IGN

• PC
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Mafia: The Old Country is an effective return to the linear and tightly story-driven format of the original Mafia and Mafia II. It doesn’t reinvent stealth, and there’s nothing especially remarkable about its typical third-person cover shooting – but with great writing, excellent vocal performances, and a wonderful eye and ear for detail, The Old Country is a potent and immersive time machine to a rarely explored era. This may be the Sicilian cuisine talking, as I’ve never played anything with quite as much Italian fruit and food on show, but I think the Mafia games might have established themselves as the arancini balls of the business. That is, crusty on the outside, but on the inside they’re dense, tasty, and a little cheesy – and, if you keep bringing them out, I’m going to keep going back to the buffet until the kitchen runs dry.

• PS5
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a good arena fighter, and a noted improvement over its predecessor, but it’s not a sea change. I’m not over the moon about the inclusion of gear, I yearn for better teaching tools, and I wish there was more to The Path of the Demon Slayer. But the Story Mode is compelling, the fighting still has the juice, and I’m a big fan of the expanded roster, smart if subtle gameplay changes, and roguelike Hashira Training mode. The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a worthy sequel to a good game, and a good game itself. I just hope we don’t have to wait another four years for a sequel.

• PC
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a game I’m going to be replaying for a long time. It looks and sounds incredible, and the fast but thoughtful combat is so damn satisfying that I had a hard time putting it down long enough to write this review. Juggling different types of attacks and powerful abilities as I break auras, time Hypercharges against intimidating foes, and bounce off of demons’ heads is a blast that is challenging and rewarding in equal measure. It just feels right. Ragebound may not star Ryu Hayabusa, but it’s definitely of the Dragon Lineage, and I know chasing level-specific challenges and high scores is going to be a part of my regular rotation. Ninja Gaiden fans, we were lost in the desert for a long time, but Ragebound is like running across an oasis; trust me when I tell you we’ve never been so back.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

As someone who delighted in blasting through the original RoboCop: Rogue City, my hopes for this standalone Unfinished Business expansion were higher than a junkie on Nuke. However, outside of the exhilarating playable cameo from ED-209, there’s really not enough new here to make another 10 hours as everyone’s favourite baby food-slurping supercop worth going out of your way for. Peter Weller’s deadpan delivery is as endearing as ever, and the cryo gun is an icy blast (though ironically still not quite as cool to use as the Auto 9), but the supporting cast of characters is seriously shoddy and the raft of performance issues on PlayStation 5 make for a bumpier ride than accelerating up the exit ramp from the Metro West carpark. If you thirst for some more Auto 9 bursts flourished with TJ Lazer-inspired twirls then RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business will certainly scratch the itch on your trigger finger, but it’s far from the future of law enforcement.

• SWITCH2
• 10 / 10
• États-Unis

The leader of the bunch is finally back to kick some tail in Donkey Kong Bananza, a brilliant successor to Super Mario Odyssey and a smashing return for a classic Nintendo character. It was a bold choice to build the Switch 2’s first 3D platformer around Donkey Kong instead of Mario, but it’s proven to be the best decision Nintendo could’ve made. DK’s satisfying, expressive movement and powerful, dynamic abilities create a truly groundbreaking adventure. The ambitious, destructible layers of this underground world are densely packed with satisfying collectibles, abundant charm, and clever challenges that never seem to run out of smart ideas, even long after the credits have rolled. Bananza is a constant crescendo across its 20-hour campaign and beyond, with puzzle-platforming concepts that only grow richer as DK and Pauline dive deeper toward the Planet Core. Every element comes together in complete harmony to create Nintendo’s first Switch 2 masterpiece.

• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is a largely successful rejuvenation of the acclaimed 2001 and 2002 originals, and another very welcome time capsule of everything great about the golden age of early 2000s gaming – before microtransactions and battle passes botched everything right up. Like 2020’s 1 + 2 before it, THPS 3 + 4 proves again the series’ over-the-top skateboarding formula is totally timeless and remains suitable for all skill levels; simple at first blush, but extraordinarily sophisticated beneath the surface for those with the minerals (or the muscle memory) to push their combos to colossal levels. However, syncing THPS4 with the classic two-minute timer of the initial trilogy is probably going to be a sore point with fans who strongly regard the series’ fourth installment as their favourite, and discarding a whopping 80% of the original THPS3 and THPS4 soundtracks is a startlingly naive choice to make about such a famously crucial component of those games. No T.N.T.? Watch me explode.

