Latest Reviews
Review Shadows: Awakening (PS4)
Emerging from the shadow of Diablo
PS4 adventuring takes to a dark new dimension with Shadows: Awakening – which might at first look like a Diablo-'em-up copycat, but actually brings a unique new spin to the isometric single-player RPG genre. You step in the wraith robes of a demon summoned from the Shadow Realm – known as a...
Neuter Smash Bros.
It's going to be near impossible to write this review without at least mentioning Super Smash Bros., so let's just get it out of the way. Brawlout is essentially Super Smash Bros. It takes the skeleton of Nintendo's hugely popular fighter but obviously adds its own character roster. Each combatant has a damage percentage that...
Warship warfare
The airship has been a classic way to fly across the sky in video games for decades now. From the retro JRPGs of the PSone up until this year’s Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, the mode of transport is clearly here to stay, but never has it quite seen battles like this before. Bow to Blood, a PlayStation VR game from developer...
Review Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition (PS4)
Master of Divinity
Divinity: Original Sin II is a fantastic role-playing game that strikes an almost perfect balance between dense, absorbing storytelling, and allowing you the freedom to shape the adventure as you wish. The journey through to the end credits will take you dozens of hours to complete, and during that time you’ll meet scores of...
Review Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut (PS4)
Memory block
Republished on Wednesday 29th August 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. In Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut, you don't know who you are – you've lost your memory. All you know is what's fed to you by an astronaut aboard the ISS,...
Review Another World (PlayStation 4)
Back off, man. I'm a scientist
Republished on Wednesday 29th August 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. A tiny team of developers with an independent spirit and a vision of creating a game that’s inspired by classic science fiction...
Review God of War III Remastered (PS4)
Titan fall
Republished on Wednesday 29th August 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. God of War has, over the course of six entries, got itself into a bit of a rut. Make no mistake, each instalment has been consistently excellent –...
Bet the farm
Republished on Wednesday 29th August 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Three years after the release of Destiny, here we are with a whole new title that's framed as a direct sequel. Hopping to a fresh release was Bungie's...
Review Fire Pro Wrestling World (PS4)
Fired up
From it’s name, you probably already know if you want to buy Fire Pro Wrestling World or not. The niche 2D wrestling series, which started way back in 1989, is back for another instalment, and for the most part it’s unchanged, as a game in touch with its roots should be. It probably won’t attract many new fans, but you get the feeling...
Island hopping
Bad North is an oddity, as it's quite a niche game wearing a casual game's clothing. It's a rogue-like real-time strategy game, but don't let that scare you off -- it takes a minimalist approach, throwing out a lot of the fiddly stuff associated with the genre in its pursuit of purity. The result is an extremely lean experience that...
Lan Di-drama
Shenmue may be considered a cult classic, but it’s important to remember that Ryo Hazuki’s revenge mission divided critics when it originally released on the Dreamcast almost two decades ago. SEGA legend Yu Suzuki spent a small fortune on the first foray’s dingy Yokosuka setting, but despite being wildly original, the game...
Hunting horrifying hordes
As the British Empire’s occult hit squad, the Strange Brigade are dispatched whenever the rampant looting of other cultures leads to supernatural forces being unleashed on the world. While many would argue this may just be karma paying the Brits back for years of colonial oppression, it’s probably best to try and avoid...
Review Pizza Titan Ultra (PS4)
Papa don't preach
Pizza Titan Ultra is a bit like Crazy Taxi with more cheese. You control a giant city levelling Gundam, and your objective is to sprint from tower block to tower block, delivering delicious Margherita with a colossus iron fist. Each delivery sees you gain additional time, while evil enforcers will attempt to prevent you from doing...
Raccoon City
How many developers can say their game was inspired by a tweet from a parody Twitter account? Donut County's central premise of controlling a hole in the ground and swallowing up objects is wonderfully novel, and has resulted in a game that's more entertaining than you'd think. In the best possible way, it's one of the silliest...
They slimed me
Few games use pure joy as a central design choice. Fewer still manage to make a world of very little real threat compelling. Indie dev Monomi Park’s cartoonish farming sim Slime Rancher manages to do both. A fine entry into the often neglected feelgood genre, it's good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Katamari Damacy and...
