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Action/Adventure
The Outer Worlds

Does this creative sci-fi adventure from the makers of Fallout have the same kind of corrosive content?

Combat
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

The new CoD returns to a world of realistic military conflict … for better and worse.

Combat
Ghost Recon Breakpoint

The eleventh Ghost Recon challenges gamers to survive first, shoot second.

Borderlands 3

Borderlands has become a fan-favorite franchise over the years by relying on a certain gaming formula. It blends engaging shooting …

Shooter
Gears 5

Gears 5 propels this long-running franchise in some new directions … and toward some violent old ones, too.

Shooter
Control

This gory, M-rated shooter propels players into combat with all manner of ghoulish, supernatural entities.

Role-Playing
Erica

A new generation of full-motion video games is coming. Erica shows us the game genre’s promise … and peril.

Shooter
Wolfenstein: Youngblood

The latest installment in this influential and long-running franchise invites a pair of teen girls to unleash M-rated carnage.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Few video games have incited the firestorm of controversy that the GTA franchise has. This latest addition only adds fuel.

Combat, Shooter, Strategy
Rainbow Six: Vegas

My dad was more of a checkers man, but he taught me how to play chess after I bugged him …

Shooter
25 to Life

“The life of man,” wrote English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in 1651, “[is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Oddly enough, …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The fog of war isn’t keeping platoons of gamers from snapping up copies of this highly anticipated shooter sequel. But …

Action/Adventure
Indigo Prophecy

Investigative adventure game ‘Indigo Prophecy’ mashes up ‘CSI’ and ‘The X-Files.’ And in so doing breaks new narrative ground.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
WET

Rubi Malone slaughters almost everyone she meets and would do almost anything for the right price. That means the blood …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
Mass Effect

You may not have heard any sinews twanging or backbones creaking into an upright position, but a kind of evolution …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Gun

The Wild West. A mere mention sparks images of dusty wagon trails, rugged cowboy adventures and saloon-filled towns built by …

Arcade/Platform
Trover Saves the Universe

Trover Saves the Universe looks like cartoony, brain-tickling fun … or is that a brain bleed?

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense
Dead Rising

Many a classic film has used well-known landmarks as backdrops for its celluloid diorama. Moviemakers love this because a shot …

Action/Adventure
The Sinking City

Fans of H.P. Lovecraft might be drawn to this game. But what they’ll find is a grinding, grotesque and goopy …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Saints Row 2

“The game requires you cast your morality aside, and I’m sure the intended audience (you know who you are) will …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
BioShock

“No Gods or Kings. Only Man.” That’s the banner bidding you enter the underwater Art Deco mecca of Rapture. You …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

If someone sauntered up to ya, spit out his chaw and started talkin’ ’bout a Western, yer brain might jump …

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Shooter
Fable

What kinds of questions should you be asking yourself before venturing into Albion’s video game wilds?

Puzzle
Observation

This engaging, puzzle-focused space odyssey has a big black hole in its mix, too.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard just loves to save the universe! When he’s not dead, of course. And when he’s not hitting on …

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Shooter
Fable II

I walk into town, trusty dog at my side, looking to replenish supplies and maybe pick up a better ax. …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Saints Row

A lot of basketball fans, players and coaches are crying foul this season. As part of a much-needed effort to …

Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Wolfenstein

Two things have perpetually stayed the same as the Wolfenstein franchise fast approaches the age of 30: The dreaded Nazis …

Combat, Shooter
Gears of War

I don’t know how many times I’ve found myself in vicious, close-in firefights with marauding aliens and wished, If only …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Resident Evil 5

When Resident Evil made its U.S. debut on the PlayStation in the mid ’90s, it raised an unexpectedly eerie head …

Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Persona 3

In retrospect, I’d have to say my high school days were pretty typical. I’d worry about tests. I’d worry about …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
The Godfather

As compared to the leaping and beeping platform video games of the past, today’s games rely heavily on in-depth story, …

Combat
Mortal Kombat 11

Mortal Kombat may not be as controversial as it once was. But that’s not because this bloody franchise has cleaned …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter, Strategy
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs

The realism of the gameplay and the virtual news clips that pop up between stages eerily mirrors today’s headline news, …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Prey

A handful of content changes could have kept this compelling sci-fi actioner from crossing the M-rated line.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Two years ago we saw ‘Metal Gear Solid 4’ being previewed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. It …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Resident Evil 4

‘Resident Evil’ and the sequels it spawned have helped define spooky, zombie shoot-’em-up games. Enter #4.

