Latest Reviews
Review Wreckfest (PS4) - Technical Issues Fail to Void This Great, Destructive Racer
It's daa-bee, not dur-bee
Republished on Wednesday 28th April, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of May 2021's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. Racing games have been seemingly few and far between this generation. DriveClub will cease to exist at the end of this month, Codemasters’ GRID...
Review Battlefield V (PS4) - Multiplayer Mayhem Excuses Shallow Launch
V for victory
Republished on Wednesday 28th April, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of May 2021's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. Battlefield V's road to release hasn’t exactly been smooth, nor typical of an EA product. After a delay for further adjustments to gameplay and the setback...
Soul survivor
NieR always deserved a second chance, and you could argue that the very well received NieR Automata was exactly that. The tale of 2B touched the hearts of many a player back in 2017, but for a while, it felt like the original NieR had been left behind and largely forgotten. After all, the NieR that we got here in the West — the one...
Review Judgment (PS5) - A Truly Gripping Detective Thriller, and One of the Best Yakuza Games
Another day in Kamurocho
We loved Judgment on PlayStation 4, but over time, our appreciation of this Yakuza spinoff has only grown. Upon reflection, we actually think that our Judgment PS4 review was a bit off the mark, and having now played the game's remaster on PS5, we're fully convinced that this is, hands down, one of the best Yakuza-style...
Deluxe treatment
Koei Tecmo has re-released yet another Atelier Trilogy, this time giving the Mysterious series the ‘Deluxe’ treatment. Unlike the Arland and Dusk trilogy, this threesome is already on PlayStation 4, so it does seem a little strange that they’re being released again on the same console. However, this is now the most complete...
Mini Review Buildings Have Feelings Too (PS4) - A Management Game Lacking Solid Foundations
Bricking it
Buildings Have Feelings Too is essentially a city-building management game without the people. Instead of keeping a growing population happy, you instead have to please personified houses, office blocks, industrial chimneys, and more as you work through Victorian times to the modern age. It's an odd but likeable premise, and certainly...
Review MLB The Show 21 (PS5) - A Lead-Off Double But Not a Home Run
Ace of base
Sports games, for all the ire they attract, subscribe to some of the most brutal development cycles in the industry. Spare a thought, then, for Sony San Diego, which has not only transitioned from one platform to four with its annual baseball simulation MLB The Show 21 – but it’s also done it during a global pandemic. There are clear...
Review Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds (PS4) - Icy Expansion Is Excellent
Winter wonder
Review republished on 20th April, 2021: With Horizon Zero Dawn primed to be offered for free as part of Sony's Play At Home initiative, we're bringing our original review back from the archives. If it wasn’t for a couple of Nintendo franchises doing what they do best, Horizon Zero Dawn would be a front-runner for Game of the Year...
Review Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) - An Outstanding Open World Debut
Bloody Nora
Review republished on 20th April, 2021: With Horizon Zero Dawn primed to be offered for free as part of Sony's Play At Home initiative, we're bringing our original review back from the archives. Horizon Zero Dawn is both unusual and excellent. Killzone maker Guerrilla Games' first stab at the ever-popular open world genre lifts ideas...
Review Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (PS5) - A Hauntingly Brilliant RPG That Lives Long in the Mind
Killer moves
Disco Elysium is one of those games that you think about even when you're not playing it. Even just a few hours in, you'll find that this strange and at times absurd role-playing title has claimed a space in your mind. In truth, it's like nothing else on the market — and reviews like this one don't really do it justice. But, this is...
Mini Review Cozy Grove (PS4) - A Relaxing Little Life Sim That's Worth Sticking With
A beary nice time
Cozy Grove is a relaxing little game in which you're tasked with helping out friendly ghosts on an abandoned island. There's a definite hint of Animal Crossing about it, but the game's generally less involved than Nintendo's life sim juggernaut. You'll spend most of your time running rather simple errands for the aforementioned...
Mini Review DOOM 3: VR Edition (PS4) – An Improved Version of a Solid Game
Go to hell
Games not designed with VR first have a tendency to be rather hit-or-miss, but the PSVR adaptation of DOOM 3 – the black sheep of the esteemed shooter franchise – is most definitely a hit. A shooter lives and dies by how the gunplay is, and DOOM 3 VR’s shooting is spectacular. While using the PSVR Aim Controller is definitely the...
Review Oddworld: Soulstorm (PS5) - A Tough Game to Love
It's an odd, odd world
It's hard to know where to begin with Oddworld: Soulstorm. The series has definitely had its ups and downs, but it's always felt like part of PlayStation's flavour, so it's nice to have it back after so many years. It's a reimagining of Abe's Exoddus, a sequel to New 'n' Tasty, and in some ways it's one of the better entries...
Mini Review Star Wars Republic Commando - One of Star Wars’ All-Time Classics Has Still Got It
Initiate radical restructuring, commando
When Star Wars Republic Commando launched in 2005, it was ahead of its time. It found a perfect balance between the tactical, detail-intensive gameplay of shooters like Rainbow Six and the cinematic bombast of Call of Duty. It nailed this so well, that now, 16 years later, the game holds up shockingly well...
Review Balan Wonderworld (PS5) - One of the Worst 3D Platformers of the Past Decade
There is no wonder in this world
Gamers have been treated to a 3D platformer renaissance over the past few years. The likes of Yooka-Laylee and A Hat in Time have shown the world that 3D platformers aren’t just a genre of the past, but a formula that can still be iterated upon. Enter Square Enix and legendary game designer Yuji Naka, best known...