If at first you don’t succeed
At Death’s Gambit's main menu, we oversee the aftermath of chaos. "What could possibly have happened here?" we think to ourselves as the music swells. It provides a subtle hint of the events that unfurl, as your character, Sorun, suddenly gets dragged across the muddy terrain after a battle. Despite its gorgeously...
Juan punch man
When you fire up Guacamelee! 2 for the first time, it might feel like you've seen it all before -- and that's not just because it starts by catching you up on the ending of the first game. Drinkbox Studios' excellent Mexican Metroidvania Guacamelee! was so impeccably tight that it was difficult to imagine ways in which it could be...
Review Fall of Light: Darkest Edition (PS4)
Keep the lights off
Developer RuneHeads is one year old, fronted by just two people, and based in Italy. Combined, these three factors make Fall of Light: Darkest Edition’s release on PS4 a surprising one thanks to the speed at which it has arrived, as well as the lack of staff on board to manage the port. Unfortunately though, after releasing to...
Trulli awesome
Codemasters’ newest instalment in its celebrated F1 franchise is finally here, promising high-speed thrills, new modes and improved racing mechanics. Essentially, however, F1 2018 is a polished version of F1 2017. Last season’s effort already impressed, but small changes to the 2018 instalment have elevated the game to the most...
Joy to the world?
We Happy Few is a confusing game at first glance. It’s got the trappings, grand scale, and look of a AAA title. But dig a little deeper, and it’s really an indie title masquerading as one of the “big boys”. Given that just about everyone in the game wears a mask, this is a rather enjoyable double entendre, but the real...
Sound of the underground
Bizarre, occasionally obnoxious combinations are at the core of any classic point-and-click game, but Wailing Heights brings some sense to the nonsense by requiring you to write songs about its cast of daisy pushing personalities. Set in a kind of town centre for the dead, you play as Francis Finkelstein, the Scouse...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Turn-based tactical shooters have garnered quite the cult following on PC and consoles in recent years. The XCOM games came out of nowhere to reboot an old franchise, and offer addictive isometric battles and deep levels of customisation. Many have tried to jump on the bandwagon and clone Firaxis’ formula, but few...
Review The Walking Dead: The Final Season - Episode 1 (PS4)
Stayin' alive
The Walking Dead: The Final Season begins with a beautifully animated synopsis of Clementine’s story so far, and it’s testament to the insignificance of the previous season that no more than ten seconds are spent recapping its events. Telltale’s been through a bit of a rough patch behind-the-scenes, but there are signs in Episode...
Out of your mind
The main character in sci-fi adventure title State of Mind is a bit of a dick. Award winning journalist he may be, but Richard Nolan is not a very likeable character at all. He cheats on his wife, struggles to connect with his son James, and has a dislike for technological advances that gives him a holier-than-thou attitude to those...
Audio surf
The thing that a lot of gamers and even developers forget sometimes is that simple interactions that wouldn’t play on a standard display can shine in virtual reality. Electronauts recognises that, placing you on a cosmic stage hurtling through space and arming you with a series of instruments. There’s very little “game” to speak...
On your bike
Anamorphine is one of many walking simulator titles available for the PlayStation 4 and is noticeably similar to the likes of Gone Home and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture in the way it explores very mature themes such as depression, drugs, drinking, and suicide. Throughout the game you will follow the character of Elena from the...
We are go for launch
Virtual reality is at its best when it puts players in places that might otherwise not be attainable: space exploration, fantasy worlds – the possibilities are near infinite. And Anshar Studios Detached is one of those aforementioned space exploration games. Not only that, but it’s a good one, which are a bit harder to...
One foot in the grave
2013’s Stick It to the Man was among the PlayStation 3’s indie swansongs when it released four days after the North American launch of the PS4, but that didn’t manage to overshadow what we thought was a short but quality experience at the time. After busying itself with various other projects, developer Zoink! Games is...
New and improved recipe
With Overcooked, Ghost Town Games landed upon a delicious recipe for co-operative cooking chaos that dished up a perfect helping of frantic fun. Although fairly short and straightforward in structure, the fiendishly designed levels meant players really did have to communicate effectively to succeed, and it's this that makes...
Dawn of the Dead
Following a well-documented and successful early access offering on PC, Dead Cells has finally made its way to the PlayStation 4. The title arrives with a good deal of excitement backing it thanks to a promising gameplay loop and a slew of pre-release updates that expanded the game in a variety of ways, but does the experience come...
