Aliens fans with friends should buy, as should anyone hungry for a more focused take on online co-op combat (read: less sprawling than The Division). Solo, offline players should tread extremely cautiously. Destiny and Borderlands fans may be unmoved.
If you loved RE7, you might like RE Village
Returnal clearly heralds a new era for Housemarque, in terms of turning the focused arcade-blasting likes of Super Stardust HD into quest-worthy 3D action. Keep it coming, Sony and Housemarque.
Buy, unless you have responsibilities. This game could very well threaten them.
But any Valheim wishlist betrays the truth of the game's current, "unfinished" state: there's already so much adventuring, crafting, building, and discovery available-and in ways that can easily be shared amongst friends for only $20. (And if the screenshots I've chosen haven't made clear, this game can be very pretty, as its engine smothers its blocky characters with handsome effects and gorgeous vistas). We've put games in our year-end lists for less potential than what I've already enjoyed in Valheim thus far, and I don't see us getting out of 2021 without repeating praise for this killer multiplayer adventure option on PC.
The good outweighs the bad. Get a PlayStation Plus trial and give this imperfect car-combat gem a spin.
A solid if unambitious expansion pack—and that should tell you whether to buy this one or catch up on Hitman 2 instead.
A must-buy for PlayStation 5, should you have the stomach for the original gameplay formula.
A great choice for next-gen consoles or high-end PCs, should you have the bandwidth for dozens of hours of Viking adventure.
Like last time, your craziest failures in Spelunky 2 play out like lessons. Unlike last time, the number of crisscrossing variables has skyrocketed, so there's a lot more to learn and, hence, a lot more fun to have while dying in the name of treasure-hunting success.
Dlala has implemented just enough obnoxious stuff between Battletoads' good bits to stop me, a pretty freakish Battletoads fan, from recommending that anyone buy it outright.
A must-play if you already subscribe to PlayStation Plus. A hearty party-game recommendation if you can convince online friends to join in. A tough sell for loners or couch co-op players.
Buy (or claim on Xbox Game Pass for either console or PC).
If you need to get lost in over 30 hours of heroic gameplay right now, in a single-player adventure with no online connectivity gimmicks or content locked away as DLC, Sucker Punch has you covered with an instant contender for 2020's game of the year.
Ambitious attempt to recreate the superhero flying experience falls flat.
Nintendo's Clubhouse Games wins out by being a rarity in the console-gaming universe.
If you're a fan of the core dated gameplay within C&C:TD or Red Alert, the QoL content spread across C&C:RC is for you: the vocal, 25-years-later contingent of Westwood's RTS roots, who arguably favor the military stylings and '90s-rock bombast of the series' first two games over the insane balance and actions-per-minute madness of StarCraft or WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne.
It's priced right for a clever, family-friendly alternative to Diablo. If you're looking for a new co-op game, buy.
SoR4 is easy to share with friends and easy to get hooked on.
You get to do a lot in this game's runtime, which is why its 35-plus hours feel as hearty as classic JRPGs of twice that length.