Polygon

There are plenty of strange, experimental demos and experiences for virtual reality that aren't easily identified, but Insomniac Games figured out how the technology can enhance a linear, horror adventure game. Edge of Nowhere may implement some well-worn cliches, but it's also one of the first examples of mastery in a new and not particularly well understood medium.

There's no question that Overwatch is a masterfully designed game. The wide array of amazing, unique characters, and the original ways they interact with one another, make for a peerless teamplay experience in the shooter space. Some issues, like a dissatisfying progression system and a hostility to solo players, hinder the overall experience, but the core of Overwatch remains strong throughout.

Here is the story of every level of Mutants in Manhattan: I found some bad guys, I kept activating my special powers until all the bad guys were gone, then I moved on to the next herd. Didn't dodge. Didn't parry. Didn't have to. Just kept wading through. This was all the strategy I needed to carry me to the boss, at which point things, unfathomably, took a turn for the worse.

But what I'm most hoping for are official, bolt-on replacements for systems like diplomacy and ship building, which just aren’t quite as polished as I’d like to see at release. Paradox has proven that it is willing to work on long timelines, and has a history of supporting its games years after launch with substantive upgrades. I expect that, three years from now, Stellaris will be a much improved experience.

Doom struggles somewhat to finish what it starts, and for a franchise that practically created what we understand as shooter multiplayer 22 years ago, its largely flavorless multiplayer is surprising. But on the whole, as a new interpretation of one of gaming's most formative, difficult to pin down cyphers, id has done a pretty great job in making something that feels familiar and fresh, and, most importantly, pretty damned fun.

Perhaps the saddest thing about Homefront: The Revolution is that it's capably developed. It's not buggy (at least not in the PC version I played) and it runs smoothly. The guns feel fine; the lone vehicle (a motorcycle) is easy to control. But there's never a moment that feels like it's reaching for something more than a check-the-boxes open-world shooter.

If Shadow of the Beast is in any way effective, it's as a cautionary tale of the dangers of nostalgia. This revival appears to have been created by people who dearly love the original game, but it's so slavish in its recreation, there's no room for modern ideas to be injected (or outdated ones to slough off).

Battleborn is inconsistent in every sense of the word. Its character design is interesting, but the heroes often don't feel like they live in the same universe with each other. The game's visual design choices bounce from stylish to overwhelming. And its progression system borrows freely from free-to-play titles, despite the game selling for full retail price.

Otherwise, many of the issues present at release continue. There's a slight messiness to presentation, and the universal presence of English no matter where the game takes place is distracting. Load times are much faster and saving a game is no longer the huge time commitment it was at launch, though menus still take far more time than they should.

There's nothing inherently wrong with an adventure game leaning on well-established mechanics, but doing so requires note-perfect storytelling. Kathy may fall short of that in her first outing, but she's compelling enough that I hope she gets a chance to return with characters and challenges that are as well-designed as she is.