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What are the best Sci-fi games on PS4?

23

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Considered

152

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Recs.

Oct 4, 2023

Last
Updated

23 Games Considered

Best Sci-fi games on PS4	Price	Genre	Platforms
-- DOOM	$29.99	Horror FPS	Nintendo Switch, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
-- Prey (2017)	$39.99	First-Person Shooter, Immersive Sim	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
-- XCOM 2	$39.99	Turn-based Tactical RPG	Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Android
-- Warframe	Free	Action	-
-- Detroit: Become Human	$59.99	Interactive Narrative, Action-Adventure	PlayStation 4, PC

DOOM

Top Pro

Refreshing single purpose gameplay

There is no character development, this is a single purpose game that makes itself very clear from the outset. You are in this game to do one thing, kill demons, sometimes in the most gruesome ways possible. The game is very unapologetic about this, which is refreshing in a time when many games focus on story and play out like an interactive movie. This is much more a throwback to simpler times, run and gun, and it can be quite fun. See More

Top Con

Multiplayer guns are unbalanced especially the shotgun combo

If you notice anyone continuously winning games with 1st place top score, 9 times out of 10 it is someone running with both the combat shotgun and super shotgun in hand. See More

Specs

Genre:Horror FPS

Top Pro

Fast-paced, exhilarating combat

DOOM differs from most modern shooters because it abandons cover-based gunplay and instead encourages you to never stop advancing. This is achieved by not only making your character very nimble, allowing you to run at high speeds and jump great distances, but also by removing weapon reloading entirely. There is also the glory kill system, which restores your health whenever you melee kill an enemy, so no waiting for your health to restore by itself either. All of this creates exhilarating gunplay where you never have to pause for anything. See More

Top Con

The gore might not be for everyone

DOOM has a fair amount of gore. Whenever you kill an enemy there's blood, guts, and limbs flying everywhere. Melee kill are particularly brutal with your character twisting enemy necks and breaking their bones. Some may find that level of graphic violence off-putting. See More

Top Pro

Level editor for endless content

The game comes with a level editor, which allows you to create new maps and game types. These can be maps that play similarly to the campaign or even unique puzzle maps. You can share your creation online and also download other players' creations. This provides an almost endless stream of content, adding considerable longevity to the game. See More

Top Pro

Fun hidden secrets

There are quite a few easter eggs and hidden secrets in the game, such as old school Doom 95 levels, a Commander Keen skull, a Terminator 2 animation, and even hidden Doomguy toys that your character will fist bump. There's a lot of these to find, creating a very entertaining side activity. See More

Top Pro

Superb graphics that run quite well

Highly detailed environments, fearsome enemies, colorful particle effects, beautiful lighting, and a lot more. Whatever you're looking at in DOOM, it's a treat for the eyes, all without ever dropping below 60 frames per second. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic level design

The levels in DOOM are quite large, with multiple floors/levels, and many secrets. Some areas are very spacious, making large-scale battles possible, and some are labyrinth-like, hiding enemies behind every corner. You'd think it would be a very linear and guided experience, but most of the time it's up to you where to go and how to get there. Each one of these aspects make it a blast to fully explore the levels. See More

Top Pro

Great customizable weapon selection

There are more than 20 weapons in DOOM, including the super shotgun, the rocket launcher, and even the BFG9000. Each weapon has two modes that can be improved with one of three upgrades, totaling to over 100 possible combinations. Most of the combinations are really fun to use, which creates enough variation to keep you entertained for multiple playthroughs. See More

Prey (2017)

Top Pro

Rewarding exploration

Throughout each level, there are several items to pick up in Prey, in order to save them to recycle into more useful items. There are also computers for the player to browse and read descriptive emails and data logs with new information, or electrical flames acting as obstacles that the player can extinguish with special tools. Environments are dense, telling a story all their own that adds to the intrigue of the main plot. As Morgan levels up, he or she can also unlock new ways to explore earlier locations, such as a feature to glide across locations to reach inaccessible areas, opening up new possibilities to discover. See More

Top Con

Inconsistent graphics

Prey's environments and lighting effects are beautiful, with polished surfaces and fizzling bits of electricity coming from broken wires, but the human models in the game are decidedly average in comparison, their skin looking somewhat bloated or blotched at times that don't seem intentional. Thankfully, the humans in the game aren't as much of a focus as the environments are. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:First-Person Shooter, Immersive Sim

Top Pro

Morality system is well-implemented

Prey has a strong focus on the protagonist Morgan's actions to determine his or her morality, The choices in the game deal with choosing to kill a group of mind-controlled enemies or finding a way to save them. spending limited resources to go out of your way to fight enemies who pose a threat to the space station, or even saving groups of people who don't like you and won't appreciate your sacrifice. It's up to you to weigh the pros and cons and do what best reflects your own morals. These types of choices come up throughout the game, and they feel well-executed and implemented in ways that serve as an example for other morality-based titles to follow. See More

Top Con

Weak stealth options

Because the player isn't forced to choose a dedicated playstyle from the onset, stealth or shooting, it's clear that having both forced the stealth option to suffer, with the primary mechanic being tiptoeing around enemies and hoping that they don't notice. With the dozens of options to mod Morgan's gun and inspire different uses for his or her weapon, the stealth painfully lacks in comparison. See More

Top Pro

Strong opening

The introduction to Prey's story and setting is intriguing, messing with the player's head and forcing them to question if what they had just experienced was real. There's an unsettling air of sterility and complacency where certain factors of the game expect the player, as the protagonist Morgan, to obliviously go along with the proceedings as if nothing is wrong. These events are ultimately more interesting than the rest of the story, but Prey nonetheless has an unforgettable hook that will keep players invested from the get-go. See More

Top Con

Overuse of jump scares

The blob-like, ink-black mimics that appear throughout the space station often sneak up on the player by way of jump scares that gradually overstay their welcome, becoming more of an annoyance than anything, especially for players who dislike horror mechanics. The first few instances of this happening can be a complete turn-off, discouraging those who might have enjoyed the game without this particular design decision. See More

Top Pro

Options to stealth or shoot

Although the effectiveness of the stealth option leaves a lot to be desired, Prey at least gives the player the opportunity to either focus on straightforward combat or sneaking around enemies instead. Much like in the Deus Ex games, not being locked to either playstyle opens up a lot of freedom for exploration and taking on foes. See More

XCOM 2

Top Pro

It's fun to manage your squad

One of the main aspects of XCOM 2 is preparing your squad for each mission. You need to consider the terrain, objective, and enemy types. Based on these you'll select the appropriate soldiers, weapons, and gadgets. A lot of the missions have some leeway, so you'll be able to form a squad that fits your playstyle. It can either be a group of stealthy rangers, running in with machetes to surprise the enemy. Or it can be a group sharpshooters, allowing you to systematically clear the area from afar with sniper rifles. After each successful mission/kill your soldiers will earn experience. With enough experience you'll be able to promote them and earn learn new skills. You can also research new weapons and build them. A lot of it comes down to looting alien technology and reverse engineering it back at the base. All these things add up and it's really exciting watching your soldiers grow into unstoppable killing machines. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

