XBox One Reviews

Videogames are often about defeating the big scary monster that’s tormenting the humans, but if you’ve ever wanted to flip the script and be that scary monster, Carrion is for you.  The folks over at Phobia Game Studio have put together a metroidvania style game that makes you feel powerful, clever, and has some of the most fluid movement of any game this year. Carrion puts you in the role of an unnamed monster that’s broken out of containment in…

The same complaint that a lot of annual sports video game franchises receive is (mostly) true with NASCAR Heat 5. This year’s game feels basically like a roster and car paint update compared to previous versions. The driving model feels a lot better — my cars don’t just spin with the slightest contact, and I’m finding it easier to get involved in drafts and pushes. The game also just looks better, though that could be because I’m playing this year’s…

In this modern age of gaming where remakes and remasters are a standard, ONE SPONGE stands alone (not really Patrick and Sandy are there too) to try and breath life again into the platformers of yesteryear? But does this one get the job done or does SpongeBob just leave us all wet? The original game was developed for PS2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube back in 2003 believe it or not. While a major commercial success, overall reviews were middling at…

It’s the bottom of the 9th inning. The Sirloins trail by 2. Men (well, 1 man and 1 woman) on 1st and 3rd. 2 outs. Hammer Longballo steps up to the plate.   Yes, you read that right: Hammer. Longballo.   The slugger is well known in the minds of Super Mega Baseball fans. A hitter of epic proportions, both in his head size and on the stat sheet.   He’s older now. Has been in the Super Mega Baseball…

irst wrapped up my playthrough of Minecraft Dungeons on the default difficulty, I thought it was a fun game, but perhaps a bit shallow.  I came away from it thinking I'd seen all that the game had to offer, and that the Adventure and Apocalypse difficulties would, for the most part, be more of the same.  After all, I'd unlocked a couple of hidden levels, and felt that I'd explored each map from head to toe.  By the time I'd completed the game on Adventure difficulty, I came away with a distinctly different feel. 

Fury Unleashed is a 2D-action-platformer-roguelike set in a comic book.  That’s a lot of different genres thrown out there, but in reality, the game is similar to others already on the market, most closely resembling games like Enter the Gungeon or Rogue Legacy.  Players explore a hand-drawn world, spanning four different procedurally-generated comic worlds, fighting off themed enemies as the titular Fury, and learning more about the comic’s author, who has grown bored with his franchise. The game plays like…

I’ve never played a game quite like SnowRunner, a follow-up to the cult hit MudRunner and part of the overall SpinTires series, from developers Saber Interactive and Focus Home Interactive.

Stranded Deep, originally released in Early Access on PC in 2015, has brought its island-hopping survival experience to consoles. It’s an addictive and enjoyable experience, but one that still feels several steps away from greatness. The game, like many others in the genre, drops you on a deserted island and requires you to craft, explore, and survive, while hopefully advancing the barebones plot. That plot is essentially that you’ve survived a plane crash over a series of equidistant islands, and…

The best part of Curious Expedition is its concept: You choose a famous historical explorer and set off on a journey to a remote location, searching for treasure and the location of a golden pyramid. You’re in a race against other intrepid explorers to become the most famous finder of rare antiquities in the world.

One Piece is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the manga of the same.. The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber (Think Mr. Fantastic doing martial arts) after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world’s ultimate treasure known as “One Piece” in order to become the next Pirate King. Pirate…