Kevin Dunsmore
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Hardcore Gamer Latest Reviews
Assassin’s Creed has been lost in the wilderness for some time now with fans split firmly into two camps. On one side, you have the traditionalists that stand firmly behind the pre-Origins titles, preferring their narrative linearity, urban cities for advanced parkour and a blend of mechanics that made you feel like an assassin. On the other hand are the RPG fans who crave the open worlds, narrative choices and more action-packed combat of the post-Origins titles. At the center is Ubisoft and its studios, who have not only struggled to find a middle ground that pleases both camps, but have stumbled through numerous controversies over the last few years. Botched launches, copying and pasting of design ideas and intense monetization of every release has hurt their reputation over time. Suffice to say, there’s a lot riding on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the first mainline entry since 2020. After two major delays to polish the game and promises that it would blend elements to make both camps happy, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally here. Is Assassin’s Creed Shadows the hail mary Assassin’s Creed and Ubisoft needed or should this game have stayed in the shadows?
There will never be another moment for Star Wars gaming like there was during the prequel era. Buoyed by the renewed interest in Star Wars and evolution in gaming graphics, LucasArts and its partners began pumping out a trove of games based on the IP. That era gave us beloved titles like Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront I and II, Republic Commando, and Jedi Power Battles among many others. Once thought lost to time, publisher Aspyr Media has spent the past few years porting these titles to modern platforms with various improvements.
There’s a good reason why Treyarch and Black Ops are so beloved by the Call of Duty community. The sub-franchise usually delivers the stronger campaigns, multiplayer and third modes in the series. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 does all of those things, especially when compared to the more recent Call of Dutys. The campaign, from Raven Software, may drop the ball at the end with its story, but it’s filled with fantastic characters and a wide variety of missions that help elevate it into must-play territory.
The wait for Horizon 3, and honestly, a lot of PlayStation Studios titles is agonizing, especially four years into the PS5’s lifecycle. Horizon Zero Dawn isn’t that old of a game or in dire need of a remaster like those still trapped on PS3 hardware, but what Nixxes has managed to do with Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered is simply breathtaking. The studio has successfully taken a game that delivered a nearly perfect presentation for the time and managed to make it look even better. No stone was left unturned, with Nixxes essentially overhauling every detail, piece of vegetation, animation and material possible.
Relive the bounty hunter fantasy and take control of the legendary Jango Fett. Explore the galaxy's underbelly, face off against deadly foes, and capture a fallen Jedi as you explore Jango's story leading up to Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
It’s hard to keep something going for ten years, especially a Live Service game. The industry is littered with failed attempts at building ten-year plans. Despite Destiny’s many ups and downs and lack of consistent quality through the years, Destiny 2: The Final Shape completes Bungie’s ambitious ten-year plan and mostly sticks the landing. Its story is the most focused a Destiny tale has ever gotten, opting to focus on character interactions, linear level design and heartfelt payoffs. While this route meant a complete neglect of the series’ big bad, it did culminate in an epic finale to the Light and Darkness saga.
The world of competitive arena FPS titles needs fresh blood. Call of Duty is still mostly good, but the genre sorely needs an injection of new titles and ideas. XDefiant doesn’t offer that, instead preferring to package together disparate ideas for better or worse. When XDefiant clicks, it clicks. The core mechanics that are so reminiscent of old school Call of Duty feel good and deliver an exhilarating experience. Weapons and maps are solid, though don’t do much to help XDefiant stand out amongst the military shooter crowd, something that could have been helped if the selections leaned more into what makes each Ubisoft franchise unique. Where XDefiant hurts is its lack of identity, lack of polish and its hunger for cash.
Team Ninja's most ambitious project today is a successful one, albeit not a flawless one. Rise of the Ronin aims to deliver an epic story filled with well-rounded characters, an open-world adventure, action-filled combat and a presentation taking advantage of current-gen hardware. For the most part, it succeeds. The story is indeed epic, with plenty of intrigue delivered by well-rounded characters, even at the cost of the player character. Exploring Japan's famous cities is a real treat, with plenty of activities to interact with. Combat is fast, fun and inventive, even though sometimes things can get too chaotic for the mechanics to handle. It's easily Team Ninja's most approachable game, providing both a story-focused experience for casual players and a hardcore experience for Nioh and Wo Long veterans. The presentation may not live up to or run at the current generation's standards, but the game looks decent enough and performs well enough to remain fun throughout. Team Ninja shot for the moon and delivered a fun open-world action game that, despite its faults, is an excellent experience. Rise of the Ronin provides a fantastic new vision for Team Ninja.
The Star Wars: Battlefront franchise has been through the wringer for almost two decades. Not only have we been denied a Star Wars Battlefront III twice, but fans have also had to live through genuinely rough launches. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is yet another rough launch. What should have been an easy win on paper is regrettably hampered by technical issues, of-the-era design decisions that impact the experience today and a lack of significant updates. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is a straight-up port whose simplicity would be charming if not for the technical issues or the wide availability of the original games without these issues on Xbox and PC, with the latter getting the remaster treatment via mods. At their core, both Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II remain fun to play even with the remaining jank from the era; it's just unfortunate that the collection they're in lacks polish. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection scratches that nostalgia itch but doesn't elevate itself beyond that.