The challenging mix of real-time strategy base management and tower-defense strategy found in this slick-looking indie shooter packs serious heat.

It has fixed a lot of the critical problems from the first entry (most notably that abhorrent save system), and the writing is leaps and bounds better here, making Dragonfall the first game that truly capitalizes on this incredible universe's great potential.

Death is so very beautiful in this game, for it comes at the hands of amazing beasts and warmongers: hulking armored knights, shimmering otherworldly invaders, and tendrils that rise out of black pools of poison.

I may not have yet unveiled all there is to know about this beastly game, even after 80 hours of play, but I do know this: I will be adventuring through Drangleic for many months to come, sure to be haunted nightly by the disturbing gazes of the faceless titans that tenderize my flesh with their two-ton hammers.

The overarching experience of playing Titanfall is one of rejuvenation and reinvigoration. The sprint speed, the arsenal, the game modes, and more are all firmly derived from some of the most successful online shooters of recent years. But by reinventing the way you move, Titanfall reinvents what it feels like to play a competitive shooter.

It’s a delightfully frantic game that rewards quick wits and strategy above mastering complex controls, and truly shines when you have three friends in arm’s reach to pit those talents against.

With a few friends, Towerfall Ascension is a fantastic multiplayer game that offers a ton of variations on its enjoyable archery combat. Just make sure those friends can join you on the couch.

NaissanceE is not a horror game. Yet the hairs on the back of my neck were at attention for most of the 10 hours I spent in its world.

With A House Divided, season two of The Walking Dead is up and shambling. While the first episode was too perfunctory in how it set the stage and got everything into motion, you can now see both the story and the characters taking shape and evolving. This slow-burn approach should continue to pay dividends as the saga matures in future episodes.

The bleakness is so overbearing, in fact, that A House Divided steps perilously close to monotony. Every kindness is rewarded with brutality.

While the first episode was too perfunctory in how it set the stage and got everything into motion, you can now see both the story and the characters taking shape and evolving. This slow-burn approach should continue to pay dividends as the saga matures in future episodes.

Does the phrase "anal beads" make you giggle? Have you daydreamed of tossing poop at the people you hate? Then you know where you can shove The Stick of Truth: right into your console's disc drive.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is not the second coming of role-playing games, so if you come seeking Jesus, you'll be disappointed by the veritable second-rate televangelist you find in His place. But it's as funny as the merry tune of Stratford, and more enjoyable than Butters' favorite game, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure.

Basement Crawl is buggy at worst and unfinished at best.

The strategic large-scale tank battles pair with a deep progression system to give everything a greater purpose and deliver a real winning combo.

PC players finally have access to a proper port of the game. It may be showing its age, but Resident Evil 4 HD stands as the best version available. There is about 30 hours of content in this edition, which runs for a reasonable $20.

Banished reinforces the human drama with its brutal difficulty and negative feedback loops. It's fertile soil for some of the most remarkable emergent storytelling around.

Rambo: The Video Game does a solid job of breaking potential monotony with various alternate battle methods.

Lords of Shadow 2 should have been a much shorter game. Still, though the game's stealth sections and drab modern settings represent the worst elements of the three-part saga, the tail end of the game contains the best of every aspect that the series is currently known for.

While the unlockables fit right in with the whimsical spirit of the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, you're left feeling like Garden Warfare needed a little something more to make it a meal rather than a side salad. Still, it's that rare shooter whose world and characters might put a smile on your face, making it a refreshing entry in a genre that usually takes itself really seriously.

Whether you are new to the series or cut your teeth on Thief's particular brand of stealth when it was still novel, I'd wager your feelings will waver as often as mine did. The Thief-franchise-inspired Dishonored waves the stealth flag far more confidently than this reboot does. Garrett is not yet on his way out, but he's been shown the door.

As Thief seesawed up and down, my enjoyment of it followed suit. Each time I thought I might fall in love, the game doused my passions with a new annoyance.

Such is the turbulent nature of Thief, a clunky, intriguing, slapdash, atmospheric stealth game that leashes you to its inconsistencies and gives you no choice but to submit to its whims.

Multiplayer aside, Dustforce remains a delightful platformer that is both soothing and stressful.

This is the video game equivalent of a mindless and enjoyable popcorn flick, not a captivating epic. Even if the shallow action can't sustain the game for its entire length, EDF 2025 is committed enough to its vision of cheesy, B-movie-flavored destruction to be fun for a while, particularly with a few friends in tow.

It's all dime-store philosophy, but it's still a philosophy, and I credit Journal for a valiant attempt to say something, even if the message comes out tangled up in the end.

Horizon has some stellar ideas, and a good half of them are executed well.

Sure, its similarities to the competition are undeniable, but Omega Force has crafted a Monster Hunter clone that generally stands on its own. While it could have felt like a shameless rip-off with a few half-baked features grafted on for good measure, Toukiden manages to organically weave its defining elements--purification and mitama--into the genre's comfortably familiar fabric.