22 public written reviews
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There is something about Platinum Games that I just don’t get along with. Games like 2009’s Mad World and Bayonetta, well, I just can’t wrap my head around them. Then 2013’s Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is, in my opinion, not only full of poor design choices but features a title which makes zero sense. And, yes, before you say it, most of Metal Gear makes zero sense but that word is a step too far! Transformers…
Our story this time starts back in 1988 when Brian Fargo directed Wasteland. A post-apocalyptic role-playing game for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and DOS and published by EA, the title was critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Despite this, there was never a sequel produced. 1990’s Fountain Of Dreams was close, and Fargo’s follow up Meantime was cancelled. However, 1997 saw Fargo and Interplay produce…
I’ve never really played traditional point-and-click adventures. I mean, I’ve tried, but much of the logic used in the gameplay mechanics never made much sense. A rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle? Really? A balloon Robert Frost? Spreading jam on a cockroach then sticking a paperclip to the back of it, then luring it to complete an electrical circuit with a digestive biscuit. Yep. How you are supposed to…
For the most part, Project CARS runs reasonably well, looks good, sounds nice, plays well and will seemingly be supported for a long time to come with community support, DLC, rolling events, and steady online service. However, and this is the kicker, the game just does not do anything to stand out and ends up being just another racer. Project CARS - that’s Community Assisted Racing Simulator - is brought to us by…
Despite it releasing in 2015, Axiom Verge has an essence that harkens back to the nostalgic nineties. The art style, mechanics, game design, and sound effects are pulled straight from games of yesteryear. It’s an action adventure with retro stylings that give the game an atmosphere and a feeling that you don’t get in many other places. It’s a shame however, that I never found Axiom Verge even remotely compelling.…
Throughout the last console generation, first party published Playstation 3 exclusives kept that console afloat. They were the reason why the PS3 was my preferred console and it was a rarity for any of them to be less than great. The Last Of Us, the Uncharted series, Journey, Puppeteer, the Rachet And Clank entries, the triplet of Resistance games, the Pixeljunks, God Of War 3, and Little Big Planet. All amazing.…
I am by my own admission a fan of Call Of Duty, I’m not very good at them, but a fan none-the-less. After playing Call Of Duty: Ghosts last year, I was really disheartened by the entire franchise. Fearing the utmost worst, I went into this years edition, Advanced Warfare, with almost zero expectations. However, after spending multiple hours across the campaign, the multiplayer, and the cooperative Exo Survival mode,…
To be really honest, jumping into Far Cry 4 instantly gives you a few moments of familiarity - mainly because the game is so similar to Far Cry 3 - but there is more than enough different, and better, to make the open world game so much fun. The world of Kyrat is a varied one without consequence, but full of wimsy with plenty to do. You'll be meeting plenty of crazy characters along your travels throughout the…
DONTNOD’s latest effort should not really strike such a chord with me. It’s a story about the struggles of a young girl in college as she deals with douchebaggery, self-expression, and self-discovery. Oh, and time travel. I’ve never necessarily been a young girl in college dealing with any of those things, but this introductory episode really impressed. Or rather it almost does if it wasn’t for a couple of quite…
Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell is not as long as any of it's predecessors. Neither is it as absurd, or as funny, or as deep. In fact it's plainly far less entertaining than either Saints Row The Third or Saints Row IV. However, as a cut-price, stop-gap to whatever the next piece of insanity Volition put out next; it's pretty darn good. Gat Out Of Hell tells us the tale of Jonny Gat and his descent into hell to save the…
Assassin’s Creed: Unity is, without a doubt, the best entry in the series since the introduction of Ezio Auditore. The massive Ubisoft development team have seemingly stripped every aspect of the series down to the bone, in order to find a way to improve it. Those improvements, alongside the new technology the game is running on, make Unity an absolutely staggering experience. However, that same technology is also…
Stick with me here, I’m going to make a weird analogy to open this review. Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor is like The Sims. The reason I really enjoy Shadow Of Mordor is not because it’s great fun free-running around the open world, and not because it’s awesome to sneak into an base full of Orcs and hack them to bits, but because it let me choose my own path through the story. The game gives you a series of skills…
Recently the trend of rereleasing your old game into a updated, shiny Playstation 4 or Xbox One version has taken over as one of the modus operandi of video game publishers. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, The Last Of Us: Remastered, and Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition, sit alongside titles like Olli Olli, Hotline Miami and Escape Plan as games with new, current generation releases. With Sleeping Dogs: Definitive…
Gears Of War: Judgement, brought to us by the people who gave us Bulletstorm, is the latest entry in the generation long Microsoft exclusive franchise. Gears Of War: Judgment, brought to us by the people who gave us Bulletstorm, is the latest entry in the generation long Microsoft exclusive franchise. Gears Of War: Judgment, brought to us by the people that… I’m sorry, am I repeating myself? Does this feel like Deja…
Scribblenauts Unlimited brings the whimsy like almost nothing else. Unfortunately, it does not really bring much else to the table. So here is the quick rundown. You play as Maxwell. He is a cartoon man. For some unknown reason, the entire world seems too inept to do anything on their own and need Maxwell’s help. Maxwell is, for some again, unknown reason, a superhero whose superpower is to create objects and people…
The tale of Sleeping Dogs is a strange one. Back in 2008, when United Front Games formed, they began working on an open world game about a Hong Kong based, female assassin. Activision saw the chance to squeeze some money out of it and pulled out a publishing deal with UFG. In 2009, Activision debuted the game as True Crime: Hong Kong . After delaying it from 2010 to 2011, Activision cancelled the game. They cited…
I could spend the next 700 or so words taking you through how to play a Super Mario Bros game. Rattling on about jump distances, power ups and secret areas. Thing is, everybody has played one. Almost every generation of gamer has begun their journey finding out that the princess was in another castle all along. In fact, they mostly play the same. Traverse the level’s obstacles, grab some mushrooms and fire flowers,…
It’s 1945. The world is tumbling towards the end of one war and straight into the barbed wire laced arms of another. Feeling the pressure of the impending Cold War, US officials have tasked Karl Fairbourne, an American Office of Strategic Services officer, with stopping Nazi rocket scientists jumping to the communist ship. Fairbourne is stuck in the battle of Berlin. Russians on one side. Nazis on the other. Armed…
The most jaw-dropping thing about Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is its brevity. Despite all its brilliance, Metal Gear is known most for the cinematic leanings of its creator, Hideo Kojima. It came to a head during Metal Gear Solid 4, which reached amazing highs in gameplay, narrative, and fan-boyish nostalgia, but was laced with overly long interstitials crammed with far too much exposition. From the moment…
The InFamous series, like many superhero simulations before it, is at its best when the player is made to feel like a 24-carat badass. InFamous: Second Son is possibly the epitome of this feeling. However, after experiencing that same feeling in the two (and a half) previous games in the series, alongside numerous other titles of their ilk, the effect is diminished. The narrative setup serves to heighten this…
Every time I sit down to play a game based on some sort of real life sport, the same dilemma runs through my head. Why am I playing this virtual version of something I can do out in the real world? I may not be able to putt like Woods, score like Beckham, or run absurdly fast like Bolt, but I can head down to the nearest playing field and make a decent go at it. However, those games – PGA, FIFA, Madden – allow a…
There is something amiss about the latest Ubisoft open-world game Watch Dogs. It’s a complicated mixture of small inconsistencies in the design, the plot, and the game world itself. On top of that, the tone bounces between serious, comical, and nonsensical on an alarmingly regular basis. The game was unveiled in 2012 at Ubisoft’s pre-E3 press conference to the adoration of the entire industry. Over the past months,…