Action/Adventure
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

I remember playing the original Prince of Persia game when it first came out in 1989. With its unprecedented motion …

Shooter
The Punisher

“My whole family died in a mob hit. I should have died, too. But I lived. I finally figured out …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

There are a lot of first-person shooter video games out there. And in a lot of them all you do …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Halo 3

Two months before Halo 3 hit store shelves, it had already sold more than 1 million copies. It’s an unheard …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Crysis

The battle for top honcho among gaming consoles rages on. Does the PS3 have the best graphics? Will the family …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
The Darkness

Glistening eel-like tentacles sprout from my shoulder blades and hover in anticipation above a gunned-down thug. Razor-sharp teeth gnashing, the …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Hitman: Blood Money

The sweet strains of a young boy singing “Ave Maria” usher us into Hitman: Blood Money. This euphony seems out …

Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Darkwatch

When it comes to most vampire stories, you can count on three things: blood, death and a sexual link between …

Combat
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

This ninja-themed combat title from the makers of the Dark Souls franchise is punishing in every sense of the word.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

When I think of Nintendo’s DS, I rarely think M-rated games. It’s a platform for the younger set, right? Nope, …

Action/Adventure, Combat
God of War

The Spartan warrior of slaughterfest ‘God of War’ can do some serious damage onscreen. What’s less evident is how much …

Halo 3
Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Halo 3: ODST

Gamers are pulling down their blocky visors and once again keeping a steely eye peeled for Covenant forces. Which can …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Prototype

Today’s action video games are, on the whole, often pretty similar. Gamemakers drop players into hyper-adrenalized situations, give them obliterating …

Shooter
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

This third-person shooter is better than its predecessor, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a better target for your gaming …

Shooter
Black

I’m guessing the offices of Criterion Studios house enough testosterone to warrant at least one conference room solely dedicated to …

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed

What would you think if science could pull some genetic tidbit out of your DNA and give you the power …

Horror/Suspense
Devil May Cry 5

The latest DMC entry is a stylish-but-brainless, hack-and-slash demonic gore-fest.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Far Cry 2

The gritty first-person shooter Far Cry 2 is thought of—and has been branded—as a sequel to the popular Far Cry …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
BioShock 2

In Rapture vernacular, pal, this underwater thriller BioShock is back for another go-round. Is it the cat’s meow or just …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Halo 2

What’s the result when we spend our evenings shooting aliens to save Earth?

Sports
Dead or Alive 6

Some major adjustments give gamers more control over this franchise’s content issues—though they’re not gone completely.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed II

The assassin is back with more bloodletting tools and loopy biblical conspiracies. Paging Jason Statham … and Dan Brown.

Combat, Shooter
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway

It may not be long before more people will have played a video game about the battles of World War …

Shooter
Doom 3

The third installment from the granddaddy of first-person shooters.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Scarface: The World Is Yours

It was time for me to play Scarface: The World Is Yours. And like many times before, I sat down …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

James Bond. Lara Croft. Sam Fisher. Agent 47. These are some of the gaming world’s most well-known heroes. Using stealth, …

Action/Adventure, Combat
Ninja Gaiden II

When I heard the word ninja as a kid, all kinds of cool shadow-leaping wonders filled my imagination. I’d think …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Far Cry: New Dawn

A cautionary tale filled with gore, gush and delusion. But what exactly should we be cautious of?

Action/Adventure, Combat
The Warriors

The latest urban turf-war offering from ‘Grand Theft Auto’ publisher Rockstar Games takes its title, setting and plot from the …

Combat, Shooter
Gears of War 2

When Gears of War hit the video game scene in the winter of 2006, it instantly became known as the …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Dragon Age: Origins

The latest fantasy role-playing adventure from the makers of the Baldur’s Gate games invites players into an intricate, engaging epic …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

If you’re as, um, mature as me, when you see the brand Warner Bros. you probably think of a Saturday …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Novelist Tom Clancy’s name has become synonymous with military action and espionage. His games are no exception.

