Reviews

Games Review: Sea of Thieves (Xbox One, 2018): Pirates could happen to anyone

As I write this, three days after a rather bumpy launch, its clear that Sea of Thieves is a bit of a mixed bag. There are things that I love about it, there are things that I don’t love about it and there are things that I feel are not particularly well understood by those who…

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Games Review: Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom: Higgledy-Piggledy

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a phenomenally gorgeous game, playing host to some of the liveliest and most beautiful environments I’ve ever had the pleasure of traveling through. From a town controlled by the power of luck to dream lands filled with terrifying monsters, Ni No Kuni II takes you on an eye-opening…

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Games Review: Assassin’s Creed Origins: Curse of the Pharaohs DLC (Xbox One X, 2018): Zoinks, gang, it’s a mummy

It’s been around six months sine Assassin’s Creed Origins arrived and in that time, the game has proven itself to be one with legs. With Curse of the Pharaohs, the game’s latest and largest DLC expansion to date, Ubisoft looks to keep Bayek’s adventure rolling with a trip to Thebes.

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Games Review: Pure Farming 2018 (PS4, 2018): Get to work

I have a genuine love of job simulator games that is both unnerving and inexplicable. I also find them deeply hilarious. The seriousness with which they take themselves and my absolute refusal to take anything seriously makes for a very entertaining combination, at least as far as I’m concerned. Thus, when a code for Pure…

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Games Review: Burnout Paradise Remastered (Xbox One X, 2017): Throwback Thursday

If Burnout Paradise Remastered does anything, it makes the EA of 2008 look like a benevolent creativity incubator when compared to the strife-prone publisher of today. For one thing, the game is great fun. For another, its clear that developer Criterion was given the room they needed to properly execute on their vision. It’s a…

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Games Review: Kirby Star Allies (Switch, 2018): You’ve Got A Friend In Me

Kirby Star Allies was so disgustingly cute that it made me want to vomit. From its charming and delightful characters to its friendship-based co-operative gameplay, everything about Star Allies is just plain adorable. When Kirby’s friends are low on health, he heals them by ‘kissing’ them, generating tiny love hearts across the screen. When presented…

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Games Review: Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PS4, 2018): Stay strong

In the last twelve months, I’ve gone from having never played a Yakuza game to having played three of them and what I didn’t expect was for them to grow on me so quickly. This series has always felt very By Japanese People, For Japanese People, there’s so many cultural nods and gestures that don’t…

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Games Review: Bravo Team (PSVR, 2018) Shooting for the Bargain bin!

Supermassive Games are throwing out the releases in the last few months, we have had the moderately delightful Hidden Agenda via the Play link games on the PS4 and before that was their Until Dawn Spin-off Until Dawn: Rush of Blood as a PSVR launch title. It was a blast to play and really showed…

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Games Review: Scribblenauts Showdown (PS4, 2018): Eat, Fish and Dance Dance Your Way To Victory

Scribblenauts Showdown would best be described as a party game, taking inspiration and gameplay from a range of titles like Mario Party, Dance Dance Revolution, Angry Birds and Diner Dash. The action takes place in a variety of fun modes, including Sandbox, Showdown and Versus modes, each of which features a variety of fun activities.

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Games Review: Moss (PSVR, 2018): Magically Immersive

If Moss is any indication, 2018 is going to be a huge year for the PSVR. Moss is this year’s first major VR release in terms of hype factor and I’m happy to say it’s one I was not disappointed in.

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Games Review: Payday 2 (Switch, 2018) is a flawed heist with the occasional big score

Payday 2  bursts onto the Nintendo Switch as one of the most complete packages of the title that you can find score in one initial purchase. Through it’s performance issues and strange omissions of certain DLC packs, Payday 2 is mostly what you expect, but this time, allowing you to take your heists on the…

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Games Review: Metal Gear Survive (PS4, 2018) is tough to live through

To put it simply, Metal Gear Survive should not exist. Before evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the title, one must first address the point of its existence in the first place. The Metal Gear series is famous for its stealth mechanics and intriguing story about the changing landscapes of technology in our world, topped…

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Games Review: Atomik: RunGunJumpGun (Switch, 2018): Does what it says on the tin

Atomik: RunGunJumpGun is absolutely maddening. I’ve been trying to come up with a way to describe it for a week now and the best I’ve got is “the bastard offspring of a bullet hell shmup and Flappy Bird.” That really covers all the bases I think. You will know, based on this description, whether Atomik…

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Games Review: The Station (Xbox One, 2018): ET Gone Home

It only took me a little over two hours to knock The Station over but I’m stilling idly thinking about it whenever I’ve nothing else to occupy my brain. For a game this short, there’s a surprising amount to unpack once the credits have rolled. It’s not perfect — the edges are rough like shark’s…

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Games Review: Wulverblade (Switch, 2018): Angry Scots take over the arcade

Those who grew up in the 80’s and early 90’s will remember the heady days of the video game arcade. Magical places full of light and noise and games you couldn’t play anywhere else. Going to the movies meant visiting the arcade next door, and I would beeline for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet. Streets…

