Shacknews' Scores

  • Games
For 1,733 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 49% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Skate Story
Lowest review score: 10 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Score distribution:
1760 game reviews
    • 93 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The World of Light campaign is the absolute icing on the cake, offering up tens of hours of fun and some genuine surprises. The only thing really holding Ultimate back from perfection is its online play, both because of its connectivity hiccups and because of some odd design choices.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Just Cause 4 is a very entertaining package and its potential won’t be fully tapped for a long time.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Fallout 76 is a bit of a disaster, which is a shame because there are good ideas and good bits of content here. There wasn’t a single play session where I didn’t have a lot of fun, but there also wasn’t a session where something ridiculous didn’t cause frustration. It feels like it should have been released into early access as a work in progress for the next several months, thus alleviating some of the frustration from poor performance, bugs, and balancing issues.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Artifact feels like the MOBA of card games, in more ways than one. There's just as much strategy, just as much variety, just as many resources to manage, and it's just as challenging.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If you're aching to go dancing with your favorite Persona characters, Persona 4: Dancing All Night remains the best choice for now. If you want to listen to Persona 3 or Persona 5 songs instead, opt to borrow these games if possible instead of investing in them for now.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If you're aching to go dancing with your favorite Persona characters, Persona 4: Dancing All Night remains the best choice for now. If you want to listen to Persona 3 or Persona 5 songs instead, opt to borrow these games if possible instead of investing in them for now.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Darksiders 3 does seem a bit lacking when compared to its series brethren, at least for those who come in with high expectations. Darksiders 3 is recognizably a Darksiders game. However, the game would have benefited from more risk-taking in areas where it chose to play it safe. Nevertheless, Fury’s story is one worth experiencing, especially for long-time fans who are anxious to see how the next chapter of the four horsemen unfurls.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    As it stands right now, the game is a rough, uncut diamond that could’ve been the crown jewel of class-based multiplayer first-person shooters.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Tetris Effect is the best iteration of the game franchise since the New Tetris on Nintendo 64.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    As it is in life, perception and consideration go a very long way here, and players who are willing to put in the proper amount of time and effort will see just how perplexing, engaging, and rewarding stealth action games can be. Hitman 2 will undoubtedly serve to define the stealth genre for years to come, and I can't wait to see where IO Interactive takes the series next.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Despite the developer's pedigree with slower-moving games like Echo Night, it had great difficulty putting together a meaningful narrative that was pleasurable in any real way to watch unfold. If From Software opts to create another VR title in the future, I hope it's at the very least a different genre.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    While I personally already own much of SNK’s NES catalog on cartridges, having portable versions of several arcade classics that I can take anywhere on my Nintendo Switch along with their 8-bit counterparts is definitely a bonus. While most of them are gems in their own right, the actual arcade cabinets can be rare and hard to come by in the wild, especially since most titles like the Ikari Warriors series had a proprietary joystick that twisted as opposed to a twin-stick shooter setup.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Blizzard should be commended for the gestalt that is Diablo 3: Eternal Collection. If you’ve followed Diablo 3’s history, you know the game walked a long, often bumpy path. It’s been addictive for several years, but the option to play on the go makes this package a must-have any Switch owner, especially players looking for a game to lose themselves in for dozens or hundreds of hours.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    If you've never adventured with Mario's lankier brother throughout his haunted mansion exploits, Luigi's Mansion 3DS is absolutely worth the price of admission.
    • 97 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    It wouldn’t surprise me if I ended up spending 200 hours on a single save, then loading it back up in a few months to do it all again. Whether I’m chasing the thrill of a daring train robbery, or the serenity of a solo camping trip, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an open-world game I will return to time and time again.
    • 76 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Insomniac’s first DLC outing for Marvel’s Spider-Man proves to be a worthy one. While it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, it adds more activities for players to dive into and features a fully fleshed out story with some pretty memorable characters. The best thing The Heist has going for it is that it gets to build on top of the spectacular foundation laid with the original game.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Quest structure and design centered on pacing are unfortunate obstacles for this experience, but Windlands is still a lot of fun. It's even more fun when you can get a few friends to swing around with you. Just make sure to optimize your VR sensor setup before swinging into action.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    While Capcom Beat’Em Up Bundle does have some online multiplayer issues it’s still a ton of fun overall.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A solid entry into the lexicon of Lego and DC adventure-puzzle games. There’s a ton of family friendly content that will keep kids busy for hours and entertain their adult counterparts as well.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    SoulCalibur VI is an incredible package, only bogged down by a few minor issues, and one that should be near the top of any fighting game fan's library.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Ops 4 feels like one of the strongest Call of Duty entries to come along in years. Despite not having a solo campaign or some of the past games' more bombastic mechanics, Treyarch has proved the adage that "less is more." And this game's "less" is good enough to keep me waiting around for "more."
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There are a few open-world games that sit above the rest, but Assassin’s Creed Odyssey falls just short of them. Its use of systems that appear in other open-world Ubisoft titles make this a bit like a yearly installment of a sports franchise looking to build on last year than a genre-defining experience.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mega Man 11 manages to bring our favorite Blue Bomber back into the modern conversation, and the Double Gear system helps tweak the familiar formula into something that feels fresh even in 2018. It may not be the smoothest transition — purists may shun the new mechanics, while unfamiliar players may wonder how the game was ever interesting without them — but the bottom line is that Capcom has found a way to keep Mega Man alive without banking solely on retro gaming nostalgia.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Against other racing games, Forza Horizon 4 stands alone as the best representation of what arcade fun is all about, evoking the spirit of OutRun, Need for Speed, and Burnout: Paradise. It is a love letter to car enthusiasts that doesn’t shun outsiders and casual players.
    • 81 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    A new journey in the Life is Strange universe has begun, but so far, it's not one I'm particularly enjoying.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This Legend is definitely worth exploring, especially since it’s free to play, which seems like a must today in the overcrowded mobile marketplace.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Bard’s Tale IV started off on the right foot, but proved to be [a] boring installment in a franchise that probably would’ve been better off staying in the 80’s.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There are still things that need addressing, but NHL 19 is the best hockey experience I’ve had with the NHL franchise in the PS4 era.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    As a final blowoff to the Trinity saga, I couldn't help but walk away feeling that the resolution to the story and to Lara Croft's character could have been so much better. But in terms of a pure "Tomb Raider" game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is everything a bold explorer could ask for, giving players a vast jungle to explore and daring them to master it.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Marvel's Spider-Man is at once a fantastic action game, a dramatic story-driven adventure, and a love letter to fans of Marvel's ever-endearing wall-crawler. It's also one of the strongest titles in Insomniac Games' catalog, and will no doubt be counted not only among the best games of 2018, but also among the best PlayStation 4 exclusives ever released.

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