Tag: Hands On - Page 6
Hands On Yakuza: Kiwami 2 Could Be One of the Best Yakuza Games Yet
An extreme remake
Before Yakuza was niche on the PlayStation 3, it was even more niche on the PlayStation 2. The original Yakuza was undeniably rough around the edges and its somewhat shaky remake, Yakuza: Kiwami, reflected that. But with Yakuza 2, the series found a real foothold. Improved gameplay and a more complex, intriguing narrative pushed...
Hands On How Good Is Spider-Man PS4's Swinging Gameplay?
Swing time
Following a recent Marvel’s Spider-Man hands on, we’ve talked about a lot of the anticipated PlayStation 4 exclusive’s features, including its combat, first
Hands On PES 2019: Pro Evolution Soccer Stands Firm(ino)
On Klopp of the world
The PES 2019 demo is finally here, and encouragingly it actually has a player wearing the correct shirt on the cover; Konami must have learned its lesson after last year’s Neymar debacle. Still, seeing as Liverpool are an official partner of the game and all, it would be nice to see Andy Robertson’s lovely mug adorning the...
Hands On How Similar Is Marvel's Spider-Man's Combat to Batman: Arkham?
How Insomniac's system compares
Batman: Arkham Asylum was such a gigantic success that many a famous franchise has copied its combat mechanics, from Assassin’s Creed to Sleeping Dogs. The PlayStation 4’s previous web-slinging outing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also borrowed liberally from Rocksteady’s releases, so how does Marvel’s Spider-Man...
Hands On Electronauts Turns You into a Cosmic Composer with PSVR
Put a donk on it
God bless PlayStation VR. There’s always going to be scepticism regarding the viability of virtual reality as the medium remains in its infancy, but we never fail to be impressed each and every time we put Sony’s glowing headset on. In fact, looking like you’re a member of Daft Punk is part of the appeal with Electronauts, a...
Hands On Marvel's Spider-Man's First Boss Fight Begins Things with a Bang
Iron Fisk
Marvel’s Spider-Man puts a strong foot forward during its opening mission, as Insomniac Games lays out all of the controls and puts you in pursuit of the Kingpin within minutes. It’s no secret that the web-slinger brings down Wilson Fisk at the very beginning of the game, but this kickstarts a chain of events that will eventually see...
Hands On Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Multiplayer Changes 4 the Better
Get those boots on the ground
The first weekend of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 private beta is over and it’s been a surprisingly entertaining ride. The series’ multiplayer mode has always been very popular, but the last two instalments seemed a little too comfortable, despite their setting of the far future and World War II being very...
Hands On Peter Parker's Gameplay Is a Massive Departure in Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4
Science fiction
Marvel’s Spider-Man is just as much about Peter Parker as it is about the eponymous web-slinger. During our two hour hands on session with the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive, we got our very first glimpse at the 23-year-old graduate’s own gameplay sections, which primarily appear to take place in a
Hands On Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4 Is Shaping Up to Be the Best Spider-Man Game Ever
We've played the first two hours of Insomniac's superhero romp
Spider-Man PS4 – or Marvel’s Spider-Man to give it its official title – is exactly what you’re expecting it to be. Insomniac Games is not trying to reinvent the open world wheel with this hotly anticipated PlayStation 4 affair – rather it’s merely set out to refine it with...
Hands On The Crew 2 PS4 Beta Is Big, Barren, and Boring
Sail away
After spending several hours behind the wheel of The Crew 2's open beta, one warning light kept flashing up on the dashboard: it's too big. The map, a truncated version of the entire United States, is enormous - impressively so - but it's dull as dishwater. One of the major changes to this sequel is the addition of planes and boats, and...
Hands On 10 of Our Favourite Games from EGX Rezzed 2018
Indie highlights from this year's show
EGX Rezzed is the little brother of the UK's biggest games exhibition, and it's a great venue for smaller games to spend some time in the spotlight. Indeed, we usually discover a number of titles we'd never heard of before. We attended the event across all three days, playing as much as we could to find out...
Hands On Strange Brigade Is a Punchy, Pulpy 1930s Shooter
Just the ticket
One of the higher profile games at EGX Rezzed 2018 was Rebellion's thirties-tinged third person shooter, Strange Brigade. Oddly enough, the demo we played was single player, despite the main focus of the game being its four-player co-op. Still, what we played of this B-movie inspired action game proved it has some fun ideas that...
Hands On Windlands 2 Adds Co-Op, Weapons to Virtual Reality Platformer
Second wind
We rather liked the original Windlands on PlayStation VR. The satisfying movement and exhilarating sense of speed and altitude made for one of virtual reality's early successes -- at least, if you had the stomach for it. This holds true for Windlands 2, but the sequel isn't just reuniting you with a pair of grappling hooks and calling it...
