Author Profile

Robert (or Rob if you're lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan of PlayStation since the 90s, when Tekken 2 introduced him to the incredible world of video games. He still takes his fighting games seriously, but RPGs are his true passion. The Witcher, Persona, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, Trails, Tales — he's played 'em all. A little too much, some might say.

I grew up reading gaming magazines, and always wanted to write my own reviews about the games I loved. I got a chance to do just that while I was a college student, writing for several small gaming blogs in my spare time. I was also an avid reader of Push Square back when it was just Sammy. When the site came looking for new writers, I jumped at the chance. The rest is (ancient) history.

Experience

Robert began his games journalism career in 2012 as a freelance reviewer. In 2013 he joined Push Square as a Staff Writer, before moving into his current role as Deputy Editor in 2016.

In this role, Robert continues to write across the website covering news, reviews, guides and features.

More than anything, I just enjoy writing about games that resonate with me. There’s great satisfaction to be found in sharing your passion with a willing audience.

Timeline

  • 2012: Begins his career as a freelance reviewer
  • 2013: Joins Push Square as a Staff Writer
  • 2016: Becomes Deputy Editor of Push Square

Expertise

The first console Robert ever owned was the PlayStation 1, followed by a suitably long list of PlayStations! He’s also owned all of the main Nintendo handheld and home consoles from the mid 1990s onwards.

He chose the PlayStation 4 as his favourite console of all time, simply because so many of its games went on to become some of his absolute favourites.

RPGs are my favourite genre, because they tend to focus on characters and world building, which immerse me more than anything.

Robert’s Favourite Games

From the Archive

We asked Robert to pick out his three favourite pieces of work from across his personal archive, and tell us why he picked them!

The Witcher 3: Best Character Builds

My most-read article ever is a character builds guide for The Witcher 3, which I slaved over back when the game was brand new. I thoroughly enjoyed putting it together, and it was amazing to see it perform so well over the years.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Review

Mass Effect is my favourite trilogy in gaming, and I like to think I did the games justice by writing an in-depth review of the Legendary Edition, which basically encapsulated a decade's worth of my thoughts and feelings.

Interview: Falcom Boss Talks Everything Trails, Reverie, Importance of Western Fans, and More

As a big fan of the Trails series, interviewing Falcom's president was a big deal for me. This interview from 2023 is my favourite to date, thanks to some fantastic answers.

Username
ShogunRok
Articles
12,320 (490 reviews)
First Article
Wed 21st, November 2012
Avg. Review Score
7.2
Find Them On
Muck Rack
  • News BioWare's Considering a Dragon Age Spin-Off Title

    Tactical advantage

    "Would you play a Dragon Age Tactics game?" asks series executive producer Mark Darrah over on Twitter. The BioWare veteran even posted a poll on the social media platform, with 49 per cent of voters answering "Yes!" We suppose that means we could be getting a spin-off Dragon Age game in the future, then. Sure, it's a bit of an...

  • News Get Your Burning Blood Pumping with 4 Minutes of One Piece PS4 Gameplay

    Heading for the summit

    One Piece: Burning Blood's new trailer shows off a generous amount of story and gameplay - and we reckon that it looks rather rad. Focussing on the Battle of Marineford, in which various powerful pirates take on numerous bigwig Marines, there are some slight spoilers here, but we'll assume that if you're reading this, you...

  • Push Share What PS4 Screenshots Have You Been Sharing? - Issue 8

    Now with added photo contest

    Push Share is supposed to be a bi-weekly feature, but this humble editor went and screwed up last Friday by totally forgetting all about it. Absolutely unforgivable, we know, but at least we're back on track this week with some fresh PlayStation 4 screenshots. What's more, to make up for our disgusting blunder, we're...

  • News Fallout 4 Has a Secret that No One Has Discovered Yet

    According to Todd Howard

    Fallout 4's back in the headlines recently following the game's downloadable content reveal, and Bethesda creative director Todd Howard seems adamant to keep people talking about the studio's latest release. During his DICE talk last night, Howard teased a "secret" in Fallout 4 that, as far as he's aware, no one has...

  • News Fallout 4 Developer Bethesda Has Three New Games in the Works

    A glimpse of the future

    It certainly seems like Bethesda is expanding as a developer if creative director Todd Howard's words during a DICE talk are to be believed. According to the always enthusiastic boss, the studio is currently working on three unannounced projects. Admittedly, Howard doesn't go into much detail, but he does say that the games...

  • News Street Fighter V Seems to Be Fighting Fit on PS4 Now

    Get ready

    After what has been an incredibly rocky start to its career, Street Fighter V finally seems to be rising to the challenge, with the game's servers supposedly in good working order. It's about time, of course, but we're just glad that it's up and running. Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here on out. This isn't just us assuming...

  • News Ubisoft May Be Easing Off Assassin's Creed in Future

    Good news?

    Assassin's Creed has been an annualised franchise for quite some time. Over the years, we've gotten used to the typical pre-release build up as we near the wintry months when Ubisoft's series usually deploys its mainline entries - but as you may already know, that's not actually happening in 2016. Indeed, you're going to have to wait a...

  • News Characters Are Vanishing from Copies of Street Fighter V on PS4

    Ken you believe it

    There's a weird bug going on in Street Fighter V right now, only adding to the brawler's somewhat controversial launch. As you may already know, Capcom's latest sports 16 playable characters from Ken and his banana hair to the snot flicking Birdie, but this particular issue actually sees fighters disappear from your available...

  • Review Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae (PS4)

    Live by the sword

    Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae is a bit like Devil May Cry on a budget – a really tight budget. It's a Japanese indie that's all about killer combos, fast reactions, and the process of mastering the game's combat system. Those looking for a story to get stuck into or characters to grow fond of had best move along. In a way, Mitsurugi...

