Tag: Mini Reviews
Block party
Tetris was and is a global phenomenon that remains pick-up-and-play perfection to this day, and its history is lovingly chronicled in Digital Eclipse's latest: Tetris Forever. It charts the franchise's entire history, from the brainchild of Alexey Pajitnov to its popularity explosion as a Game Boy pack-in and beyond. A far cry from the...
Mini Review Metal Slug Tactics (PS5) – Some of the Best Tactics Since Into the Breach
Hooked on a Fio
From the moment it was announced Metal Slug Tactics was a winner in our eyes. Marrying the SNK classic with the turn-based tactics genre is a golden idea on paper. Hearing it’s a roguelike in the vein of Into the Breach was the coup de grâce for this game being anything but a banger. And we’re happy to say it lives up to those...
More death loops than Deathloop
Nobody expected a spinoff to 2022’s The Callisto Protocol and so Redacted — a fast-paced, twin-stick shooter roguelike — comes as a pleasant surprise. Set in CP’s Black Iron prison on Jupiter’s moon, Callisto, you take on the role of a prison guard who is not only in a race to reach the last remaining escape...
Mini Review Empire of the Ants (PS5) - A Confused RTS That Shines in Its Multiplayer
Jack of all trades, master of none
Empire of the Ants is a victim of its own ambition. It burrows into the undergrowth offering a fresh perspective on the lives of critters dwelling on our forest floor and raises some interesting environmental questions during its campaign, but spreads itself too thin trying to be both an RTS and a platformer...
Mini Review Planet Coaster 2 (PS5) - Improved Sequel Offers a Ride Well Worth Taking
Splashtastic
Much like its predecessor, Planet Coaster 2 is a theme park creative management game which lets you design and run your own amusement park and offers new features compared to its predecessor. The biggest and most obvious change to the sequel is the addition of water parks. You can now add swimming pools, lazy rivers, and a variety of...
The sins of our fathers
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a remake of the influential, Japan-only, 1993 original JRPG of the same name. Square Enix has modernised the experience, which holds its own even in a year which has proven extremely strong for the genre. With a classic design, exciting twists on well-worn systems, deep combat, and...
Mini Review Starship Troopers: Extermination (PS5) - Not Just a Helldivers Clone
Thrilling, retro bug killing
You might think you're familiar with Starship Troopers: Extermination because you've played Helldivers 2. They're both satirical games where you take up arms as an indoctrinated foot soldier in a fascistic army and fight endless hordes of terrifying bugs, but Extermination has a well-implemented base-building twist and...
Mini Review MechWarrior 5: Clans (PS5) - An Obsolete Model
Grinding gears
If you're a fan of mech games, there are different subgenres to choose from. There's the difficult twitch combat of Armored Core and the beat-'em-up brawls of Gundam Breaker. MechWarrior 5: Clans doesn’t fit into either of those categories. You pilot slow, lumbering machines, and it's more like a mecha XCOM than anything else. While...
Mini Review Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered (PS5) - A Hella Good Update
A dish best served hella remastered
It’s been a long time since Shadows of the Damned dropped — 13 years, in fact. The game industry has changed substantially in that time, but a good game is still a good game. And that’s what we’re lucky enough to encounter here with Shadows of the Damned Hella Remastered. Narratively, this gonzo world...
Mini Review Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake (PS5) - A Gorgeous Return to Series' Roots
“I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me”
Koei Tecmo is almost single-handedly keeping the niche historical simulation strategy subgenre alive at this stage, which is fitting, as back in 1985, when the company was just Koei, it was primarily responsible for creating it. Not to be confused with the series' latest, PS4's Romance...
Mini Review A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (PS5) - Immersive and Surprisingly Impressive
One to shout about
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead snuck up on us, releasing amid a slew of other games and horror titles, but you shouldn't overlook it. Stormind Games has crafted a really solid and terrifying horror experience that captures the intense fear and meticulous precision of movements the franchise is known for. Taking place 118 days...
Mini Review Vendetta Forever (PSVR2) - Exhilarating Puzzle Shooter Is Next VR Must Play
Yeah, I’m thinkin’ I’m back
Meatspace Interactive’s Vendetta Forever is a brilliant puzzle shooter for PSVR2. Across a hearty supply of levels –many of them goofy or fun in tone – you’re tasked with killing a collection of faceless grunts all wielding an impressive array of weapons. But here’s the catch: you can only move by killing...
Mini Review Squirrel with a Gun (PS5) - Forage for Chaos in This Silly Sandbox Adventure
Ro Dent Redemption
Every now and then, it's really nice to play a game that doesn’t take itself seriously at all. At the end of the day, this medium we all love is focused on entertainment, and while a gripping narrative and meticulously developed controls are great to have, sometimes we want to play the stupidest games that developers can think...
