Shacknews
HomepageShacknews's Reviews
It is undoubtedly the best game Microsoft has published on the PC since Age of Empires 2. Forza Horizon 4 is Microsoft's killer app and is on the shortlist of the best games of its generation.
If you've completed the story there's still a lot to do in this world, of Warcaft. New dungeons with fun themes and locations are enjoyable to grind through and PVP is always a fun whether you're casual or hardcore. The world, of Warcraft is bursting at the seams with stuff to do. Don't Like PvE? Try Pet Battles. Don't Like Pet Battles? Try PvP. I'm a pretty casual player and the thing I enjoy doing the most is going back to old content and playing through it solo, for the first time.
But story aside, Old School Musical as a full package is an unexpected treat. The post-story challenges, along with the replayable Arcade Mode puts together the best of what this game can offer. It's a solid foundation to hopefully build something more solid in the future.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 has an entertaining and beautiful core unfortunately covered by a flawed shell. You have to break through that shell repeatedly if you want to get to the really good bits and the bits are fantastic, sure, but the in-between moments are incredibly annoying.
There are still things that need addressing, but NHL 19 is the best hockey experience I've had with the NHL franchise in the PS4 era.
As a final blowoff to the Trinity saga, I couldn't help but walk away feeling that the resolution to the story and to Lara Croft's character could have been so much better. But in terms of a pure "Tomb Raider" game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is everything a bold explorer could ask for, giving players a vast jungle to explore and daring them to master it.
Marvel's Spider-Man is at once a fantastic action game, a dramatic story-driven adventure, and a love letter to fans of Marvel's ever-endearing wall-crawler. It's also one of the strongest titles in Insomniac Games' catalog, and will no doubt be counted not only among the best games of 2018, but also among the best PlayStation 4 exclusives ever released.
All in all, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate brings some neat new features and monsters to the table, but at the same time it doesn't do anything to truly alter the way you experience the Monster Hunter Franchise.
Sega and its new Two Point Studios have successfully revived the nonsensical hospital management genre with a slick piece of interactive entertainment.
Strange Brigade is an odd bag. It tries to capture a 1930s charm but instead of being charming, it becomes unbearable. It attempts to wrap a story around a horde mode experience but the narrative is unoriginal and the threat of being overrun with enemies is rarely present. Strange Brigade is a disappointing and repetitive experience that offers mildly enjoyable combat but is otherwise entirely forgettable.
If you're a fan of the JRPG genre, especially classics Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, or any of the original Dragon Quests I would heavily encourage you to check out Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age.
Torn is one of the better puzzlers in gaming. Full stop. There's a growing number of games on virtual reality platforms that gamers without an HMD are missing out on and this is certainly one of them. Do not miss this one if you have the means to play.
I vastly enjoyed every second of my time exploring the world through his eyes, whether I was helping a dominatrix stop dealing with pushy clients or handing a guy some new underwear from a convenience store over the top of a bathroom stall. This is the definitive way to experience Yakuza 2, and an excellent showcase for what the series is capable of. Seriously, you've just got to get into it now. I'm tired of repeating myself.
Look at Guacamelee 2 as gaming's equivalent of NXT Takeovers or New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual G1 Climax tournaments. They may not feel overly different from each another, but there's no questioning their high quality and they'll leave you anxiously awaiting the next main event.
Madden NFL 19 is a mixed bag.
If you're as terrified of a dystopian society as I am but also endlessly fascinated by it, then We Happy Few is for you. Just be sure not to forget your Joy! We wouldn't want you labeled as a Downer, now would we?
I'm not a big Metroidvania guy, but Dead Cells managed to conjure up the same feelings I had when I played Super Mario World, Portal, and Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl.
No matter if you've played the rest of the Yakuza series and know it like the back of your hand, or you're just now getting started as a fledgling fan, Yakuza 0 is a must-play.
While there's nothing here that hasn't been done in other games before, I still feel the urge to hop in for another run to try and beat my previous high score. Testing various defense strategies and skill synergies is lots of fun. I have no doubts that some clown on the internet will discover some tactic or exploit that allows survival beyond one hundred nights, but I really like figuring out what works on my own. The art style works, though it doesn't really stand out enough to be a positive on its own. I played exclusively with a controller and found the game to be responsive. I never felt like my deaths were caused by anything other than my own mistakes. The PC version I reviewed performed wonderfully, though it lacks many of the basic options, like resolution or windowed mode, that players would expect.