Latest Reviews
Review The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Episode 4: Thicker Than Water (PS4)
Batsman out of Hell
You'd be right to assume that the title of Episode 4 in Telltale's latest The Walking Dead story A New Frontier is a reference to disgraced baseball star Javier Garcia's biggest decision: family or friends? Thicker Than Water explores whether the everyman would be better off siding with his brood or buddies, and it prompts plenty...
Review Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 (PS4)
Ghost in the hell
After our multiple hours with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, we don't see it stalking much besides the bargain bin. Obviously this property has no relation to the sniper games created by Rebellion (Sniper Elite and Nazi Zombie Army), and after just a few minutes anyone can realise it definitely doesn't deserve to be riding the coattails...
Review Dragon Quest Heroes II (PS4)
Royal rumble
It's time to dust off those slime-smacking weapons, because Dynasty Warriors developer Omega Force is back for another stab at Square Enix's beloved Dragon Quest franchise. Once again, the Japanese studio offers up a colourful action role-playing game stuffed with charm and content. And as is usually the case with an Omega Force sequel,...
Deer God
A 2.5D platformer set in a mysterious forest, The Deer God sees you playing as the titular majestic mammal - among other animals - which you have been reincarnated as after getting mauled by wolves on a hunting trip. Despite the interesting setting and background, however, developer Cinopt Games' first foray onto console is an...
Review Full Throttle Remastered (PS4)
Asphalt and trouble
Never has the fallibility of memory been clearer than when revisiting video games from the past. It can be surprising just how big the gulf between recollection and reality can be, leaving you to wonder if your brain just might be responsible for some of the greatest video game remasters of all time. As with last year's...
Outside help
The Inner World is a fun and charming experience set in an imaginative world, but it's held back by a number of all too common flaws of the adventure game genre. You play as the naive Robert, an apprentice who has spent his whole life living in a castle under the watchful eye of Conroy, a wind monk in charge of ensuring wind continues...
Review Guardians of the Galaxy: Episode One - Tangled Up in Blue (PS4)
Marvel?
Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy seems to assume that you're already familiar with the titular team of loveable rogues after the success of the 2014 smash-hit movie of the same name, as there is very little in the way of introduction for any of the characters involved. This is simultaneously Episode One's greatest strength and greatness...
Minimum wage
Towards the back end of last year, we were pleasantly surprised by a full-motion video game named The Bunker. The first of its kind on PlayStation 4, its story, characters, and acting performances were the driving factors in what was a short but sweet experience. Publisher Wales Interactive is now back with a second foray into the FMV...
Review Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom (PS4)
Shiny happy people
Life can sometimes feel like waiting for the proverbial bus. While everyone has been patiently anticipating Yooka-Laylee, it actually isn't the only colourful Kickstarter game to make its way to the PlayStation 4 this month: somewhat lesser known is Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom. This is an action role-playing game, but it's not...
Review The Disney Afternoon Collection (PS4)
The collection that flaps in the night
The early-to-late nineties were a renaissance for Disney: the company was not only producing some of the most memorable and innovative films it would ever produce but also releasing spectacular original animated television series. Ducktales, Goof Troop, TaleSpin, Gargoyles, and Darkwing Duck were just some of...
Review Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PS4)
High above the mucky muck
The Wonder Boy series was one of the Master System's most beloved franchises, though its cult-classic status hasn't prevented it from falling by the wayside. A convoluted history, including a tangle of complications regarding the rights to the series, meant a comeback would be virtually impossible. In spite of this, a tiny...
Welcome to the house of fun
The Sexy Brutale is a murder mystery puzzle game set within a casino mansion. But this isn't just any ordinary big house: the staff are murdering the guests and you must put a stop to it. You take on the role of Lafcardio Boone, a priest who is trying to piece together the happenings of the house and save its victims from...
Review Vikings - Wolves of Midgard (PS4)
Howling for you
Vikings - Wolves of Midgard is an action role-playing game stuffed with blood, beards, and loot. It's immediately comparable to other dungeon-crawling hack and slashers like Diablo, right down to the near identical radial equipment menu. Vikings certainly doesn't shy away from its inspirations, but it's so by-the-numbers that you do...
Draw some
Drawn to Death plays like Twisted Metal, Quake, and Street Fighter all had a big violent orgy in Screech from Saved by the Bell's ring-bound high school jotter. This raucous online-only third-person shooter is bulging with so much personality that many won't be able to see beyond the d*ck jokes and crude art direction, but what lies behind...
Review LEGO City Undercover (PS4)
Prison break
The LEGO games are famous for their humorous adaptations of popular movie properties and comic book characters, but in more recent times developers TT Games and TT Fusion have begun creating their own LEGO adventures. This year's LEGO Worlds saw the franchise's detailed take on Minecraft, and only a month later the distinguished brick's...
