There has never been a better time to jump into Starfield. The new Free Lanes update and Terran Armada further enhance the experience, which has become highly customizable and a lot of fun once you customize your ship and begin exploring. Whether you’re returning to the Milky Way galaxy or setting off on an adventure for the first time, you’ll find a rewarding experience waiting to be had after years of enhancement.

Why would you want to buy MLB The Show 22? If I’m being completely honest, it’s really hard to justify taking the plunge this year, especially if you owned 2021’s installment. This release feels devoid of any marque justification for purchase, aside from continued refinement on existing mechanics. It’s really hard to shake the feeling that this was supposed to be a grand slam and ended up being a dribbler off the end of the bat.

Elite Dangerous is a massive, living game with plenty to see and do. Like a lot of sandbox, open-world games, you get out what you put in to the game. The various systems at play, including flight mechanics, are just complicated enough to be believable, while not hindering gameplay. It also helps that the game looks gorgeous, and runs solidly.

There is a certain magic present here that a decade has only made stronger. Newcomers and fans alike will find enjoyment in this collection and you won’t able to help smiling at plenty of moments, even if you’ve seen them play out before.

As a complete package, Starhawk isn't a groundbreaking PS3 exclusive in the way that Uncharted or God of War is. It's lacking in a few areas, keeping it short of greatness. But if you liked Warhawk, enjoy strategy in your multiplayer, or are thoroughly ingrained in a clan, then Starhawk will be welcome break from the norm.

The reality is that Skylanders: Giants is age-appropriate fun that harkens back to the delight you had collecting Pokémon cards or mashing your way through a dungeon crawler. If you've got little ones, then you already know the verdict here.

Even though it lacks originality and the character roster could have been improved upon, the game is still a blast to play and deserves a spot in any Sega fan’s collection.

EA Sports MMA is easily one of the best first entries of a new series that has been seen in a long time.

Need for Speed Unbound marries classic NFS gameplay with a hot new graffiti-inspired aesthetic. Gameplay-wise, it’s a safe approach that sticks to what has always worked for NFS, with police playing a big part during races and open-world exploration. Thankfully, the visual shift does a lot to make this racer feel fresh, taking it in a different direction from the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo. Those looking for an arcade racer with some attitude should check out Unbound, as it wins far more than it loses, and looks great doing it.

Back 4 Blood is a great game when played with other people, truly evoking the spirit of Left 4 Dead for a new generation of gamers. This time there’s the incentive of a progression system to keep players coming back, although the Corruption Cards don’t always make those repeated playthroughs as unique as they should. For those wanting to play on their own, it would be best to wait until the game has been patched to include single player progress. Hopefully that shouldn’t be too much longer.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate takes a previously released title back to the gym, worked out some known kinks in its system, adds in some new flavors of game play, pushes the total roster to 29 fighters, takes the best parts from the PS Vita version, and repackages it in a way that should draw in new fans, all the while pleasing long time fans of the series.

This is as bare-bones a port as possible, and nothing has been changed from a gameplay or feature perspective. That’s disappointing when you consider the lack of a decent tutorial and how bad the final boss fight is, but at the end of the day, it still presents a solid fighting game.

Before the Storm does do some fantastic work of setting the brickwork for the original game.

As of the time of this review, Street Fighter V is a showcase of potential, but little else.

So, if you have picked up Angry Birds on your mobile device, the PS3/PSP version does not offer anything new. Regardless of what system you play Angry Birds on, it is proof that simple, puzzle games can have AAA gameplay.

The best and most definitive way to play the game.

Othercide provides a challenge without breaking the player’s spirit. It hits on all the right notes of an engaging turn-based game, accentuated by the integrated roguelike elements, and an artistic beauty. Add in the lore and you have a pretty solid title worth checking out.

It’s a love letter to a fantastic genre, and is such a pleasant way to spend an evening. It may not be a grand adventure like Super Mario World, but I enjoyed every single second of it, and that can’t be said about most games.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is an extremely authentic port of the PC experience that stays very close to the source material. It certainly doesn’t hurt matters much when you consider how legitimately stellar the writing is. If it weren’t for the unfriendly control scheme and obscene loading times, this could very well have been an early contender for best PS4 RPG of 2020. Regardless, it can still easily stand on its own as an extremely solid title that’s very much worth your attention.

Takes solid gameplay and pairs it with a hilarious story. Shadows of the Damned varies the gameplay enough to keep you engaged, and the story will have you craving for the next witticism from Johnson. Poor enemy and boss design is the only thing holding this game back from being a hit.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is charming and challenging in all the right ways. Even now, as I sit here spending time working on this review, I wish I were playing the game. In spite of a few frustrating puzzle sections here and there, Hinoe calls to me. Knowing that my rice needs tending to and my pantry probably needs more dried meat so we can make it through the winter is all I want to focus on. That’s when you know a game has its hooks in you. Pretty, addictive hooks that have me all in.

