Author Details
Jacob Zeranko is a writer, actor, musician, and producer based out of Baltimore, MD. Currently, Jacob is bounding around various projects such as writing an EP, producing local podcasts, and organzing writing. When not consumed by these projects, he is likely cuddling with his cat Bella and watcing whatever looks interesting on YouTube.
Industry Focus
Jacob began his time at Screen Rant as a feature writer for the gaming team but now has since shifted to writing game reviews, previews, and the occasional interview.
Favorite Media
Favorite games: Horizon: Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarok, Ghost of Tsushima, Dishonored 2, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Backbone, and Signalis. Favorite bands: Plini, Periphery, Polyphia, Spiritbox, Haken, and David Maxin Micic. Some miscellanious favorites include Demon Slayer, The Sound Inside (play), and The Last 5 Years (musical).
"A Wonderful Game That Would Benefit From A Few Tweaks": Sea Horizon Review
Sea Horizon delivers addictive deck-building gameplay with some chance & charm mixed in. It struggles with its RNG elements but not to a detriment.
"A Joy To Experience And An Absolute Must-Play" - My Friendly Neighborhood Review
With fantastic writing, acting, puzzles, gameplay, and level design, My Friendly Neighborhood is a must-play that deserves more attention.
"A Strong Game That Lacks The It-Factor": Exoprimal Review
While it struggles with storytelling & repetitive game modes, Exoprimal provides top-tier gameplay that’s fluid, addicting, & well worth trying out.
"Not Ready For Full Release": Nimbus INFINITY Review
Nimbus INFINITY struggles to tell a clear and cohesive story or offer a satisfying experience due to poor optimization and design choices.
"Held Back By Some Poor Decisions" - Testament: The Order of High Human Preview
Testament: The Order of High Human is an ambitious title from a small studio that presents an interesting world but struggles with significant flaws.
Humanity Review: Using Puzzles To Show The Beauty Of The Human Experience
Humanity uses creative & unique puzzle design to shake up the expectations of the genre & tell a beautiful story about the human experience.
Apex Legends Season 17 Goes Ballistic With Major Legend Addition
Season 17 brings a number of new features, such as the new legend Ballistic, quality of life changes to Ranked, & the new weapon mastery system.
Showgunners Review: Addicting, Deadly, And Confident
With addicting turn-based combat, interesting characters, & engaging real-time exploration, navigating Showgunners’ deadly gameshow is a blast.
Teslagrad 2 Review: Fluid Movement & Clunky Physics
Teslagrad 2 is a short, fun, & engaging game with a beautiful world that struggles with a few drawbacks in its gameplay & ineffective storytelling.
Ghostwire: Tokyo Xbox Review: An Almost Seamless Port
Despite its original flaws being present, the quality of this game and its inclusion on Game Pass makes trying it out an easy recommendation.
Meet Your Maker Review: Architectural Sadism And Unbalanced Enjoyment
Meet Your Maker houses a robust building system & interesting mechanics, but it ultimately favors the builders and puts players at a disadvantage.
Ravenbound Review: Decent Combat In An Empty World
Ravenbound should be an addicting roguelike in a dark & active open-world. Instead, its mechanics work against each other & the world suffers for it.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Preview - Interesting, But Lackluster
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum preview showed the start of an interesting new story in Middle-earth, as well as clunky & unengaging gameplay.
Remnant: From The Ashes Switch Review - A Decent Port For Struggling Hardware
The core of Remnant: From the Ashes is alive & well in this port, but the Switch’s awkward controls & aging hardware struggles to do the game justice.
Wanted: Dead Review: Unfocused, Unrefined, And Unclear
Wanted: Dead is a flashy game with an enticing premise that fails to provide refined gameplay & poorly handles sensitive subject matter.
Tails: The Backbone Preludes Review: Enriching An Avant Garde Masterpiece
Tails: The Backbone Preludes offers four moving stories that expand the world of Backbone and explore the complexities of the human experience.
Superfuse Preview: A Stylish Package That's Confusing & Unengaging
Superfuse is a promising title with interesting ideas, but fails to provide context to its world & guidance through its various, unintuitive systems.
Backfirewall_ Review: Clever Puzzles, Charming Wit, & Moving Story
Backfirewall_ is a surprising title that uses its clever puzzles to tell a story of change, community, and how to work through one’s darkest moments.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Preview: A Fun Yet Hollow First Impression
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s first 2 chapters showed off its fun & visceral gameplay but struggled to present an interesting world or balanced mechanics.
Scars Above Preview: A Promising Adventure In Need Of Refinement
Scars Above is a promising sci-fi shooter with an intriguing world & story, but poor gameplay mechanics make it hard to enjoy in its current state.