XCOM 2 is not just about managing a squad of soldiers, you also have to manage your base and operations on a global scale. This includes managing your resources, identifying which missions you should prioritize, and allocating research for new technologies. It might take a while to learn everything needed to fully enjoy this game, especially on higher difficulties. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Turn-based Tactical RPG

Top Pro

Excellent suspense

Throughout the campaign you'll always be running against the clock. You have a limited window of time to save humanity before the aliens take over completely. Successful missions only set them back slightly. Unsuccessful missions set you back significantly. It always feels like you're in an uphill struggle and failing means the end. It always feels like you're not gaining an advantage and the aliens have something else in store. This is reinforced in the missions. You never know what type of aliens there will be or what their reinforcements will bring. Encountering new species makes you fear for the well-being of your squad. It's rare for a game to keep you feeling like this. See More

Top Con

Poor performance

At times it feels like the PS4 struggles to run XCOM 2 properly. Inconsistent framerates, stuttering, and really long load times, which can get in the way of fun. See More

Top Pro

Makes you feel more for your characters than most character driven games

One of the more fun parts about this game is managing your squad. You can customize the looks, voices, and even names of your soldiers. As you take your soldiers on missions you'll get attached to them. This will create a lot of tense moments when your soldiers are about to die and you desperately try to save them. If you decide to input the names of your friends or family, multiply the tension by ten. See More

Warframe

Top Pro

Great contact physics

Many online titles and MMOs feature combat with poor contact physics, so it often feels like you're not actually hitting the enemies. In Warframe, hitting an enemy with a hammer will make them fly and sliding at their legs will make them trip. This makes it feel more like a single player game than an online co-op game. See More

Top Con

Can get repetitive easily

At the very core, Warframe is a game that needs a lot of grinding. You'll always be grinding for new blueprints, relics, materials, credits or just leveling your existing equipment. After a while some of the mission types such as defense (where you fend of waves of enemies), will get really boring. Then it turns out the blueprint or relic is really rare and you'll probably have to repeat that mission about a hundred more times. Coupled with the fact that there's no real progression outside the Mastery Rank, some players may quickly lose interest. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Fast-paced, space ninja action

Warframes are essentially space ninjas that can move incredibly fast. Just running won't be enough, so you'll have to build momentum by sliding, jumping, and rolling. Each of these moves also help you dodge enemy attacks, while allowing you to attack. It takes a while to get used to the fast pace, but when you do, it feels incredibly satisfying. See More

Top Con

Some missions can be frustrating

Top Pro

A huge array of weaponry

Warframe boasts over 300 weapons, split into 3 classes: Primary, Secondary, and Melee. Primary weapons are the big guns such as assault rifles, shotguns, bows, and grenade launchers. Secondary weapons are the sidearms, usually handguns, machine pistols, and thrown weapons. The melee weapons consist of swords (even katanas), hammers, fist weapons, scythes, and others. Most of the weapons have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Simulor is a weapon which creates small balls similar to black holes, which pull in and kill enemies. Unfortunately, the range is very short, so you'll have to predict enemy movements and place the shots carefully. Another example is the Zarr, a massive canon, which has two firing modes, allowing you to use it as a canon or a shotgun. The downside is that you'll get damaged by your own explosions, so you have to always keep distance. The weapons can also be upgraded, adding various elemental damage types such as radiation or corrosion. You can also improve other stats such as rate of fire, crit or reload speed. See More

Top Con

Lots of bugs

Top Pro

Fun combat mechanics

Top Con

New content is poorly optimized

Warframe was released in 2012 and has received a lot of improvements over the years. This includes updating the old tilesets with new textures, which has caused a lot of performance drops. The prime example would be the Earth tileset update, which caused performance drops and made it unplayable to a lot of people, even though they could play normally before it. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful graphics

Top Con

Crafting new equipment takes really long

The crafting system in Warframe involves very long wait times, varying from 12 to 72 hours. The wait times can be be skipped by paying platinum (bought in the in-game store with real money), but most of the time it's not worth it. See More

Top Pro

You can choose your own play style

In Warframe, there are tons of weapons, both ranged and melee, that will let you fight however you like. Maybe you want to be a long-range sniper, or a massive melee beast with a huge hammer, or maybe you want to stick closer to the ninja tradition and use a sword and a bow. Whatever you prefer to play, Warframe has an option. See More

Top Pro

Great selection of classes

In Warframe, you're able to play as one of the many Warframes, which are essentially character classes. You start off by choosing one of the three basic frames. Excalibur who specializes in swords and has an ability to equip an energy sword and shoot beams of energy. Volt who uses electricity to boost his damage, movement speed and attack speed. Or Mag, a frame specializing in magnetism and controlling the enemy. After that you can run missions to find plans for new ones, or purchase them with platinum (the real-money currency). There are currently more than 30 basic Warframes and their "Prime" variants, which are superior versions of the basic frames. See More

Top Pro

Better microtransaction

Detroit: Become Human

Top Pro

The story isn't afraid to tackle social commentary issues like discrimination, politics, and slavery

Detroit: Become Human centers around subservient androids rising up against their human creators, either in peaceful protest or violent revolution. The plot gets into some heavy themes, like how the androids take care of so many jobs that the human unemployment rate is quite high, causing resentment. Humans openly discriminate against androids, delegating them to remain in the back of buses, restricting their rights, and openly treating them like slaves. The story is unabashed in the way it portrays these ideas that aren't typically shown in video games, taking risks that ultimately pay off in the long-run. See More

Top Con

Not for players who want more involved gameplay

The gameplay in Detroit: Become Human boils down to exploring, making decisions, and following button prompts on the screen. This doesn't have any complicated, intricate systems that you might expect. It's more of an interactive movie that leans heavily on the experience rather than mechanics, which isn't for anyone. As long as you know what to expect before going in, the story might be enough to carry you through. See More

Specs

Genre:Interactive Narrative, Action-Adventure

Top Pro

The types of story situations you find yourself in are unprecedented

There's both quantity and quality with the branching paths in Detroit: Become Human. Connor, Kara, and Markus all experience some pretty remarkable events, leading them to grow as characters in satisfying ways according to your choices. Connor can go down a truly intriguing path that puts him at odds with his programming, trapping him in some harrowing predicaments that test his loyalties. Kara can go on a real adventure with her friends and loved ones, leaving her with nothing as she tries to make things work despite the odds against her. Markus has the freedom to lead either a peaceful protest or a violent revolution against the humans, at the cost of losing relationships, and possibly himself in the process. The places and emotions you can lead your characters to are surprising and unforgettable. See More

