Players take on the role of a border guard working for a totalitarian regime. The entire game centers on civilians passing through the border. Players inspect paperwork and behavioral patterns, on the lookout for terrorists and political opponents of the regime.
Even more spectacular than the graphical upgrade, however, was the addition of controller support that literally makes the game faster to play. Dialogue has been one of the biggest challenges in game design these past 10 years, as designers have sought new ways to invest characters with depth and personality, while utilizing conversations as a useful, entertaining mechanic.
In Oxenfree , players take on the role of Alex, a teenage girl embarking on an island jaunt with her friends. She interacts with them through dialogue trees presented as speech bubbles, and in real time.
Oxenfree is a smartly written coming-of-age mystery that holds promise for the future of dialogue-as-game. Years before most folks were talking about inclusion, and in a genre where the subject is rarely brought up, PGA Tour 13 was doing it matter-of-factly, as a value-added feature for all players. This is the game you get when developers actively listen to what players want.
Nintendo managed to take everything we loved about the past Animal Crossing titles and crank it up beyond our expectations, adding a plethora of new features.
New Leaf gave us the customization and control over our towns in ways never imagined. It serves as a feel-good game , a welcome escape from reality. It also brought us our adorable queen puppy, Isabelle. Humor is difficult to come by in video games, but The Stanley Parable offers plenty of wit by lampooning the po-faced culture of Gorogoa is one of the most visually appealing games ever made.
I mix and match images, playing with size and perspective in order to create sense from disorder. The story and the puzzles are engrossing without being annoying, marking a new direction for a genre that had become wearying through obfuscation.
I would like to thank whoever at Sony spent all of their goodwill to get a sequel to Gravity Rush greenlit. The original was a beautiful and quirky open-world game. Fortunately, the game could be played anywhere on the PlayStation Vita. Unfortunately, few people played the game anywhere because, hey, PlayStation Vita. Minus a comically slow and off-putting intro, Gravity Rush 2 builds upon the potential of its predecessor.
On the PlayStation 4, the creators have the graphical power to make a world that matches their concept art, a world that is bigger than I expected. Not enough people played these games. I feel a compulsion to make up for everybody else, to play one every couple of weeks, if only for an hour. Or to listen to their soothing soundtracks. Its premise is simple, its soundtrack is infectious, and because its gameplay is so easy to grasp, it makes a strong case for what sets VR gaming apart from traditional experiences.
Players step into a simple VR landscape. In front of them is a lane that sends blue and red blocks toward them, in time to the music. Playing Beat Saber feels like a mixture of a rave and a futuristic gymnastic dance. It requires full body movement, hand-eye coordination, rhythm, and a whole lot of sweat.
Staying three steps ahead of seismic dot shifts could mean playing for a steady hour. The path is endless, but never a grind. When Mario Kart 8 was released for the Switch in , I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, it was here — the infinitely playable racing game, which feels as fun today, five years after its release, as it did when it came out in on the Wii U. Oh, and its cruel, randomly distributed items have the kind of big impacts that make gameplay feel meaningful, no matter your skill level.
Mass Effect 2 is the ultimate BioWare game, setting a bar that many players believe the studio has yet to top. While the first Mass Effect introduced players to a stellar sci-fi world, it asked them to struggle through obnoxious controls and vehicle sections to see it through. Mass Effect 2 changed all that, while retaining a compelling narrative world and environmental setting. Warframe was born in as a last-ditch effort to keep the lights on at Digital Extremes.
In the years since, it has managed to evolve into one of the best action games on the market, all the while remaining free-to-play. Every minute of action in Warframe feels cinematic and incredible.
No game has had quite the same journey as Diablo 3. Praised on release as the next evolution of dungeon crawlers, it was then hated for its real-money auction house. The introduction of rotating seasons and Great Rifts as a way to make players compete with one another made Diablo 3 a perfect prototype of what online PvE games would become.
After being freed by the Emperor of Tamriel, the hero must prevent the gates of Oblivion from spreading throughout the Empire. Votes: 12, After 10 years of endless nightmares and servitude to the gods of Olympus, Kratos is assigned with a final task, to kill Ares, the God of War. Votes: 9, M Action, Crime. A family tragedy prompts gangster Carl "CJ" Johnson to return home, only to find it overrun by crime and corruption, which he must regain control of the streets before it gets even worse.
Votes: 38, When his latest case ends up involving the thought-dead femme fatale Mona Sax, he finds that his journey through the night is far from over. Votes: 10, Now, Tommy is out to make Vice City his home. Votes: 25, A young bank robber escapes from police custody and works his way up through the mafia ladder of crime-ridden Liberty City, USA. Votes: 15, In a dark cyberpunk future where poverty, disease, oppression and terrorism are widespread, J.
Denton, a new cybernetically-enhanced special agent, finds evidence of a massive conspiracy when his brother, also an agent, goes rogue. Sign In. Copy from this list Export Report this list. Submarine Titans dares you to go where no real-time strategy game has gone before -- deep into the three-dimensional heart of a fantastical underwater universe. Choose from three warring factions; the Milagro, Neuropa, and Rimtech are competing CorpoNations, each with its own technologies and research capabilities.
