Gaming Roundup: Holiday 2017 Edition

A more-than-worthy successor to the 2014 phenomenon, Destiny 2 shows how closely Bungie listened to its community, building on the co-op and competitive aspects that made the original so great and improving on the story, which most players agreed was lacking. Destiny 2’s campaign is a complete, satisfying experience, even if it only deepened the mystery around the Traveler’s origins. Even leveling up feels simpler, if only because most veteran players have already established their preferred playstyle, taking tough decisions about which direction to move your character out of the equation. Shooter tradition almost demands that you finish the campaign before hopping into multiplayer, but it’s probably smarter to mine as much XP and gear as you can through crucible matches before going too far solo. With a stronger character, you’ll breeze through the story. The Collector’s Edition of this game is one of the crazier editions we’ve seen; it comes with an ornately detailed leather bag and triangular metal tube, modeled after the one carried by a character named Suraya. That tube opens up and folds out into a portable solar-powered USB charging station. It also includes a bevy of printed collectibles, a steelbook edition of the game, and a pass for DLC packs I and II.

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

On the surface, we’ve got this: The same Mario game you’ve played a hundred times, only now he’s got a boomerang hat. Play beyond the first 30 minutes, though, and you’ll discover an almost flawless game in every detail, sure to be one of your new personal faves. Switch owners were hoping for a worthy Mario game to help cement the system as a success. Nintendo over-delivered in spades, shipping a game that leapfrogged to the top of the Game of the Year discussion, and somehow entered the Best Game of All Time discussion. It’s hard to argue with any of that buzz. The rhythm, balance, and pace of Super Mario Odyssey is perfect, a confounding feat considering its open-world nature. At times it can feel like Nintendo has a patent on human curiosity and joy. That’s how effortlessly this game can make you feel like a kid again.

Available on: Nintendo Switch

The first campaign stage on Normandy Beach feels like a playable version of the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan. It’s brutal and frantic, and sets the tone for this welcome return to Call of Duty’s roots. Multiplayer and zombie modes are as tight as ever, but what makes this one stick with you is a story that respects the real sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation. That lifeline to the real world gives it some staying power that’s just not possible to achieve in a far-flung sci-fi adventure. As long as this much love and attention goes into each iteration, we’re completely fine with COD coming out every year.

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

A story about Nazis taking over America wasn’t supposed to have the kind of real-world resonance that it currently does, but that’s where we are. Setting aside that unpleasant reality, The New Colossus is a brilliant follow-up to 2014’s The New Order, with you picking up right where BJ Blazkowicz left off (spoiler alert: he survived the first game’s climactic scene). Just as it did with the first game, developer Machine Games eschewed a multiplayer mode altogether, focusing entirely on an engrossing single-player experience. That shines through in everything from its smooth gameplay mechanics to its distinct characters you can actually remember. It’s a bold, old-school mentality, but the payoff is huge. Makes you wish more developers would have the guts to follow suit.

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

This giant, 15-hour episode of South Park is so funny and packed with clever satire it deserves to be mentioned with the best South Park multi-episode arcs ever. (It’s right on par with the Imaginationland trilogy, the Black Friday trilogy, and the Coon series.) That would be reason enough to make this a mandatory purchase for South Park fans, but the fact that it’s a surprisingly deep and well-crafted RPG seals the deal. You have a ton of options for character development, from how you look to how you fight. The racial commentary is also sadly spot on. For starters, you select the difficulty of the game with a skin color slider—white is easy, tan is difficult, black is very difficult. As you get deeper into the game there’s a sequence where the South Park cops task you with taking down a supposedly infamous drug dealer, who turns out to just be a black guy in a nice house. Ouch. That’s South Park at its best and most biting.

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

It’s been four years since a Gran Turismo game came out, and with Forza firmly in command of the biggest virtual garage in gaming, GT put its efforts elsewhere, namely online play and VR. Serious players will get a kick out of the online mode. Over time, it’s easy to imagine that players with low sportsmanship ratings—those involved in the most pileups—will be shunned and shamed. While you can’t take VR online or into the campaign, it’s a pretty awesome arcade experience (if you’re not susceptible to motion sickness). With the price of the VR headset dropping $100 for the holidays, and with a steadily growing library to go with it, Gran Turismo Sport stands as another worthy selling point, and you can now get it bundled with the headset.

Available on: PS4

Crash never looked so good, from the newly rendered opening sequence to all three PS One games remastered in HD to smooth out his jagged polygons. Those are welcome changes because the core gameplay has aged well, even for an on-the-rails 3D platformer. Everything is slick and responsive, and once you get going you won’t rest until you smash every crate on every level. One downer: long load times are one of the few carryovers from ’90s games that don’t satisfy any nostalgic urge.

Available on: PS4

What was missing from a racing series that has given you an accurate representation of nearly every car on the planet? You probably didn’t say story mode, but you won’t be sorry that that’s what you got. It’s actually a perfect way for the game to sink its hooks into you and get you to sample a ton of different tracks, cars, and weather conditions right out of the gate. The replay value is huge; you can unlock a whopping 700 lovingly detailed cars. Forza Motorsport 7 is also the poster child for enhancements on the Xbox One X, but it looks good no matter how you’re playing.

Available on: Xbox One, PC

The first Middle Earth game played fast and loose with Tolkien lore while borrowing heavily from the Arkham series gameplay mechanics. The result was a shock: tight and cohesive, and hands down the best game of 2014. Shadow of War finds the co-main characters Talion and Celebrimbor forging a new ring of power to destroy the inhabitants of Mordor for a story that leaves off just before the events of The Lord of the Rings. Developer Monolith jacked up the dials on everything that worked in the original: the nemesis system, your ability tree, and the brutal combat animations, which have all been expanded and polished. For an open world game, the pace remains lightning fast because it’s just so densely packed. Wander in any direction and you’ll discover something, be it a collectible, a side mission, or a pack of enemies to sneak up on.

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Styled after early 20th century cartoons, Cuphead has been the subject of much anticipation since it was first teased three years ago. It’s a standard platformer, but one that looked so unique everyone wanted to pick it up. Now that it’s finally out we know what took so long: every frame you see was drawn by hand, from the main characters Cuphead and Mugman, to the level bosses, to the top-down map where the locations pulse with life, an intentional side-effect of hand animation. And in true throwback fashion, this gameplay is solid, difficult, and addictive. For $20, you can’t say no to this.

Available on: Xbox One, PC