
It's cool that Lilith is back but where's my loot?

Last reviewed: Zero Parades: For Dead Spies · 2 months ago

It's cool that Lilith is back but where's my loot?

A gripping finale can’t save a bland cast and shallow writing

Mario + Rabbids manages to walk a narrow road, offering up a legitimately challenging squad tactics experience without alienating the family friendly Mario audience. While it doesn't quite have the full layer of spit and polish of an in-house title, Ubisoft comes damn close to capturing that Nintendo magic.

A racing game that’s as fun to think about as it is to play

Fresh ideas overshadowed by embarrassing aesthetics

The reinvention of an already fantastic game

This remake of the first Yakuza game has sparks of brilliance amid some major flaws

Naughty Dog looks to a new hero to end its part in the Uncharted series on a high note

EA Sports stretches its creative muscles with Madden’s first story mode and a worthy hero

A surprise release from the creator of Thomas Was Alone that tells a wonderful story

Volition’s follow-up to the Saints Row series fails to deliver on fundamentals

If more of what Sonic is what you want, then this is very much that, but more, and bigger, and faster. But for me, as someone with fond memories but key criticisms, Sonic Mania seems content to paint over some of the series' problems rather than fix them, making for a game that falls a little short of what might have been.

In addition to shaking up old ideas, The Enemy Within also introduces some new things to its mechanical and narrative tool belt. The Riddler makes an early and violent debut in the game with an interesting new backstory, and with our new big villain, there's a new big ally ... maybe. Amanda Waller has brought her mysterious government task force, known only as The Agency, to Gotham on a hunt for the Riddler. Indeed, we are in something of an Amanda Waller renaissance these days, with her featuring in no less than three concurrent franchises in television, movies and games.Batman: The Enemy Within makes incremental improvements on a successful formula — and the introduction of a new, relationship-focused choice mechanic was a big hit. It might drag here and there, but it sets up for big things to come in further installments. If Enemy Within is anything like its predecessor, a little patience will pay off.

This silly dating sim has more heart than you might think

The goofiest trip you’ll take to the wild west all year

I continue to think of Tacoma as a story first, but it's more than that, clearly: It's an interactive experience, and that plays for and against it. The story is built out of the playback mechanic, which gives birth to the subtler suggestions of what's really going on with this station. But the playback system means there's a lot of talking to listen to, and a lot of wireframes to stare at. For a game about an abandoned space station, Tacoma gave me plenty of company. But the moments where I had to reckon with being alone in space were the ones that stuck with me.

I spent the equivalent of a working week playing Aven Colony and it was hard labor. This is a game of relentless concentration and chore-work, with only the briefest flashes of magic and relief, offering almost nothing new to the city building, or resource management genres.