Review
19 Comments
8.5
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker review: total package
By Philip Kollar on May 20, 2015 05.20.15
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker is one of the most inspired and successful blending of multiple genres that I've ever seen come out of Japan.
As a developer, Atlus' strength is largely in fairly traditional turn-based role-playing games, and Record Breaker definitely takes advantage of that. But that's only the bottom-most layer of gameplay. The turn-based battles are wrapped in a cloak of strategy gameplay, which is then clothed in a heavy narrative coat of choice-based visual novel stylings.
What's especially impressive about Devil Survivor 2 is not just how it draws on these various, disparate styles of gameplay. Rather, I was thrilled by the way it ties them so tightly together and finds ways for each to interact with each other in a way that feels natural.
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Review
16 Comments
7.5
Chroma Squad review: faux faux Power Rangers
By Justin McElroy on May 19, 2015 05.19.15
I’ve never been a fan of the “It’s X crossed with Y” way of describing games or movies, it’s always seemed a bit reductive. But in the case of Chroma Squad, when the formula is “Power Rangers crossed with XCOM with a dash of Game Dev Story,” it’s just a bit too bizarre of a recipe not to share.
When group of five stuntmen get tired of the poor plotting and overbearing direction on their sentai series, they set out to form their own studio. If the term "sentai" is unfamiliar, just think Power Rangers: Spandex-clad heroes taking on rubber suit monsters with their super-powered weapons and their skyscraper-sized mech.
With little more than a warehouse borrowed from a squad member’s uncle, they start filming episodes of their own show, transforming into a super team that’s equally...
Review
7 Comments
6.5
Not a Hero review: don't stop and pop
By Griffin McElroy on May 15, 2015 05.15.15
Not a Hero doesn't just trim the fat off the cover-based shooter genre — it absolutely eviscerates it.
Just as developer Roll7's previous work, OlliOlli, reduced skateboarding to its most essential components, Not a Hero takes the cover-based shooter and turns it into something lean and brutal. The game's murderous cast is always moving, sliding between cover, fanning out pot shots and delivering grisly executions. There's no downhill slope to pull you forward, but that doesn't mean Not a Hero lacks momentum.
For all the slick improvisation that Not a Hero demands, it undercuts that chaos with a surprising amount of rigidity. It is a game in which you will fail dozens of times until you learn the correct way to complete your objectives. It feels less like composing a symphony of...
Movies
7 CommentsPitch Perfect 2 is a loud, happy singalong
By Danielle Riendeau on May 15, 2015 05.15.15
Pitch Perfect 2 is the "bigger, better, more badass" sequel to 2012's surprise hit about a goofy group of college women who sing acapella. It takes a little while to warm up, but once it gets going, Pitch Perfect 2 has a rollicking, undeniable energy.
The plot picks up three years after the first film. The Barden Bellas — the championship women's acapella group from the first movie — is now headed by Beca (Anna Kendrick) and Chloe (Brittany Snow), and rounded out by the same team of lovable weirdos, including the unstoppable Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), the bizarre Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) and the talented, criminally underused Cynthia-Rose (Ester Dean).
Performing for President Obama at the film's opening, Fat Amy has an unfortunate "wardrobe malfunction" that causes the team disgrace,...
Movies
89 CommentsMad Max: Fury Road review
By Arthur Gies on May 14, 2015 05.14.15
The first time I walked out of a screening of Mad Max: Fury Road, I felt shellshocked.
In some ways, Fury Road is everything I expected. It is often cacophonous in its engine roar and explosive, well, fury. It is loud, and intense.
But these things aren't enough now, in the two-decades-plus aftermath of Terminator 2 and the steadily escalating summer tentpoles that have followed. I feel desensitized to the computer-generated and often sterile destruction that's defined the arena these kinds of movies operate in. It's not that I don't enjoy them, but my capacity for surprise is difficult to stir.
It turns out that vision and sheer directorial audacity can stir that capacity just fine.
Mad Max: Fury Road is ostensibly a sequel to the original 1979 film and...
