Ryan McCaffrey
Tunic is an unapologetically challenging action-adventure game that is charming, multi-layered, and immensely rewarding to solve.
Halo Infinite's single-player campaign is exactly what this series needed. It brings out the best in Master Chief's unique and satisfying combat style while leveraging old ideas to create memorable new moments. Its story falls short for both new and veteran players, but it was worth the six-year wait.
Twelve Minutes injects a compelling time-loop mystery into a traditional point-and-click adventure game to create original gameplay that complements its story's curiosity factor.
Story isn't its strong suit, but the rest of The Ascent delivers a wonderfully realized cyberpunk world mixed with satisfying twin-stick gunplay to create an enjoyable action-RPG.
The Ancient Gods Part 2 is a challenging, smart conclusion to Doom Eternal's story arc.
Cold War's quiet times are more memorable than the loud ones, even if the story's ambition outweighs its execution.
The "Saints Row The Third" part of Saints Row The Third Remastered is good. The "Remastered" part...not as much.
Much of Modern Warfare 2 has aged pretty well, and the remaster is very well-done, but the 2019 reboot casts a shadow.
Doom Eternal is one of the best first-person shooter campaigns in years. Its brand of fun remains unmatched in FPSes.
Halo: MCC is like a divorced dad who stopped drinking, started going to the gym, and went to therapy to better himself.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's varied gameplay modes and excellent gunplay suggest the series is headed in a promising direction.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is so fun, charming, and smartly designed that I hope we get more than three of these every 20 years.
RAD is deeper and more challenging than it looks, making it a super fun post-apocalyptic adventure that's always fresh.
Saints Row 3 is still as fun as it is crazy on the Switch, but be warned if you're going to play it on a TV.
Dangerous Driving completes Burnout's revival, but not flawlessly.
Hitman 2 is like a hearty stew: not pretty, but so full of nutrition that you're bound to walk away full and happy.
The Devil is now on-demand in a very polished, content-rich port to Nintendo Switch.
Danger Zone 2 is exactly what I wanted the first Danger Zone to be: the true follow-up to Burnout's classic Crash mode that EA won't give me. It's not as fully fleshed out or polished as my dream game of this type would be, but as a self-contained and one-note smash-up it shines like a spectacular fireball explosion. Now how about reviving the rest of Burnout? Road Rage mode, anyone?
Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer that builds upon what made Limbo great, and in fact builds something greater.
If you go into A Way Out thinking its mandatory two-player co-op is a gimmick, you'll likely come out of it realizing that it couldn't have been done any other way. Vincent and Leo's journey will have you and a friend performing tasks together both mundane and dramatic, and the result is a memorable, variety-packed cinematic adventure that feels like what Telltale's games might've evolved into if they'd leaned into game mechanics instead of phasing them out.