Reviews 
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell review: Shout at the Devil
Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Xbox One, PS4 If your best friend, a person who has saved your life countless times (often in super-cool, action movie fashion), was sucked into hell, would you go after them? Of course not, that's ludicrous. That poor schmuck is on their own. But you're not Johnny Gat, residen...
The Talos Principle review: God in the machine
Mac, PC, Linux Often, performing routine tasks can provide unexpected clarity: You think of the perfect ending for your short story while in the shower, or realize the best comeback while riding your bike down a familiar street – three hours after the actual argument. Or, you finally unders...
Joystiq isn't scoring reviews anymore, and here's why
Ever since we started publishing reviews here at Joystiq, we've striven to deliver the most timely and definitive critiques we can. The word "definitive" is important in this conversation, because things don't get much more definitive than a review score. The very purpose of a score is to define so...
Kalimba review: Co-op will tear us apart
Xbox One Co-op has brought me some of the greatest joy I've ever experienced in games. It also frequently leads to bouts of murderous rage. The co-op in Kalimba, a stylish Xbox One-exclusive puzzle-platformer from the creator of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, falls more in the second category, an...
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- review: Technical knockout
PS4, PS3 Not everything that glitters is gold, but sometimes that glitter can go a long way. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, the latest fighting game from Arc System Works, handily demonstrates this tweaked adage. Despite carrying over many characters and gameplay elements from the niche-hit Guilty Gear...
Xeodrifter review: Snacktroid
3DS, PC There's a purity to Xeodrifter that I really admire. The 2D action exploration game is brief, but Xeodrifter explores its simple, well-executed mechanics to a T. It takes the best elements of other exploration-driven action games like Castlevania and Metroid and packs them neatly into a h...
Never Alone review: Into the storm
Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC Never Alone has a message – but first and foremost it is a truly beautiful game. It turns an ancient legend from Alaska Natives, the Iñupiat, into a harrowing yet enlightening journey through ice and fire. It's a platformer set in the harsh, frozen landsc...
The Crew review: U-turn
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PC In the course of the last console generation, Ubisoft has gone from "the French publisher behind the Tom Clancy games" to the world's leading creator of lucrative open-world sandbox franchises (by quantity, if not quality). This success hinges on a simple for...
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris review: Danger zone
Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC If you've got some friends over and are itching for game that requires teamwork, coordination, planning and lots and lots of yelling, then you'll be well pleased by Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, the isometric-view follow-up to the excellent Lara Croft and the Gu...
Game of Thrones Episode One review: Baptism by ice
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PC, Mac, iOS The good news about Telltale Games' Game of Thrones is that it is very, very Game of Thrones. It captures perfectly the machinations, intrigue and violence that are the hallmark of the show - which is why, of course, its fidelity to...
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Super Joystiq Podcast 128: Reviews, New Nintendo 3DS, Majora's Mask 3D
Latest episode: Friday, January 16th, 2015