PS4 Game Reviews
Review Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon (PS4)
Not enough bite for your buck
The Frostback Basin is a melting pot of varied environments, and it's arguably the star of Dragon Age: Inquisition's first expansion, Jaws of Hakkon. It's a gorgeous and vast location that features beaches, bogs, caverns, forests, jungles, mountains, and even islands made of ice. It's also bathed in a constant sunset,...
Review Adventures of Pip (PS4)
Pipped to the past
From indie developer Tic Toc Games comes the puzzle-platformer Adventures of Pip, in which you play as the pixelated Pip – an unlikely hero who has been tasked with rescuing the princess from the clutches of an evil sorceress; the devious Queen Skeleton plans to reduce the land's populace to simple one-colour 'pixels' – much...
Review Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition (PS4)
Life’s abyss and then you die
As far as unrepresented settings in video games go, 19th Century Chile is right up near the top, so it's nice to see such an unexpected backdrop used in Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition. In this unconventional genre mash-up on PlayStation 4, you'll find a roguelike role-playing game that not only has a unique...
There's no U in Zombi
ZombiU was an innovative and genuinely scary survival horror title which hit the Wii U at launch – one that made excellent use of Nintendo's second screen GamePad to enhance the terror to all new levels. Now, three years later, the title has been ported to the PlayStation 4, complete with a control overhaul to shift...
Review Gauntlet: Slayer Edition (PS4)
On target
Gauntlet: Slayer Edition is the ultimate Gauntlet game. While it may not be perfect, it's a brilliant crescendo for a series that pioneered multiplayer dungeon crawling 30 years ago, staying true to the roots of the franchise, yet chopping, changing, and evolving into something so much more. Like many games of old, Gauntlet: Slayer...
Mind boggling
Ubisoft's board game train ain't showing any signs of slowing, with Boggle the latest passenger on the quality time carriage. A popular pastime originally designed by Allan Turoff in the early 70s, the tabletop title works a little like a word search whereby you can snake between different letters, as long as you can find a way to...
Review Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PS4)
Cool story, bro
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons released to much critical acclaim around two years ago. Celebrated for its unique control scheme and touching narrative, it was a hit, and fans to this day hold it in very high regard, among peers such as Journey and Ico. Fortunately for those of you who missed it the first time around, publisher 505...
Review Commander Cherry's Puzzled Journey (PS4)
For posers
Prepare for the world's first – and potentially only – "Yoga Action Platformer", which uses the PlayStation 4's camera to capture shots of you, and then incorporates them into the game. If you're thinking that this all sounds daft, then you'd be right. Commander Cherry's Puzzled Journey is a hybrid motion control game that utilises...
Like being forced to eat your greens
Yasai Ninja is a hack-and-slash game set in feudal Japan, where the two controllable characters are vegetables. You heard it correctly: an onion seeking revenge from his former sensei, and a hungry broccoli. No matter how many different ways you say it, it doesn't get any less weird. That's okay, right? A game...
Review Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (PS4)
Rapturous
There are still bed sheets hanging on the clotheslines in the deserted streets of Shropshire. They sway lightly in the wind; the ethereal vestiges of a place that once was. In many ways, they're the perfect analogy for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, an experience which is astoundingly gorgeous in a subtle, unassuming, and overwhelmingly...
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube152k Watch on YouTube Review Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment (PS4)
It's all in the game
Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment leaps from the small screen of the PlayStation Vita and onto the PlayStation 4 complete with online play. Its handheld roots make this role-playing game undeniably rough around the edges, but give it some time, and you'll uncover a satisfying, addictive adventure that sports some nice touches...
Review Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist (PS4)
It's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-duel, again
The worldwide phenomenon known as Yu-Gi-Oh! is a strategic battle game originally based on a manga in which players duel with cards. Decks are made of monsters, spells, and traps, and the object of the duel is to reduce your opponent's life points from 8,000 to 0. Each player can customise their deck with forty...
Review Galak-Z: The Dimensional (PS4)
Set phasers to fun
It's safe to say that Galak-Z: The Dimensional is a game of charm and personality. Everything from the retro Asteroids-style gameplay to the 80s cartoon style just screams charisma, making it possibly one of the most loveable games of this generation so far. Let's start with the basics: you play as A-Tak, space pilot...
Review Skullgirls 2nd Encore (PS4)
Needs more meat on its bones
Back in 2012, new fighting franchise Skullgirls was widely praised for its creativity and dynamic fighting systems; launchers, air-dashes, team assists, custom assists, snapbacks, blockbuster combos, wall bounces, ground bounces, superfluous bounces, and more were all crammed into the ambitious title. The game has now...
Seas the day
What if the combat-free opening hour of BioShock Infinite stretched on for much longer? Indeed, what if you could explore the beautiful ruins of a destroyed city without having to constantly fend for your life? Submerged – a game developed by ex-Bioshock staffers, incidentally – attempts to answer these very questions. But does this...