• PS5
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

The original Death Stranding held promise: A complex, often confusing, but never contrived first draft. A reflective journey across a lost America, it established a world and its rules with a flourish, even if I found it stumbled along the path. But in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Australia plays host to an expanded vision and is a more accomplished achievement in nearly every facet. It removes almost all of the friction that weighed down its rookie effort, delighting with a truly unpredictable story full of intrigue and malleable stealth-action playgrounds hidden in its vast, hauntingly beautiful version of Australia. Yes, at times, it is unapologetically weird – but that isn't what defines it. It's an inventive journey packed full of both shock and awe, the sort of bold work that deserves to be encouraged. No, it isn't perfect, but it's incredibly exciting and original, never once straying from the path less trodden, and I love it all the more for it.

• PC
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

The Alters is a highly atmospheric sci-fi character study of one man who meets the effects of the formative choices he’s made throughout his life face to face. Managing Jan’s relationships with his alternate selves while extracting enough resources from a hostile alien environment to survive is a balancing act on top of a balancing act, and it cleverly builds up the pressure over the course of its story. Exploration of these barren but eye-catching maps presents a series of puzzles and threats without resorting to blasting aliens, and the conversations and moral dilemmas that arise from Jan’s clones are a novel way to approach a game like this. It’s clearly not a big-budget game with resources to throw at cinematics and character models, but it does a lot with a little to tell its story effectively, and its occasional interface quirks don’t get in the way of that.

• PC
• 4 / 10
• États-Unis

When its performance is stable and you’re explosively blasting your way through robots, MindsEye can masquerade as a serviceable action shooter for a few minutes at a time. Its near-future setting and driving feel also impress. However, its flashy graphics and cinematics can’t otherwise hide its distinct lack of substance. High on ambition but low on original ideas, MindsEye’s rigid mission design renders its open world largely pointless – and it’s consistently undermined by vanilla combat, janky AI enemies, and its sloppy frame rate and bugs. Throw in its insultingly unfinished free roaming component and it’s clear it was simply not ready to be released. If you had your sights set on MindsEye, think again.

• SWITCH2
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

The Nintendo Switch 2 is officially off to the races, and Mario Kart World is a great way to get things started. The first brand-new Mario Kart in a decade makes huge changes to the established formula, but ironically, the best parts about it closely follow the blueprint of every entry that’s come before: unbeatable local multiplayer racing on well-designed tracks that more than live up to the series’ legacy. World’s tight controls, celebratory soundtrack, and universal polish marvelously complement the action, and I can’t wait to see how top players will take full advantage of its exciting parkour mechanics in the months and years ahead. The way Nintendo built 30 courses into an interconnected series of highways is undeniably impressive, too, but Mario Kart’s first attempt at an open world is also fairly uneven across its variety of modes. The clear standout among the new ways to play is Knockout Tour, a thrilling battle royale that makes the best use of World’s intertwined roads. But when you add in frustrating online multiplayer limitations and some head-scratching design decisions around the interface and unlockables that will hopefully be fixed in future updates, World feels like it was hit with a blue shell right before the finish line. Still, Mario Kart World’s chassis is so strong that, with a few key tune-ups, I’m confident it will eventually end up popping champagne in victory lane.

• SWITCH2
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a charming concept, mixing an interactive instruction manual with minigames and tech demos that show off the Switch 2’s coolest features in a hands-on way. The execution of that idea, however, is a somewhat muddled collection of quaint distractions and missed opportunities dressed up as a completionist checklist without much point. This digital showroom is littered with dry informational slideshows that only occasionally feel like they are actually allowed to share something interesting. And while the minigames can be briefly amusing, it was almost never in a way that made me excited to push my high scores or check every single box. Tie that up in a world that’s cute to look at but obnoxious to progress through, and you’ve got a Switch 2 showcase that I certainly had fun with at times, but left me wishing I had just been exploring my new console with an actual game instead. It’s not worth your money and, even if it were the free pack-in game it feels like it was always meant to be, it would only barely be worth your time.

