Ben Kuchera
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Writing For
PolygonLatest Reviews
Jedi: Fallen Order is a flawed, sometimes messy game, but it’s a Star Wars experience I didn’t know I wanted. And after finishing it, I definitely want more.
But even the complete death of my clan doesn’t mean I lost. it just means that my evolutionary strategy was unsuccessful. I can always start over in Ancestors, understanding a tiny bit more of what I need to do.
The opening scenes of the sisters training to survive in combat, matched with the vomiting and joy that comes from their first time actually killing a Nazi, provide a hint at an interesting story that the game quickly backs away from. Youngblood is a meat-and-potatoes first-person shooter where all the systems work well, the enemies provide a brutal challenge, and a friend can come along with you through the whole thing. It seems like it was designed as a relatively inexpensive crowd-pleaser of an FPS, and I will admit that I was very entertained.
B.J. is comfortable killing thousands upon thousands of his enemies if they stand between him and a bit of peace. But killing isn’t all that Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus offers. It’s the rare first-person shooter that explores the first time its hero pulled a trigger; it’s the rare first-person shooter that is comfortable connecting with the primal, untamed parts of your brain while celebrating just how fucking good it feels to lay out a Nazi.
If you can judge a game based on the moments that make you put it down for the night, Just Cause 3 is hard to criticize: I only stopped when I needed to sleep, not because I wanted to put the game down. The "did you see that?!" factor seems unlimited here, and it kept me coming back to discover what unexpected domino of explosions I could start next with a single grenade. The formula of the Just Cause series hasn't been expanded, but it has been improved. And it's rare that a game is so comfortable in its own skin.