Author: David Carter

Anno 117: Pax Romana makes me happy and proud of my city as the sun rises on the cobblestone market street that rises from busy ports on the colorful Mediterranean waters to the new forum high on the hill above. It took a while, but after arriving somewhat late and at an awkward moment with 2205, I feel like I’ve finally connected with this series that I’ve had a somewhat difficult connection with. Though brilliant mechanics for trade, naval warfare, and the blending of cultures offer opportunities to right the ship, its complicated economics can still seem to wobble wildly…

When Battlefield REDSEC, the finest mode in Battlefield 6’s battle royale-focused spin-off, isn’t a battle royale at all, you know something wasn’t quite right. Although REDSEC borrows ideas from past military battle royales that are more grounded, it doesn’t significantly alter what has already been successful. The otherwise thrilling multiplayer’s destructible environments and potent vehicles seem like a perfect fit for this genre, but REDSEC’s comparatively shallow execution hasn’t captured my attention the way Fortnite’s cartoonish chaos and thrilling events did, nor has it distinguished itself from games like PUBG or Call of Duty: Warzone. The squad-based, elimination-driven Gauntlet mode,…

There are several peaks that make the 2000s unforgettable. The final, really outstanding round of R-rated Hollywood comedies. Finnish cell phones are so robust that they may kill a man. And? NASCAR races. You know if you do. The claim that no licensed NASCAR game has been able to unseat NASCAR Dirt to Daytona, NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, and NASCAR Thunder 2004 off the podium in the past 20 years is not contentious. Let’s get started with NASCAR 25. The moment-to-moment single-player racing it offers is quick, intense, and incredibly subtle, despite the fact that several of its features are…

You do realize that first impressions count? After a lightning-fast, anime-inspired opening to a J-rock hit, Full Metal Schoolgirl launches you into its third-person shooter action. In a futuristic world where robots are oppressed and referred to as “the working dead,” it immediately establishes its irreverent attitude and silly anti-capitalist satire. I thought, “Hell yeah,” with the intention of eliminating a CEO villain. However, I realized halfway through my second run of this roguelike that Full Metal Schoolgirl was a boring and monotonous shooter with gameplay that isn’t nearly strong enough to save it from the mostly tiresome, unrewarding climb…

Tormented Souls 2 may appear to be a current horror game because of its eerie settings and intricate worldbuilding, but don’t be fooled by the modern appearance. The dark heart of timeless classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill is at its core, along with all the goodies and tidbits that both won me over and infuriated me about these formulaic survival horror games when they first became famous. Are the camera angles fixed? Verify. Controls for tanks? Verify. An even stranger plot, complete with corny language and a manual save system, and incredibly difficult puzzles? Check, check, and check…

The Outer Worlds 2 is the pessimistic nightmare of what humanity is likely to become, if Star Trek is the hopeful vision of what it could become. Fortunately, both are very interesting to read, and this second iteration of Obsidian’s corporate dystopia is a big improvement over the first. Even though a weak first act and some really awful enemy variety made the going less exciting, I had a great time pushing my fist through the Kafkaesque final frontier with a cast of unforgettable companions thanks to a more grounded and engaging story, much more skilled combat, and an irresistible…

Double Dragon Revive, which follows Ninja Gaiden’s own 2D revival with the fantastic Ragebound, sounds more like a series tribute band than a formal reunion tour. It puts its own twist on everything, including how it looks, sounds, and plays, rather than playing the hits the way you remember them. After hours of its off-key wandering, all of those elements not only fall short of my admittedly low hopes for a new Double Dragon, but they also begin to solidify the notion that perhaps we should take a little more time between tries to bring this series back to life.…

Ninja Gaiden 4 is what I hoped it would be in a lot of ways. Two of my all-time favorite developers, Team Ninja and Platinum Games, collaborated on it. It builds on the combat from Ninja Gaiden 2, which I believe has the best action in the series. It also has a ton of little details that make it a little more approachable without compromising the hard-as-nails difficulty that die-hard fans like me expect. Although I would even go so far as to say that this battle system is among the best I’ve ever seen, Ninja Gaiden 4 falters in…

For Pokemon lovers, the Nintendo Switch era has been frustrating. Slow but steady progress was made as Game Freak honed their concepts for how combat, exploration, and capture should seem in a completely 3D world, starting with Sword and Shield and continuing through Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Scarlet, and Violet. However, there has also been a significant decline in the general polish, look, and performance of those three games throughout this timeframe. I’m pleased to say that Pokemon Legends: Z-A ends that slide on almost all counts. By converting its meticulously developed turn-based fight system into an action-based one, it successfully…

There are aspects of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 that I truly enjoy and others that I truly dislike, much like the idea of actually becoming a vampire. Creator Unquestionably, The Chinese Room has done a fantastic job of transcending its usually linear and slow-paced universe to provide us with an open world, streetlight-drenched Seattle that is delightful to explore, along with positively stunning narrative and voice acting. However, fighting never goes much beyond being simply decent, and this nighttime excursion is kept from greatness by a lack of reward for both technical and narrative decisions. The slice of…