Top Con

Some writing problems with over-the-top drama for shock value

At times, the writing dials it up to one hundred when it isn't always justified. This is mainly a problem with undeveloped characters who show up just to start drama, inevitably leading to situations that the player won't be able to sympathize with. The writers do this as a way to advance the plot, but it ends up feeling rushed and amateur, like it's done for the sake of shocking the audience. More time could have been dedicated to fleshing things out, making these plot twists more believable and impactful. See More

Top Pro

An ambitious amount of branching paths via player choice

The sheer number of branching choices and outcomes is staggering. After every chapter, the game shows you a flowchart of the choices you made, the paths you unlocked, and which conclusion you arrived to. You get to see the blank spaces for paths you didn't unlock, which shows the surprising scope of how gigantic the script is. Getting to see the percentage of players in the world who unlocked your same outcomes also puts things into perspective. Each decision you make leads to a true a culmination of your choices by the end, encouraging near-infinite different playthroughs. See More

Top Con

The real-world analogy of androids as an oppressed minority doesn't always work

It's a hard sell to portray advanced intelligent life as the equivalent of a powerless minority who faces institutionalized racism. The androids are subservient to humans initially because that's how they're programmed to behave; once they "wake up" and break free from that programming, it's just a matter of gathering allies and using their cybernetic superiority to achieve their goals. The story only spans a few months within the year 2038 as well, meaning it doesn't follow the same years-long arc of justice and civil rights as the minorities that the game draws inspiration from. It's an admirable portrayal nonetheless, despite the shortcomings and false equivalencies. See More

Top Pro

Impeccable graphics and visuals

Detroit: Become Human has next-level graphics and presentation. Characters look exactly like the actors they're modeled after, down to imperfections like razor bumps on the back of Connor's neck from his perfect, precise haircut. The environments set in the city of Detroit in the year 2038 are also great, showing the sheen of futuristic, automated cars and buses driving down the road, the bustling cultural meccas downtown, and even the grittier, dirtier aspects of the poverty-stricken areas. Everything looks amazing, showing off what games of this console generation can put out in terms of graphics and detail. See More

Top Pro

The three playable android characters are each great in their own ways

You play as three androids--Connor, Kara, and Markus--all of whom have their own interesting character traits and storylines. Connor is cold and direct as an investigator for the police, concerned first and foremost about finishing the job by any means necessary. Kara is more docile and mother-like, but determined to protect those she cares about. Markus is the leader who rallies the androids together for their cause for the sake of justice. The three characters intersect in intriguing ways, with Connor maintaining the status quo, Markus upsetting the norm, and Kara wanting to find her own path. But, ultimately, who they are depends on your choices, since your actions are what determine how the protagonists turn out in the end. See More

NieR: Automata

Top Pro

An incredible amount of gameplay

You can easily spend 60 plus hours exploring the world NieR: Automata, and still have much more to do. See More

Top Con

Buggy

Some players have been complaining about the game crashing, freezing, save files missing, etc. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Fast-paced and action packed combat

The combat in NieR: Automata is incredible. It has a very hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and acrobatics. You will have to switch from using small, quick jabs with your weapon, to devastatingly strong attacks. You also have to utilize ranged attacks, as well as the companion that follows you around if you want to have any hope of surviving every encounter. It can be very difficult to win battles sometimes, but it also feels equally rewarding when you finally achieve victory. See More

Top Con

Random lag spikes

When walking into an abandoned city, or during cutscenes, you'll randomly experience lag from time to time. See More

Top Pro

A unique take on storytelling leads to a very entertaining experience

NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is great: in order to get the full experience, you've got to do multiple playthroughs of the game. You unlock more chapters of the story as you complete the previous chapters more times: completing the first chapter twice will unlock the second chapter, then when you complete that you will unlock the third. When you begin, you play as an android known as YoRHA. However, subsequent playthroughs will allow you to choose different characters. This lets you experience the story from a different perspective. It's really interesting and certainly serves to make the game more fun overall. See More

Top Pro

It's got a hauntingly beautiful environment

NieR: Automata is set in an apocalyptic time where Earth has been overrun by robots, and the artists really nailed what that would feel like. Abandoned and overgrown cities litter the landscape along with old refineries, graveyards, and eerie forests. When you add the beautiful soundtrack to the experience, it fills you with a bittersweet mix of loneliness and hope. See More

Titanfall 2

Top Con

It is broken

Servers do not work, you'll never be able to play the game you paid for after a group hacked it to prove Respawn (the devs) aren't supporting it anymore and simply do not care even if you just bought it now. It's absolutely deplorable and should be illegal. Why are we not banding together to do a class action lawsuit?! See More

Top Pro

Thrilling first-person shooter gameplay

Titanfall 2 is a great team-based FPS game with well-designed gunplay. Running and gunning with your team of six friends or online players is fast-paced, with tons of destruction on the battlefield all around you. You rely on twitch reflexes to gun down enemies as soon as you see one rounding a corner, or to react in time to someone shooting at you and taking you by surprise. Everything feels balanced in a way that's well thought-out, leading to frantic and intense multiplayer matches. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:First-Person Shooter

Co-Op:6-8 Player Online

Top Con

The single-player campaign is short

The whole story is only about five hours long. Even though the plot itself is good, the short length takes away from the enjoyment. What's here has plenty of potential for the devs to build upon for a possible sequel in the future. See More

Top Pro

Great singleplayer campaign

Titanfall 2 comes with a single-player story campaign that also acts as a warm-up for the multiplayer component. Whilst the campaign is short, it's a quality narrative with a great main protagonist and supporting characters. The voice acting is strong and the cutscenes are a spectacle to watch. For those who played the first Titanfall and were disappointed by the story, you can look forward to a much better one this time around. See More

Top Con

Story mode is too easy

The campaign is too easy. If you're a fan of shooters, especially, you won't find much of a challenge here unless you play on the hardest setting. But for players who are new to the genre, you might not notice too much. See More

Top Pro

Jetpacks and wall-running let you move around more freely

While playing as a regular soldier, you have great mobility with jetpacks that allow you to run on walls. Maps are designed with verticality in mind, giving players options to use their jetpacks to climb above the opposition for a better vantage point. It also gives you a leg up when facing against a Titan, since you can always run along a nearby wall to get on top of the mech to take it down. This helps to make sure than infantry soldiers aren't just weak fodder for Titans to take out, with their speed and parkour abilities as their main advantages. See More

Top Pro

Gameplay makes you feel like a badass

The fast, fluid and powerful style of FPS gameplay makes you feel like you're taking on the entire army yourself. It's not just that you can kill a lot of people quickly, but the movement is so fast and dynamic you can simply out-maneuver everything. It's parkour meets Call of Duty with really fun weapons and abilities. See More

Top Pro

You can use powerful mechs called Titans for their added defense and high-powered weapons

