PS4 Game Reviews
High in the sky
How We Soar is a wonderfully well-crafted virtual reality game that follows the journey of an author, through his struggles of trying to write his first novel. Although he has many ideas, he cannot decide on one over another, and so all of them are compiled together to form the environments of each level in the game. Although the...
Review Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (PS4)
The art of war
It's weird to think that since Darksiders was released in 2010, Vigil Games disbanded, THQ went bankrupt, and Nordic Games acquired the franchise. Not only that, but it has even reincorporated under the name THQ Nordic and overseen remasterings of both games. So while ex-Vigil Games employees are scattered around the place with...
Review Yesterday Origins (PS4)
Yesterday came suddenly
You might not know it in the modern era of gaming, but you can have an extensive and detailed narrative told on a much smaller scale than the open world blockbusters we've become accustomed to. It wasn't really that long ago that games such as the Monkey Island series or the Broken Sword games were the highlight of narrative...
Do you underSTEIN?
Imagine if we managed to create a working time machine? How long before the future, past, and present were altered irrevocably – and would it be fun and games or trauma and death? Steins;Gate was a massively acclaimed visual novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus back in 2009 telling of humanity's first time-travelling...
Review Small Radios Big Televisions (PS4)
Virtual surreality
Despite this review's subheading, Small Radios Big Televisions is not a VR game – at least, not in regular terms. Indeed, it's your in-game self that dons a headset in Adult Swim's exploration puzzler as you make your way through the empty halls of abandoned facilities. Quite why this is the case is very much a mystery, and...
Review Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization (PS4)
Full dive
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is the PlayStation 4's third Sword Art Online title, and it's the best one yet. Boasting an original story that takes place after the events of the various animes, Hollow Realization takes the property's cast of teenage gamers and throws them into an entirely new adventure. Fans of the franchise will...
Knife to see you again
Stealth. Games that do it really well don't come along all that often, with most choosing merely to dabble their toes in the murky waters where a knife in the dark is king. When looking back over those titles that made sticking to the shadows most satisfying, there was one thing that they all had in common: options. Whether...
Review Super Dungeon Bros (PS4)
Bros before foes
Super Dungeon Bros certainly has personality, we'll give it that. The title is shouted at you above a heavy soundtrack, the game tells you to 'Press X to rock', and you feel like you know how things are going to go from there. When you start the quest, an opening cut-scene begins, introducing the bros (all named after rock stars, of...
Review Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4)
Mass defect
Microtransactions. Bleh. If there's one word that can put a foul taste in people's mouths, it's that. Disappointingly, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has them, and the game is much worse off for it. Whereas in previous entries you could spend money simply to get gun skins and cosmetic items in loot boxes, now you need to spend money on...
Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition (PS4)
Shout it louder
Like it or not, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim remains a landmark role-playing game. When it first arrived in 2011, it's no exaggeration to say that the last-gen version introduced a whole new audience to the genre. In many ways, developer Bethesda Game Studios had cracked it – Skyrim carefully walked the line between being an...
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The ability to amplify the emotional and physical reactions you have while playing a video game lies at the heart of what makes virtual reality so promising. In Windlands, a newly released first-person platformer, you'll be throwing yourself into the void as you grapple around a ruined civilisation high up in the sky, and it's safe to say...
Numa Numa nay
Just Dance: the worst part of every E3. Just Dance sometimes feels like the Ubisoft series no one can takes seriously – or even cares about anymore. This year's edition really doesn't add much in terms of gameplay or modes, but it's still solid. Firstly, the tracklist: there's a lot of variation this year, with modern hits like...
Review Hitman: Episode 6 - Hokkaido (PS4)
Peak
So, it's all over: seven months in the making, Hitman is finally finished and all episodes are released. From the heights of stunning Sapienza to the lows of crummy Colorado, it's certainly been a journey – but does Hokkaido end up being a fitting swansong to an excellent game or a bad note to end on? We say, wholeheartedly, the former...
Plodding along
Waddle Home is a puzzle game about penguins who have taken a spaceship to another planet which is inhabited by aliens. Unfortunately, they get captured by the extra-terrestrials and require your help to break free and return to their ship so that they can – ahem – Waddle Home. You begin by releasing the penguins from a cage, and...
Review LEGO Harry Potter Collection (PS4)
You're a LEGO, 'Arry
The two LEGO Harry Potter games proved a fun romp through the story of the seven books and eight films back on the PlayStation 3, and now Traveller's Tales has ported the experience as a complete package to the PlayStation 4. Initially released as Years 1-4 and Years 5-7, the LEGO Harry Potter Collection pulls both games...
