Clinton Bowman-Christie
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Writing For
The OuterHavenLatest Reviews
I’ve given quite a few games 5-star ratings to games, for various reasons. This specific 5-star rating is different. If I had to equate Red Dead Redemption 2 to any other form of art, the first thing that comes to mind is Nas’ Illmatic or Madvillainy by Madvillain, two absolute classic albums in Hip-Hop. Red Dead Redemption is a true video game classic, and being in elite company wasn’t something that was going to hinder this game’s vision. Effective storytelling with fleshed out characters who don’t trample over each other, amazing soundtrack, and unrivaled photo-realism makes a truly complete game.
Am I wrong to say that Madden‘s re-debut on the PC Gaming front is the right choice? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and trust me, EA Tiburon understands that more than anyone. Madden Ultimate Team continues to be the standard bearer for fantasy sports in video games, Franchise Mode continues to evolve and Longshot closes out a two-year storyline with some stellar storytelling. The gameplay is crisp, and even though its the only game in town, Madden NFL 19 doesn’t rest on its laurels one bit.
A masterpiece in terms of storytelling, Yakuza 6 is the most fitting sunset to the Kazuma Kiryu saga. Every little feature of Yakuza 6 is enjoyable from beginning to end, and it seems like the team made a point not to make the game feel slow in any way, even with the amount of exposition that this game has. There are moments where you’ll laugh your head off and others where you’ll be held in suspense, but it keeps it fresh throughout the game. Even the mini-games and sub-stories keep you coming back, increasing the replay value.
The beauty about WWE 2K18 is that it doesn’t change much, but the things that they did change matter. Presentation, match flow, as well as keeping MyPLAYER’s creation suite and the main game’s creative suite separate matters…A LOT. Yeah, there are some flaws in the game, and that comes with the territory of yearly releases, but to indicate that the small changes weren’t enough would be giving this game a disservice, and for what we got, it’s a decently engaging edition of WWE 2K.
You don’t always need a huge step forward to make a big difference, and Madden NFL 18 exemplifies that. Sometimes adding something new, while also polishing the already established stuff makes for a fantastic experience. Longshot is engaging without being truly time-consuming, and this year’s Madden Ultimate Team is probably one of the most fully featured Ultimate Team-like concepts implemented by either 2K or EA. The fact that you can play three different ways definitely opens up Madden to more players is beautiful in both theory and practice. Madden NFL 18 is near perfection, and I couldn’t be happier to continue playing this game.
Even though it’s not the Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Mania does a lot of good things right. Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley put out a beautiful love letter to Sonic fans from the Genesis and Advance eras of Sonic 2D platformers. The nods to all of SEGA’s classic titles, the innovative boss fights, the merging of several classic levels, all of it proves that to capture the pure essence of Sonic the Hedgehog, sometimes it is good to simply go back to the basics…
Valkyria Revolution tries so hard to be different, yet it falls on its face. There are so much of what made the original series great in this game, but all of that gets eschewed for a disappointing title unworthy of the name “Valkyria.”
What TEKKEN 7 does isn’t all that revolutionary, no pun intended. However, TEKKEN 7 takes a chance by adding some things that may prove to extend its life in not only the Fighting Game Community but also in the casual market as well. A well-crafted story, tournament mode for organizers to utilize and a variety of fighters to choose from, TEKKEN 7 stakes its claim as one of the best fighting games to come out in a year where fighting games are stuck in the public eye.
Little Nightmares is an amazing experience, albeit there are some things that are left to be desired. However, for a first attempt by the studio that gave us Little Big Planet content, as well as Tearaway Unfolded, Little Nightmares is an easily recommended time-killing adventure.