Latest Reviews
Review Gotham Knights (PS5) - It's Actually Pretty Good
Return to Arkham
Sometimes, reviewing a game under embargo feels a lot like the famous Jose Mourinho phrase: "If I speak, I am in big trouble." Not just with the publisher, but also those fuelling the narrative that Gotham Knights is a bad game before it's even out. Warner Bros. Games Montreal's latest has continually been thrown under a bus in the...
Review Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection (PC) - Treasure Hunting Never Looked So Good
Nathan Drake ventures to a brand new platform
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection has washed ashore on the beaches of a new platform — one that allows us to dial the technical aspects of series' most recent instalments up to 11. But with the PS5 receiving its own remastered collection just earlier this year, is this PC port another big step,...
Review A Plague Tale: Requiem (PS5) - Asobo Studio Levels Up in Fantastic Narrative Treat
Pest control
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an excellent example of what a sequel should be: similar to its predecessor, but bigger and better in virtually every single way. Asobo Studio was so close to something quite special with 2019's A Plague Tale: Innocence, and its PS5 sequel turns that potential into reality. For fans of narrative-focused titles,...
Mini Review Persona 5 Royal (PS5) - Still One of the Best JRPGs Ever Made, Despite PS4 Disrespect
Persona 5 Royalties
Let's get right into it: Persona 5 would not be the success story that it is without the PS4. And with that in mind, the complete lack of an upgrade path for existing PS4 players is a slap in the face. It doesn't matter if you've already paid full price for Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal on Sony's last-gen system — SEGA and...
Mini Review LEGO Bricktales (PS5) - Solid Puzzler Taps into the Creativity of LEGO
If you build it, they will come
LEGO Bricktales is the latest attempt by LEGO to diversify its gaming portfolio beyond the formula popularised by TT Games. While some of these attempts have been worse than others, LEGO Bricktales is the latest in a line of successes. This is a puzzle game about a young minifig on their way to visit their...
Review Overwatch 2 (PS5) - More 2.0 Than a Full Sequel
Heroes reunite
It's better to think of Overwatch 2 as Overwatch 2.0 instead of a full sequel. While many of its playable Heroes have undergone significant changes — alongside the introduction of three brand-new ones — this is essentially the same game you've been playing for the past six years. Activision Blizzard has (quite literally) stuck a...
Review Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Enhanced Edition (PS4) - A Roleplaying Renaissance
We live in a CRPG Golden Age
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is the kind of game that can take over your life if you let it. Its intricate mechanics, engaging combat, and gritty narrative combine to create a heady experience, provided you're willing to put in the time to learn its specific eccentricities. It can be unwieldy, and its depth and...
Review No More Heroes III (PS5) - A Suda51 Sequel Full of Surprises
Start the game
Grasshopper Manufacture and its founder Goichi Suda are infamous for their oddball ideas, and the No More Heroes games are prime examples of their unorthodox proclivities. The first two games are schizophrenia-fuelled mania operating under the guise of hack-and-slashes, while Travis Strikes Again utilised its smaller team and budget...
Mini Review Startenders (PSVR) – A Fun Time Serving Up Cosmic Drinks
The luck is gone, the brain is shot, but the liquor we still got
PSVR is jam-packed with goofy little experiences, and Startenders is the newest to join that lineup. A procedural bartending game with a twist, the experience offers a perfectly pleasant distraction for a little while. As a mundane, office working human, you suddenly get transported...
Mini Review Airoheart (PS5) - Flawed Zelda Clone Has Some Nice Ideas, But Stumbles
Broken Link
Indie games don't have to do their own thing to be successful (just look at something like Prodeus), but Airoheart, a 2D The Legend of Zelda clone through and through, never feels confident in its structure or design when it isn't directly aping Nintendo's timeless series. The action adventure title tries to set itself apart by...
Mini Review Potion Permit (PS5) - Time to Play Doctor in a Charming But Buggy Town
Che-missed the mark
Potion Permit throws you in the deep end. The town of Moonbury needs a chemist, and as a fresh graduate from the capital you’re shipped in to cure the mayor’s daughter who has succumbed to a mysterious illness. Moonbury residents don’t have a great track record with chemists, however, and that will become apparent as the...
Mini Review Prodeus (PS5) - Old School Shooter Is Derivative But So Damn Good
From hell with love
The so-called 'boomer shooter' is a common sight these days — retro-styled blast-'em-ups that promise the pixelated thrills of early DOOM games and their ilk. Prodeus is one such project — a straightforward take on the genre that can set its stall with a single screenshot; this is the definition of a boomer shooter. But what...
Review Mini-Review: Circus Electrique (PS5) - Not Quite The Greatest Show On Earth
Roll up, roll up
Young journalist Amelia has the circus in her blood; her uncle runs the titular Circus Electrique and her mother was a former circus performer who died in an accident ten years prior. Amelia has been given an assignment to report on the reopening of the circus, but disaster strikes as London is plagued with a mysterious incident...
Review FIFA 23 (PS5) - Series Ends on a High, But Familiar Frustrations Remain
Touch grass
After an incredible 30-year run, FIFA 23 had to go out on a high – and to be fair, we reckon it just about has. Fans of EA Sports’ flagship football franchise will be familiar with the formula: this is more refinement than revolution, but FIFA 22 threaded through some of the best virtual soccer we’ve seen from the juggernaut...
Mini Review Tunic (PS5) - Cute But Tough Action Game Is Cunning As a Fox
Page turner
Tunic is more than it appears. It treads familiar ground to classic Legend of Zelda-style adventures, with simple combat, a large overworld, and a selection of bosses and dungeons. However, it's what's added on top that really shines. To start with, the foxy hero doesn't even have a sword, but throughout the game you'll slowly accrue...
