Latest Reviews
Review My Hero One's Justice - A Solid Anime Brawler that Struggles to Stand Out
A Quirky kind of fighter
My Hero One’s Justice is the game adaptation of smash hit anime My Hero Academia. If you don’t know My Hero Academia then this probably isn’t the game for you, as My Hero One’s Justice launches its story mode partway through season 2 of the show, and runs to midway through season 3. You’re expected to come with...
Review The Shapeshifting Detective - An Odd Yet Intriguing FMV Murder Mystery
Colonel Mustard, in the study, with the DualShock 4
The Shapeshifting Detective is a new FMV (Full Motion Video) game from Wales Interactive. It’s a curious game that pretty much does what it says on the tin. You take on the role of the titular detective and have the ability to take on the likeness of anybody you come into contact with, like a...
Review Castlevania Requiem - A Compelling Collection of Two Classics
A memorable little pile of secrets
Unsung heroes are prominent in literature and film. Without spoilers, consider if Frodo had embarked on his quest without Sam's support in The Lord of the Rings, and think about nerdy Neville Longbottom's overlooked role in protecting the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The true heroes behind this Castlevania...
Review Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum Session - A Rhythm Game That Marches to Its Own Beat
Finger drumming
The Taiko No Tatsujin series is largely exclusive to Japan, but every now and again, these colourful rhythm titles do head West. In the case of Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum Session, it's the first time the franchise has been brought over to Europe, making it the most widely available outing yet. However, this is still very much a niche...
Review GRIP - An Inconsistent Reimagining of PSone Racer Rollcage
Not very gripping
Combat racing games have been noticeably absent from present-day conversation. Kart racers continue to live on thanks to their accessibility and amiability, but modern combat racing games seem to have trouble breaking into the public gaming consciousness. GRIP seeks to bring a forgotten genre back while also boasting tight controls...
Review The Jackbox Party Pack 5 - Fun and Games
You should know Jack
Another year, another Jackbox game. The master of the party game genre is back for the fifth instalment of the Jackbox Party Pack series, and by this game's indication, the developer isn't running out of good ideas. With every game playable on phone for up to eight players, it'll be hard to find a finer title to pull out when...
Review The Quiet Man - PS4's Most Baffling Game
Best kept on mute
We wrapped up The Quiet Man's conclusion no less than five minutes ago, and to say we’re baffled and bewildered would be an understatement. The bottom line is that Human Head Studios’ attempt at blending FMV with interactive combat scenes utterly fails in every conceivable way. In fact, everything about this project is truly...
Review Project Highrise: Architect's Edition - An Architect for Success
Building sim-plicity at its best
Project Highrise: Architect’s Edition fills a niche on the PlayStation Store as a return for the building simulator genre, following initial success on Steam in 2016. This sim however puts you in control of skyscraper development specifically, as opposed to traditional city sims. As the chief architect in charge of...
Review Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition - A Decent Remaster with Duke
Hail to the skillshot, baby
Republished on Wednesday 31st October 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Ahh Bulletstorm, a title whose place in video game history will forever be entwined with the term 'di*ck-t*ts'. It's a real shame that...
Review Call of Cthulhu - Eerie Adventure Game Is Enjoyable Enough
Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviour Cthulhu?
H.P Lovecraft’s short stories and novellas have been a rich source of inspiration across many artistic mediums, and video games have not been immune to their call. The idea of a ‘Mythos’ populated with evil cults, interdimensional creatures, and ancient beings that can sever your...
Review Nickelodeon Kart Racers - A Disappointing Drive
Slime time
Here's a positive spin: there are definitely kart racing games on the PlayStation 4 with worse concepts than one based on Nickelodeon cartoons. It's sadly a sub-genre criminally underserved this generation, and most of the examples on offer don't exactly fire the imagination. Unfortunately, Nickelodeon Kart Racers falls into this camp as...
Review SoulCalibur VI - The Best Since SoulCalibur II
Edge mastered
Republished on the 25th October, 2018: Now that we've spent time with the game's online modes, we've republished this review with our thoughts. SoulCalibur's had a rocky old road since the glory days of SoulCalibur II, a title still considered by many to be one of the best 3D fighting games ever made. SoulCalibur III, IV, and V...
Review Marvel's Spider-Man: The Heist - More of the Same
With great power comes great repetition?
Publishers are pretty risk-averse when it comes to a major new release – and for good reason. Video games are expensive, and you don't want anything getting in the way of a return on that lofty sum of cash you've put forward just to make your game happen. But surely DLC gives you a chance to tear up the...
Review Red Dead Redemption 2 - Rockstar's Best Ever Game
Dutch courage
It's almost hard to believe that the first Red Dead Redemption released more than eight years ago. Rockstar Games achieved something quite special with the gritty tale of John Marston, delivering an open world title that was ahead of its time. The genre's come a long way since, but with Red Dead Redemption 2 -- a prequel, despite the...
Review NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 - A Disappointing Sequel
Alley-oops
In 2017, NBA Playgrounds came out of nowhere and slam dunked its way onto the PlayStation 4, giving basketball fans a solid alternative to the ultra-realistic simulation the NBA 2K series offers. It was something we hadn’t seen since NBA Jam’s last entry in 2010, and while it wasn’t perfect it did provide a lot of fun. It seems that...
