Xbox Series X Reviews

Despite being a critical darling in 2019, I completely slept on Control during its initial release. As a primarily PlayStation gamer in the past, I’d never played any of Remedy’s previous games. Fast forward to now and playing the Series X version of , I can’t believe I skipped the game previously. But I’m also glad to be playing the best possible console version of the game. The core setup of the game reminds me of one of my favorite…

There is a tipping point — different for every gamer — where the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze in a game. I reached that point in Yacht Games’ newly released Cyber Shadow a little more than halfway through.   The game demands precise platforming and measured combat, harshly punishing even slight errors. There is so much to like about the game, but after running through the same section 20 30 40 times, I broke. I turned off the game…

Hitman 3 gives back what you put into it, and man is it nice to play a game like that again. You can put zero effort into it, taking the path of least resistance and treating it like the action game it clearly isn’t. You’ll ‘finish’ it in about three hours, huff a bit and then move onto something that holds your hand a little more. Or you can see it for what it is: an assassination sandbox filled with…

In Greek mythology, dreams were personified as Oneiros, something I didn’t know going into this game but now that I’ve completed it makes perfect sense. In Oneiros you play as Liam. Liam wakes up late just like any other day, but something just feels different. Doors to his room are locked, the laptop’s hacked, the phone’s broken, and something just doesn’t feel right. The place definitely looks like his room, but at the same time, it just doesn’t feel like…

Summer in Mara is a single-player summer adventure. Take care of your own island, farming the land, and crafting new tools to survive. You can also sail away with your boat to new islands, meet unique characters and find hidden treasures. But the ocean wants you to fulfill your destiny and when it calls you, you’ll have to answer. Summer in Mara is a game about small details that will surprise you every time. Summer in Mara is an adventure…

We didn’t review the Xbox One seven years ago. We didn’t get a preview unit and nobody on staff at the time was interested enough to pick it up day one. Man, what a difference seven years makes, because the Xbox Series X is a triumph. Check out our One Dislike, Three Likes article about the Xbox Series X! This console has been built by gamers for gamers, and it comes through in every interaction you have with it. From…

John Wick Hex really clicked for me when, after clearing a level, I watched it back “in real-time,” versus the time-based strategic puzzle-combat gameplay. Watching the titular hero make his way through a street, punching, rolling, kicking, and shooting adversaries in under 10 seconds is a lot of fun. Of course, 10 seconds in “real-time” translates to about 5 minutes of gameplay, as the player tries to orchestrate all of Wick’s maneuvers.   The game — developed by bithell games…

Puzzles! Romance! Adventure! If Call of the Sea was a story from the 1930s, its advertising would speak entirely in exclamation points – and it’d almost live up to them. It’s filled with brainteasers designed to fairly but frequently trip you up, all on one of the most beautiful islands in gaming. It boasts next-gen features like raytracing, but doesn’t feel the need to overdo them or stray into the dangerous territory of gimmicky. The story is as deep or…

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 – a game title that deserves a Kingdom Hearts style “2.5D Ultima Super Dream Final Edition” if I’ve ever heard one. People know what Tetris is, and a good chunk of those will know what Puyo Puyo is if you explain it in Mean Bean Machine terms. It says what it is, for better or for worse. But hidden behind that slightly mystifying name is a potent mix of puzzling fun that never gets old –…

I’m not sure there’s a more intense single-player racing experience than coming to the end of a long rally stage as the rain starts to spit. The time pops up at the checkpoint and you’re either a second ahead or behind the pace heading into the last stretch. Every time it happens in WRC 9 on Series X, I shift forward in my seat and try my darndest to hit each apex without careening off an edge and down a…