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
Find Them On
LinkedIn • • Instagram
  • Attractio (PS4)

    7

    Review Attractio (PS4)

    Opposites Attractio

    Attractio is a new first-person puzzle game from Mexican developer GameCoder Studios. For anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Portal series from Valve, you will likely feel right at home, as this title is very much in that same ballpark. However, unlike with Portal, we came away from this experience with a lot left to...

  • Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 4: A Block and A Hard Place (PS4)

    10

    Review Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 4: A Block and A Hard Place (PS4)

    A fitting end, but not really

    Telltale's fourth Minecraft release over the course of just a few months continues the breakneck launch schedule that the developer has suddenly become fond of. We've been weary of this rapid schedule from day one because it's in such stark contrast to their normally overly long, drawn out release time frame - and this...

  • The Best PlayStation Soundtracks of 2015

    35

    Feature The Best PlayStation Soundtracks of 2015

    Like music to our ears

    With 2015 winding down, it's only natural that 'Best Of' lists are beginning to pop up everywhere you look. While games themselves get a lot of attention when it comes to these sorts of lists, the accompanying soundtracks get a little less love. We're here to change that and deliver our list of the ten best soundtracks to...

  • Graham's Personal PlayStation Picks

    12

    Game of the Year Graham's Personal PlayStation Picks

    Top of the league

    Every year the Push Square Team gets together to vote for the site's PlayStation Game of the Year. While we usually keep these polls secret, we're putting the spotlight on some of our authors this holiday so that they can highlight some of their personal favourites from 2015. Today it's the turn of Graham Banas, as he oils his...

  • Among the Sleep (PS4)

    10

    Review Among the Sleep (PS4)

    Nodding off

    Among the Sleep marks the first full-sized title from Norwegian developer Krillbite Studio. While it released on PC last May, the title has finally worked its way over to Sony's marquee machine. A first-person horror game, the title brings with it a very interesting perspective: you assume the role of a toddler – footie pyjamas and...

  • Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 3: The Last Place You Look (PS4)

    2

    Review Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 3: The Last Place You Look (PS4)

    Begin the rebuild

    A short month and a half after Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode premiered, we have already arrived at the third episode of the season. The first instalment wasn't exactly something that we were convinced by, but it left us interested. Unfortunately, Episode Two delivered one of the weakest episodic releases that we've seen in some...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 6 - The Ice Dragon (PS4)

    5

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 6 - The Ice Dragon (PS4)

    Finally, a finale

    It's safe to say that Game of Thrones has earned its reputation for being a brutal, violent, and gory addition to popular culture. For better or worse, Telltale Games has continued that grand tradition through six episodes – its longest season to date – to varying degrees of success. Considering the level of quality of the...

  • Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 2: Assembly Required (PS4)

    12

    Review Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 2: Assembly Required (PS4)

    Missing a few pieces

    Now that Tales from the Borderlands has concluded, it seems like Telltale may be working a little harder to release its games with shorter gaps between each episode. This marks the second Minecraft: Story Mode release of October, a paltry two weeks after the opening episode. Unfortunately, even with such a quick turnaround, the...

  • Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 5 - The Vault of the Traveler (PS4)

    10

    Review Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 5 - The Vault of the Traveler (PS4)

    Finger-gun fight at the O.K. Corral

    Tales from the Borderlands ended its first season recently – coincidentally, on the same day that Life Is Strange concluded – after nearly a year. While the release "schedule" for this series has been shaky at best for most of its run, Telltale remained a little more consistent as we got closer to the...

  • Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: The Order of the Stone (PS4)

    10

    Review Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: The Order of the Stone (PS4)

    Crafty devils

    Minecraft: Story Mode is Telltale Games' newest series. While it currently has two other releases with unfinished seasons – Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands – at least we know that one of them will be wrapping up very soon. So, the time seems ripe to begin a new episodic adventure. Unfortunately, the studio seems to...

  • NHL 16 (PS4)

    7

    Review NHL 16 (PS4)

    The icemen cometh

    When EA Canada said that NHL 14 would be skipping a next generation release so that it could concentrate on making NHL 15 the best that it could possibly be, no one really batted an eyelid. It sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing and for the most part it was accepted. That is, until NHL 15 released. Hockey's first foray onto...

  • Volume (PS4)

    10

    Review Volume (PS4)

    Robin good

    Volume is Mike Bithell's follow-up endeavour to the charming little platformer Thomas Was Alone. While this wasn't necessarily the most complicated side-scroller ever, its personality and wit allowed it to stand way out among the competition. Bithell's next project takes him into the stealth genre, with a title that wears its love for...

  • Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 4 - Escape Plan Bravo (PS4)

    14

    Review Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 4 - Escape Plan Bravo (PS4)

    Skin pizza party

    Since their respective debuts, Telltale appears to have prioritised Game of Thrones over Tales from the Borderlands. Indeed, the latter's release "schedule" could, at best, be described as inconsistent. The first episode released in November of last year, and now, ten months later, we've just made it to the fourth instalment. This...

  • Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room (PS4)

    7

    Review Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room (PS4)

    Dark side of the moons

    French developer DONTNOD really kicked things into overdrive with the third episode of Life Is Strange. While the first two episodes were certainly divisive – even amongst the staff here - it would be hard to argue that the series wasn't in the process of carving out its own niche. Episode three was where proceedings truly...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers (PS4)

    10

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers (PS4)

    The penultimate peril

    While developer Telltale's release schedule for Tales from the Borderlands could be described as sporadic at best, the studio's done a reasonably good job of delivering episodes in its Game of Thrones series in a relatively timely fashion. And this trend has continued with the season's penultimate episode, Game of Thrones:...

  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4)

    8

    Review The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4)

    Murder, my sweet

    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a port of the PC open world murder mystery title by Polish developer The Astronauts. Originally made using Unreal Engine 3, the game has since been rebuilt with Unreal Engine 4, much in the same way that former PlayStation Plus freebie Ether One was a couple of months back. To make it through the...

  • Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (PS4)

    19

    Review Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (PS4)

    Risky business

    Shantae: Risky's Revenge – Director's Cut is a PlayStation 4 port of the 2010 Metroidvania game by WayForward Technologies. Originally released on the Nintendo DSi, the title belly danced to the PC this time last year, and now it's finally the turn of Sony format fans to get their hands on the release. This is actually the second...

  • Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 3 - Catch a Ride (PS4)

    6

    Review Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 3 - Catch a Ride (PS4)

    Touchgoal

    After a hiatus that felt like forever, Telltale returns with Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 3 – Catch a Ride. While we felt that the opening episode was fantastic – it really was a pleasant surprise – the follow-up took a step back. It wasn't that Episode 2 was bad, it just didn't feel terribly fulfilling – but now we're at...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 4 - Sons of Winter (PlayStation 4)

    6

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 4 - Sons of Winter (PlayStation 4)

    Winter has come

    We are now two-thirds of the way through Telltale's Game of Thrones. House Forrester has spent the past three episodes being knocked around and bullied by House Bolton, House Whitehill, and a plethora of other antagonists. But while we found this series to be a bit of a slow burn at first, it has picked up pace of late, so can...

  • Life Is Strange: Episode 3 - Chaos Theory (PlayStation 4)

    14

    Review Life Is Strange: Episode 3 - Chaos Theory (PlayStation 4)

    Life is beautiful

    Life Is Strange: Episode 3 – Chaos Theory marks the third of five planned story instalments in Remember Me developer DONTNOD's divisive high school story. We had our fair share of problems with the first two episodes, but left the door open for the developer to truly deliver on the glimpses of promise that it had shown thus far...

  • Toren (PlayStation 4)

    12

    Review Toren (PlayStation 4)

    You're Toren us apart

    Toren marks the first release by Brazilian developer Swordtales, and is the latest of the smaller indie titles to grace the PlayStation 4. Sony's console seems like a great fit for the foray, too, as it takes a huge helping of inspiration from a PlayStation 2 classic, ICO. Of course, while drawing influence from such an iconic...

  • Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PlayStation 4)

    15

    Review Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PlayStation 4)

    Night of the Living Führer

    MachineGames has made a much quicker than expected return to the Wolfenstein series that it helped to re-popularise. After a number of years outside of the limelight, Wolfenstein: The New Order marked an exciting and exceptionally well constructed return to form for the franchise. Gone was the overbearing emphasis on...

  • Broken Age (PlayStation 4)

    20

    Review Broken Age (PlayStation 4)

    If it ain't broke, don't fix it

    Broken Age is the newest release from Double Fine, the developer founded by adventure game legend Tim Schafer. The release is noteworthy for having a massively successful Kickstarter campaign; with a goal of $400,000, the studio ended up raising almost $3.5 million. Of course, with huge money came big expectations,...

  • Scratching Our Heads Through Soul Axiom on PS4

    3

    First Impressions Scratching Our Heads Through Soul Axiom on PS4

    Axiom verge

    What do you get when you mix Tron with BioShock Infinite and Antichamber – and sprinkle a helping of Indiana Jones on top? The answer is, er, Soul Axiom. At least, that's the vibe that we got during a hands-on session with an early build of the game. The follow-up title from Master Reboot developer Wales Interactive, this is shaping up...