Review Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe - Now We're Cookin'
Viva la Brigade
Following success on Steam and Nintendo Switch last year, PlayStation 4 owners can now enjoy a delightful mise en place of fun with Trinket Studios’ Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe. An interesting concoction of side scrolling action and old school puzzle solving with a truly unique plot and established world, its bizarreness is matched...
Review The Missing - Stunning Storytelling Leaves a Lasting Impression
Beauty that comes in every shape and size
Famed videogame director Swery65 has always been best known for his projects that err on the weird side. Deadly Premonition became a cult classic last generation thanks to its utterly bonkers tale of Greenvale and its inhabitants, while D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die is another wacky soap opera that will...
Review Starlink: Battle for Atlas - A Decent Space Romp Cluttered with Plastic
Toys that aren't so lively
The toys-to-life fad that fuelled the likes of Disney Infinity, Lego Dimensions, and Skylanders died out years ago, didn’t it? Apparently not, because here we are in 2018 with a brand new product line on the market. Starlink: Battle for Atlas, from French behemoth Ubisoft, releases alongside a slew of physical space...
Review My Memory of Us - A Strong Stealth Puzzler with Educational Elements
And it's got Patrick Stewart
Part of a newly-popular genre we like to call 2D Puzzle Stealth Platformers About Living Through Hard Times – think games like Black The Fall or Valiant Hearts – My Memory of Us follows a boy and a girl trying to survive an invasion by the Robot King, which is an allegory for the Nazi invasion of Poland that began...
Review WWE 2K19 - The New King of the Ring
The crown jewel
Much like the WWE’s actual touring schedule, the WWE 2K series never stops. This lineage of games has been releasing every single year since WWF SmackDown on the original PlayStation in 2000. As a result, each entry has started to become mostly iterative rather than radically different, as all annual sports games eventually become...
Review Fast Striker - Retro Shoot 'em Up Action That Isn't Too Fast
Strikingly boring
The shoot ‘em up is a bit of a niche choice these days. Long gone are the days where Galaga and Space Invaders were the hottest games on the market. The genre now seems defined by small indie releases via the PlayStation Store. Fast Striker comes courtesy of a German developer, the confusingly named NG:DEV.TEAM. It’s a shmup...
Review Warriors Orochi 4 - Worse Than Warriors Orochi 3
Snake eater
Warriors Orochi 4 feels like it was developed on a shoestring budget. It cuts corners everywhere, from the removal of several game modes that were in previous titles, to the the fact that 95 per cent of the game's story is told through static character portraits and text boxes. However, after the dismal open world structure of Dynasty...
Review Pato Box - A Boxing Adventure That Isn't All Black and White
Duck and weave
As far as game pitches go, Pato Box is a pretty unusual one. It's essentially the NES classic, Punch-Out!!, only it looks like a graphic novel and stars a man with a duck's head. However, it's not quite that simple, as the game provides its own spin on things, throwing in a story as well as some unique gameplay that sets it apart from...
Review Evasion - Farpoint Meets Its Match
Not so much of a taxing evasion
Most creative teams would still be considered in their infancy five years in, but for Canadian studio Archiact, it’s been more than enough time for the developer to stamp its authority on the virtual reality scene. After developing a whopping eight different titles and publishing a further 13 from different...
Review Assassin's Creed Odyssey - A Masterclass in Open World Design
Kraken good fun
After the deserved success of Assassin's Creed Origins, someone at Ubisoft must have decided to replay The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Bayek's Egyptian adventure had already borrowed heavily from CD Projekt Red's masterpiece, but Assassin's Creed Odyssey doubles down on every role-playing mechanic that it can. The result is an open world...
Review Scribblenauts Mega Pack - Two Great Puzzle Platformers in One
Not all heroes draw their own capes
Video games often get a bad rap. Parents can demonise them as the scourge of education, the ultimate in distraction, and a waste of time and money. The media doesn’t help with its panic of the month over games like Fortnite. But hold up, what we have here are two video games that actively encourage not just...
Review Disgaea 1 Complete - Dishing Out 1,000 Damage Never Looked So Good
DOOD! What a remake!
Walk in the shoes of Daemon Prince and antihero Laharl as he awakens after the passing of his father in hope of fighting for the title of Overlord of the Netherworld. In this remake of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Nippon Ichi Software spoils us with reworked graphics and a new 'Etna Mode' all carefully intertwined into the same...
Review Mega Man 11 - Hard As Rocks Return for the Blue Bomber
Robot rock
It's been eight years since the last Mega Man game, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it wasn't that long ago. Since 2010's Mega Man 10 released on PlayStation 3, Capcom has subtly kept its robotic hero in the limelight with a spate of Legacy Collection re-releases, while Keiji Inafune himself created the lacklustre spiritual successor,...
Review Astro Bot Rescue Mission - Just Like Super Mario VR
Asobi-Wan Kenobi
Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the closest thing you’ll get to a Nintendo platformer on a PlayStation platform. Japan Studio hinted at something special in The Playroom VR’s acclaimed Robot Rescue tech demo, but this fully-fledged campaign is destined to be one of the sleeper hits of 2018. Designed specifically for PlayStation VR,...
Review Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise - Marvellous Manga from the Yakuza Team
Definitely not dead
Fist of the North Star is one of the most popular Japanese manga series in history, starting out all the way back in 1983. TV adaptations, novels, and live-action films capitalised on the original 27 volumes in order to continue and sustain the legacy of legendary martial artist Kenshiro, but when it comes to the latest entry in...
