-
5 (4) 4 (10) 3 (1) 2 (0) 1 (0) 4.2 starsAverage score of 15 user reviews
-
Cajun style. 0
In an alternate universe, Capcom released another turgid re-tread of Resident Evil 4 that somehow managed to out-stupid Chris Redfield punching boulders and we all laughed in that sad kind of way. Capcom is its own worst enemy when it comes to milking its cash-cows because the cow in question has been horizontal since 2009 and was starting smell. Resident Evil 6 may be one of the most expensive videogame train wrecks to feature an actual train wreck and probably should have put a bullet in the s...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
The second coming of the second coming? 1
The Evil Within 2 probably shouldn't exist given its predecessor's limp reception amongst all but Shinji Mikami's most diligent fans. But, in this hypernormalised reality, here The Evil Within 2 is: slicker, less bizarre, and sporting one of those fashionable tragic dad stories that seem to be all the rage these days. In its stylish opening minutes, you don't need Jon Johanas' director credit to realise that this is not a Mikami joint. In addition to being a fun exercise in cliche-bingo, The Evi...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
Saga-cious 0
Leadership is a concept that is so often poorly explored in games. Commander Shephard "leads" by being charismatic, capable and oh-so sexy and The Walking Dead's Lee picks between a handful of bad choices for dealing with a desperate situation but as the players, we don't so much lead through him/her as much as we choose which outcome we would prefer. Choice is but one part of leadership and its outcomes are rarely evident to us at the moment of choosing. Stoic's The Banner Saga understood this ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
Secret Clicker Level Edition 0
Diablo 3 is a wonderful anachronism. In the intervening period between Diablo 2 and its belated successor; mainstream games became 3D, started getting delusions of Hollywood grandeur and got as far away as possible from the grognard mid-maxing numbers-game that Blizzard incorporated into World of Warcraft and then never looked back. Even with the release of Diablo 3 on PC in 2012, there was always a nagging sense that it was a game out of time. Games have greater ambitions nowadays and even thou...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Revolting Youth 0
Expectations are a tricky thing to manage in a world where the internet exaggerates and amplifies everything we engage with on a daily basis. Everything remotely worth talking about is either put on a pedestal as the best thing since the last cool thing that people liked or cast into the fiery pit of things to rage about on the internet. There's no place for a merely "good" thing to merely exist and be appreciated for what it is because in this modern age, to be remembered something must be bril...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Transistor fails to be the unqualifed success that Supergiant's previous game was, but succeeds nonetheless. 0
Transistor can't escape comparisons to Bastion. How could it? With their first game, Supergiant Games delivered something that would put most veteran game-studios to shame. A near-perfect blending of storytelling and gameplay with presentation values that became iconic on their own right. For better or for worse, Transistor looks and sounds like the successor to Bastion. However, individual aspects of Supergiant's classic debut and their latest game are comparable, but Transistor feels like it c...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
LUFTRAUSERS does everything a modern arcade game should and then some. 1
Vlambeer’s track record is a remarkable one. The self-styled two-man arcade game developer for the modern era continues to surprise with simple games that wring every ounce of depth out of a single idea. From Super Crate Box to Ridiculous Fishing to the still-evolving Nuclear Throne, Vlambeer has proven themselves time and time again to be masters of the nebulous term: “feel.” Their games “feel” incredible, and their latest release: LUFTRAUSERS plays better than any...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Uninspired, competent and faintly disturbing. Tomb Raider does nothing new but plenty well. 0
Something occurred to me during my time with Tomb Raider. As I repeatedly saw the numerous hard surfaces of Tomb Raider play hot potato with the new, young Lara Croft, it was like the team at Crystal Dynamics was trying to show me how serious they were about making a Tomb Raider game that wasn’t a pastiche of Indiana Jones and softcore pornography. The new Tomb Raider is nothing if not a very serious game. It wants you to believe Lara’s transition from a naïve young archeologist to assertive and...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Uncharted 3 is solidly entertaining despite not being any better 0
As arguably the best game of 2009, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves set the bar ridiculously high for Naughty Dog’s next outing with series. The cinematic flair of the action, the peerless character interaction and the incredible pacing of Uncharted 2’s globe-trotting romp has become the yardstick that the competition has failed to meet ever since. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception doesn’t quite measure up to that yardstick. It proves that there’s still a ton of fun to be had with the formula, but the sh...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Fantastic Co-op manages to save Syndicate from mediocrity 0
In this age of multi-million dollar shooters and inflated development budgets, it’s impossible to imagine a reboot of a 90’s classic strategy game not undergoing some serious changes to appeal to the average player. Rather than try to update an old formula, Starbreeze Studios (they of The Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness fame) have taken the name and a few thematic elements of 1993’s Syndicate and bolted them on to an admittedly competent and satisfying first-person shooter that manages to...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Rockstar delivers on action and spectacle, sans Max Payne-ness 0
Though some would argue that he never left our hearts, Max Payne’s belated arrival on this generation of consoles comes with a set of laden questions for the ardent fan. The words on lips of gamers with only a nodding acquaintance with Max’s illustrious legacy of shootdodging and painkillers run along the lines of: “Is this a Max Payne game? Is Max Payne 3 soaked in goofy melodrama, ridiculous writing, liberal daubs of Hong Kong action and neo-noir style? Is this the same Max Payne that was made...
5 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Finally a twin-stick shooter worth your time 2
Simplicity is a concept which few games can pull off without being called "simple", gamers consider it a derogatory term rather than a badge of honour. It's this much maligned adjective that has come to define the brightest and best of the twin-stick shooter genre. Giants of the field such as Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 have proven that to be brilliant, a twin-stick shooter must do a few things perfectly rather than everything well. Squid in a Box's Waves subscribes to this theory admirably, s...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Multiplayer aside, Dead Space 2 delivers the visceral goods 0
There was a point in Dead Space 2 where alarms were going off and lights were flashing an ominous orange. I dimly recalled a similar sequence from the original Dead Space, which meant I also recalled how it ended. Spinning left and right, dementedly trying to point my plasma cutter at every possible opening, in time-honoured fashion I got pumped for a showdown while playing a videogame. And then nothing. Nothing happened, noise subsided, dust settled and I realized that Visceral Games were f*cki...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
More Batman doesn't always equate to better Batman. 0
If you want to talk about surprises in gaming you talk about Batman: Arkham Asylum. A videogame based off a hugely popular comic and film franchise is almost certainly doomed to mediocrity, yet the then unknown Rocksteady took Batman and made him a gaming icon by pulling off the best action-adventure game in recent memory. As the direct sequel to the most pleasant surprise of 2009, Batman Arkham City has plenty to live up to, and despite a few poor design choices, Rocksteady have managed to pull...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Rayman's return to Two-dimensions is fantastic one 2
Michel Ancel would probably not appreciate it if you referred to Rayman as the “French Mario”. Ancel’s limbless goofball has never shared much of the limelight that catapulted his more popular and utilitarian counterpart to stardom, occupying a space that has become increasingly under-appreciated and unloved in the HD era. In Rayman Origins, Ancel has brought Rayman full circle back the series roots in 2D platforming as opposed to the series’ 3D sequels in an attempt to make gamers fall in love ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
Use your keyboard!
- ESC
Log in to comment