Epic in scope but carefully crafted down to the smallest character moment. A generous, joyful fantasy.
Functions equally well as an intense horror game and a heartfelt tribute to the first Alien film.
Fun on a basic level, extraordinary at its farthest reaches, but marred with some frustrating, hopefully patch-able flaws.
Within the zombie clichés lies a lovely, moving story about a relationship between two desperate people.
It may not be as transcendent as it wishes it were, but it's still a lot of fun to play.
An often hilarious bit of video-game slapstick that makes up for its shonky second half with delightful gags and a lovably clumsy protagonist.
A brief but well-crafted game that rewards creative play in surprising ways. It's good to see Snake again.
A fun, gorgeous-looking high seas adventure that improves on the Assassin's Creed formula while letting us live a fantasy life as a pirate.
A hell of a way to spend a few days of your life.
Easily enjoyable enough to recommend, though its ambitious scale and satisfying zombie slashing are undercut by frustrating design and clueless writing.
Turns out, a good main character and a focus on careful stealth over noisy violence can go a long way toward making a game more interesting.
Refines and improves the things that made Destiny great while fixing things we didn't realize were broken.
A little rushed and a little clumsy, but ultimately well-intentioned and welcome.
All the same, Iron From Ice succeeds far more often than it falters. It's yet another Telltale game that lives in those difficult moments, when you're glad it's your on-screen character standing there and not you.
Enjoyable enough to make up for its manifold flaws, but technical issues hold it back.
A dreary, joyless lump of a game.
An ambitious but flawed game that loses focus on its best ideas.
A shambling, mediocre mess.
Arkham Knight almost certainly won't be the last great Batman video game, nor must it be. But after watching Bruce Wayne and his clown-faced nemesis wink out of existence one last time, I feel I've seen what I came to see. I can crinkle up my ticket stub and shrug into my winter coat, exiting the theater without a look back for whatever secrets or teases may await after the credits. It's over. This was the story of Batman, and it was good.
The Division's mechanical underpinnings are sturdy enough to make me forget how much of a bummer its story can be; its shooting and looting are slick enough to make me wonder if it still might evolve into something more inspired.