Hardcore Gamer
HomepageHardcore Gamer's Reviews
In its music, writing, art and acting ,Valkyria Chronicles is brimming with the emotional potency to bring a man to tears. It would make an excellent movie if that were all it had going for it, but the story is told in a way that could only work in a video game, and built on a rock-solid framework of deep and challenging tactical gameplay.
Rockstar has improved upon one of the greatest games of all time. The original version of Grand Theft Auto V was a major accomplishment upon its initial release and remains that way even after a year of the new console generation.
Escape Dead Island squandered whatever opportunity it had to make a compelling story, while offering only sub-par gameplay to tide you over in the meantime. It has no business being a game, rather than a one-shot graphic novel for dedicated fans.
It's admirable that Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric tries so many new things, but every path it follows is a dead end. While the environments look decent and collectibles help give the short story some legs, the lack of difficulty, variation, and personality ruins any chance it had of making Sonic relevant again.
While BioWare is well known for their strong role-playing games, it's perplexing how they were able to reach this level of quality with Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's one of the most overwhelming experiences on the market, containing not only the best character development found in any RPG, but an open world that's actually polished.
What could have been the definitive entry in the Assassin's Creed series is actually the definitive example as to why releasing an unfinished product is always a bad call. Assassin's Creed Unity has all the makings of an expansive, ambitious title that fully takes advantage of current generation technology, but it's marred with countless imperfections.
Online is buggy, but amusingly so. It's hard to recommend MotoGP 14 to anybody but fans of the series curious to see how it shapes up on newer hardware.
BlazeRush is recommended for anyone who grew up loving isometric action racers.
Freedom Planet is a love letter to SEGA fans, and newcomers are in store for a special gaming experience that they won't experience elsewhere in this modern age.
Tales of Hearts R is a straightforward RPG with a heart of gold.
Ancient Space is worth a look for those who enjoy linear real time tactical games, but isn't going to be remembered with the same fondness as the games it has been compared to. While the levels look great up close, there's few other redeeming or original qualities.
Randal's Monday might not be the next great adventure game, but by focusing on the same humor and style as Clerks, it has a charm to it. The animation and voice acting is superb, channeling the spirit of Sunday night animated shows without being edgy for edgy's sake.
Rarely does a game deliver everything its players could ever ask for, but Halo: The Master Chief Collection does just that. Everything is here that should be here: the campaigns, the multiplayer engines, the maps and the visuals.
On the whole the team at Red Thread Games has done an incredible job updating The Longest Journey for the modern era. With graphical fidelity to match any AAA game and a strong aesthetic sense informing its visual direction, Dreamfall Chapters is one of the few games this year that I'd call beautiful. But underneath those modern trappings lies the same foundation of smart, profound storytelling that made the series so great in the first place. Unfortunately, this first episode ends a little prematurely, and it feels like we've yet to reach the real meat of the experience.
The first Call of Duty built for the current console generation, Advanced Warfare is a leap in the right direction for the series. The exoskeleton power doesn't change "everything," but it creates a fresh experience.
Cosmophony blends the runner and shooter genres together just about perfectly. When it comes to finding actual fault with the game, its small level count is the only issue.
Race the Sun was a load of good arcade-style fun on PC and the PS4 version is a near-perfect port. The heart of the game made it intact and, while it's a shame to be missing the player creations, the daily challenge is always worth returning to.
Some parts of Lords of the Fallen are surprisingly enjoyable, but many weigh it down.
Pix the Cat continues PastaGames' reputation for making incredible bite-sized gaming experiences. There's even a surprising amount of depth here thanks to its multiplier and variety of game modes.
Just Dance is a series that's hard to hate as it genuinely wants players to have a good time, but 2015 is a misstep. Hardly anything has changed and practically nothing has for those who don't partake in the online functionality, some features are missing and the interface has become too basic.