Joystiq's Scores

  • Games
For 768 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Lowest review score: 20 Conduit 2
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 68 out of 768
768 game reviews
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Push through its uneven beginning and you'll be rewarded with clever level layouts that stretch a solid mechanical framework to its limits. Getting to that point may be more frustrating than you'd like, though, thanks to its sharp difficulty curve.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    For all its good looks, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- is ultimately disappointing. What the game does, it does very well, but the sum total feels lacking.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    If the Xfinity-branded hypercar race a few hours in is anything to go by, The Crew is an overt attempt to capitalize on the popularity of modern car culture, and it would seem entirely cynical if not for a few redeeming design decisions. In the world of modern racing games that's just not enough to earn a victory lap.
    • Joystiq
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A severe disappointment. The chain wrestling mechanic is tiresome, and online play is a chore. A dearth of customization options across the board tear away at what made the series special.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Assassin's Creed Rogue is not a bad game, but it is a derivative game.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Assassin's Creed Unity is the best and worst of Assassin's Creed. It's hard not to appreciate everything that it gets right, and you'll have a good time if you can wrangle some friends for co-op, but it's impossible to ignore where Unity falls tragically short.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There's definitely satisfaction to be had with Lords of the Fallen, but there comes a point at which it has no more tricks up its sleeve. In the end, the worst enemy in the game may be the game itself, and there's nothing hiding in a chest somewhere to fix that.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Platinum Games may not have made a Legend of Korra game that plumbs the same well of soul that the source material does, but they've made something elementally entertaining all the same.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    As a shoot-'em-up, though, A City Sleeps feels half-baked. The foundation is solid, but since it only includes three levels, it has to ramp up its difficulty too quickly, and it becomes overwhelming and frustrating as a result. With a more measured approach to difficulty and more levels to give players time to acclimate to its mechanical quirks and control issues, A City Sleeps could be exceptional.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Costume Quest 2 is a lot like the bags of candy Wren and her fellow Halloween heroes collect: often sweet, sometimes sour, and (for the most part) worth the occasional tummy ache.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Evil Within just plain doesn't give you a fair chance to succeed. It doesn't provide enough information for you to make good decisions and it handicaps your ability to fight well. It requires so much repetition that it can't possibly maintain any sense of tension or unease, and its story is told so aimlessly that you'll likely forget the plot between scenes.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Pre-Sequel is missing just a bit of soul, but it has plenty of heart – hearts exploded by laser rifles.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Driveclub is a well-made, sometimes irritating juxtaposition of the old and new.
    • Joystiq
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The illusion it maintains is easily broken by the lack of interactivity and a plot that doesn't always manage to keep its hooks in you. Where and when Neverending Nightmares fails, the effects are noticeable and jarring. Still, Neverending Nightmares is an atypical horror experience and, when it succeeds, it's one you won't soon forget.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Despite its many worthy additions, Skylanders Trap Team is the first game in the series to disappoint me. The new villain characters are charming - seriously, who could hate a floating, magical vegetable named Broccoli Guy? - and the talking portal accessory puts a fun spin on traditional series elements, but the uninspired level design really drags down the overall experience.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes features more variety than its predecessor, but the campaign content included in the base set is still quite repetitive.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Wasteland 2 is so packed with stuff to do and things to see that the game demands multiple plays, yet its story options are so intricate that replaying the plot never seems like a chore. But all of that is overshadowed by omnipresent bugs.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Danganronpa 2 is wildly uneven, with an engaging story and disjointed action elements, but solving its mysteries provides more than enough satisfaction to make putting up with the bad bits worth your while. It's weird, aggravating and gruesome, but it's also undeniably charming.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    I like The Sims 4, although I fully recognize that it's not nearly robust enough yet for series fans. If you're new to the franchise, it's a great place to start and explore the possibilities. The Sims 4 certainly feels like more of the same game we've known for over a decade.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hatoful Boyfriend is great at setting a tone and building a strange bird universe pockmarked with bits of broken, human-constructed items. These objects are eerie in such a happy-go-lucky world, though the creep factor is welcome in a game as ridiculous as a pigeon dating simulator. We'll call it the peep factor.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Infamous: First Light is everything Infamous: Second Son should have been, it's just too bad it only arrives now, in this anemic form.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The ending, and therefore the episode, may please many players. However, from a storytelling standpoint, No Going Back falls flat.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright drags on too long, but even towards the end it's enjoyable at its basest of levels.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The core gameplay of sneaking, assessing the situation, downing enemies, disabling cameras, pilfering plans and occasionally snapping necks is great fun. Setting up a string of sticky bombs for a connect-the-dots series of explosions is especially satisfying, but delights like these are weighed down by CounterSpy's random structure and, in particular, its "more more more" approach to difficulty.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hohokum offers more than you'd expect but less than you'd want; without gameplay depth to back up its visuals, it sparks the imagination but doesn't kindle it.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Gods Will Be Watching bleeds into your thoughts, even if the toll feels steep and caustic. The cost can feel too high, the enjoyment too strange and poisoned at times. But ... it's brilliant and different, you know? I just hate it, that's all.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Wayward Manor has charm for the adorable-goth market, but not so much for puzzle game enthusiasts. It's simple, slightly janky and kind of cute, with an OK story and sub-par game design.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Light reaches for greatness, but ends up merely serviceable; nothing breaks or falls apart within its mechanically sound design, but nothing inspires the game to step out from the shadows of better games.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    In some respects – particularly in its graphics and slightly more refined shooting – Sniper Elite 3 is a better game than its predecessor. That said, it's grandfathered in a lot of Sniper Elite V2's AI issues, while also forcing players to micromanage too much when it comes to sniping.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If you want to work your brain for a few minutes, MouseCraft is a good choice (especially on Vita).

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