Reviews

Reviewed on PC by Ryan McCaffrey. Also available on Nintendo Switch. “After decades of believing that we’d never see Gilbert get to make his Monkey Island 3, I was in no way disappointed with Return’s conclusion. In fact, it moved me, and made clear that Gilbert cares as much about these characters as we fans

Steelrising is a competent action RPG with an unforgettable setting, but it’s dragged down by its humdrum soulslike formula that doesn’t do anything to make its combat or exploration stand out. Despite having some memorable weapons and enemies, combat often feels imprecise or sloppy, and boss fights are largely forgettable. That said, even if the

NBA 2K23 reviewed by Ben Vollmer on Xbox Series X. Also available on PlayStation 5. (Note that the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC versions are based on the older version of NBA 2K and have significantly different features.) I am heavily conflicted about NBA 2K23. On one hand, the new retro game modes

Reviewed by Tristan Ogilvie on PC. Also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. “Metal: Hellsinger is an enjoyably rhythmic riff on the metal-propelled mayhem of modern Doom, but its short length and modest variety in weapons and boss fights means it feels more like an energetic but unfinished collection of garage demos than

Isonzo reviewed on PC by Luke Winkie. Also available on Xbox and PlayStation. Isonzo is an eminently approachable World War One game. The firearms and technology might be ancient by modern standards, but anyone who’s played a modern first-person shooter can easily start storming the Dolomites and picking off headshots as soon as they boot

Splatoon 3’s Multiplayer reviewed by Brendan Graeber on Nintendo Switch. Building from the solid foundations of its predecessors, the deluge of impressive quality of life changes and exciting improvements Splatoon 3 brings make it hard to imagine the ink-based shooter series as it was before this. More than just a simple upgrade, its array of

Splatoon 3’s Single-Player Campaign reviewed by Brendan Graeber on Nintendo Switch. “Splatoon 3’s single-player campaign takes all the highs of Splatoon 2’s creative Octo Expansion missions and places them in a satisfying hub world where freedom of choice lets you get as much as you want out of your playthrough — confident that you’ll be

Disney Dreamlight Valley reviewed in early access by Travis Northup on Xbox Series X, also available on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. An awesome life simulator that flexes its iconic characters to riveting, satisfying effect. Adding these instantly recognizable villagers to your magical kingdom and forging friendships with them through quests is a blast, even

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R reviewed by John Carson on PlayStation 5 and PC. Also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox, and Switch. It’s great to have JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle represented on modern hardware with an improved combat system over its 2013 version. Its online implementation desperately needs an upgrade, though,

Beyond the Wire reviewed on PC by Luke Winkie. “Beyond The Wire provides a delightfully hefty incarnation of World War One. Redstone Interactive makes its massive, 100-player servers sing with Arma-quality realism, complete with jolting firearm kickback, brutal melee beatdowns, and a huge number of dynamic character classes that can shift the tide of the

Ooblets 1.0 reviewed by Casey DeFreitas on Nintendo Switch. Also available on Xbox and PC. “Everything in Ooblets is downright adorable, from the cheeky dialogue to the unique dance battles to the well-designed creatures themselves. That charm was enough to draw me in from the get go and keep a gleeful smile on my face

Reviewed by Luke Reilly on PlayStation 5. “A gorgeous and well-honed remake of one of the biggest boppers in the PlayStation pantheon, The Last of Us Part I is the best way to play – or replay – Naughty Dog’s esteemed survival classic. The striking improvements it makes to its completely rebuilt world are complemented

Reviewed by Tristan Ogilvie on PC. Also available on Xbox, PlayStation, iOS, and Android. “Immortality is a thoroughly mesmerizing mystery and one of the most surprising video game stories I’ve played through this year. Its image-based search tool might make its actual investigating feel noticeably dumbed down compared to that of Her Story and Telling

Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed reviewed on PC by Dan Stapleton. Also available on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed does a fine job of updating the 2006 original to look like a modern game, but that game was a fairly unambitious sequel that didn’t do much to evolve its

Soul Hackers 2 reviewed by Cameron Hawkins on Xbox Series X, also available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One. Soul Hackers 2 is a streamlined Atlus JRPG, serving as a great entry point for anyone new to the genre or the developer’s other games like Persona or Tokyo Mirage Sessions. The combat

Reviewed by Tristan Ogilvie on PC. Also available on PlayStation, Xbox, and Google Stadia. “For a game that gives us so much freedom to be exactly who we want to be via its superb customisation options, it’s odd that Saints Row itself struggles to forge its own identity when it comes to the types of

Farthest Frontier Early Access reviewed by Leana Hafer on PC. Performance issues and weird quirks of the gold economy are enough that it needs a bit more time in the early access oven, but there’s a lot to dig into already thanks to the way it realistically gets into the weeds of food production and

Madden NFL 23 reviewed on Xbox Series X by Kat Bailey. Also available on PlayStation 5. Note: the Xbox One, PS4, and PC versions are significantly different with fewer new features; this review does not apply to those versions. Madden fans will tell you that it hasn’t been a great decade for EA’s football sim.