DAMNOSAUR

DAMNOSAUR has the bluntness of a creature title and usually points to a game built around smashing, surviving, or being hunted rather than careful exploration. By our assessment, that kind of premise can be satisfying when the combat or movement has a strong physical feel, because a monster-game lives on impact and momentum. The limit is obvious too: if the systems underneath are thin, the whole thing can turn into the same clash repeated in different rooms. In practice, this sort of game tends to be about short bursts of aggression and learning enemy patterns, not about subtle pacing. It sits in the crowded middle of monster action games, where personality has to do a lot of work. DAMNOSAUR sounds like it wants to be loud first, and that usually means it will either win you over with a strong hook or run out of room quickly.