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Putting its flaws aside, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a fantastic adventure that delivers everything fans have come to love about the franchise. It’s a thrilling ride filled with action, mystery, and unforgettable moments, capturing the very essence of what makes an Indiana Jones adventure so iconic. From the heart-pounding chase scenes to the witty dialogue and historical intrigue, it’s everything you could dream an Indiana Jones game would be, and it leaves audiences eager for more. Being Machine Games’ first crack at the licensed IP, they’ve certainly managed to live up to the expectations that fans hold on to for the series; I look forward to what might be a glory-filled future for both the studio and the franchise.
Look, if you’re a fan of the Stalker franchise, then Stalker 2 is going to be everything you’d hoped and probably expected from it. It’s a spectacular game with enjoyable combat that is filled with challenge and thrills, with a story and world that will have you hooked the moment you step in. It’s not breaking away from the formula established by its predecessors, but despite coming out 14 years later, it’s impressive that GSC Game World still has that magic touch that made the original games so special. That’s with everything going on in Ukraine; it’s commendable that GSC Game World even managed to release this. It doesn’t excuse the technical aspects, as Stalker 2 needs more polishing on both bugs and performance, though if you can look past that or wait a few months, you’ll find Stalker 2 to be quite an experience. That’s, of course, if you can even make it into the Zone alive.
Metro Awakening is easily one of the best VR experiences you can play right now, which shouldn’t come much as a surprise, considering Vertigo Games’ previous work on the Arizona Sunshine series. Still, it’s impressive that the veteran VR developers were able to take an existing IP from another studio and transition it so well into VR while maintaining the very essence of what made so many fans fall in love with the franchise. They’ve absolutely knocked it out with Metro Awakening, giving us a whole new perspective on the franchise. It’s downright terrifying to the point that it sent shivers, and yet something about the world is so well crafted that it just kept drawing me back in.
At this point, it’s pretty evident that I am digging my time with the remake, and there’s not a lot of “buts” to go along with it, which is a testament to how Bloober Team revived this classic. Clocking in at around 14-18 hours long in your first playthrough, the game features eight endings which means repeated playthroughts are almost a necessity and further adds to its replay value. The outstanding horror remakes started by Capcom’s Resident Evil remakes, EA’s Dead Space remake continues with Konami’s Silent Hill 2, and horror gaming fans should be delighted, as Bloober Team manages to make this horror classic better in every way, and in turn become a classic of its own. Hopefully, this very promising start means we’ll see Bloober Team continue to remake the rest of the series’ games in the coming years. Regardless if you’re a horror fan or not, you owe it to yourself to brave the fog, paint the town bloody red in Silent Hill 2.
As much as it seems weird that a studio would release a single-player game based on their multiplayer IP, The Casting of Frank Stone makes that premise work. Will it draw player interest enough that they’ll want to play Dead by Daylight after playing this? Probably not, but taken on its own, The Casting of Frank Stone is a solid horror game, and could very well be Supermassive’s finest work to date.
Ultimately, Star Wars Outlaws’ biggest strength is that it has the Star Wars license, but in terms of gameplay? It feels by-the-numbers for the most part. This is one outlaw that might want to spend some time in the pokey to reflect on their missteps.
Finally being able to retire my old copy of NCAA Football 14 for Xbox 360, I was so happy to find that EA Sports College Football 25 was all I wanted and more in its return. There is still room to improve in some areas like with the bugs or additional game modes in the future, but this is a fantastic jumping back on point for the franchise after more than 10 years. For anybody who loved the original series or is just tired of the usual Madden formula, EA Sports College Football 25 may be just the game you’re looking for as it is a love letter to what makes college football so special from the bottom to the top.
Nobody Wants to Die is a fun time, if you like piecing together a whodunnit. Outside of that, though, don’t expect anything more. The story is thoroughly entertaining, and at least two endings paired with branching story beats ensures you’ll see or hear something different if you play it more than once. While a low-action, linear game probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, those who like this style will find plenty to love in Nobody Wants to Die. Critical Hit Games has done a great job for their debut title, and hopefully we will see more from them in the future.
Fans of survival MMOs should get their share of resource gathering, combat, and building in Once Human. For a free-to-play game, it offers quite an impressive playtime to enjoy without any constrictions, and the production values are quite good overall. It can be a riot for solo players for some long hours but it gets more enjoyable in a group, and the issues that be aren’t enough to deter any player who is having fun with it. Give it a shot and the most you can lose is the time it took you to install it and play for a while.
In terms of visual direction, EvilVEvil is a bit rough on the edges. First impressions are quite mediocre, warehouse level looking like something out of the early 2000s, and the looks only improve slightly as you move into the city streets and begin realizing that the art and the areas have a certain flair to them and are not that bad. But there’s no going past the fact that enemy models – and your very own playable vampires – are extremely rough, the UI is crude, and it could have done with some more time in the oven… or the coffin, in this case.