Hands On Guacamelee! 2 Brings Mexican Madness Back to PS4
Holy guacamole
Juan's first Metroidvania adventure, Guacamelee!, remains one of our favourite modern examples of the genre, mixing addictive exploration, challenging platforming, satisfying combat, and a whacky sense of humour to great effect. Guacamelee! 2 is set to continue this trend. It recaptures the first game's compelling gameplay and...
Hands On Roguelike Adventuring in The Swords of Ditto on PS4
Adventure time
The Swords of Ditto is out very soon indeed, but we couldn't resist giving it a quick test run at EGX Rezzed 2018 ahead of its release later this month. For those not in the know, this is a roguelike, 2D adventure game in which generations of heroes take on the evil witch Mormo in order to lift her curse over the land. Randomly...
Hands On Onrush is an Action Packed, Addictive Arcade Racer
Rushing around
Onrush is a bit of an oddball. An arcade racer with no traditional races, the focus is squarely on contributing towards team-based objectives. There are no laps or checkered flags; this game is gunning for something a little different. By combining the high-speed, high-risk thrills of games like Burnout, Motorstorm, and SSX with...
Hands On Ni no Kuni II Is a Pure Joy to Play on PS4
Our thoughts after 15 hours
There's really no other way to put it: Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a delight. Level-5's latest role-playing game is as charming as it is colourful, and after around 15 hours of play, we simply can't wait to continue our adventure. So far, it really has been worth the wait. As its title suggests, Ni no Kuni II is a...
Hands On Tera Seems Like a Solid Free-to-Play MMORPG on PS4
Our impressions from the open beta
Over the weekend, we got stuck into the open beta for Tera, an upcoming action MMO role-playing game from Bluehole. Although our experience was on and off due to the stress test nature of the beta, we did manage to get a decent feel for the title. Long story short, we think it's shaping up quite well on...
Hands On Yakuza 6 PS4 Demo Promises Big Changes for Kiryu's Final Adventure
It's Kamurocho, but not as we know it
We're all big fans of the Yakuza series here at Push Square Towers, so when SEGA (rather messily) released a demo of Yakuza 6 last week, we began swinging bicycles at each other in delight. Last year's Yakuza 0 was fantastic, telling a compelling origin story for main man Kiryu and series mainstay Majima, a
Hands On PSVR Platformer Moss Impresses in Opening 30 Minutes
Happiness in a headset
Moss is delightful. Frankly we could leave our hands on impressions there, because those three little words sum up our sentiments so far. Polyarc’s hotly anticipated PlayStation VR platformer has impressed us every time we’ve tried it prior to release, and now with just days to go until the title drops onto the PlayStation...
Hands On Metal Gear Survive Ditches the Series' Roots, But That May Not Be So Bad
Our impressions a few hours in
Controversy has never been far behind Metal Gear Survive ever since it was announced at Gamescom 2016. As the first entry in the franchise to be developed after the departure of Hideo Kojima, the name carries a certain weight that this instalment is unlikely to ever live up to. However, after working our way through...
Hands On Apex Construct Is a Beautiful But Irritating PSVR Adventure
Crap controls are a mood killer
The name Apex Construct reveals quite a lot about Fast Travel Games’ debut project. Created by ex-DICE employees specifically for PlayStation VR, it’s a narrative-based first-person shooter in which you’re armed with a bow-and-arrow in a distorted dystopian Earth. Despite the striking visual identity, though, it...
Hands On Knockout League Is Pitch Perfect Punch-Out!! for PSVR
Little Mac and cheese
Punch-Out!! is such a great game that it’s a surprise the formula doesn’t get “borrowed” more often. Knockout League does nothing to hide its Glass Joe shaped inspirations, delivering a PlayStation VR experience that owes its entire existence to Nintendo’s legendary boxing series. But while it is shameless to an...
Hands On Kingdom Come: Deliverance Marries the Open World of Skyrim With... The Sims?
Say goodbye to your social life
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is the latest invader to land on our shores, readying its blade to take Skyrim's crown. Much like The Elder Scrolls before it, this is a first person RPG of epic proportions, with a massive game world to explore, side quests aplenty, and as many systems as you have hair follicles on your...
Hands On Sky on iOS Sees Journey's Multiplayer Spread Its Wings
Cloudy with a chance of friendship
Yes, you're right: Sky is a timed exclusive to iOS, so what on Earth is a preview of thatgamecompany's Journey follow-up doing on Push Square? Well, the developer has a close association with PlayStation, having crafted three excellent exclusive titles over the course of about six years. When we received an...
