The way The Division portrays New York in next-gen crispness denotes a morbid fascination with social decay, barely hiding the game's true face : It's a right-wing fantasy hellscape attached to a monotone shooter.

The lack of imagination demonstrated by Shadow of War's interweaving systems is best understood through a story lens :

Fifteen years have passed and we're still chasing the shadow of Sauron all across Middle-Earth. Still summoning the specter of an old armor for petty squabbles. There's no endgame here, just stacks upon stacks of meat puppets.

I firmly believe that any proper shooter can be played without reticle. Killzone 2 is one such example ; moving with grit and precision.

A collection of older and better tricks you've probably seen somewhere else that manages to feel like the real thing. Almost.

By slapping the Vault-Boy on every faces, Fallout Shelter reaffirms one thing and one thing only :

That it doesn't care about its citizens.

I like Enemy Unknown's unforgiving nature as much as I'm utterly unable to finish the game because of it.

It's not just the difficulty, but also the purely structural nature of the ensemble that casts me out every time ; another proof for me that you cannot rely entirely on systems to tell a story.

The true fun lies in the tweaks of course - the custom mods and prop hunts - but it's difficult to argue against Team Fortress 2 as a game anyway, because it slaps.

A thousand guns in the tank, scrapped away in a blink.

I think I like the idea of playing this game more than I like actually having it in my hands.

Grappling hooks in a void.

The most painfully useless 3D effects, ever ?

Liminality is videogame's foremost argument but Playdead's debut title rarely plays to this strength, except for a chase sequence with a giant spider that never ceases to frighten me a little should I fail the child and land him at the creature's legs.

The absurdity of its sandbox cannot work because it feels depersonalized and playing it seriously is the most lifeless experience a Hitman simulation has ever offered.

A game that matches its purported slickness in both mechanics and aesthetics. The quiet masterpiece of the series.

A delicate balancing act that's best enjoyed when you don't look at it from too close.