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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands” Review

 

Like the Tiny Tina’s Assault On Dragon Keep add-on for Borderlands 2 that inspired it, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC) is a fantasy-flavored spin-off of the normally sci-fi space opera shooter series Borderlands.

But by going even further with the fantasy elements — and the tabletop fantasy role-playing game elements — Wonderlands does an even better job of being as fun as a normal Borderlands game while not being just another Borderlands game.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games

“Ghostwire: Tokyo” Review

 

On paper, the first-person, open world, action / adventure game Ghostwire: Tokyo (PlayStation 5, PC) seems like it’s similar to a lot of other shooters, including Cyberpunk 2077, Borderlands 3, and the Far Cry series. But within minutes of taking to this game’s ghost-filled streets, it became clear that this was not as typical as it might’ve seemed…except in how it was just as effortlessly fun.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“GRID Legends” Review

 

With Forza Horizon 5 and Gran Turismo 7 representing the best that racing games have to offer these days, you’d think every other racing game would pale in comparison. Or at least not put out a new installment just a few weeks later. But GRID Legends (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC) manages to hold its own, more or less, by having equally solid controls, good places to test them, and a nice variety of ways to do so.

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PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games

“Horizon Forbidden West” Review

 

On the Saturday I started playing Horizon Forbidden West (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) for this review, I was expecting a package from Barnes & Noble. So I decided I would start the game, but then take a quick break after 10 minutes to see if the mail had arrived.

Except that when I did take that break, it wasn’t 10 minutes that had past, or even 15, it was well over an hour. It was then that I realized what I had both suspected and hoped about this third-person action / adventure game: it was as effortlessly fun as its predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games

“Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection” Review

 

It goes without saying that if you’ve already played a relatively new game on a previous generation system, or still own it, there’s no reason to buy the new version on a newer system unless there’s something new or improved about it (I’m looking at you, Metro Redux, and your thankfully revamped controls). Especially given how the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S are both backwards compatible. Which is why, if you’ve played or still have Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy you don’t need the Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection (PlayStation 5, PC), which brings those third-person action / adventure games to Sony’s new system and PCs.

If you haven’t played them, though, Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection is both a good time and a good value.

Well, assuming you’ve already played 2007’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, 2009’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and 2011’s Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (all of which are available in the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection). Given how Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End brought this series to a satisfying conclusion, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was an engaging side story / post-script, neither should be your first time with this series.

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The Worst Video Games Of 2021

 

By any measure, 2021 was a terrible year. And while some games made it better — hence their inclusion on my Best Video Games Of 2021 list — there were also some that made it so much worse.

Here, in the order I suffered them, are my least favorite games of 2021.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

The Best Video Games Of 2021

 

While 2021 has been a terrible year, it was actually a pretty good one for games. Way better than the last couple, anyway.

Here, in the order I played them, are my favorite games of 2021.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Call Of Duty: Vanguard” Review

 

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I love shooting Nazis in the face from the first-person perspective. And with all the shit going on in the world — people shouting “Jews will not replace us”; people wearing sweatshirts with Nazi symbols to keep warm while committing treason — my trigger finger is especially itchy these days. Thankfully, shooting Nazis is exactly what you get, and more, from the World War II first-person shooter Call Of Duty: Vanguard (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC). But what makes this installment really satisfying is how, across the board, the good people at Sledgehammer Games have added interesting new mechanics while keeping, and bringing back, what made this shooter series so great in the first place.

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Comics PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy” Video Game Review

 

It doesn’t matter what you put on a pizza; if the cheese, sauce, and crust aren’t good, the pizza won’t be good, no matter what you pile on top. The same is true for combative action games. If the combat is bad, the game is bad, no matter what other mechanics there might be. Which is the problem with Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC), a story-driven, sci-fi, third-person shooter whose problematic combat and other rather basic problems somewhat undermine an otherwise entertaining space adventure.