Hands On Shadow of the Colossus PS4 Looks Outrageous on PS4 Pro
On par with PS4's best
That Shadow of the Colossus, a game that originally released in 2005, can be mistaken for a current-gen game is testament to the outstanding work that Bluepoint’s done on this PlayStation 4 remake. This is a complete rebuild of Fumito Ueda’s seminal boss rush release, and while it maintains the ethereal feel of the...
Hands On Suplexing Sinister Spirits in Guacamelee! 2
Winner winner, chicken dinner
One of the standout indie releases of 2013 was that of Guacamelee!, a Mexican-themed Metroidvania with plenty of beat-‘em-up luchador action. It was a wildly creative and fun release that shook up the genre in some notable ways, and stood as the defining game from the team at Drinkbox Studios. Now that some time has...
Hands On Monster Hunter: World Is Shaping Up to Be Something Very, Very Special on PS4
We spent the whole weekend with the beta
Monster Hunter has built up a loving, hardcore fanbase on Nintendo platforms over the years, but we believe now more than ever that its return to home consoles is what will propel the series to a whole new level -- and the amount of interest and hype surrounding the game's PlayStation 4 beta is an indication...
Hands On Jak X Helps Plug a Hole in PS4's Library
Has it really come to this?
Jak X: Combat Racing has released on the PlayStation 4 as a PS2 Classic and it’s made us realise just how rubbish Sony’s new-gen console is for good ol’ arcade racers. They exist, of course: Trackmania Turbo’s fine; DriveClub’s decent (although it’s more simcade than, say, SEGA Rally). But where are the...
Hands On Justice League VR Is One of the Worst PSVR Experiences So Far
Flash in the pan
With a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 41 per cent, Justice League has divided opinion. But the Zack Snyder superhero flick looks like an Oscar winner in comparison to the abysmal PlayStation VR experience that Warner Bros has squeezed onto the PlayStation Store today. Essentially a minigame compilation a tier below the kind of shovelware...
Hands On DOOM VFR Supports Three PSVR Controllers, But None Feel Quite Right
Hell in your hands
DOOM VFR is a very handsome game with PlayStation VR, a statement we’re noticing ourselves make more often as virtual reality titles mature. Bethesda’s also gone out of its way to support all three of Sony’s PSVR controllers: the DualShock 4, the PlayStation Move, and the (underused but outstanding) PlayStation VR Aim...
Hands On Will Monster of the Deep's Final Fantasy Fishing Reel You In?
Hook, line, and stinker?
For a game that’s always looked like a bit of a gag, Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is surprisingly fleshed out. Packing a story mode, alongside multiple FFXV-esque hunts, there’s a lot to do in this PlayStation VR powered angling adventure. And while the quality is admittedly a bit inconsistent, you may find that...
Hands On Skyrim VR Looks and Plays Great with PlayStation VR
Is The Elder Scrolls any good in virtual reality?
We’re some four hours into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR and we’ve already got a quest list longer than our armspan, but we can say definitively that this is a great version of the game. Adapted for PlayStation VR, Bethesda’s behemoth open world looks exactly like you remember it – but also...
Hands On Skyrim VR Has Improved a Helluva Lot with PlayStation VR
The Elder Scrolls V's final build fares much better in virtual reality
Our early The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR impressions weren’t exactly enthusiastic. We tested the game in sub-optimal convention conditions with hellish teleportation enabled, and walked away from our demo like we’d just spent an afternoon in The Bannered Mare. The opportunity...
Hands On Stepping Out of SMITE's Shadows Over Hercopolis
Adventure time
Throughout 2017 deity themed MOBA SMITE has been mixing things up via some limited time adventure events. Covering some different ground, these diversions have had varying degrees of success. So, while the kart racing event turned out to be about as much fun as slamming your head in a car door, it was the Trials of King Hercules – a...
Hands On Shadow of the Colossus, One of the All-Time Gaming Greats, Stuns on PS4
Resplendent remake breathes new life into hall of famer
Between the likes of the God of War Collection and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, developer Bluepoint’s rightly earned the reputation of being the masters of remasters. But with Shadow of the Colossus’ impending PlayStation 4 remake it’s taking its work to an extraordinary new...
Hands On The Inpatient Shares Until Dawn's Penchant for Jump Scares
Boo
Yes, yours truly screamed. Are you happy now Simon Fitzgerald? Here your humble host was, sat in a partially empty room surrounded by kindly Sony temps, with cries muffled only by the cover of a PlayStation VR headset. Much like Until Dawn before it, The Inpatient cheats with its jump scares – but goddamn is it effective. (Everyone was too...
Hands On Detroit: Become Human's Escalating Tension Is Unparalleled
White knuckle ride
We’ve played Detroit: Become Human a handful of times now and our takeaway has always been the same: this is tense. Like, it’s really freakin’ tense. We’re, of course, referring to the hostage demo (again), where android detective Connor is tasked with defusing a rooftop situation that sees a small girl inches from the...