Review A Rose in the Twilight (PS Vita)
The rose beyond the wall
Nippon Ichi certainly knows how to tell gruesome tales featuring adorable looking young girls! The creators of Yomawari: Night Alone have returned with a brand new puzzle platformer, A Rose in the Twilight. It's a tale of innocence, friendship, and blood. A young girl with a thorn upon her back awakens in the rubble, deep...
Me Tooie
The problem with Yooka-Laylee is that pretty much every criticism levelled at the throwback platformer can be waved away with a 90s novelty foam hand: it's supposed to be that way. But where recent revivals like Shovel Knight have managed to revisit games gone by through rose-tinted glasses, Playtonic's take on the Nintendo 64 classics of...
Review Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix (PS4)
The keyblade to your heart
Not much more can be said of the venerable role-playing series born of two media giants and now more talked about for its mythical third instalment (it's coming guys, it has to be). Over the course of the last few years, Square Enix has retooled and repackaged the entire Kingdom Hearts canon, bundling the games into HD...
Review Blackwood Crossing (PS4)
A study in Scarlett
Blackwood Crossing is about the relationship between a brother and sister. You play as Scarlett, an adolescent girl slowly drifting away from her younger brother, Finn. The game starts on a train, which serves as its thematic hub, and then works its way out to various other locations – some literal, some symbolic. The...
Review PaRappa the Rapper Remastered (PS4)
Don't stop believin'
It's been two decades since PaRappa the Rapper first appeared on the original PlayStation in 1997. As one of the first rhythm games to make a dent in the public consciousness, the poetic puppy was instrumental in paving the way for the music-based games that would follow in his wake: Amplitude, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Hatsune...
Shorthander
V7 Entertainment's Old Time Hockey is a bit of an odd duck. After 2K bowed out of making hockey games with NHL 2K11, the market for hockey games has consisted of EA's annual release, and, uh, that's it. This hasn't exactly been beneficial for people who want to play hockey games, as it's allowed EA to grow complacent with its releases...
Review Touhou Genso Wanderer (PS4)
Boo-hoo
Rogue-like role-playing release Touhou Genso Wanderer follows the story of adorable protagonist Reimu Harukei. Reimu becomes entranced by the 'golden sphere' that soon-to-be antagonist Rinnosuke Morichika is holding, and tries to steal it from him. Clearly under the sphere's spell, Rinnosuke fights back, and Reimu soon finds herself away...
Past it?
Frozenbyte's best known for the Trine titles: a colourful trilogy of platformers characterised by lush fantasy environments and physics-based co-op puzzling. Charming, funny, and gorgeous, they were some of the best examples of the genre on consoles. Has-Been Heroes, however, is a very different beast. The charm is still there, although...
Nuketown
Korix is a real-time, strategy, tower defence PlayStation VR title. Your world has been destroyed and your race is on the brink of extinction, so you must rally your troops, rebuild your defences, and launch a revenge attack. The game's campaign is level based, each beginning by laying out a different landscape, which consists of a large...
You shall snake pass
Ah, the age of the 3D platformer. Things were simpler back then: we had Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and – of course – Gex. Oh, how we laughed along with the latter little scamp through his adventures – one of them containing Red Dwarf actor Danny John-Jules and a former Playboy model in FMV. Truly a game that could've only...
Review Final Fantasy XV: Episode Gladiolus (PS4)
All muscle
Final Fantasy XV's first real slice of downloadable content, Episode Gladiolus details a part of the story from the main game that was left frustratingly vague. A decent way into the adventure, burly bodyguard Gladiolus - Gladio for short - up and leaves the party with little explanation. He comes back later brandishing a fresh scar on...
Steal yourself
Persona 5 is a difficult game to review – not because of its quality or lack thereof, but because it's such an intricate release. It's a role-playing title made up of many different parts, and explaining each and every one of them in detail would take way too long. With that in mind, we'll try to be brief: Persona 5 is a Japanese...
Review Fated: The Silent Oath (PS4)
Silent but deadly
The launch of Sony's virtual reality headset served up an impressively strong start for the as-of-yet unproven technology. A large number of games, offering a rather impressive variety alongside some quality exclusives, made for an intriguing entry into the VR space. Unfortunately, since the exceptional launch, the PlayStation VR...
Review The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Episode 3: Above the Law (PS4)
Brotherly love
For as quickly as characters come and go in The Walking Dead titles, you've got to give Telltale Games credit for continuing to pull together a compelling cast. Ex-baseball star Javier Garcia's only been around for three instalments, but already he feels like part of the fettered furniture: his complex family dynamic once again the...
Mega Drive melting pot
With a sequel already announced and well into development, it's fair to say we PlayStation folk are a little behind in playing Freedom Planet. Nearly three years after its initial launch on PC, the Kickstarted retro sidescroller has finally arrived to provide some pixelated platforming action. The good news is that,...
