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On average, this publication grades 0 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 0
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407 game reviews
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    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
    The result is a Ghost Recon game that doesn’t really feel like a Ghost Recon game and an online game that doesn’t seem like it has the legs to carry most players through to its finale. Wildlands has all of the beauty and splendour of any big-budget open world—its rendition of Bolivia might be the greatest space that Ubisoft has created since Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s artistic replication of Rome—but it’s sparse in variety and slipshod in execution. An abundance of bugs, terrible writing, and repetition do their best to mar what is a solid, occasionally laughter-filled co-op shooter experience.
    • 88 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Night in the Woods
    Night in the Woods wastes just a little too much time before getting to the heart of a story about the value of life when life doesn't seem worth living. Buy it.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Loot Rascals
    I'm a sucker for a game that teaches with transparent, easy-to-understand difficulty spikes, and Loot Rascals has plenty of those. I know why I'm dying. I have played enough to know that avoiding certain encounters and taking advantage of useful systems like warping back to home base, will keep me moving. In that sense, it's like someone took the concepts powering Spelunky—another brutally hard, randomly generated, permadeath romp—and completely flipped how and why you play it.
    • 97 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
    After spending a week utterly immersed in Nintendo's open-world reimagining of the tried-and-true Zelda formula, it's hard to return to the more formulaic entries of the franchise's past. Breath of the Wild is an instant classic and a brave new direction for a series that has been stuck in some of its ways for far too long.
    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Horizon Zero Dawn
    Horizon is huge in every way that counts, and it should be celebrated for doing what too many games don't these days: telling an enthralling, time-consuming journey that's already complete on the disc—and one we'll remember for years to come.
    • 79 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Halo Wars 2
    Halo Wars 2's campaign is an exciting enough ride with a very plain final drop. Thankfully, there will be plenty of multiplayer modes to run with what the campaign teaches. Try it.
    • 88 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Nioh
    Nioh makes no bones about standing in the shadows of giants, but it extends and polishes the Dark Souls formula so much that it manages to shine just as brightly. Buy it.
    • 72 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Fire Emblem Heroes
    If Nintendo gets around to unlocking a true multiplayer mode or opening the game up to battles larger than on 8x6 grids, I could see myself sticking around. For now, I'm glad there's enough good gameplay to occupy me for at least a day without spending a single dime. The entire presentation—slick battle animations, beautiful full-screen character art, polished music, a full suite of appropriately cheery Fire Emblem voice actors, simple tap-to-battle controls—helped me enjoy what I've quested through thus far.
    • 76 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
    The disparate gaggle of stories apparently set in the same universe might feel like required reading to some obsessive fans. As someone who just wants to know what’s up with King Mickey (and still kind of likes that theme song), this is an unnecessary, dissatisfying distraction.
    • 86 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Resident Evil 7: biohazard
    This new game also shows up just as people start to ask, "how do we do horror in VR?" RE7 doesn't just answer that question. It slams its winning, bloody hand onto a table like a defiant poker champ. To be fair, the game still leaves some VR territory unexplored, particularly things like hand-tracked controllers and room-scale experiences, but its tasteful handling of comfort, presence, and jump-scare gimmicks has no peer. Flat-screen players will have plenty to enjoy as well, but strap into the VR mode if at all possible. Either way, Resident Evil is back.
    • 85 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
    Not a perfect JRPG, but a really good introduction to Dragon Quest.
    • 85 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Yakuza 0
    By now, the Yakuza series knows what butters its fans’ bread, and their spread of choice is theatrics. That means exaggerated comedy, tragedy, and more often, some uncommon blend of the two. The combat, while offbeat and satisfying in its own ways, is definitely a supporting role.
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Gravity Rush 2
    Gravity Rush 2’s personality and unique, physics-bending gameplay make it so unlike any other open-world game that it gets my whole-hearted recommendation, despite a few faults.
    • 58 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Space Hulk: Deathwing
    With its reliance on deeply confusing fluff and numerous bugs, Space Hulk: Deathwing is only for fans of Warhammer 40,000 who absolutely can't wait for a patch.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Steep
    Steep wants to impart a sense of freedom, but it lacks the courage to offer true openness and underwhelms as a result.
    • 76 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Super Mario Run
    Super Mario Run never amounts to much more than a conveyor belt coin hunt, without the kind of exploration-based depth that characterizes the best of the Mario series.
    • 82 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    The Last Guardian
    The world of The Last Guardian is an architectural and graphical masterpiece that you'll want to explore every inch of, with well-animated characters that can evoke some real emotion without a word. So when you're stuck for 15 minutes at a time wondering where to go and fighting with an uncooperative Trico to go there, rather than exploring that wonderful world, it can be pretty grating...The Last Guardian is beautiful enough that it might be worth the struggle. But I also wouldn't blame anyone for giving up on this flawed masterwork partway through.
    • 73 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
    Buy it for the excellent collection of built-in Nintendo-made levels. Get the Wii U version if you want to actually make your own.
    • 81 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Final Fantasy XV
    For now, I'm finding that FFXV is mechanically sound but fundamentally missing the point. There's no Midgar-like push of momentum anywhere in the first 10 hours. The game meanders and sputters in terms of making me care about the plot or its primary characters. Even the cheeseball JRPG plot staples of angst, love, and angsty love are in short supply. [Review-in-Progress]
    • Ars Technica
      • Posted Nov 29, 2016
    • 84 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Planet Coaster
    Deep tools and a strong community make Planet Coaster a thoroughly engrossing experience.
    • 87 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Pokemon Moon
    Longtime Pokémon fans can buy without hesitation. New or lapsed Pokémon fans will have an easier time picking up Sun and Moon than any other main series Pokémon game in recent memory.
    • 87 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Pokemon Sun
    Longtime Pokémon fans can buy without hesitation. New or lapsed Pokémon fans will have an easier time picking up Sun and Moon than any other main series Pokémon game in recent memory.
    • 86 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Dishonored 2
    Dishonored 2 is one of the smartest, most well-designed games released this year. If you fancy a challenge, this one is a no-brainer.
    • 82 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Watch Dogs 2
    It's not a perfect experience by any stretch. Technical hiccups and pacing issues are glaring enough to leave Grand Theft Auto V's open-world crown unmoved—but just barely. Watch Dogs 2 builds upon a pretty good foundation from the last game with most of the trappings you'll want from a zillions-of-hours open-world quest.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
    Infinite Warfare takes the series to its logical conclusion, delivering one of the best single-player campaigns in ages. But the trademark multiplayer modes need a serious overhaul.
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Football Manager 2017
    By incorporating the UK's political landscape, Football Manger 2017 becomes the deepest, most inspiring take on the beautiful game yet.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    World of Final Fantasy
    It's easy to deride games that lack originality and favour existing ideas. But refining proven designs is just as important as creating them in the first place. This is where World of Final Fantasy shines, and if you're looking for a simple, accessible roleplaying game that stirs up memories past, then you could do much worse.
    • 88 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Sid Meier's Civilization VI
    Civilization VI isn’t the complete package, but it has the makings of one. Buy it now to get acclimated to the new mechanics before the inevitable expansions.
    • 87 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Battlefield 1
    Every version of the game is perfectly playable, but you want to play BF1 on a souped-up PC if possible. The console versions of the game are locked at a crisp 60fps refresh and offer beautiful lighting and massive draw distances, but explosions, particle effects, and textures are clearly better on PC.
    • 88 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Battlefield 1
    If you have a decent gaming PC, this is a must-buy. If you love online shooters, this is a must-buy.
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