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Make no mistake—regardless of my feelings about not getting the full trilogy, and my mild disappointment with how Gears of War plays in 2015, The Coalition has made a triple-A package worth picking up for any fan of the series.
[Madden NFL] 16 has been one of the best in recent history and it's a delight to see EA continually cook up new ways to serve an old dish.
Until Dawn delivers on multiple fronts and it's a welcome addition to any PS4 owner's library.
The biggest problem, though, which ultimately makes F1 2015 "not recommended" is that the racing gets rather tedious.
Maybe it's petty to lay into a game for what it could've been, but this game, though unique, charming, and well-executed, feels like an appetizer when I really wanted a meal. Although the story doesn't feel cut off, it just feels too brief overall. I'd have preferred a game that ended when I wanted it to end. Still, I'm impressed with the job Tiger & Squid did with Team17's faithful help. It is at least a solid, unfettered artist's vision, not sullied by AAA expectations and producer's interjections. For that, I'll take this short trip any day.
The variety in game modes doesn't quite make up for the lack of heroes, but Toy Soldiers: War Chest provides some quality entertainment for tower defense aficionados. Even those who typically avoid the genre might appreciate the ability to control turrets and heroes.
Because of a greater focus on subtler story cues, reining in Pandora's complete irreverence for normalcy, "Escape Plan Bravo" works in a way previous episodes didn't, though "Atlas Mugged" came close. The emotional moments worked without that awkward, out-of-place feeling that came with similar scenes in the past. There is an action scene, a giant shootout of sorts, but you have to see it to believe it, and it serves as some necessary comic relief before the final act.
What I experienced instead was a not-infrequent fury that a game could so thoroughly botch precision controls, while trolling you with a presentation designed to lull you into a meditative state, then punishing you for not being able to focus on precise tasks, over and over and over again.
If you can let go of semantics and get involved in a story you don't control directly, then there may be something for you. It's a moving story told through gorgeous graphics, excellent voice acting, and a transcendent musical score that pleasures your ears during poignant moments. And yes, you basically just walk around much in the same way you can boil many games to just doing any number of repetitive actions. Give this a try. You may fall in love.
Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings is a delight to play.
In order to maintain perspective, and sometimes to provide relief, while reviewing a game, I usually play another one concurrently. Coincidentally, my go-to game during this period was a remake, specifically Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, which was a from-the-ground-up redo of Abe's Oddysee. I understand it's completely different from Legend of Kay Anniversary and probably has a different audience entirely (in that is has one at all). But whereas New 'n' Tasty feels like a love letter to its origins, Legend of Kay feels confused and restricted by its source. I honestly feel that this game could've been actually re-made, brought into modern times, and been successful. As it is, though, it's just further fodder for the anti-remake resistance.
Galak-Z rewards players who stick with it. There's an overwhelming sense satisfaction that comes from seeing player growth, and I know I improved as I played more of the game. I learned enemy patterns and knew when to pick my battles, which is a stark contrast to when I first loaded the game up and went in guns blazing. The mission structure and narrative leave something to be desired, but when I think of Galak-Z, I think of my many triumphs and the elation I felt when I completed a season. Few games manage to instill that feeling of triumph quite like Galak-Z.
This is the fourth time in as many chapters that Life Is Strange has shocked me big time. So bring on the conclusion stat. I am ready for one more trip to Arcadia Bay.
At the end of the campaign, you'll most likely be surprised to find that the one person who hung out with you was really three, or four, or more. What's more surprising was that seeing all the people I'd come into contact with hits me emotionally. I don't know them, but I 'know' them.
Rare Replay is a momentous celebration of gaming history. The package has been constructed with care and attention to detail, offering gamers of all types a glimpse into the past of one of the industry's greatest studios.
Really though, there's a lot of content here, and it's all worth exploring. The different character archetypes are all perfectly playable and fun to build up a personalized team with (my samurai is always named Sanjuro, in case anybody wanted to know). Difficulty might be off the scale at times, with the occasional enemy that will take going back to earlier floors to even think about taking on, and the shop gets pricey, but I can't honestly find much fault in this game beyond that. It's definitely too hardcore for many casual fans, but if you're the type that enjoys a sturdy wall to break down in the name of progress, then I hope you brought some padding… sometimes, love hurts.
The worst part about my experience with Godzilla is the fact that it didn't provide laughs or enjoyment because of its poor quality. Instead, I just sat there bored for much of the time as I endlessly destroyed cities and fought other monsters in terribly unbalanced fights.
Rocket League was great back when I got to preview it, but having more time with it really made it clear just how much the developer Psyonix has managed to zero in on what's fun about the experience. It has a very limited set of modes currently, and the single-player feels a little flat; but the multiplayer is glorious, fast paced fun, with short explosive play sessions that you just want to keep coming back to, with plenty of amazing moments where you won't believe you—or another player—managed to make that shot.
If ever a game was made to put (mostly) buxom girls in bikinis and have them fight, this is the culmination of that. And hey, there's a time and a place for such things (again, LC comes to mind). Otherwise, there are so many other, better, more fulfilling beat-'em-ups to dive into. Why bother with this one-trick pony?
[A]s much as Night Golf and reduced loading times are fantastic additions to the standard PGA Tour offering, I would rather have more courses, golfers, and character customization with clean next-gen graphics. Content and execution outweigh novelty modes and convenience.