Aside from playing as a regular infantry soldier, there are also huge mechs on the battlefield, known as Titans, that you can control. As soon as a player gets in the cockpit, that's when you know that the tides are about to turn. Titans are big enough to act as tanks for your allies, soaking up damage and dealing a ton more with their specialized guns, giving your team a huge advantage just by having one with you. But they're not all-powerful, since a normal soldier can get on a Titan's back to dismantle it and take it down, even though it won't be easy. Titans are strong without being overpowered, turning battles into power plays to see who can take out the enemy team's mechs the fastest. See More

No Man's Sky

Top Pro

Massive galaxy to explore

Thanks to the fact that the entire galaxy of No Man's Sky is procedurally generated, the amount of planets to explore is almost endless. The number of planets would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,616. However, the fact that 2 players managed to find each other in game on the first day, seems to make this number quite questionable. See More

Top Con

No clearly defined missions

The objective of the game is to ultimately reach the center of the galaxy. However, the player is completely free and unguided from the beginning. You figure it out for yourself as you start mining, crafting and upgrading your ship and gear. This game doesn't have a big story to tell. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure, Survival

Top Pro

Endless procedural generation

This game procedurally generates almost everything. Your spaceships are procedurally generated, so are the planets, moons, every animal on these planets, the resource nodes, trade routes, languages, etc. When discovering new species or planets, players get to rename these and leave their mark on the galaxy. See More

Top Pro

Freedom to choose how you want to play

Ally with factions, trade or just be a pirate. When trading with NPC aliens, you build up a positive reputation with the faction they belong to. Alternatively you can also be hostile and attack trade ships, or even be attacked by NPC pirate spaceships. Both can be ways to get what you need, so do whatever suits your play style. See More

Top Pro

Good graphics

The art style of this game is very colorful and saturated and uses hues in a way that it gives you an otherworldly feel. Graphics like these tend to remain good for a much longer time than classic 3D graphics. See More

The Surge

Top Pro

Enjoyable loot system

In most games items tend to have drop chances, so you're often stuck killing an enemy over and over until you get the item you're looking for. The Surge changes this up by allowing you to slash off pieces of equipment from enemy bodies when finishing them off. For example, when you're fighting a cyborg with really cool looking armor, you can slice off its arm with a finishing move. You can loot the arm afterwards, allowing you to craft the arm piece of that armor set. This means you can get the full set after fighting that type of cyborg several times rather than spending hours fighting them and getting nothing. As a result, you have a loot system that rewards effort without relying on your luck, which feels like a really nice change of pace. See More

Top Con

Might feel a bit too punishing

Even when you have good equipment, the regular enemies can still kill you in a couple of hits if you're not careful. Some enemies are very aggressive and fast, so a momentary lapse in focus can cause you to restart an area from the beginning. This is further amplified during boss fights where most hits taken will outright kill you, which can feel frustrating and unfair, especially when you've no idea what a boss does. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Top Pro

Engaging combat system

The Surge's combat primarily consists of you fighting robots or cybernetically enhanced humans in close quarters. You have to read enemy patters, dodge when needed, and strike when there's an opening. What makes the combat stand out, however, is the ability to target specific body parts of enemies, allowing you to deal more damage on unarmored body parts or even cripple them. This adds more strategy to combat since you're not just swinging in the general direction of an enemy, but also constantly looking for their weak spots. See More

Top Con

Exploration can feel disorientating since there's no map

While a lot of games without maps and/or waypoints play fine, The Surge may feel too disorientating at times. This is mostly due to its over-reliance on maze-like environments that tend to look exactly the same, so even though you've entered a room for the first time, it may feel like you've already been there. This is also made worse by the fact that enemies respawn after a while, so you can't use their absence or presence for guidance either. If you don't like to perfectly memorize level layouts, the Surge might be annoying to play. See More

Top Pro

Good selection of weapons

The Surge has many types of futuristic weapons - from a vibration powered chainsaw, to a large axe with an energy blade, to even a giant robot's arm re-purposed as a weapon. The most important differences between weapons, however, are in speed, reach, and available combos. For example, you can pick a very slow weapon with a wide reach that has devastating combos, but carries the risk of getting interrupted by enemies faster than you. Or you can choose a very fast weapon to easily outmaneuver enemies but you always have to stay close because the weapon has a poor reach. As a result, each weapon has differences in tempo and playstyle, allowing you to choose one that fits you the best. See More

Top Con

The story isn't that good

The story starts out intriguing, but it doesn't do much with the initial setup afterwards. The main character's motivations don't seem very believable, the side characters aren't that interesting, and even the conclusion isn't satisfying. In the end, the story in The Surge is just a vague excuse for you to slaughter robots and cyborgs. See More

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Specs

Genre:First-Person Shooter

Observer

Top Pro

In-depth environmental storytelling

As you search around apartment buildings and office spaces with augmented vision, you'll come across emails, video sequences, and notes that flesh out the story. You can take your time to find out about now-extinct religions from the past, learn about the lives of the many people who died from the digital plague, and interact with each piece of evidence lying around at crime scenes. Scanning items, computers and blood stains to solve these crimes can lead you down a rabbit hole of discovering more about the world through environmental storytelling. See More

Top Con

Gameplay is limited to mostly walking around

As a "walking simulator," Observer is appealing to players who enjoy taking their time to explore and take in the environment, but it may not have enough gameplay for those looking for a more involved experience. Hacking into minds, analyzing crime scenes and moving from place to place makes up the bulk of the game. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Cyberpunk Psychological Horror

Top Pro

Hacking into peoples' memories is an engaging way to investigate crimes

While solving cases, you can hack into a subject's memories through their augmentations, creating a new reality as you physically explore their thoughts. You'll then proceed through the scenes of their memories, listening to conversations that reveal more about the story and the world. The psychedelic visuals as you progress through these memories are unique and mind-bending, making these sequences even more exciting. These sections of Observer go above and beyond the other, more standard investigation mechanics in the game, making each crime mystery unique and exciting. See More

Top Con

Some frustrating, out-of-place chase sequences

Some segments of Observer force you to stealthily avoid a menacing enemy lumbering through a dark workspace or a dilapidated set of hallways, but they don't quite fit with the game's overall freedom of discovery and exploration. If you're discovered, it's game over. These parts ruin the pace and flow that you're used to from the gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Terrifying, mind-bending story presentation

Observer's detective story sounds simple, with you tracking down protagonist Daniel Lazarski's missing son, but the way the game presents this narrative is what counts. As you follow leads on his son's whereabouts, you'll analyze crime scenes mostly by searching through horrifying, psychedelic memories from the neural implants of dying or dead victims. These are unstable displays of augmented reality, with broken visuals filled with psychedelic colors, eerie hallucinations, and rattling jump scares. They manage to distort your own consciousness in the game, making you question the reality around you. Through these terrifying experiences, the game poses philosophical questions on the true nature of reality, such as what point technology can take over and shape what we believe is real. See More

