Latest Reviews
So much could have been forgiven if the central, action RPG pillar of combat wasn’t constructed so poorly in The Technomancer. The world is clearly crafted with vision and attention to detail, but the characters who inhabit it come off too often as awkward marionettes who would rather be doing...
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is an RPG that merely fulfills its obligations. It's not awful thanks to a cast of likeable characters and an interesting premise, but an abundance of clichés, uneven polish, and messy combat and AI make it less than memorable. And as its main story only...
Umbrella Corps
Umbrella Corps is a bad competitive shooter that doesn’t even know how to take advantage of its few strengths. Its mechanics frequently contradict each other, balance is absurd, controls are clumsy, and it fails to pull anything meaningful from the Resident Evil universe other than some recognizable settings. With no...
Mighty No. 9
Despite its pedigree, Mighty No. 9 doesn’t seem to have a good sense of what was fun about Mega Man, or 2D action-platformers in general. There are brief moments where its pieces come together, but even then it’s hamstrung by its visually joyless art and animation. The soul of the...
Despite some engaging storylines and well-designed environments, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter fails to deliver any sense of actually playing the part of Sherlock. Its gameplay is too rigid and predictable, and at times comes across as too technically underdeveloped to ever wow or amaze. If anything, this stands as...
Much like you'd see in a seedy 1980s movie, Trials of the Blood Dragon is like a pretty good first hit of a drug. The buzz is short and mostly enjoyable, but it's so different that you might get hooked on the series. It's got a great gateway due to...
The staples of Mirror’s Edge remain refreshing and unique in the first-person genre in 2016, but Catalyst’s attempts to keep up with the open-world Joneses don’t always jive with its design strengths of movement and momentum. On top of that, muddy-looking console versions and a lame story filled with unlikable...
Dangerous Golf dazzles with its impressive environmental destructibility and the general absurdity of its scenarios entertains for much of its 100 courses. However, blocked perspectives and fudged physics too often swap the fun for frustration, and ultimately you can only destroy the same expensive-looking props so many times before your...
Hitman Episode 3: Marrakesh doesn’t reach the highs of the previous levels and suffers more than ever from the extremely superficial approach to voice acting. It’s not a bad level, but it’s definitely one that I’d be less inclined to return to than the others I’ve played so far. It's...
With the Dead Island Definitive Edition, Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide have never looked so good. The use of Dying Light's graphics engine means almost every setting looks better and more realistic than it did at the start of the decade, but it unfortunately doesn’t run any better now...
I feel like I’ve touched upon everything I love about Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, and yet I still can’t seem to say enough good things about this amazing remake. Starting from an already-outstanding PlayStation 2 game, Vanillaware went above and beyond to realize its full potential with the addition of more...
One Piece: Burning Blood understands what makes the pirate life so compelling in the source material, and is fairly successful in channelling that roguish spirit into its chaotic fights. That flashy, firm commitment to action will feel welcoming to One Piece's biggest fans, but confusing to everyone else. It’s great...
