Reviews

Review: An Exhausting Vice Turns Dick Cheney Into a Cartoon Villain

Every year there are at least a few Oscar-prestige movies, usually arriving around Christmastime, that are praised to the skies simply for being adult entertainments. These pictures ostensibly require the use of a few more...

By Stephanie Zacharek December 17, 2018

Everything You Need to Know About Words With Friends 2

Zynga is launching the "biggest evolution" of its mobile words game, with the hopes of luring more users and buoying its bottom line

By Katy Steinmetz November 8, 2017

Review: Google's Pixel 2 a Great Samsung Alternative

Google is playing catch up to Apple and Samsung with the Pixel 2

By Lisa Eadicicco October 17, 2017

Review: Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 Is Superb, But Familiar

Is it enough to take on the next iPhone?

By Lisa Eadicicco September 5, 2017

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Review

It's another home run for the Nintendo Switch

By Matt Peckham August 28, 2017

This Gadget Gives Your MacBook Air A Touchscreen

The question is whether your MacBook Air is better with one

By Lisa Eadicicco July 18, 2017

Review: 'Arms' Is Weird, Wonderful, and Maybe the Perfect Switch Game

This fighting game is bizarre but fun in classic Nintendo fashion

By Matt Peckham June 7, 2017

Review: 'Magikarp Jump' Is So Dumb It Just Might Be Brilliant

The Pokémon Company's newest critter-catching game is all about the clicks

By Matt Peckham May 25, 2017

Review: House of Cards Returns With a Thud

As real-life politics generates high drama, the political shows that flourished in the Obama years--Veep, Scandal--suddenly seem less urgent. No show feels more diminished than Netflix's House of Cards, now in its fifth season. Cards...

By Daniel D'Addario May 25, 2017

The Keepers Avoids True Crime's Ghastliest Pitfalls

True crime has never been hotter. From the dingy (NBC's Dateline, pretty much anything on Investigation Discovery) to the highbrow (the podcast Serial, HBO's The Jinx), entertainment that allows viewers to play detective has increasingly...

By Daniel D'Addario May 25, 2017

Review: Brad Pitt Takes on the Runaway General in War Machine

People outside the armed services rarely fathom what makes military people tick. War Machine, directed by David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) and adapted from the late journalist Michael Hastings' book The Operators, does. And although it's...

By Stephanie Zacharek May 25, 2017

Review: 'Minecraft' for Nintendo Switch Is the Best Version Yet

It's another great reason to get a Switch

By Matt Peckham May 11, 2017

'Prey' Is a Very Good Sci-Fi Shooter You've Played Before (So Far)

At least, that's how it feels 12 hours in

By Matt Peckham May 5, 2017

'What Remains of Edith Finch' Is a Powerful Elegiac Mystery

A tale of death, and the things we leave behind

By Matt Peckham April 24, 2017

Review: This Retro Console Is the Best Way to Relive Nintendo's Glory Days

The best NES simulator going, though you'll pay for it.

By Matt Peckham April 6, 2017

Review: 'Ghost Recon Wildlands' Is the Open-World Shooter You've Always Wanted

It brings all of Ubisoft's best ideas together, and fixes its biggest problem

By Matt Peckham March 6, 2017

Review: 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild' Is a Masterpiece

A magisterial new Zelda more than capable of carrying the Nintendo Switch at launch

By Matt Peckham March 2, 2017

Review: '1-2-Switch' Is the Real Reason to Buy the Nintendo Switch

A fantastic party game with a brilliant hook

By Matt Peckham March 2, 2017

Review: The Switch Is the Nintendo System We've Been Waiting For

Thought important questions remain about the system's online features

By Matt Peckham March 1, 2017

Review: 'Resident Evil 7' Looks Backward for Better and Worse

This is a very different spin on the classic survival horror series — but the results are mixed.