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Shooter
Fallout 3

There was a time, not all that long ago, when local schools ran bomb drills just in case a heartless …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Devil May Cry 4

The first Devil May Cry game was actually intended as a sequel in the Resident Evil video game series, but …

Role-Playing
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

I was 19 when I stepped off a Port Authority ferry and saw the Big Apple in person for the …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Velvet Assassin

When the game-designing guys and gals behind Velvet Assassin hit on the idea for their new title, they surely must …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Turok

New jobs can be awkward. Just ask Joseph Turok. He’s the new guy on a space-age special ops team that’s …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City

Two new GTA IV expansions have now morphed into their own standalone bundle. And more Liberty City mayhem ensues.

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Puzzle
Dante’s Inferno

Do you know what shape this year’s most diabolical game comes wrapped in? A circle. Actually, nine circles. Abandon hope, …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Killzone 2

I was in the middle of screening a movie not long ago and was momentarily surprised by how much action …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Grand Theft Auto IV

Polyester pants and a double knit shirt aren’t the usual soldier’s attire. Yet they’re Niko Bellic’s wardrobe of choice as …

Action/Adventure, Combat
God of War II

When the original God of War hit video game shelves a couple of years ago, with its arresting visuals and …

Shooter
Just Cause 4

Sure, the protagonist here is heroic. But can we really praise a game that strives to make graphic bloodletting seem …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Puzzle
Darksiders III

Sin is given flesh in this slashing apocalyptic game. But biblical answers ain’t in the script. (Or the same county.)

Action/Adventure
Fallout 76

Fallout 76 takes its bloody post-apocalyptic story online, creating new problems for an already problematic franchise.

Action/Adventure
Red Dead Redemption 2

A hundred hours wandering through this M-rated digital Wild West will leave behind plenty o’ scars.

Combat
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

No story mode and a Fortnite-like multiplayer options change the CoD landscape … and not for the better.

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

It may be a new day and a new Odyssey, but it’s, frankly, the same problematic Assassin’s Creed.

Action/Adventure
Life Is Strange 2, “Roads”

This narrative adventure sequel invites gamers into a thoughtful-but-problematic journey along several rocky roads.

Horror/Suspense
Transference

You might want to think twice before locking yourself into this VR escape room.

Action/Adventure
Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Lara Croft’s adventures these days are much better than her tomb-raiding of yore. But in other ways, a whole lot …

Action/Adventure
We Happy Few

We Happy Few quirkily says some compelling things about our world’s problems. But it has problems of its own, too.

Action/Adventure
Detroit: Become Human

This M-rated game about sentient androids is pretty provocative, in both positive and problematic ways.

Horror/Suspense
State of Decay 2

This M-rated zombie-splatting sequel is all about building a civilized outpost amid a lot of rot.

Action/Adventure
God of War (2018)

In some ways, the latest God of War tale is quite focused on family. But is it family friendly? Not …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Far Cry 5

This is a nasty game that’s bloody, foul and generally disturbing on every kill-’em-all-and-wave-a-Bible front.

Horror/Suspense
The Inpatient

The Inpatient uses a new tool to make your VR experience even more disturbingly immersive: your own voice.

Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Doom VFR

Virtual reality changes a lot about the Doom experience. But it’s still a stomach-, mind- and spirit-roiling jaunt.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Call of Duty: WWII

The latest Call of Duty installment marches bloodily back to the battles where the franchise began.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

The latest Wolfenstein game pits players against a cruel, alt-reality Nazi regime. Playing it feels like a cruelty of its …

Action/Adventure
Assassin’s Creed Origins

The new Assassin’s Creed title pairs new gameplay mechanics with even more graphically violent and explicit content.

Role-Playing
South Park: The Fractured But Whole

The language spewed out by these cartoon kiddos would make a longshoreman blanch.

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
The Evil Within 2

“Ugh, who comes up with this stuff?” asks hero in this horror survival sequel. It’s an apt question for the …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Middle-earth: Shadow of War

This ferocious, M-rated sequel may be set in the milieu of Lord of the Rings. But it’s a lot more …

Action/Adventure
The Pillars of the Earth

This story-focused game openly talks about faith in a sometimes foul, dark and dangerous medieval world.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Hellblade: Senua’s Sarifice

What would it take for a video game to depict psychotic madness? Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice answers that dark question.