Review
711 Comments
8.0
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt review: off the path
By Arthur Gies on May 13, 2015 05.13.15
The Witcher 3 makes what should have been a terrifying risk look like the most natural evolution in the world.
The Witcher and its sequel established a fascinating fantasy world full of politics, intrigue, magic and monsters, and rooted it all in Geralt of Rivia, one of the last of the infamous Witchers — bounty hunters created through a potentially fatal series of trials and alchemical mutations, for hire by anyone with coin to destroy monsters. The Witcher 2 placed this within an action adventure context largely linear in structure, albeit with major plot changes and entirely different second halves based on player decisions made early on.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes the setting and complicated world-building of its predecessor and blows them out with an ambitious but logical...
Review
46 Comments
7.0
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood review: madder red
By Justin McElroy on May 06, 2015 05.06.15
The hardest thing about selling doubters on Wolfenstein: The New Order was convincing them it wasn't just another bland shooter, despite how its marketing (and, frankly, underwhelming first hour) would make it appear.
New Order had genuine pathos, real emotion and enough great character moments underscoring the real evil of the Third Reich to do the unthinkable: Make killing Nazis feel fresh again. A skeptical player who skipped straight to The Old Blood, a new stand-alone expansion to New Order, would likely find that their doubts were well-founded: There's plenty of great action, but not enough heart to make it feel as vital and fresh as its predecessor.
The Old Blood is comprised of two acts, "Rudi Jager and the Den of Wolves" and "The Dark Secrets of Helga von Schabbs." Though...
Review
32 Comments
7.5
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China review: red ink
By Philip Kollar on May 05, 2015 05.05.15
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is the first solid sign that this franchise can function outside of its established open-world stealth style.
Ubisoft has experimented with spinoffs of the series before, but they often end up like Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation — awkward attempts to create exact clones of the bigger games but on a much smaller budget. Chronicles: China finds its own path, transforming the series into a mostly-2D, level-driven test of stealth skills seemingly inspired by the roots of Ubisoft's less successful action-adventure franchise, Prince of Persia.
At its best moments — which are most of them — Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is the most fun the series has felt in years. And even its few missteps aren't from straying too far from the formula; it only...
Review
6 CommentsParents just don't understand Minecraft, new book may help
By Charlie Hall on May 04, 2015 05.04.15
The latest book inspired by the hit game Minecraft is more than just a cheap tie-in. Block City: How to Build Incredible Worlds in Minecraft is a celebration of the amazing things players around the world have built. But it also serves as a guide, a kind of Rosetta stone for both parents and children.The games press was surprised to learn late last year that Telltale is making a narrative game based on Minecraft. But it's actually a savvy move, since Minecraft-inspired fiction is flying off the shelves at retail. So when Abrams Books offered to send Polygon an advanced copy of their latest Minecraft-themed book, I wasn't expecting much; a me-too title perhaps, a way to exploit the fad and squeeze more revenue out of the print industry's dwindling shelf space.
Must Read
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Review
106 CommentsAvengers: Age of Ultron review
By Arthur Gies on May 01, 2015 05.01.15
The Avengers: Age of Ultron may be the first of Marvel's "Cinematic Universe" to bend under future obligations.
Age of Ultron is nearly impossible not to appreciate in the moment. It's big, sprawling, excellently choreographed, human where it needs to be. It leverages its role as the 11th film in Marvel's host of interconnected stories confidently, the way that fastidious fans would want. It doesn't spend a lot of time re-familiarizing you with the characters that live and work here, instead getting right down to the story at hand.
Opening with the Avengers as they hunt for the last vestiges of Hydra in a post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier world, Age of Ultron immediately places thoughts of the future heavy on the mind of its leads. After a vision of a dark future...
Review
63 Comments
8.5
Mortal Kombat X review update one
By Michael McWhertor on Apr 28, 2015 04.28.15
After spending more time with Mortal Kombat X online and the Faction Wars meta game, we're confident in removing the provisional status of our review, but we're somewhat disappointed with how things have shaken out post-launch.
Online performance in Mortal Kombat X on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has seen improvements since launch, thanks to a handful of software updates, but it can still be unreliable. Matchmaking has also been problematic, as we've rarely found ourselves matched with similarly skilled opponents — an entirely reasonable expectation for a competitive game in 2015.