Top Pro

Intriguing cyberpunk world

The deserted, rain-slicked streets of the gritty city at night, filled with unsettling displays of government advertisements fits right in with the themes and media that inspired Observer's cyberpunk world. A dystopian future where augmented humans were killed off by a mysterious disease is a fascinating, if familiar concept for cyberpunk enthusiasts. It's interesting to explore this technologically-advanced world where the government has collapsed and a mega-corporation has taken over, making you wonder how you might survive in this type of setting. See More

Fallout 4

Top Pro

Great storyline

The main story has a very personal theme of family and revenge, featuring a main character looking for their lost son in a post-apocalyptic version of Boston. The side-quests also provide a decent backdrop, expanding on some of the plot elements of the main story. There are many twists and mysteries, but the narrative remains coherent throughout the story, creating a very enjoyable experience. See More

Top Con

Occasional bugs

There are bugs in the game that users will run into. While most are not game breaking, it can detract from the experience. See More

Specs

Genre:Action RPG

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Huge world with loads of content

The world of Fallout 4 is massive so there's quite a lot to do. Many areas to explore, tons of quests to complete, and lots of collectibles to find. There's easily enough content to keep you playing for over a hundred hours. See More

Top Con

Pipboy UI feels unpleasant to use

When you open your Pipboy (a personal computer that manages your quests, inventory, character data, etc) the screen containing the useful information only covers about a fourth of the entire screen. As a result some of the elements are too crammed, requiring a lot of scrolling. This can be really annoying if you're trying to find something in a list of 100 items. See More

Top Pro

Addictive to collect loot

You can pick up most of the stuff you see laying around in Fallout 4. Every item, including weapons and armors, can be broken down into reusable crafting materials. This makes it hard to stop yourself from going around and collecting everything in sight because everything has a purpose. You can also find unique versions of equipment on the corpses of legendary enemies. Each of these items has an additional effect such as speed boost or extra damage. This may cause you to constantly pick fights you'll probably lose, but it's worth it once you get your hands on that extremely good piece of equipment. See More

Top Con

The dialogue choices are confusing

Most of the dialogue choices will only show a few words that don't actually reflect what your character is gonna say. This creates a disconnect between you and your character, making it seem like you don't control what your character is gonna say at any point. See More

Top Pro

Solid gunplay with an interesting twist

The gunplay plays so well it almost feels like a pure FPS. You can shoot from the hip, aim down the sights/scope, or even just run and gun. However, what makes Fallout 4 stand out is VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). When you activate VATS, the time slows down to a crawl, allowing you to mark body parts of enemies. When you execute it your character will automatically shoot the marked body parts. This is very useful for getting out of tight spots, allowing you to instantly clear groups of enemies or kill a really tough enemy charging at you. It also has the benefit of making you feel like an expert gunman, even if your aim isn't that great. See More

Top Pro

Deep perk/skill system

Fallout 4 has a great selection of perks centered on surviving in the wasteland. You'll gain a point each time you level up, allowing you to select one of the perks. The perks can give you an increase to your sneaking ability, improve your lockpicking skills, or even add unique effects such as causing bullets fired by enemies to ricochet back and killing them. There's easily enough variation to make multiple playthroughs feel fresh and exciting. To make it even better, if you don't like multiple playthroughs, you can just unlock every single perk on a single character, albeit with a much longer playtime. See More

Top Pro

Diverse enemy types keep the gameplay exciting

There a lot of different enemies found in the game such as super mutants, feral ghouls, robots, mutated wildlife, and many others. All of them have their unique behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, robots often use heavy weaponry such as rocket launchers and lasers, making it really hard to deal with them. Fortunately enough, they're very vulnerable to EMP grenades and can also be hacked. Another example are the feral ghouls that will almost always charge at you. They can surround you really fast, clawing away at your health and affecting you with radiation, but they lack any intelligence. So if you plant mines infront of you and attract them with gunshots, they'll lose their legs in the minefield, leaving them at your mercy. The various enemy types and methods you can fight them with keeps the gameplay fresh for a long time. See More

Top Pro

Companions can help make the game a little easier

There are a bunch of companions to find in the game, starting with Dogmeat, the dog. Each companion has their own skills that can help you. For example, Dogmeat can dig up hidden items and bring them to you. They can also distract the enemy, causing the combat to be a little easier since all the attention won't be on just you. The only real downside is that you can only use one companion at a time, but you can easily swap them out. Using a companion is not mandatory either, so if you prefer the added challenge you can travel without a companion. See More

Top Pro

You can adjust equipment to suit your playstyle

In Fallout 4 you have a lot of options when modifying your equipment, giving you a chance to make equipment that matches your playstyle. You can take an assault rifle and change most of its parts. Each part you can change has an upside and a downside to it. For example, adding a long range scope would make the rifle useless in close quarters, but it would be great for pick off targets from afar. You can also tailor your armors for various situations. You can lower the weight or add pockets to make carrying loot easier. Or you can add additional linings or padding to gain increased protection against various hazards such as radiation. See More

Top Pro

Great selection of mods

You can can find all sorts of mods at the Bethesda website, giving you the freedom to change the parts of the game you don't like. This includes interface adjustments, graphical improvements, additional quests, and many other things. See More

Top Pro

Interesting settlement management

In Fallout 4 you can set up thriving communities in various locations. You'll have to provide the settlers with housing, bedding, water, food, and protection. Over time you'll be able to establish trade routes between the settlements and expand into an empire spanning the entire territory of Fallout 4. This really gives it the feeling like you're trying to rebuild society, which is a welcome change in a post-apocalyptic game. See More

Top Pro

Addicting building mechanic

One of the more interesting parts of managing your settlement is the house building aspect. There are various preset houses you can put down quickly, but you can make large structures entirely from scratch, starting with the foundation and ending with the roof of a 10 story building. While there are some constraints such as limited building area, you can really let your imagination loose, allowing you to spend countless hours on it. See More

Mass Effect Andromeda

Top Con

Sub-par storytelling

MEA's writing is very inconsistent throughout the game. Sometimes the dialogue is really poor, having lines like "my face is tired". Other times characters forget important information such as the length of their trip to the Andromeda Galaxy, showing surprise at things that should be obvious to them. Even though there are few great moments with moral grey areas, most of the story feels rushed, incomplete, or done by completely different teams with different visions for the game. The end result is a story that lacks immersion and isn't very memorable. See More

Top Pro

Exploration is quite fun

Nearly every planet in Andromeda is unique from the others. There's different terrain and environments to check out, new hazards to watch out for, and a plethora of missions to complete on every planet. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

Co-Op:4 Player Online

Top Con

Poor face textures and animations

Widely mocked and ridiculed near Andromeda's release, the facial animations, eye movement and tracking, and general skin textures are still sub-par, even after patches meant to fix these issues. Characters look unnatural and downright ugly at times, with the female Ryder inspiring dozens of cringe-worthy compilations of her cinched facial expressions and comical duck-like running animations. Moving to the Frostbite engine no doubt hampered the team's efforts to create believable faces, but in a Mass Effect game, the faces especially should not have been as bad as they were. See More

