External reviews
612
in total
published by Polygon
(click to remove filters)
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Total War: Three Kingdoms
A review for Polygon2019-05-31
A strategy masterpiece. Historical simulation has never been better. [Polygon Recommends]Read entire review on Polygon -
Void Bastards
A review for Polygon2019-05-28
The magic of Void Bastards is that, while it’s scary and dangerous and random, it’s also within my control. When I decide to spend my last bit of food to heal myself up before a big fight, I know that I’m giving myself a new task: Find more food or else. When I spend credits to hack a turret, I know that I may stumble on a rare item cache where that money could’ve been better spent.Read entire review on Polygon -
Observation
A review for Polygon2019-05-21
Observation is a conceptually ambitious, albeit mechanically flawed, effort — an experience that, while impressive in some respects, too often seems like it can’t stop getting in its own way by dint of its own design. It’s worthwhile experience, warts and all, though one whose peculiarities will inevitably confine it to the niche audience of players willing to look past its shortcomings.Read entire review on Polygon -
Shakedown Hawaii
A review for Polygon2019-05-20
I’m left with a sense of unfulfilled ambition. Shakedown: Hawaii presents itself as a unique real estate-centric twist on open-world action, but it seems satisfied to stick with a cheap rental.Read entire review on Polygon -
Rage 2
A review for Polygon2019-05-14
Rage 2 is enjoyable as long as I make the effort to do very simple things in the silliest ways possible, and game’s many systems reward this style of play more by their quality than by any extrinsic payoff. There is creativity and joy hidden here. You just have to find it beneath the pile of ideas pulled from a thousand other games.Read entire review on Polygon -
Days Gone
A review for Polygon2019-05-02
Like a zombie, it lurches through the motions, hungry for brains, lacking its own.Read entire review on Polygon -
Mortal Kombat 11
A review for Polygon2019-04-25
Whether you’re a longtime fan or just looking for a story mode to grind, or even just interested in learning a little more about fighting games outside of simply mashing the buttons, there is something for everyone in Mortal Kombat 11 — or at least, everyone who can stomach the extreme violence and gore.Read entire review on Polygon -
SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech
A review for Polygon2019-04-25
SteamWorld Quest, however, knows exactly what it is and what it wants to accomplish. Like other SteamWorld games before it, Quest takes a basic idea — in this case, turn-based battles with deck-building — and it builds on it, cog by cog, until the machine takes on the satisfying complexity of a watch. [Polygon Recommends]Read entire review on Polygon -
World War Z
A review for Polygon2019-04-19
It’s a shame, because World War Z throws so many interesting ideas at the wall — a half-baked multiplayer mode, 16 survivors with unique story videos, massive hordes of zombies in urban centers, and an ongoing progression system for survivors. Unfortunately, none of it sticks, except the sight of hundreds of angry zombies forming a human pyramid of hate.Read entire review on Polygon -
Katana ZERO
A review for Polygon2019-04-18
For all its narrative grimness and all of its slimy settings and all of its repetition, I enjoy Katana Zero’s flair. Dark clubs blink with neon color, pulsing music echoes through each scenario, and characters move with a beautiful fluidity. I don’t expect that from a game of this style. It’s a cynical and sometimes ugly story told with unusual warmth and sincerity.Read entire review on Polygon -
Heaven's Vault
A review for Polygon2019-04-16
Heaven’s Vault does hold great potential; Inkle’s commitment to delivering an alternative (and more realistic) take on video game archaeology, and to encouraging players to decipher and learn a language, is inventive and mentally stimulating. But holistically, the experience is humdrum; there’s little incentive to keep on unpacking its world if I don’t buy into its fiction. And sadly, I do not.Read entire review on Polygon -
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain
A review for Polygon2019-04-11
Iron Rain feels like EDF on a bigger budget, but as the star of the 1998 Godzilla film’s official soundtrack once taught us: more money, more problems. [Impressions]Read entire review on Polygon -
MLB The Show 19
A review for Polygon2019-04-05
Because MLB The Show 19 would be worth it to me for Road to the Show alone, with Diamond Dynasty thrown in for tinkering around. It feels like RTTS is really making progress toward becoming a role-playing game, with more than just cutscenes and a pithy narration or two.Read entire review on Polygon -
Yoshi's Crafted World
A review for Polygon2019-03-27
Yoshi’s Crafted World reminds me, in a way, of Sierra’s The Incredible Machine series. In those games, players needed to understand mechanics, size up the situation, piece together simple machines, and execute. By channeling Labo’s construction spirit into the long-standing conventions of a Yoshi game, Crafted World’s carved out a similar work-play functionality. I’m not always having fun, but I want to get it right. Yoshi’s counting on me.Read entire review on Polygon -
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
A review for Polygon2019-03-23
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a huge game. I feel its sprawl in the time it takes to run the length of the National Mall in Washington. And yet it all loads and runs like a dream, making this a technical achievement as much as an artistic one. There are no wheels being reinvented here, no new ground broken, but all of my complaints about the first game are addressed and improved upon. And Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is just fun piled upon fun, sometimes despite its ridiculously serious tone, often because of it. [Polygon Recommends]Read entire review on Polygon -
Generation Zero
A review for Polygon2019-03-21
It all adds up to a game that feels like an excellent first draft. Fans of battle royale games and open-world survival games should feel right at home — that is, until they run up against a mob that’s too big to handle on their own. Groups of players fresh off other cooperative shooters like the Payday series will have the most luck. But for your average consumer, Generation Zero is a tough sell. Without a committed team and good communication, there’s simply no way forward on your own.Read entire review on Polygon -
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
A review for Polygon2019-03-21
Rarely do my insights or incremental improvements give me anything close to an easy win, but Sekiro isn’t difficult for difficult’s sake. It gives me hints, but no roadmap. It implies. It finds ways to reward me when I read between the lines. It hands me my ass when I try something a little too clever or panicked or cheap, but it gives me victories when I act with care and react with considered split-second decisions. This is the skill that Sekiro challenges me to accumulate, and it never lets me forget that. [Polygon Recommends]Read entire review on Polygon -
Baba Is You
A review for Polygon2019-03-13
In a moment where so many games demand all of my time, a game that excels in the time it’s not being played feels audacious. [Polygon Recommends]Read entire review on Polygon -
Hypnospace Outlaw
A review for Polygon2019-03-13
Hypnospace Outlaw is one of those games that deserves not merely to be played, but also to be treated as an opportunity to think about our digital lives, now and then. It’s a perplexing, clever piece of work. As they might have said back in the ’90s, it’s totally dope.Read entire review on Polygon -
Devil May Cry 5
A review for Polygon2019-03-07
Devil May Cry 5 is truly, madly, deeply itself. I can’t think of any other game in which I can slice through flying demons while my panther familiar transforms into a spinning wheel of bladed death as metal guitar licks screech across rain-soaked streets. I’m not interested in perfection in that situation; I’m interested in fun. And Devil May Cry 5 is fun.Read entire review on Polygon
