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247 games reviewed

The A.V. Club's Reviews

Unscored - Super Time Force
May 15, 2014

That goofiness belies what is ultimately a ­showcase for Capybara's serious game design chops.

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Unscored - Transistor
May 20, 2014

So yes, Transistor is slow and annoyingly coy. You shouldn't have to play it twice to perceive all of its lovable quirks. Playing it twice, though, is still preferable to not playing it at all.

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May 22, 2014

Beyond its mechanical parts, The New Order is a relief because it's a reminder that profundity doesn't necessarily need to be linked to big, universe-shattering ideas.

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Unscored - Watch Dogs
May 28, 2014

Content to be normal, Watch Dogs speaks more potently to the intellectual chill within its industry than it does to any oppression without.

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Unscored - Mario Kart 8
May 30, 2014

Mario Kart 8 may look different from its pixelated forebears of the '80s and '90s, but it's infused with the same magical spirit and exacting craftsmanship. It's the kind of game that's bound to inspire nostalgia someday.

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Jun 10, 2014

It's times like that one, when Murdered actually feels like it is thinking about what the player wants, that it's possible to enjoy the game's elusive premise and nonviolent eeriness. But most of the time, it's an unfocused experience that breaks its own rules and serves up the barest of challenges. It's much easier to accept that Murdered isn't really thinking about what it's doing at all.

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Unscored - Shovel Knight
Jul 1, 2014

The game also sings because it's never a slave to the perceived merits of tradition. It would have been all too easy to, say, shove in some little floating Shovel Knight heads, making you collect pointless extra lives for no reason other than that's how things were done back in the good old days. Yacht Club Games is smarter than that, and their game is, too.

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Jul 3, 2014

Valiant Hearts gets most of it right. In the end, it's just an incredible relief—if a decidedly un-American sentiment—to play a memorable war game that isn't some Rambo-inspired revenge fantasy. Well, that's not exactly right. It's a memorable game that just happens to be set during a war. And that makes all the difference.

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Jul 24, 2014

Abstracted through pixels, text, and the lens of science fiction, God Will Be Watching is a fantasy that captures a very real, disturbing hint of apocalyptic reality.

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Unscored - Hohokum
Aug 14, 2014

Above all else, Hohokum is a constant reminder that the verb used when we interact with games is "play."

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Unscored - CounterSpy
Aug 26, 2014

Had it gone with a more crafted experience, zeroing in on a consistent tone and a series of clearly defined challenges, CounterSpy could have been more Three Days Of The Condor rather than This Means War. All it needed to do was remember the 7 Ps, one of the British military's enduring adages: Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance.

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Unscored - Destiny
Sep 17, 2014

After a few dozen hours under its spell, the title of Destiny sounds like cruel irony. The game's marketing materials would have you believe that the title means your ultimate heroism is somehow inevitable, like a mythical hero of legend. But the term might as well refer to the state of grinding through the same tasks and seeing the same pretty but sterile scenery over and over again, like a space-age version of Groundhog Day, in the fallow hopes of pimping out your Guardian to the max.

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Unscored - The Sims 4
Sep 18, 2014

Once I settled into The Sims 4, I discovered that I didn't want to go back to The Sims 3. This is definitely an upgrade, but with the small towns, loading screens, and all the missing content, it doesn't feel quite finished—it's like moving into a fixer-upper. After a bit of construction you might actually have your perfect house, but it's going to take some time and will likely be quite expensive.

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Unscored - Hack 'n' Slash
Sep 23, 2014

When it's understandable, Hack 'N' Slash can be as satisfying as clearly seeing the Matrix for the first time. But for those of us without the requisite coursework, clarity feels a long way away.

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Unscored - Hyrule Warriors
Sep 25, 2014

While Hyrule Warriors could've gotten away with a simple "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter / you got peanut butter on my chocolate" mash-up and wiped their hands all the way to the bank, the end product is more of a love letter to its audience than either series could have attempted on its own. This may not count as a proper Zelda game, but it is still a valiant step forward for both Zelda and Nintendo in its efforts to explore new territory with the nearly 30-year-old series.

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Oct 2, 2014

Nintendo overcomes Super Smash Bros.' identity crisis on the 3DS

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Oct 7, 2014

Shadow Of Mordor, though, successfully draws on some of that material in a way that is simultaneously engaging for a fan of Tolkien's extended works but not alienating for those passingly familiar with the story.

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Unscored - Bayonetta 2
Oct 13, 2014

Between that and the sublime feel of its combat, it's difficult to see even a passing interest in one of Bayonetta 2's passions not turning into a memorable experience.

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Unscored - Alien: Isolation
Oct 15, 2014

Is any of this scary? Often, yes, insofar as I remained terrified of being killed and forced to replay the 30 minutes since the last save point. Mostly, it's just annoying.

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Oct 22, 2014

If the new additions in The Pre-Sequel! don't ultimately matter, then this is essentially an add-on to Borderlands 2, spread out over desolation. "The Blue Danube" never actually plays, but if it did, it would no longer signify marvel, only déjà vu, the nagging feeling that you've done this before, and it was better the first time.

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