PS4 Game Reviews
Mini Review Carrion (PS4) - A Grotesque Metroidvania with an Incredible Atmosphere
Feed the birds
Ever watched John Carpenter’s The Thing and thought how cool it would be to play as the organism? If so, Carrion is the game for you. You play a small organism that escapes from a holding cell. Upon reaching the vents you find yourself in a massive, sprawling research laboratory with two goals: spread your infection throughout the...
Mini Review Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality (PS4) - Rickety Time Travel Title Struggles to Dazzle
Not quite the trip of a lifetime
Playing through Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, we can't shake the feeling we've been here before. Maybe it’s because we’ve just travelled backwards in time. More likely, though, it's because this is an enhanced version of a previously released VR experience — only now with added David Tennant! Knowing this...
Mini Review Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars (PS4) - A Memorable JRPG That Loses Steam Later On
Between Bliss and Blight
Don't let the name fool you — Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is not a card game. You're not building a deck or duelling opponents for a chance at winning their prized possessions. Instead, you're going on a very traditional, surprisingly straightforward role-playing adventure. Voice of Cards is a turn based Japanese...
Review The Persistence (PS4) - Virtual Reality Roguelike Is Sensationally Unsettling
Space race
Republished on Wednesday, 28th October, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November 2021's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. The Persistence is a perfect name. Yes, it relates to some sci-fi mumbo-jumbo buried at the very core of the game’s lore, but really it...
Review Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning - Rough Remaster Is Still Fun to Play
Fatal attraction
Republished on Wednesday, 28th October, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November 2021's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. As regular Push Square readers may already know, we decided to hold off on our Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning review back when the...
Review Knockout City (PS4) - Excellent Multiplayer Brawler Is One You Shouldn't Dodge
Bold strategy pays off
Republished on Wednesday, 28th October, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November 2021's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. We've already waxed lyrical about Knockout City, but it's a message worth repeating: this is a fantastic online multiplayer title...
Mini Review Youtubers Life 2 (PS4) - Trend Chaser Is Tedious
Swipe left
For many, the concept of Youtubers Life 2 alone will be enough to turn them off. This is a fairly straightforward life sim, which breaks the fourth wall and sees you assume the role of someone who beat predecessor Youtubers Life OMG and is subsequently invited to Newtube City to forge a new career as a social media superstar. You’ll be...
Mini Review Horizon Chase Turbo: Senna Forever (PS4) - An Enjoyable Ode to a Sporting Icon
Super Senna
The career of Ayrton Senna transcends sports. Inspirational and tragic in equal measure, the Brazilian racer’s legacy will forever be etched into the annals of F1 history. Horizon Chase Turbo, the PS1-esque polygonal racer from Aquiris, pays tribute to the São Paulo native in its upbeat Senna Forever expansion – and even contributes...
Mini Review The Caligula Effect 2 (PS4) - Rough but Intriguing JRPG Has a Lot of Cool Ideas
No regrets
If you're on the market for a rather unique Japanese RPG stuffed with reasonably interesting ideas, then The Caligula Effect 2 is certainly worth a look. You play as a high school student who comes to the sudden realisation that the world around them isn't real. In a Matrix-esque twist, it turns out that you're part of a simulation of...
Review Crysis Remastered Trilogy (PS4) - A Franchise with an Identity Crysis
Squid game
Much like our own world, the Crysis universe changed irreversibly in 2020. We had the coronavirus pandemic, Crytek’s trilogy had an invasion of squid-like aliens called the Ceph. As depressing as it is to think the first Crysis represented 2020 as a far-flung future, it’s a wonder the series hasn’t been treated to a remaster until...
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube152k Watch on YouTube Mini Review Actraiser Renaissance (PS4) - SNES Remake Is a Game of Three Thirds
Generous, gabby god game
Praised for being "A Game of Two Halves" in issue two of Super Play, gaming magazines like CVG and Mean Machines were consistent in applauding SNES ActRaiser in the early 1990s for combining two contrasting gameplay styles. This effective structure is preserved in PS4 Actraiser Renaissance, as this remake retains the...
Review PGA Tour 2K21 (PS4) - Sim Will Suit Golf Fans to a Tee
Green screen
Republished on Wednesday 29th September 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. If you’re the type of person who prefers their country parks to have 18 holes, then you’ll no doubt be familiar with The Golf Club series...
Review Mortal Kombat X (PS4) - Get Over Here and Play This Skull-Cracking Fighter
Blood is thicker than water
Republished on Wednesday 29th September 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Mortal Kombat X knows what it takes to keep you engaged. Cast your mind back to the early 90s, and series creator Ed Boon's garish...
Mini Review Bus Simulator 21 (PS4) - Zen Sim Doesn't Take Itself Too Seriously
MAN, I feel like a bus driver
Bus Simulator 21, like its PlayStation 4 predecessor, straddles the line between authentic public transport management and tongue-in-cheek entertainment. While this vehicular sim set across two maps – the all-new American-inspired Angel Shores and an updated version of European backdrop Seaside Valley – demands you...
It's a livin'
Fans may rightly rue the lack of arcade sports games on the market right now, but imagine being into boxing: even EA Sports’ uber-popular Fight Night franchise has been put on hold while it flirts with the more commercially viable UFC. Survios’ movie tie-in Creed: Rise to Glory was a rare stand-and-bang outing on PS4, but its...
