PS4 Game Reviews
MXGP Con
Milestone releases a large number of racing games every year. Some of them aren’t half bad, such as Gravel, while others, chiefly its motorcycle games, leave something to be desired. Unfortunately, MXGP Pro is one of the motorcycle games, and while this is nowhere near as bad as the absolute debacle that was MXGP 3, it’s a definite step...
Déjà crew
One of the elements that was universally praised about The Crew was its open world. While developer Ivory Tower’s abbreviated version of the USA was a wonderfully put together slice of Americana, the surrounding game, ultimately let things down with its Fast & Furious-inspired story, and disappointing opponent AI. With The Crew...
Review The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset (PS4)
Have you heard of the high elves?
Ah, Summerset. The picturesque island home of the high elves. Vibrant in colour and steeped in magic, it's a wondrous Elder Scrolls setting that's yet to be properly explored in video game form, and The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset does a great job of bringing it to life. Like last year's Morrowind...
Review Super Bomberman R (PS4)
Bombs away
With over 30 entries in the Bomberman series, you’d be excused for thinking the formula would be getting stale and running out of ideas. However, Super Bomberman R proves that there are still a few tricks up those bomb-filled sleeves. Recent years have seen a plethora of spin-offs released, but this year’s entry is a return to the...
Review Lumines Remastered (PS4)
Lumines beings are we
Rhythm games have a long and storied history throughout gaming, and Tetsuya Mizuguchi is one of the most important creators tied to it, having created such masterpieces as Rez, Child of Eden, the upcoming – and incredible looking – Tetris Effect, and of course Lumines. So it’s cause for celebration that the...
Knockout?
Republished on Wednesday 27th June 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. As we looked away from the screen to make some review notes, another player rounded the corner and started beating our motionless avatar. Not wanting to stand...
Taste the Rainbow
It’s taken six years for us to finally get our hands on the sequel to Rainbow Moon and thankfully the wait has been very much worth it. Rainbow Skies is bigger and better than its predecessor in pretty much every way. There's a much stronger narrative this time round and you can tell that a lot more effort has been poured into...
Review LEGO The Incredibles (PS4)
No capes
The licensed LEGO games have covered plenty of cinematic ground - especially if you include the now defunct LEGO Dimensions line - and at this point they’ve become a bit of a video game institution. While you’d think the well would’ve run dry over the last decade or so, the arrival of LEGO The Incredibles, to coincide with the release...
Review Far Cry 3: Classic Edition (PS4)
The definition of insanity
We have to say, it's rather pleasant to play Far Cry 3 again. There's a simplicity to it that we appreciate -- the wildlife is present but less malicious, the main antagonist is still wonderfully unstable, and the Rook Islands still make for an enjoyable, picturesque backdrop. That we are playing this entry through again...
Review New Gundam Breaker (PS4)
Gundamned
"More like New Gundam Broken" started out as a dumb joke that we slung around the Push Square office after spending just 20 minutes or so with this latest mech-'em-up from Bandai Namco, but here we are 20 hours later and nothing has changed. New Gundam Breaker is a disappointing wreck of a release, and yet another...
Review The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (PS4)
The kids aren't alright
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a free first glimpse into the extended universe of Life Is Strange 2, which is set to debut later this year. Starring a 10-year-old named Chris several years after the events in Arcadia Bay, the entire episode takes place during a lazy Saturday morning several miles away in a new...
Put the kids to bed
The first twenty minutes or so of The Lost Child set up an intriguing mystery, but once the game settles into a comfortable rhythm things become decidedly less compelling, and at times, an outright slog. The game begins in a Tokyo subway station with an investigative journalist who specialises in the occult named Hayato looking...
Review Illusion: A Tale of the Mind (PS4)
Lobotomy
Some games, no matter how much work the devs put into them, just never come together. While some elements could be great, the overall experience just doesn’t click in any meaningful way. Illusion: A Tale of the Mind, from Canadian dev Frima, is a title that suffers from this. While its virtual reality title Fated: The Silent Oath is one...
Review Jurassic World Evolution (PS4)
Life, uh, finds a way
In the original Jurassic Park movie when things start going a little bit pear shaped, the perennially optimistic benefactor of the world's first dinosaur zoo John Hammond reminds everyone that when Disneyland opened none of the rides worked properly either. Mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm cynically retorts: "Yeah, but, John, if...
Review Shape of the World (PS4)
A world of pure imagination
Vancouver-based developer Hollow Tree Games has come a long way since its first Kickstarter for Shape of the World in 2015. It's exciting that new IPs such as this can be realised with the right practice, and the studio's hard work over the past three or so years has largely paid off. Shape of the World is a delightfully...
