IGN's Reviews
Project Motor Racing feels like an early access game that hasn’t actually been identified as such, and is simply not a better racer than its 2017 ancestor Project CARS 2.
Cricket 26 is a bit like fledgeling Aussie opener Sam Konstas – undoubtedly capable of genuine brilliance in bursts, but still clearly a work in progress not quite ready for the top of the order.
Kirby Air Riders' unconventional controls can get in its own way sometimes, but they don't stop it from being a fun, frantic action racing game with an almost unreal amount of stuff to do.
Forestrike's tactical martial arts inspired action does a wonderful job of combining combat and puzzle solving to make for a clever roguelite that will test your wits and reflexes in equal measure.
Marvel's Deadpool VR's kinetic combat and genuinely funny dialogue adds to a growing roster of great licensed superhero games that help prove VR games can be more than shallow tie-ins.
Dispatch is a sharp-witted workplace comedy that charms with its smart dialogue choices, great writing, and lovably aggravating cast.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s campaign is a wild one thanks to the scope of its ambition, but the big swings it takes don't always land, leaving it an uneven step down from last year.
ARC Raiders raises the bar for extraction shooters pretty much across the board, with an incredibly gripping progression grind, tense fights against NPCs and other players that make for memorable matches, and loot that feels completely worth all the work and stress it takes to obtain it. The fact that it manages to also run well and look amazing all the while is just downright impressive, even if a few bugs here and there lead to the rare rage quit. For years I’d been wondering when someone would take the awesome promise of this genre to the next level, and ARC Raiders is without question what I’ve been waiting for.
Anno 117: Pax Romana is a gorgeous antique city-builder that sucked me in for dozens of hours as I planned out my next district or simply watched the bustle along my aqueduct-accented boulevards. I think this series and I were always destined to hit it off, but we kept missing each other or meeting up at the wrong times. I really get Anno now, and I could hardly be more enthused. The fantastic, deep trade system with a side of exciting naval combat really seals the deal. I could take or leave the campaign, but I still don't think I've run out of things to do in the highly customizable endless mode. It may not quite be fit for a triumph, but is certainly worthy of a standing ovation.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment’s story may fail to capture the promise of a Tears of the Kingdom prequel, but the gameplay more than makes up for that by wonderfully fusing its source material’s craziest ideas with great 1 vs. 1,000 battles, resulting in the best action of the series yet.
Ball x Pit is a surprisingly deep brick-breaker that relies heavily on smart strategy, clever experimentation, and careful planning more so than RNG and luck alone.
Overflowing with ambition but ultimately plain and with no style to call its own, Wreckreation feels like a supermarket brand homage to a series of better arcade racers.
Painkiller is a game about nothing for no one, a mediocre resurrection of a classic trying to put a new cover on an old book and hoping it still has some relevance 21 years later
Europa Universalis 5 is definitely hurting for some balance tuning at the moment, but its depth of simulation and ultra detailed map might make it the most on-paper impressive historical strategy game of all time.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is not only a great round-up of the franchise's earliest hits, it’s also a tremendous history lesson on the building of a fighting game franchise that remains influential today. I do wish the compilation covered more of the noticeable gaps in time toward the end, and that there were further efforts to tweak the tuning of some infamously imbalanced enemy AI.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake beautifully concludes this trilogy, recapturing the retro magic of the originals while giving them a modern facelift.
If you’re after a deep multiplayer experience you may want to circle back to iRacing, but if you want some quality, single-player stock car racing against extremely solid AI, NASCAR 25 delivers.
Once you've given Full Metal Schoolgirl a couple runs, you've pretty much seen it all. There are decent ideas with potential that meld the shooter genre and roguelike framework well – it's unfortunate that they get squandered by foundational shortcomings.
Once you get past a weak first act, The Outer Worlds 2 sharpens Obsidian’s RPG formula with smarter writing and better combat.
Bounty Star’s combination of mech combat and farming is equal parts compelling and tranquil, and Clem’s story is riveting. Sometimes, you have to get back in the robot and hope there’s a life on the other side.