James Davenport
- Metroid Prime
- VVVVVV
ReCore buries a great action platformer beneath layers and layers of open world busywork.
Despite an impressive variety in art direction and environments, Soul Axiom's puzzle design is shallow and frustrating.
VR can’t elevate Edge of Nowhere’s mediocre climbing, shallow combat, and contrived story.
Biomutant's stunning world barely survives the painful narration, broken progression, and dearth of stuff to do.
Blood Bowl 2 is the flashiest iteration of the game so far, but its dice rolls are frustrating, and its amble ruleset isn't introduced well to newcomers.
Strikers walks and talks like Persona 5, but no social game and bland combat make it one strictly for gigafans.
An endless font of bad jokes and cool guns in the series' most vapid story yet, Borderlands 3 skates by on watching numbers fly and goons explode.
Sea of Solitude is a gorgeous adventure that knows its way around mental illness, but doesn't make great use of the medium to tell its story.
Layers of Fear is an intriguing experimental haunted house, but without a proper sense of pacing, it fails to scare.
Baba Yaga has more of Rise of the Tomb Raider's fun platforming and gorgeous Siberian cliffsides, but the condensed format only strengthens its problems.
A great PC port and lovely open world don’t give depth to Watch Dogs 2’s shallow combat and stealth design.
Realm of Shadows indicates that it might tell an interesting Batman story, but takes time to get there and suffers from Telltale’s tired design and engine limitations.
The Division is a challenging co-op cover shooter and a gorgeous open world diminished by bloated and unnecessary RPG tropes.
A drab campaign doesn't do the history justice, but Call of Duty: WWII's multiplayer recalls the glory days of Modern Warfare.
Kingdom is a fun, gorgeous management game, but trying to learn its mysteries eventually becomes a slog.
That Dragon, Cancer tells a valuable story despite its uneven delivery.
Gorgeous but empty, challenging but not always fair, The Ringed City is a weak reflection of the series' best traits.
Some nice characters and stories nested in an astounding open world, undercut by jarring bugs at every turn.
Shadow Warrior 2's combat is gleefully expressive and varied, but undermined by tired, dated humor.
Youngblood's gorgeous, terrible world is worth exploring, despite a slight narrative and oppressively boring progression systems.