Mini Review Golf Club Wasteland (PS4) - Post-Apocalyptic 2D Golf Game Is Well Above Par
I'll have a tee please, Bob
It's the future, and all is not well in Golf Club Wasteland. In a totally unexpected turn of events, the Earth has been rendered inhospitable by an ecological disaster that nobody saw coming. How were we supposed to know that using liquefied dinosaur bones to power our cars was bad? If those egghead scientists had told us...
The rainbow blur
After a string of poorly received entries, SEGA's mascot was in a bad spot back in 2010. However, the Wii-exclusive Sonic Colors was something of a reset for the franchise, cutting out most of the nonsense and presenting itself as a more straightforward action platformer. It remains one of the more favourably received games in the...
Review Hitman 2 (PS4) - More Darkly Amusing Murder
Hit me baby one more time
Republished on Wednesday 1st September 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Poor Sierra Knox. She lived her life as a successful racing car driver, and along with her father was a powerful figure within...
Review Predator: Hunting Grounds (PS4) - Multiplayer Experiment Falls Wildly Short
Time to bleed
Republished on Wednesday 1st September 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Predator: Hunting Grounds is the first major multiplayer-only video game Sony has published since MAG on PlayStation 3. And while Friday t
Review Psychonauts 2 (PS4) - A Brain-Bogglingly Good Return to Tim Schafer's Mindful (Grey) Matters
You were always on my mind
You'd be forgiven for thinking it was a fool's errand to follow up a game as widely acclaimed as the original Psychonauts. The odds were stacked against it: Psychonauts is a cult hit through and through and essentially the opposite of the kind of game that's most likely to get made these days. Yes, it sold close to two...
Mini Review Quake (PS4) - New Coat of Paint for Legendary FPS
You got the nails
Quake is one of the shooters. Part of id’s holy trinity alongside Wolfenstein and DOOM, Quake is the newest of the bunch and, depending on who you ask, the best. This newest delivers the experience you remember, with a whole lot of added value. This is quite the bundle, packing in five campaigns – including both Machine...
Mini Review I Expect You to Die 2: The Spy and the Liar (PSVR) - Escape Room Is a Corker
You only die twice
The first I Expect You to Die was a pretty great escape room/spy mashup, so it’s really great to see Schell Games return to the well and provide another opportunity to save the world from impending doom. Despite being locked down in one position, the game does an incredible job of making a lot from a little, with brilliantly...
Mini Review Islanders: Console Edition (PS4) - Simple Builder Is Brilliantly Effective
Island paradise
What a lovely little game Islanders: Console Edition is. It's the kind of game that you can boot up for five minutes of fun, or you can spend hours zoning out with. The goal is to populate procedurally generated islands with homes and facilities, creating miniature pockets of civilisation. In High Score mode, everything that you...
Mini Review King's Bounty II (PS4) - Turn-Based Battler Not Fit for a King
Not so bountiful
King’s Bounty II from 1C Entertainment is the long-awaited sequel to 2008’s fantasy roleplaying game King’s Bounty The Legend. You take control of one of three characters each destined to be the hero of the realm of Nostria. Warrior Aivar, descendant of a noble family and knight of the king’s guard, Mage Katherine, Countess...
Mini Review Fracked (PSVR) - A Fun VR Shooter with Oh-So Much Style
Frack and roll all nite
What is the appropriate venue to discuss the morally questionable practice of fracking? Well, with an irreverent shooter about eco-terrorism, of course. While Fracked may side-step saying anything meaningful about fracking, it does not sidestep crafting a fun PSVR experience. Touting a movement system hand-crafted to work...
Mini Review Synth Riders (PSVR) – A VR Rhythm Game with a Different Sound
Ride the rails
We have espoused the virtues of VR rhythm games before, and now we have a new title to add to the mix: Synth Riders. While mechanically similar to Beat Saber on the surface, Synth Riders has some notable exceptions that allow it to stand out. Our favorite of these features are “rails”, in which you keep your hand balanced on a...
Review Dodgeball Academia (PS4) - Punchy Sports RPG Is Top Class
Dodge this
There's so much to like about the cheerful, colourful RPG that is Dodgeball Academia. You play as Otto, a determined young man who enrols in a prestigious dodgeball institution, with ambitions of becoming the best of the best. Everything at the academy revolves around the cartoonishly violent sport, and over the course of the game, you'll...
Mini Review Omno (PS4) - A Lovingly Crafted Adventure That Journey Fans Won't Want to Miss
Omyes
Omno is an enchanting little game where you traverse a series of reasonably large environments, solving enjoyable puzzles along the way. You play as a kind of pilgrim — a staff-bearing being who is tasked with following the light. The light, in this case, is an energy source of sorts, scattered across the aforementioned environments...
Mini Review Cotton Reboot! (PS4) - Spooky Cute-'Em-Up's an Elaborate and Accessible 2D Shooter
Bless your Cotton shmups
Even if you're in the middle of a scorching summer, there are games that remind you of other seasons, and with a story that follows Cotton as a broomstick riding witch, PS4 Cotton Reboot! conjures up images of moonlit autumn nights. It's Cotton's sweet tooth, and love of candy wrapped WILLOW, which persuades her over seven...
Mini Review Winds & Leaves (PSVR) – A Silviculturists Dream in Virtual Reality
Planting the seed
Post-apocalyptic games are dime a dozen, but you’ve never played one like this. In Winds & Leaves, rather than punch or shoot your way to safety, you are tasked with re-planting the once vibrant forests of a distant land. You accomplish this by picking fruit from freshly grown trees and then placing them right back into the...
