Video Games

Games Review: Project Cars 2 (PS4, 2017) revives the racing simulator to great effect

Project Cars 2 is an interesting experience. While it’s first outing presented players with stiff controls, a lack of car variety and overall depth, Project Cars 2 attempts to rectify these issues, while bringing back the racing simulator into the mainstream. But can it top the likes of Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport? While the…

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Games Review: Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition (Switch, 2017) is still great but hardly definitive

Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch, now the eighth system the game has been ported to, may still be a great game and one of the best platformers since the original Rayman titles and those other Nintendo titles with the ex-plumber, but it’s far from the Definitive version.

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Games Review: NBA Live 18 (PS4, 2017) is a step forward for a series overshadowed by the competition

Do you remember the last time you played an entry in the NBA Live series? Me either. More or less off the radar for about a decade at this point, the series is back in the public eye this year with NBA Live 18, a basketball sim with a clear desire to leave the series’ average reputation behind.

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Games Review: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PC, 2017) is a solid final chapter with no new ideas

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider takes former-apprentice assassin Billie Lurk, a character the series has heretofore considered little more than a side-kick, and catapults her into the spotlight as a lead. The final game in the current Dishonored series hands Billie an unenviable task — find and kill the Outsider.

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Games Review: XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (PC, 2017) is the best version of XCOM ever made

XCOM 2 is, at its heart, a game about loss. It’s why save-scumming, the act of loading an earlier save in an effort to avoid catastrophe, is so frowned upon in the game’s community. Losing valuable soldiers isn’t just a part of the game, it fills out the unscripted narrative of your personal XCOM 2 experience….

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Hands On: Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017) is pure, concentrated delight

I’ve now played Super Mario Odyssey twice. The first time was at E3 in Los Angeles earlier this year. The second was at Nintendo’s Australian headquarters in Melbourne earlier this week. From these two brief sessions, I can tell you this — I love Super Mario Odyssey so much.

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Hands-On Preview: Everything We’ve Played on the Xbox One X So Far

So you managed to snag a preorder on the Xbox One X before they sold out. Fantastic effort, great job! But what the hell are you going to play on it, and which games will allow you to take advantage of all that raw power? Xbox Australia invited us to a hands on event in…

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Ten things discovered while playing the Xbox One X

The Xbox One X has been met with a bit of bemusement by Australian gaming hobbyists so far. First we couldn’t pre-order the machine but could instead go on a waitlist. Then it was announced that the unit was cost Aussie punters a whopping $649.95 AUD. Then pre-orders for the machine finally opened but the…

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Video Games Review: Pokkén Tournament DX (Switch, 2017) brings the pain

Given that I skipped the Wii U generation of Nintendo consoles (a decision I absolutely do not regret), I managed to miss Pokkén Tournament when it originally released. For those who made a similar decision, it’s time to go back on it – Pokkén Tournament DX is one of the most enjoyable and incredibly addictive…

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Video Games Review: Destiny 2 (PS4, 2017) files down many of the original’s rougher edges

Destiny was the first game I reviewed for this site, back when the games section was still called VideAU Games, an offshoot of The Iris‘ parent site, The AU Review. On launch, it was an ambitious but deeply flawed experiment in the MMO space, hyped beyond almost any other game in recent memory. It weathered two major…

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Ana is coming to Heroes of the Storm and here’s everything you need to know about her

The demand for Overwatch characters in Blizzard’s popular strategic hero brawler Heroes of the Storm has been rife ever since the game’s roster of iconic heroes was announced. Having added D.va, Tracer, Genji and Zarya to the mix in previous updates, Blizzard have now revealed two new Overwatch characters heading to the Nexus — Ana and Junkrat. While not much…

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Video Games Impressions: Quake Champions (PC, 2016) feels like a welcome home

Quake Champions is id Software’s return to the 90’s multiplayer shooter genre that has traditionally been one of their strongest suits. Now in early access, it is both a throwback to the kind of multiplayer shooter that id invented and a clarion call to everyone else with a game in this suddenly resurgent genre — there’ll be no…

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Video Games Review: Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS, 2017) is so much more than just a remake

Who the hell was asking for a remake of Metroid II? Nobody, that’s who, and Nintendo made it anyway. Metroid: Samus Returns takes the general thrust of series’ largely-forgotten 1992 Game Boy adventure and updates it with fresh, modern mechanics and the kind of visuals I wasn’t aware the 3DS could pull off. It takes a game consigned to…

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Everything Nintendo talked about during this morning’s Nintendo Direct broadcast

Nintendo have debuted a new 45 minute Nintendo Direct broadcast this morning, covering a range of titles releasing for their 3DS and Nintendo Switch consoles over the next two quarters. You can watch the broadcast in full, and get a full list of everything Nintendo talked about, after the jump.

