PS4 Game Reviews
Review Jazzpunk: Director's Cut (PS4)
Secret agent Polybank
Jazzpunk: Director's Cut is one of the wildest rides on the PlayStation 4, despite being a relatively short game. Initially released on PC back in 2014, developer Necrophone Games has finally brought it to the PS4 over two years later. It's hard to accurately describe what exactly Jazzpunk is; sometimes it's a first-person...
Review Destiny: Rise of Iron (PS4)
Can't teach a Young Wolf new tricks
Back near the end of last year, Destiny was in dire need of a revamp. The release had stagnated to a point where many players had simply stopped coming back to Bungie's sci-fi creation, with the game's first two expansions – The Dark Below and House of Wolves – doing little to reinvigorate the title or fix its...
Review Dead Rising Triple Pack (PS4)
They live again
With Dead Rising 4 mere months away – though not for PlayStation gamers – the time is right for an opportunistic re-release of some of the earlier games. Acting as a prefect primer for the series, this re-release triple pack includes Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, and if you don't fancy shelling...
Returning to the first line
With NHL 17 being the second version of EA's hockey sim to be released since the shameful PlayStation 4 debut that was NHL 15, fans of puck-based sports were rightfully expecting the good work done in last year's edition to carry on through and be improved upon even further to really bring the franchise into the current...
Shoulda stayed home
It always stings a little when you get your hopes up for a game and it disappoints you upon release. Sure, there are different tiers to this; for instance, it's hard to find a recent game that upset more people at launch than No Man's Sky. But often that initial letdown leads to hyperbole; there are titles that fall short of...
Solitary confinement
The FMV genre has had a bit of a renaissance lately. Her Story and Contradiction: Spot The Liar both released to a positive amount of fanfare over on the PC, and now it's time for the PlayStation 4 to get its own full motion adventure. The Bunker marks quite a change in scenery for developer Wales Interactive, a studio that's...
Swish
The NBA 2K series has always been the most eye-catching of sport game franchises because of its excellent presentation and attention to detail, not to mention its stunningly realised visuals. NBA 2K17 is no different, and ups the ante to make quite possibly one of the best sporting experiences on PlayStation. Sure, it doesn't have any huge...
Review Slain: Back from Hell (PS4)
Still in hell
Slain: Back from Hell is a game that captures your attention immediately. It's a heavy metal inspired 2D hack-and-slash with some of the most beautiful pixel graphics and art design that you'll see. In an age where games using the pixel-art style are a dime a dozen, Slain stands out from the crowd not only with its metal aesthetic, but...
Review Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 2: Children of Arkham (PS4)
Cobblehot
Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered, y'know? The second instalment of Telltale's burgeoning Batman yarn wastes no time reminding you of the most pivotal point in DC Comics lore, with brooding billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne casting a shadow over Crime Alley. Fortunately, the episode quickly deviates from the banal backstory that's been...
Review Dear Esther: Landmark Edition (PS4)
Oh dear oh dear
The PlayStation 4 release of Dear Esther sits in a bit of an odd place. The game originally released in early 2012 on the PC and many players will have already experienced its spiritual successor, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. This new version, dubbed the Landmark Edition, does include a few extras such as developer commentary but...
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube152k Watch on YouTube Review PES 2017: Pro Evolution Soccer (PS4)
Klopp of the table
The Pro Evolution Soccer series has always seemed to play second fiddle to FIFA regardless of its quality, what with EA holding all of the licenses to the biggest football leagues in the world. Yet what PES 2017: Pro Evolution Soccer lacks in the licensing department, it makes up for in terms of pure footy fun and passion. An apt...
Going out with a bang
There's a moment early on in RIVE where our protagonist self-acknowledges that there may be "one level of Asteroids too many", and he's not far from the mark. Contextually speaking, RIVE is like a smorgasbord of borrowed elements: the nuts, bolts and upgrades from Ratchet & Clank; the typical double jump aspect of just...
Review The Tomorrow Children (PS4)
Russian around
The Tomorrow Children is something of a departure from Q-Games' vibrant, punchy, arcadey PixelJunk titles. This is a game far grander in scope, darker in tone, and more varied in gameplay than anything from the Japanese studio's previous gen efforts. It also explores new territory, treading the lines between genres and feeling...
Review Fallout 4: Nuka World (PS4)
Capping things off
Fallout 4's selection of post-release content has been divisive. Many will tell you that far too much emphasis has been placed upon the title's settlement crafting system, while others will swear that Far Harbor is better than the main game. From where we're sitting, it feels like Bethesda's latest hasn't quite lived up to its...
