Kyle Hanson
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U lives up to and exceeds expectations in nearly every way. Expect to put dozens of hours into this truly exceptional multiplayer brawler.
With four complete single player campaigns, over 100 multiplayer maps, and a ton of other extras, Halo: The Master Chief Collection stands as the greatest compilation and remake in gaming history. Anyone with even a passing interest in the series will find a lot to love in this package.
Rocket League takes simple game mechanics and turns them into a tight, engaging experience that will have you coming back for hours upon hours of gaming fun. Everything that worked in the PS4 and PC versions works just as well on Xbox One, with only some slight technical limitations holding it back. Overall though, this is the same sports gaming masterpiece that it was last year, and is worthy of joining any Xbox One owner's library.
The simple fact is that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the best games ever made. It marks a turning point for the medium that will be learned from for some time. It is a system seller in every sense of the word, and if you don't already have a way to play it, you owe it to yourself to find one.
The Witness is a masterpiece of video game design. It presents a mysterious and fascinating world to explore, full of puzzles that will confound the player, but also delight them as they figure out the solution. The island setting is both fun to explore and endlessly enjoyable to look at. The game's true achievement though is in how it teaches the player its intricacies, with minimal intrusion and subtle hints, allowing for a great feeling of accomplishment when everything clicks into place.
Rare Replay is, simply put, one of the best collections in gaming history. Hours upon hours of gameplay await players, and with classics like Banjo, Conker, and Perfect Dark those hours won't be wasted.
Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 5 perfectly concludes the adventures of Fiona and Rhys, and their gang of friends. This episode easily cements the series as one of Telltale's best, and one of the best games this year. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll wanna do it all over again just to see how your choices change things.
Sundered takes the indie, Metroidvania genre to new heights while showing just how good these types of experiences can be. Great gameplay could have carried this game far enough, but Thunder Lotus once again went for hand drawn art and the result is truly remarkable.
Simply put, GORN is among the very best VR games out there.
Batman: The Enemy Within - Episode 5 "Same Stitch" is a near-perfect finale to an already fantastic series. Storytelling, voice acting, art design, and every other aspect of the series has come together here and delivered one of the best episodes in Telltale's history.
From top to bottom, Resident Evil 2 is a stellar achievement from a team that obviously loved the source material and went to great lengths to update and enhance it without losing that original magic.
The Last of Us Part II is a truly worthy sequel to one of the greatest games ever made.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a fan's dream come true. With all three games and almost all of their DLC included in one upgraded package there simply isn't more to be asked for here other than a full remake.
Grand Theft Auto V finally hits PC after over a year of waiting. While the wait was hard it was completely worth it given the final product on display. Improved graphics are just the beginning as the game becomes an entirely new experience on PC.
Shovel Knight is a true masterpiece of retro platforming. If you ever enjoyed an NES title and wanted to relive those days then this game was tailor-made for you.
With easy to learn, hard to master controls that build up as you progress through the game, and an addictive scoring mechanic that is always pushing you to master the game, OlliOlli 2 is a great addition to any PC gamer's library.
Resident Evil HD Remaster takes the fantastic REmake from the Gamecube and bumps it up to modern standards with improved visuals, new difficulty settings and a new control scheme. Fans of the genre should pick it up immediately, but more casual players might have trouble with the older gameplay style.
Despite the high standard of the property and developer, Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series Episode 1 - Iron From Ice manages to hold up to nearly every expectation and delivers a gaming experience on par with the HBO show.
Alien: Isolation brilliantly recreates the world of Ridley Scott's 1979 classic while offering some fantastic survival-horror gameplay. A few issues crop up over the course of the game, but not enough to damage the overall experience.
Metro Redux is the definitive way to play both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. New players should pick it up without any worry, but previous owners might have less incentive. The enhanced graphics and gameplay should be enough to please most fans though.