Review BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle (PS4)
Double down
On a surface level it's easy to look at BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle and dub it Arc System Works Asset Reuse: The Game. In some ways that snarky title is disappointingly accurate, but it ignores the effort that's gone into making this stylish 2D fighter a lot of fun to play. Tag Battle features characters from four different...
Review Far Cry 5: Hours of Darkness (PS4)
Hell or high whatever
In the two months since its release, the general consensus surrounding Far Cry 5 has settled on it being a solid experience but also one that didn’t bring anything new to the table. In the hope of finding something fresh, series fans have been placing their bets on the game’s post-launch DLC to satisfy those needs. The...
Doggo hunting
Along Together is a puzzler for PlayStation VR that tasks you with rescuing your pet dog Rishu as two different characters, either the pooch’s male or female owner and their imaginary friend. With a fair few comparisons able to be made between itself and Moss, Along Together arrives with a decent amount of promise, but is that...
Goro-go and buy this game
Have you ever played one of those games where it became immediately apparent that you had something special on your hands? Something so good that it may well fundamentally change the manner in which you play and think about games? Well this is Gorogoa. And it just so happens to be one of those games. Publisher Annapurna...
To hell but not back
When UK tabloid newspaper The Sun says your new title is "the most controversial game since Grand Theft Auto" you know you’re on for a winner. This potential for upset has been a double-edged sword for developer Mad Mind Studios, who’s been battling the censors and had to cut an undisclosed amount of content to secure an...
Killing with style
The boss tasked Piero with taking out a rivaling syndicate’s Lieutenant who goes by “Africana.” He’s told she frequents a brothel in a shadier sector of Milan, and he needs to go make sure she never makes it home. This is a normal Thursday night for him; Piero is used to dirty jobs, after all. If the pay is right, he'll...
Review Trials Fusion (PlayStation 4)
Motorcycle menagerie
Republished on Wednesday 30th May 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. There aren’t nearly enough motorcycle games that let you play a round of tennis with a penguin, of that we can all agree. Alas, until some clever...
Loving the alien
Republished on Wednesday 30th May 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. When aliens landed on Earth in 2012 strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, it was up to you to unite the people of our planet against the invading...
Review Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (PS4)
Does what it says on the tin
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a complete collection of every single Street Fighter and spin-off released since the 1987 arcade original right up to 1999's Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. That's a whopping 12 games included on just a single disc – a veritable bounty for fans of Street Fighter or fighting...
Review Yoku's Island Express (PS4)
Pinball Wizard
Because many video games lean on familiar gameplay loops, archetypal characters, and genre conventions, when you're reviewing them it can sometimes feel like you're saying exactly the same thing about a game that you already wrote about previously. But every now and again you'll have to write a sentence during a review that you know...
Fame and fortune
It's pretty difficult to be original these days, and in some ways, Moonlighter could be seen as rather derivative. Rogue-lite dungeon crawling, management sims, pixel art action RPGs -- we see these all the time nowadays, but this game's trick is smashing them all together. The result is a title you'll feel like you've played...
Review PixelJunk Monsters 2 (PS4)
Man in the wooden mask
It's been a whole decade since the excellent PixelJunk Monsters paraded onto the PlayStation 3, and in that time, it's been ported to several different platforms. It's one of the best examples of the tower defence genre, with its addictive strategising, charming visuals, and fiendish level of challenge. Q-Games has finally...
Review SEGA Mega Drive Classics (PS4)
Genesis
SEGA Mega Drive Classics is one of those games you've probably already made up your mind about. The Mega Drive (or the Genesis, depending on where you are) played host to some absolute gems in the 90s, and for many, the chance to relive some fond memories on PS4 will be an attractive proposal. There are over 50 games in this retro...
Review Everspace: Galactic Edition (PS4)
Spaced out
Everspace is a roguelike space exploration game from small independent developer Rockfish Games. You begin your adventure as the pilot of a spaceship on a journey of self-discovery, as you have lost all your memories (except your flying skills). On your way you’ll explore various space environments and meet many different aliens that...
Review Space Hulk: Deathwing (PS4)
The not-so incredible hulk
The Warhammer 40K universe represents a ripe source of inspiration for video games. With its galaxy spanning conflicts, rammed full of fascinating factions, it's mind boggling that there’s only been a small number of great games that’ve made good use of its expansive lore. With a steady stream of Warhammer 40K titles...