Top Pro

You can change the way your character works on the fly

In Mass Effect Andromeda, the class system is incredibly open, and classes can be swapped at any time, even in the middle of combat. Essentially, you can go from being a battle-hardened front line soldier to a crafty engineer, or even to an infiltrator that's capable of invisibility. This will also swap out your abilities, which makes sure you're always prepared for the next challenge you have to face. See More

Top Con

No single-player DLC

There will not be any single-player downloadable content for Mass Effect: Andromeda. This is especially disappointing because, by the end of the game, the writers clearly intended to give more context through DLC about certain galactic races who were absent from the original story. With the news that the publisher, Electronic Arts, has put the Mass Effect franchise "on ice," the series' future looks bleak. See More

Top Pro

Fun multiplayer

Mass Effect Andromeda's fast-paced combat from single-player works well with the team-based multiplayer matches, where up to four players cooperate to complete hacking or target objectives while fighting back against waves of enemies. Maps are densely packed with obstacles and winding rooms to take cover in or to take the enemy by surprise. Aggressive foes actively push back forward into player territory even on lower difficulties, keeping matches fun and intense. See More

Top Pro

Combat is very fast paced

The combat in previous entries of Mass Effect has been based on getting behind cover and having good aim. That aspect still exists in Andromeda, but thanks to the new jump jet, things are much faster and much more fun. The jump jet allows you to vault over obstacles or make quick dashes while running, which lets you flank, charge, and generally just outmaneuver enemies in many more interesting ways. See More

Hawken

Top Con

Lack of story is a missed opportunity

A current trend in online gaming is that many games do not offer a single player campaign or any means to tell a story. Sadly Hawken continues this trend as it does very little to expand on its interesting setting, which is very disappointing. See More

Top Pro

Fast-paced and fun action

Hawken breaks the idea that large heavy mechs equate to slow movement. You'll instead move at a brisk pace, constantly firing your machine guns and launching rockets at the enemy. The mechs are also equipped with jump-jets, allowing you to make very swift evasive maneuvers and hover above the battlefield, so it has a 3D tactics aspect unlike most FPS games. All of this makes the action really enjoyable. See More

Specs

Genre:Sci-Fi / Mechs / Action / FPS

Top Pro

Encourages teamplay

In a genre saturated with lone wolf games like Call of Duty, it's nice to have a game like Hawken which makes teamwork a necessity. You'll immediately notice how disadvantageous 1v2 battles are, so you'll always look to cooperate with your teammates. From things like providing covering fire to defending each other when repairing mechs, it feels nice when you can rely on your teammates on a regular basis. See More

Top Pro

No PS+ subscription required

Most PS4 games with multiplayer modes require an additional subscription called Playstation Plus. However, free games that have online multiplayer don't generally need PS+ to play online, which is a much welcomed feature for players who can't fork out money for this subscription. See More

Top Pro

Almost completely free

In Hawken, almost everything can be bought with in-game currency. Unlike most free to play games this even includes items such as cosmetic changes. While you may have to do a bit of grinding, this game can be fully played without spending a dime. See More

Top Pro

Great sense of immersion

Hawken does an excellent job of making you feel like you really are in the mech. From the vibrations on the glass when you're firing off a salvo of missiles to the swaying of the cockpit when you're stomping your way through a destroyed city, there are many details that considerably add to the immersion. See More

Steins;Gate 0

Top Pro

Multiple endings that depend on your choices

One of the best parts about the story is how your decisions affect the ending you get. The multiple paths branch out depending on how your respond to emails and text messages, which show the recipient characters how you think and feel. Their reactions to your state of mind determines how things play out in the long-run, opening up lots of chances to replay the game to see all the different outcomes. See More

Top Con

Not for people who want more involved gameplay

Since Steins;Gate 0 is a visual novel, that means a lot of reading. The gameplay boils down to how you get one of the multiple endings, which is limited to your responses to text messages and emails with other characters. If you want a game with more interactivity, then this one probably isn't for you unless you're willing to try something different. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Visual Novel

Top Pro

Great English localization

The English localization is pretty good. The voice acting is purely in Japanese, so the game relies heavily on its subtitles to get its story across. Thankfully, everything sounds natural and flows well, keeping things relevant and accessible for non-Japanese audiences. Every little thing on-screen is translated to English, too, including things like cute reaction stickers that your friends send you through text messages. There are a few mispellings and mistranslations here and there, but it's not bad enough to pull you out of the experience. Anyone will have an easy time understanding all of the dialog here. See More

Top Con

Some reused art assets stick out

From time to time, you may notice that the characters don't always look the same. There are some old models from the first Steins;Gate game that get reused here, probably to save time, but it's distracting. The old character models aren't as interesting or detailed as the new ones for this game, so they end up sticking out in a bad way. It's nothing too terrible, though it may throw you off. See More

Top Pro

Unique concept of bending time to prevent World War III

The story takes things one step further with its themes and concepts. You're part of a group of students who use time travel and artificial intelligence support to stop a terrible future where World War III breaks out between the major powers on the planet. There's plenty of intriguing science-fiction lore to learn about along the way, and it's all easily digestible thanks to great tips that the game shows you from time to time. It's a cool concept that goes beyond the usual stories about war, keeping things new and exciting. See More

Top Pro

Dark and mature storyline that grapples with grief and loss

Steins;Gate 0's story is quite serious, dealing with some real concepts that many games don't really explore. The story takes place in an alternate timeline after the first Steins;Gate game where the protagonist failed to save his loved one, causing him to struggle with anxiety, PTSD, and depression. You spend much of your time speaking with other characters who try to get through to the main character, hoping that he overcomes his grief to help save the world from falling into war. It's a poignant yet realistic approach that still has layers of hope, keeping things from getting too bogged down in sadness. See More

Nex Machina

Top Pro

Difficult yet rewarding gameplay

Nex Machina's bullet hell gameplay is fast-paced and challenging, with dozens of robotic enemies rushing at you while you use every skill at your disposal to survive and increase your score. Not only do you have to avoid enemies, but you also have to use your ability to dodge hazards on the field such as laser beams. There are also optional human NPCs to save who are usually taking damage by waves of enemies. Clearing the surrounding robots while dodging any nearby lasers to save these humans will award you with extra points to your score, so it's worth it to go after them whenever you can. As you defeat enemies, they'll sometimes drop power-up items, such as shields that will absorb damage that would normally kill you, and tools to increase the range of your bullets. Clearing a level with no deaths earns you a nice score boost at the end, encouraging you to run through the game as best as you can. It takes a lot of precision to dodge lasers while killing the enemies that come at you from all directions, but pulling it off is a rewarding, addicting experience. See More

Top Con

The game is very short

Your first playthrough will only take about an hour or two, which may not be worth it. There are plenty of new paths and secrets hidden across the levels, so a completionist playthrough will take about five or six hours. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Shoot 'Em Up