Mini Review Let's Build A Zoo (PS5) - An Absorbing and Quirky Tycoon
A crocoduck?
Don’t let the cutesy pixel art style fool you; managing a zoo is more than just a walk in the park. Let's Build A Zoo wastes no time to allow the player to establish a living hell or a haven for both your visitors and animals. The game excels at two main mechanics which make it stand out from its tycoon competitors — the morality...
Mini Review Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered (PS4) - A Snappier, Funnier Sequel
Weird is an understatement
Santa, Hell, vampires? In any other game, this would be such an odd combination. However, this is Sam & Max we're talking about, and Santa's exorcism is just another typical case for the dynamic duo. Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered is just as enjoyable as Ozzy Osbourne's crazy train to experience...
Review Valkyrie Elysium (PS5) - Quality Combat Elevates Drab Action RPG
Par for the Norse
There's something distinctly old school about Valkyrie Elysium, and we don't mean because it's part of a long-running franchise; a series that started with the turn-based JRPG Valkyrie Profile way back in 1999. This is a game with an almost PlayStation 2 style design philosophy, for better and worse, and what you're here for will...
Mini Review Sam & Max Save the World Remastered (PS4) - A Classic with a Modern Touch
Chuckle like the good ol' days
The cheese was innocent! Or was it? The cheese is only the start of an absurdist adventure led by a cool wolfhound detective accompanied by a hyperactive bunny who might have a loose screw or two. A remaster of Telltale's episodic adventure which ran from 2006 to 2007, Sam & Max Save the World Remastered follows a...
Review SUPERHOT (PS4) - A Stylish, Truly Unique First-Person Shooter
You've got red dudes on you
Republished on Wednesday 28th September 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus Essential lineup. The original text follows. SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter we’ve played in years. We’re not saying that solely because the game tells us to...
Review Injustice 2 (PS4) - Super Superhero Brawling for DC Fanatics
Loot boxes among us
Republished on Wednesday 28th September 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus Essential lineup. The original text follows. Injustice 2 may be one of the most impressive fighting game sequels in recent memory. Following the release of Injustice: Gods Among...
Review Hot Wheels Unleashed (PS5) - Fun Toy Car Racer Makes the Most of Its Licence
Beat that
Republished on Wednesday 28th September 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. After years spent fine-tuning its various motorcycle racing titles, developer Milestone has taken a significant detour with Hot Wheels Unleashed...
Mini Review The DioField Chronicle (PS5) - Dull Characters in an Intriguing Strategy RPG
Fleeting foxes
Its disjointed reveal trailer didn't exactly heighten our expectations, but we're happy to report that The DioField Chronicle has turned out reasonably well. It's a real-time strategy RPG topped off with some very pretty artwork and some effective gameplay design — but it's not without its (often obvious) flaws. Set against a...
Mini Review XIII (PS5) - Improvements Can't Save This Remaster Redo
Isn't 13 supposed to be a lucky number?
Considering the XIII remake's original launch was a disaster, it's admirable that publisher Microids tried to fix things. Following the launch from developer PlayMagic, a new team, Tower Five, has been brought in to try and rework the release into something more appealing. The results are mixed, but it's...
Mini Review Session: Skate Sim (PS5) - A Realism Focused Love Letter to Skating, For Better or Worse
Need's more CKY
This time five years ago, skateboarding games were in a rough place. The last major skateboarding game was the truly awful Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 and EA’s Skate series had been dormant since 2010 despite fervent fan demand for a new entry. Around that time Montreal-based developer Creā-ture Studios first showed off Project...
Review Trails from Zero (PS4) - Classic JRPG Finally Comes West, and the Wait Has Been Worth It
From Zero to hero
For the longest time, we thought that this review would never happen. Originally a 2010 title for the PSP, Trails from Zero never left Japan, despite plenty of campaigning by Western fans. Demand for Zero only grew following the Trails boom a few years back, when sequel series Trails of Cold Steel was localised on PS3, Vita, and...
Mini Review Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5) - Slow But Satisfying Ship Scrapping
Job's a goodun
In these uncertain times of economic instability, what better way to unwind than to play a game in which you're an indentured labourer, working off an impossible debt? Hardspace: Shipbreaker has you scrapping gigantic vessels to chip away at a huge financial obligation to the Lynx Corporation. This clearly shady conglomerate has you...
Mini Review Metal: Hellsinger (PS5) – Brilliant Gameplay Surrounded by Banality
For those about to rock
The concept behind Metal: Hellsinger is simple enough: marry the classic shooter gunplay of DOOM with a rhythm game. And developer The Outsiders absolutely nail this element of its game: the gunplay feels fantastic. Shooting, dodging, cycling weapons, it all feels great. You can do just about everything in the game to the...
Review Isonzo (PS5) - A Solid WW1 Shooter with Some Rough Edges
With leather skin, these eyes designed to haunt you
The FPS is a densely packed genre, so standing out is a must if you want to gain any traction. That's exactly what M2H and Blackmill Games have done with their WW1 Game Series. Following in the footsteps of Verdun and then Tannenberg, Isonzo introduces the Italian front to the series. WW1 games are...
Review Temtem (PS5) - A Refreshing, Modern Take on the Monster-Battling RPG
Gotta catch Tem all
Temtem has technically been available on PS5 for the best part of two years, but with the game now out of its early access phase, it's time we gave it a proper shake. The RPG is now fully featured, and while some might hand-wave it off as some unholy imitation of Pokémon, the game does enough to stand on its own two feet...
