The Games Machine's Scores

  • Games
For 2,650 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 71% higher than the average critic
  • 7% same as the average critic
  • 22% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 79
Highest review score: 99 Baldur's Gate 3
Lowest review score: 30 Dino Dini's Kick Off Revival
Score distribution:
2652 game reviews
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mother Russia Bleeds is a great homage to the beat'em ups that ruled the arcades in the Eighties. Excessive, vulgar, ultraviolent, it offers a fun yet deep gameplay, improved by an inspired art direction and a good soundtrack. An excessive difficulty towards the end and some technical flaws prevent the game from becoming a masterpiece, but if you love the genre, you can't miss it.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Master of Orion fails as a remake of the classic SimTex title, and as an attempt to renovate the 4X genre: the gameplay is too simple and limited to offer a real challenge to the player, and a variety of the old mechanics are missing. Despite all this, it can be a pretty good starting point for players who want to become familiar with the genre.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    Obduction is a heartfelt tribute to the classics developed by Cyan in the past, like Myst and Riven. It drags the player in a mysterious, fascinating remote world, and despite the simple puzzles and a lot of linear exploration, you're in for a really captivating adventure.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Madden 17 is a football game that speaks to everyone, pleases most and delights the hardcore fans. It doesn't shine for its technical prowess or for the presence of new ideas, but everything works just great, and the new Play the Moment feature lays the foundation for a bright future for the series.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Grow Up expands the sandbox-like world of Grow Home, giving the players more gameplay possibilities and more room for movement, but the endemic flaws of the predecessor are still there. Despite all that, the experience can be pretty unique and mesmerizing at times.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 87 Critic Score
    F1 2016 is the best Formula 1 videogame developed by Codemasters, and one of the most captivating racing games of this year. It perfectly combines simulation and accessibility, offers a great Career Mode and a lot of multiplayer options, but most of all it literally drags the player into the chaos and adrenaline of the competition.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    The console version of Assetto Corsa is a story of courage and ambition. If you love motorsports and you have a driving wheel, this is a must buy for the simple reason that you won't find a better simulation on consoles. If you play with a traditional joypad, you'll find a much more difficult (and sometimes frustrating) title. Assetto Corsa is a very good porting, and like its PC counterpart, it's bound to improve greatly in the upcoming months.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 48 Critic Score
    Boring, repetitive and strategically negligible, Champions of Anteria is a way too simplicistic mixture of real-time-strategy and management. The five champions are blatantly unbalanced, the core of the gameplay requires you to repeat the same identical missions until the end credits, and the only hint of variety comes from the boss battles.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    For the time being, No Man's Sky on PC runs slightly better than the console versions, the control system doesn't work very well with the mouse + keyboard combo, and that's about the only differences worthy of being mentioned. All the potential of the game and the disappointment are still there.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A.O.T.: Wings of Freedom raises the bar for the musou genre developed by Omega Force and Koei Tecmo. The game is interesting, albeit with some flaws, and has a unique identity that can be appreciated even if you're not a fan of the anime.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Hello Games created something truly new and unique: No Man's Sky manages to be the best videogaming experience in the recent years, and at the same time a huge disappointment for what it could have been. The first hours are simply amazing, and will probably be stuck in your memory for the rest of your life. After that, the supposedly thriving and procedural universe transforms into a cold and soulless repetition of landscapes and concepts. The videogames universe still has a lot to say, and probably this is the misstep we needed to understand that.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 48 Critic Score
    Eisenhorn: XENOS tells the beautiful and engaging story of the Inquisitor, as told in the Dan Abnett's novels, and that's about it. Everything else is mediocre and boring, including the level design and the combat system, flawed by the fact that it's been designed for mobile platforms.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 92 Critic Score
    The King of Fighters XIV is a huge game: fifty characters, a lot of modes and a robust, deep yet accessible combat system. It takes a while to get accustomed to the new 3D graphics (and the slight changes in the movement speed), but when you get the hang of it, you'll find yourself enjoying one of the most technical and rewarding fighting games of the last few months.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 87 Critic Score