Hands On Bravo Team Is Straight-Faced Co-Op Time Crisis for PlayStation VR
Guns up
There are nameless terrorists to slaughter and you’ve got an ally to help you get the job done: PlayStation VR first-person shooter Bravo Team doesn’t really need much introduction. Built with Sony’s underused but excellent PlayStation VR Aim Controller in mind, our hands on demo is set against the backdrop of a Golden Gate-esque...
Hands On DOOM VFR Cleverly Keeps You on the Move in PlayStation VR
Welcome to your DOOM
DOOM is not a stop and pop shooter. In last year’s franchise reboot, developer id Software transformed the kinetic nature of the original games into a game mechanic, with Glory Kills forcing you to get up close and personal with your demonic adversaries in order to recover ammunition and health. It was a genius system, forcing...
Hands On Moss Is a Divine Demonstration of What PlayStation VR Can Do
Mice one
If you’re still not convinced by PlayStation VR then you simply have to play Moss, a cutesy puzzle platformer by Polyarc. We’ve previewed this a couple of times already on Push Square, but it’s the first time that yours truly has got some hands-on time. And it really is the revelation that everyone says it is: this is why virtual...
Hands On Who Has a Hidden Agenda in Until Dawn Dev's Crime Thriller?
Whodunnit?
Republished on Wednesday 25th October 2017: We're bringing this preview back from the archives following the release of Hidden Agenda in North America. The original text follows. The next game from developer Supermassive Games is a lot like Until Dawn at first blush: it has unnervingly lifelike virtual characters, branching plot...
Hands On How Does Gran Turismo Sport Fare with PlayStation VR?
Ups and downs
Around about a year ago, we hopped inside Gran Turismo Sport’s cockpit with a PlayStation VR headset on and walked away somewhat unimpressed. We felt that the game looked fine in virtual reality – better than DriveClub VR, we commented at the time – but we weren’t exactly blown away, especially after seeing the title running in...
Hands On The Evil Within 2 Is a Familiar Yet Different Beast
Daddy issues
The Evil Within was an overlooked survival horror gem. It may have been rough around the edges with some performance and gameplay issues, but it was a much-appreciated return to old survival-horror design philosophies. Scarce ammo, unforgiving difficulty, intentionally limiting controls – elements like these filled the void that...
Hands On The Invisible Hours Is an Incredible Narrative Experiment
Fly on the wall
The Invisible Hours unwinds over the course of 90 or so fraught minutes, and you’re able to manipulate time in order to experience it all. This brilliant narrative feast from RIME developer Tequila Works sees several famous historical figures – Thomas Edison! Sarah Bernhardt! – invited to Nikola Tesla’s mansion moments before...
Hands On Chernobyl VR Shows How Educational Experiences Can Excel in Virtual Reality
Ghost town
The Farm 51 quietly released a new educational experience on the PlayStation Store recently: Chernobyl VR Project. The developer’s perhaps best known for its work on Painkiller or the more recent Get Even, but to our knowledge this is the Polish studio’s first crack at something more akin to a documentary. The premise, as you’ve...
Hands On Star Wars Battlefront 2 Is a Clumsy, Complicated Sequel
Not feeling the force
Have you heard that famous Steve Jobs quote where he implies people don’t really know what they want? It’s all we’ve been thinking about playing the Star Wars Battlefront 2 beta. The thing is, we complained about the original game: we said it lacked depth, customisation, and replay value. And we weren’t the only ones:...
Hands On Shining a Light on PlayStation VR Puzzler Light Tracer
Beam cast
It can seem, at times, like everyone is making the same kind of PlayStation VR games. This isn’t true, of course, as there’s plenty of variety on the headset – but there is an overabundance of cockpit-based mech games and shooting galleries. Light Tracer deserves kudos, then, for at least trying its hand at something new –...
Hands On Rogue Trooper Redux Recaptures PS2-Era Action
Rogue legacy
Oxford developer Rebellion has quite the checkered history, stretching across 23 years and multiple platforms. Now best known for the ball-busting Sniper Elite series, its output ranges from classic (Aliens vs Predator) to not so classic (Rogue Warrior). Now, alongside fellow UK studio Tick Tock Games, it's revamping a PlayStation 2-era...
Hands On Fortnite: Battle Royale Plugs a Gap in the PS4's Catalogue
Winner, winner?
Y’know, whether Bluehole’s got a point complaining about Fortnite: Battle Royale or not, you’ve got to credit Epic Games for being incredibly astute with its capitalisation of PlayerUnknown’s Battleground’s popularity. While we’re sure various other developers are scrambling to implement their own survival...
