Latest Reviews
Review Sonic Forces - Hedgehog More Like Roadkill in Another Disappointing Misadventure
Hogs of war
Republished on Wednesday 26th February 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of March's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. In some ways, Sonic Forces is exactly what the younger fan base will want. Those who grew up playing Sonic Unleashed, Generations, and the...
Review Shadow of the Colossus - A Masterful Remake of an All-Time PlayStation Classic
World Wander
Republished on Wednesday 26th February 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of March's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. It’s fitting that one of the greatest games of all time should be graced with one of the best remakes of all time. For some years now the Texas-based...
Mini Review Ganbare! Super Strikers - Tactical Take on the Beautiful Game
You'll get a kick out of it
Think of Ganbare! Super Strikers not as a sports game, but as a strategy campaign a little bit like Advance Wars or XCOM. That’s how this fusion of football and tactics works, adopting a turn-based format where you need to move your players into position, pass the ball, and, fingers crossed, score some goals. There’s...
Review Hunt: Showdown - A Monster That Needs More Meat On Its Bones
"I'll hold them off, and Bayou some time"
A truly monstrous take on multiplayer shooters, Hunt: Showdown finally makes its way to the PlayStation 4 having already set hairs on edge elsewhere. Despite being in need of some more combat, the game is an unsettling experience that melds player-versus-player and player-versus-environment content to offer...
Review Two Point Hospital - Management Sim Is a Worthy Successor to Theme Hospital
Sick
Theme Park proved that big business could be big fun, and its spiritual successor Theme Hospital became something of a cult classic that kids from the era continue to quote even today. Given the legendary 1997 business simulation’s legacy, it’s curious that it’s taken this long for Two Point Hospital to make an appointment, but if...
Mini Review Knightin'+ - Zelda-Lite Is Too Simplistic with Just Dungeons
Trifine
Are we witnessing the origins of an all-new genre? Knightin’+ started life on itch.io and bills itself as a Zelda-lite. The gameplay is easy to describe: it’s Zelda in dungeon form only. This means that there’s no hub-world to explore, just a maze of rooms with keys to find, puzzles to solve, and bosses to beat. You’ll also happen...
Your inventory is full
Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story is an isometric dungeon crawling action RPG that, as its title suggests, branches off from the janky but fun Way of the Samurai series. Playing as a wandering swordsman who helps a blacksmith settle his debt, you're tasked with exploring a ghostly realm that appears in the night, looting...
Mini Review EarthNight - Gorgeous Auto-Runner Is Spiky as a Dragon's Back
Tread carefully
EarthNight has been a long time coming, and you can tell just by playing that it's been polished to within an inch of its life. It's a pretty simple game at its heart; you auto-run across the backs of invading dragons, hoovering up loot and stomping on baddies, until you inevitably die and start over again. However, it's been refined...
Mini Review Yakuza 5 Remastered - Biggest Game in the Series Is Still Brilliant
Five stars
It took three whole years for the original Yakuza 5 to come West on PlayStation 3, and by that point in 2015, the PlayStation 4 was gaming's dominant console. As such, Yakuza 5 often gets forgotten -- but it shouldn't be. Yakuza 5 Remastered is a potent reminder that this gargantuan game deserved so much better. The story's split between...
Mini Review Draugen - This Walking Simulator Takes a Fatal Tumble
Drab
Draugen feels like the opposite of Firewatch. Both games capture the imagination with a fascinating premise told against the backdrop of a stunning location, but instead of remaining rooted in reality, the Red Thread developed title gives way to lunacy at the first time of asking. It makes for an unsatisfying walking simulator which can only...
Mini Review Mosaic - An Intriguing Experience That Can't Stick the Landing
Big brother is watching
Much like with its previous title, Among the Sleep, developer Krillbite seems to have bitten off more than it can chew. Mosaic is an intriguing title with exciting ideas. Unfortunately, the ideas simply outpace the resources that the developer has available to realise them. But it’s not for lack of trying. Mosaic’s...
Review Bayonetta - The Umbra Witch Gets the PS4 Release She Deserves
Let's dance boys
Bayonetta was a disaster on PlayStation 3. Plagued by load times and frequent frame rate drops, it was by far the worst version of the lot when it took the world by storm in 2010. Since then, however, the franchise has gone from strength to strength away from Sony hardware as it blossoms on Nintendo Switch. The series' second...
Review Vanquish - One of PlatinumGames' Best Titles Knee Slides to PS4
Miss me, sweetheart?
Ever since its release 10 years ago, there hasn’t been anything quite like Vanquish. The fast-paced, stylish third-person shooter quickly became one of PlatinumGames' most memorable joints thanks to hectic action, impressive boss fights, and a whole lot of knee sliding chaos. It was an experience which went down well with the...
Review Dreams - Media Molecule's Magnum Opus Is a Dream Come True on PS4
What dreams are made of
If you've been following Push Square over the last year or so, it's likely you already know how we feel about Dreams. Media Molecule's latest title has been playable in early access for a number of months, and we, among others, have already laid down our thoughts on this most unusual project. However, after spending about 50...
Mini Review Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate - Hack and Slasher Finally Feels Like the Complete Package
Promoted
We weren't overly impressed with Warriors Orochi 4 when it launched in 2018, but Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate is definitely a cut above. Available as either a digital expansion or a re-release, Ultimate adds two new story chapters, a handful of new characters, and an endgame 'Infinity Mode'. It also brings a number of improvements to the...
