PS4 Game Reviews
Review The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (PS4)
Thank you and goodnight
Blood and Wine could be boxed, sold as a sort-of-sequel to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and no one would really question it. Once again, CD Projekt Red has gone above and beyond expectations; this final expansion not only serves as a fitting end to Geralt's gigantic tale, but it also manages to pack in so much quality content...
Review There Came an Echo (PS4)
Hearing test
When the topic of voice control in games arises, the conversation rarely goes beyond the thought of a tacked-on feature that could easily have been left on the cutting room floor. Shouting at a guard to distract him in Splinter Cell: Blacklist, voice commands in Binary Domain, and issuing orders to your squad in Tom Clancy's Rainbow...
Review Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir (PS4)
By Odin's beard
Odin Sphere looked fantastic back on the PlayStation 2 when it released in 2007, but almost a decade later on PlayStation 4, it looks even better. A stunning side scrolling action role-playing game from Vanillaware, Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir is a superb remake that oozes quality. The care and attention that's been pumped into this...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan (PS4)
Shell shock
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that has had no shortage of video games over the past two and a half decades. Whether it be sidescrollers, platformers, or arcade-style beat-em-ups, the series has seen its fair share of tie-ins. However, when the franchise is mentioned, the most famous instalment brought up is TMNT: Turtles in...
Review One Piece: Burning Blood (PS4)
Let's burn rubber
As is the case with many manga and anime properties, Eiichiro Oda's One Piece – a hugely successful tale of super powered pirates – is a brilliant basis for a fighting game. Thanks to a massive cast of wacky characters, all of whom boast their own crazy combat abilities, a brawler such as One Piece: Burning Blood seems like a...
My God – it's full of stars
Every now and then a game comes out of nowhere with no hype or fanfare and perfectly rocks your video gaming world. Perfect Universe is just such a game – a superb blast of quality indie fun that has an incredibly cool, pretty unique monochrome "hand drawn" art style and a wonderful soundtrack. The title comes...
Blizz-hard to put down
If you've played many competitive multiplayer shooters, then you've likely spent far too much time celebrating – or, indeed, lamenting – your kill death ratio. Long has this little number been seen as a barometer of your success in online battles, and this in turn helped feed a steady stream of gamers into the Team...
Old school of magic
One thing that's evident from the outset of Gareth Noyce's isometric puzzler is the focus on nostalgia. Noyce is somewhat of an industry veteran working for a number of studios over the past 15 years, including the recently closed Lionhead, Geometry Wars creators Bizarre, and Realtime Worlds. Ostensibly an homage to isometric...
Review Fallout 4: Far Harbor (PS4)
Fogging hell
The fog of Far Harbor is to be feared. It inflicts radiation poisoning on those who dare to trek through it, it gives birth to horribly slimy creatures of the deep, and it does an admirable job of obscuring your view of the fiends that stalk the wilderness. The island's residents have a right to fear the mist: it keeps them penned...
Paint the night
You'd be forgiven for thinking Soft Body is a very unambitious game at first glance. The simple 2D graphics give the impression of a simple Flash game, however upon digging deeper we found that it's incredibly ambitious in its attempt to bring two genres together as one. Soft Body blends the action/puzzle genre with a twin-stick...
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube152k Watch on YouTube Shatwen
Shadwen is a third-person stealth-action game that begins with the implied murder of a king at the hands of a skilled female assassin. As the monarch's crown falls to the ground, we see the face of a young girl travelling with the killer, and the game flashes back to a
Review Rocketbirds 2: Evolution (PS4)
Bad egg
Rocketbirds 2: Evolution is the most frustrating kind of indie game. On the surface, this sequel to developer Ratloop's 2013 PlayStation 3 title, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, has a lot of things going for it. The game once again places you in the feet of Hardboiled Chicken, a tough-as-nails super-agent assigned to take out the evil...
Leviticus 26:7
It wasn't until Wolfenstein: The New Order that we noticed how homogeneous first-person shooters have become over the past decade. The genre's certainly made strides forward, but from a big picture perspective, we've spent the past decade or so taking cover and performing pot-shots to reach our objectives. However, MachineGames'...
Review Homefront: The Revolution (PS4)
Viva la revolución
The nightmare that surrounded Homefront: The Revolution's development is no secret. After being passed between two different publishers and changing its gameplay in favour of a non-linear style, the title has finally staggered its way towards the finish line after a series of setbacks. But has the extra time and attention poured...
Review Shadow of the Beast (PS4)
Adios, Amiga
Of the numerous reboots, remakes, and remasters this generation has brought us, this one may just be the most drastic. Originally released in 1989 on the Commodore Amiga, Shadow of the Beast was well received and lauded for its mind-blowing visual fidelity. Heavy Spectrum's modern take on the hard-as-nails classic has been a long time...
