IGN

• PC
• 3 / 10
• États-Unis

Skull Island: Rise of Kong is ugly and full of bugs, but the real trouble is that, at its core, it’s just boring. It makes no meaningful attempts to do anything new or clever, with mindless combat and pointless platforming that make it feel like a worse version of every action game from the last 20 years. This isn't the kind of bad game you can play to laugh at, or that took some cool swings but missed them, or that creates weird combinations of technical snafus that lead to unexpected but entertaining results. It doesn't even rate enough to be called frustrating. Rise of Kong is fundamentally disinterested in itself: a giant ape game that doesn't even care enough about what it's doing to make the ape feel giant.

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

Wizard with a Gun does what it says on the tin, but not much more. There are tons of cool guns and spells to craft, elemental enemies to defeat, and neat areas to explore. But poor balance in almost every aspect of combat and an unsatisfying ending make a lot of the time spent not seem worthwhile. With some updates and improvements where it counts, Wizard with a Gun could be all that its first few excellent hours set it up to be — but right now it feels incomplete.

• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

As a sequel in a spectacular series, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is both blessed and cursed. Its story of two Spider-Men is a great time and a Spidey fan’s dream to play through as comic book pages are brought to life, elegantly walking the tightrope between light humour and heavier themes. Meanwhile, Insomniac refines a successful formula of combat and web-swinging without revolutionising either in major ways, making them comfy and familiar with just enough new tweaks and abilities to elevate them to fun new heights. The part that feels like it actually needed a radical rethinking is the open world of New York City, which has been made bigger but not better, with an exhausting checklist of mostly repetitious side activities. But it’s safe to call this another thrilling Spider-Man adventure that delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, it's a reliably fun superhero power trip. And, you know what? Screw it. It really did make me feel like Spider-Man, too.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Lords of the Fallen is a great soulslike, and its killer new idea of swapping between two versions of the world to solve puzzles and slay enemies is an excellent twist to set it apart from the pack. That concept is unfortunately hamstrung by numerous, highly annoying technical issues and weak boss fights, but awesome explorable areas and fantastic buildcrafting more than make up for those shortcomings. If, like me, you’re a sucker for a quality action-RPG even amid a clear overabundance of them, then this reboot is well worth your time.

• PC
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Total War: Pharaoh looks incredible, with diverse and interesting battles complemented by an uncommonly deep and rich campaign layer. The focus is firmly on Egypt, and the experiences available outside that region don't really match up in terms of content or quality to what is on offer to the civilizations of the Nile. But when I'm sailing up and down that majestic river, fending off invasions from hostile tribes, politicking my way to the top of the power pyramid, and sending my besandaled soldiers to spill blood across the shining sands, I feel confident in saying historical Total War is back, baby. Creative Assembly Sophia has refined every part of its take on this franchise since Troy, and the results are just shy of glorious.

• SWITCH
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

The mystery story of Detective Pikachu Returns makes some bizarre and unexpectedly dark choices to get to its underwhelmingly predictable conclusion, and as a result it’s unclear who this is all for. Is it for young kids who will find the simplified puzzles about right, or adults who grew up with Pikachu and can handle the more mature themes of the second half? It’s still a cute, bubbly, animated adventure with humor, unique pokemon to meet, a

• PS4
• PS5
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

What’s new in NHL 24 shows a lot of promise. The Exhaust Engine introduces satisfying mechanics that make games feel more intense, though refinement to its balance is needed to keep the defensive team competitive. The improved checking system and inclusion of HUT Moments are significant features as well. However, most of the returning game modes remain nearly untouched from the last couple of years and the introduction of a battle pass, along with some annoyingly long wait times to get into games, make it harder to cheer for.

• PC
• PS4
• PS5
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s return to the stealthy style that launched this series doesn’t do everything right, but everything it does feels like it was done with purpose. This means a shorter game with a smaller map, fewer collectibles, smaller scope in combat, and a limited selection of gear to play with – all of which I found refreshing relative to the arguably bloated scale of 100-hour games like Odyssey and Valhalla. It also means an overly simplistic plot with mostly forgettable characters, but what the story lacks in depth it makes up for with its straightforward quest progression and fast pacing. Though there's no big standout “wow” moment, Baghdad is a beautiful location in its own right, and the world’s detail is focused inward, making every alley and hovel feel well traveled and full of detail and history. I’d recommend Mirage to anyone who’s lapsed on Assassin’s Creed, as its back-to-basics approach is a successful first step in returning the feeling that the earlier industry-defining games gave me so long ago.

• PC
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Wargroove 2 is a lot bigger, even if its tactical combat isn’t much better to match – but with how good the original Wargroove was already, that’s forgivable. The story of its three campaigns isn’t as cohesive as its predecessor and there aren’t many truly new gameplay features in the campaign levels themselves, but its Advance Wars-style tactical combat once again manages to make the hours fly by.A satisfyingly challenging new roguelike mode also provides a new way to play that could have practically been a whole game of its own. It’s a familiar package even with that mode, but if you loved the original then Wargroove 2 provides a whole lot more of what made it so great.

