Digital Chumps
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Time will tell if God's Acre is the portion of Republique you skip over before getting to its fifth episode. Before—and, hopefully, after—Republique has done much better.
The best way to play a classic FPS that can still offer an engaging and fun experience for those willing to give it an honest chance.
Just Cause 3's shortcomings are so painful because Rico Rodriguez was expected to become a modern superhero. He's not. He's just another guy who has grown complacent behind his extraordinary set of powers. On a base level his (and by extension Just Cause 3's) explosive areas of expertise remain impressive, but his application falls well short of expectations and ultimately becomes inert. What good are the world's greatest explosions when you stop caring to see them?
Spelunker World relies a lot on gaming nostalgia to pull it through, while trying to mask the world of microtransactions. It works to an extent, but not completely. There is still too much simple, not enough modern and far too much room for frustration from failure. It's not a horrible game by any means, but it is limited in its capacity for fun in long stints.
Fat Princess prevailed through idiosyncratic charm and relative exclusivity. Fat Princess Adventures applies a similar style to a much more crowded space. Diminished returns were all but guaranteed, but, with a few friends, Fat Princess Adventures soldiers on as an enjoyable hack 'n slash.
Earth Defense Force 4.1 is a lesson in how endearment can turn into exasperation. Like the best magic tricks, it's astounding the first time you see it, but a waste of time when the performer can't figure out how to move on.
Fallout 4 is a knockdown, drag-out experience that let's the player play how they want. It's fun, engaging, and full of insane (and random) moments that will make you gasp. Fallout 4 is, without a doubt, the best IP Bethesda has made thus far.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is a boundless exhibition of the relationship between scale and structure, and its myriad of frenzied ideas are willed into cohesion only by the congruence of its supporting systems. Xenoblade Chronicles X may be obsessed with scale (and proudly so), but it doesn't leave the player feeling consumed by it.
At the end of the day Star Wars: Battlefront has some great positives, but also some clear negatives about it. The game takes current generation consoles to a new level with visuals, even setting some graphical benchmarks for online play, but it drags it down in sustainable substance that is required to keep a game going beyond a two month mark of the release. It needs a bit more to make it worth the price of admission, but there is enough there to keep a gamer entertained during the holidays, or at least until the free DLC arrives in December.
The Old Hunters is a controlled amplification of the same ideas that allowed Bloodborne to excel. It preys upon player expectations and introduces devilish twists and turns along a (mostly) new path. Ironically, The Old Hunters gives Bloodborne players more of what they want by obscuring its own nature. It's attractive because it still delivers a feverish unknown to a ravenous base.
For the diehard Nintendo or Mario Tennis fan, Ultra Smash is worth a look, but if you're looking for a satisfying new Wii U title this holiday, this probably won't do it for you.
A strange, compelling game that the more you read about the more you're going to want to play it -- and there's no better way currently to do so than this HD version.
The initial adventure in Rise of the Tomb Raider is around 6-8 hours, but every minute of it is fun, especially with retooled gameplay controls and unlockables for incentive. Adding to that time frame is a large amount of worthwhile exploring and wonderful backtracking once the campaign is completed. If you're into that, then this game is going to make you happy.
An outstanding game gets bigger and better, adding massive new features; simply put, it's a must have for RPG fans.
It's still an excellent game over three years removed from its original release, and having all of its content in one place here with spruced up visuals and tweaked loot distribution is nice -- but the graphical hiccups are a disappointment, although likely patchable. Still, for $30 or less, this is one of the best buys in gaming this holiday for anyone that hasn't played Darksiders II before.
The first episode of Albert & Otto finds difficulty moving between the demanding world of mechanics-focused platformers and atmospheric dives into subtlety and tension. With three episodes left, Albert & Otto has time to find an identity, provided it also hastens its pace with more inventive puzzles and dependable platforming.
This game could retail for $80, and I would still be inclined to tell CoD, FPS, and action game fans alike to get it day one. At $60, it's almost too good to be true. Black Ops III is the deepest Call of Duty ever. That I do know.
Despite the few gripes, I had a fun time playing this game. WWE 2K16 brings a bigger roster, more creative options for gamers, a revamped career mode that is mostly good and a bevy of other improvements to make the experience worth it. It's a nice step up from last year's game.
Need for Speed operates in two parallel universes. There's the racing, which benefits from better customization, diverse handling models, competitive visuals, and assorted racing challenges. These are the things that you expect, and Need for Speed delivers. Then there are the full motion video sequences, which thrive on first-person fist bumps, Monster energy toasts, and people saying the word "hashtag" without irony. For me, this presented a distressingly serious alien world, and I savored every second of it.
So good to see Night Dive Studios revive this classic and make it purchasable and playable again. If you've ever uttered the words 'cyberpunk' or like games that have the word 'shock' or "Deus Ex" in them, give this one an honest try -- it may not look the part in screenshots, but it's a legend.