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Overall Hearthstone is a lot of fun to play, and has potential to be a game that stays around for a long time. While it may not be as complicated as an actual collectible card game, or have the appeal of showing off your collection to your friends, it is a great videogame that has minimal issues and is in a neat package, so it would be foolish to try to compare it to something it's not trying to be.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall doesn't drastically change the mechanics or systems that were introduced in the main game, which is slightly disappointing as there could have been improvements made but the addition of the new save system is a big relief. The writing and story remains the same high quality from the main game and feels a bit more cohesive from Dead Man's Switch; that story took a lot of twists and turns but Dragonfall feels more focused by giving you a personal connection right from the start. If you enjoyed your first taste of Shadowrun, then Dragonfall should be an immediate purchase.
As you can probably tell from my time with it, Yoshi's New Island isn't a "must have," but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. It's very much by the books based on any genre standard, and there's pretty much nothing new here that you'll need to run out to experience. But even so, fans of the genre will still dig it.
Titanfall has all of the pieces to make a very nice FPS puzzle -- a wide variety of well crafted maps, a decent amount of familiar game modes, and a prestige system to hold the interest of veterans. In that sense, it's a very welcoming game that many disenchanted genre fans will enjoy. Just don't expect anything monumentally different, or a worthwhile world to enjoy while you're having fun shooting everything in sight.
When it comes down to it, Infested Planet is a fun spin on sci-fi real-time strategy that makes good use of tower defense mechanics in an offense-focused game. A little rough around the edges, it still manages to succeed in creating an experience that is challenging and unique every round while providing options which accommodate a wide range of skill level.
What it does to differentiate itself from previous entries in the series is mostly superficial, but Layton fans and puzzle lovers do not really need or want a great departure for the series. All we want is a puzzle-solving adventure, and Azran Legacy delivers a good one.
TowerFall: Ascension has something for just about everybody. If you're at all intrinsically motivated, you will find something to love in the deep well of content available here. I've (intentionally) not even mentioned the fact that there are hidden secrets scattered throughout the game for the treasure-seekers out there until now, as if the fact that there are secrets was a secret of its own until just now! If you do have some local friends who can come over and hold a controller, buy this game immediately and invite them over, because TowerFall: Ascension is easily one of the best things you can do on a couch.
While the newest episode has a few more moments of downtime than I would have liked, it sets up a clear arc that will play out for the rest of Season Two. Telltale has managed to also bring back its past efforts into the fold, and although their impact is minor, I'm glad it was addressed sooner than later. Although I'm still not sure if this new cast is going to top Lee's old crew, A House Divided is a great second offering, and I'm sufficiently hooked.
Each new combination of guns and perks can create a brand new playstyle in order to keep things fresh. Tower of Guns is a beautiful marriage of two of my favorite genres, the first-person shooter and the roguelike. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my run I paused to finish this review.
Basement Crawl is not only a broken, unfinished game -- it's also a poor one. It's sad that given the situation with Hudson Soft and Konami, the chances of a PS4 port of a Bomberman game are slim to none. It sounds weird to be asking for yet another Bomberman game in 2014, but given the circumstances, anything would be better than this.
With a few more tweaks, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare would be a must-buy for pretty much any shooter fan out there. But even with its blemishes, I was incredibly surprised by the amount of depth the game has to offer on top of all of its charm. Hopefully EA will ease off the microtransactions in the future and even more content will pile in, because with the right moves and support, Garden Warfare will be something special for quite some time.
The problem with Chaos Rising is that while it offers up something unique compared to the other two DLCs, it suffers from a weak, unengaging lead character and uninteresting sidequests. What Capcom should have done with these add-ons is meld all these ideas together for a massive single campaign for $10. As it stands after three middling parts, I can firmly say that spending the full $30 for the Season Pass is a waste.
I don't mind on-rails shooters even in the modern era, but there are certain concessions that should be made to ensure that they're not shallow. The fact that Rambo: The Video Game is being sold for almost full retail price is insulting, not to mention the fact that it feels mostly unfinished and uninspired. If you need a Rambo fix, you're better off just watching the original trilogy and acting like this never happened.
Thief is a great escape for those of you who yearn for more stealth experiences, but it doesn't really offer up anything exciting. The story and characters are somewhat forgettable, most of the missions are straightforward, and the locales tend to blend together after a while. Having said that, there's a lot of potential here if you dig deep down into the game's ingenious difficulty sliders and challenge modes. In that sense, Thief succeeds as a bold stealth game, despite its bruises.
Double Helix has really come into its own. Strider reminds me of a Shadow Complex with a much better combat system and a scaled-down exploration element. And that's perfectly okay with me.
I didn't think it was possible, but Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has topped Returns. It's an incredibly crafted platformer with an HD sheen and an insane attention to detail, and any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to experience it. With the addition of control options to the already proven formula, Retro Studios' rendition of Donkey Kong is pretty much flawless.
In the end, Gigantic Army is a breezy retro-style shooter that STG enthusiasts would do well to check out. The tiny doujin team at Astro Port have created something special, hearkening back to the games of yesteryear with a well-crafted dose of nostalgia. Considering the modest asking price and the overall quality of the package, there's no reason to be gun-shy over this mecha shmup. Go on, pull the trigger.
Fallen Angel still ties into main game's progression gameplay wise, which means Angel shares the same level, stats, and collectible status as Nick and Adam. There are a few unique extras on offer like the chance to burn propaganda posters and destroy security cameras, but it's nothing new or exciting. New weapons are in tow, most notably dual machine guns that allow you to relive your innermost John Woo fantasies, and a cool-looking pulse gun, which is a combo weapon. As always, all of the DLC weapons unlock for use in any mode by way of the weapons locker.Fallen Angel is a much better effort than Broken Eagle, but the Lost Chapter DLC saga still isn't quite there, and certainly hasn't justified the Season Pass cost yet. It needs a lot more pizzazz to really rise to the bar that the core game set, and I hope Capcom follows through with the remaining two chapters.
If the presentation wasn't so horrible, One Piece: Romance Dawn would be a decent way for a JRPG fan to spend an afternoon after they've exhausted their library of other more innovative titles. If you've always wondered what the fuss was with One Piece, you'd be better off watching the show or playing the fun, but flawed Pirate Warriors series.
The Castle Doctrine is certainly an experience unlike any other, but I also find it hard to recommend since it's so obtuse and seems to want to put new players at a huge disadvantage, increasing the skill gap between the best and the worst. Intense research and work must be put forth to succeed, but there's no real motivation except bigger and better death traps. If you have a penchant for creating complex death traps with a limited toolset, The Castle Doctrine may be just for you. Otherwise,do some research before moving into the most dangerous neighborhood of all time.