Contributor: Bob Hoose

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

Yesterday

A blackout swept around the entire globe. Things went missing. But Jack remembered. Just the night before, Jack had decided to bail on his dream of being a performer. And the truth is, it wasn’t even a hard decision. His songs are insipidly bland. He’s …

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Okami

Picture a landscape that simmers and sweats with a crimson molten heat, covered by a coal black, sulfurous blanket of sky. From the midst of this blight, a tree springs to life, and instantly, a rejuvenating arc of green flowering bloom begins to sprea …

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Annabelle Comes Home

We can only experience so many screeching fiends and shadow-gliding ghoulies before a certain been-there-screamed-at-that ennui sets in.

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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 the grit of war should make them think twice about their decision to sign up.

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MySims

When MySims for Nintendo’s Wii first landed on my desk, I’ll admit I wasn’t excited. My disillusionment with the whole Sims line is most likely linked to one summer’s day when I was a kid and the two sisters from next door goaded me into playing with t …

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Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

This new Niantic AR game may look like a twist on Pokémon Go, but there are a few new Flobberworm nibbles to consider.

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Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4 is funny, dramatic, kid-friendly and tear-up-in-the-end sweet.

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AION

The complicated spiritual lore of this Korean-created game world can be a little tough to follow. Its nonstop battle sequences can be a little tough to take.

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Bully

Remember all the alienating cliques, roughneck threats and other sweat-inducing agonies of your high school years? Well, no matter what your most painful memories are, Bully probably trumps them. In fact, the much-anticipated video game from Rockstar G …

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Fuel

In the racing game Fuel, Earth has been devastated. Not from terror attacks or nuclear annihilation or even lead-filled paint from China. No, we’re talking the big one here … global warming. Our world has been decimated by dust storms and tsunamis an …

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Zoo Tycoon

Here’s a game where you can build up a zoo just so you can wash the hippos and feed the giraffes … and you never once have to watch where you step.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy

If you’re looking for kid-friendly video games, a clue-solving mystery is generally a pretty safe choice. I haven’t yet seen Nancy Drew pull out an AK-47 to get to the bottom of things. And although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective, Sherlock H …

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Guitar Praise: Solid Rock

I’ll be completely honest. There are many video games that I’ve reviewed for Plugged In that I wouldn’t let my kids—or anyone’s kids, if I had such power—get within a country mile of. And that’s not some spoil-the-kids’-fun, judgmental know-it-all spea …

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Mass Effect

You may not have heard any sinews twanging or backbones creaking into an upright position, but a kind of evolution is being seen in America’s family rooms. You don’t need to worry that Fido will start walking on his hind legs and ask you to go fetch th …

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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow

It was only a matter of time before Jack Sparrow of the mega-hit movie franchise ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ set sail for the newly charted gaming world.

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