth-action games that have narrative aspirations.
Valkyrie Elysium delivers an average action experience that fails to revive a classic RPG series.
Steelrising has some lofty ambitions, but poor execution slays this potentially innovative Soulslike.
Madden NFL 23 is an improved game when compared to Madden NFL 22, but that isn't enough to make it good.
Tunic offers players an adventure full of mystery, but delivers a purposefully obtuse world that's impossible to sort out.
Monark tries a lot of new ideas, but only finds success with an intriguing battle system ... and even that has a mileage that may vary.
Rainbow Six Extraction's ridiculous plot and repetitive nature prevent the experimental spinoff from achieving its full potential.
Chorus' stellar space combat is brought down by a myriad of design choices that range from frustrating to outright annoying.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Siege of Paris DLC is the same game, different setting -- nothing new to see here.
Destruction AllStars has a sturdy engine, but it’s overworked in almost every respect. The needless on-foot component and character abilities clutter an otherwise light but fun pick-up-and-play game with satisfying wrecks. Toss in some overeager DualSense support, and the result is a multiplayer game that’s chaotic for all the wrong reasons.
Agents of Mayhem is a generic take on the city open world shooter. A diverse cast of heroes and a few funny one liners save it from being downright bad, but its repetitive missions and bland world firmly solidify its mediocrity.
Song of the Deep has too many bugs and design flaws to stay afloat.
Dead Rising 4’s raw zombie carnage impresses, but its story and technical problems leave it dead on arrival.