Sim, Strategy
Serial Cleaner

This game about a guy who cleans up murderers’ messes perhaps isn’t as messy as it could have been. But …

Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Get Even

Get Even is an ambitious, genre-blurring title that tries to offer a moral, but stains its intended message with M-rated …

Action/Adventure, Shooter, Virtual Reality
Farpoint

Farpoint is garnering praise for being one of the better examples of a VR shooter. But is that a good …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Mass Effect: Andromeda

Known for their sci-fi romance options, this Mass Effect series entry sends its nooky into another dimension.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Ghost Recon: Wildlands

The shooter mechanics continue to improve. But that doesn’t mean the shooter mess gets any better.

Combat
For Honor

For Honor delivers bloody, hack-and-slash action paired with an extremely deep fighting system and bellowing combatants.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Sniper Elite 4

The latest Sniper Elite entry shatters and bursts enemy bodies with even more graphic “glee.”

Horror/Suspense, Puzzle, Shooter
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

This reimagining of the Resident Evil franchise’s early iterations takes a nasty, horrific turn.

Action/Adventure
Yakuza 0

This game promises a ticket into an Asian gangland underworld. You just have to pay the price.

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series—A New Frontier, Chapter One

This zombie game packs a surprising emotional wallop … but plenty of brain-busting, too.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

If you think battling robots in space will be less messy for human combatants, think again.

Combat, Shooter
Battlefield 1

This intense, graphic depiction of World War I features equal measures of visceral combat and anti-war sentiment.

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing
Batman: Arkham VR

Batman gets an immersive virtual reality treatment that’s darker than you might expect.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Gears of War 4

Is this next-gen Gears of War title a kinder, gentler version of its graphically gory predecessors? Gears action without Gears …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Mafia III

Mafia III takes its explicit moral anarchy to such messy new lows it makes you wish they made brain showers.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deux Ex: Mankind Divided’s engaging gameplay is badly undermined by its bloody, profane and sensual content.

Action/Adventure
Batman: The Telltale Series

The Telltale gamemakers take a swing at portraying Bruce Wayne’s dark side … with dark results.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
The Technomancer

The Technomancer’s sci-fi storyline seems promising at first … but quickly breaks that promise.

Sim
Prison Architect

Amid all of this prison simulation’s would-be moralizing, players still must muddle through a lot of messy, M-rated material.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Homefront: The Revolution

It’s a toss-up which is worse in this blood-drenched first-person shooter: its content or its quality.

Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Doom

The Doom franchise has always been about run-and-gun mayhem. And little has changed except for just how graphically goopy its …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Dark Souls III

The Dark Souls games are excruciating in their difficulty, and their content is dank and demonic. That’s exactly what the …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Quantum Break

Even with all the time travel, there’s simply no skipping past the bad stuff to get to the good.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter, Strategy
Hitman

It makes it worse that 47 is just so OK-cool about all the life-leeching lessons he’s teaching.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
The Division

Loot is good here. Loot is power. And, of course, like many MMOs that have come before, loot can equal …

Action/Adventure, Combat
Far Cry Primal

This is still solidly a franchise game, living in its own primal world that’s most likely pretty far away from …

Puzzle
Life Is Strange

This intriguing-but-flawed M-rated thriller earnestly ponders the influence of our choices from the perspective of a time-warping teen girl.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Just Cause 3

The latest entry in the Just Cause franchise is a lot like Grand Theft Auto … only with tanks, grenades …

Combat, Shooter, Strategy
Rainbow Six: Siege

Rainbow Six Siege is one of a new breed of online shooters that’s all about short, intense, close quarters combat …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter, Sim, Strategy
Fallout 4

Games used to fit into specific categories. Fallout 4 fills something closer to an “all of the above” slot. For …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Puzzle, Shooter
Rise of the Tomb Raider

The newly rebooted Lara returns with bigger adventure and, unfortunately, bigger piles of corpses, too.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Black Ops III

The thing you don’t really get anymore with the Call of Duty games is any sense of, well, duty.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

In a sentence, it’s everything we’re accustomed to confronting in an Assassin’s Creed game … and more.

