Riot Pixels' Scores

  • Games
For 1,366 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 20% higher than the average critic
  • 7% same as the average critic
  • 73% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 11.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 64
Highest review score: 95 Europa Universalis IV
Lowest review score: 1 Bloodbath Kavkaz
Score distribution:
1366 game reviews
    • 82 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    It's a solid expansion pack with all the merits and flaws of the original game. And for some reason it has "2" in the title.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    It's sloppy and boring wherever you look. Fallout 76 feels like a mishmash of half-baked ideas rather than a proper MMORPG with a decent story and exciting challenges for both lone wolves and groups.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    There is no thrilling story, colorful characters or allure of the high seas. Instead, Return of the Obra Dinn is a bold, massive puzzle, an exquisite workout for your 'gray cells'. Unfortunately, the innovative gameplay mechanic gradually loses its appeal and excitement towards the finale, and I had to muster my willpower in order to beat the game in one go.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    While the core gameplay is still fun, Battlefield 5 is the most unstable and bug-ridden installment in the series since Battlefield 2. Even if the developers manage to patch the most glaring holes by the end of this year, there is no guarantee that they won’t abandon the game in a few months depending on sales and revenue from microtransactions. I would wait six months to see if anything changes for the better before buying.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Lovecraft-inspired, one-of-a-kind, original-looking… boring grindfest.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    While AC: Origins was packed with interesting stories, Odyssey is a generic ’Ubisoft sandbox’ in the worst sense, with hundreds of the same-looking places, dozens of ”kill-fetch” quests and almost zero motivation to grind further.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    60 Parsecs! was supposed to fix the mistakes of 60 Seconds and launch this concept into stratosphere, but suffered orbit decay and burned on re-entry.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 62 Critic Score
    Fans of WH40K board games will probably enjoy this video game. Fans of computer strategy games should probably buy Valkyria Chronicles 4 instead.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Gardens Between wins you over with immediacy and candor rather than original concept or atmosphere. Don’t expect metaphysical references, hidden postmodernist rhetoric, or a multi-layered narrative — there is none of that. Moreover, it is devoid of conflict, story and text. This is a journey through a child’s imagination made out of clever puzzles.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    SoulCalibur 6 joins Injustice 2 on the front line of modern arcade fighting games. I hope the amazing character editor will only increase its popularity over time.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Generic heroic fantasy with naive themes and two-dimensional caricatures instead of characters. The writing is all right, with some bright spots here and there, but this story is not worth the emotional havoc this game wreak on you with its poor game design logic and bugs.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Whether you buy Spyro Reignited out of sheer nostalgia or just because you need a nice game to play together with your kids, this remake will not disappoint. It’s still one of the best family arcade games around.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    In the dark future, there is only war, but this is not enough for a proper 4X strategy game.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Thronebreaker is surprisingly simple on medium difficulty, but there is no incentive to play it again on hard. Here, Gwent serves as a distraction from Queen Maeve’s adventures rather than the main course. Under different circumstances, her story could have been turned into a much more ambitious self-sufficient game to rival The Banner Saga trilogy.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 57 Critic Score
    It’s a no-frills adventure with a simple story, pleasant graphics and a load of vexing trivial mistakes in its design.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The ever-increasing level requirements force players to grind. These side missions are all too similar in their look and design. Varied, exciting combat could have been the game’s saving grace, but, alas, it leaves a lot to be desired.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Dragon Quest XI may delight even the staunchest opponents of JRPGs.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Was it worth it to sacrifice the single-player campaign? If this was the only way to create this awesome multiplayer package, then yes, absolutely. Black Ops 4 channels the spirit of the first two Modern Warfare games, and this is an achievement by itself.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 43 Critic Score
    Cliched story and characters are the worst offenders in Thief of Thieves. The developers managed to nail down a comic book look, but what’s the point in it if everyone is ugly as hell and cannot utter even a single interesting line?
    • 83 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Two Point Hospital doesn’t want and doesn’t know how to punish players for their mistakes. It only creates a feeling of hectic atmosphere and imitates problems to keep us from falling asleep while moving medicine cabinets for the umpteenth time.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 57 Critic Score
    The concept of We Happy Few has so much potential, but it feels like there were two teams with different level of talent working on this project. One team used this elaborate alternative world, stark visual style and and intriguing story, tried to lift it up. The other team was responsible for imbalanced, clumsy gameplay, pulled the game down. The result is 30 hours of very mixed feelings.