Unlike other crossover incarnations in the Warriors series, Heroes incorporates enough of the legendary RPG franchise’s traditional elements to create a giddy nostalgia trip. Even if you aren’t a longtime fan, though, you’ll have a chance to get caught up in a whirlwind of solid action-RPG goodness.

Stellaris is an in-depth experience. It’s as addicting as any game I’ve played. You’ll be surprised how the hours just slip by while you’re engaged. It’s a black hole that sucks you in slowly, but relentlessly.

Although it is frustrating on many occasions and let downs such as commentary may detract from the overall experience, it still can't take away the fact that the game has received much-needed improvements, a slew of exciting additions such as the addictive Master League Online, and some top-notch visuals.

Although the online is a ton of fun especially playing as the creatures it is a real shame they couldn't of added more. You should be able to get a few hours of fun, but this looks to fade out pretty quickly.

Indivisible is exactly what it looks like. It’s an indie-funded exploration of familiar, nostalgic genre space, with its own distinct flavor. It features ridiculously clean and complex animations, practically looking like a TV series in motion.

The games translate very well to modern times and are worth every penny spent to add them to your library, with at least 40 hours of gameplay in the first one alone. Oh, did I mention that they also have trophy support?

Synapse’s roguelite elements are too light, but it’s a well-designed shooter that empowers players in ways only a VR game can. Developer nDreams has taken PSVR2’s eye-tracking and adaptive triggers and built them into the game’s mechanics without turning them into gimmicks. Snatching a barrel and detonating it over a group of hostiles is as gratifying as instinctively throwing back an incoming grenade while dumping submachine gun rounds with the other hand. It all combines to make for a thrilling VR shooter that excels for how it takes advantage of the hardware.

I’m having a very hard time parsing exactly how I feel about Little Red Lie. As a game, it’s imbalanced, awkward, and boring. I don’t think I can recommend it to anyone, but I might have been glad to have gone through it? It’s certainly an experience I will never forget, but then again, so was getting run over by a car.

Appearances can be deceiving, and the fugly exterior belies a deep experience, one that can even be rewarding and challenging.

Observer: System Redux is not for everyone. Hell, it wasn’t for me. But the experience itself, where it takes you at least, is worth the ride. It’s worth the sweaty palms and the dread of turning on your new console, knowing full well the tense and often uncomfortable adventure through madness that awaits. Some may even decide that it’s worth a second go-round.

It's the ultimate conclusion to an already beloved IP that's one of the most technically impressive titles in an already prestigious group.

This game made me shed more tears than any game I have ever played before, and I find that I am not alone in that sentiment. I even think this game communicated parts of WWI so well that it could be used as an educational tool, though the characters’ story is fiction.

Suffice to say that Bungie is recapturing the magic that Destiny has always had at its core. It’s exploring concepts and story ideas that fans have been speculating about for years. And it’s focusing on developing a game for the players who love Destiny, not trying desperately to change things to get new players on board. As a living world, iterative in design with an evolving narrative and constantly updated content, Destiny 2 changes persistently, but Beyond Light feels like a whole new foundation rooted in the kind of space magic and vision that has made Destiny special all along. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

If you're looking for classic side-scrolling beat'em up action, along with a blasting soundtrack, tough yet rewarding game play, and plenty of character, you can't go wrong with Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.

Brilliant. The Odd Gentlemen have managed to modernize a classic, retaining much of what makes the originals so beloved, yet not making it feel outdated for modern gamers, even if we do have to deal with a bit of backtracking.

The PS5 version of New Super Lucky’s Tale is its best console port yet. It plays like a dream at 120 fps and at 4K resolution, allowing for the charming platformer to really shine. If you haven’t checked it out yet, this is certainly the version to get.

The dialogue may be funny, but the game is far from being a joke. It’s in the running for RPG of the year, if not game of the year and is, by far, the best Final Fantasy title the company has put out in several years.

As far as co-op games go, into doesn’t get much more frantic or fun than Orcs Must Die! 3. It’s at time unintuitive and feels like it’s missing a few key quality of life features that could really help smooth out the experience, but at its core, the simple trap-building orc-killing gameplay loop is addictively engaging, far outshining any issues it may have at the menu level, particularly if you have a co-op partner to go through it all with. There aren’t many shining examples of “active” tower defense games, but Orcs Must Die! 3 absolutely exemplifies what’s so great about the genre and series, even if it stumbles a bit on its way to get there.