Review Darksiders Genesis - Competent Prequel Lacks Originality
Then there was War
On the face of things, Darksiders Genesis is yet another example of the THQ Nordic-fronted franchise mixing things up to ensure one more fresh experience for its fans. Developer Airship Syndicate is at the helm this time around with a prequel which ditches classic third-person action for a perspective more akin to Diablo than...
Mini Review Rugby 20 - Grubby Sports Game Is Weirdly Addictive
Try hard
Rugby 20 doesn’t come packaged with a Ralph Lauren polo shirt or a pint of pale ale, but it does talk a big game as this year’s Six Nations gets into full swing. Promising the “complete experience”, this is a rare attempt at bringing the egg-shaped antics of Britain’s most popular back-passing sport to the PlayStation 4 – and it...
Mini Review Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 3 - Nights and Bikes
On yer bike
Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 3 – or, to give it its full title and pad out our word count, Monster Energy AMA Supercross 3 FIM World Championship: The Official Video Game – proves that Milestone may just be the most prolific developer of the generation. By our count, this is its 20th title on the PlayStation 4...
Mini Review Zero Zero Zero Zero - Hellish Monochrome Platforming
From zero to hero
Zero Zero Zero Zero reminds us of Sound Shapes – although the latter undoubtedly has a better name. Do you remember those dastardly single-screen stages in the aforementioned PlayStation exclusive outing? This monochrome platformer is like 100 of those, each rotating randomly every time you die. And you will die – again and...
Mini Review 7th Sector - An Intriguing Cyberpunk Dystopia
Electric avenue
If you're a fan of Playdead's mysterious 2.5D puzzle platformers like Inside, you may well be interested in 7th Sector. It follows a similar design template, although instead of playing a young boy, you'll take on the role of, er, an electrical current? It appears the player character is trapped within the electricity grid of some...
Mini Review Milo's Quest - Pixelated Puppy Stars in Simple Adventure Game
Oh my dog
Milo’s Quest could carry the subtitle ‘My First Adventure Game’ and it would all make sense. This straightforward isometric outing sees you take control of a lovingly animated pooch, and sees you embark on an adventure across a colourful landscape filled with marshmallow-shaped ghouls and bricks to push. It’s probably the most...
Review Dawn of Fear - The Best and Worst Resident Evil Throwback Ever
You were almost a Jill Sandwich
There's a reason why the original three Resident Evil titles are so beloved. Through a mixture of terror, tension, and a good amount of cheese, Capcom birthed the survival horror genre back in 1996 and changed the way we perceive those bumps in the dark forever. However, there's also a reason why the industry has...
Review Patapon 2 Remastered - Familiar Beats, But Catchy as Ever
Little drummer boys
Patapon 2 Remastered has been in the works for what feels like an eternity, but the sequel has finally marched onto PlayStation 4. Much like Sony's other unusual PSP titles, the rhythm/strategy hybrid is now available on the flagship home console with updated visuals and 4K support for those with a PS4 Pro. Despite the first...
Review Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition - An Adventure Unlike Anything Else in Video Games
Long journey home
Once in a while, you stumble upon a game that absolutely blows you away. Maybe the graphics set a new industry standard, maybe it’s really funny, or maybe it’s evocative of a mood you didn’t know you wanted in a game until it hit you. This is where dev Cardboard Computer comes in, with its fascinating journey more than seven...
Review Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire - A Romantic and Replayable Shmup
Sister, sister
The real bummer about Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire is that it has a much better subtitle in Japan. The vertical shmup – inspired by the cult Castle of Shikigami series – goes by the illustrious name Sisters Royale: I’m Being Harassed by Five Sisters and It Sucks. Brilliant. It all plays into the plot, which sees a...
Review Firewall Zero Hour - Tactical PSVR Shooter Has Awesome Action, But Not Enough of It
You've been Tango'd
Republished on Wednesday 29th January 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. We’re not sure whether they’re brave or stupid, but developers will insist on releasing online-only multiplayer games for PlayStation VR...
Review The Sims 4 - A Decent Port of the Ever Popular Life Simulator
Better simulate than never
Republished on Wednesday 29th January 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. You begin The Sims 4 by creating a Sim - an avatar of a person, perhaps based on yourself only thinner, more popular, and with cooler...
Review BioShock: The Collection - Return to Rapture and Columbia in This Solid Set of Remasters
As above, so below
Republished on Wednesday 29th January 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. When it was released in 2007, BioShock was hailed as a masterpiece by the gaming press and remains to this day a high watermark for the...
Review Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Technical Problems Derail an Otherwise Superb Sequel
Pillar talk
Push Square die-hards will doubtless recall that back in 2017 we gave Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition a glowing review, bestowing upon it a well earned 9/10 to take home for its mum to put on the fridge. It was both a love letter to old school, all-time classic role players like Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment, and a title...
Mini Review Coffee Talk - A Charming Visual Novel That Goes Down Like a Good Cup of Coffee
A damn fine cup of coffee talk
At first glance, it’s practically impossible to think of anything but VA-11 Hall-A when booting up Coffee Talk. A visual novel experience where you play as someone in charge of making drinks for customers while discussing societal taboos makes for a pretty similar description. Indeed, you play as a barista making a...