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Video Games Review: ARK: Survival Evolved (Xbox One, 2017) combines wonder with next-level grind

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I know I’m not the only one. I loved (and continue to love) The Land Before Time and Jurassic Park, I read every book on them I could find, I inhaled the Dinotopia novels, I spent more time on DinoPark Tycoon in the primary school’s computer room than I…

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Capcom’s Okami HD brings an adventure classic to PS4, Xbox One and PC

There’s two kinds of people in this world — people who played Okami back in 2007 and those who did not. Originally released here in Australia on the PlayStation 2 a full year after its Japanese and American launch, and only in a very limited run (the 2000’s were a dark time), Capcom have announced that Okami…

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Video Games Review: Yakuza Kiwami (PS4, 2017) is yet another blast from the video game past

Yakuza Kiwami is the sum of every other game in the series. I don’t know that it would exist without every other game that has preceeded it (though I guess, if you want to be pedantic, most come after it in the greater series timeline). What Yakuza Kiwami can’t quite do is bring itself to be better than…

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There’s a new Nintendo Direct coming this Thursday morning

A brand new Nintendo Direct presentation will broadcast on Twitch this Thursday morning at 8am AEST. The 45 minute broadcast will be primarily focused on upcoming Switch and 3DS titles.

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Video Games Review: Monster Hunter Stories (3DS, 2017) is a Tale Beautifully Told

It’s been a long time since I’ve been genuinely surprised by a video game but Monster Hunter Stories achieved just that, and then more. From the distinct, beautifully designed world to the fun combat and exploratory gameplay, the Monster Hunter spin-off left me genuinely floored. For those new to the franchise, Stories marks a perfect…

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L.A. Noire coming to Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and the HTC Vive

Rockstar Games has announced overnight, seemingly out of nowhere, that its 2011 open world crime procedural L.A. Noire is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch (!!) and the HTC Vive (!!!) this year.

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Video Games Review: Guardians of The Galaxy: The Telltale Series – Eps 2 and 3 help the season finally find its rhythm

Telltale’s Guardians of The Galaxy is finally back. Episodes of this season have been released quite far apart — it will be another month or so before Episode 4 drops and then the Episode 5 finale will release towards the end of the year. Episodes 2 and 3 are now available, however, and we’ve happily dug…

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Video Games Hands On: Monster Hunter World (PS4, 2017)

Monster Hunter World is all about sanding down some of the series’ rougher edges. Gone are loading screens between areas, replaced with a single, expansive world (hence the game’s title). Combat remains a visceral experience, perhaps even more so than ever. The crafting retains the depth that makes it so rewarding to spend the time prepping…

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Video Games Review: Madden NFL 18 (PS4, 2017) is somehow both the same game and a very different one

As of this filing, I will have now reviewed fully three instalments of the Madden NFL series for this website. Reviewing sports titles, as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, is one of the easier aspects of the gig as a games critic — the games don’t change much year-to-year and they are, by and large, quite…

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Video Games Review: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm Ep. 1 is a worthwhile prequel

Guess what, Life Is Strange is back and guess what? I played it, you want to know what else? All my fears of it being a shoe-horn tie in for some quick payout were put to rest, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm only grows on the originals strengths and weaknesses and we are left…

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Video Games Review: Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth (PC, 2017) is glacially paced but will reward those who can tough it out

Written by author Ken Follett in his 1989 novel, The Pillars of the Earth is a wildly popular story about the building of a cathedral in a small town in 12th century England. It is a long and sweeping story, and one of the most popular literary works of the last two decades. It also makes…

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Video Games Review: Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles (PS4, 2017) is an adventure game that won’t tell you what to do

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a game that pulls from all sorts of different places for inspiration. It pulls from literature, it pulls from movies and (most often) it pulls from other games. While its inspirations are worn quite proudly on its sleeve, it’s what Yonder does with them that makes it memorable.

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Video Games Review: Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch, 2017) is the best game Ubisoft have made in years

That headline isn’t bullcrap, I actually believe it. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Ubisoft’s big, bridge-repairing gamble with Nintendo, is one of the studio’s best offerings in years. It’s smart, addictive, tough as nails in the later levels and leverages a genre that doesn’t get much play on console in a way that is perfect for…

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