Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie / Fallout 4 / Star Wars Battlesomething / Until Dawn
Ancillary Justice won the Hugo, Nebula, and so on, so there's not much I can do either way for its reputation. But for what it's worth, I give it two thumbs up. Certainly extraordinary for a first novel. You can (well, I can) easily imagine the novel taking place in some part of the Iain Banks-verse. Not in the Culture, but nearby. So, if (like me) you like Banks, I feel certain you'll like this as well.
Fallout 4 is lovely, expansive, polished, enjoyable, but stretches the formula very little.
Star Wars ShootPeople suffers the usual problems of these things. The professional virtual soldier types level up and get even better stuff so they are even better at killing newbs like me. The single-player stuff is okay at best, and doesn't actually do a very good job of 'training'. But still, the Walker Assault multiplayer is still pretty enjoyable -- 20 on 20 battles, with the Rebels working on objectives to destroy the marching AT-ATs, and the Imperials working to stop them.
Until Dawn is a lot like the Walking Dead game -- a horror movie (or TV show) where decisions affect future outcomes, interspersed with occasional press-the-right-button episodes. Lots of unlikeable teenage-ish characters, but still strangely compellingly playable/watchable. I had hoped it has replay value, and maybe it does, but now it seems like quite a slog to get through all the watch-y parts. And I once again failed to save Jessica. Oh well.
Fallout 4 is lovely, expansive, polished, enjoyable, but stretches the formula very little.
Star Wars ShootPeople suffers the usual problems of these things. The professional virtual soldier types level up and get even better stuff so they are even better at killing newbs like me. The single-player stuff is okay at best, and doesn't actually do a very good job of 'training'. But still, the Walker Assault multiplayer is still pretty enjoyable -- 20 on 20 battles, with the Rebels working on objectives to destroy the marching AT-ATs, and the Imperials working to stop them.
Until Dawn is a lot like the Walking Dead game -- a horror movie (or TV show) where decisions affect future outcomes, interspersed with occasional press-the-right-button episodes. Lots of unlikeable teenage-ish characters, but still strangely compellingly playable/watchable. I had hoped it has replay value, and maybe it does, but now it seems like quite a slog to get through all the watch-y parts. And I once again failed to save Jessica. Oh well.