Tom Marks Avatar Image

Tom Marks

Palo Alto, CA

Favorite Games:
  • Valkyria Chronicles
  • Fez
  • Skies of Arcadia: Legends

76 games reviewed
78.9 average score
80 median score
69.3% of games recommended

Tom Marks's Reviews

Tom is an Associate Editor at IGN focusing on PC games coverage. You may have seen him during 2016 and 2017's PC Gaming Shows at E3. Formerly an Associate Editor at PC Gamer.
Mar 16, 2018

Warhammer Vermintide 2 is a beautifully dark game, and I'm in love with its hard-hitting, meaty melee weapons. It's a gorgeous game with tons of fun play styles and customization options to uncover, even if most of the loot you earn for your efforts is a letdown. But thankfully you don't need to pay much attention to it to simply enjoy the hack-n-slash, Left 4 Dead-inspired co-op fun of bashing hordes of rats and zombies to a pulp.

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7 / 10.0 - BattleTech
Apr 25, 2018

BattleTech provides exciting strategic decisions and a compelling story, plus the slow-paced and meticulous fun of building up and customizing a mercenary company but suffers from the frustrating unpredictability of its weapons and procedural missions, and losing a favorite mechwarrior to a random head hit feels like it somewhat undermines the choices I've made along the way. Those frustrating moments didn't ruin my many hours with BattleTech by any means, but they did mean I wasn't rushing back for more after I beat the campaign.

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May 29, 2018

Yoku's Island Express is a novel Metroidvania-pinball hybrid that stands out as something wholly unique. It blends those clashing genres with a beautiful island style, and its satisfying flippers and bumpers make uncovering its wide island a ton of fun. Retreading completed areas while hunting for secrets can occasionally get stale, but Yoku's Island Express has a refreshingly positive attitude that kept me smiling the whole way through.

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9.4 / 10.0 - Hollow Knight
Jun 22, 2018

Hollow Knight’s rich world and incredible depth of content will make you want to explore its caves for dozens of hours.

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7 / 10.0 - Chasm
Jul 31, 2018

Chasm is a lovely and fun Metroidvania with a lot of cool new ideas, even if its randomized maps are uninteresting.

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Sep 18, 2018

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is the sequel I've been waiting for, returning to the roots of what made the first game so special. It adds a handful of new and interesting mechanics to its tactical battles, nearly all of which improve the formula in tangible ways, but otherwise plays it fairly safe. The story can feel a little bit impersonal and disconnected from the rest of the series, but the way it makes even the smallest characters important and alive is remarkable. It's great to see the Valkyria Chronicles series back on track, as it's still one-of-a-kind.

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Oct 22, 2018

Return of the Obra Dinn stands as something wholly unique, a challenging detective game that empowers you to solve its mysteries through actual investigation.

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8.6 / 10.0 - Warframe
Nov 20, 2018

Warframe isn't an easily approachable game, but it's one that's worth getting comfortable with.

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Dec 6, 2018

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is Smash Bros. done right, and done bigger than ever before.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Artifact
Dec 20, 2018

Artifact is a challenging, deep, and surprisingly approachable card game.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Wargroove
Jan 30, 2019

Wargroove's brain-teasing tactics and impressive level editor make it the Advance Wars successor fans have been waiting for.

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9 / 10.0 - Slay The Spire
Feb 13, 2019

Slay the Spire takes some of the best parts of deckbuilding games, roguelikes, and dungeon crawlers, and mixes them into a wholly new and extremely satisfying package.

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7.9 / 10.0 - Trials Rising
Feb 25, 2019

Trials Rising has an impressive new tutorial, even more extensive customization, and an awesome pool of levels that can be disappointingly discouraging to unlock.

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Mar 27, 2019

Yoshi's Crafted World is a very fun platformer that's light on challenge or ambition, but brimming with creativity and charm.

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Apr 23, 2019

SteamWorld Quest's card-based RPG combat offers an insane amount of choice, making it as flexible as it is fun.

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May 30, 2019

Trover Saves the Universe is a short and sweet VR platformer wrapped in one of the most ridiculous and funny video game stories you'll ever see.

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6.6 / 10.0 - Defector
Jul 11, 2019

Defector is fun, but shallow mechanics and a brief, jumbled story keep it from being the appealing spy game it starts out as.

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is a fun, if fairly simple, comic book beat-em-up that's enjoyable alone or with friends alike.

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9 / 10.0 - FAR: Lone Sails
Aug 16, 2019

Far: Lone Sails is a gorgeous little game with an incredible soundtrack and a journey packed full of both stressful and serene moments alike.

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Sep 4, 2019

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne adds loads of impressive monsters and tons of quality-of-life improvements to an already incredible game.

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