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At its best, Styx: Master of Shadows is a half-decent stealth game with barely a fresh idea in its head. At its worst, it's a soggy pile of frustration, clumsiness, and save-scumming. Guess which end of the spectrum it tends towards.
Alien: Isolation could have been a superb experience if some components were better balanced or removed. There is still enough tension to make you fear the dark.
Monolith Productions has created a new standard for Middle-earth games with Shadow of Mordor. The combat is gratifying, the visuals are gorgeous and the unique features such as the nemesis system combine to create a great action game experience.
While The Evil Within never quite terrifies, it has plenty of moments early on where it threatens to wrap you up in its gory world. However, it never really delivers a completely engaging experience and by the end goes totally off the rails.
Velocity 2X offers unique, fast paced gameplay with solid controls and clever level design. An arbitrary experience gate may halt your end-game progress, but you'll at least enjoy the ride up until that point.
Starwhal is probably a little overpriced, but it will deliver on its promises for a good half-hour or so. It is truly fun to bungle and slide your way around a level until you just barely manage to spear your opponent through with your nose. It's just not fun twice.
It might not be the most original game to grace the world, but by taking a familiar concept, putting a different spin on it and polishing it 'til it gleams, Fenix Rage makes platforming fun again. Good stuff.
A somewhat anaemic dungeon-crawling first-person shooter with intense core combat that never evolves (and little else worth praising).
FIFA 15 offers a glimpse into the future with new goalkeepers and emotion system, but at the moment it is only a tease. Regardless of that, this is still a complete and enjoyable experience of virtual footy.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter uses ambiguity to tell an interesting tale. Unfortunately the lack of direction can mean you spend too much time aimlessly fumbling through a pretty world.
A fan service skin of a Zelda game, however good, is still just an impersonation. It's a mix that only occasionally works, and more often than not simply feels repetitive and out of place.
Forza Horizon 2 offers almost everything that arcade racing fans crave, and it does so with style.
Creative and charming, McDROID is an endearing little adventure with some hefty core gameplay chops that very nearly carry the game all on their own. Sadly, it nevertheless gets dragged down by an over-aggressive difficulty curve, a heavy reliance on repeating content, and some major lapses in polish.
The Sims 4 brings enticing new gameplay elements to the long running franchise, but removal of a few fan favorites and a general lack of content means it's not as easily recommended as its predecessors.
Destiny has many great elements at its core, with solid action mechanics and especially if you were already a fan of Bungie's previous work. But there are many design concerns which bog down the experience, from the boring story to the underdeveloped MMO concepts and dull mission design. Destiny rarely feels engaging or feature-complete. We can only hope the franchise finds its footing in the future installments.
Hatoful Boyfriend is exactly what it professes to be, and little more than that. The reality of a pigeon dating sim is infinitely less entertaining than the idea, but it nevertheless has its moments.
NHL 15 stumbles as it hits the ice on the new generation of consoles. Fans should wait for a price drop and a few patches, or just skip this year altogether.
Shadowgate wants to remind players of what games were like twenty years ago, albeit with a fresh visual covering. The improved presentation is a welcome addition, but the unevolved gameplay and story will tend to feel outdated. In the end, it feels overpriced for a single jolt of nostalgia.
A slight stumble here and the The Wolf Among Us has beaten the Walking Dead Season 2 at its own game. Traditional gameplay is stripped down to the bare minimum in favour of choices. Some of these are fantastic in their unforgiving nature and the journey you'll take Clem on is full of drama and heart-break. The new cast are a miserable bunch of bickering bores though that will make you pine for the fallen friends of Season 1.
For newcomers, Infamous: First Light serves as a taste of the full experience in Second Son, complete with its highs and lows. Existing fans looking for more content will get the most out of this downloadable title, but will be disappointed that some of the concerns were not addressed.