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Games Review: Civilization VI: Rise and Fall (PC, 2018): Teamwork makes the dream work

Broadly speaking, whenever a game receives an expansion pack, they tend to take that word”expansion” rather literally. Typically what they bring to the table is more of everything you could already do in the base game. More units, more characters, more places to visit, things to do. Civilization expansions take a very different approach. They…

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Games Review: Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS, 2018): “I Don’t Like Sand”

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is a game about cause and effect – the consequences of fate, and how the smallest decisions can change an entire history. In Radiant Historia, the kingdom of Vainqueur is under siege on all sides. Tensions are rising in the cities of Alistel and Granorg, and a mysterious force known as…

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Games Review: Kingdom Come: Deliverance (PS4, 2018) offers a deep and realistic, yet fun and captivating medieval experience

Kingdom Come: Deliverance attempts to give players a realistic medieval action-RPG, complete with a dense and diverse open world. Being heavily based on historical fact, the experience is mostly aimed at history buffs, but can also be enjoyed by casual fans thanks to its capable combat mechanics.

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Games Review: Bayonetta 2 (Switch, 2018): Cranking the absurdity dial way up

Boy, Bayonetta 2 is … a lot, isn’t it? There’s so much going on with this game that I barely know where to start talking about it. Maybe let’s start with the fact that its been re-released on the Nintendo Switch and go from there.

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Games Review: Bayonetta (Nintendo Switch, 2018): Still got it, baby

It’s hard to imagine that Bayonetta was released nearly 10 years-ago now and the apparently superior sequel Bayonetta 2 was 4 years ago! With the newly released Switch port arriving this month, for the most part, it honestly feels like it was made for it today, it just ages well and for a guy that…

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Games Review: The Inpatient (PSVR, 2018): Give me the bad news, doc

The Inpatient for PlayStation VR is a psychological horror game designed by Supermassive Games, who were the minds behind the awesome PS4 exclusive Until Dawn and is set 60 years before that aforementioned title. Those merits alone will sell the game to VR enthusiasts and horror buffs such as myself. After the VR games Resident Evil…

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Games Review: Accounting Plus (PSVR, 2018): Rick and Morty meets The Stanley Parable

Trying to market Account + VR would be like trying to drag a pizza delivery man away from dancing on the side of the road and showing him the power of social media advertising. It’s pointless, the only thing that can help advertise this wonderful, engaging, hilarious adult experience is to just yell at people…

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Games Review: Fe (Xbox One, 2018): Beautiful, but oblique

You ever sit down with a game, settle in with it, familiarise yourself with the controls and prepare for the inevitable hook that will lead you on your quest? My experience with Fe was fine right up until the part where the hook was supposed to arrive. It never did. Forty minutes after booting the…

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Games Review: Lost Sphear (PS4, 2018) finds its place amongst mundanity

Lost Sphear has finally been released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. A successor of sorts to developer Tokyo RPG Factory’s fantastic I Am Setsuna, while it’s not all bad, its hard not to feel like Lost Sphear has lost the things that made Setsuna special.

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Games Review: The Deer God (Switch, 2018): Why have you forsaken me?

Review enough games for a living and eventually you’ll come across one that feels like it has everything going for it — looks, concept, the lot. The Deer God falls squarely into this category. On paper, it has the makings of an indie darling. In execution, it is a muddled little game that doesn’t seem…

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Games Review: Dragon Quest Builders (Switch, 2018): Portable construction and crunch

Dragon Quest Builders returns for the Nintendo Switch and if you missed it like I did the first few times around, it’s worth a dip in this craft-em-up meets RPG hybrid. Originally released on PS3, PS Vita and then PS4, it has definitely done the rounds, but has developer Division 5 used that time to…

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Games Review: EA Sports UFC 3: A worthy opponent

EA Sports UFC 3 marks EA’s the third tilt at creating an authentic, complex mixed martial arts experience. While it’s not a total knockout punch, it’s safe to say UFC 3 provides hardcore and casual fans alike with a reasonably accessible fighting sim.

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Games Review: Final Fantasy Dissidia NT (PS4, 2018): Fight for your Right

The premise of Final Fantasy‘s Dissidia spin-offs is one we’ve all seen before – the heroes and villains of World A get transported to World B for some wild, yet justifiable reason, and are then thrust into a battle for their lives and the fate of the world. It’s no different here, with Dissidia NT…

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Games Review: Monster Hunter World (PS4, 2018): Shining, Shimmering, Splendid

I’m ashamed to say that I’m a latecomer to the Monster Hunter franchise, with my first taste of monster hunting goodness coming late last year in the delightful Monster Hunter Stories. Given that I enjoyed the title so much, I was looking forward to World, but didn’t realise how much it would blow me away….

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Games Review: Shadow of the Colossus (PS4, 2018): Improving on a masterpiece

Thirteen years after its release on the PlayStation 2, Shadow of the Colossus remains one of the greatest and most successful experiments in the history of game design.

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