  • News Japanese Sales Charts: Valkyria Chronicles Remastered Rolls into the Charts on PS4

    Tanks very much

    Last week was pretty quiet for new releases in the Land of the Rising Sun, with the likes of Dragon Quest Builders and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 still hanging around in the software top ten. There was one new PlayStation entry worthy of note, however: Valkyria Chronicles Remastered. The remastered edition of the PS3...

  • News Fallout 4 Finally Drops a Bomb with DLC Details

    Custom robots, taming monsters, and big expansions

    Bethesda's finally opened the vault door on its downloadable content plans for Fallout 4, and to be honest, they sound pretty interesting. The open world adventure will be getting three confirmed slices of DLC in the relatively near future, with more coming further down the road. However, we should...

  • News DOOM's Single Player Campaign Will Last You 13 Gory Hours

    Better grab some ammo

    We'd like to think that publisher Bethesda is on a roll with the shooters that it's got under its umbrella these days. Much like 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order, it would appear that DOOM is going to provide a rather meaty single player experience. The news comes from the title's official Twitter account, where, in reply to...

  • News Mass Effect: Andromeda's Lead Writer has Jumped Ship to Destiny

    Andromeda will "blow people away"

    Mass Effect: Andromeda's lead writer, Chris Shlerf, has revealed that he's left the project and is now working at Bungie on Destiny. Going by Shlerf's tweets on the matter, it would appear as though his role has been fulfilled when it comes to BioWare's latest, with him leaving on good terms with the Canadian...

  • News Destiny's Crimson Days Event Has Been a Big Waste of Time

    Thankfully, Bungie's fixed it

    Did you decide to take part in Destiny's Valentine's Day-themed event over the weekend? Crimson Days allows Guardians to set up two-on-two Crucible matches with the promise of some exclusive rewards, but we've read some horror stories with regards to the lovey-dovey loot - or lack thereof. One of the big draws for this...

  • Review Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (PS4)

    Let's get digital

    Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is arguably the best Digimon game that's ever been localised here in the West. Although it's true that the property has never set the bar particularly high with its licensed titles, strip away the franchise's wrappings and Cyber Sleuth would still come with a hearty recommendation from us – especially...

  • News Dead or Alive 5: Last Round Strips Off for Valentine's Day

    Be my Valentine

    Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is getting a new batch of costumes to coincide with Valentine's Day - because of course it is. And, as you could have probably guessed, they're about as minimal as possible, with the ladies mostly donning underwear and most of the men opting to kick butt in swimming trunks. Okay, so the outfits aren't...

  • News Finally, Bungie Spills the Beans on What's in Store for Destiny

    A sequel, an expansion, and a huge update

    It's been a rough couple of months for Destiny - developer Bungie's biggest ever project. Following the release of The Taken King, last year's big expansion, players have been becoming increasingly disgruntled with the game's offerings. Sparrow Racing League felt like an unfinished add-on or a prelude to...

  • News Nope, There Won't Be a New Assassin's Creed Game in 2016

    Ubisoft is resting the franchise

    After a long spell of rumours that Ubisoft would be resting mega franchise Assassin's Creed this year, the company has confirmed that this will indeed be the case. "This year, we also are stepping back and re-examining the Assassin's Creed franchise. As a result, we've decided that there will not be a new Assassin's...

  • News Fallout 4's New Patch Makes the Game Look Better on PS4

    Isn't that nice

    There wasn't anything too exciting included in Fallout 4's latest PlayStation 4 patch, but we're pleasantly surprised to hear that the update seems to have improved the graphical quality of the title on Sony's console. According to our pals over at Digital Foundry, who have run multiple tests on the game, Bethesda's blockbuster now...

  • News Party Pooping Murder-'Em-Up Party Hard Is Butchering PS4 This Spring

    Killer tunes

    Best make like Sammy and get Sophie Ellis-Bextor on YouTube, because brutal indie Party Hard is bringing murder to the dancefloor that is your PlayStation 4 in the near future. The game sees you take control of a disgruntled neighbour who can't sleep due to bass-thumping house parties. Obviously, the only way to get a good night's kip...

  • News Knights and Bikes Is a Stunning PS4 Game from LittleBigPlanet Devs

    Joust cause

    Foam Sword is a new studio headed by Rex Crowle and Moo Yu - a pair of developers who first teamed up on LittleBigPlanet. Crowle went on to be the creative lead on both Tearaway and Tearaway Unfolded, while Yu has worked on the likes of Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, but now they're working together again on a project called...

  • News Here's What You Need to Know About Far Cry Primal

    The game in under 5 minutes

    Launching in just a couple of weeks on the 23rd February, Far Cry Primal is no doubt near the top of many most wanted lists, but if you're unsure what Ubisoft's latest sandbox is all about, then we suggest taking a look at its newest trailer. The five minute video goes over just about everything that you can expect from...

  • News Dragon Quest Heroes II Adds More Familiar Faces

    Okay, maybe not that familiar

    As you'd expect, Dragon Quest Heroes II is getting numerous new characters added to its colourful cast. We already know of four original warriors that have been thrown into the mix, but six additional personalities from past Dragon Quest titles have been confirmed thanks to a scan from the latest issue of Japanese...

  • News Tales of Berseria's New Screenshots Welcome You to its World

    Daemon days

    Described as a Tales Of game with a decidedly darker tone than past entries, Tales of Berseria follows the story of Velvet, a woman who has an evil hand that devours monsters. We'd expect nothing less from the role-playing franchise at this point. Anyway, we haven't seen too much of the game yet, but these new screenshots may just be...