Latest Reviews
Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear lacks the surprises and subtlety needed to keep things interesting all the way through. It makes a strong first impression, but quickly exhausts its best ideas, making it hard for them to really shine as scary or meaningful moments. It’s hard to be terrified when you can...
Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear lacks the surprises and subtlety needed to keep things interesting all the way through. It makes a strong first impression, but quickly exhausts its best ideas, making it hard for them to really shine as scary or meaningful moments. It’s hard to be terrified when you can...
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 refines the gameplay to the absolute best of the series and offers a large roster of playable characters. Unfortunately, it squanders all of that potential with a short and poorly presented campaign fought against buggy AI, a forgettable Adventure Mode and online matches that...
As you level up your driver rank, you’ll gain access crafting better parts, install new reinforced cage parts to show off collectible paint jobs, and even turn your ride into a zombie-killing machine with ram bars, flamethrowers, and mine dispensers. Cooperative play capitalizes on this with the ability to climb...
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia disappoints on multiple levels, from a flat main character to unintuitive insta-fail stealth levels to clumsy combat and platforming. The few times it nails it with diorama-like puzzles and Helix powers only serve to make the rest of this side-scrolling spinoff look even worse by comparison.
Firewatch
Firewatch is amazing for many reasons, but above all because it’s an adult game that deals with serious issues, with realistic adult dialogue to match. And it deals with those issues just like actual adults would: sometimes with humor, sometimes with anger, and sometimes with sadness. It is among the...
Unravel
Unravel took me on a surprisingly thoughtful and reflective journey, which encouraged me to appreciate the small and the insignificant with every step. As a puzzler it has charm due to Yarny’s engaging skills, but as a platforming experience it’s less remarkable. But to judge it solely on these mechanical...
Deadpool
Wade Wilson has been successfully revived on the big screen in a movie that’s full of amusing one-liners, stylish action, and heaps of fan service. Weak villains and an unsatisfying revenge plot ultimately hold it back from being something more distinctive, but Deadpool delivers a large dose of unwholesome fun.
XCOM 2
With a focus on variety and replayability, this sequel has an answer to most of my complaints about 2012’s excellent XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and aside from some mostly cosmetic bugs, it comes together brilliantly. Thanks to a new spin on the same great tactical combat, plus unpredictable maps and randomized...
If you like the LEGO game formula, you have a preference for playing solo and you’re a huge fan of MCU, there’s still a lot of value for you in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, even despite a disjointed plot and annoying audio mixes. If you haven’t played any of the others...
Darkest Dungeon is a grim and merciless tactical strategy game whose great tension comes from its many layers of complexity, unpredictable randomization, and willingness to put our fragile characters in mortal danger if we dare to venture into its depths in search of treasure and glory. Brilliant narration and stiff...
The Witness has a power and pull that carried me throughout the more than 40 hours it took to complete it for the first time, and that, even now, beckons me back to confront the mysteries I left unsolved. Its graceful combination of tangible goals, obscurity, and freedom creates ample...
