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262 games reviewed

Ars Technica's Reviews

Unscored - Borderlands 2
Sep 18, 2012

Sequel keeps the appeal of the original while making improvements at the margins.

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Nov 20, 2013

You'll want to see Forza 5 push the Xbox One to its visual limits, but this is the good-but-thin game that will make you glad Microsoft relented on its no-rental policy. Try It.

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Jan 16, 2014

Adjust your Grim Fandango-fueled expectations and you'll delight in Broken Age: Act One's brief glimmers of story and puzzle genius.

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Mar 11, 2014

Buy it, then buy it for all of your friends so you can play at their house.

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Mar 20, 2014

Buy it if you have a PlayStation 4. If you don't, maybe it's time to consider getting one.

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Unscored - Super Time Force
May 14, 2014

Buy it, or travel in time to grab it in an eventual sale.

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Unscored - Mario Kart 8
May 15, 2014

All in all, these missing features and changes for the worse are disappointing blemishes on what is still an incredibly enjoyable game. Mario Kart 8 isn't the best game in the series, but it adds enough new visual, gameplay, and track design flourishes to its well-trodden core kart-racing gameplay to be worth a look.

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Unscored - Tropico 5
May 22, 2014

Wait. Patches or expansions may tweak its motivational balance in the right direction.

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Unscored - Watch Dogs
May 27, 2014

Buy it if you can tune out the story for an interesting take on the open-world genre.

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Unscored - Tomodachi Life
Jun 6, 2014

Try it if you're a tween (or a tween-at-heart). Otherwise, avoid it.

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Unscored - Gauntlet
Sep 29, 2014

Don't spend the $20 asking price, but consider it for a weekend jaunt if you can get a sale price on a four-pack.

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Oct 21, 2014

Buy it for the kids. Rent or Twitch it for the remixes.

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Unscored - Bayonetta 2
Oct 23, 2014

The Wii U unexpectedly gets one of the best games of the year. Buy it.

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Nov 6, 2014

Overall, the campaign is solid, if uninspiring. It didn't have any of the jawdropping moments of the first Modern Warfare, nor any spectacular set pieces. The shooting works well, you'll blast through it in about 6-8 hours, and then you'll put it away forever. On the single-player front, I'm still waiting for a new Call of Duty 4. Maybe I'm just too old and jaded.

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Nov 20, 2014

If you can tolerate the aging hardware, pick it up to experience a flawed but interesting footnote on Black Flag's tested formula.

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Unscored - Grey Goo
Jan 23, 2015

Grey Goo is definitely a throwback, albeit one with some compelling innovations. Those who remember the heyday of the RTS genre should get a kick out of it, while the unprepared may be scared away.

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Worth a look for anyone seeking a unique, more grounded take on the adventure game.

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Unscored - Evolve
Feb 14, 2015

A fun multiplayer distraction with a twist, if you've got the patience for some lackluster modes. Try it.

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Unscored - The Order: 1886
Feb 19, 2015

Avoid it until and unless they patch in a satisfying conclusion.

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Apr 28, 2015

Ultimately, there's more meat on the second act's puzzle bones, especially due to a memorable final-blast puzzle, and while the game's ending was more of a whimper than a bang—and it included some cockamamie ways to tie up the plot's loose ends—I appreciated the restraint on the writers' part to not force melodrama or melancholy on what eventually transpired. This game is the story of two young people who face the ups and downs of throwing off the shackles of youth—and it's also about their family and loved ones being there the whole way through.

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