Dave Letcavage
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Writing For
Pure Xbox 
Nintendo Life Latest Reviews
Dark Souls III improves on its predecessors in nearly every way, making for the most masterfully-crafted, tautly-paced entry in the series. The combat is faster and more flexible, the world design is complex but never bloated, and the atmospheric presentation makes you feel like you're completely engulfed in the unsettling sights and sounds of this volatile fantasy world. Should this truly be the last time we seek respite in the warm glow of a bonfire, we can rest easy knowing Dark Souls III is a deserving and satisfying end to a phenomenal series.
Quantum Break's commitment to delivering a rich, layered narrative isn't always conducive to gameplay, but that doesn't diminish how engrossing this is an entertainment experience. The combination of intense time-bending action, gripping story, and cutting-edge presentation make this the kind of game that sucks you in and doesn't let go until the credits roll. While it's not quite as inventive as it thinks it is, Quantum Break is fresh, ambitious, and a heck of a lot of fun.
While it doesn't quite reach its full potential, Star Wars: Battlefront harnesses the power of the Force to make for a multiplayer experience that's more concerned with fun and authenticity than deep mechanics and impeccable balance. DICE has absolutely knocked the presentation out of the park, making you feel like you're smack dab in the middle of your favorite action scenes from the classic Star Wars film trilogy. For many Star Wars enthusiasts, that's going to be more than enough to justify the price of admission. For everyone else, however, a limited amount of content and a few missteps will potentially diminish long-term appeal. This is a strong return for the Battlefront moniker, but there's much room for improvement.
With reinvigorated mechanics, Halo 5: Guardians ushers the series into a new era with confidence. The core gameplay has never been better and more involving, and it benefits all areas of the package. While the multiplayer components are the best since Halo 3, the campaign disappoints in a few key areas. It's still enjoyable and exciting on the whole, but it lacks the narrative concentration and the memorable gameplay scenarios to stand neck and neck with the best entries in the series. Halo 5: Guardians still gets a massive recommendation from us for many reasons, though there's certainly room for 343 Industries to improve and evolve the campaign formula next time around.
Penarium is one of the best arcade-style games we've played this console generation. The campaign doesn't last all that long, and more multiplayer options would've been appreciated, but all in all, there's a healthy amount of content for the price. If fast-paced gameplay and high-score chasing are your thing, we suggest planning a trip to this sadistic carnival. Just don't be surprised if you end up imprisoned, losing hours upon hours of your life to the addictive chaos.
Mad Max's frame may be built from familiar parts, but that doesn't mean there aren't enough surprises under the hood to make for a furiously enjoyable ride. We've spent over 40 hours crusading through the most inhospitable regions of the Wasteland and don't yet feel ready to retire the Magnum Opus to the garage, which might just be the ultimate compliment. Mad Max isn't a perfect game, and it probably won't win over anyone tired of the open-world formula, but this is an instance where we feel pure fun trumps any minor disappointments. Hit the road and find out for yourself.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is anything but a lazy remaster. With a bunch of new content, a massive visual overhaul, mechanical improvements, and other subtle modernizations, Ultimate Edition has earned the right to be referred to as the definitive version of Gears of War. There are some aspects of the core design that will occasionally remind you that there's an almost 10-year-old game underneath that attractive new coat of paint, but what's more noticeable is how well the bulk of the experience holds up. Whether you have history with the series or not, you should consider heading back to the place where it all started. Trust us when we say that kicking Locust butt is as satisfying as it ever was.
Traveling through the virtual halls of Rare Replay is like venturing through a well-preserved museum, one that proudly showcases the many timeless works of an extraordinarily creative developer. This package isn't merely a collection of 30 games carelessly slapped together for the sake of doing so; it's concerned with little details and extras, and it's presented in a way unlike any compilation before it. There are certain control and formatting options that we would've liked to see included, but there's so much engrossing entertainment here that it feels wrong to whine about what are, in most cases, negligible details. Even though it costs actual money, Rare Replay feels like a heartfelt gift from Rare to its fans, and it deserves your time, money, and appreciation.
The integrity of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is cheapened due to the constant presence of performance issues. Other than that, though, this is the same Borderlands you know and love – or don't. We're still recommending The Handsome Collection because, despite its blemishes and the general shortcomings of the Borderlands formula, it's often an absolute riot of a time – playing with friends, whether local or online, is the way to go. Let's just hope we get a patch that eliminates the screen tearing, frame-rate drops, and texture pop-in that permeates the package. Then this will truly be one good-looking collection.
While we weren't particularly impressed with Battlefield Hardline's multiplayer offering, we did like the intense ride that the campaign took us on. The story might be fairly throwaway, but the environments, set pieces, and the gameplay scenarios you'll often find yourself in are memorable and make up for the clichés and nonsensical plot details. When it comes to multiplayer, Hardline's slight mode shakeups don't mean much when the respawn system is such a mess. Granted there are maps and modes that don't suffer from this issue, but even at their very best, the various selections feel like minor tweaks on the usual formulas.