Video game REVIEWS

Is the new Mario the best video game ever?

REVIEW: Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is the best Mario game ever, and it might be the best video game of all time. If that seems like a bold statement it is, but Nintendo’s new entry deserves the praise. It’s an absolute delight to play. A beautiful game, Bright, colorful and exploding with style.

REVIEW: Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Star Trek: Bridge Crew is a Trekkie’s dream come true. Red Storm Entertainment’s new VR game let’s fans of the franchise boldly go where we could previously only imagine—the bridge of a Starfleet ship.

The Surge falls short of it's dark inspiration

REVIEW: The Surge

The Surge isn’t a bad game. Once again, Deck13 apes the popular Dark Souls series (see previous attempt Lords of the Fallen), with one set in an industrial dystopia. But the developer seems to fundamentally misunderstand what made players fall in love with Dark Souls in the first place.

REVIEW: Prey

The first moments of Prey felt slick and “cool” in a way I typically don’t enjoy. You receive a wake-up call in your sleek, upscale apartment and hop into a private helicopter, all set to a synth-pop soundtrack. But moments into the game, my expectations were subverted, and Prey goes on to mess with players throughout its 20-plus hours of gameplay.

Thimbleweed Park fullfills its nostalgic destiny

REVIEW: Thimbleweed Park

Modern video games owe a lot to Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick. That duo—under the LucasArts umbrella—is responsible for several of the most beloved and influential adventure games of all time, including The Secret of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion (the latter ranking as one of my absolute favorite games).

REVIEW: Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This Zelda feels bold and different much beloved for the past 30 years. The story still follows Link as he fights to defeat Ganon and save the land of Hyrule and Princess Zelda, but after setting you that ultimate goal —along with four other long-term challenges—the game backs away, essentially loosing you on the largest Zelda world without real direction or outside control.

REVIEW: Nioh

When I sat down with Nioh I figured I was in for a challenge. The action role-playing game is strongly influenced by the notoriously difficult (and excellent) Dark Souls series, and it delivered on my expectations and then some.

REVIEW: R esident Evil 7: Biohazard

After demo-ing Resident Evil 7: Biohazard in virtual reality last year, I vowed to forgo the full immersion of the PSVR headset for the sake of my fragile psyche. And yet, despite that solid logic, I did wind up playing it in VR. And I’m here to tell you, it was a goddamn nightmare.

The Last Guardian makes an emotional connection

REVIEW: The Last Guardian

The Last Guardian carries the burden of great expectations. The previous two releases from Sony Japan’s Team Ico, Ico (2001) and Shadow of the Colossus (2005), are highly respected, cited often by those who consider video games as art. And when The Last Guardian spent nine years in development, fans began worrying if the spiritual successor to those beloved entries might ever measure up.

FF:XV Only shows glimpses of true greatness

REVIEW: Final Fantsy XV

Final Fantasy XV and I did not start off on the right foot. The beginning has you hunting monsters to pay for repairs on a broken-down car—hardly the way for any game, especially one that had been in development for 10 years, to make a good impression. I dismally looked ahead to what I assumed would be 40-plus hours of pain and regret, and it was only through sheer force of will that I powered through the first four hours.

COD:IW plays more like a reskin than a reimagining

Batman: TTS Spotlights the man behind the mask

REVIEW: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is the first of its name, but the 13th entry in the Call of Duty franchise, which dates back to 2003. It features great performances from some of its motion-captured actors—including Brian Bloom, David Harewood and Jamie Gray Hyde—along with a flat showing from Kit Harrington—and this time, it’s clear developer Infinity Ward has focused mostly on the game’s single-player campaign.

REVIEW: No Man's Sky

The light slowly creeps in. Where am I? The ground is deep purple, the sky a faded red. A crashed ship sits beside me—is it mine? On the horizon a planet looms. As I absorb the scenery around me, a creature crests the hill in front of me. He’s magnificent … and utterly silly. He has giant, spiked fins on his back and hulking forearms with hooves that he holds in the air as he walks on two impossibly skinny chicken legs. His limp donkey tail dangles behind him as he snorts at me with his anteater face.

REVIEW: Batman: The Telltale Series

It’s tense in here. The mobster in the center of the room thinks he strikes an imposing figure, walking slowly around the pool table, hoping to intimidate Bruce Wayne into helping his criminal empire. He doesn't know about the Batcave below, or that Wayne could easily mop the floor with everyone present. This is Batman he's talking to, and nothing will shake his resolve. Then the mobster speaks a line, and the Dark Knight’s stern resolve cracks. This is Bruce Wayne, after all. He's just a man.