    • 97 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    RDR2 is one of the best games of recent years that gives all the other popular “sandboxes” a thorough ass-kicking.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider is doomed to remain in the shadow of its predecessors.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 53 Critic Score
    By sacrificing player’s freedom in favor of questionable game design concepts, the developers failed to flesh out the intriguing world, characters and plot of Lamplight City. I expected a much better result from the makers of Shardlight.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 56 Critic Score
    Strange Brigade is just a notch better than Sniper Elite 4, Rebellion’s previous failed attempt at making a cooperative shooter.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 56 Critic Score
    Sometimes Forget Battalion is a blast to play, but right after the battle you realize that this game is just a pale imitation of the long-forgotten RTS blockbusters.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Forsaken is flawed, and yet it is the best Destiny 2 expansion so far. There is nothing that elicits exuberance, but if you are a hardcore Guardian, do not miss it.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a solid game, but if you are new to the series, I suggest to start with Valkyria Chronicles Remastered. VC4 builds on its ideas and the fans will enjoy it a lot, although I am a bit worried that the developers do not know where to go next — it is painfully apparent in their approach to gameplay mechanics and evolution of their fictional universe.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Tennis World Tour will have a slight chance of surviving on your PC’s hard drive only if you have someone to play it with. But even then it will be just a constant reminder of the early 2000s when tennis lawns were greener and tennis sims got higher scores in our reviews.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    A poignant story of devotion and hope, of love and duty, of good and justice, a rollercoaster ride of unexpected twists that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last second.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Shenmue and Shenmue II are both very ambitious games jam-packed with many ideas and concepts that were considered groundbreaking at the time of their release, but do not relegate them to the ash heap of history yet — they’re still just as relevant and fun to play today.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Spider-Man is a stark example of an outdated "sandbox game” whose goal is not to entertain but rather preoccupy players, and it uses every cliche in the book to do that.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Story is pretty much all that State of Mind going for, but slow pacing and monotonous gameplay of the first half, as well as weak environmental storytelling, lack of decent puzzles and nonlinearity suck out fun.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Dead Cells, despite its hardcore leanings, is not game that makes you slam your keyboard with a fist or throw your gamepad at a wall when you miss a jump or die. Combat and platforming elements are top-notch, and mistakes is the best possible experience you’ll get here. Don’t worry, you’ll get back whatever stuff you lost in 30 minutes or less.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    The Banner Saga 3 is a good game, but if you have to take a step back and look at the trilogy as a whole, you will truly appreciate the whole greatness of this saga.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 47 Critic Score
    Amazing storms is probably the only feature of Jurassic World Evolution worthy of a praise — they are always a joy to behold. The rest of the game is a powerful sedative capable of knocking out a T-Rex.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    In one of the interviews, the developers stated that they wanted to start different project originally, but later decided to do This Is the Police 2 instead. Well, the sequel is not slopwork in any way, but you can’t help but feel a certain lack of enthusiasm and concentration of the game’s creators.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Football, Tactics & Glory is hardly addictive, but accessible and deep enough to fill a World Cup-shaped hole in your heart. If would be perfect on the go, but, unfortunately, there is only a PC version of the game.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Wreckfest lacks coherent vision. It feels as if Bugbear Interactive, during all these long years of development hell, still haven’t figured out what game exactly they were trying to create.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Super Mega Baseball 2 doesn’t have photorealistic graphics or licensed Mike Trout and José Altuve, but this is, hands down, the best baseball sim this side of PlayStation.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 45 Critic Score
    Coldwood Interactive changed a lot of things in the sequel, but somehow failed to add more variety or make puzzles less trivial.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Mario Tennis Aces holds itself on the tennis court way better than Ultra Smash, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You can almost feel all these awesome miniature world in your hands and even twist and turn some of them, like a Rubik’s cube. Sure, bosses are way too easy, and our enemies are childishly naive, but that’s why they don’t distract you from the main course — well-designed puzzles.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Exciting and original at first, Forgotton Anne quickly loses its steam as the story progresses on its way to the land of forgotten video games.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Dontnod made a couple of major mistakes developing Vampyr, but the game still deserves your attention. Its unique concept, impressive variability and gloomy London with its doomed inhabitants will make it worth your while.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Onrush is an acquired taste, and you will probably part ways with it after 8-9 of hours of playing. Asking 60 USD for a game in this condition is way too much.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 44 Critic Score