Get in the Halloween spirit
Horror is something that Blumhouse does very well in its movies, so with its newly founded gaming branch, it stands to reason that its first release, Fear the Spotlight, would follow suit. From small gaming studio Cozy Game Pals, this is a love letter to a retro horror gaming genre from years past. Fear the Spotlight...
Mini Review Kong: Survivor Instinct (PS5) - A Repetitive Cinematic Side-Scroller
Not particularly ape-pealing
Following last year's abysmal Skull Island: Rise of Kong, the King of the Beasts is back in unexpected form with Kong: Survivor Instinct. Canonically set after 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong movie, this 2.5D cinematic side-scroller offers a more human-driven story instead of the kaiju beat-'em-ups we're more accustomed to...
Mini Review Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred (PS5) - Hard to Hate This Meaty Expansion
Welcome to the jungle
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is the first major expansion for Blizzard's excellent action RPG, serving up throngs of awful new beasts to blast through and piles of shiny gear to gather. It ventures into the corrupted jungle of Nahantu, and a new storyline picks up from the base game's colossal cliffhanger ending. It's largely...
Mini Review Arizona Sunshine Remake (PS5) - More Remaster Than Remake
Killing zombies never gets old
Just a year after its brilliant sequel, Arizona Sunshine Remake arrives on PSVR2 as a graphically revamped version of the 2016 original. However, it isn't just a graphical glow-up that Vertigo Games has in mind, as it's also bringing its far more advanced (and satisfying) reload mechanic back from the sequel. The base...
Mini Review Transformers: Galactic Trials (PS5) - A Nice Idea Gone Awry
Less than meets the eye
Transformers: Galactic Trials is not a bad idea at all – in fact, it’s a pretty good one. This is an arcade racing game where you’re occasionally required to transform into your chosen character’s robot form in order to work through simple shooting galleries. In principle, it has all of the elements you’d expect...
Mini Review Neva (PS5) - A Stunning Masterwork of Art and Animation
Time to stock up on tissues
GRIS made waves in 2018 for its stunning, painting-like visual style and story, and when it came to PS4 a year later, we thought it was great. Now Nomada Studio is back with Neva, a game that builds upon the strong parts of GRIS and vastly improves the other areas to create a gorgeous, emotional, and captivating tale of...
Mini Review Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports (PS5) - Arcade Effort Doesn't Feel Great
That's all, folks
The problem with Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports is it doesn’t feel fun to move. Characters like Road Runner should be a joy to nimbly navigate around a cartoon football field, but he’s as slow and unwieldy as Elmer Fudd – in fact, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Yosemite Sam or Sylvester the Cat, there’s a tardy...
Mini Review Kill Knight (PS5) - An Unrelenting Arcade Nightmare
Stress test
If you took the modern DOOM games and boiled them down to a pure, score attack, twin-stick action game, Kill Knight feels like the result. Playing as a bloodthirsty, undead warrior, the game is simply about killing hordes of demonic creatures as they swarm you in alarming numbers, while each stage shifts and changes around you. The odds...
Mini Review Parcel Corps (PS5) - A Speedy Dispatch, Not a Special Delivery
Fragile Express
Delivery games vary drastically from simple delivery driver simulators to more complex titles such as Death Stranding, where you traverse treacherous terrain to complete your daily drops. However, Parcel Corps, the cel-shaded, extreme sports delivery game from Billy Goat Entertainment, sticks to a more familiar concept, providing the...
Mini Review SUNSOFT Is Back! Retro Game Selection (PS5) - Archaic But Interesting 80s Bundle
The sun always shines brighter
Before you shell out for the SUNSOFT Is Back! Retro Game Selection, you need to understand exactly what you’re getting. This trio of archaic 8-bit adventures has never been officially localised in English before, so it carries inherent value for that reason alone. But it’s worth noting that these titles are...
Mini Review Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns (PS5) – DLC Add-On Is Mostly Unfunny and Overpriced
Back in the Havik
For those who missed it, following the bloody finale of Mortal Kombat 1's story, which saw Liu Kang and the gang dispatch the Deadly Alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, a version of PS2-era jobber Havik discovered that not only do other timelines exist, but that they could all use a little more chaos. This brings us to the new...
Mini Review Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition (PS5) - Still a Series Highlight 25 Years Later
Garden warfare
Despite countless sequels, Team 17's turn-based strategy series has struggled to better 1999's Worms Armageddon. The developer knows it, too; Worms WMD is based on the fan-favourite game's source code, and the Steam release of Armageddon has been consistently updated, most recently with a major patch in 2020. Now, Worms Armageddon:...
