Graham Banas

Graham Banas

Contributor

Author Profile

For over a decade, Graham has been writing reviews for Push Square. In that period, he's encountered an innumerable amount of high-quality experiences, and yes, several duds. With an encyclopedic knowledge of games and studios, it should come as no surprise that he's comfortable playing any genre. However, when it comes time to write a review, you'll probably find that he gravitates towards music/rhythm games, and in more recent years, VR. If you let him talk about games long enough, he'll definitely let you know that his favorite game is Kentucky Route Zero.

Username
gbanas92
Articles
465 (248 reviews)
First Article
Tue 19th, November 2013
Avg. Review Score
6.8
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  • Hyper Light Drifter (PS4)

    20

    Review Hyper Light Drifter (PS4)

    Hyper greatness

    Games are released all of the time – every week without fail, as a matter of fact. A very large percentage of these are either forgettable or downright terrible. Sure some are okay, but the real joy stems from discovering a game so good that it couldn't be called anything other than a masterpiece. Enter Heart Machine's Hyper Light...

  • Asemblance (PS4)

    5

    Review Asemblance (PS4)

    Why aren’t you helping?

    A cacophony greets your ears upon starting up Asemblance. Alarms blare somewhere in the distance as a synthetic voice asks you why you aren't helping, how you feel, and what you remember. The problem is, we don't remember anything. How could we? We just started. Nilo Studios' debut makes a rather striking first impression...

  • Stunning Rhythm Game Thumper Secures Release Date Alongside PlayStation VR

    4

    News Stunning Rhythm Game Thumper Secures Release Date Alongside PlayStation VR

    Drool-worthy

    Playstation VR's launch lineup just got a whole lot more exciting. Indie dev, Drool - comprised of a pair of former Harmonix employees - has announced that its incredible rhythm game, Thumper, will be launching alongside Sony's headset on the 13th October. We got to play the VR version of the game - there will also be a regular PS4...

  • Ballet Platformer Bound Secures Release Date

    3

    E3 2016 Ballet Platformer Bound Secures Release Date

    And it’ll be here soon

    E3 is usually a pretty huge event when it comes to showing off new games. But it's also a big day for telling people when they'll be able to get their hands on games, too. For instance, this year's E3 saw an absolute monster load of titles get release dates. Not everything was AAA, though. While Sony was busy knocking its...

  • Indie Beauty ABZÛ Secures Release Date

    2

    E3 2016 Indie Beauty ABZÛ Secures Release Date

    And it’s not far off

    While it didn't feature in Sony's killer E3 press conference, the gorgeous indie title, ABZU, from the art director of Journey, did release a trailer during the show. Aside from the unsurprisingly gorgeous visuals and music, the trailer brought with it something even greater: a launch date, and it's coming fairly soon - 2nd...

  • CD Projekt Red’s Gwent Game Is Real

    6

    E3 2016 CD Projekt Red’s Gwent Game Is Real

    The rumors were true

    Well, since the logo of an alleged standalone game for CD Projekt Red's immensely popular card game-within-a-game leaked early last week, we can't say we're terribly surpised by this announcement. The standalone Gwent game was announced during Microsoft's E3 2016 conference. It is slated to feature a full campaign, as well as...

  • EA Offers Update on New Star Wars PS4 Titles

    5

    E3 2016 EA Offers Update on New Star Wars PS4 Titles

    All in a galaxy far, far away

    A behind-the-scenes video was shown off by EA during its E3 2016 conference about its Star Wars games. The firm has a lot of developers working on games in the Star Wars Universe, including a few current games, like Star Wars Battlefront, so it only made sense that it'd provide an update. A brief glimpse of...

  • Minecraft: Story Mode Crafts Next Episode

    6

    News Minecraft: Story Mode Crafts Next Episode

    Sixth time the charm?

    Starting 7th June, you'll be able to download the sixth entry in Telltale Games' Minecraft: Story Mode series. With the title 'A Portal to Mystery', the game will look to continue the game's post-Witherstorm narrative arc. The episode sounds like it will continue the anthology-style of storytelling that the series is using as...

  • Feeling Our Way Through Blind on PlayStation VR

    3

    Hands On Feeling Our Way Through Blind on PlayStation VR

    Who turned out the lights?

    There were a pretty substantial number of games at PAX East that implemented virtual reality: some used the plethora of headsets for gimmicks, some to generate unique experiences, and some as a framing device for titles that would be less interesting if they were made in the traditional way. Italian dev Tiny Bull Studios'...

  • Staying Frosty in Zen Pinball: Aliens vs. Pinball on PS4

    3

    DLC Review Staying Frosty in Zen Pinball: Aliens vs. Pinball on PS4

    How could they cut the power, man? They’re animals

    Zen Pinball 2 has received special tables linked with pre-existing properties before now, but the three-pack dedicated to the Alien license – and recently released in celebration of Alien Day – is, in theory, one of the more interesting ones. In execution, however, it's more of a mixed bag...

  • Rain World Conjures Up a Storm on PS4

    4

    Hands On Rain World Conjures Up a Storm on PS4

    Flash flooding

    Adult Swim Games brought a bunch of the games that it is publishing to PAX East recently, but the one that stood out among the pack would definitely have to be Videocult's Rain World. Described as a survival platformer, Rain World definitely falls firmly on the ambitious end of the spectrum when it comes to the genre. We got some...