Review The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth (PS4)
Reborn
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth was released for the PC back in October last year and ever since console fans of the series have been crying out for the much-anticipated DLC. Well, it's finally arrived on the PlayStation 4 – and boy was it worth the long wait. The main addition in this expansion is Greed Mode – an entirely new game mode...
Genre blended meta growth
Back in 2014, Gearbox Software head honcho Randy Pitchford incomprehensibly described Battleborn as an "FPS; hobby-grade co-op campaign; genre-blended, multi-mode competitive e-sports; meta-growth, choice epic Battleborn Heroes". While no one could quite decipher just what he was going on about, it was safe to assume that...
Review Valkyria Chronicles Remastered (PS4)
Tanks for the memories
When Valkyria Chronicles launched on the PlayStation 3 in 2008, it was a breath of fresh air. A solid strategy title bolstered by a lovingly crafted watercolour art style, it was hit with critics, and quickly amassed a reasonably niche, but enthusiastic following. Fans of the original will be quick to recommend Valkyria...
Review Neverending Nightmares (PS4)
Make them stop
Fittingly released at the start of Mental Health Awareness Month, Neverending Nightmares is a terrifying survival horror with an individual art style and an intriguing concept. The game is inspired by the real life struggles of project lead designer Matt Gilgenbach, who suffers with OCD and depression. You take control of Thomas, a...
Review Shadow Complex Remastered (PS4)
Press X to Jason
Today, independent and digital titles sit fairly comfortably alongside big budget games in terms of critical reception and public acceptance, but when Shadow Complex was released in 2009, it was customary to finish any sentence that started "It's great..." with a
Review Table Top Racing: World Tour (PS4)
Exhausting
One of the main things being touted about Table Top Racing: World Tour is that one of its creators worked on the WipEout series, so it'd be safe to expect high-octane racing, a pulsing soundtrack, and dazzling graphics – at least somewhat in the style of the iconic PlayStation series. This game has none of those things. A sequel to a...
Global worming
Push Me Pull You is a weird game – and not in a "Tim Burton" kind of way. It's weird in a "I really hope no one walks in on me playing this right now because there is simply no way to reasonably explain what's currently happening on my television screen" kind of way. Thankfully, it's also one of the most hilarious and joyously fun...
Review Masquerade: The Baubles of Doom (PS4)
Rotten tomato
Falling far under the radar, Big Ant Studios' latest effort Masquerade: The Baubles of Doom is a rapid-paced brawler that is inspired by the slapstick comedy of 90s action-adventure classics. Divided into eight main acts, the game sees you tiptoeing across a minefield full of jack-in-the-boxes, dashing through a Total Wipeout-inspired...
Do you wanna ride the rollercoaster?
While developer Funcom's last console release, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, never found its way to a PlayStation platform, its newest title, The Park – developed by the firm's Oslo branch – does find its way onto Sony hardware. The Park is a story that supposedly takes place in the world of one of Funcom's...
Six feet under
We'll be straight with you on this one: Coffin Dodgers is not a good kart racer. Sadly, all it really has going for it is a darkly amusing premise. Sunny Pines retirement village is where the Grim Reaper himself has decided to hang up his scythe after a lengthy career of soul collecting – but not before claiming a few more from his...
Inc-redible
Klei Entertainment has garnered a bit of a reputation over recent years for delivering quality games across very different genres. Whether you're stealthily murdering all comers in Mark of the Ninja or trying not to starve in, well, Don't Starve, its titles have carefully woven gameplay systems that make for enjoyably deep experiences...
Review Hitman: Episode 2 - Sapienza (PS4)
Bellisimo
The quiet, picturesque Italian seafront town of Sapienza is a retiree's dream. Bathed in sun, the cobbled streets are full of cafés, trattorias, and street performers – not to mention the diamond blue sea, and the quaint old church that sits next to it. How strange, then, that for all its serenity, Sapienza works exceptionally well as...
Review Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (PS4)
It's y'arrrrrrrrlright
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a 2D side-scroller in the classic Metroidvania vein, but with a whimsical story and an anarchic sense of humour that helps separate it from the pack. Taking on the role of a half-genie named Shantae, you'll spend approximately ten hours exploring various islands, solving puzzles in dungeons,...
"I like to keep this handy, for close encounters"
Housemarque is renowned for a couple of things: its consistently brilliant arcade titles with incredibly moreish gameplay, and its gloriously colourful visual effects. The Finnish developer's body of work is a kaleidoscopic tour-de-force, the games as vibrant as they are deceptively deep. It should...
Review Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Eclipse (PS4)
Sins of the sun
With game releases picking up around this time of year, Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC is a tough sell when you could be experiencing the whimsical magic of Ratchet & Clank or the masochistic beauty of Dark Souls III – and rightly so, considering that the strangely-named Eclipse isn't very special at all. The sun doesn't shine...