Build bases, research new weaponry and unit types, and engage the enemy on three different levels simultaneously! Incredible rendering techniques, real-time 3-D universes, aliens, asteroids, mammoth vessels, aggressive fighters, and powerful weapons will make this the action game your universe is clamoring for! Lead a squad of heavily armored, over-the-top troopers on a series of in-your-face, real-time battles against vicious bug battalions.
Call in air strikes, capture prisoners, and nuke bug holes. It's survival of the fittest and the last one standing wins. Answer the call and defend your planet! After generations of oppression, Tarnum discovers his people's true history and leads an army of Stronghold troops against their tyrannical masters. Marching from the arid roughlands of his homeland and the muggy swamps of the lowlands, he follows and even surpasses the deeds of his legendary ancestor who defeated these spellcasters long ago.
Take a trip to the farthest reaches of space in this real-time simulation. You're the pilot of an experimental aircraft that falls into an unknown sector of the universe. Your objective is to get home alive, but that won't be any small task as tons of enemies and obstacles will try to slow your progress throughout the adventure. The game boasts more than fully operational aircraft, six interactive civilizations, in excess of 10, objects to use, and thousands of hours of gameplay.
Fighting, trading, and solving puzzles are all part of the territory in this massive gaming experience. Your adventure begins as you depart on a journey to save your beloved wife.
Enter into the shadows, and explore catacombs and hidden passages as you travel the pathway to darkness. Now you can experience Myst the way the Miller Brothers originally envisioned it -- truly immersed in a world that lives and breathes around you, where the weather changes, the sun rises and sets, the trees sway in the wind, and animals scurry by. A unique game system that authentically recreates the most exciting engagements of WWII. Emphasizing command control and combined arms, the first volume of the series, Danger Forward, focuses on the Mediterranean and Western Front, from Battle stations!
Battleship: Surface Thunder is now a fast-action, 3-D naval adventure. Now you can take command of your own battleship and sink enemy convoys, attack shore gun emplacements, and free captured ports in an all-out effort to defeat a renegade empire.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour delivers three new courses, enhanced online play, and a brand new game type. The Presidents Cup lets you join either the U. Coming Soon.
Essential Links. Highs and Lows. Highest of the Month. Lowest of the Month. Metascore: 92 User Score: 8. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Platform: PC October 25, Players can choose to skate with the skills of Tony Hawk, the most legendary pro of all time, or as one of 12 pro skaters from the star-studded lineup.
The Operative: No One Lives Forever Platform: PC November 11, A story-driven, first-person adventure delivering over-the-top action, tense subterfuge, outrageous villains, and wry humor in the tradition of the great 's spy films and TV shows. Deus Ex Platform: PC June 23, The game that incorporates RPG, action, adventure, and 1st-person shooter genres into a chaotic blend of real-world conspiracies, cliffhangers, and plot twists. Sacrifice Platform: PC November 5, Sacrifice provides a truly fresh approach in the 3-D RTS genre, allowing players to act as both commander and combatant over huge, real-time, generated landscapes in single or multiplayer modes.
Homeworld: Cataclysm Platform: PC September 7, Homeworld: Cataclysm boasts 18 all-new ships, 25 new technologies, 17 single-player missions, and fantastic multiplay, while improving on the interface and technology that earned Homeworld 's highest accolades. Superbike Platform: PC October 9, Superbike delivers authentic Superbike racing from Superpole qualifying to the championship rounds.
Metascore: 88 User Score: 9. Thief II: The Metal Age Platform: PC March 23, On the streets and rooftops of a darkened city, where the forces of a corrupt sheriff loom, it takes someone with a soft touch and even softer step to stay ahead of the law.
Allegiance Platform: PC March 31, Allegiance, the multiplayer space-combat game from the minds of Microsoft Research, combines the challenges of tactical squadron-based combat, intense one-on-one space dogfights, and amazing graphical and sound effects into a space-action experience like nothing you've seen before.
Metal Gear Solid Platform: PC September 24, You are snake, a government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands. Metascore: 83 User Score: 8.
Metascore: 82 User Score: 7. Metascore: 81 User Score: 8. Metascore: 81 User Score: 7. Chessmaster Platform: PC November 14, While it does have some new features and still plays well, it actually falls short of its two predecessors in the important area of multiplayer support.
Metascore: 80 User Score: 6. Metascore: 79 User Score: 7. Heavy Metal: F. StarLancer Platform: PC March 31, Starlancer combines the action of first-person space combat with the drama and intrigue of a classic air combat movie.
Metascore: 78 User Score: 5. Dirt Track Racing: Sprint Cars Platform: PC October 19, It completely reinvigorates the original game by adding four new car types, 20 racetracks, and a host of updated graphics and gameplay mechanics. Metascore: 78 User Score: 8.