Top Pro

Boss battles truly test your skills

At the end of each level are difficult boss fights that crank out bullets and beams in all directions that you have to dodge while dealing damage at the same time. The bosses are all different in design, such as a giant ape that lumbers around the field and throws obstacles at you, to a more stationary tower that bombards you with other enemies that you're forced to prioritize instead. Each boss is a comprehensive test of the skills you've learned up to that point, encouraging you to make the best use of your power-ups and dodge timings. See More

Top Con

Deaths can be too punishing at times

In Nex Machina, you'll die after a single hit from an enemy, causing you to drop one of your power-ups, like your ability to dash three times in a row or increased weapon spread. You'll then have to return to the spot where you died to collect the power-up that you dropped. If you lose all of your lives, you're forced to use a continue, leaving you with only power-up. It'a a punishing system that makes you work harder with fewer tools after continuous deaths. See More

Top Pro

Responsive controls

Since you only have a short window to dodge hazardous laser beams on the field and maneuver your character around swarms of enemies, it's great that the controls are tight and accurate. You can pull off dodges and risky swerves to save a human NPC with ease as long as you master the angles and timing. With a challenging game like this, you don't need to worry about input lag getting in the way of more aggressive playstyles. See More

Top Pro

Great synthwave soundtrack

Complimenting Nex Machina's speedy, chaotic gameplay, the soundtrack matches the sci-fi setting with hard-hitting, energetic synths and modulations. The electronic beats are catchy and fun to listen to while blasting through the game's metallic levels and robotic enemies. The tracks fit into the idea of what it would have been like to play any retro sci-fi game without the musical constraints on games in the 80s and 90s. See More

Neon Chrome

Top Pro

Levels are exciting and filled with content

There's plenty of exciting things to see and do in each level. Besides shooting through a wide variety of enemy types, you can also go off the beaten path to hunt down loot boxes and weapon upgrades. If you can't find a path, you can always make your own by blowing up walls. Each level also has its fair share of danger - there are plenty of traps to avoid and special operatives who can stop you in your tracks. See More

Top Con

Lackluster character models

Both the playable character and enemy models in-game are rather fuzzy and don't have a lot of detail. They are bland compared to the colorful explosions going on around them at all times. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelike, Action, Shooter

Co-Op:2-4 Player Local

Top Pro

Random levels ensure the action stays intense

Each level is procedurally generated, meaning rooms, walls, and items are randomly arranged into new ways each run. You can never get too comfortable with any one strategy. You'll always be adjusting on the fly and dealing with new layouts, enemy placement, and objectives so the action stays fresh and frantic for a long while. See More

Top Con

Upgrades can feel weak

While upgrades are plentiful and given flashy introductions with fancy fonts and icons, their direct impact on the gameplay is negligible at best. It's hard to feel their weight in action due to their very small stat increase. See More

Top Pro

Forgiving mechanics make it accessible

Neon Chrome manages to remove some of the frustrations that come with roguelites, making it an accessible experience for all. If you die, your weapons and stats are both saved and available for use on your next run. When you kill a boss, it acts as a waypoint, meaning you won't have to start over from the beginning. See More

Top Con

Generic premise

You play as a hacker who must infiltrate the "Neon Chrome", a giant tower, and free the city from the rule of the malicious Overseer. It's not entirely original or exciting, and mostly serves as filler material to give meaning to the action. See More

Top Pro

Immersive soundtrack

The ambient synth soundtrack with pulsating beats and otherwordly tones fits the futuristic theme extremely well. The music sounds like something you'd hear in an action sci-fi movie, which helps pull you into the game world. See More

Top Pro

Impressive visual effects compliment the action

The levels glow and shine, and really give off a futuristic vibe. As the name suggests, everything is in bright neon shades and very colorful. As you're blasting your way through levels, the laser shots look especially great as they melt through walls and blow up generators. There's plenty of vibrant explosions to go around, which really highlights the action. See More

Destiny 2

Top Pro

Massive environments that feel alive

The open-world environments in games usually have a lot of empty space, so you spend most of the time traveling without doing much else. Destiny 2 has large areas filled with enemies, world events, and activity in general, eliminating most of the downtime. Because of this it feels like you're actually visiting a planet inhabited/occupied by aliens, which considerably adds to the immersion. See More

Top Con

Inconvenient customization

While most online games usually give you permanent color packs for customization, the shaders in Destiny 2 are divided into single colors that can only be used once. You can't preview your new color scheme either, so if you end up with something you dislike, you're stuck with it because you can't change it back. This also means you shouldn't use shaders on leveling gear since you're gonna replace it anyway. As a result most players don't bother with creating unique appearances and everyone looks nearly identical, which is bad for the social aspect of Destiny 2. The sad part is that even though the shaders can drop randomly in the game world, they can also be bought from the in-game store. This makes it feel like customization has been turned into a cashgrab by inconveniencing players. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:First-Person Shooter, Multiplayer

Top Pro

Free to choose what to do

You can choose the level of stress you want, from doing solo a difficult mission, doing it multiplayer with matchmaking or with your friends, to just moving around killing aliens as they show up. See More

Top Con

Guns and armor do not feel unique like in the prequel

In Destiny 1, the guns and armor felt more unique when compared to Destiny 2. In Destiny 1, a gun or armor could drop that had one set of perks or stats boosts, and then it could drop again with a different set of perks and boosts. Weapons and armor from the raids also gave unique looks as well as perks that helped for that raid. In Destiny 2 those raid perks are gone, making the gear feel no different than what could get from anywhere else. The lack of variation in the guns and armor just make it hard to care about what you get and kills the urge to try to find the best gun and armor for your character. See More

Top Pro

Excellent co-op multiplayer

Even though Destiny 2 doesn't have strict class archetypes like most MMOs, each class/subclass has its role in a group setup. So whether you're capturing control points in a PVP match or fighting a tough boss in a raid, you still need to cover for each other's weaknesses. This can be providing support to surrounded teammates, taking the attention of groups of aliens or just picking off troublesome enemies from afar. Because of this you learn to rely on each other and working together feels rewarding. See More

Top Pro

Really fun gameplay

Destiny 2 is all about killing aliens and destroying massive robots. To do this you have a wide variety of weapons and abilities available to you. This includes hand cannons, shotguns, assault rifles, chain lightning grenades, and many more. Each weapon and ability feels great to use, making destruction and mayhem that much more enjoyable. It's a well-rounded and enjoyable experience, which will keep you interested for dozens of hours. See More

Top Pro

Improving your character is addicting

One of the main aspects online titles like Destiny 2 is character progression, which is done through leveling and collecting new equipment. Your character gets stronger and when you revisit missions/bosses that gave you trouble before, you can beat them with ease, which feels incredibly satisfying. This will push you to play just a bit more, collect a few more guns and armor pieces, defeat a couple more bosses, and before you know it, many hours will have passed. See More

