Chandler Wood

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Latest Reviews

It would be easy to dismiss Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl as a licensed Super Smash Bros. clone simply looking to cash-in on the popularity of Nintendo’s own prize fighter. While it ultimately is an unapologetic Smash clone, it actually comes away copying the best parts of Smash Bros. mechanics that really make Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl a surprisingly good fighting game. But outside of that core fighter, this licensed brawler doesn’t really have a lot dressing it up to keep things interesting for extended play.

The Far Cry series has been taking people to far flung places, and even eras, for over a decade. We’ve been to Pacific Islands, the Himalayas, the remote back country of Montana, the prehistoric past, and a post-apocalyptic future. Far Cry 6 heads to Yara, a fictional country modeled after Cuba. Cut off from the rest of the world by restrictive trade embargoes, Yara is run by a cruel nationalistic dictator named Anton Castillo. Dani Rojas must join the fight against him and his regime, recruiting guerillas to Libertad in order to free the country from Castillo’s ruthless iron grip.

Hades PS5 Review - Hades is finally on PS4 and PS5, and it was worth the wait. Supergiant Games' latest is deserving of every award it's won over the last year.

After a year-long exclusivity on Google Stadia, Orcs Must Die! 3 has finally made its way onto other platforms. In fact, in many ways we have Stadia to thank for Orcs Must Die! 3 even existing, nearly 10 years after the last numbered entry in the series was released. I absolutely loved 2017’s Orcs Must Die! Unchained, a free-to-play multiplayer take on the series unique realtime tower defense formula, but it was the cause for some financial trouble for Robot Entertainment after it flopped commercially. After getting back on their feet with the Stadia deal, I was thrilled to hear that Orcs Must Die! 3 was finally headed to consoles.

The opening moments of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart riff on the fact that there hasn’t been a brand new Ratchet and Clank adventure in nearly a decade. The Lombax and his robot pal are attending a parade as the guests of honor, and Ratchet remarks that he doesn’t know why there’s a parade focused on them; they haven’t really done anything in forever. It’s a nice wink, nod, and grin at the player. As a longtime Ratchet and Clank fan, I appreciated Insomniac almost speaking directly to me, as if to say “we got you.”

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Review - This is the essential collection of the original Mass Effect trilogy, providing modern players the perfect place to play every game in one place.

The Resident Evil series has gone from a spooky zombie game, to mutated monsters, to crazed villagers and more. It seems like the team at Capcom is constantly trying to find new things that the series’ assorted viruses and molds and whatever other bio-enhancements can mutate into. Resident Evil Village is a foray into monster movie classics. The creatures you’ll encounter here are the savage and agile lycans, vampire-like maidens, and even some that meld flesh and metal in a rather Frankenstein-like way. While it’s another bold new direction for the series, Village is also home to plenty of classic Resident Evil comforts, for better or worse.

Returnal’s core conceit is about breaking the cycle. Selene crashes her ship on the mysterious—and dangerous—planet of Atropos, and every time she dies, she is returned to the crash site. The world changes around each time she sets out anew, learning new things about her situation on the alien planet and figuring out how it all ties together. The goal is to find a way to free Selene from this vicious unending cycle of death and rebirth, but Returnal is so good, I never want the cycle to end.

Outriders Review - Outriders is unapologetically Outriders. It balances the power fantasy with providing players a challenge, and weathers its flaws to offer an engaging gameplay loop.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 PS5 Review - Same Skate, New Console (PS5): Improved visuals, loading times, and DualSense features do Tony good.