Ben Thomas


193 games reviewed
70.7 average score
71 median score
42.0% of games recommended
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Mar 13, 2024

Like squeezing blood from a stone, The Outlast Trials is a repetitive chore that features monotonous searches and running laps through mazes until there is nothing left but pain and the option to share the misery with others.

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82 / 100 - Pacific Drive
Mar 8, 2024

Pacific Drive is a fantastic survival game with an addictive gameplay loop that involves forging deep connections to junctions, progressing deeper into an ever-changing Zone, upgrading a quirky vehicle, and navigating through challenges that appear on the road ahead.

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Feb 25, 2024

Ordained by a clear narrative, resolute characters, intriguing hauntings and an eventually favorable combat model, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a morally infused spirit smasher set in a large world that needed a little exorcism.

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71 / 100 - The Cub
Jan 26, 2024

Despite The Cub's basic platforming, with clunky trial and error, its slightly bizarre world, cool and varied music, and great visual design make it worth playing.

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Jan 15, 2024

The Lost Crown is a good modern template for an old franchise, taking the essence of Prince of Persia into a familiar metroidvania format. With fun combat, good boss battles, and smooth platforming mechanics, only the convoluted levels and overlong platforming keep it from being timeless.

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67 / 100 - EA Sports WRC
Nov 26, 2023

Codemasters' first shot at the WRC license is underwhelming. Despite a responsive driving model and decent rally stages, EA Sports WRC offers an awkward career mode with shallow team management. Even the presentation quality is inconsistent, with some bothersome stuttering.

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Nov 20, 2023

With weaponized nostalgia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III delivers a satisfying experience in multiplayer and zombies. A diverse selection of returning battlegrounds augments the competitive action and the deep open-world undead mode is entertaining for hours, making it worth playing despite the disappointing campaign.

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66 / 100 - Alan Wake 2
Nov 5, 2023

Despite its wonderful atmosphere and interesting locations, Alan Wake 2 is a middling third-person survival-horror game with sluggish pacing, a lackluster Mind Place feature, and lazy jump-scares, too concerned about being obscure and filling itself with quirky meta-references.

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Nov 2, 2023

With thought-provoking philosophy and sharply varied puzzles, The Talos Principle 2 is a sublime sequel that seeks the knowledge of the gods but maintains its humanity.

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Oct 13, 2023

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a decent return to the series' roots that puts stealth and free-running parkour back into focus. While it has several issues, and Basim's story is uninspired, many will still appreciate silently exploring a smaller sand castle.

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74 / 100 - Cocoon
Oct 6, 2023

Cocoon is a clever and original world-stacking puzzler with complex mechanics that are kept in check by limiting how players arrange and explore worlds. While it's possible to stumble upon solutions through a confusing haze, the game's few moments of brilliance make it worth checking out.

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Sep 22, 2023

The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a short, unexciting, and slow narrative adventure, full of unlikable characters and repetitive gameplay. Despite a great performance from Cara Gee as Drummer and a few engaging player choices, it is a waste of space.

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86 / 100 - Starfield
Sep 5, 2023

Starfield is a grand interstellar adventure with exciting pockets of exploration, detailed cities, interesting side quests, memorable characters, competent action, and fun ship building. Despite minor issues, it gracefully blends Bethesda's trademark gameplay with the wonders of space.

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63 / 100 - Fort Solis
Aug 22, 2023

While the atmosphere in Fort Solis is excellent, backed by great visuals and understated horror, the ambiguous story, poor ending, and cumbersome interaction means that this walking adventure does not always put its best foot forward.

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Aug 16, 2023

With a great supernatural pirate theme and excellent character synergy, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is another outstanding stealth strategy game from Mimimi, though revisiting the mostly unchanged islands throws a small cloud over the otherwise vibrant treasure hunt.

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Aug 4, 2023

Star Trek: Resurgence has an interesting story with thought-provoking scenarios and two good protagonists. While it makes adequate use of the interactive-story genre, there was room to improve the choices and gameplay.

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Jul 22, 2023

With a great underwater setting and an interesting story featuring lots to uncover, Stasis: Bone Totem's mix of horror and puzzles mean it is a veritable sunken treasure.

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Jul 12, 2023

Despite some witty dialogue and a few poignant moments, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is an unexciting talkie-walkie with conversation interruptions and dull gameplay.

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Jul 3, 2023

Aliens: Dark Descent brilliantly translates the 1986 movie into a fun strategy game with good combat, an interesting story, and rewarding squad management, marred by some minor stealth and tech issues.

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83 / 100 - Diablo IV
Jun 19, 2023

Thanks to an enjoyable combat loop and wonderfully dark environments, Diablo IV is a great blend of the previous two games in the series that brings a slew of basic MMO features while preserving the core tenets of the franchise.

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