Latest Reviews
Roaming the streets of Resident Evil Village is like visiting a disturbing and deadly Disneyland, where every attraction is a house of horrors. I got just as big a thrill out of revelling in its frenzied violence as I did retracing my steps through the gradually revealed recesses of its...
Despite its genuinely breathtaking scenery and interesting castaway premise, Windbound is ultimately a let down. Neither compelling as a survival simulation nor captivating as a story-based experience, Windbound is fundamentally all at sea and should be given a wide berth.
Vanillaware games have always looked great, but 13 Sentinels is the first time the studio has put a bulk of its focus on storytelling. And it pays off. This revival of classic sci-fi ideas hits all the right notes and goes deep without overstaying its welcome, even at over 20...
Going in the direction of a simple, easy to pick up and play pro wrestling game was absolutely the right move as an alternative to the simulation-heavy mainline WWE 2K games, but WWE 2K Battlegrounds botches what should’ve been a sure thing. Its gameplay is too shallow, its microtransactions are...
Just like all the previous Serious Sam games, the main idea in Serious Sam 4 is “But what if there were even more enemies?” There’s not much more to it than that. This style of run-and-gun action is definitely challenging, it’s just getting played out, and the returns on the...
MLB The Show 21 does a great job of opening its pristine baseball simulator to a brand-new group of players as it arrives on Xbox for the first time. Much like MLB The Show 20 before it, it still plays a bit too safe in most instances, only offering marginal...
Olija
Olija is a short-lived odyssey, and it would’ve been great if there were additional difficulties or any sort of incentive to replay its brief, four-hour campaign. But as a bite-sized 2D action adventure, it leaves a very strong impression thanks to a magical harpoon that makes fighting, moving, and discovering...
Super Mario Bros. 35 is an extremely fun twist on the classic platformer and the battle royale formula with plenty to love, although it starts to lose its luster after just a few hours because repeating level 1-1 and a handful of other early levels becomes a chore. But before...
If Earthblood had at least been a fun beat-em-up, I would have been disappointed by the missed opportunity but glad we got a somewhat decent game about that one aspect of Werewolf: the Apocalypse. But the clumsy, unsatisfying combat even takes the teeth out of that and leaves nothing much...
Trials of Mana is absolutely charming and does an excellent job keeping what works from the original while upgrading its aesthetics to the modern era. The combat system works well in its new 3D trappings, with a tough but satisfying learning curve. The transition to modern tech has introduced some...
The moment-to-moment gameplay of Returnal is sublime, with a great selection of weapons that each have a wide variety of interesting possible traits, meaningful strategic decisions that can either keep a run afloat or doom it to sink, and punishingly challenging yet rewarding gunplay that is consistently exhilarating. Even with...
Valorant is the most fun I've had with a multiplayer FPS since Valve's Team Fortress 2. The flexibility of its magically-infused cast paired with a deep arsenal makes for a magnificent competitive canvas, if a tricky one to initially pick up. I'm already pondering new strategies to pull off with...
