Section 02
Reviews
A minimum of fifteen hours before anything gets a score. We list what we played on and how long we played, because a review from a flagship phone is a different review.
A shooter that respects your storage
Tight gunplay, a sensible install size, and matchmaking that finds a lobby in under twenty seconds on a mid-range phone. It loses points for a battle pass that pushes hard in the first week and menus that assume a bigger screen than most people here are holding. Everything that matters once the match starts is excellent.
Great football, rough first hour
Once you're on the pitch it's the best the series has felt in years — passing has weight and defending finally rewards patience instead of punishing it. Getting there means fighting through an online setup that timed out on us four times and a squad menu clearly built for a controller nobody handed you.
The fighting game to learn on right now
Generous training mode, readable characters, and a ranked ladder that doesn't throw you at a veteran in your third match. Regional servers still add a few frames on a bad night, but the offline scene here is strong enough that it barely matters. The best on-ramp the genre has had in a decade.
Pretty, empty, and priced like it isn't
The opening two hours are gorgeous and the soundtrack is doing serious work. Then the map opens up and there's nothing in it — the same three encounters, copied across a very large space. At full price it's hard to defend. Wait for a heavy discount, or don't bother.
What our scores mean
A ten-point scale is only useful if the numbers are used. Ours are. We give out scores below six regularly, because plenty of games deserve them, and a publication where everything lands between seven and nine is a publication telling you nothing.
- 9–10 — Genuinely excellent. Buy it, and rearrange your week.
- 7–8 — Good, with real flaws we've named. Most well-made games live here.
- 5–6 — Something works and something doesn't. Read the review before you spend.
- 3–4 — Broken, hollow, or dishonest about what it's selling.
- 1–2 — Don't.
We buy what we review, or we say clearly in the first paragraph that a code was provided. We never accept conditions in exchange for access — no embargoed scores, no approved questions, no early look in return for a tone. If a publisher offers that deal, the offer itself becomes part of the story.
Read the full policy on how we work.
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