Action/Adventure, Shooter, Strategy
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

There’s just no way Big Boss can hide under his thin hospital blanket from all the solid Metal Gear muck.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Mad Max

Mad Max is not an official movie tie-in title. But there’s still plenty to recognize for anyone who’s ever even …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense
Until Dawn

In a game full of choices, this is your biggest one: Do you want to play something that’s the equivalent …

Action/Adventure
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

A game about biblical end times? Not exactly. What is it about, then? Well, discerning that takes time, patience and …

Combat
Onechanbara ZII: Chaos

Onechanbara ZII: Chaos sets its gaming sights on fleam fury, fetish fantasy … and fruit. But not necessarily in that …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Puzzle
Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight could leave a dark imprint on the minds of those who soldier through its hours of dank …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter, Strategy
PAYDAY 2: Crimewave Edition

For all of its teamwork coolness, this is merely another bloody shooter that’s all about illicit loot … and ruthless …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

In this trilogy conclusion, the witcher Geralt searches, sexes and slaughters his way through 100-plus hours of horror.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Nazis are using mechanized war suits and the occult to win the big war. It’s “history” by way of an …

Combat
Mortal Kombat X

Mortal Kombat turns 10 (in game years) when it should have died a long time ago … by its own …

Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Bloodborne

Bloodborne is intended to be a long, grinding and utterly bleak gaming experience. Which means there’s disease lurking in those …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Resident Evil: Revelations 2

In tag-team episodic play, the latest messy Resi tackles the infected hordes once again. But with little Natalie, there’s more …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Battlefield Hardline

The scenes may have changed from firefights on the front lines to drug drops in the big city, but the …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
The Order: 1886

Imagine, if you will, a 19th-century steampunk London in which the Knights of the Round Table are still dashing about …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter, Strategy
Evolve

The makers of Evolve want you to get your monster on in this twist on a run-and-gun war game.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense
Dying Light

Zombie, zombies everywhere, without a bite to eat. Except you if you run too slow.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Dragon Age: Inquisition

The 2014 installment of Dragon Age is one of the most expansive RPGs ever to crowd out other games on …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Far Cry 4

As in, yet another shooter sequel that’s a far cry from family friendly.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue

This particular DNA-tapping assassin’s tale comes packing a question-everything twist.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed: Unity

This game is both a révolutionnaire update and just another stab at back-alley stabbing. Pouah! Read on for les détails …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare says futuristic armed conflict will be all about the bravery, blood and guts of very …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Sunset Overdrive

What would you do if all your friends were turned into slavering, gnarly mutants? Sunset Overdrive wants you to find …

Shooter
Bayonetta 2

The hyper-sexualized witch Bayonetta is back for another hacking, slashing, blasting action romp. (But her clothing isn’t.)

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!

gravity, moon, jack, Lilith, border, land, lands, presequel, prequel, sequel, pre sequel,

Action/Adventure, Combat
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Slipping through the shadows to butcher an evil army’s leaders … Lord of the Rings style.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Risen 3: Titan Lords

Have you figured out yet that there’s a pirate’s tale at the heart of this salty sequel? But is it …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Sacred 3

This Diablo-like series tries for a novel approach, but tends to fly right past fresh to ferocious … and obnoxious.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Sniper Elite III

Here’s a shooter/combat game that wants you to see exactly what damage you’re causing—every crushed bone and ruptured organ.

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Puzzle
Murdered: Soul Suspect

A dead cop has to solve his own murder in Salem, Mass. Do ya think there might be a witch …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Watch Dogs

We’ll call this snarling shooter the Grand Theft Auto of the identity theft age.

Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Drakengard 3

This series prequel sets gamers loose in a JRPG world filled with tense sibling rivalry.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Wolfenstein: The New Order

In this alternate reality the Nazis won WWII and have reshaped everything in their bleak, black-and-blood-red image. Time for a …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Bound by Flame

RPG sword-slashing and demon possession burn out this fantasy epic from the inside, leaving only a charred shell of a …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter, Strategy
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Metal Gear Solid offers up a sampler plate in hopes of whetting appetites for the upcoming main course. But we’ve …

Combat, Shooter
Titanfall

With super-athletic style and walking tank bulk, the gamemakers at Respawn Entertainment have given birth to a new generation of …

Combat, Role-Playing
South Park: The Stick of Truth

We will indeed stick to the truth in our review of a gross game spawned by one of the vilest …

Action/Adventure
Thief

Is this franchise reboot a game of big rewards, a penny-ante thief of your time or something altogether more grim?

