The Escapists makes breaking out of prison as hard as nails, yet soft as taffy.
The disappointing second half lets it down, but even at best, Broken Age is far from the genre's greats.
Retro and proud, understanding why these games were fun even if they are in the past.
A solid expansion addressing the right problems, but still shackled by its core game's choices.
Consortium is a game of great ideas in search of a story that deserves them.
A great game, unimpressively updated. Get the bigger, cheaper version instead.
A comfortable adventure on a noble path, but wearing spurs of a squire instead of the crown of a king.
For now, this is a solid continuation, and having had one episode to reintroduce Clem and this one to really get the new plot started, it's hard to imagine the next episode won't ramp things up considerably with more of the human darkness we saw in 400 Days and exactly no chance of a happy ending. Telltale has promised that we won't be waiting as long for it as we were for this or the second part of The Wolf Among Us. Broken fingers crossed.
Abyss Odyssey brings plenty of style to this sort-of roguelike, but never gets as deep as its dungeon demands.
Shadowgate hates you and wants you dead, but fans wouldn't have it any other way.
A solid, if thin puzzle game, with not quite as much to say as it thinks it has.
This is yesterday's MMO by the merits of its own content, but compensates by potentially ushering in a DIY revolution.
For all the things Gat Out Of Hell could or ideally would do though, it's important to remember what it is - a standalone expansion. Go in remembering that, and knowing about the lack of missions, and it's a pleasant surprise how much it at least tries to offer within its limits. Just don't expect it to be a sequel, or even a full slice of Saints Row 4 at its best.
Among the Ruins is The Walking Dead doing what The Walking Dead does well, but it's spinning its wheels when it should be racing towards the finale. As far as Clem's story goes, it's hard to fight the feeling that what began as an exciting opportunity for the writers has now become something of a millstone when it comes to plotting. Can the final episode recapture the power and drive of her brutal first episode, as well as plot its way to a send-off as beautifully appropriate as Lee's at the end of the first season? We'll find out in a couple of months, when The Walking Dead: Season Two concludes in "No Going Back".
Not half bad. Until the half that is makes for a disappointing return.
If only it could head back and redo the puzzles as easily as Bill Murray wooed Andie MacDowell.
That's what's most disappointing; there's absolutely the spark of a really cool whatever-this-genre-is game in Among the Sleep, and for a while it looks like it's going to get there. Too bad it ends barely a quarter of the way in, passing the baton to something both much less interesting and perpetually trapped in its shadow.
At its worst, it's the gaming equivalent of a drunkard shouting abuse from a park bench. At its best … well, the drunkard has leapt up and now he's wielding a plastic knife. Rage against political correctness if you like, but don't support this tired game as part of your ideology – there are so many better uses of your spare time.
An essential sandbox for anyone with an interest in space, rocketry, or explosions.
In keeping so close to the Baldur's Gate/Infinity Engine template, Pillars of Eternity can't help but inherit a few old flaws, and it would have been nice to see a bit more personality of its own shine through its carefully traditional design and shell. That said, what most stands out is just how well it manages to modernise the experience of playing those games and stand apart from them as an epic adventure in its own right. It's an RPG with design firmly rooted in nostalgia, but one that absolutely doesn't rely on it to be enjoyable today. Instead, it's both a great reminder of why those games worked so well, and a brand new adventure well worth the hours upon hours (upon hours upon hours) that it takes to pick away at its secrets and its world.