Review King's Quest - Chapter I: A Knight to Remember (PS4)
A knight to consider
Developed by The Odd Gentlemen, Sierra's wonderfully strange point-and-click King's Quest franchise is finally resurrected with a new, episodic tale that is set to span six chapters in total – the first of which being the rather cunningly titled A Knight to Remember. The story begins with Graham, the king of Daventry – the...
iRobot
The Fall explores AI in an interesting and seldom seen way, and it's so superbly written and voiced that this tale can fully immerse you in its drama and peril. However, a stiff challenge with the combat and puzzles frequently threatens to put you off. You are an AI construct called ARID housed within a suit designed to aid an injured human...
Review Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive (PS4)
Cluster luck
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive can be one heck of a fun beat-'em-up on PlayStation 4, but only under the right conditions. This is a downloadable title that's seemingly got plenty going for it, from its attractive sprite-based art style to its over-the-top combat, but it struggles all too often to fulfil its potential...
Review EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (PS4)
Missing the bread and putter
EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is this year's NHL 15. Moment-to-moment, the gameplay is great, and thanks to a few solid control schemes, anyone can play it. But beyond the swinging, putting, and aesthetics is a lacklustre, depthless sports game. Period. And this really is a shame because the title gets off to a hot...
Review Legend of Kay Anniversary (PS4)
O-Kay?
Bringing a video game back from the annals of history to be remastered or remade is tricky. Publishers have to ask themselves if it's something original fans and newer players could fall in love with. Should it get a new coat of paint or be rebuilt from the ground up? Has it been too long or short since its original release? With this in...
Review Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room (PS4)
Dark side of the moons
French developer DONTNOD really kicked things into overdrive with the third episode of Life Is Strange. While the first two episodes were certainly divisive – even amongst the staff here - it would be hard to argue that the series wasn't in the process of carving out its own niche. Episode three was where proceedings truly...
The nth degree
Metanet Software has come a long way with its acclaimed N series. Ten years ago, the studio launched N as a freeware Flash game, and released an expanded version on consoles a few years later. Fans of the series have had to wait a long time for the sequel, but it's finally here, and it positively dwarfs its predecessors. With a...
Square pusher
Often video games are formed from many different ideas, complex puzzles, and imaginitive wonders. Velocibox, a PlayStation 4 and Vita cross-buy title, replaces all of this with very simplistic gameplay which, although straightforward in theory, actually presents one of the sternest challenges that we've experienced in quite some time...
Robotic robbery
It's a well-known fact that, back when Britain had an empire, you couldn't step into the foggy London night without occasionally tripping over the odd robot here and there. Every house and factory had a small army for protection, complete with complicated computers and pressure-sensitive mines. Like a pair of Queen Victoria's...
Review Nutjitsu: Reforged (PS4)
Like a thief in the nut
A squirrel and their nuts are not easily parted, so when the ninja squirrels have their stash of acorns stolen by a band of samurai foxes, it's up to one of their number to venture forth and retrieve their supply from right under the snouts of their enemies. In Nutjitsu: Reforged on the PlayStation 4 you'll be guiding a lone...
Review Onechanbara Z2: Chaos (PS4)
Devil don't care
The Onechanbara series has been around for a while in Japan, shamelessly fusing ridiculous combat with girls in skimpy costumes for a good 11 years now. It's safe to say that it's a franchise that knows what its fans want, and as such, it's never tried to move away from its aforementioned core concepts. The same is true of its...
Review Hatoful Boyfriend (PS4)
Somebirdie to love
In the opening scene of Hatoful Boyfriend – the PlayStation 4's premiere pigeon dating simulator – its main character Hiyoko Tosaka attempts to describe the school that she attends. "It's a long story," she laments, before quickly giving up. If you want to see everything that this bizarre title has to offer, you'll have to...
Review Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers (PS4)
The penultimate peril
While developer Telltale's release schedule for Tales from the Borderlands could be described as sporadic at best, the studio's done a reasonably good job of delivering episodes in its Game of Thrones series in a relatively timely fashion. And this trend has continued with the season's penultimate episode, Game of Thrones:...
Pilgrim's progress
Journey is as magical today as it was when it first released on the PlayStation 3 back in 2012. thatgamecompany's masterpiece is a thought provoking, emotional experience that everyone should try at least once, and now that it's on the PlayStation 4, complete with cross-buy support and enhanced visuals, there's never been a better...
Review Tembo the Badass Elephant (PS4)
Peanut stutter
Tembo the Badass Elephant should have been ten tons of fun, but instead it's a steaming pile of missed opportunity. This is Pokémon developer Game Freak's first PlayStation release since surgeon simulation Click Medic deployed in Japan over 15 years ago, and so it carries the weight of industry intrigue for that reason alone. But...