You Don't Know Jack: 5th Dementia Platform: PC October 31, It's an excellent party game, but unlike its predecessors, its online play component also makes it ideal even when other people aren't at home. Metascore: 77 User Score: 6. Metascore: 77 User Score: 8. Dark Reign 2 Platform: PC June 30, With a new 3-D engine and a host of features -- gorgeous 3-D terrain and units, traditional top-down and immersive "on the battlefield" camera viewpoints, true line of sight, and unprecedented battlefield control -- DR2 will innovate the RTS genre and give gamers the most exhilarating war experience ever.
The Devil Inside Platform: PC November 9, The game features you as the star of a live Hollywood television show investigating paranormal activities. Rune Platform: PC November 7, A third-person game of action and adventure steeped in Norse mythology and high fantasy. Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Platform: PC June 7, Your unholy showdown begins in Europe and rages on into the modern day as you track a soulless enemy in an eternal struggle to destroy him.
Delta Force: Land Warrior Platform: PC November 7, Engage the enemy in expansive indoor and vast outdoor environments; select from a team of diverse characters, each with their own special abilities; advanced new rifles, systems, machine guns, and grenade launchers; developed from the same engine used to train the U. Sanity: Aiken's Artifact Platform: PC September 26, Thirty years from now, citizens begin to display remarkable psychic abilities.
Metascore: 73 User Score: 7. Sheep Platform: PC November 29, Sheep is a puzzle-solving escapade through crazy mazes starring those most lovable of all creatures Hitman: Codename 47 Platform: PC November 19, Take control of this old-fashioned, modern-time assassin, and stay alive long enough to revile your past. Metascore: 73 User Score: 6. Call to Power II Platform: PC November 17, The game blends classic themes and play styles of the empire-building genre with improvements in pacing, balance, and combat.
Microsoft Golf Edition Platform: PC August 24, Designed for the new PC golfer, Golf combines easy-to-use features with the added realism of great golf anytime you want it. Riddle of the Sphinx: An Egyptian Adventure Platform: PC December 5, Riddle of the Sphinx makes up for its technical shortcomings with a great location and an impressive amount of detail.
Metascore: 72 User Score: tbd. Metascore: 71 User Score: 6. Crime Cities Platform: PC January 15, Get ready to enter a futuristic world where law and order have been replaced by terror and crime. With the game set to be ported over to other formats in the near future and development of a sequel already underway, it's fairly clear that the game struck a chord with gamers worldwide. A befitting swansong for the PlayStation, and one of the best games released this year.
New consoles are often difficult to pigeon-hole thanks to the large amount of mediocre software that comes with them at launch, but even though the world has been somewhat scathing of the PS2's introduction, anybody who managed to get hold of a machine has plenty of reasons to be happy this Christmas. SSX being one of them. Snowboarding games are hit and hit. I don't think I've yet encountered a snowboarding game which didn't keep me partially entertained.
What makes SSX the best out there is its depth; there's just so much to experience, with hundreds of tricks to learn, plenty of slopes to propel yourself down and your blood-thirsty competitors breathing down and smacking down your neck. Each of the characters you can choose to play as has different levels of ability in certain areas, and although these differences are mostly irrelevant in other titles, they have a very real bearing on the outcome of the races here.
Outwardly, SSX is a very simple game, but so much variety and depth lurks beneath the surface that it really does take you aback. Not just the best game available on the PlayStation 2, but a top pick for the year as well. It's sad to say, but we don't get much call for Nintendo 64 reviews around here. Thankfully though, this does mean that when a game comes along that is worthy of our attention, it really is quite spectacular.
Perfect Dark, released earlier this year as a pseudo-sequel to GoldenEye, is just such a game. You assume the role of Secret Agent Joanna Dark in the not-too-distant future, working for the elite Carrington Institute, which is dedicated to making friendly contact with extra terrestrial life and investigating shady-looking companies noble pursuits if ever there were such a thing.
As of late, Mr. Carrington has been keeping his eye on the dataDyne corporation because of their sudden leap in technological prowess. Carrington suspects foul play is at hand at the very top of the company, and you're the one he sends to investigate.
And what fun you have investigating. Perfect Dark was the best Nintendo 64 shooter since Goldeneye, with an improved graphics engine, tweaked controls and unlike third party FPS Operation Winback, which sank without a trace, an entertaining and evocative storyline which always keeps you guessing.
An adventure more than an action game, PD is superb. Cynics that we are these days, it can always take a lot of effort to impress us with anything on the handheld platform.
After the departure of the dear, dear Neo Geo Pocket Color, which impressed so many in the short time it was with us, we were fairly dejected at the loss of such a fine source of pocket beat 'em ups.
Thankfully though, in the latter stages of this year, International Karate finally came into fruition, and what a game it proved to be. The premise behind International Karate is simple - pick a fighter, and do battle with all manner of opponents to win the coveted black belt. Unlike other titles that simply throw increasingly powerful fighters at you though, IK chose to alter the mannerisms of each combatant rather than the strength, such that some fighters have excellent defense, others weak, and so forth.
The effect is quite inspired. Each battle can differ drastically from the last, making overall victory a very tough proposition. A fantastic game on the Amiga, and now an even better one on the GameBoy Color.
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