A masterpiece revisited
"1998... I'll never forget it." Well, more like 2005 in regards to when this game first released, but you get where we're going with it. There was a time when the Resident Evil name was practically untarnished, full of conspiracy, originality, atmosphere, and downright excellent gameplay. Resident Evil 4 is no stranger to...
Review Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness (PS4)
Don't worry, be happy
Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness takes place in the same universe as the popular anime show, Psycho-Pass. Set in the year 2112, an always online system named Sybil is constantly monitoring the mental state of the entire population, and pointing out individuals who are psychologically likely to commit a crime in the future. As a...
Review Jotun: Valhalla Edition (PS4)
By Odin's beard
Have you ever realised how much Norse mythology penetrates popular culture? There are numerous spins on its gods in Marvel's movies, inspired elements taken from its races and characters in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels, and countless references spread across video games from Master Chief's Mjolnir armor to equipment and...
Half baked
One of PlayStation's crowning achievements is its diverse range of software. From the original grey box of magic right through to now, Sony's consoles have always been platforms that champion the weird and the wonderful as well as more popular fare. PaRappa the Rapper, a rhythm game with a zany, colourful art style about a dog that loves...
Review The Huntsman: Winter's Curse (PS4)
Winter's worst
The Huntsman: Winter's Curse is a PlayStation 4 game based in the same universe as The Huntsman film series. Billed as an "episodic role-playing game with card collecting elements", the game follows the story of a girl, Elisabeth, who goes on a quest in an attempt to save her brothers from the corruption of the Ice Queen. The story...
Review God Eater 2: Rage Burst (PS4)
Bound by Blood
God Eater 2: Rage Burst opens with your stereotypical animated intro: it's got punchy Japanese rock, a nice sense of style, and it does a fine job of getting you pumped for some God eating action. Bandai Namco's latest export gives a good first impression, then, but you may struggle to maintain your enthusiasm as you begin to tear...
Review The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PlayStation 4)
Life's a witch, then she dies
Republished on Tuesday, 30th August, 2016: To coincide with the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition, we're bringing this rather large review back from the Push Square archives. We've also included links to our reviews of the game's two expansions - which are included in the Game of the Year...
Lynch pin
Sports games: the bane of most people's E3 conferences. They're the games that people that call themselves "Serious Moe" play. It's easy to write Madden and other sports games off as "just a roster update" – and, at times, this can be true – but the long-lived American football series has been steadily evolving over the past couple of...
Review Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (PS4)
Maybe necks time
While it's a common story, Attack on Titan managed to pull this particular scribe into the anime world a couple years ago. How could it not? It has a striking art style with bold lining and subdued colour, a European setting with an intricate culture and inventions, and an irresistible world that draws you in with its mysteries and...
Review AdVenture Capitalist (PS4)
Pass the buck
Oh the sweet, sweet irony, Sammy. You dump on No Man's Sky for being duller than a charity shop's clothing rack, and now you're going to try and act like AdVenture Capitalist is worth the free download from the PlayStation Store. Biased! Bullsh*t! Never visiting this website again! Bet you didn't even play it with a steering wheel, did...
Review Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X (PS4)
It's got the X-Factor
One of the songs in the brand new rhythm game, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X, is called Holy Lance Explosion Boy, and it's about an unsettlingly young boy accidentally getting someone pregnant, featuring lines like: "This 0.02mm barrier is seriously getting annoying." If the thought of a kawaii, virtual boy's condom splitting...
Valleys of the 40s
Every so often, a year will inexplicably become themed around a certain weapon or piece of equipment. 2012 was the year of the bow and arrow, and it appears that 2016 will become synonymous with the grappling hook. Nathan Drake took one into his final adventure in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and upcoming games such as Titanfall 2,...
Ante-hero
There was a point ten years ago when it felt like the popularity of poker had reached fever pitch. You couldn't turn on late night television without it appearing on more than one channel, and there always seemed to be some bloke down the pub who swore he'd made a serious chunk of change online. This rise in gambling websites left poker...
Just playing the game, having a BUD
It was perhaps a little surprising to see a sequel to last year's botanical platforming adventure Grow Home, especially one that would release so swiftly. Grow Up released less than 12 months after its predecessor, and we were curious to find out what could've changed in that short space of time. As it turns out,...
Ass-etto Corsa
With Project CARS already in the wild and Gran Turismo Sport on the way later this year, as well as other realistic and excellent racers of their own kind in DiRT Rally and F1 2016 already out, there's plenty of variation and choice in the racing simulator market on the PlayStation 4 right now. But having garnered a hefty following...
A bar set high
While Sony may not give the PlayStation Vita much love these days, others have set out to do so over the years to prove the handheld's worth. Digital Dreams was one such developer who exclusively released its debut title Metrico on the neglected platform in 2014. It received both glowing and scathing remarks for varying reasons, but...
