Judgment just might be the game that drops Gears of War out of the triple-A tier. It is competently done and no more. The rock-solid gameplay returns intact — virtually identical, in fact — and the Declassified options bump the entertainment value up a few notches, but the epic scope and precision level designs that elevated the franchise beyond its mechanics simply aren’t here.

One of the great things about the game is that you can keep on playing it until you get through the storylines of all of the main characters. The game is replayable to the point where you can experiment with different kinds of pro-revolutionary or pro-moderate behaviors. But it doesn’t judge you on the choices you make. It only makes clear that your choices matter, and your road to hell can be paved with good intentions.

More than anything, I love the look of the new zones and the personalities of the new races. Zandalar and Kul Tiras are more fun to run and around than the Broken Isles.

Civilization is at its best when it enables you to tell your own stories. But at release, Civ VI didn’t do such a good job at that. Rise and Fall fixes this in many ways, giving your better ways to expand your civilization without resorting to combat. It adds a quest-like element with a significant penalty or reward, and most of its news leaders add variety to the game.

Multiplayer is better because of War mode and the slowing of the superhuman speeds. Nazi Zombies has roots in the Nazi interest in the occult. And the single-player campaign follows a squad with characters that you care about through a sweeping journey through some of the most epic battles of the war. Each battle is intense, and the attention to details of the imagery — like the quality of the water in a stream running through a forest — is amazing. It’s an authentic Call of Duty.

All That Remains is short, roughly two hours long. Yet Telltale Games has done a good job in setting up future episodes by asking tantalizing questions about its plot and cast.

It’s a game that’s enjoyable in small chunks but not really for a great length of time. And after a while, I felt that I had seen as much of Wonderlands as I needed to. I think at some point even the most die-hard Borderlands fans will simply lift their hands from their keyboard/controller and say, “You know what? That’s enough Tina for the foreseeable future.”

This is a story that we’ve seen a lot, in everything from Blade Runner to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s becoming as common a storyline as the zombie apocalypse or superhero fantasies. In each case, the story is only as good as its execution. If the characters are believable and engaging, if the story is well told, if the context and environment broadens the story, if the acting is superb, and if the actions and choices are consequential, then it is a job well done. And that’s how I feel about Detroit: Become Human.

The game and story have a couple of execution flaws, but A Way Out tells a good story, and much of the vibe about the themes of trust, brotherhood, revenge, and loss are conveyed through gameplay in a novel way. That’s reflects a good understanding about the cutting edge of interactive achievement.

Yoshi’s Wooly World is an adorable game, and it’s often a fun one. However, the light difficulty prevents it from reaching the excellence of Yoshi’s Island.

The Attitude Era mode is what really makes WWE '13 worth purchasing, especially for long-time fans of professional wrestling. I had a nostalgic blast playing through many of my favorite moment from WWE history, and it's great to see half of the game's huge roster filled with classic grapplers from the late '90s.

Beyond tools, save points, and modest firearms, you absolutely cannot underestimate the importance of Alien: Isolation’s sound. Just like the art direction, the music offers the same kind of fan-pleasing connective tissue to Ridley Scott’s film.

No Going Back is a quality episode, yet it fails to be as memorable as Season One’s ending, despite some intense and heartbreaking moments.

I wanted very badly to love Dauntless, and for a time I think I did thanks to the fantastic combat and weapon variety. But the lack of any real storytelling makes the repetitive questing structure a glaring issue in desperate need of some TLC. If you’re looking for a new go-to F2P experience, you could do much worse — just don’t expect a world drenched teeming with lore and compelling characters.

Yes, nostalgia plays a big part in my enjoyment of these games, but I don’t have blind love for The Disney Afternoon Collection. These side-scrollers have just as much charm now as they did in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and I’m thankful I can finally own DuckTales 2 and Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers 2 without spending hundreds of dollars at a retro gaming store. This is a loving and handsome collection. If you had any affinity for these games growing up, I guarantee that they’ll still make you smile.

These games look great and play better than they ever have in HD. But what else do you get? As far as extras, not a ton. You do get a small museum mode, a boss rush, and some bonus missions. But compared to, say, the 3D explorable world with its multiple media museums from Sonic Jam, it’s a bit bare. But, hey, I’m not really here for bonuses. I’m here for those four games. And a few oddities aside, these are fantastic remasters. Even if you’re a Sonic fan who already owns these games in other compilations, Origins is worth it.

I like the Battlefield series, and I love the parts of this game that are here. I only wish it were finished.

It’s not the system’s best puzzle game — that’s still probably Crashmo — but it is its most varied.

The Wonderful 101 is a good game … at times. Once I got the hang of its combo system, the battles were nearly always exciting and challenging, but Platinum’s Wii U debut has too much filler and a busted camera.

I have issues with Mario Golf: World Tour, but they are completely unimportant when I’m playing the actual golfing parts. It feels great, it looks very nice, and it plays at a fast pace. And while the campaign packaging is a faint echo of Mario Golfs gone by, that didn’t stop me from loving the 20 hours I spent with this entry in the franchise.

Rock Band 4 feels like both a necessity and an afterthought.

It’s a polished shooter, and it’s undeniably fun to play. Still, set up against console shooters, it’s really nothing special. But as a portable game, it offers an unrivaled experience for anyone looking to get their FPS thrills away from their PC or TV.

The game's focus is on refining classic gameplay that worked rather than attempting something different to attract new fans, and some may be put off by the limited roster. At $15, however, Skullgirls is still a quality experience that deserves time in the spotlight.

Like many penultimate television episodes, Episode 4: Amid the Ruins serves to set up the series’ finale by applying pressure to The Walking Dead’s characters and upping the stakes. Clementine’s group has never been more desperate.

For better or worse, Daybreak didn’t design PlanetSide 2 for instant gratification. I’ve had hours of playtime where enemy forces were so overwhelming that I barely got anything done. But I’ve also had hours that were full of tense battles filled with explosions, multicolored lasers, and missiles. When you play at night, it looks like a chaotic fireworks show.

Inazuma Eleven took a sport I didn’t care for and managed to make it exciting. My 30-hour adventure did drag a bit with the constant, and ultimately useless, random battle system, but the strategic matches and compelling story made it hard to put down.

Although you’ll need at least Episode One to play 400 Days, this is a good standalone title that expands The Walking Dead universe and pushes the story forward. The situation it sets up for Season Two is intriguing.

NSMB2 begins as just another night of nostalgic anecdotes. It eventually overcomes that on the strength of its world-class gameplay and level design, but pieces of that awkwardness remain.