I’ll be the first to admit it, I’ve never played a game like Observation before. While games of this nature have great examples in Night Trap and Manhunt, both of which use surveillance cameras as a narrative device to push the story forward, the introduction of an AI-based character is a wholly original way to tell…
Total War: Three Kingdoms steeps Creative Assembly’s venerable strategy franchise in Chinese history for the first time in its nearly 20 year run. Its campaign broadly encompasses the story known as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a period when the Han Dynasty was on the wane, hurling the entire country into a bloody, 60-year…
Rage 2 feels like two different games, both of them quite good, shoved inelegantly up against one another. As sales pitches go, it has a great one — Rage 2 is an open-world action game by Avalanche Studios with the meaty combat of first-person shooter royalty id Software. But there’s a strange lack of mechanical…
You don’t see video games based on the infamous Black Plague hitting store shelves every day. While it suffers from a few technical hiccups and some repetitive gameplay elements, A Plague Tale: Innocence is an example onfhow to games can approach grim historical periods in emotionally resonant ways. It casts the plague itself as backdrop…
Days Gone left me about as conflicted as I’ve ever been while reviewing a game. The past week has been a battle of emotions and opinions, as it’s easy to spot the overused tropes at this point in the lifespan of the zombie genre. However, a certain level of polish and attention to detail, an…
With a rich, 27-year history to tap into, NetherRealm Studios has plenty to play around with for Mortal Kombat 11, the latest title in one of gaming’s most time-honoured fighting franchises. And they most certainly do not hold back, making clear efforts to best 2015’s Mortal Kombat X, which following release was considered one of…
First things first: World War Z wasn’t that bad of a movie. Released in a time when the undead genre had reached peak saturation, resurrecting the license with a worthy yet flawed video game adaptation a full six years later seems a strange move to say the least. That this IP resurrection is hitting shelves…
Nintendo Switch has had a brilliant run of ports to date, with most of them thoughtfully refined to fit onto the docked/portable hybrid system; Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is no exception. Though Capcom’s action-RPG has been re-released several times in the past, it’s position in the world of action-RPGs remains firmly as an underdog –…
I’m really upset that I’ve slept on the Anno series for so long. Developed by The Settlers team Blue Byte, Anno 1800 is a charming, clever, complex civ builder that recalls classics of the genre like Caesar or Pharaoh. There’s an adherence to the concept of balance in Anno, a core tenet of its design that…
Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown is the future of tabletop storytelling. It’s also one of the few games I’ve played lately that enthralled me so much I lost time. Coming from Melbourne studio Tin Man Games, this is just one in a long line of brilliant Australian games proving the depth and ingenuity of…
My Time At Portia is a solid and inoffensive little farm sim. It has all the usual trappings of the genre – travelling to a new city, taking over a farm, building some things, farming other things. Remarkable moments are few and far between, and that’s okay too. Sometimes, a game can just be a…
Arguably the best title in the series long history, and inarguably its most popular entry, Final Fantasy VII has never been far from the gaming popular consciousness since its release in 1997. It was the first time Squaresoft (now Square Enix) had been able to truly convey every part of the world they’d created. Previous…
The last time I properly played the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy was on the Nintendo DS Lite. It was a visual novel that felt at home on the handheld, an exciting courtroom drama that was never held back by the hardware it was on. Funnily enough, though those DS versions were the first…
Mars Underground is a fascinating and fantastic tale from Canberra-based developers Moloch Media. The first time I saw the game was at PAX AUS 2018, but in the hub-bub of the show floor, it was difficult to give it the time it deserved. I’m glad I was able to revisit Mars Underground so many months…
I was sceptical going into Space Junkies. VR, I’ve found, can be hit-and-miss, and nearly every title I’ve played has led to dizzy spells and nausea. Not only that, but this was a title set in the cold vacuum of space with rockets, guns and jetpacks. If anything was going to cause me problems, it…
