Examiner's Reviews
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has all the makings to be a strong multiplayer game for Nintendo 3DS, but it fails to stick the landing due to the misstep of not including an online multiplayer. With a robust offering of sport events, energetic soundtrack, and quality graphics, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is a great game for children who have friends or family members with a Nintendo 3DS.
Trackmania Turbo is a thrill ride, offering up some high-speed action that feels great from beginning to end. Complaints are minimal, and even though the cosmetic items are slow to earn unless you're a natural, it still feels good when they are unlocked. The sense of speed, simple to learn yet hard to master controls, and the consistent mechanics make the game truly come together as a great arcade racer with some surprisingly consistent, almost simulation-grade mechanics like cornering and drifting.
If you played Ori and the Blind Forest last year, this new edition offers plenty of new content to warrant a second play through. With lush visuals, an imaginative world, and charming characters, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is the best platforming game on the Xbox One, and one of the best games in the Xbox One software catalog.
Although it's beautiful and intuitive to play, Pokken Tournament's story mode, where the beef of your gameplay will take place, becomes tiresome and drags down what could have been a one-of-a-kind experience on the Wii U. That's not to say that there aren't redeemable qualities, but with a small roster of fighters and too many battles against the same faces, it loses a lot of luster, fast.
With enhanced visuals and improved gameplay, EA Sports’ “UFC 2” is the mixed-martial arts game you’ve been waiting for. While the host of improvements alone would have been enough for a solid sequel, the addition of the Ultimate Team mode makes it a game that every MMA fan should play once in their life. It also creates a more than interesting quandary this year at the EA Sports camp later this year. How do you top a game that does so many things right?
The Flame in the Flood is a challenging and rewarding survival game. It urges you to think and make use of your supplies in a smart manner. Fans of the survival genre will find a satisfying experience with this unique indie release. The flame symbolizes your will and desire to stay alive, but the struggle – symbolized by the flood, is doing everything it can to make you quit. Will you keep your flame burning? Or will the flood put you out?
Despite the cynics who might try to marginalize what this game truly is, it's something you must you must experience, whether that is with friends or on your own. The Division shows you can have both an incredible online multiplayer experience, while staying true to the roots of an immersive campaign. The Division is a magnificent revelation and one that was well worth the wait.
Superhot might not be a FPS in the vein of Call of Duty or Battlefront but it has it's place in the landscape as a thoughtful, interesting, and artistically striking game. It brings unique style, compelling puzzling, and a method of making trial and error engaging that is seldom found in other games. Superhot is one of those rare games that anyone can sit down with, make total sense of, and come away classifying it as a great experience.
What Hitman is now won't necessarily be what it is when the game's seven episodes have all been released, but a strong foundation is there. This game is the most authentic Hitman experience and it will ask you to become intimately familiar with each level. It is something that will test your patience, intelligence and skills, and when you put it all together will reward you greatly for it.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD is an excellent Zelda that features compelling dungeons, an interesting cast of lead characters, and a fascinating world to explore. For those looking to play Twilight Princess for the first time, this is the best way to experience this splendid game. If you played the game back in 2006, the new content and upgrades are worth revisiting as you ready yourself for Zelda Wii U.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is just that, the best way to play Gears of War. Although there were a few hiccups and muddy textures, the overall experience brings back a good amount of feel-goods and memories. Some may forget that Gears isn’t just a muscle-bound third-person shooter, instead finding influences in horror, suspense, and thriller and mixing themes to great effect. Alongside obvious visual improvements and additional chapters from the original PC release, the Ultimate Edition the game gets performance and menu additions that will be welcomed by the PC crowd like benchmarking, and Windows 10 Game DVR functionality. Ultimately, if this is your first Gears of War experience, or you just want to remember what a great beginning to end game feels like, this is the way to play Gears of War.
With unforgiving difficulty, it's ultimately an experience that only hardcore fans will enjoy. Add in Capcom's unwillingness to make this collection best-suited for the 3DS and you have a half-dozen games mushed together on one cart with no redeemable qualities aside from the Challenge Mode and Music Player.
Far Cry Primal is a bit of a surprise, not just being it happened in the first place, but that it works so well. It's a beautiful game set in an interesting time, place, and involving interesting characters. Weapons feel great, the gameplay itself is fantastic, and the new mechanics introduced work extremely well for the game itself. While it doesn't break any ground in the narrative department, it tells a decent story of family, legacy, and revenge. Far Cry Primal is an unexpected but wholly welcome entry to the series, and serves as an example of something you didn't see coming, but can't see yourself without.
Fire Emblem Fates builds off the foundation set by Fire Emblem: Awakening and expands upon it to give players a more compelling and engaging narrative along with gameplay variety. By offering distinct storylines and game experiences, Fire Emblem Fates is able to appeal to both newcomers and longtime fans of the franchise. Those looking for a lengthy and epic adventure to play on their 3DS needn't look any further, because Fire Emblem Fates is all you need. Fire Emblem Fates is fated to be one of the 3DS' best games in 2016.
Fire Emblem Fates builds off the foundation set by Fire Emblem: Awakening and expands upon it to give players a more compelling and engaging narrative along with gameplay variety. By offering distinct storylines and game experiences, Fire Emblem Fates is able to appeal to both newcomers and longtime fans of the franchise. Those looking for a lengthy and epic adventure to play on their 3DS needn't look any further, because Fire Emblem Fates is all you need. Fire Emblem Fates is fated to be one of the 3DS' best games in 2016.
Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 has a massive amount of rich, entertaining and wacky content for players to enjoy. I know I'll be spending another 30 hours on Garden Ops alone, but EA has managed to bring some interesting, new ingredients that help make this series as fun and addicting, as it was the first time around.
In a world devoid of P.T. – aka Silent Hills, we found Layers of Fear to offer an intriguing take on the horror genre and video game storytelling. Turn off the lights, turn up the volume, and immerse yourself in the world that Layers of Fear has to offer.
Street Fighter V is a technically sound, and all around well designed fighting game. Unfortunately without being able to report on the online matchmaking in any mode at all, modes missing like a fleshed out story that makes sense and has closure, challenges, and inability to purchase or investigate prices for in-game currency make this a tough game to recommend as a day one purchase. Capcom has some great plans for a well supported 2016 for Street Fighter V, and the ability to cross-play between PlayStation 4 and PC might be an attractive option for some. At this point it's impossible to say that it's a must-own for the casual or much less than big fighting game fan collection, but will hinge on your trust in Capcom to refine, patch, and deliver content throughout the year for Street Fighter V.
Even with the mediocre localization effort, it's hard not to appreciate the huge story and fun gameplay in Project X-Zone 2. Regardless of if you've played the original or not, it's a game that can and will steal hours of your time. For those looking for their next big adventure, especially with no new Pokémon or Yo-Kai currently available, Project X Zone 2 comes along at the perfect time.
Fans of the Naruto franchise will find that Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is an excellent adaptation of the anime and manga as it concludes the final arc. With tons of playable characters, intense battles, online multiplayer, and a fairly lengthy Story Mode, Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 offers tons of content that will be loved by fans. Though the fighting system is basic, it makes up for it by being accessible and placing fun and entertainment above complex gameplay mechanics.