Launcher (The Washington Post)'s Scores

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For 110 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 49% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.4 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 78
Highest review score: 100 Demon's Souls
Lowest review score: 45 Hello Neighbor 2
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 72 out of 110
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 110
  3. Negative: 1 out of 110
115 game reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    New Pokemon Snap
    It gives the player just enough story and intrigue to press on through a grindy midgame focused on revisiting maps.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Thymesia
    Despite some repetition, then, the full game doesn’t feel miserly, and can easily last 15-20 hours — comparable at least to other character action games such as “Devil May Cry.” Also, in the wake of the gargantuan “Elden Ring” this year, it’s quite comforting to see this kind of challenge return to more finite space. Ultimately, you may have walked grimy paths like these many times, but if the Soulslike virus remains lodged in your core as it does in Thymesia’s, you should easily become absorbed into its diseased world, never once hoping to be cured.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    No More Heroes III
    No More Heroes 3 is a love letter to gaming culture that lacks underlying mischief, opting instead for cozy familiarity.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Trek to Yomi
    Trek to Yomi is a no-brainer download for anyone wanting a simple yet cinematic action game that harks back to classic PC adventures and 2D blade-action titles.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Dying Light 2 Stay Human
    If only “Stay Human” could navigate its story of post-apocalyptic morality with the same deftness as its assured, acrobatic protagonist.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Madden NFL 23
    After stuffing new features into Madden over the 34 years since its debut, there’s now a ton of junk crammed in that is nowhere to be found in football and, as such, has no place in a football sim. Once you carve away most of the fat, Madden 23 is a better incarnation of the game than those of the recent past. But what EA — and Madden fans — would truly benefit from is a leaner, cleaner finished product.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Cult of the Lamb
    If you have a dark sense of humor, Cult of the Lamb might scratch that itch. But once you get over the shock factor of all the horrific things you can do in the name of growing your flock, there’s not much meat left on the bone.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Biomutant
    There are so many borrowed ideas that you’re bound to find something you like about this game.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
    It’s all squeeze, very little juice. Maddening.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Scorn
    Scorn is an art house experience. I’m sure that other reviewers will plumb “Scorn” for its hidden high-minded commentary on the human condition, but for me, the appeal of the game is how it made me feel rather than think. I felt a constant, humming anxiety for simply existing in its macabre world. I was never particularly scared of anything I encountered; like the playable creature, I just wanted out.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    High on Life
    This uneven mix of humor and design keeps High on Life from ever feeling like a natural combination of video game and traditional comedy, even if there are plenty of moments where glimpses of some better blend of the two elements appears. What’s here is worthwhile for audiences curious about the concept of a comedy shooter, but it’s too uneven and stiflingly desperate to please to recommend beyond that.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Cris Tales
    While brimming with gorgeous visuals and charm, for a game about time, “Cris Tales” doesn’t seem to value yours.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Callisto Protocol
    Striking Distance’s debut is a swing and a miss, but The Callisto Protocol ends on a cliffhanger. If the studio decides to revisit the series with a sequel, I’m hoping the second outing will be better than the first.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Saints Row
    There is no shortage of enjoyable things to do in Saints Row, but doing them means putting up with a severe lack of polish. As it currently stands, Saints Row is barely playable. It’s good, mindless fun, but I cannot recommend it in good faith. I offer a little prayer that a day one patch can address some of these concerns, and that the studio has a long-term plan to salvage this promising title.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Weird West
    The systems felt too brittle to warrant a more considered approach. In this Western, it doesn’t pay to be a master of the quick draw so much as the quick save, stopping to back up every inch of progress, in case your next move pulls the chair from under you.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Battlefield 2042
    The problem with Battlefield 2042 isn’t a short supply of [Battlefield] moments, it’s the flimsy and frustrating connective tissue between them.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Call of Duty: Vanguard
    In play, it is smartly dressed but simple, like a child of wealthy parents who can afford to be a bit dim.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Twin Mirror
    As the final credits rolled on “Twin Mirror,” I was baffled, having witnessed five hours of an uneven, dull mystery that never finds its footing.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Eternal Threads
    Eternal Threads almost seems aware that it’s not building a strong case for your emotional investment in whether these six people live or die. Throughout the game, mission control chimes in to remind you that these people’s lives definitely matter, that the average person has such and such number of descendants, so the fate of these six people and, more importantly, whoever comes after them could ultimately decide the fate of the world. And while that’s all technically true, I suppose, I can’t help but feel that “Eternal Threads” would have found infinitely more success laying the foundation for players to care about its existing characters instead of hinging your investment on theoretical stakes.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 45 Critic Score
    Hello Neighbor 2
    The overarching problem, I think, is that the game rarely sets up its horror. The best horror films and games ramp up the tension — and release it with a scare. But a neighbor coming up to you and catching you while you attempt to solve a puzzle mostly just feels random. There’s no setup — just surprise from something you couldn’t possibly foresee. More often than not, as I hid in closets from my pursuers, I felt frustrated rather than scared. I either wanted to continue what I was doing before, or for the pursuers to find me just to get it over with.
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In Progress & Unscored

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    • 86 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Returnal
    I didn’t get very far in Returnal, and it’s not for lack of trying. The game is tough for me — and I play “Dark Souls” to relax. [Impressions]
    • 75 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
    As enjoyable as Modern Warfare II is — and it is certainly enjoyable on the whole — the moments when the story prompts uncomfortable real-world questions about the game’s intentions shatter its illusion of immersive entertainment. In those moments, I forget about whatever it is that Capt. Price and Co. are tasked with doing and just wonder what people were thinking when they made the decision to include whatever cringeworthy moment I just witnessed. As Infinity Ward plunges ahead with this story — teasing an upcoming Russian attack during a mid-credits cutscene that includes a nod to the airport massacre from the original Modern Warfare 2 — they’d do well to devote a little more scrutiny to such decisions. [Campaign Review]
    • 72 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Nintendo Switch Sports
    A few of its mini games (there are six in total) are terse and rulebook-driven. Some are mechanically straightforward to the point of profound dullness. Others still are primarily about wildly flailing the controller side to side. None are particularly athletically taxing, at least not in the same ways I remember “Wii Sports.” [Provisional Score = 70]
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Valheim
    Valheim is a good, even great, game. But these days, games have to be more than just games. And Valheim is pretty good at that, too. [Early Access Score = 80]
    • 96 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Elden Ring
    Probably the easiest, most enticing way to describe the sheer scale of Elden Ring is to say it’s like receiving two to three new Dark Souls games in one.

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