There’s no doubt that Tales of Berseria Remastered lives up to its billing and delivers the definitive version of one of Bandai Namco’s best role-playing games. Featuring a beautifully constructed story full of emotional twists and turns, Berseria has aged well and deserves to be revisited. Newcomers and veterans alike will enjoy the new quality-of-life upgrades to this incredible game.

The addition of the Ultimate Decisions tries to alleviate that issue but falls a little bit short. Thankfully the story, characters, and visual effects are all top notch and help to hide some of the flaws in the game.

Granted, its more iterative than innovative, but Shank 2 is a reasonably priced game with several fun elements that improve upon the original's formula while also scaling the game back in other areas.

From the moment I turned it on, it took me by surprise. The setting of a once luxurious, sand-covered Dubai is a true stroke of genius, and makes for both gameplay and story situations that are a cut above the norm-especially when it comes to cookie-cutter military shooters.

With so many choices left unexplored and far too many hidden items I have yet to discover, 11-11: Memories Retold is a replayable title with new experiences for me to discover.

The introduction of cooperative mechanics proved to be just enough change to keep things fresh, while still preserving what made the original so special.

If you’ve already got the game in to-go form, there’s really no reason to opt into its release on consoles; this version is just as fun and cerebral as the mobile experience, but it’s held back a bit by its lack of portability. That’s not to say anything is necessarily lost, but it’s definitely a pick-up-and-play experience that’s better enjoyed on the move — “GO” is in the title for a reason.

It’s the absence of stand-out creature encounters that weighs heavy on The Pathless as a whole. And there’s a redundancy to said moments that never rears its head when freely exploring and solving puzzles. Undoubtedly, the exploration and puzzle-solving represent The Pathless at its best. Giant Squid’s latest manages to perfectly capture the calm before the storm, along with the post-battle respite that few games master in equal measure. In that case, it would seem the disappointing creature confrontations do serve a greater purpose to some degree.

If you want to relive your memories as a kid or just want to see how Mega Man got his start, then Mega Man Legacy Collection is an easy recommendation.

Blending systems from past RPG greats, as if they’re ingredients in the culinary dishes you will make in the game, Dosa Divas is a fun turn-based RPG that keeps your attention during combat and doesn’t overstay its welcome. With a well-realized world and some funny dialogue, it’s a consistently charming RPG that is worth checking, as even an appetizer can be quite fulfilling.

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is an absolute blast and an experience that cannot be missed by arcade and action fans alike.

With endless replay value, a Platinum trophy, and offline and online co-op, it puts together everything that gamers, not just shooter, zombie, or horror fans, will love.

During the course of Tchia’s tropical adventure, players will experience many great, carefully-implemented ideas. The open world influenced by New Caledonia remains sensitive to its cultural inspirations, the unique soul-jumping mechanic is a joy to use and explore, the boat controls and fully-functional ukulele are overkill in the best kind of way, and the story has both unexpected darkness and humor. Unfortunately, a handful of good ideas can’t save Tchia from running out of steam before the finale and crumbling beneath a wave of performance issues.

If you’re a big Transformers fan, then that $50 price tag should be a no-brainer; just don’t expect a good story out of it.

Undercover is a fantastic LEGO game with all the right humor and obsession inducing collectibles, but hints that maybe it’s time to take a long hard look at what can be done to fundamentally change the LEGO franchise to build the new evolution they need brick by LEGO brick.

However, despite the occasionally poor animations and the poor handling of the passage of time, Telltale’s Game of Thrones: Episode 5 – A Nest of Vipers presents its players with some stressful, tough choices, and uses QTEs in an fun way.

It’s still hard to comprehend that Skyrim, a game from 2011 not originally designed for virtual reality, is now PlayStation VR’s killer app. Marrying these two ideas seemed like an impossible feat, but Bethesda pulled it off. Skyrim VR is anything but a simple port to virtual reality. It is lovingly crafted with care and attention to make one of the biggest and most memorable VR experiences since the platform first launched. Skyrim VR isn’t just a must-experience for PSVR owners; it’s a reason to buy the headset.

Road 96 feels like a strange blend of experimental and conservative game design. The procedurally generated narrative is a good idea and one I’d like to see used again. However, the overarching plot is political without being substantive. It’s a story that would likely have been best served following a linear structure with player characters that had rich backstories that firmly tied them to the struggle going on in Petria. Adventure game lovers will have a good time with Road 96, though. The cast is a lot of fun, and it has enough twists and turns to make for an entertaining play. It’s definitely unique, and I hope that DigixArt continues experimenting with the genre.

