This is a series that once redefined first-person shooters with the seminal Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but Ghosts has little interest in change. If you're looking for more of the same you'll get it, but not much else.
Burial at Sea is a worthy return to Rapture, but by the end you'll wish you could've spent more time absorbing the sights and sounds of the city's unspoiled areas. The grand tourism of the game's opening versus the constant combat in the rest of the DLC creates a disconnect that makes both halves feel underdeveloped. Hopefully episode two will mend the tear of Burial at Sea's two disparate parts.
With the way it looks and how simple it is, it's easy to think Knack is a game for kids. And while that may be the intent, it doesn't make Knack any less dull. Whether you're five or 25, Knack is boring throughout its 10-hour duration. If you're looking for something to introduce you to the PlayStation 4, there are far better options than Knack.
It may be another game with zombies in it, but few games get as crazy as Dead Rising 3.
With an asking price of nothing, it's not unreasonable that Warframe charges for things, but when the game's main hook is getting more loot, it slowly becomes frustrating running into so many roadblocks. Even with your warframe's athletic prowess, the nondescript missions don't offer enough to put up with the waiting, and there certainly isn't a strong reason to part with a credit card.
Episode one not only reintroduces us to the world of The Walking Dead, it raises the stakes in such a way that Clementine's situation is more perilous than ever. We weren't convinced that season two could eclipse season one, but at least in a few ways, it already has.
So many moments in The Curse of Brotherhood are hampered by a sense that a square peg is being shoved into a round hole. All of its great ideas are dwarfed by the fact that it doesn't feel good to play. The game tries to make invoke a sense of creation, but it's more akin to fumbling in the dark.
Episode two puts The Wolf Among Us in an awkward place. Telltale shows enough of its hand to interest players in the rest of the story, but the unevenness of this second episode deflates the enthusiasm that first worked so hard to earn. It's difficult to tell how strong the series will become, but right now, it's tough to accept good when you're used to great.
The last episode was a tough act to follow, but similar to season one, episode two is even better. The stakes are higher and the consequences steeper. Telltale has once again proved that adventure games are not only still alive, they're as strong as ever. We can only hope it's not long before we find out what's next.
The greatest achievement in Ground Zeroes is how bold it feels. There's so much new, and none of it obfuscates what originally made Metal Gear Solid special. There's still thrilling stealth and an attention to detail that's rarely seen, but all of it is smarter and streamlined. Ground Zeroes may only be a taste of what's to come, but it looks like Metal Gear is heading in the right direction.
Whether you want to treat Hearthstone as a frivolous time-waster, or you're looking for a new obsession, the game is a blast either way. It caters to every type of player. If you're a Warcraft fan, there are plenty of nods to the series you love. And even if you've never crafted war, it really doesn't matter. Hearthstone is thoughtful and complex, but at the same time welcoming and almost irresistible. It may just be a card game, but it often feels like so much more.
While we wanted more answers, episode three of The Wolf Among Us is a thrilling ride. The plodding pace of episode two is replaced in favor of far more drama and action. Though the series has yet to recapture the magic of the first episode, The Wolf Among Us still offers a grim fairy-tale world worth getting lost in.
Although not every element is as impeccable as its presentation, that shouldn't stop anyone from experiencing Child of Light. Simply absorbing its sights and sounds would almost be enough to carry you through 12 hours, but the game offers much more. When it clicks, the battles are exciting and tense. On top of it all is a cast that sticks with you long after it's all said and done. Child of Light may not be the biggest game this year, but sometimes it's the smallest things that shine the brightest.
Hopefully this episode will be nothing more than a misstep in an otherwise excellent season and not a sign of things to come. Plenty of important things happen and there's a lot of action, but none of it carries the weight that it should. Instead, "In Harm's Way" is mostly a bullet point list of zombie-story cliches without many of the excellent character interactions we've come to expect from Telltale. It's certainly troubling when characters get killed and the only thing you feel is indifference.
Despite some reservations with the ending, Transistor is captivating in ways that few other games can manage. It creates a place that we wanted to be a part of, learn more about, and most importantly didn't want to leave. Transistor isn't something you'll forget about immediately after finishing it. Instead, it's one that you'll wish you could play again for the first time.
Still, "In Sheep's Clothing" nails it where it counts. Not since episode one have we felt so fascinated with The Wolf Among Us. It ties the ongoing story threads in such a way that they become more significant, making us eager to see how it all wraps up. These characters may originate from simple bedtime stories, but Telltale has made them far more real than they've ever been before.
The few moments where Murderd: Soul Suspect actually makes good on its supernatural potential aren't worth slogging through the rest of the game for. It's trying to be a gripping murder mystery, but never really knows how to get there. This is one you should probably just leave for dead.
Shovel Knight works well because it knows exactly what it wants to be. The people behind it have a clear love of retro games, and that collective passion has created something great. So often we play games that try to prey on nostalgia in the cheapest ways possible, whether it's half-hearted HD remakes or blatant ripoffs. Shovel Knight is one of the few games that not only honors the past, but something we may be reminiscing about for years to come.
These problems don't dilute Valiant Hearts' message, however. Rarely has war been examined with so much honesty and earnestness in a videogame. It only makes us yearn for more games that were less about guns and more about the people behind them.
Even so, "Cry Wolf" is the end to a story worth experiencing. While not every episode has lived up to its potential, the season as a whole has left us with a world that we're hesitant to leave behind. As the first project after Telltale's The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us has been subject to plenty of comparisons and expectations. Yet it stands on its own as one of the finest things the studio has done to date.