    After a rushed release of AO Tennis in Australia, Big Ant Studio had six months to fix the game‘s numerous fatal flaws for the international version, but even with patches, it’s still not fun to play.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    It’s a massive, deep, exciting sea adventure, although the developers do run aground on some reefs here and there.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Nice-looking and highly original, Frostpunk is too simplistic for a city-building sim and too shallow to grip you with emotional hooks.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Thrones of Britannia feels like an expansion of Total War: Attila, released as a separate game for obvious reasons. It relies on mechanics of Rome 2 and Attila and sometimes ditches them without offering a replacement. As a result, despite is epic scope, it’s a tedious, boring game fit for just one, maybe two, playthroughs.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 72 Critic Score
    All systems nominal. But it could have been oh so much better.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The most frustrating thing about this game is that it was made by the creators of Panzer Corps and Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon. They’re not newcomers to this genre, but Check Your 6 looks and plays as if it’s their first attempt at a turn-based wargame.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    It’s a standard ”enhanced port” from Wii U to Switch with minimal changes, but those who missed it the first time around will enjoy this tropical romp.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    An exciting Hollywood-esque interactive adventure with dozens of variables, and definitely the best and biggest game by Quantic Dream that makes it up for their previous failure.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Ash of Gods, despite similar visual style, is unlike The Banner Saga. It’s a completely different game, with its own mood, ideas, features… and, unfortunately, level of quality.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Vermintide 2 evolved far beyond a Left 4 Dead imitation. Using familiar concepts, Fatshark lovingly crafted one of the best cooperative action games in recent years.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 95 Critic Score
    A few insignificant nitpicks aside, this is a prime example of a modern slasher, a crown jewel of this genre, a new definitive killer app for PlayStation 4.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Far Cry 5 doesn’t propel the series forward — it just refines all of its elements and relegates the infamous towers to the dustbin of history. So if you‘re allergic to open worlds from Ubisoft, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But if you’re eager to meet new wacky characters, complete dozens of missions and enjoy the sights, welcome to Hope County, sinners!
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A chaotic, pretty much useless crossover of Final Fantasy worlds. I’m surprised that this game was made by Team Ninja.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The developers present Pit People as a ‘turn-based adventure‘. But even this classification does not explain away all the problems of this game.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    A well-balanced adventure with a bold ending and one really weak link. Still, it is worth 6 hours of your time.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    A beautiful adventure with a weak story rife with boring fetch quests and pointless sneaking.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Vast underwater worlds of Subnautica are worth exploring, but don’t forget to bring a huge tank of liquefied patience with you.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Not the worst imitator of Portal 2 that gets better as the story progresses, but, alas, the moment of magical transformation never comes. You won’t miss much by skipping this game entirely.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    An enjoyable interactive movie for kids. It‘s fun, just don‘t expect a proper adventure game out of this.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fans of genre classics from Spielberg and Zemeckis should play Crossing Souls for that elusive magical feeling of a Hollywood fairytale, for its great 80s style soundtrack, for genuinely funny moments, and even for its thrilling, albeit naive drama… But be warned: this nostalgia trip will be bumpy as hell.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chuchel is very easy to play and lasts a couple of evening at best, but you will enjoy every minute of this beautiful, good-hearted game.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    The best way to experience Shadow of the Colossus — play a couple of levels at a friend’s or use the Share Play function. This game was a hit in its time, on its original platform, but we all moved on, and now the remastered version feels archaic, especially its gameplay.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Kirby Star Allies rarely dazzles with innovations and is short enough to finish it in one bite. Still, it’s, most definitely, a victory dance for Kirby.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The final result, even after a year in Steam Early Access, is a far cry from the promised “living, breathing tabletop video game”.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 57 Critic Score
    It’s no wonder you can’t find opponents to play Gravel online — the single-player campaign doubles as an excellent deterrent in this low-budget imitation of DiRT 2.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 56 Critic Score
    Tedious “search expeditions” accompanied by dull music and sprinkles of boring text — that is all you will ever find in InnerSpace.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 39 Critic Score
    Using The Phantom Pain’s engine, its models, animations and other assets, Metal Gear Survive looks like a shoddy fan modification.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    To master all the missions and complete all levels of difficulty is a challenging, but riveting task. That’s why Into the Breach is worth playing over and over; just like chess, you play it not just to win the game, but to experience the process and see new situations unfold.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    There are many ways to enjoy Kingdom Come: Deliverance: help beautiful damsels, hack and slash bandits, marvel at pretty sunsets… Just don’t expect it to shatter your world. This is a typical case of “my dream game” — a fun, but flawed experience that staggers under a crushing weight of ambitions.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 46 Critic Score