    It won’t be remembered for its technical accomplishments, but the new installment in the Deus Ex series is a game full of attention to the detail and love for the players. The sophisticated cyberpunk atmospheres of the locations around the world offer the player the possibility to experiment with various gameplay approaches, which is always a good thing. The new Breach mode is fun but slightly flawed, and it probably won’t be your favourite.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The flaws of Metroid Prime: Federation Force become almost irrelevant if you play with friends, but are impossible to ignore if you play by yourself. The missions are varied enough and offer some unexpected twists, but the level design is rather dull, and some of the most iconic features of the Metroid saga are simply missing. Not a bad game per se, but not a great one either.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Bound is a visionary title, with a incredibly inspired art direction; unfortunately, the game has some gameplay flaws that prevent the player from fully enjoying the experience. It could have been something along the lines of Journey and Abzû, but it ends up being “just” a good game.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Black Desert Online has proven to be a real, nice surprise: an action title that hides a top-notch managerial, with tons of activities to keep you busy. It's a title worth to be tried, but only if you're ready to invest a lot of time, patience and dedication.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Without claims during the development, Headlander proves to be a Metroidvania with excellent core ideas and a lot of good vibrations. It's not so surprising as he seems in the first hours, but remains funny and engaging until the end.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The new episodic adventure from Telltale offers some welcome (some might say necessary) changes to the gameplay, and a revamped graphics engine (unfortunately not a new one). At its core, the “Telltale formula” still works well, and the choices we make during the game create a real and meaningful connection with the characters. The story is the best part, though, and it could really be a game changer for the Caped Crusader.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Abzu is a videogame to love, live and relive. If you loved Journey, this new masterpiece from Matt Nava will astonish you, and will make your eyes sparkle. An underwater adventure that can be enjoyed on many levels, a love letter to the ocean and its wonderful seascapes. Not everyone will love it, but those who do will cherish the memories for the rest of their lives.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Beautiful, fun, too expensive. Creative Assembly polishes the original gameplay and creates a nice and exciting mini-campaign, without taking any risk. An excellent result, overall.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 61 Critic Score
    Fallout Shelter is a pretty nice game for mobile devices. The same cannot be said for the PC version, troubled by a complicated installation process, a control scheme too much "mobile-oriented" and the lack of a cross-save feature. But it's free, so it may be worth a try.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    ADR1FT on PS4 confirms its nature of highly spectacular orbital exploration experience, but also remains limited in length, plot and game's mechanics. And the lack of a virtual reality console version will be a pity, in the near launch of PS VR.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Necropolis is a mix of action-oriented dungeon crawler and souls-like's combat. The game is intriguing as we thought, but the variety and depth of settings and enemies paradoxically remain confined to a small range of creativity.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    A good idea, ruined by a very low longevity and a few camera problems. What a pity.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    A more incisive screenplay could have made I Am Setsuna a memorable product. Despite this, the game is an enjoyable and an old-school J-RPG game.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    A tough game, full of good action but also with a lot of trial and error inside. If you are not afraid of going through exhausting boss battles, then do not hesitate.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 57 Critic Score
    Carmageddon: Max Damage tries really hard to bring back the memories of the weird, yet successful Stainless Games series. Unfortunately, it reaches the goal: the gameplay is almost identical to the original (with very few fresh ideas), the AI is as bad as before, and the technical quality is definitely subpar. A mediocre game that will probably please the fans of Max Damage, and just them.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The third DLC of Black Ops III offers the most deliciously "pulp" zombie chapter of the Origins saga, together with a couple of good maps. Probably not the best DLC ever, but an expansion that will make the Call of Duty fans happy.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Adventures of Mana is a low-budget title that will appease all the fans of vintage RPGs. For a game that should have celebrated the 25th anniversary of Mystic Quest (Game Boy), it could have been much, much better.

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