17 public written reviews
The views here are this user’s only and are not representative of Giant Bomb's thoughts and opinions on the discussed video game. GB's official reviews reside at giantbomb.com/reviews.
When a friend suggested that I add Subnautica to my list of games to play, I was intrigued by his description of the game. Science fiction and alien sea creatures and exploration...all sounded good to me. What I could not have known from his description alone was the depth (pun intended) of the experience that was to be had in this 2018 game from developer Unknown Worlds. Subnautica is a first-person view…
After playing the first Mirror's Edge from developer DICE, I was looking forward to the sequel. I was very much pulled in by the story of the original game as well as the movement-as-a-puzzle gameplay it offered. With the different take on the city of Glass presented in Mirror's Edge Catalyst, I found both positives and negatives that ultimately resulted in a reasonably enjoyable experience. Mirror's Edge Catalyst…
Being a fan of Bethesda's first-person Fallout games, I had been looking forward to Fallout 4 since the first announcement. I was eager to see what Bethesda would do with a new console generation and more refined engine. What resulted is a better Fallout experience that only highlights the increasing shortcomings in the Bethesda development. Fallout 4 is a first-person shooter set in a post apocalyptic world.…
"Virginia...Press ENTER to take a trip" greats the player when the title screen of Variable State's 2016 Virginia is first loaded, and it could not be more appropriate. What awaits is a short but extremely cinematic experience that will likely leave you wondering what just happened. Virginia falls into the category of a walking simulator, or a game in which the player spends the majority of the game walking through…
Like many in modern gaming, I mostly came to Call of Duty with CoD 4: Modern Warfare. I spent hours playing through the multiplayer experience, twitching around the battlefield, trying to get those quick kills and lobbing grenades every chance I got. It was CoD: MW that really introduced me to progression multiplayer gaming, but it was later CoD games that pretty much caused me to avoid them altogether. I grew tired…
As I have discussed with friends in the past, I do not believe any game deserves a perfect score. There is always something that could have been better, that pulls the player away from the experience. That being said, Horizon Zero Dawn from Guerrilla Games comes about as close as a game can get. With great action, a well realized world, an engaging story, and a host of characters, Horizon Zero Dawn deserves to be on…
Shardlight was developed by Wadjet Eye, a company that has focused on the modern adventure genre with games like the Blackwell Series, Gemini Rue, Technobabylon, and their newest Unavowed. Their games take inspiration from the Sierra Entertainment and LucasArts titles of my childhood. Having played Gemini Rue on iOS over one vacation, I was certainly intrigued by Shardlight when I heard about it on a GiantBomb…
Abzu was developed by Giant Squid Studios, co-founded by Matt Nava. The reason I mention this is that Matt Nava was formerly the art director at Thatgamecompany, which made Flower in 2009 and Journey in 2012. Anyone who has played either of those games instantly has an idea of the style of Abzu: an interactive experience where normal game tropes take a back seat to exploration, environmental story telling, and…
Given the now standard tick-tock cycle of Call of Duty development and yearly releases, the newest title under the mantle does not necessarily take any lessons learned from the previous. I found this very much to be the case with Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: WWII released in 2017, a far departure from Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare released in 2016. Gone were the engaging characters, the above…
The Ratchet & Clank series has generally tried to set itself apart as platformers that certainly do not take themselves seriously. The player is meant to have as much fun playing the game as the game is being played and telling a story. The latest installment, merely titled Ratchet & Clank, for the PS4 is no exception to this rule. Ratchet & Clank from Insomniac was released as a tie-in to a movie of the same name…
When I sat down to play Not a Hero, it wasn’t because I had longed to get my hands on it since it’s initial release. No, it was more that I was having a bad night picking up other games as written in my Cache Update on the topic . I can say that I’m glad that series of events lead me to the game. Not a Hero, developed by Roll7 and published by Devolver Digital, is a pixel art 2D side-scrolling shooter with a sharp…
The Order, developed by Ready at Dawn and SCE Santa Monica and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, is a third person cover shooter set in industrial revolution London in 1886. It is an alternate history with an organization of knights openly fighting to keep order between man and half-breeds, primarily presented as Lycans (werewolves). The conflict has accelerated technology, giving rise to automatic weapons,…
When I first saw Adr1ft, I was instantly intrigued. The idea of floating through space, working to solve problems and survive after a disaster peaked my interest. Unfortunately, the reality of the game left much to be desired. Adr1ft, developed by Three One Zero and published by 505 Games, is a first person game that could most closely be described as a mix between a walking simulator and an adventure game, somewhat…
Some of you reading this are not going to like my review. You’re not going to like it because you put hundreds of hours into the world of Destiny and anything short of “It’s brilliant!” or “Simply the best ever!” just isn’t going to do it for you. To those, just give me a chance and let’s reach some common ground. I remember first hearing about Destiny back in 2013 and being very excited. Beautiful vistas were shown…
Titanfall 2 offers up much of what a modern FPS should be and raises the bar for any futuristic shooter. An engaging single player campaign, really good player movement, and an overall feeling of being badass sets this game apart in a field becoming increasingly one note. Titanfall 2, the sequel to 2014’s Titanfall, is an FPS developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by EA. The game is set in a future where…
When I picked up Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate for the Playstation 4, it was primarily because I had played all of the other primary games in the series (AC, AC II, AC: Brotherhood, AC: Revelations, AC III, AC IV, and AC: Unity) and because it was only $8 on a post Thanksgiving sale. To be honest, I was not sure about starting such a long gaming endeavor, especially given how the series seemed to be struggling to find…
Starting up Superhot, developed by Superhot Team, on PC, I knew it was going to be something special. I knew this because game industry websites and podcasts had been talking about it for the entirety of 2016. I added it to the Cache in late 2016 after seeing it in a number of game of the year discussions and it moved up the list recently when I needed a shorter time commitment game. I was not disappointed with what…