Mini Review Root Film (PS4) - An Enjoyable, If Standard, Visual Novel
Lights! Camera! Inaction!
While it might not be as compelling as its predecessor, Root Letter, Kadokawa Games’ follow-up visual novel Root Film is still worthy of your time. You’ll visit a bevy of locations and witness the culture of Shimane Prefecture while trying to solve an ever-increasing number of murders. As the title of the game suggests,...
Review Zombie Army 4: Dead War (PS4) - Rebellion's Best Game Yet
Fast and Führious
Republished on Wednesday 31st March, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of April 2021's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. For the best part of the PlayStation 4 generation, UK-based studio Rebellion has been improving, tweaking, and fine-tuning its co-operative offering...
Review Days Gone (PS4) - Open World Comfort Food with a Survival Horror Spin
Decent St. John
Republished on Wednesday 31st March, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of April 2021's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. The world comes for you is an incredibly apt slogan for Bend Studio’s apocalyptic sandbox. The latest in a long line of Sony-published story-driven...
Mini Review Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PS5) - Still a Skateboarding Great with Decent Upgrade
Keeping the combo going
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, in case you weren't aware, is an excellent remake of the first two games in the legendary series. It originally launched last year on PlayStation 4, and it's a fantastic reimagining of these skateboarding classics. While it looked great on the older hardware, Activision has seen fit to develop...
Mini Review I Saw Black Clouds - Interactive Thriller Won't Be Winning Any Oscars
Thank you for supporting interactive drama
I Saw Black Clouds begins with a warning that tells you that the game features graphic depictions of suicide and then about four seconds later someone commits suicide. The deceased is a troubled girl named Emily and we move swiftly on to her funeral where we're introduced to Kristina and Charlotte who are...
Mini Review Narita Boy (PS4) - 80s Soaked Action Adventure Is a Digital Delight
Narita Booooooy
Narita Boy is a side-scrolling, 80s VCR-soaked pixel adventure. You play as the titular Narita Boy, a chosen hero of sorts who's tasked with saving a digital dimension from its all-powerful creator. There's a lot more story here than you might think — most of it told through lengthy dialogue boxes — but the gist of it is that...
Mini Review UnderMine (PS4) - Addictive Rogue-Lite Strikes Gold
Good work, peasant
Look, UnderMine might not be the most original game in the world, but it prospects the best bits from rogue-like classics and wraps it all up in a neat new way. The result is an addictive, challenging adventure we struggled to put down. The main thing that makes this rogue-lite so compelling is its steady progression. Playing as...
Journey to the East
Immortals Fenyx Rising's second DLC takes the form of an entirely separate adventure titled Myths of the Eastern Realm. Based around Chinese mythology, this expansion features a new playable hero, a new map, and a new story. However, things have barely changed on a mechanical level, making for a very familiar journey. Main...
Review Spacebase Startopia (PS5) - Deep Space, Shallow Management Sim
In space, no one can see you disco dance
Spacebase Startopia is a management simulator based on Startopia, released way back in 2001 on PC. Much like in the original, you're put in charge of a series of doughnut-shaped bases that you’ll need to turn into fun places for aliens to live, work, and play. Every visitor has a wallet filled with Energy...
Mini Review Tennis World Tour 2: Complete Edition (PS5) - New Balls, Please
Second service
The wait for a good tennis game has, at times, felt longer than Roger Federer’s career – but Tennis World Tour 2 on PlayStation 4 offered a glimmer of hope last year. This new Complete Edition for PS5 repackages the original sports simulation and all of its DLC, but incorporates a number of key under-the-hood improvements as well...
Review It Takes Two (PS5) - An Insanely Inventive Co-Op Adventure
Life is a rollercoaster
Like its predecessor, It Takes Two is only playable in local or online co-op. In keeping with this theme of working together, associate editor Stephen Tailby enlisted the help of his girlfriend, Rachel, for this review. You'll hear from both of them below as they go over their thoughts on this shared experience, laid out in a...
Actual murder on the dancefloor
The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos is the game's second and final expansion. Just like Peril on Gorgon, it's another solid adventure that takes you to a whole new location. This time around, the crew of the Unreliable find themselves on the Grand Colonial — essentially a massive hotel complex that orbits the...
Mini Review Can't Drive This (PS5) - Chaotic Fun That Ends Too Quickly
The truck that couldn’t slow down
There’s an interesting concept behind Can’t Drive This. Developed by Pixel Maniacs — last seen with 2017’s ChromaGun — imagine Speed, but someone set the Bus route with a real-time level editor, and you’ve got the idea. Designed as a co-op experience, player one drives a customisable monster truck,...
Mini Review Kaze and the Wild Masks (PS4) - A Tough But Fun 2D Platformer
Driving me Kaze
Kaze and the Wild Masks is a 2D platformer described by developers PixelHive as '90s inspired'. This is definitely accurate, as there’s a majorly nostalgic vibe, from the slightly retro feeling artwork and music to the lack of dialogue. It simultaneously feels years old and brand new. The titular Kaze, an anthropomorphic bunny,...
Back from the dead
At its most basic level, Stubbs the Zombie is a relatively simple game. You play the titular monster, and you need to eat your way through the art deco utopia of Punchbowl. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, after the first couple of levels, you’ve been introduced to all the abilities and powers that Stubbs has at his disposal...
