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With so many studios trying to hit the coveted MMO market, one thing is clear if you want to succeed - your game has to be unique. You can make up for tonnes of mistakes if you can just carve out a market for it. Although it has its own issues of identity - with a Diablo-like fighting system and enough extra activities to feel full - Lost Ark is a game that I'm looking forward to seeing grow.
Crusader Kings 3: Royal Court adds plenty of flavor and introduces new ways to obtain bonuses for your realm while fleshing out how deeply you can interact with it. The feature that gives it its name isn't as grand as it could be, due to repeating events and a 3D space that becomes a bit boring to look at even if you change its architectural style.
Dying Light 2 was my first contact with the series and it can certainly be an exhilarating open-world game. Its gorgeous city, intense chases, fluid parkour, and visceral, meaty combat are well worth experiencing. Although they never completely overshadow its accomplishments, boring gear, repetitive side missions, and a story that never finds its focus do, unfortunately, keep it away from greatness. But, if you keep some of your expectations in check, all these missteps can easily be drowned in an ocean of freshly-cut zombie limbs and peaceful paragliding.
A lean and mean addition to the Serious Sam family that experiments with a few new toys, and offers more of the same Serious Sam goodness we've been accustomed to. It has the odd instance of unnecessary padding via one too many gunfights, but overall keeps a breezy, brutal pace.
Nobody Saves the World's form switching and punchy, responsive combat carries the game where its other elements let it down. The star of the show is its surprisingly dynamic twist on aRPG mechanics that makes figuring out builds to counter the dangers of its dungeons rewarding enough to warrant spending 20+ hours killing monsters and helping its sometimes oddball NPCs.
Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line is a worthy addition to the base game if you enjoyed your time there but it doesn't do enough to fix its many flaws. While the story is rewarding and atmosphere creepy, there's something just a little cynical about the whole thing.
Like Master Chief himself, Infinite lets its combat do the talking while looking towards a bright future. After that initial showing, we couldn't ask for more.
As a celebration of all things Jurassic, Jurassic World Evolution 2 serves as a worthy successor to the original. As a park management game, it struggles to find a meaningful focal point. Given Frontier's expertise in this exact department elsewhere, that's more than a little disappointing. A light, messy sim that acts as a tribute to the prehistoric pandemonium of the Jurassic Park/World series.
Overall, a fantastic game that yields a relaxing experience and a gaming experience for all. The adventure is fun and awe-inducing. The graphics and music are coupled well together and marry each other to make for an amazing fantasy feel.
Bigger But Not Necessarily Better.
The strength of Frogwares previous works is retained within more ambitious, freeform packaging. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One can be abrasive, both in gameplay terms and in its depiction of an iconic character, but it offers such rich and rewarding depth to its detective drama that it's much easier to accept.
Being able to actually claim territory I had captured in a war without it creating an immediate regional coalition against me. They're all mine, so gimme, gimme, gimme!
It's no surprise that Forza Horizon puts itself right into the mix with 2021's Game of the Year contenders. Playground Games has been getting it right for a decade now. This is the definitive experience in the series so far, one that excels both on PC and the Xbox Series X. Minimal issues, such as server connectivity, fail to spoil the party that is just crammed with happiness and adventure.
Running a cavalry charge around the enemy defenses to burn their Wonder to the ground while the clock ticked down to defeat. No horses survived, but victory was mine.
Unleashing a flurry of rockets from our Supremo backpack and blowing up a tank that never saw it coming.
Hiding in plain sight using an upgraded Aether slab and surprising and invading Julianna with a swift machete stab she never saw coming.
The psychedelia-infused trip inside the Psi King's Sensorium.
Mowing down the last Xenomorphs in a swarm using the Smartgun and barely making it out alive to the nearby extraction point.
While it probably won’t be a “Civ killer” – not that it necessarily aims to be one –, it’s clearly a game that historical 4X strategy fans looking for a different spin on the subgenre’s formula should definitely consider trying out at some point.
If you love the atmosphere of Eastern European survival games but hate the jank, Chernobylite is for you. Its cycle of scavenging and questing is addicting, and its characters are fun to meet. But that also means it becomes too easy once you get a feel for the controls and mechanics. Add that with a story that isn't scary, and you have a flawed game with an engaging core. It held my attention during its full runtime, and I can't say that for a lot of games.