TMNT: Splintered Fate is a wonderful roguelike that is one of the PS5’s most replayable games. Thanks to the familiar characters and foes, there’s an instant charm and solid story that will immediately grab your interest. With co-op and difficult options, this is both a great entry point for those new to the genre and a fresh challenge.

The campaign and Zombies are definitely worth playing, but the multiplayer is as likely to leave people feeling frustrated as it is to see a fair and fun match, especially with so many other shooter options that have upped the ante out there.

Its quest structure makes it perfectly suited for a portable, yet its addictive nature will have a lot of players never wanting to put it down.

A glorious throwback to the yesteryear of sports gaming. Being a filthy casual has never been so appealing.

It's still the best baseball series on the market, and lack of innovation isn't going to take that away anytime soon.

If you’re looking for a game that will test your reflexes, Lost Orbit is your game.

Observer is brilliant in dozens of ways, yet deeply flawed in just as many. The quality of its story ranges from a confusing mess to some of the best written characters of this generation. The game’s biggest issue is its inconsistency on when and where to deliver its moments of horror. There was little to keep me going besides the next opportunity to speak to a troubled citizen of futuristic Krakow’s most interesting building block.

If you prefer your shooters to be more methodical or enjoy taking out enemies with pinpoint accuracy rather than just blindly rushing into skirmishes, Sniper Elite 4 will delight your trigger finger. Whether you’re a long-time series fan or someone just who wants to test their sniping skills, Sniper Elite 4 hits its target.

When it comes to love letters to an era of gaming long since passed, you would be hard pressed to find something more heartfelt than The Sexy Brutale.

I had just as much fun playing through Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King in my thirties as I did 25 years ago as my eight-year-old self. And yes, I finally completed The Lion King; albeit with some assistance from the rewind function! Hakuna Matata. It means “no worries.”

The steady improvement of MotoGP continues with MotoGP 21. The move to the PlayStation 5 affords a bunch of benefits inherent to the latest generation of consoles, and having a race load in a handful of seconds is such a nice luxury. The inclusion of the DualSense’s haptics is appreciated, as a useful feature to tell when tires are losing their grip. Brake temperature management combines with fuel consumption and tire wearing to increase immersion. It may still not excite much with a lacking presentation, but MotoGP 21 is a solid contender that’ll have you feeling like you could almost take to the track yourself. Just, watch those knees, yeah?

The game is not without its growing pains as the graphics suffer at times, offline co-op is absent and the Multiplayer can become a lag fest. However when the dust settles and you step past these issues, you are left with one of the most enjoyable games featuring transforming robots in recent memory.

For a Borderlands fan, The Pre-Sequel is really a no-brainer, but don’t expect anything massively new or innovative outside of the small tweaks. Instead, enjoy a bit (read: a lot) more Borderlands until Gearbox can show us what the series will become on the new generation of consoles.

This year’s outing has plenty of incremental improvements that deliver a superior experience to what you would’ve played twelve months ago. Allow your level of fandom to dictate if this purchase is right for you. Ultimately, regardless of where you land, you won’t be disappointed.

Ever the more lighthearted tennis game than its competitors, the arcade feel of Virtua Tennis 4 is a welcome addition to the Vita lineup. It handles well, looks nice and has a style that lends itself very well to portability. Of tennis.

This is an above average title for what Strider does do – provide action and wall climbing.

Ys Origin isn’t a great game, even with the various modes, difficulty settings, and characters that unlock for replayability, simply because it’s straight dungeon crawl with little variety. However, these issues prevent Ys Origin from being as good as it could be, and they certainly make it difficult to recommend the title to newcomers of Ys.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 earns its Turbocharged subtitle as it builds on the original’s base to deliver a more polished and enjoyable sequel. The new mobility mechanics add a lot to the racing, giving Milestone and users more freedom in designing tracks. This is quickly becoming one of the studio’s most enjoyable series and a breath of fresh air in the arcade racing space.

If you’ve already got the season pass, you’ll enjoy your run through of Judgement. If you haven’t been convinced to play any episodes by this point, then you may want to wait until the retail disc release.

It’s adequate, and it’s overpriced especially given the fact that the exact same game is selling for half the cost on PCs.

At a budget price and launching with a last minute ad bumrush, Remnant: From the Ashes is the kind of title you’d expect to come out and vanish quickly. But for fans of tough RPGs, action shooters, or post-apocalyptic fiction, passing up on Remnant would be a devastating mistake. It easily joins the ranks of games like Vampyr, that stubbornly outgrow their financial constraints to truly innovate and elevate a genre that has long since needed new ideas.