By Matt Peckham January 23, 2017

Review: 'Gravity Rush 2' Gets Everything Right — Except the Controls

Another terrific premise with breathtaking freedom marred by fiddly controls

By Matt Peckham January 10, 2017

Review: 'Super Mario Run' Is the Perfect Mobile Mario Game, Almost

Besides one potentially maddening flaw, Nintendo seems to have mastered designing games for mobile phones

By Matt Peckham December 15, 2016

Review: After Years in Development, The Last Guardian Is a Thing of Wonder

The PlayStation 4 title is a monumental achievement that introduces a new kind of hero unlike any other

By Matt Peckham December 5, 2016

Review: Oculus' New Controllers Fix the Rift's Biggest Shortcoming

It's the experience Oculus should have delivered 9 months ago

By Matt Peckham December 5, 2016

Review: 'Final Fantasy XV' Is a Glorious Return to Relevance

It's the best Final Fantasy in years, and one of the best roleplaying games of 2016

By Matt Peckham November 28, 2016

Review: 'Watch Dogs 2' Breaks as Many Things as It Fixes

A better story, smarter protagonist and subtler hacking tools fall victim to exploits and absent launch features

By Matt Peckham November 17, 2016

Review: Apple Finally Brings Touch to the MacBook Pro

But not in the way anybody expected

By Lisa Eadicicco November 14, 2016

Review: PlayStation 4 Pro Offers Breathtaking Graphics So Long as You Have a 4K TV

Sony's $399 PlayStation 4 Pro is an achievement worth celebrating — but it's only worth it if you've got a 4K TV and demand the best graphics possible

By Matt Peckham November 7, 2016

Review: 'Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare' Reaches for the Stars But Never Gets off the Ground

Activision's sci-fi installment of the popular shooter franchise is predictable and short on plot

By Matt Peckham November 4, 2016

Review: 'Civilization 6’ Fixes Most of the Series' Biggest Flaws

Except a really important one

By Matt Peckham October 25, 2016

See Why 'Battlefield 1' Makes World War I Great Again

Three words: pacing, pacing, pacing

By Matt Peckham October 17, 2016

Review: 'Battlefield 1' Is One of the Year's Best Shooters

This is how World War I makes battlefields more interesting, not less

By Matt Peckham October 17, 2016

Review: 'Skylanders Imaginators' Is a Game You'll Love Playing With Your Kids

It's the latest in Activision and Toys for Bob's popular toys-to-life series

By Matt Peckham October 12, 2016

Review: 'Mafia 3' Squanders One of the Year's Best Stories on Stale Gameplay

Hanger 13's Mafia epic is at turns brilliant and at others broken

By Matt Peckham October 12, 2016

Why 'Dragon Quest Builders' Is a Worthy Minecraft Alternative

A traditional roleplaying game staged in a beautiful block-filled sandbox

By Matt Peckham October 11, 2016

Review: Playstation VR Is the Best First-Generation Virtual Reality Headset

Sony's VR device is the friendliest, visually clearest, most affordable of the initial raft of headsets

By Matt Peckham October 5, 2016

Review: 'Dragon Quest Builders' Is the Post-'Minecraft' Game You Have to Play

It's a better builder because of its constraints, not in spite of them

By Matt Peckham October 4, 2016

Review: 'Burly Men at Sea' Is a Whimsical Romp Worth Taking

A lighthearted folklorish tale of three men and the sea

By Matt Peckham September 29, 2016

Why 'Virginia' Is a Fascinating Narrative Experiment You Have to Try

A wondrous strange vision from creators Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny

By Matt Peckham September 26, 2016

Review: If You Love David Lynch You Have to Play 'Virginia'

It's a poignant tale of tragedy and terrifying mystery for PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One

By Matt Peckham September 22, 2016

What It's Like to Play 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided'

The cyberpunk stealth-action game hides its politics in plain sight

By Matt Peckham August 23, 2016

Review: 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' Offers An Incredible Array of Ways to Play

And that's before you've tinkered with the new Breach mode

By Matt Peckham August 19, 2016

'Bound' Lets You Dance Your Way to Catharsis

A game about exploring the past through graceful motion

By Matt Peckham August 16, 2016

Review: 'Bound' Is Beautiful to Watch, But Not Very Interesting to Play

Dance your way through a geometrically unhinged world

By Matt Peckham August 15, 2016

What It's Like to Use the World's Thinnest Laptop

Trying out HP's new Spectre laptop

By Lisa Eadicicco August 12, 2016

Review: 'No Man's Sky' Isn't What You Wanted. Thank God

No Man's Sky is not the game most people expected it to be. Why that's a very good thing

By Matt Peckham August 9, 2016

Google's Slick Pixel Buds Finally Give Android Users the AirPods They Deserve

Microsoft's Surface Pro X Is Pretty But Not Ready for Primetime

Rhiannon Giddens Is Reclaiming the Black Heritage of American Folk Music

Amazon’s Vanity Fair Is a Master Class in Adapting Classic Novels for a Modern Audience