• PC
• PS5
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

When Elden Ring Nightreign is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it’s one of the finest examples of a three-player co-op game around. The eight character classes are each fun to use and feature a surprising amount of depth despite their limited movesets, the new Nightlord boss battles are among the best FromSoft has ever crafted and make the most of the three-player dynamic, and the fast-paced, race-against-the-clock nature of each run leads to exciting moments of split-second decision making and frantic rushes to try and finish up a fight before the circle closes in. But a lack of crossplay, duo matchmaking, and built-in communication tools makes it hard to create the conditions needed to have this kind of experience unless you’re bringing two real-life friends on every run, and if you want to just play by yourself, I can’t recommend it because of the poor solo mode balancing. All of this amounts to an ambitious spin-off that’s exhilarating when you’re able to create the proper conditions, and one that quickly flips to incredibly frustrating when you’re not.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

Blades of Fire’s blacksmithing burns bright, but it doesn’t forge a sharp enough edge to put its customizable weapons to good use. The combat is serviceable but overly simplistic, and the mediocre story often failed to evoke any kind of emotion in me at all, positive or negative, as it just goes through the motions from start to finish. The unintuitive map also frequently left me running in circles, making what could have been a fun hunt for secrets feel more like a chore. And when those pain points are compounded by unflattering comparisons to the games it so clearly took inspiration from, Blades of Fire just can’t cut it.

• PS5
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

In its best moments, Deliver At All Costs is as entertaining as it is uneven. For every truly creative cargo haul twist there’s another that’s uninspired or lacking in intensity and urgency, and although there’s certainly fun to be had crashing through its many structures like a bully through a sand castle, the novelty wears off long before it ends and all you’re left with is an impressively realised 1950s world with depressingly little else to do in it. Throw in a silly, slapdash story and some toys for your truck you’re largely forbidden from playing with, and Deliver At All Costs is one shipment that’s far from the complete package.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

The Precinct’s focus on proper arrest protocols and penalising excessive force requires a certain level of patience that not everybody will possess (and it’s a system that eventually wears out its welcome) but I genuinely enjoyed prowling the city for procedural crimes while the story lasted – and the soggy, neon-splashed ’80s setting works wonders. Fallen Tree Games had a previous crack at emulating the top-down shenanigans of classic Grand Theft Auto back with 2019’s American Fugitive, but putting the action on the right side of the law in The Precinct has proven to be far more arresting.

• PC
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Doom: The Dark Ages may strip away the mobility focus of Doom Eternal, but replaces it with a very weighty and powerful style of play that is different from anything the series has done before, and still immensely satisfying in its own way.

• PS5
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about The Midnight Walk since I saw its endings. It’s something I know I’ll come back to so that I can wander this dark world again. Not because I’m looking to complete a checklist, but because everything I’ve learned has recontextualized the emotional stories I saw and changed what I believed about the world. I want to hear the mournful, haunting music again, and spend more time by the fire with these characters. I want to travel with Potboy, my charge, my companion, my friend who says so much without ever speaking a word. The Midnight Walk is not long — I would put my playthrough at around seven or eight hours, and I took my time — but it is gorgeous and touching, and it took hold of me early and never let me go until I took the last step on my journey. It isn’t mechanically ambitious other than to play with perception in unexpected ways, and it challenged me to go into the dark unafraid, and find truth, and companionship, and I did. Out of darkness, light. One cannot exist without the other, and neither offers every answer. I lit a match, and found my way, and I was not alone.

• PS5
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

In so many ways, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reminded me of numerous classic and contemporary RPGs I love, but developer Sandfall truly understood why those games are special and made the pieces it borrowed its own. The creative turn-based combat system is brilliant, keeping me engaged while impressive visual flourishes bring it all together. The story can be a touch messy or melodramatic at times, but there’s an earnestness to how it frames mortality, grief, and the small moments of joy we find. It doesn’t shy away from the different, destructive ways we may handle loss, either – all of which is delivered through fantastic performances from an A-list cast that give its story the heart it needs to really hit. The contrast between its artistic sensibilities and old-school RPG design philosophy shows a clarity of vision, as if it was scoped just right to focus on the things that matter most, making it a true modern throwback. And so, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands strong alongside its inspirations, and I hope that it too can be an inspiration for those who come after.