Anger Foot is a lot of fun, there’s no question about it. But some players may feel that it’s also something of a one-trick pony, which I understand to an extent. It’s all about furiously rushing through a stage kicking and shooting, reaching the end and doing it all over again in a different but often similar area. I didn’t get tired of doing this for a few hours, but your mileage may vary.
Ultimately, the battles in Crown Wars: The Black Prince end up being extremely long, somewhat dull, and worrisome due to some of the issues described above. It’s not necessarily a bad game and the gameplay loop can be interesting if you stick to it, but it lacks polish and fine-tuning, resulting in a flawed offering that will quickly make fans of the genre start looking elsewhere for better alternatives.
King Arthur: Legion IX doesn’t represent a true step forward from King Arthur: Knight’s Tale, and in some regards it’s even a simplified version of said game. The value for those who own the first one is debatable, but if they are looking for more of the same, this is a good option although it may disappoint in some aspects; on the other hand, new players may get more enjoyment from this tactical game, assuming they are looking for a challenge and aren’t bothered by the lack of playable characters or the middling writing.
The First Descendant is a solid looter shooter with some exciting moments that falls into repetition due to its grind, something that is somewhat expected but still tiresome. It could easily be a premium title if the monetization had been worked out in other ways, so now we have a free-to-play game that offers many hours of entertainment, but that could also potentially outstay its welcome faster than it should. It looks terrific at times, with good character design and some interesting bosses, although the downside is that it can often be another one of those advocates for the “grey and dull” environments. Gunplay feels fast and enjoyable, but grind and monetization may end up being the factor that will keep it from ascending to the next level.
At the end of the day, though, XDefiant is free to try and free to own. There is literally zero barriers for entry to try it out. But even so, does it respect the player enough to warrant pouring hours into it? I have to say yes, but barely. Sure, the developers have promised a lot of things that are headed to the game, but we can’t grade a product based on its potential, right? If the devs do manage to add a ping system, adjust objective scoring, etc., then that could make XDefiant one of the year’s best multiplayer experiences. But until that day happens, we need to score it based on what’s on the table. For now, XDefiant is worth the download and disk space. I mean, I’m now at level 80+ and even with the issues I’ve mentioned, I’m still playing it; that has to account for something, right? If its execution matches its ambition, then this could be the start of another long-running Ubisoft franchise.
Braid Anniversary Edition is a good example of it being very hard to mess up a great thing, which Braid itself already was. Every change or addition in this remake was for the better, as the game itself was not just updated superficially, but also received new content for players old and new to experience. The original Braid still holds up well today as one of the best puzzle-platformers ever made and now Braid Anniversary Edition continues to prove that in this stellar remake.
It took a long time for Sand Land to transition from manga to other mediums, but I am certainly glad we have gotten the opportunity now to appreciate another of Toriyama’s creations in multiple ways after his passing. Sand Land as a game is a solid action RPG that tries some new things with the vehicle-based combat on top of a standard regular combat system, albeit with some flaws, along with keeping you invested for much longer through the captivating story largely propelled by the likable characters themselves. For those who have watched the anime and want to explore this world or those who know absolutely nothing about the story going in, Sand Land is a worthwhile experience for anybody looking for a fairly safe RPG that will give them about 20-30 hours of gameplay overall, even more so if they appreciate the art style of Toriyama.
Hellblade 2 is more of a good thing, a thing that started with the first game and doesn’t change a winning formula. Admittedly, it’s not a formula that is going to win over everyone, but the limited gameplay is offset by the stunning visual and aural work, the entrancing journey into psychosis with the voices constantly messing with Senua’s ambitions and insecurities, and an overall cinematic feel that very few games manage to rival.
While I know it’s not the perfect game, and certainly not one for everyone, I do know that it’ll be a title that I’ll find myself returning to year after year until Dragon’s Dogma 3 is made. Let’s hope that’s not another 12 years, but if it is, at least we’ll have a sequel to keep us busy for the years to come. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an instant classic, the ultimate RPG adventure that fans have been dreaming about, making that long wait well worth it.
Would I recommend picking these titles up if you’re a recently converted Star Wars fan and you’ve never played them before? No, I don’t think I would. The inherent value of the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection lies primarily in its nostalgia factor. For those of us who grew up playing Ewok Hunt on Endor and abusing Anakin’s Force Choke in Mos Eisley, this package will feel like home. But it’ll feel the same way home feels when you move out for the first time and come back to find that your parents are not idols but normal people, and flawed people at that. The Battlefront Classic Collection presents Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2 in their most faithful forms and refuses to elaborate on them, down to every quirk, fault, and irritating repetitive bug. Making these games accessible on modern systems is great, sure. Making them accessible by modern standards would have been better. The Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is a delightful and painful romp through old stomping grounds that will likely lose its short-lived luster in a matter of weeks. The good old days are not as good as they seem. It’s time to let the past die. Kill it if we have to.