Xbox Tavern's Scores

  • Games
For 2,228 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 9% same as the average critic
  • 39% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy
Lowest review score: 6 The Language Of Love
Score distribution:
2232 game reviews
    • 55 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Hide and Seek doesn’t do enough to stand out alongside its predecessor, nor does it attempt to build upon the franchise outside of its plot movements. Despite the game’s various locations, the absence of depth and the lack of evolving functionality only opens the door to repetition. That said, the game’s performance and its core structure remains well set, offering bite-sized fun that will no doubt please fans of the series, far above all else.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 56 Critic Score
    Despite these misgivings though, I had a fairly enjoyable time with Terminator: Resistance. Sure, its mechanics, looks and technical aspects all feel as though the last 10 years of progression in gaming didn’t happen, but as a straight shooting FPS it does a passable job of entertaining. The campaign over stays it’s welcome, but along the way there are some quite likeable characters that make the journey more bearable. It would have been nice to have the death bringing army of machines feel more of a genuine threat rather than a pop up gallery; if the tension in that early scene could’ve been maintained we might have had something quite special on our hands here. As it is, we have a pretty bog standard shooter that feels a decade too late to the party.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Tennis World Tour 2: Complete Edition is a great next gen version of the original with crisper visuals, vastly superior load times and more things for the player to do. The MOCAP work could be a little better and perhaps some work is needed on the card system (or just scrap it altogether). Tennis World Tour 2 is one of the better tennis games I have played in a while, but it still needs a little work to take Top Spin’s crown.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Dull Grey brings an oppressive vision of the future to our screens, with an initially simple-seeming choice system having some hidden depth the more we read into things. It won’t last more than an evening, but the tale and atmosphere make this worth checking out at least once.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 54 Critic Score
    Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is a bland and repetitive brawler that tries too hard in the comedy department. Some good ideas are scattered throughout and the art is great, but it’s too little to really prop up the game. Short enough to get through in a couple of hours, however, the lack of co-op and the dull structure leaves a lot to be desired. Big Deez set out to rewrite history, but some things are best left alone.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The game is described as a feel good RPG, but in truth, and due to the sheer number of poorly implemented mechanics, it’s more like an RPG that looks good, but feels terrible. The combat is all over the place, the pacing is questionable at best, and the core ‘buddy-up’ system just fails to excite. It doesn’t help matters that its random generation is puddle deep, making it overly repetitive as a result. Pass this by.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Sephirothic Stories is an outdated RPG, and a poorly developed one at that. The gameplay itself is far too basic, with very little innovation in place to give it any distinction or character throughout. I can say the same about its low-quality visual and audio design, which is further hindered by its constant asset recycling. Overall, and at best, this is nothing more than a substandard adventure that’s crammed with needless microtransactions.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 39 Critic Score
    The title – Ultimate Racing 2D – sadly belies the actual experience on offer here. While there’s an impressive number of vehicles and tracks, the actual racing part feels flat, uninspiring and, quite frankly, boring. Multiplayer could be good for a laugh, but even that will wear thin before long. Racing fans may be able to eke out some more enjoyment, but for others just looking for a fun little run around you’re best off steering clear of this title.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 62 Critic Score
    Saga of Sins is an action platformer with some nostalgic tones of some of the old Disney platformers on the 16-bit consoles. The sinister vibe of the story is amplified but the interesting stained glass window graphics. The gameplay is alright but nothing too memorable apart from some tricky boss fights. The voice acting although commendable needed some work and the accents and tone used kill the game’s vibe at times.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 49 Critic Score
    Too slight to be seriously considered a Ja-copy of Jalopy, Road to Guandong has some adorable visual-novel moments that focus on family. It’s just a shame, then, that the road trip sections to reach them are so lifeless.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 13 Critic Score
    I’ve tried to see the good in The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna, but it just does everything in such a boring, bland, obtuse fashion that I cannot recommend anyone bother wasting their time with it. Outside of some passable music the game is just tedious and dull, and somehow even worse than the developers previous efforts. Avoid at all costs.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 45 Critic Score
    Bow to Blood certainly offers a unique experience, but its transfer from VR to traditional console hasn’t transitioned well enough at all. The game is sluggish across most aspects of play; from its basic movement and maneuverability, right the way up to its combat functionality. Furthermore, and despite some commendable features, there isn’t much depth present, ultimately making for a fairly repetitive journey that fails to maintain its allure.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 35 Critic Score
    Trenga Unlimited is hardly a bad game, but it’s also not exactly an exciting one either. Passable mobile-style fun for ten minutes at a time, as a console release it wears out its welcome very quickly, and won’t have you eager to get back on the big screen to keep playing.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 51 Critic Score