Top Pro

Really fun gameplay

Destiny 2 is all about killing aliens and destroying massive robots. To do this you have a wide variety of weapons and abilities available to you. This includes hand cannons, shotguns, assault rifles, chain lightning grenades, and many more. Each weapon and ability feels great to use, making destruction and mayhem that much more enjoyable. It's a well-rounded and enjoyable experience, which will keep you interested for dozens of hours. See More

Top Pro

Solid controls that don't detract from gameplay

Your character's movement, aiming your gun, and even driving your hoverbike feels really fluid and responsive. As a result you can make very precise movements, jumps, and shots in any situation, allowing you to land a headshot with your sniper rifle from far away while strafing with ease. See More

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory

Top Pro

Enjoyable domination battles that freshen up turn-based combat

Aside from regular turn-based battles that make up most of the game, there are also team-based domination battles that focus on territory control. You and your opponent get placed into an arena and each of you is usually given 3 characters that you take turns to move. The arena is split into territories that have point values attached to them, requiring you to capture a certain amount of territories (points) to win. To contest a territory with an opponent character on it, you still have to fight a turn-based battle, but the loser respawns at their starting point, so the goal never is to just defeat your opponent. This creates a refreshing mini-game that still uses core concepts of the game, which is not seen in many other turn-based RPGs. See More

Top Con

Combat can get repetitive easily

While there is some strategy to the combat, requiring you to target enemy weaknesses with corresponding abilities, the combat is still very simple at its core, allowing you to brute force through battles without much thought if your stats/level is high enough. As a result, the combat can quickly devolve into you just mashing a single button to get through battles quicker, which might not be that interesting and can get tiresome after a while. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

Well-balanced story

Hacker's Memory strikes a nuanced balance between dark themes and over-the-top comedy. At its heaviest the story delves into identity theft and slavery, while at its lightest you have absurdist comedy with cartoonish characters in silly situations. The story's greatest strength, however, is that it constantly alternates between the light and heavy themes while throwing in some philosophical questions. As a result, you won't get drained from constant drama as easily and the jokes won't go stale as quickly, which makes the whole narrative more enjoyable as a whole. See More

Top Con

No English dub

The voice-over is only available in Japanese albeit with English subtitles. This means unless you're fluent in Japanese, you'll need to read quite a bit of text to fully grasp the story, which can be a turn off for some players. See More

Top Pro

Crisp and colorful visuals

The game's visuals are really well done overall, having very detailed environments, intricate character models, vibrant particle effects, and even beautifully animated cutscenes. This is further improved by the use a wide variety of colors, ranging from shades of brown and gray to neon green and neon purple. Fortunately, the game also retains great amounts of visual clarity, so the colorful style almost never gets into the way of gameplay, allowing Hacker's Memory to be both enjoyable to play and to look at. See More

Top Pro

Addictive monster collection aspect

The main side-goal of Hacker's Memory is collecting all of the 300+ Digimon found within the game, which quickly becomes addictive because of two reasons. First, it's very simple – you either keep leveling/de-leveling your Digimon and transform them into other Digimon, create new Digimon, or buy some of them at a store. If you want to "catch" the Digimon found in random battles, you don't need to weaken them or actually catch them, but just encounter them enough times. This is because each encounter gives you a % of their data and once you get 100%, you can create that Digimon. To make it even better, you don't even have to level all your Digimon manually since you're given a farm where Digimon can level up automatically over time, reducing the tedium considerably. Second, the Digimon designs look very interesting, cool and sometimes even funny. This includes fierce wolves, massive dinosaurs, robots, angels, devils, ghosts, sentient piles of poop, and many others. There's so much variety in the designs, it can be really exciting to see what new Digimon you'll get. Because of these two reasons, the collection aspect can easily remain exciting right until you finish your collection. See More

Star Wars: Battlefront II

Top Con

Grindy progression system built on corporate interest

To earn the currency for unlocking everything (guns, characters, etc) in Battlefront II you'd have to play for over 4000 hours, averaging to about 6 hours every day for nearly 2 years. On top of that, this is after the developer cut item costs by 75%, yet it's still incredibly tedious for regular players and an absolute nightmare for completionists. The developer initially built around this idea by adding loot boxes, which would allow players to spend real money for unlocks, totaling to about $2000 for everything. After an outrage in the gaming community, the developer swiftly removed the loot boxes, but the player base's trust and the game's overall longevity has already been impacted negatively. See More

Top Pro

Amazing class system

This game features 4 different classes: Assault, Heavy, Officer, and Specialist. These classes offer much customization, such as instead of a minigun that fires many little bolts, you can have a minigun that fires slow but giant explosive bolts. Each class offers 3 side items, and 4 with an extra you pick up in game. See More

Specs

Genre:First-Person Shooter

Top Con

Pay to win

With EA's Lootbox you may have to pay to have the best equipment in the game. See More

Top Pro

Great fun for Star Wars fans

It's a very accurate depiction of the Star Wars universe, featuring the vast majority of iconic characters, including Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and even newer characters such as Kylo Ren. There is also a set of excellent locations, including Theed, the capital of Naboo, the Jedi temple on Coruscant, and various others. It's a game most Star Wars fans won't want to miss. See More

Top Con

Campaign's story is a wasted opportunity

While the story starts out really interesting, it quickly loses steam due to a questionable direction and illogical character development. There are constraints because story is considered canon and has to fit into the Star Wars continuity, but the writers could have done so much more with it. See More

Top Pro

Solid team-based gameplay

Battlefront II has fast-paced action and large scale battles between two teams, pitting two of the six available factions against each other. You can shoot blasters, swing lightsabers, and drive various vehicles such as AATs or AT-MTs. You can even take part in space battles while piloting one of the many starfighters. Whichever gamemode you choose, it always feels like an epic struggle that will keep you interested for a long time. See More

Top Pro

You can switch between first-person and third-person camera at any time

You can switch the camera view at any time, allowing you to play Battlefront II either as an FPS game or as a third-person action game. Neither camera view has any game-breaking advantages, so the choice is entirely up to your preference. This is also a great way to keep the gameplay from going stale since switching the camera view alters the overall experience. See More

Top Pro

Excellent arcade mode

Battlefront II includes an arcade mode where you alone or with a friend via split-screen or online, can fight against waves of enemies. This is a welcome addition for players that don't enjoy competitive multiplayer, but would like to have some Star Wars-themed fun. See More

Top Pro

Breathtaking graphics

Battlefront II is a visual spectacle, surpassing the vast majority games in its generation. Texture quality, model detail, shadow mapping, lighting, reflections, particle effects, and just about every aspect of the graphics is top of the line. Whether you're taking part in a dogfight in outer space, circling asteroids and shooting Tie Fighters with your X-wing Starfighter. Or if you're advancing through the city of Theed as a battle droid, systematically eliminating Stormtroopers. Battlefront II is an incredibly cinematic and beautiful experience. See More

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