Action/Adventure, Combat
Ryse: Son of Rome

First-century Rome is under attack by marauding barbarians. Only one seasoned centurion stands in their way. (That’d be you.) Let …

Combat, Shooter
Killzone: Shadow Fall

The good guys and bad guys are getting harder to make out in this continuing intergalactic war. The pools of …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Ghosts

Series game No. 10 sets up a new future battle in a new CoD universe. But it all looks so …

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

The fabled sneak-and-kill franchise is turning a new page in its history-trekking tale. But the dark flag it waves still …

Combat, Shooter
Battlefield 4

So what is Battlefield 4 for? Well, you could call it a practice field. And exactly what are we practicing?

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Beyond: Two Souls

A girl and her ghost grow up to take on the bad guys, all manner of spiritual evil and even …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Grand Theft Auto V

UPDATED REVIEW: Sixty-nine levels of slam-bang slaughter and sex. Wasn’t this franchise supposed to be about stealing cars?

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Splinter Cell: Blacklist

A terrorist organization threatens to bring America to its knees. And—of course—only one shadow-crawling covert agent (you!) can sneak his …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Saints Row IV

Average street gang thuggery gives way to sci-fi smashing and bashing. But not even superpowers can help this game fly …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense
Dark

Zombies shuffle aside this time around as the vampires take their turn in a deadly undead video game romp.

Combat, Strategy
Company of Heroes 2

Some sing the praises of this challenging RTS game. Others issue stark detractions. Some revel in its heroes. Others are …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Deadpool

No, it’s not a game about a zombie swim team. But it’s almost as messy. And with this title you’re …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
The Last of Us

This cinematically minded zombie thriller is already being bandied about as a potential Game of the Year contender. It’s a …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Puzzle
Remember Me

Memory manipulations and recollection reconstructions in a future world are the name of the game.

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Resident Evil: Revelations

Is it actually a new revelation or still dead men walking as old man Resident Evil raises his weathered head …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Metro: Last Light

Living in an underground metro system while the surface above glows from nuclear devastation is not an easy life. And …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Dead Island: Riptide

And the worst vacation ever just won’t die! (The zombies won’t allow it.)

Action/Adventure, Combat, Puzzle, Role-Playing, Strategy
The Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls is offering up a new suit of online armor and an endless Tamriel where you can battle …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
BioShock Infinite

A tale of Pinkerton detecting aided by dimension-hopping superpowers taking place in a cloud-floating city in 1912. This isn’t your …

Combat, Shooter
Gears of War: Judgment

And you thought that the tale was told. That the guns had gone silent. That the gears had ground to …

Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

AMC’s hit TV show shambles over into video game territory … and promptly dies a horrible death.

Action/Adventure, Combat
God of War: Ascension

Another God of War, another gruesome massacre of fantastical critters and small “g” gods. What? You were expecting flowers and …

Action/Adventure, Puzzle, Shooter
Tomb Raider

This franchise reboot packs in more spills, thrills and cheer-worthy heroism than any of the Lara Croft games or movies …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Crysis 3

Anyone can be a Superman or Iron Man with the right gadget-filled armor. But will this tech-laden shooter suit you?

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

The solid strategy of slipping through the shadows is dead and gone. This Gear grinds on blades and blood.

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Dead Space 3

What’s that gnawing on your space boot? Why, it’s an undead space zombie, back for another bite.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
DmC: Devil May Cry

This hack ‘n’ slasher is a monster to play, difficult beyond almost all others in the genre. But that’s not …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 has packed its vacation suitcase full of foul food. But if you don’t go along for the …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Hitman: Absolution

Agent 47 is sneaking back around with a killer of a story. But we wouldn’t advise letting him take you …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Black Ops II

It’s not surprising that in the edgiest of all the war games, Call of Duty, the good and bad of …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Halo 4

You thought Master Chief was finished? Nah. He’s got something (someone?) close to his heart to fight for this time.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed III