After a bumpy initial roll out, the Faction Wars component seems to be mostly working as intended — though the reward for participating in faction-based battles feels like little more than a well-meaning...
Review
130 Comments
8.0
Broken Age review update: act two
By Justin McElroy on Apr 27, 2015 04.27.15
Like anyone with a heart and soul who played Broken Age Act 1, I've been eagerly awaiting the conclusion of Shay and Vella's adventure. Now that I've completed the entirety of Double Fine's return to adventure games, I have to say ... I'm a little disappointed. Whether or not you share my sentiment will depend on what you're looking for in an adventure game.
For me, the beautiful worlds Broken Age Act 1 created and the fascinating, funny and flawed characters that inhabited them made the game special. Act 2 doesn't do much in the way of new people and lands — it's largely content to explore the people and places you've already gotten to know.
A word of warning: If you haven't touched Broken Age since Act 1 was released, I would highly recommend running through it again before you pick...
Review
246 Comments
7.5
DriveClub review update 2: six months later...
By Philip Kollar on Apr 23, 2015 04.23.15
I had heard from multiple trusted sources that DriveClub developer Evolution Studios finally fixed the game's major multiplayer functionality problems from its disastrous launch. But what really concerned me as I returned to test it out six months after the game's launch was the question of if it was too little too late. Was there still going to be an online community around to take advantage of the technical fixes to what had been, in my original estimation, a rather good game?
As it turns out, yeah, there totally is. In tests at various times of day throughout the last few weeks, I've had almost no trouble ever finding a multiplayer match. All the social hooks I liked are now working perfectly, and Evolution Studios has a constant rotation of events, encouraging players to compete...
Review
88 Comments
8.5
State of Decay review update: Year One Survival Edition
By Arthur Gies on Apr 22, 2015 04.22.15
If you've been keeping up with State of Decay religiously in the two years since its launch, there's little in the new Year One Survival Edition that will come as a revelation. Content-wise, it packages the original game from 2013 along with Breakdown, the survival mode Undead Labs added after launch, and "Lifeline," the new story-driven campaign that came out last year, and pushes gameplay additions from those expansions to the original release.
For those who haven't been keeping up but enjoyed what State of Decay brought to the table, you're in for a lot more where that came from. Between the original, Breakdown and "Lifeline," there's at least 60 hours of game in YOSE, and even having played through the original release, there's lots of new things to see and do. Some seemingly...
Review
8 Comments
6.5
Sid Meier's Starships review: space oddity
By Charlie Hall on Apr 17, 2015 04.17.15
Sid Meier's Starships is a game trying to please too many masters.
Its intention, from the opening cinematic, is to create an epic space opera. But in execution, it falls in that weird middle-ground of gaming experiences; too long for a single sitting, but too simple to feel truly epic. Instead of being action-packed, it quickly becomes tedious. Rarely have I walked out of a great science fiction movie and thought to myself, "gosh, what an exciting war of attrition."
Starships is a very narrow experience
Starships is essentially a tactical skirmish game with just enough story and metagame to glue the various bits together. Its turn-based space combat takes place hundreds of years after the events of Civilization: Beyond Earth. Your human colony has been at peace for generations,...
Review
193 Comments
9.0
Dark Souls 2 review update 2: Scholar of the First Sin
By Philip Kollar on Apr 17, 2015 04.17.15
Writing a review update for Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is harder than the average next-gen port, because it's more than just "Dark Souls 2, but now on PS4, Xbox One and DirectX 11-enabled PCs."
That's not to say this isn't a visual and technical upgrade; it is. Scholar of the First Sin looks just slightly better on next-gen hardware, particularly in the way it uses in-game light sources such as the torch you'll often carry around to cast huge, impressive shadows. The game still doesn't run at a solid 60 frames per second on consoles, but the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions never get quite as chunky as Dark Souls 2 did on last-gen systems.
But what sets Scholar of the First Sin apart from the average re-release is the sweeping balance changes that have been implemented...