Players looking for an in-depth simulation of F1 racing have just found their porn.

[There are] so many ways to take on this single mission, part of the fun will be seeing other players’ creative ways that they assassinate the targets. If you’ve ever wanted to play the part of a super agent in a large sandbox, this is as good as it gets. With a fairly robust content creation engine, and future missions promised throughout the coming year, it looks like Hitman will be the weapon of choice of stealth gamers for the foreseeable future.

Headlander is a tease — a conglomerate of great ideas that tapered at the halfway point in favor of very basic “find the right color robot body” mechanics, lack of continued humor, and a middling story at best.

Toukiden 2 is a huge step up from its predecessor, and is a smart evolution of the gameplay that Monster Hunter fans have come to know. By opting for a more story-focused experience, it manages to forego feeling like a grind, and the open-world aspect allows players to really take in their surroundings.

Telltale has not only managed to make one of the most interesting incarnations of the Harlequin of Hate, but the slow build has paid off wonderfully over two seasons.

The Vita-specific features aren't enough for me to recommend a purchase if you already have Plants Vs. Zombies on another platform. Unless you simply must have the expanded trophy set (including a Platinum) and you're already a big fan (like me). But if somehow, some way, you've missed this game before, the PlayStation Vita version is still one of the better versions out there.

I can’t imagine how painstaking it was for this team to perfectly balance the growing difficulty with the puzzles, building upon each puzzle learned and amping it up just a smidge. No room was above and beyond more difficult than the one prior; it was slow and steady growth, and one that will keep you glued to your controller until you finish it.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is a surprising break from the traditional Ubisoft open-world fare, perhaps hinting at some newfound creative freedoms that we’ll hopefully see play out in the future. Cribbing Breath of the Wild is a strength even as Immortals iterates and takes its own twist. And the deep dive into Greek mythology ends up being a fascinating foundation upon whose shoulders the entire premise rests. From the first magnificent glide onto the Golden Isle, Immortals Fenyx Rising is an unforgettable treat that surprised me more than I thought it would.

A well-made JRPG that never strays too far from its series roots.

Furi is an action packed, violent game that does a great job of marrying two genres together.

Sniper Elite 5 makes small attempts at innovation but not enough to stop it from being a fairly safe entrant into the Sniper Elite franchise. The enhanced killcam, extensive weapon customization, and better skill trees help to improve the experience over Sniper Elite 4. Players will undoubtedly have fun roaming the large battlefields of France as long as they can get over the minor bugs, although we could do without those that can stop a playthrough in its tracks. While the standard multiplayer modes and Survival mode will keep players occupied for a while, Invasion mode is what will keep players coming back for more.

GNOG is a curious beast; an odd monster, or series of monsters rather. It’s a visual and auditory treat, with bright colors and rich soundscapes highlighting a bizarre game that doesn’t seem to really have much direction or purpose. The puzzles are fun to poke, prod, and figure out, particularly in VR where each puzzle diorama head really has a chance to come to life in front of you, but the sense of wonder GNOG tries to invoke fades too quickly, leaving me with the feeling that this is more a sensory artifice than it is a digital Rubik’s Cube.

Darksiders Genesis is not Darksiders 4, but it’s still a worthwhile addition to the Darksiders saga.

Once again, I have been pleasantly surprised by Omega Force.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is a godsend for Vita fans. At a time when support for the little handheld seems to be rapidly dwindling, here comes a role-playing masterpiece with all the right stuff: XSeed’s superior localization, which bypasses anime cliches in favor of real depth; an addictive set of life-sim mechanics, from bonding with the lovable cast to cooking a bevy of dishes; and a combat system that rewards customization and cooperation between party members.

After playing Transformers: Fall of Cybertron only one word comes to mind: functional. It's sad that a game with as many narrative hooks and the look of the generation one Transformers is so prone to technical issues and some bizarre design choices.

The game doesn't blow you away with its story or characters, but instead with its charm that shines through with every "dot".

Overall, NCAA Football 14 delivers in pretty much every way imaginable, with a few issues that arise from the Infinity Engine 2 and some issues with the no huddle offense. The improvements that it brings with this year’s installment are what fans have been asking for.

The story is worth-while, the balance of tower types, upgrades, and aliens gives you a lot to test your skills against. I thoroughly enjoyed this game because it took what all of us are familiar with in tower defense and made each aspect smarter, higher quality, and better than the usual fare.

Screamer is a refreshing racing game from an incredibly reliable studio. Milestone has taken a chance to do something different, and it has paid off as the anime-influenced story mode is a blast and the game looks fantastic. Playing just as impressively as its visuals, racing fans looking for something new will want to check this out.