The video game world’s most famous and most popular assassin trades in castles and old-world mystique for a New World …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Medal of Honor: Warfighter

The latest Medal of Honor game gives us a Navy SEAL’s point of view. But it’s not so simple as …

Combat, Strategy
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

The space pods are landing! The space pods are landing! Part strategy planner, part resource manager and part skill-upgrading battler, …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Dishonored

One masked man accused of treachery must beat the odds and save the kingdom. Or does he butcher everyone in …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Resident Evil 6

Evil corporations have fallen. Zombie-filled cities have gone up in a puff of nuclear smoke. Yet the gurgling grotesqueries of …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
Borderlands 2

Another dystopian shooter filled with furious aliens, fast one-liners and quick trigger fingers.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense
Darksiders II

The seal has been broken and the horseman Death is on the move. But this Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse …

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Shooter
Sleeping Dogs

This crime RPG blends Grand Theft Auto-style street grit with Hong Kong action flick hits.

Action/Adventure, Combat
Risen 2: Dark Waters

An invite to put on your virtual eye patch and blue beard might seem like a fine promise of video …

Combat, Shooter
Spec Ops: The Line

This grinding shooter wallows in the physical and psychological fog of war. No, make that the mess of war. The …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Lollipop Chainsaw

This hyper-quirky game adds gold glitter and cherry lip balm to the gory business of zombie killing.

Shooter
Inversion

Inversion takes the familiar shooter formula and asks, What would happen if gravity got turned off?

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Tom Clancy is selling big again. But it’s not his new novel. It’s his new third-person shooter.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Dragon’s Dogma

So you can’t get enough of dragons and fantasy questing? Well, here’s a game that wants to make sure you …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Max Payne 3

Max absolutely pegs the Payne meter on Rockstar’s latest grimy ode to sex, drugs, violence and death.

Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Diablo III

Fallen angels, hell-spawned horrors and a brutal battle between good and evil lurk in this M-rated fantasy role-playing game, which …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Prototype 2

Same quarantined city. Same ravaging virus. Same malevolent government types. Maybe a new shape-shifting killer will make a difference. Or …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

“The offspring of foul sorcery and witchcraft.” That’s what a witcher is. As for this game, well …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Silent Hill: Downpour

Silent Hill is being drenched by a stormy and sinister weather front. But don’t screaming children and shrieking beasties sort …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing, Shooter
Mass Effect 3

Intricate, immersive plotline? Check. Selfless heroes? Check. Less-than-heroic content conundrums? Check. The finale in this popular shooter trilogy encompasses all …

Combat, Sports
Twisted Metal

This 17-year-old car combat franchise has been given a 21st-century jumpstart. So don’t think for a second that it’s your …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
The Darkness II

What do you get when you (again) give gun-toting mobsters demonic superpowers? Pretty much exactly what you’d expect.

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

A sword-swinging, magic-blasting RPG about fate and freedom. Is it your destiny to play this top-of-the-charts game?

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

This fourth Assassin’s Creed has more sharp blades than new revelations up its sleeve.

Role-Playing
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

It’s a land of blood and honey, as they say, full of dragons and darkness, but also heroes and beauty. …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

The Call of Duty battle continues on. And on. And on. And …

Combat, Shooter
Battlefield 3

Much like the real-life wars that tear up huge chunks of our globe, this battlefield feels permanent, with the war …

Role-Playing, Shooter
Rage

Mankind is up against ruthless bandits and crazed mutants in a dystopian wasteland. It’s never bunnies and puppies, is it?

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Role-Playing
Dark Souls

The slugline on the game box reads, “Prepare to Die!” And, boy, it ain’t kiddin’.

Combat, Shooter
Gears of War 3

Marcus Fenix and his muscle-bound crew are breaking out the chain saw bayonets for one last bloody rip and tear …

Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Resistance 3

The third big shootout between humans and the Chimera. Or is it between courage and gore?

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Dead Island

The worst vacation ever … in so many (zombified) ways.

