GameZone's Reviews
The Witcher 3 on the Nintendo Switch, despite its many optimizations, remains a technical masterpiece considering the console's limitations. Playing in handheld is downright magical and masks some of its visual shortcomings. Well worth giving it a shot, even if you've already experienced the game elsewhere.
LA Noire: The VR Case Files is a great sample of some of the best missions from Rockstar's cinematic period piece but it comes at a cost. While it excels in being the best at traditional VR gameplay like gunplay and driving, it fails at what makes LA Noire original and unique. It turns the intimate detective experience that was previously filled with "Aha!" moments into one of frustrating grunting and annoyance due to stubborn mechanics and some poor tracking.
Even though Concrete Genie frequently fails to meet the heights of its gameplay potential, it's the kind of game that I'm glad Sony is pushing as a small but strong exclusive for PS4. It sets itself apart from all the other games coming this fall both in its sense of positivity and lush beauty making it a welcome pallet cleanser.
Tropico 6 continues to excel in being a series that oozes personality but can struggle in its efforts to be a fairly balanced sim. Its frustrating lack of sometimes easy to understand problems and communication can make for an experience that will cause permanently raised eyebrows. If you're looking for a new city-building sim, you will still enjoy Tropico 6 but at the expense of sometimes being easily confused or having your progression halted.
Borderlands 3 sometimes struggles to earn your time commitment. Whether that's testing your patience with a plentiful supply of bullet sponges or quests that outstay their welcome, it's difficulty lies within wanting to continue playing it. To play Borderlands 3 is a true test of endurance that may cause actual fatigue and exhaustion after a few hours. While it reaches a lot of highs in gunplay and progression, this long-awaited threequel may not leave people instantly begging for more like they were after Borderlands 2.
This all culminates in a $40 expansion that I feel could have easily been priced at $60. Sure, we do only get one new area to complement that original game's five, but Iceborne cleverly integrates the previous areas into easily half of its main campaign, and it's just as fun revisiting them all under new circumstances with new or returning monsters to hunt. There is so much to do, whether it's the chunky and sizeable campaign or the plethora of things to do once the credits roll.
While Control doesn't exactly stick the landing on its ambitious mind-bending sci-fi story, there's still plenty to enjoy. Remedy creates one of the most well-developed worlds ever crafted for a video game and takes the opportunity to learn from their past and craft their most well-rounded gameplay experience to date.
If you're looking for something to tide you over until the inevitable Wolfenstein 3, Youngblood probably won't scratch your itch. It takes many steps back to the point where it feels like a lesser experience even when compared to shooters beyond this series. There's little of value added and it fails to even be declared average at best thanks to bugs and poor AI.
My Friend Pedro is a game I can't recommend enough for fans of these fast, snappy, and frenetic action games that fill that empty spot of something like a new Max Payne game. It's incredibly fun, creative, and plays like a total dream that fits right at home on the Nintendo Switch.
By combining flashy set-pieces filled with spectacle, neverending charm, and a mechanically sound VR gameplay experience, Blood and Truth serves as another success for PlayStation.
Observation is one of 2019's most unique and interesting games both with its gameplay and overall execution. It delivers a unique sense of horror we typically don't see in games, compelling puzzles, and it has a profound impact on you when the credits roll. While it can sometimes be a tad unpleasant to play with annoying, unsmooth controls and being disorienting, Observation is still a fantastic sci-fi experience.
Despite a troublesome companion that can sometimes bog this stealth title down, A Plague Tale: Innocence is still a very interesting, unique, and haunting tale. It's one that will likely get overlooked due to not being an AAA game but it's one that is worth giving the time of day when it's hitting the right notes.
Even with its shortcomings, Rage 2 is super fun. If you're excited for Doom Eternal, Rage 2 will be the perfect appetizer as you wait for that game. It's like someone mixed a bunch of powerful drugs together with what can only be described as FPS porn and said: "Inject this into your veins". It's endlessly gratifying to play but may lack the substance some gamers require in a AAA game released in 2019 via story and open-world longevity.
As it stands, Days Gone isn't some abomination but it's not up to par with what we expect from a Sony first party game. It has significant redeemable qualities to be found in its story but still fails to deliver a tight, focused narrative without loads of extra fat or a compelling enough gameplay experience.
What Ubisoft has done with The Division 2 is something every developer should aspire to do. Not only did they address major complaints from the last game but they made substantial innovations in the form of progression, structure, content, gameplay, and more. Without a doubt, The Division 2 is the ultimate sequel anyone could ask for, full stop.
Even though it sometimes feels uncharacteristically by the numbers in some places or fails to have a noticeable amount of pizazz, Devil May Cry 5 is a hell of a good time. With plenty of wonderful character moments that'll make fans gush, a glorious frenzy of bloody action, and a healthy dose of great metal music to score it all, Capcom has triumphantly returned yet another beloved franchise to its former glory.
Bugs, crashes, bad optimization, repetitive objectives, horrible load times and lots more, unfortunately, overshadow the game's great flight and combat system.
Kingdom Hearts III is a confusing and sometimes tiring fireworks display of ambition and passion. The charm and wholesome nature of the Disney worlds, the flashy and frenetic battles, the gargantuan scope and scale of it all, all of this works in its favor to be something really unique but there's a lot dragging it all down too.
Despite shortcomings like a rather by the numbers level of quality of side missions, poor performance both visually and audibly, Metro Exodus still manages to deliver a compelling experience. Thanks to its meaty crafting and gun customization, a beautiful character-driven story focused more on humans than the fantastical, and a world built around fear, desolation, and tension, Exodus will definitely be one of 2019's most talked about games by the end of the year.
Respawn has successfully entered the battle royale genre with Apex Legends, allowing itself to take notes from its predecessors and come in and build upon the foundation laid before them. By refining the formula rather than making a significant effort to reinvent the battle royale wheel, this studio has proven themselves as unmistakable masters of their craft with both the Titanfall series and now Apex.