Dan Stapleton
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Writing For
IGNLatest Reviews
Sid Meier’s Starships’ battles held my attention for a handful of games, after which point the tactical AI’s behavior became exploitable and the strategic layer became too muddled and unpredictable. So I say so long to Starships after a brief time, but I’ll always remember its neato torpedoes. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Dan Stapleton...
More than anything, Cities: Skylines is about the simple joy of building. It’s a really impressive and often beautiful simulation, where an amazing number of virtual people go about their business across a huge swath of land. Getting in and creating something is easy, though mastering it will require extensive...
Homeworld: The Remastered Collection does a fantastic job of polishing up and reintroducing these formerly hard-to-experience classic real-time strategy games. Over the 15 years since it first came out, these exciting, large-scale space battles haven’t been matched, much less surpassed, and its outstanding atmosphere and story can teach modern game...
The time I’ve spent with Binding of Isaac: Rebirth has been non-stop fun and surprises, with just a tad too much frustration when I lose a rare item. But even when it slaps me down harder than I’d have liked, starting again is always a treat, because I’m likely to...
Defense Grid 2’s new variations on the original’s excellent tower defense gameplay pulled me right back into the compulsively addictive quest to destroy all aliens with a minimum of expenditure. I don’t recommend the multiplayer and the story doesn’t even compare to the standard set by the original, but its...
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor stands out from other open-world action games by putting a great new layer on top of the trail that Batman blazed. I was surprised at how well it integrates its excellent combat with rewarding feedback and progression not just for me, but also for my enemies....
Dead Rising 3 on PC is as expected: the same great game it is on Xbox One, but prettier. On the other side of that coin, it includes the same issues with the map design feeling maze-like and confusing, but no other game does huge hordes of zombies quite like...
Infamous: First Light is a decent story around a better character than Second Son, but its battles don’t have the same scale or superpower variety that Second Son’s do. After the short campaign, its challenge maps put a new spin on combat by taking away your ability to escape danger...
Watch Dogs
One-button hacking might be overly simplistic, but it does give you abilities that make playing through Aiden’s story feel powerful and fun. Doing side missions and multiplayer as you make your way through the dark and lengthy story makes it feel like a huge adventure, and stealth options let you...
Cold, Cold Heart is a self-contained adventure that retells the familiar Mr. Freeze origin story. That's good news and bad news, because while Freeze's motivations are some of Batman's rogue's gallery's most sympathetic, this version sadly seems to have virtually no interest in putting a new spin on it. It's...
Goat Simulator isn’t much of a game, but it’s a hell of a good time. The small but dense map is packed with tons of jokes and bugs that should be seen rather than talked about, and there’s at least a few hours’ worth of entertainment in goofing around with...
Dead Rising 3
Dead Rising 3 doesn’t get by on its looks, but its meaty zombie-slaying combat and nearly endless supply of undead and ridiculous weapons go a long way. Through its lengthy campaign, I was always eager to see what crazy zombie-squishing contraption would come along next. It rarely disappointed, except when...