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Shooter
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

You want to be able to jump from tall buildings in a single bound? In Deus Ex there’s an aug …

Arcade/Platform, Horror/Suspense, Puzzle, Role-Playing
Catherine

One of the most buzzed about games of the year, Catherine offers a mind-bending, M-rated mash-up of romance, horror, dark …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Call of Juarez: The Cartel

The Call of Juarez franchise steps from the Wild West into the present drug-torn world of Southern California. It’s a …

Combat, Shooter
Sniper: Ghost Warrior

Practice long enough and Razor Six Four can become one of the best Marine snipers in the world. But before …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
F.E.A.R. 3

Marketing materials for this dark shooter promise a “hellish nightmare” and “paralyzing paranormal horror.” F.E.A.R. 3 does its M-rated “best” …

Shooter
Duke Nukem Forever

After 15 years, Duke Nukem is back to his alien-slaying, stripper-admiring ways. Plugged In can only ask, “Why so soon?”

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Red Faction: Armageddon

Mars isn’t the most hospitable place at the best of times. But when Darius Mason accidentally unleashes a horde of …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
L.A. Noire

Ads for this game may have you thinking about swell threads and smooth rides. But Noire is really all about …

Combat
Mortal Kombat

Those that don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. So what happens when you already know everything there …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Crysis 2

The makers of this sci-fi shooter sequel aimed to create something they call “catastrophically beautiful.” They’ve definitely succeeded on the …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Dragon Age II

Choices are what this combative role-playing sequel is all about. So we’re going to try to help you make one …

Sports
Fight Night Champion

EA Sports’ first M-rated title packs a wallop in more ways than one. Its sparkling graphics rub up against a …

Combat, Shooter
Killzone 3

The makers of this popular PlayStation 3 franchise are cranking up the carnage once again. This time, via eerily realistic …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Bulletstorm

Fox News wants to know if this is the worst game in the world. And with lots of bullets, blood …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Dead Space 2

To market its bloody new horror shooter, Electronic Arts told potential customers that Dead Space 2 is “revolting”—and that “your …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Role-Playing
Two Worlds II

Games these days deliver immersive worlds that can swallow you whole for days, weeks and months at a time. Two …

Action/Adventure, Combat
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Spilled blood and suspended salvation are what this sequel to Assassin’s Creed II revolves around. Ancient intrigue. Renaissance-era bloodshed. Convoluted …

Combat, Shooter
Call of Duty: Black Ops

This cruel and quite usual Call of Duty is selling big, despite the fact (or is it because of the …

Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Shooter
Fable III

The “shape your future” game of heroes and villains is back with a revolutionary shift. It asks, “Will you become …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Fallout: New Vegas

Another Fallout game shoves casinos, cathouses and high-tech calamity into a post-apocalyptic Wild West setting for a big, bloody, cactus-dotted …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Medal of Honor

Electronic Arts’ storied wartime franchise jumps from World War II to present-day Afghanistan … and takes fire from all sides …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense
Dead Rising 2

The dead are back in the video game blender as a new hero works to mulch zombies … and save …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Halo: Reach

This franchise’s halo slipped years ago, and this game doesn’t right any old wrongs. Instead it just jumps back into …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Mafia II

Sleek suits and Italian leather shoes. The Andrews Sisters on the radio and a bloody body in the trunk. These …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense, Shooter
Singularity

This time-twisting shooter offers up old-school Soviet dominators along with rabid zombies … all on a radioactive island.

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Red Dead Redemption

The makers of Grand Theft Auto have another hit on their hands after deciding to set their sights on the …

Action/Adventure, Combat, Shooter
Splinter Cell: Conviction

Sam Fisher is the gaming world’s answer to TV’s Jack Bauer—trained to sneak in the shadows, kill on sight and …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Just Cause 2

Chaos and destruction rule the roost and gain all the applause in this new action/adventure game. Why? Well, just ’cause.

Action/Adventure, Combat
God of War III

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to all those Greek gods of yore, God of War III offers an answer: …

Combat, Shooter
Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Bad Company’s out for blood—again. More than 2.3 million copies of this popular sequel have been sold in less than …

Action/Adventure, Horror/Suspense
Heavy Rain

Shakespeare’s line “murder most foul” has lost most of its punch over the years. This game sets out to define …

Shooter
Bayonetta

From the creator of Devil May Cry comes a battle that pits heaven against hell and a woman against everyone …

Action/Adventure, Shooter
Prey

In today’s cookie-cutter video game world, developers frantically search for something to set their titles apart from the pack. They …