    Neither Omega Force, nor the series were ready to handle so many changes at once. Dynasty Warriors 9 disappoints wherever you look, from performance issues and dumb stealth to ugly cinematics and boring open world.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    THQ Nordic and Grimlore bit much more than they could chew while trying to make a huge and beautiful RTS, and, once again, we come away disappointed. This genre needs a new ”killer app”, but sadly, this is not it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Rise and Fall brings a lot of changes to Civilization 6, both massive and barely noticeable, but, surprisingly, none of them alter the familiar gameplay flow. The Ages, loyalty, and governors are half-baked and barely scratch the surface of their true potential, while still dimwitted AI feels even more feeble-minded because of the new features.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    A good game, but not a masterpiece, The Red Strings Club has a lot of ”Chekhov’s guns” that never fire a shot, and reveals a huge twist 5 minutes before the credits roll. I like the concept of this twist, but it appears without rhyme or reason. Still, you will feel a surge of emotions when the game will ask you to make that final, heard-shredding choice.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The developers should have prioritized quality over quantity, and dumped the second campaign along with a useless global map. As it stands now, Numantia will disappoint even fans of ancient civilizations.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Nantucket is a generator of amazing tales, the likes of which people usually tell by the fireside while sipping hot mulled wine. Low budget and a couple of glaring mistakes are the only things that deny it greatness.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Fans of Silent Hill and Resident Evil should definitely try The Evil Within 2. Even with all its annoying flaws, the sequel is better than the original game. Slowly but surely, Tango Gameworks is working its way towards a perfect formula for a modern horror game.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    The original game was akin to an epic novel. The remaster feels like an abrupt, kitschy fanfic.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 15 Critic Score
    An exemplary “YouTube shocker” of a game. Avoid at all costs.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Rome 2: Empire Divided is a weird beast. I have no idea why Creative Assembly went back and made this expansion. Maybe this is a part of some corporate plan to mimic Paradox’s approach to their strategy games or just a sincere, but uninspired attempt to breathe new life into an aged game. But in any case, it is too little, too late.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Basketball fans, NBA 2K18 is your new best friend… until the next fall.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    If you are a fan of the original game, get ready to hold back tears after watching a brief post-credits scene, and it will give you a deeper appreciation of that scene in the scrapyard from LIS Episode 4. I think this is the whole reason why Before the Storm exists, and that is good.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    This is a typical “expansion pack” with new missions, familiar faces and zero changes to gameplay. Still, just as they were in the original game, the missions are massive and well-designed.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Seven is based on a beautiful concept jam-packed with original ideas. Alas, most of them don’t work.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    A lot of people were upset to find out that Shadow of War has loot boxes, and they are kind of annoying. Unfortunately, loot boxes is the least of its problems.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    A single-player campaign of Battlefront 2, however bad it is, is not a party pooper by itself. But when you add luck-based demoralizing character upgrades, paltry rewards, not-so-subtle hints at a “pay to win” system, and a bunch of annoying bugs, you will have to muster all your love of Star Wars just to endure this game.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    One somewhat interesting specialization, +10 levels to upgrade your character, awful redesign of the main menu and crappy Act V — no one expected this expansion, but it fails to deliver anyway. Still, the new character class is a worthy addition.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Quite a things in Origins are open to debate, but all in all, it’s a good game.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Finally, after two years of waiting, the PC version of Pro Evolution Soccer is on par with current console offerings.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    While Wolfenstein 2 lacks novelty, it’s still a fun shooter with a meticulously detailed world, a cast of colorful characters, and lots of ways to brutally murder nazis.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This game is a definite downgrade from last year’s Infinite Warfare. More scripted scenes and QTE, less freedom, no side missions, but — hey! — medkits are back. Call of Duty: WWII proves yet again that World War II has run its course in video games. Let’s put it behind for good and get back to starfighters, cyborgs and laser rifles.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The title of Miss Video Games in 2017 goes to… no, not to Billy Lurk, Chloe Frazer, or Itō Ayami, but to a tomboy with no name from A Hat in Time.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Without much words or lengthy conversations, Last Day of June tells a compelling story about destinies, dreams and loss that surround its protagonist Carl. The game needs more work in some technical and visual aspects, but I gotta hand it to the developers from Ovosonico — they know how to work with emotions.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If you believe that an RTS game is about armies of units happily shooting at each other, rather than boring base-building and management, gather your comrades and enjoy this world of endless revolution.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Bungie dropped the ball on loot in Destiny 2, but even despite this and some other jarring drawbacks, the game is solid. It amazes you with excellent shooter mechanics and smart enemies, blinds you with colorful explosions and splashes of super abilities, enthralls you with breath-taking vistas and intricately designed weapons. Even the dumb story has a flipside — you will laugh yourself to tears playing the campaign with your fire team mates.

Top Trailers