• XSX/S
• PC
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

After six long years, Forza Motorsport is off the lift and back in our lives. It looks great, feels great, sounds great, and it’s brought with it the most impressive multiplayer we’ve seen in the series so far. With 500 cars and 20 track locations it’s hardly a small start but, now positioned as a platform, Forza Motorsport has the potential to expand into a seriously rich racing destination over the coming years. If Flight Simulator on four wheels is the plan, I’m here for it. First on the list of improvements Turn 10 should focus on is revamping the new RPG-inspired upgrade system that turns progression into an unnecessarily long road ahead of each individual car, and maybe bringing back the joys of split-screen multiplayer racing to complement the excellent online modes.

• PC
• XSX/S
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

The Lamplighters League takes proven concepts from other tactics games and puts them together into a novel blend. It takes an unfortunate amount of time to get going, but once it does the tight, meaningful strategic layer ensures that every mission, no matter how banal, matters to your overall campaign. The superb enemy and hero design gives you great stuff to work with as you use real-time stealth takedowns to prepare for tactical fights. Sure, sometimes the partially procedurally generated maps throw up a frustrating scenario, or an ability works a bit weird, but I was more than happy to take those in stride in order to undertake a globetrotting pulp adventure in such an interesting and engaging world.

• PC
• SWITCH
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Cocoon is a breathtaking puzzle-platformer that borders on psychedelic. Building on what made Inside designer Jeppe Carlsen's previous work stand out, Cocoon not only presents a mind-bending journey through the cosmos via fascinating worlds-within-worlds puzzle mechanics that beg you to delve another layer deeper, but an interesting take on the repetition of work, life, and being part of a "bigger picture." With a relatively short playtime and some well-hidden collectibles that make it worth replaying, Cocoon is a must-play for fans of Limbo or Inside, or anyone looking for a new puzzle adventure to play and then sit down and think about for a while.

• PC
• SWITCH
• PS4
• PS5
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

If you were hoping for a dramatic reinvention of EA’s soccer sim to go along with ditching the FIFA name, EA Sports FC 24 is not that. If you’ve played FIFA, you know exactly what kind of incremental improvements and longstanding problems with AI to expect this year. New mechanics like Evolutions show that EA has a general grasp of how to improve its RPG elements, even if it’s only currently for Ultimate Team where you have to put up with all of the dreaded microtransactions. Elsewhere, Volta mode is still a lot of fun with a full team of friends thanks in part to its unique arenas, while the Career Modes once again suffer from the same lack of care they’ve been missing for years, with the added annoyance of some ill-conceived RNG-based objectives this time. All told, it might have a new name, but EA Sports FC 24 is just about the same, frustrating but beautiful game.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Last year, I said in my review of Cyberpunk Edgerunners that CDPR now has a blueprint for where to go with Cyberpunk 2077, and Phantom Liberty shows the studio already had exactly that in mind. Between a more sophisticated level of storytelling with excellent performances, smarter insights on the cyberpunk genre and its dystopian themes, and landing on top of a much-improved gameplay experience thanks to its fresh 2.0 update, Phantom Liberty marks a new chapter for Cyberpunk 2077 and is finally close to what I’d hoped it would be when I first sat down to play three years ago.

• PC
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

Mineko’s Night Market is an adorable little sim that could’ve been cozy, but is mostly just boring chores that don’t reward you in the kinds of satisfying ways we see in other popular games in this relaxed genre. After putting you to work, it doesn’t let up, trapping you in a grind of gathering resources and making crafts for lifeless NPCs. Beyond some purring cats, gorgeous artwork, and a handful of legitimately funny bits, it doesn’t provide anything to make all your work worth it.

• PC
• 4 / 10
• États-Unis

We haven’t quite been waiting 100 years for an Avatar game that lives up to the potential of the show, but it’s certainly beginning to feel that way after playing Avatar: The Last Airbender - Quest for Balance. This half-baked and wildly inconsistent retelling of the excellent TV series shows the promise of what an Avatar game could maybe be, but a baffling choice of which scenes to highlight, a clunky camera and combat, hilarious balance problems, and an overreliance on middling block puzzles and boring fetch quests leaves our search for the real Avatar still desperately out of luck. With more Avatar shows and movies on the way, it’s just downright odd how Quest for Balance has managed to arrive at this point in time as both an unsatisfying entry point for newcomers and a poor way to revisit it for dedicated fans.

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

Payday 3 is a solid step forward for my favorite heist simulator franchise, even though that step is a lot smaller than I’d hoped due to a lack of content and the unsurprising but still majorly annoying bugs and performance issues. The awesome combat, greatly improved AI, and especially the stealth options are so massive they alone justify this as a full sequel, and the new and improved heists with clear phases to navigate them are absolutely fantastic. I just wish there was more loot in the proverbial vault at the outset, and that Starbreeze would have used its years of experience in order to ensure this was a more robust and far more stable launch. I’m confident Payday 3 could become the sequel we all deserve with a year or two of updates – for now, it’s a nice start.

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

With smooth online multiplayer, a handful of mostly distinct maps, and downright adorable characters, Party Animals delivers a fun party game that brings cuddly, chaotic fun where it counts the most. The intentionally wobbly controls take a moment to get used to, but once you do it’s wonderfully satisfying to land a punch and send another player flying into an environmental hazard for a KO. It does commit an all-too-common cardinal sin for contemporary multiplayer games in making local play less enjoyable than going online, but all three main modes are a good time, especially in a full lobby of eight players.