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.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins offers a rich world and a compelling story at first, but it’s waylaid in part by the repetitive side quests and a weaker second half. It has secrets to find, but you’ll have to go looking for them — and you’ll have to do a lot of grinding along the way.

This is another Mario all-time classic that we'll be remembering and celebrating for decades to come.

Machine also brought the most amazing characters, quality storytelling, and well-paced gameplay to The New Colossus. You’ll want to spend time with these people and discover their fate — sometimes that will warm your heart and sometimes it will break it.

If you’re a horror buff, you’ll likely be disappointed because there aren’t that many unique monsters in the game. It’s not even scary, to be honest; most of the tension and fear comes from the lack of ammo. All in all, it’s not a bad game, but it’s not a great game either. You’ll probably have fun shooting the zombies and checking out the occasionally cool surreal locales, but that’s it.

You'll still need to be a fan of the show to get the most of this. But if you are a South Park aficionado, The Fractured but Whole is another hilarious and fun game that captures the spirit of series.

They’re standing on the edge of greatness now, and I hope the next game will fulfill the destiny of making Talion’s story a part of the Tolkien canon.

It’s a deep game that you could play for hundreds of hours.

Though the story and characters are more compelling in The Pact, it also sacrificed interactivity.

I adored Heist and didn’t really play much of the first Dig, but I now consider myself a fan of the SteamWorld canon. Image & Form is doing great work with this universe, and I wouldn’t want to miss this sequel. Even if you’re going from Metroid: Samus Returns, which is similar, directly into Dig 2, I still think you’ll come away thrilled and looking in the developer’s direction hoping they have something else new coming very soon.

It's not as big and beautiful as I want it to be, but Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite still has plenty to offer fans of the series.

If you avoided the original Destiny because of its launch issues have no such fears with Destiny 2. And if you’re just curious about Destiny 2 and want to play casually you can find plenty of quick, satisfying things to do while enjoying some of the best art, sound design, music scoring, and shooting mechanics in the video game industry.

Samus Returns has an appropriate name. It really does feel like a homecoming for a franchise that I love. It’s great to be playing a new 2D Metroid.

In the absence of an epic tale, a torrent of doodads to collect, or some time-devouring crafting system — all the fixtures big business gaming says you need to survive today — Knack 2 just works.

The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor is a lot of fun if you’re into rhythm games. I do wish that each of the levels were a bit more different, but what it lacks in variety, it makes up in solid gameplay. I don’t think any other game quite like it is out there.

Ubisoft managed to turn a complex genre into a Mario-friendly experience that never insults the intelligence of its players.

This newcomer thinks that Yakuza Kiwami is a blast. I can’t speak to how different it is from the first game, but the sheer amount of content and personality makes it worth checking out. Though the fights could get repetitive at times, the combat system kept things interesting on the whole.

Fans will like it, but they won't love it. It is a bit of a letdown when it comes to providing enough new experiences.

Matterfall is a challenging and creative take on the twin-stick shooter. Even if it's sci-fi setting is bland, the multitasking gameplay rarely offers a dull moment. This is a strong followup to Resogun, and one of the PlayStation 4's better digital exclusives.

Sonic Mania isn’t just a great game for old Sonic fans. It’s a great game. This inspiration from the past should be Sonic’s future.

West of Loathing is an RPG with a ton of personality and a lot of reading. Personally, I’m a big fan of the surreal, pun-filled humor, so I had a great time, but your mileage may vary. It could also at times be a little repetitive, relying on its personality instead of delivering a ton of variety in gameplay. It’s more about exploring than it is about making meaningful choices or solving complex puzzles.

Mega Man & Bass's omission sucks, and I wish the whole thing had more extras, but these are still four great 2D platformers.

It might have been madness for a small studio like Ninja Theory to take on such a herculean task, but I’m glad they made the trip.

The Enemy Within has some great action sequences, but it leans too much on the wider Batman universe as a crutch. It doesn’t put in the effort to make you care about the characters or the situations, and because of that, none of the choices feel meaningful.

It’s a stylish game centered around an interesting moral dilemma. However, there just isn’t enough world-building to hammer the point home.

Yes, the Metroidvania space is becoming crowded with great games, but Sundered fits in with the best of them.

Pyre backs up its eye candy with some pretty impressive world-building and fun gameplay, particularly in Versus Mode.

I enjoyed the novelty of the interface along with the ability to experiment with maximizing different character classes. There are some genuinely cool moments that harken back to classic RPGs, especially around the boss fights. Because of the threat of perma-death, they felt especially tense and I had to psych myself up before I took on the Big Bad. Despite some repetitive content, the overall experience was fresh and fun.