  • The Park (PS4)

    13

    Review The Park (PS4)

    Do you wanna ride the rollercoaster?

    While developer Funcom's last console release, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, never found its way to a PlayStation platform, its newest title, The Park – developed by the firm's Oslo branch – does find its way onto Sony hardware. The Park is a story that supposedly takes place in the world of one of Funcom's...

  • Outrunning a Giant in Fated: The Silent Oath on PlayStation VR

    23

    Hands On Outrunning a Giant in Fated: The Silent Oath on PlayStation VR

    The end of days

    There were a pretty large number of virtual reality games being shown off at PAX East. Some awesome things were being done with the headsets, but one of the games that we were most impressed with was Frima Studios' Fated: The Silent Oath. A narrative-focused VR game, Fated sees you assume the role of a mute man as he tries to...

  • Thumper Provides a Reason to Jump into PlayStation VR

    7

    Hands On Thumper Provides a Reason to Jump into PlayStation VR

    Like music to our eyes

    Thumper was the first experience that we had with PlayStation VR at PAX East. And boy, what a first impression to make! In development for six years, the two-man team at Drool – Brian Gibson and Marc Flury, both former Harmonix devs – gave us some hands-on time with their VR rhythm game, and the experience was nothing...

  • Outlast 2 Scares Up Playable Demo at PAX East

    7

    Hands On Outlast 2 Scares Up Playable Demo at PAX East

    Don't let the batteries run out

    Horror game dev Red Barrels burst onto the console scene in 2014 with handheld camera horror game Outlast. For a first game, we were damn impressed with it. The subsequent expansion was equally impressive, and in the months that followed, the confirmation of a sequel made us downright giddy. So understandably, when...

  • PlayStation VR Musings Post PAX East

    8

    Feature PlayStation VR Musings Post PAX East

    It's everywhere

    Dreaming up interesting hardware peripherals has been a challenge for decades now. Some, like the Xbox Kinect, are cool but bungled in execution; others, like the Wii remote, are gimmicky but capture an audience anyway. Innovation is not enough when it comes to add-ons – the experience needs to be exceptional as well. And Sony may...

  • Pyre Illuminates the Night Sky with Playable Demo at PAX East

    11

    Hands On Pyre Illuminates the Night Sky with Playable Demo at PAX East

    Build that wall

    After two massively successful releases, indie studio Supergiant Games has made quite the name for itself in the industry. Both of its titles – Bastion and Transistor – have been well received critically, and are some of the most beautiful games that we've ever seen. So when the dev announced just a few days before PAX East that...

  • Harmonix Shares Its Plans for the Future of Rock Band 4 at PAX East

    5

    News Harmonix Shares Its Plans for the Future of Rock Band 4 at PAX East

    Groove to the music

    Rhythm game mainstays Harmonix had a panel on the final day of PAX East. During this panel, the dev outlined its plans for the future of Rock Band 4. There were several smaller announcements, as well as one bombshell reveal: online multiplayer will at last be arriving for the full-band rhythm game. While no firm release date was...

  • More Gwent Cards Headed to The Witcher 3 in Final Expansion

    5

    News More Gwent Cards Headed to The Witcher 3 in Final Expansion

    Oh my Skelligod!

    At a panel that discussed how card game Gwent came to appear in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Polish developer CD Projekt Red shared news that more cards are headed to the title in the final expansion, Blood and Wine. Not only will there be new cards, but a fifth deck will also be making its way into the title. While Blood and Wine...

  • Here's Jason! New Details on Friday the 13th for PS4 Revealed at PAX East

    12

    News Here's Jason! New Details on Friday the 13th for PS4 Revealed at PAX East

    Hackin’ and whackin’ and slashin’

    During a panel at PAX East, Gun Media, developer of the upcoming crowd-funded release based on the long-standing slasher film franchise Friday the 13th shared new details about the game. Amid discussion about some of the more gruesome elements of the game, the devs shed some new light on the title's second...

  • Reflecting on Our Time with Reflections

    3

    First Impressions Reflecting on Our Time with Reflections

    The mirror reflected

    Have you ever really wanted to decide what colours to paint a house and then actually paint? Have you ever had a very strong desire to take the time to fix the plumbing for your kitchen sink in a digital world? Or maybe you just really wanted to go to a local pond and skip stones? All of these things and more can be your reality...

  • Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 5: Order Up! (PS4)

    1

    Review Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 5: Order Up! (PS4)

    Blockheaded

    Telltale released the first four episodes of its Minecraft series fairly quickly – within three months, actually – but opted to wait several months before deploying the fifth episode. We've slung our fair share of criticisms at this series, but one of our biggest complaints was that Episode Four felt like the end of Season One; the...

  • 101 Ways To Die (PS4)

    1

    Review 101 Ways To Die (PS4)

    The sweet release of death

    101 Ways to Die is the newest release from Four Door Lemon, a British outfit with a long-lasting history to its name. This newest venture presents you with a physics-based puzzle experience where the goal is to lay and use a variety of traps to kill minions in a plethora of test chambers. By doing so, you're tasked with...

  • Unravel (PS4)

    10

    Review Unravel (PS4)

    No strings attached

    Pretty much from the moment that Coldwood Interactive's creative director, Martin Sahlin, took to the stage during EA's E3 2015 press conference, we had a good feeling about Unravel. Sure, Sahlin was very visibly nervous, but it was in an endearing way, and if anything, made our early impressions of the game even more positive...