Latest Reviews
Mini Review A Short Hike (PS4) - A Sweet, Simple, Animal Crossing-Lite Experience
A walk in the woods
A Short Hike's title does an awful lot of heavy lifting when it comes to describing this game. It truly conveys the core experience in a way many game titles don't. Playing as Claire, an anthropomorphised bird, you are tasked with, you guessed it, going on a short hike. You can jump, fly, and climb, all of which you’ll need to...
Review Sherlock Holmes Chapter One (PS5) - Not One of Frogwares' Best
False start
Visiting the island of Cordona to pay respects to his late mother, it takes a young Sherlock Holmes no more than 30 minutes to discover a dead body and a case ripe for solving. It isn't much more than a tutorial, designed to introduce you to Frogwares' usual detective mechanics. However, it's also the first example of how Sherlock Holmes...
Dragon it out
Available as either a full release priced at £47.99 / $49.99 or as a discounted upgrade to 2016's Special Edition, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is quite simply the best version of Skyrim to ever grace a PlayStation console. Although, admittedly, that's not saying much. The original game on PS3 was and still is a...
Mini Review Epic Chef (PS4) - Silly Culinary Life Sim Mostly Hits the Spot
Kitchen quest
Epic Chef mixes together varied ingredients to create something rather tasty. It's a story-based adventure game about a man named Zest moving to a new town and rising through the culinary ranks, but the gameplay isn't just about cooking. While you'll concoct numerous recipes using weird and wonderful ingredients, the game is as much a...
Mini Review Panorama Cotton (PS4) - Technically Impressive 16-bit Rail Shooter in Unloving Port
Welcome to the infamy zone
It's pleasing that United Games Entertainment is working alongside ININ Games, and Ratalaika Games on port programming to bring Japanese only retro games to modern consoles, like the Mega Drive's Space Harrier-esque rail shooter, Panorama Cotton. It's magical to witness on ageing 16-bit hardware — which unimpressively...
Review Call of Duty: Vanguard (PS5) - More Safe But Solid FPS Action
There's no Stalin this train
If Activision could pick and choose when the Call of Duty series is hot or not, this would be the year where it goes all guns blazing. The publisher faces more competition than usual as Battlefield 2042 and Halo Infinite go toe to toe with its premier FPS, tussling for both mindshare and your time. Consumers are spoilt...
Review Jurassic World Evolution 2 (PS5) - Dinosaur Park Builder Sequel Delivers
Open the door. Get on the floor. Everybody walk the dinosaur
Avid Push Square readers will undoubtedly recall that we rather liked 2018's Jurassic World Evolution. Making an amusement park full of dinosaurs that occasionally escape their confinement and eviscerate the slack-jawed tourists is what we're all about. Now the sequel is here — the...
Mini Review Bloodshore (PS4) - Silly Interactive Action Movie Mayhem
Battle Royale with cheese
Battle royale is a term that sends shivers down the spine of many a gamer, evoking thoughts of garish, costumed shoot-'em-ups, egregious monetisation, and an entire generation of children for whom flossing has absolutely nothing to do with dental hygiene. Stop liking things we don't understand, kids. Play Yakuza. Anyway,...
Mini Review Demon Turf (PS5) - Fresh 3D Platformer Blends Old and New with Style
Speed demon
In some ways, Demon Turf is quite old-school in design. This is a 3D platformer that wouldn't be out of place alongside your favourite PS1-era classics, with hub worlds containing numerous levels, collectibles to find, and bosses to beat. However, it evolves the formula with some interesting twists that modernise its gameplay, making it...
Welcome, foolish mortals
There’s a real craft that goes into the best of PSVR’s horror experiences, and Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife is masterfully executed. You play as a photographer — well, more accurately, the spirit of one — trying to solve your own murder as well as escape from an estate you seem to find yourself trapped in. But be...
Review Riders Republic (PS5) - Try-Hard Extreme Sports Sandbox Is a Technical Feat
How do you do, fellow kids?
Ubisoft’s approach to open world game design has worn thinner than a snowboarder’s baggy pants, but the French publisher keeps returning to it because it works. Riders Republic does little to hide the fact that it’s effectively The Crew 2 in an extreme sports skin, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This...
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...
Mini Review Pumpkin Jack: New-Gen Edition (PS5) - Halloween Platformer Is Four Hours of PS2 Era Fun
Jack's back
Pumpkin Jack is an action platformer that harkens back to simpler times. It released for PlayStation 4 last year, but we foolishly missed out on the fun. Thankfully, we've been able to catch up with Jack on PS5 thanks to the New-Gen Edition of the game, which runs at a silky smooth 60 frames-per-second, and features load times that last...
It’s about family, and that’s what so powerful about it
While innovation often leads to some truly creative endeavors, there's something to be said for taking an established formula and doing it really well. That’s what Röki sets out to do: take the traditional elements of a point-and-click adventure title, and elevate the experience in...
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 Backbone (PS5) - Escalating Mystery Bites Off More Than It Can Chew
A dog eat dog world
Backbone makes a great first impression. This is a noir, narrative-driven game in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, all living their lives in a dystopian city. Playing as Howard Lotor, a private detective who's barely making ends meet, you take on what appears to be a simple job, but it soon leads you to a much...
Mini Review Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water (PS5) - Remaster Is More of a Trick Than Treat
Camera shy
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water wasn't anything special back in 2015 on Nintendo Wii U, and it's no better six years later. A sub-standard remaster ports the horror title to PlayStation 5 to conveniently coincide with Halloween, but for as creepy as it can be, it's not a particularly enjoyable game to actually play. If we were offered...
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 Gleylancer (PS5) - Solid 1992 Mega Drive Shmup Shines Again
Bust out the Busterhawk for two easy Platinums
From its July 1992 release, Masaya's Gleylancer didn't initially shine as a single player shoot-'em-up. It received a mixed reception, with Issue 2 of Mean Machines SEGA magazine describing it as unoriginal and tedious in a 48/100 scoring review. For years Gleylancer was more renowned for its reputation...
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...
Review Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) - Faithful Take on the Guardians Really Rocks
Groot work
You never quite know what you're going to get with superhero games nowadays. The likes of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham series and the more recent Marvel's Spider-Man are proof famous comic-book faces can set the standard for the industry, but then we all remember how Marvel's Avengers went. Unsurprisingly then, there's some apprehension...
Mini Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (PS5) - The Best Game in the Series So Far
Trapped between Iraq and a hard place
After the crummy Man of Medan and the better-but-not-quite-there Little Hope, The Dark Pictures Anthology has finally started hitting its stride with House of Ashes. Set in Iraq in 2003, the invading United States army is looking for weapons of mass destruction wink wink. Satellite imagery has alerted them to a...
Mini Review The Good Life (PS4) - SWERY's Latest Is Baffling, Broken, and Brilliant
Life is beautiful
In an industry that champions violence and gore, it's always refreshing to play something that favours nature and nurture instead. Sure, punching a goblin in the back of its weird head is great. Cathartic, even. But sometimes, just for a change, it'd be nice to have a lovely wander down a quiet English lane before enjoying a...
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 NHL 22 (PS5) - A New Shine Applied to a Familiar Experience
We've been here before
New console generations can prove rocky for sports franchises: performance issues, bugs, and a reduction in features are routinely guaranteed. Certainly, that's the fate that awaited EA's NHL series when it transitioned to the PlayStation 4 – after all, we still have nightmares about the abysmal NHL 15. Surprisingly, EA...
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...