Tunnel vision
Earth's Dawn is a 2D, loot-heavy brawler with a post-apocalyptic theme. It's got a lot in common with Vanillaware titles such as Dragon's Crown and Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, except it's keen to ditch pretty fantasy settings and settle for a ruined grey world complete with a gigantic underground tunnel system that's teeming with...
Tears for fears
As a dark comedy, Weeping Doll would be just about the most amusing game on PlayStation VR right now – and that's high praise considering that the platform already plays host to the genuinely hilarious Job Simulator and Headmaster. But somehow we don't think that Chinese outfit TianShe Media had funnies in mind when it made this...
Carry on my wayward son
Risk virtual life and limb exploring a mysterious floating fortress, as Wayward Sky puts you directly into the shoes of young Bess, a pilot whose father has been kidnapped. In order to rescue your dear old dad, you must guide Bess through various puzzles – it's a bit like playing with a toy figure who you can 'jump into'...
Review Carnival Games VR (PS4)
Infinite bore fair
Ah, this is just what PlayStation VR needed: a minigame collection. And not just any superficial smorgasbord of banal activities either, but the granddaddy of the genre: Carnival Games VR. Those of you who hold on to haunting thoughts like a manic depressive in a mental health institute may remember this 2K Games published series...
All tied up
Have you ever wanted to be as powerful as a God, looking over and controlling everything with a click of your fingers? Well, now you can. In Tethered you are tasked with taking care of adorable little creatures called Peeps. They are very hard working and you must use their skills to collect resources, build up their village, and fully...
Review Mark McMorris Infinite Air (PS4)
Snowbored
We haven't had a snowboarding game in a while, let alone a good one – and you could say the same of the entire extreme sports genre as a whole. The last shredding simulator came out in 2012, and even then it wasn't a very good one; it seems that the golden age of SSX and Shaun White Snowboarding on PS2 is well and truly over. Mark...
Review Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel (PS4)
The weather outside is frightful
Enter The Painted World via the grovelling NPC at the Cleansing Chapel bonfire and you're plunged into a harsh and isolated environment, with vision-impairing snow and unfamiliar faces. Wolves hunt you down and axe-wielding warriors make the very earth beneath you quake. It seems like a tough environment where...
Review Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (PS4)
Make a wish
Dragon Ball XenoVerse certainly wasn't perfect, but for a mostly fresh take on the Dragon Ball license it got a lot of things right, and its direct sequel, Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2, isn't looking to shake things up. Instead, this is a brawler that takes the typical Japanese sequel route, in that it's happy to keep the fundamentals in...
Pot luck
SportsBarVR is, as you'd no doubt guess, a virtual reality sports bar, which has all the attractions of a real sports bar minus the alcohol and the live footy. This leaves you with pool, darts, air hockey, and skeeball, with more due to be added in the future. Pool is the most interesting game on offer here, and it's playable in four...
Bot's your lot
The Playroom VR is a collection of asymmetrical multiplayer minigames that show off the PlayStation VR headset's capabilities in many different ways. It's free and comes with a total of five mini-games to enjoy with your pals: Cat and Mouse, Monster Escape, Wanted, Ghost House, and Robots Rescue. Let's break them all down...
Review Farming Simulator 17 (PS4)
Corny
It may have inspired a throng of gag games, but Farming Simulator 17 remains just about as serious as simulations come. Take the new addition of pigs: you need to pork them up with a balanced diet, keep them tidy, ensure that they have ample bedding and water, and only then will you reap the returns from your sows. It's hard labour of the kind...
Review World of Final Fantasy (PS4)
Stacked
Billed as an accessible spin-off based on Square Enix's beloved role-playing property, World of Final Fantasy is a colourful and buoyant game with an emphasis on collecting and battling monsters. Featuring critters and characters from past Final Fantasy titles, existing fans of the series will get more out of the experience, but the game's...
Review Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4)
Blockbuster
The Batman: Arkham series has housed some of the best superhero games of all time – Spider-Man 2 and perhaps Deadpool aside – so it's easy to see why Warner Bros and Rocksteady decided to return to Arkham with, er, Batman: Return to Arkham. Consisting of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City (along with all DLC), right off the bat it's hard...
Over the top
As one of the deadliest conflicts in human history, World War I had a massive impact on the twentieth century. Not only did both sides suffer an absolutely horrific number of casualties, but the geo-political upheaval it caused planted seeds of division that would resonate throughout the century to come. With the "bad guys" of the...
Keep on ridin'
When it comes to racing, there's a raw thrill… An adrenaline rush that can't be explained. In terms of gaming, it's a genre that's much beloved and for good reason, whether it be arcade-style or simulation-based. Italian developer Milestone is no stranger to the racing genre, and last year it put out a motorcycle-sim racer called...