Mystery mayhem
Spike Chunshoft is known for its incredible work on the Danganronpa series, a collection of visual novels that saw critical acclaim for its interesting characters and dark yet comedic writing. Following on from such success is a difficult feat, yet in June last year, the release of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code on Nintendo...
Mini Review Reynatis (PS5) - Beautiful Action RPG Is Far Too Repetitive
Shibuya showdown
Reynatis is an action RPG set in the vibrant ward of Shibuya, Tokyo, but it’s a very different place to the one we know. In this version, magic is real, very dangerous, and feared by the non-magical population. Magic users either hide their abilities or join a government organisation called M.E.A. to hunt down rogue witches and...
The G.O.A.T.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars is a sacred text in the history of point-and-click adventure games, and new remaster Reforged is the best version of the game that's ever been released. Quality-of-life improvements mean players who just want to enjoy the story without too much lateral thinking can do so, while veterans of the genre...
Mini Review Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP (PS5) - A Sweet Return with a Bittersweet Bite
Burst bubble
Let’s get one thing straight: Lollipop Chainsaw is amazing. This seminal, subversive monstrosity from the minds of legendary developer Suda51 and Hollywood big-shot James Gunn (in his PG Porn era, no less) is as amusing today as it was over a decade ago; it’s outrageous, ridiculous, obnoxious, garish – we absolutely love it, and...
Mini Review Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis (PS5) - Expensive Expansion Is a Flawed Affair
SEES the day
Episode Aigis is an epilogue to Persona 3 Reload — a remake of the additional scenario that first appeared in Persona 3 FES on the PS2. Much like Reload itself, this expansion is pretty much a one-to-one recreation in terms of core narrative and structure, but it's bolstered by all of the remake's quality of life and combat system...
Mini Review Funko Fusion (PS5) - Bland, Cryptic Nostalgia Bait Lacks LEGO's Charm
Pop! your card back in your wallet
We figured Funko Fusion could have been fun — or even a surprise gem. Except Funko Fusion isn’t either of those things. Much like the figurines the game is based on, it feels soulless and a poor approximation of the pop culture it's trying to represent. The main point of comparison with Funko Fusion is the...
Mini Review Caravan SandWitch (PS5) - A Delightfully Relaxed, Atmospheric Adventure
Life's a witch
If you're on the market for a relatively stress-free adventure with a focus on exploration — and a surprisingly engaging story — then Caravan SandWitch may be the game for you. Set on a mostly deserted planet, protagonist Sauge returns to the place she once called home in order to track down her older sister, who's been presumed...
Mini Review Wild Bastards (PS5) – Way More Bastards, But a Lot More Void
It’s not swearing if it’s in the game’s title
Void Bastards was a lovely surprise when it first launched back in 2019 thanks to its comic book aesthetic, great sense of humour, and a satisfyingly immersive, sim-inspired approach to the roguelike genre. Rather than stick to its blasters, and go with a safe sequel, developer Blue Manchu has...
Mini Review Crossy Road Castle (PS5) - Addictive Mobile Game Struts onto PS5
King of the Castle
Rather than crossing roads, Crossy Road Castle sees players traversing different castles, level by level, battling bosses and encountering uniquely themed environments in each location. You have three lives per run, and the aim is to get as far through a castle as you can. Every 10 levels there’s a vending machine where you can...
Mini Review Rugrats: Adventures In Gameland (PS5) - Fun and Frustration in This Nostalgia Trip
It's 4 o'clock in the morning, why are you playing this game?
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is a flawed throwback to platformers of days past. Aesthetically, the teams at The MIX Games & Wallride have absolutely nailed it. If you grew up watching Rugrats, you’ll be swimming in nods to the cartoon, ranging from characters, to environments, to...
Mini Review Castlevania Dominus Collection (PS5) - A Fantastic Bundle of DS Classics
Touching the classics
Anyone who had a Nintendo DS back in the day knows that it boasts a little selection of Castlevania games that are some of the very best in the series — and the latest collection from Konami finally gives PlayStation loyalists a chance to sample their delights. Dominus Collection brings together Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of R
Mini Review TimeSplitters (PS2) - A Fantastic Foundation with Flaws
Running out of time
Despite releasing just two years prior to TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters finds itself noticeably lacking in a number of key areas. It’s not dissimilar to how the gap between 2 and Future Perfect felt, though that was of course three years. Just as Future Perfect pulled a lot of content from its predecessor, 2 would in turn...
