Stephen Totilo
An improvement to the GTA formula set on the densest, most interesting, best-loooking piece of terrain Rockstar has ever crafted.
Play it to enjoy the next-gen graphics moreso than for the throwback PS2-style gameplay.
Probably the best graphical showcase exclusive to Xbox One and a fun game if you're willing to learn its combat system--and aren't squeamish.
Visually creative, fun levels, great source material and packed with one of the best casts in gaming history.
It looks good, sounds better and plays well...if you have a high tolerance for a high level of difficulty and/or are willing to cheat the system.
A mix of mostly-new puzzles, an engaging, globe-spanning story, characters worth caring about and a welcome change to the series' formula. It's the opposite of a lazy sequel.
A return to classic Yoshi's Island gameplay would be worth cheering about if the new game didn't feel like an inferior imitation of a still-excellent game.
It looks like a cute fairy tale, but this is a turn-based game that's thorny with challenge and packed with an incredible number of gameplay secrets.
It's no Ocarina of Time or Link Between Worlds. Hell, it's not really a Zelda game. But if you like Zelda, you finally get a Zelda fan-service game. That's the allure. Wait. You don't like Zelda? What's wrong with you?
If you have Watch Dogs... if you like the core gameplay of Watch Dogs... then, yes, but mainly for the co-op.
It's gorgeous but not very fun in solo or co op.
It's a (mostly) polished, fun single-player game from Nintendo. Not a lot of those in a year of Kart and Smash.
A happy platforming game that appears to be made out of clay and has just one odd design flaw.
It's a masterfully-designed sidescrolling puzzle-platformer based on a brilliant combination of Mario and Tetris.
An entertaining if perosnality-light translation of Assassin's Creed from open-world 3D to linear 2D.
The best bundle of games releases for an Xbox since The Orange Box. Some are all-time classics, Others are Grabbed By The Ghouies.
An unspectacular sidescroller that squanders its core idea.
A meditative masterpiece of virtual architecture and puzzle design.
Primal is worth playing, but only once you're hungry for more and only if you're prepared to plumb its depths.
Despite how pedestrian some aspects of the game may be, I concluded Quantum Break feeling like something new had happened. Something special had happened that more than compensated for some of the flatness of the story and the mostly rote gunplay. A game simply never worked like this before, nor has a TV show. Because of that, what might have otherwise been ordinary feels extraordinary.