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Burning Shores really is a must-buy, must-play experience for Horizon fans. While this review is unscored, take this as my strongest of recommendations to pick up and play Burning Shores. I promise you’ll be able to finish it before the release of Tears of the Kingdom, and I promise that if you love Horizon, you'll find Burning Shores to be well worth your time.
The Death Stranding Director’s Cut adds enough new tools and toys for players to utilize to make the experience worth replaying for those diehard fans. And for those that were unsure about getting in, the shuffling and redistribution of tools ensures that the early game is more approachable, while still retaining the sense of scale and progression offered at launch. The other features, like the firing range, racing track, and new location elevate an already rich experience. So collect your order and tie up your laces, because you’ll want to walk another 500 miles or more to experience what’s on offer here.
I think by now it’s clear that Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut looks somehow even better than the original. If you have been sleeping on it, now is definitely the time to check it out. If you’ve already played through what the core game has to offer, Iki Island is a reasonably priced expansion (as is the PS5 upgrade). I do wish it had just a little bit more to offer, but I will take it over nothing. If you loved what this game already had to offer, how could you turn down more of it? The story is compelling enough to keep you playing and Iki itself, as I’ve already said profusely, is total eye candy. It’s time to hop back on that horse and get to the slashing, samurai.
If nothing else, Aftermath is a must-play for both newer fans of the modern Mortal Kombat narrative and old-school fans who enjoyed the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie. While there have been offshoot projects like the Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge movie that released earlier this year, Aftermath's story shows once again that there are no better tellers of the Mortal Kombat lore than the NetherRealm team themselves.
For those who were disappointed by Ultimate Alliance 3's first few DLC offerings, Shadow of Doom has some more meat to it and should be more of what true believers are looking for.
Even the true fans will retreat to YouTube to watch the cutscenes, because there's nothing to entice players here. Re Mind is a dud and a total disappointment for any KH fan.
The game's first expansion plays to that strength by letting you work your way through it at your own pace. If you're looking for more story, though, you'll have to wait until The Champion's Ballad, the second expansion, serenades players this fall.
To call Nioh a copycat would be doing it a disservice. Combat is tight and layered with options, levels are gorgeously rendered and ooze atmosphere, and the story is entertaining enough to keep me interested yet can still be set aside when I'm more interested in perfecting my ki pulses.
Ashes of Ariandel offers a satisfying blend of lore, boss fights, and exploration that Souls fans love, but fails to shake some of Dark Souls 3's problems.
WWE 2K17 expansive game systems represent possibly the most substantial update to the franchise in years. Most of the changes are small, but they add up to the most fun I've had with a WWE game in years.
Once you've seen one slope, you've more or less seen them all. Characters don't have much of a sense of personality, and the entire thing feels more like a surface-level experimental photo mode than a fully-formed video game. But, I plan to invest a few more hours into it for the sake of attempting to get a better sense of it before issuing a final verdict.
Mechanically the game is more than sound, it's awesome. Character-wise, however, you might want to make sure this isn't the Ace Attorney game you pick up first if you're looking to build relationships.
Watch Dogs 2 is a rare sequel where the developers took a chance instead of sticking by what was a successful formula. Although I personally wasn’t a fan of the original Watch Dogs, the game sold well and Ubisoft could have easily slapped some new paint on it and released another dreary, boring game. They didn’t though, and I hope it’s a trend other developers pick up on because Watch Dogs 2 is a superior product.
Despite the main story mode being a bit too easy for its own good, Kirby: Triple Deluxe is still one of the best entries in the series. The combination of old and new abilities will entertain fans young and old, and the two extra mini-games are worth returning to, an ideal cure to the forthcoming summertime blues.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that Beyond Earth fully captures the feel of the Earthbound Civilization games yet, but Rising Tide makes for a far better game than the original.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is not only the worst game in the franchise's history, but it may very well be the worst game to be released this year. Yes, worse than Hatred.
Bounty Battle is one of the coolest ideas for a game I've seen in some time, which is partly why I feel like part of my soul has been crushed. This game is an absolute mess. It's presentation is terrible, the character models are laughable, the systems are confusing, and it made me wonder half the time if my PC was broken. Given the rich roster of wonderful indie characters, this should have been a contender. Instead, this fighter's career is over before the bell even rang.
This is a bad game. It's not worth $20 and, in my opinion, not worth $5, unless you're the kind of person that would get a kick out of Paris Hilton slut jokes in 2018 and can't get enough lazy, casual racism. A lack of cooperative multiplayer outright dooms the title, forcing it be be endured alone by those unlucky (or stupid) enough to buy it. I'm honestly shocked that Shaq lent his name and voice to this turd pile. My guess is that he cashed the check and hasn't seen the game. A disclaimer opens the game stating that the events depicted don't represent Shaq's views or opinions and that those who take issue with the content of the game shouldn't bother him. It's almost like the developers knew ahead of time that all of this was a bad idea and expect backlash to be directed towards O'Neal. Nice work, guys. 2/10 low-effort dick jokes.
At the end of the day, Madden NFL 23 is a poor pro football simulator. It isn't even a fun arcade-style game. It feels somewhat aimless with the development team pulling the game in many different directions at the same time. The changes from Madden NFL 22 are minimal and the PS5/Xbox Series X/S exclusive features still do not address core gameplay problems.
While some additions to the old formula provide value, particularly the ability to leap onto buildings to shave time on fares and online leaderboards, falling short on all the other parts of the experience drags the entire game down. The lack of Crazy Box-style minigames further reduces any replay value. Crazy Taxi succeeded by offering players the feeling of chaos and excitement, either through its then-novel gameplay mechanics or its untouchable sense of style. Taxi Chaos brings neither to the table and offers only minimal appeal to folks who might have missed all the hoopla twenty years ago. 3/10 beaded seat covers