    I expected so much from the story with it being a Warhammer game. Usually, you are drowning in lore and story but with 40,000: Space Wolf, you barely get your feet wet. Every menu in the game feels so slow and sticky. I know it originated from a mobile game but the menu and story needed way more work for a console version. The gameplay is actually alright, the card mechanic mixed with X-COM style combat is quite interesting. But with dumb NPC’s, respawning enemies and losing a turn just to turn your guy around there are just a few too many bad decisions for me.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Aniquilation is a twin-stick shooter that seems to have forgotten it is a twin-stick shooter, or that putting so much mayhem on the screen at once doesn’t always equal fun. Shooting seems to be the attack I am using the least and although the game looks pretty enough it’s not really a joy to play for me.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia is a game that knows it audience and caters to it. It stays true to the story and delivers an okay yet shorter experience that I’m sure kids and fans of the show will enjoy.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Dakar 18 is held back from greatness due to a number of issues. Chief among these problems tend to revolve around the game’s poor handling and its over-the-top damage system. However, if you can overlook the game’s awkward foundation and forgive the overbearing co-driver, there’s a beautiful vast world to soak up, with no shortage of diverse content to take for a spin. Just don’t expect to be wowed.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 35 Critic Score
    Make no mistake about it, Battle for the Grid is a cheaply developed cash grab that will sorely disappoint those fooled by its admittedly exciting promotional run. The game’s dull campaign takes little more than twenty minutes to complete, and once you’re done there, you’ll be waiting equally as long to find an online match. Whilst local play is indeed an option, I cant at all recommend it due to its shamefully weak, boring, and unbalanced gameplay.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 48 Critic Score
    Elea’s opening episode serves as an interactive trip into a fractured, nonsensical story, in which consistency seems to be almost completely absent. While this alone wouldn’t be a bad thing if the storytelling was better produced, the main drawback is that barely any of the game’s aspects come together well at all. Despite its impressive visuals, the end result makes for a very awkward and bland experience.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 36 Critic Score
    Revenant Dogma looks and plays as though it’s been spat out of RPG Maker 2000. There’s very little depth within, and any depth that it does offer is usually puddle deep. The game may well be accessible and house a decent soundtrack, but in the midst of its near complete lack of innovation and originality, that’s hardly a selling point. Furthermore, Revenant Dogma is free on iOS and Android. Go there to avoid suffering a loss.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 31 Critic Score
    Fans of Swery will no doubt lap this up, quirks and all, but I just could not get on with the game at all. Every time I thought I had finally turned a corner with it some other nonsense turned up that put me right back at square one. Overloaded with poorly implemented decent ideas, this is a one for truly dedicated players only.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Xuan Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament is bait without a hook. Everything from the visuals to the several elements of play remains shoddy and poorly presented throughout. The story is interesting to begin with, but even this is let down in the long run by crappy localisation. It certainly doesn’t help that the game is riddled with bugs, wonky animation, and a general lack of polish.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 48 Critic Score
    Doodle God: Crime City just isn’t challenging enough nor interesting enough to recommend. There’s no doubt whatsoever that Doodleheads will find enjoyment here, but if you’re on the lookout for a compelling puzzle experience that innovates and excites, you’re not going to find those qualities in this game.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Grand Tour Game sports a unique content delivery system, but it’s one that goes in and against the game’s favor. That being said, this all means very little in the face of its undefined framework. Whilst the game does a good job of representing the show’s stylish character and imitating its format in fun ways, it predictably falls short where it really matters. This is, at very best, a mixed bag of pros and cons.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 45 Critic Score
    There is some heart in this simple third-person RPG, but with terrible gameplay, infuriating controls, insane difficulty spikes, enemy spam, and repetitive mission design, only the most determined players will find it.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Extinction lacks refinement and complexity, that much goes without saying. However, for those that seek a non-stop action-packed hack-and-slash adventure, there’s a lot to look forward to within. It may be repetitive in the long run, but there’s no denying that Extinction offers a decent story, empowering gameplay and enough content to merit a recommendation.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    What we have here is a game that manages to capture its theme beautifully but then crashes under the weight of its own monotonous gameplay.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    Hardcore highscore enthusiasts will possibly enjoy the multiple challenges on offer for each stage, and if you’ve a very strong capacity for patience and forgiveness, there’s enough content included to keep you going for a while. That said, there’s just far too much frustration involved here for it to be considered fun on a casual level, and a vast amount of irritating issues, both technical and by design, further holding the whole thing back.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Zeroptian Invasion wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but never really attempts to stand out as anything other than a clone. Still, for those of you specifically looking for a Space Invaders-like affair, you cant at all go wrong here, just don’t expect much originality.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Waking has almost convinced me that I’m not very good at reviewing games, because it is so difficult to convey what it’s about and how it plays. I’ve taken more time than I normally would thinking about this game and how I was going to explain and grade it. It’s definitely an unenviable, uncomfortable position that I find myself in because indie developers live or die by reviews. In the end I had to ask myself if I enjoyed playing it and the answer is that it wasn’t exactly fun, but it wasn’t exactly bad either because I got what Jason Oda was trying to do. The reality is though, if a developer creates a game meant to be personable, that’s a hard thing to nail down. It will only impact head-on with a sliver of players, and those on either side will like or dislike to varying degrees.

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