Mark Steighner
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COGConnected Latest Reviews
Anno 117: Pax Romana takes the series into fertile new historical territory and is one of the best games in the Anno franchise, as well as being one of the most enjoyable city builder sims in recent memory. Polished, incredibly detailed, and beautiful to look at, Anno 117 hides imposing systems depth and complexity behind a relatively accessible interface. Like the Roman Empire itself, the game is a perfect platform for inevitable expansion. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of quality content for fans of the genre.
Where Winds Meet is over-ambitious, messy, opaque, and inconsistent. It has too many gears that don’t mesh, a lot that’s poorly explained, and it refuses to give the player a moment of unproductive time, even at the cost of coherence and comprehensibility. For all that, Where Winds Meet is a lot of fun. It often looks incredible and the world is certainly filled with content, whether for a single player or in a group. Even without touching the cash shop, Where Winds Meet provides a huge amount of free game play. Right now, Where Winds Meet is a little shy of greatness, but with some technical improvements and time it could get there.
ARC Raiders is simply one of the most polished and accessible third person extraction shooters in recent memory. It has something for everyone, from solo players to teams ready to wreak havoc in the world. With a confident and coherent mashup of systems and a simple, addictive loop, ARC Raiders helps wrap up a notable gaming year in fine fashion.
Syberia’s setting and narrative premise were interesting in 2002, and remain so in Syberia Remastered. Thanks to its improved visuals and several quality-of-life features, modern gamers should find it accessible. Unfortunately, the game’s pacing, unadulterated cutscenes, and overall approach to puzzles mean that some parts of Syberia Remastered feel stuck in the past. Fans of the original will enjoy revisiting this new version, but I’m not sure if new gamers will be quite as engaged.
Thanks to its modular building systems, new juvenile dinosaurs, and engaging campaign, Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the best of the series. It feels like a more flexible and more refined version of a familiar game. If it had compatibility with prior content, it would be a 10/10, but Jurassic World Evolution 3 is a great foundation for expansion.
For fans of the first game, the wait for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been long and frustrating, and the new game likely arrives with unrealistic expectations. Far from being an unmitigated disaster, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is entertaining but flawed. Excellent writing, a solid narrative, and quality performances are definitely high points. Uninspired quests and underdeveloped RPG elements suck some of the fun and potential replayability from the experience. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is probably not the game fans hoped for, but its setting, lore, and noire-ish vibe make it worth consideration for fans of all things vampire.
I’ll give Painkiller props for its imaginative weapons, sharp visuals, and visceral combat. It’s a hollow and transitory experience for solo players offline, and you can see what Painkiller has to offer in very short order. As a co-op game, it fares better. Still, I can’t imagine Painkiller becoming any shooter fan’s obsession. The nuts and bolts of what could be an impressive game are there, but in its present form, there’s simply too much repetition and too few surprises.
I’ll give Painkiller props for its imaginative weapons, sharp visuals, and visceral combat. It’s a hollow and transitory experience for solo players offline, and you can see what Painkiller has to offer in very short order. As a co-op game, it fares better. Still, I can’t imagine Painkiller becoming any shooter fan’s obsession. The nuts and bolts of what could be an impressive game are there, but in its present form, there’s simply too much repetition and too few surprises.
Setting aside its sometimes sluggish combat controls and a few frustrating mechanics, there’s a lot to enjoy about The Lonesome Guild. With beautiful art and a much-appreciated theme centering on connection and communication, The Lonesome Guild should appeal to fans of puzzle-heavy action RPGs looking for narrative depth.
There are a few ways in which The Outer Worlds 2 doesn’t improve on the first game. It’s bigger, deeper, and more complex. The story and characters are more satisfying. Combat has been refined. It takes its time and demands players be patient and engage in all its systems, and overlook some technical issues that pop up somewhat frequently. I can’t imagine a world — Outer or not — in which fans of the original won’t enjoy this new experience.