Re-releasing old games is a tricky business because nostalgia can often crumble when an old title is being judged by new standards. While the original release date explains how the game is shaped, it doesn’t exempt it from the criticism of other, newer games. Onimusha: Warlords Remastered is one of those remasters getting pushed back out onto the market. Although it was typically regarded as a samurai game on the sharpest edge of the genre, the years since have turned it into glorified butter knife that has been dulled by the many advancements in ensuing years.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/482717-onimusha-warlords-remastered-review-snore-lords

The previous episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season was hampered by both in-game and real-world issues. Broken Toys, the third installment in this once-doomed series, automatically fixes some of those in-game problems since its existence ensures that at least some threads aren’t left dangling. Although its release was a small, semi-problematic miracle, that doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be a worthwhile game. But even if it isn’t the best of the season, it still pulls its weight while also effectively setting up a grand conclusion.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/482783-the-walking-dead-the-final-season-episode-3-review-clementines-competent-cliffhanger

The Spider-Man PS4 DLC has all been leading up to this. The first episode’s promise was slightly squandered by the second episode’s tame outing and now it’s just up to Silver Lining, the final installment, to neatly wrap up the post-release content and lay Spider-Man out to rest. Silver Lining does give the webslinger the ending he deserves but is more impressive in how it also elegantly sets up a sequel.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/474843-spider-man-silver-lining-dlc-review-a-silver-finish

Video games have almost always looked at Hollywood for inspiration. Gaming has been been fixated on emulating the silver screen’s cinematography and storytelling techniques as the medium strives to be taken more seriously. The Just Cause series, on the other hand, hasn’t studied narrative as hard but rather the explosive set pieces that make up most blockbusters. Avalanche Studios has been implementing more and more tools with each successive installment to make the moment-to-moment gameplay more evocative of an explosive action movie that you can play. Just Cause 4 is the natural zenith of that mentality as its newly expanded toolset gives players the freedom to goof off in the huge sandbox in a way that few games can match.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/467609-just-cause-4-review-a-cause-for-celebration

Darksiders has always offered a mid-tier version of other huge franchises. The first one was a mature interpretation of Zelda and Darksiders 2 was equal parts Diablo with a pinch of a less competent Devil May Cry. While not as revered as its influences, Darksiders epitomized the B-game in all its glory. One Chapter 11 bankruptcy and liquidation later, Darksiders 3 is finally out, choosing Dark Souls as its main source of inspiration this time. But it haphazardly commits to that vision and ends up being a messy, mechanically conflicted game with an inexcusable amount of technical problems.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/461487-darksiders-3-review-dark-soulless

Spider-Man’s first piece of DLC was a welcome surprise. The Heist gave us a different look at Peter Parker, properly introduced the Black Cat, and kicked an intriguing plot into motion. Turf Wars, the second episode, is poised to pick up after that shocking cliffhanger ending and continue Spider-Man’s greatness into its post-launch releases. And while it does have the core combat, swinging, and a bit of the personality that lifted the main game, Turf Wars is a relatively tame middle chapter with only a few notable events.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/459979-spider-man-turf-wars-dlc-review-meh-fia-wars

Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon were almost inseparable during the PS1 era. And since Crash had his nostalgia-ridden remastered trilogy, that means Spyro is basically entitled to one as well. The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is that remastered trilogy, delicately stepping around the dragon’s sluggish post-PS1 years and faithfully reimagining his greatest hits in a value-savvy three-in-one package. It upholds the test of time in many ways while being a little simplistic in others, but it rarely stops being an easygoing, joyous blast from the past.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/458785-spyro-reignited-trilogy-review-still-a-gem

Tetris‘ addictive pull is so intense that a certain brand of hallucinations was named after it. Tetris Effect is both the umbrella name for those hallucinations and the title of the newest Tetris game. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, creator of Rez and Lumines, is also behind this entry and has brought his signature music-driven style to the classic block dropper. While still Tetris at its core, Tetris Effect marries audio and visuals together for the most entrancing iteration of the game even if its sharp difficulty sometimes tries its best to thwart that rhythm.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/455063-tetris-effect-review-synesthetic-aesthetic

Over the years, stealth games have steadily inched away from stingy trial-and-error gameplay and embraced a more freeform approach that allowed for messy recoveries. Hitman has also given players that ability but not without sacrificing that elusive, perfect hit that takes planning, grit, and a little bit of luck. And even though Hitman 2 is very much a continuation of the previous entry, it retains that satisfaction of watching a devious plan come together while also giving the player an exhaustive amount of freedom to improvise.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/454559-hitman-2-review-clean-hit

Castlevania is one of the most influential gaming series. Devil May Cry, Dark Souls, Rogue Legacy, and countless more all have high amounts of Dracula’s blood running in their veins. Although that well of blood has run a bit dry from Castlevania itself, failing to reveal its pale vampire skin since 2014’s critically panned Lords of Shadow 2. CASTLEVANIA: REQUIEM is not a new game but a remastered bundle of the rare Rondo of Blood and classic Symphony of the Night. While it serves as a good reminder of Castlevania’s legendary status, it’s also a bland, superfluous port of two old games that offers almost nothing new.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/450499-castlevania-requiem-review-not-a-worthy-re-vamp

Making downloadable content for a single-player game like Spider-Man is a tricky balancing act that not a lot of titles do successfully. It has to convey a compelling narrative with some new beats in a fraction of the time and throw in a few gameplay hooks so it doesn’t just feel like an extended side mission. Spider-Man’s first downloadable entry in the City That Never Sleeps saga, The Heist, has its own unique hooks and story to tell but does not add much to Spidey’s gameplay repertoire.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/449049-spider-man-the-heist-dlc-review-the-still-amazing-spider-man

Indie games frequently look at the past for inspiration. It’s why we have so many SNES-era two-dimensional platformers and Metroidvanias. And for as much as Axiom Verge was like Metroid, Project Warlock is like the original Doom. It’s aiming its double-barrelled shotgun squarely at first-person shooters from the mid-1990s where you’re never reloading and never not sprinting. Project Warlock embraces those influences to craft an arcadey, nostalgic throwback with satisfying gunplay that proves why those games were so inspirational in the first place.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/448201-project-warlock-review-a-super-shotgun-loaded-with-nostalgia

Activision drove Tony Hawk into the ground and EA seems opposed to making money and continuing the Skate franchise, which leaves the skating genre to smaller studios. This absence leads to unexpected titles like Crayola Scoot, an oddly named skating adjacent game aimed at kids. And while it looks like—and, in some respects, is—a cheap Tony Hawk knockoff, it’s actually a decent entry in a starved genre.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/446805-crayola-scoot-review-paint-or-die

Remasters are a gussied up way to peek into the past. It doesn’t always reflect favorably on the game in question, especially if a series or genre has progressed significantly in those interim years. Those interim years can either be used to harshly judge a game against today’s standards or prove its classic status. MARK Mark of the Ninja Remastered is in the latter camp. While it may only look better and be on a whole new suite of platforms, Mark of the Ninja Remastered’s uncopied formula still makes it one of the best and most unique stealth games ever made even six years later.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/444345-mark-of-the-ninja-remastered-review-still-sensei-tional