Yoshi’s Crafted World has been made with all the love and care in the world – and it shows. From the subtle, crafty touches to the gorgeous soundtrack, cutesy worlds and stellar gameplay, everything about it screams wholesomeness. The game is so wholesome that it makes me want to be a better person. Story If…
The more of them I play, the more I’ve come to understand that From Software’s catalogue of games are not for me. My Souls-loving friends assure me there will be a moment of clarity, a a beautiful instant suspended in time where the final piece of the Souls puzzle snaps into place. In that moment, they say…
In the crowded age of looter shooters, it is understandable that The Division 2 could scare off gamers with the worry of repetitive gameplay, an unfinished story, and an underwhelming lack of initial content. It is on that note I begin this review, as The Division 2 has managed to surpass its predecessor and stands…
God, Trials Rising is good. At its heart, a physics-based puzzle game that wears the trappings of extreme sports. It’s the modern equivalent of the old Dirt Bike games on Mac from the 90’s, a formula that has grown more showy and complex over time but retains their “get up and try again” spirit. Indeed,…
The Occupation immediately hit me with a refreshing change of pace. For a game of this nature, throwing you into the thick of a terrorist plot might seem like an action packed outing, but rather takes the subdued approach, opting for investigative intrigue over the running and gunning. It’s safe to say that The Occupation…
The Lego Movie 2 Videogame is based on a movie not yet released in Australia. Despite the heavy involvement of Australia’s Animal Logic animation studio in the production of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, the release date is still firmly on March 28th, nearly two months after the official United States release. For…
Kirby has always been the spark of joy in the occasionally cheerless games landscape. I mean, how can he not be? He’s a literal ball of cute pink fluff, and in this cotton-themed adventure, he’s every bit the pure, shining saviour of games that he should be. Kirby is wholesome, Kirby is brilliant, Kirby is…
I love getting a new Civilization expansion. Each one is a near-complete revision of the game as the community has come to know it, a wave of changes large and small that address mechanical shortfalls and community concerns, while adding complex new systems into its existing web of other complex systems. With Civilization VI: Gathering…
Devil May Cry 5 is a game that might never have existed without its vocal fanbase. While I enjoyed the DmC reboot of 2013, probably more so than most, I missed the original game series sorely. The announcement of the main franchise’s return had me drooling the minute I saw it, and after all this…
Before I start this review, I’d like to begin with a eulogy. The last time I reviewed a Sims game, I told the story of the vampire Solomon, and the object of his affection – a cantankerous and evasive scarecrow. I had intended to continue their ill-fated love story in this article, but unfortunately, during…
I’ll preface this review by saying that despite owning a Sega Mega Drive, I never played either of the original ToeJam & Earl games in their heyday. I also never played the series’ abortive third entry on the original Xbox either, though I understand that this is probably for the best. Well may you say,…
Ape Out is not a terribly long game, but it is a fun one. It’s an entertaining and creative riff on the format popularised by Hotline Miami, a barbarous explosion of violence that belies its more rhythm-based gameplay. You play an angry, caged gorilla ready to throw off the shackles of oppression and embark on…
As a major racing fan, it’s no secret that developer Codemasters is quickly becoming the king of racing games, nearly perfecting the Formula 1 racing series. Dirt Rally 2.0 is absolutely no exception, proving to be not only one of the best rally games from Codemasters, but one of the best rally games of all…
Claiming Final Fantasy IX is your favourite of the PSOne era FF titles is a bit like saying Ringo is your favourite Beatle — most people think you’re a wanker and that there are far better musicians in the group. But what Ringo fans know is that he’s often unfairly overlooked. Sure, he’s responsible for…
I have started and deleted this review three times in the week and a bit since our review codes arrived. It’s been a long time since I’ve found myself so conflicted about a game I’m reviewing, but Anthem has had me doubling back a lot, second guessing myself. The nutshell version is that I like…