Mini Review Gundam Breaker 4 (PS5) - An Impressively Addictive Return to Form
Break it back down
How do you follow up on the disaster that was 2018's New Gundam Breaker? Well, in the case of Gundam Breaker 4, you simply return to the basics, and remind yourself of what made the series so much fun in the first place. This sequel goes out of its way to keep things focused: you grind out missions, collect parts, beef up your...
Mini Review The Casting of Frank Stone (PS5) - A Stripped Back Version of the Supermassive Formula
Dark Pictures on a budget
Dead by Daylight is one of the most popular multiplayer games around, but if you have little interest in the online gaming space, then its developer Behaviour Interactive may be a relatively unknown quantity to you. To combat this disconnect, the company has employed other studios to create their own, unique take on the...
Mini Review Vampire Survivors (PS5) - Indie Icon Should Come with a Health Warning
Love at first bite
Vampire Survivors is banned in at least 12 countries. Not really, of course, but it should be – this plucky pixel art auto-battler is digital crack in its most distilled form, and those who’ve played it on the hundreds of platforms it’s already available for will know what we mean. This PS5 and PS4 version harbours no real...
Mini Review Shadow of the Ninja Reborn (PS5) - Lovingly Restored Classic Shinobi Action
Back to the future
Shadow of the Ninja Reborn brings the classic Natsume side-scrolling ninja action game to modern audiences, and it remains a worthy experience even some 33 years later. It demands the level of challenge that games released in the 90s often do, but if you're okay with that, it looks better than it ever did and offers an enjoyable...
Mini Review Crypt Custodian (PS5) - Metroidvania Great Proves Cats Do It Better
Infinite lives on Pluto
Some say there are too many Metroidvania games for this world, yet when one as good as Crypt Custodian comes along, it serves as a reminder of exactly why so many developers chase that addictive fusion of explorative action. With shades of Death's Door and Tunic, brotherly duo Kyle and Eric Thompson have made an approachable...
Mini Review Monster Jam Showdown (PS5) - Familiar, Enjoyable Monster Truck Madness
Show off your skills
The Monster Jam series is no stranger on PlayStation, with many entries. However, after Rainbow Studios developed the middling MTX vs ATV Legends, the licence landed with Milestone, which produced the recent Hot Wheels Unleashed series. With Monster Jam Showdown, the studio has brought its experience and racing finesse to the...
White lies
In White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies, you step into the shoes of Korean high-schoolers as they investigate the cause of a fire. The puzzles are challenging and the web of mystery surrounding everything is intriguing, but a lack of direction and several technical issues make the game more frustrating than scary. There are three...
Mini Review Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered (PS4) - Another Adventure Game Win
Play it again, Sam
The third and final season of Telltale's Sam & Max titles is back. The Devil’s Playhouse launched all the way back in 2010 on the PS3, but thanks to Skunkape Games, a group of early-days Telltale devs, the title lives once more. And what a glorious return it is. When the evil Lord Skun-ka'pe — hey, that name sounds...
Embalm for the soul
Whether you enjoy claustrophobic horror, or you simply always wanted to work in a morgue (no judgement), The Mortuary Assistant has something for you. Developer Darkstone Digital’s atmospheric puzzler has you engage in the macabre monotony of the embalming process, with added supernatural terror. You play Rebecca Owens, fresh...
Slime to grind
Aside from being a total pain in the arse to type, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Isekai Chronicles is an action RPG based on the popular anime of the same name. The adaptation offers a brief introduction to the source material, before plopping you into one of the property's later story arcs. Those unfamiliar with the...
Mini Review Valorant (PS5) - A Fantastic, One of a Kind Competitive Shooter
For the hardcore
At the end of June, we shared some impressions of Valorant on PS5 after it launched in closed beta. In those thoughts, we said that the game felt "unlike anything else on console" and that "a few more changes feel needed in order to really replicate that PC experience on consoles", but we were looking forward to how Valorant would...
Mini Review Love Is All Around (PS5) - Dumb Dating Sim Is Laugh Out Loud Funny
You love to see it
Gu Yi must be the luckiest man alive. The protagonist of FMV dating sim Love Is All Around is up to his eyeballs in debt, a bit of a creep, and a personality black hole – but he still has a group of drop-dead gorgeous girls competing against each other to pay his bills and invite him to stay in their multi-million dollar homes...
Mini Review LocoRoco: Midnight Carnival (PSP) - A Frustrating Yet Jubilant Jamboree
Bouncing back
LocoRoco: Midnight Carnival, a spin-off entry in the series from Japan Studio, released on the PSP in 2009 to mixed reviews. So it comes as a pleasant surprise to see it revitalised for PS5 and PS4 in the form of an enhanced emulation, with up-rendering, rewind, quick-save, Trophies (including a Platinum) and custom video filters. For...
