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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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Books Video Games

Exclusive Interview: “Tom Clancy’s The Division: Recruited” Author Thomas Parrott

 

While the third game is just a rumor at this point, fans of the shooters The Division and The Division 2 still have a lot to look forward to. Not only will there soon be a spin-off game called Heartland, but there’s also a movie in the works, with Jessica Chastain [Zero Dark Thirty] and Jake Gyllenhaal [Spider-Man: Far From Home] slated to take direction from Rawson Marshall Thurber [Skyscraper]. But first, fans can enjoy a suburban vacation (of sorts) with Tom Clancy’s The Division: Recruited (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), a new novel from writer Thomas Parrott. In the following email interview, Parrot discusses how he came to write this survival thriller, what inspired it, and why he balked when I referred to the games as “post-apocalyptic sci-fi shooters.”

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iOS PC Reviews Video Games

“Puzzle Quest 3” Review

 

Here’s a little tip for you: If you ever see a review of a mobile game on this site, it’s safe to assume one of two things: it’s either a lot of fun or so terrible that I feel a moral obligation to warn everyone not to get it, even if it’s free. Thankfully, the free-to-play, fantasy-themed match-3 puzzle game Puzzle Quest 3 (iOS, Android, PC) is decidedly in the former category.

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

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.