It's disappointing that many of the new features fail to bring value to the table, but elements like last year's excellent motion system are at least in place to make the game exciting from moment to moment. Although I wasn't in awe of the new player hot/cold streaks, I liked the player roles and how they changed from year to year and gave your players a career progression arc. Other bright spots are the online communities that help weed out the riff-raff from your online multiplayer (thanks to stronger griefing rules), and the accompanying leaderboards also offer a larger structure to the experience. This is especially useful since the online franchise feature is still a bust.

EA Canada continues to make minor improvements across the board, yet the NHL series has yet to tap its true potential this generation. As any sports fan will tell you, there’s always next year.

A Way Out's co-op vision is a bold choice that works because it uncompromisingly places players in a co-op context, joining them onscreen and off. But given the weakness of the gameplay at times, perhaps the game isn't bold enough.

Examined on its own merits, Rock Band Blitz offers highly tuned rhythm matching fun, and the new approach to multipliers makes score chasing a blast. Harmonix has leveraged its obscenely large music library to boost the appeal of Blitz, and the game's draw may be directly proportional to how much previous money you've already invested in the series.

As thankful as I am that there are role-playing titles that strive to innovate, I am also glad that games like Lost Odyssey are still being made. It is a testament to the philosophy that time-tested concepts, when implemented well, can be just as gratifying as they were at the genre’s inception.

It lacks the cohesiveness and payoff of "Frequency," for example. Either way, the whole experience is a little too short. [Feb 2002, p.83]

Even when Axiom Verge 2 left me frustrated, I never lost the sense of its intelligent design and mind-bending premise. With these first two games, Happ has laid the groundwork for a particularly weird and captivating fiction, and we’ve only just scratched the surface of its secrets. While I hope I don’t have to wait another six years to play Axiom Verge 3, I’m fascinated enough to have a controller at the ready for its inevitable return.

The infrequent annoyances of those nasty levels and the questionable localization are a small price to pay for the opportunity to revisit the 2D nirvana that so few modern games give us a chance to experience. [March 2005, p.140]

Some of the characters are very memorable and the game has a few scenes that are so bizarre they’re laughable, but the plot as a whole is pretty lame.

Yoshi’s Woolly World is the Wii U’s best-looking game, as well as the best Yoshi’s Island since the original Super Nintendo title. It has a great balance of challenge, exciting bosses, callbacks to the first game, and enough new mechanics and touches to make it easily stand above each attempt at creating a Yoshi’s Island successor of the past two decades.

Stellaris’ early game is full of exploration and promise, and the small nuggets of fiction I picked up after discovering an abandoned research station or dissecting the corpse of a space giant helped draw me into the fantasy that I was truly exploring the unknown. Unfortunately, the game eventually settles into a grind as you either try to convince neighboring aliens to become your vassals or slowly build up an army to forcefully take over their worlds. The rewarding moments are still there, but they’re spaced out significantly. Taking over the galaxy turns out to be a lot of work, but it’s a worthwhile mission for would-be explorers.

The star of The House of the Dead: Overkill is the unabashed writing, which finds gold in spoofing the genre with a brazen effectiveness. The parade of F-bombs and one-liners fit in perfect harmony with the grindhouse presentation. Tarantino fans shouldn’t miss this clever, curse-heavy shooter.

The simple mechanics work well, providing an ingratiating twist on the top-down shooter. [Feb 2009, p.87]

I've always pointed to 2000's WWF No Mercy as the best wrestling game I've ever played, but nostalgia is certainly a factor in that. After playing WWE '13, I'm hard pressed to think of a more enjoyable and complete wrestling game in history.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity looks a lot like Breath of the Wild, but it lacks the exploration and puzzle-solving elements that define the mainline Legend of Zelda series. Age of Calamity may not resemble a traditional Zelda game, but it’s not a bad time. The action is repetitive, but also relaxed and comfortable. It trades on your love for Nintendo’s classic franchise, and I was happy for the excuse to return to this version of Hyrule. I still feel like I'm chasing Breath of the Wild's high, and Age of Calamity is a small solace.

Tell Me Why doesn’t exactly answer the question it poses in its title, and maybe that’s the point. Even so, I came away with mixed feelings by the end. I really enjoyed getting to know Tyler and Alyson, and I felt the suspense and intrigue of figuring out this larger mystery, but it also disappointed me. This was only further illustrated in the ending choice, which is just absolutely awful in terms of how it’s presented and how the characters rationalize it in the scenes that follow. It doesn’t end on a strong note, and what’s in between is full of highs and lows. The highs make it worth playing, but just expect to be shaking your head when those low points hit.

It’s tough to say which is better, Pro Evolution or FIFA, given that the former has more depth while the latter comes off as the sexier experience.

This game has a hotel full of strangers with secrets, which might just be enough to get you to stick around to hear them all. But perhaps you’ll want to skip the ambiance and go somewhere with fresher towels.

From its old school design to its gameplay struggles, Prototype resembles a superhero who leapt off a building only to realize he doesn’t possess the power to fly. I hate to say it, but picture a frustrating Spider-Man game, and you have a good idea of what this experience has to offer.

The Odd Gentlemen have done a fine job with its storytelling, though the puzzles and the ways they’ve been incorporated in the tale have been inconsistent.

While the sheer amount of stuff that can happen onscreen at one is impressive, the graphics fall a bit short. [Apr 2005, p.117]

Manages to pack plenty of solid gameplay, with more than a few horrific scenes. [Nov 2002, p.124]

With fun characters and cool movesets, Versus is an overall decent fighter that’s worth a look, but it’s not without its flaws.

Tense, certainly, and I jumped at more than a few surprise xenomorph encounters, but the environments and action fail to instill the sense of dread that the movies or other horror games have inflicted on fans. Despite taking more than its share of inspiration from the Alien series, I found Dead Space to be scarier than Isolation, even if playing through the genuine article is far more appealing.

An amazing re-release. [Aug 2005, p.103]

While this is all well and good, I simply don't like this series as much as the "Baldur's Gate" or "Icewind Dale" epics. [Aug 2003, p.103]

While you can't help but grimace at some of the game's texturing and awkward batting stances, the gameplay package is as solid as can be. The fielding interface is especially praiseworthy, and in my opinion, this year's best. [Apr 2004, p.96]

Be warned - even on easy with max lives, this game is a challenge. [Dec 2001, p.118]