Graham Banas

Graham Banas

Contributor

Author Profile

For over a decade, Graham has been writing reviews for Push Square. In that period, he's encountered an innumerable amount of high-quality experiences, and yes, several duds. With an encyclopedic knowledge of games and studios, it should come as no surprise that he's comfortable playing any genre. However, when it comes time to write a review, you'll probably find that he gravitates towards music/rhythm games, and in more recent years, VR. If you let him talk about games long enough, he'll definitely let you know that his favorite game is Kentucky Route Zero.

Username
gbanas92
Articles
455 (238 reviews)
First Article
Tue 19th, November 2013
Avg. Review Score
6.8
Find Them On
LinkedIn • • Instagram
  • NHL 16 (PS4)

    7

    Review NHL 16 (PS4)

    The icemen cometh

    When EA Canada said that NHL 14 would be skipping a next generation release so that it could concentrate on making NHL 15 the best that it could possibly be, no one really batted an eyelid. It sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing and for the most part it was accepted. That is, until NHL 15 released. Hockey's first foray onto...

  • Volume (PS4)

    10

    Review Volume (PS4)

    Robin good

    Volume is Mike Bithell's follow-up endeavour to the charming little platformer Thomas Was Alone. While this wasn't necessarily the most complicated side-scroller ever, its personality and wit allowed it to stand way out among the competition. Bithell's next project takes him into the stealth genre, with a title that wears its love for...

  • Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 4 - Escape Plan Bravo (PS4)

    14

    Review Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 4 - Escape Plan Bravo (PS4)

    Skin pizza party

    Since their respective debuts, Telltale appears to have prioritised Game of Thrones over Tales from the Borderlands. Indeed, the latter's release "schedule" could, at best, be described as inconsistent. The first episode released in November of last year, and now, ten months later, we've just made it to the fourth instalment. This...

  • Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room (PS4)

    7

    Review Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room (PS4)

    Dark side of the moons

    French developer DONTNOD really kicked things into overdrive with the third episode of Life Is Strange. While the first two episodes were certainly divisive – even amongst the staff here - it would be hard to argue that the series wasn't in the process of carving out its own niche. Episode three was where proceedings truly...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers (PS4)

    10

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers (PS4)

    The penultimate peril

    While developer Telltale's release schedule for Tales from the Borderlands could be described as sporadic at best, the studio's done a reasonably good job of delivering episodes in its Game of Thrones series in a relatively timely fashion. And this trend has continued with the season's penultimate episode, Game of Thrones:...

  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4)

    8

    Review The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4)

    Murder, my sweet

    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a port of the PC open world murder mystery title by Polish developer The Astronauts. Originally made using Unreal Engine 3, the game has since been rebuilt with Unreal Engine 4, much in the same way that former PlayStation Plus freebie Ether One was a couple of months back. To make it through the...

  • Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (PS4)

    19

    Review Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (PS4)

    Risky business

    Shantae: Risky's Revenge – Director's Cut is a PlayStation 4 port of the 2010 Metroidvania game by WayForward Technologies. Originally released on the Nintendo DSi, the title belly danced to the PC this time last year, and now it's finally the turn of Sony format fans to get their hands on the release. This is actually the second...

  • Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 3 - Catch a Ride (PS4)

    6

    Review Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 3 - Catch a Ride (PS4)

    Touchgoal

    After a hiatus that felt like forever, Telltale returns with Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 3 – Catch a Ride. While we felt that the opening episode was fantastic – it really was a pleasant surprise – the follow-up took a step back. It wasn't that Episode 2 was bad, it just didn't feel terribly fulfilling – but now we're at...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 4 - Sons of Winter (PlayStation 4)

    6

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 4 - Sons of Winter (PlayStation 4)

    Winter has come

    We are now two-thirds of the way through Telltale's Game of Thrones. House Forrester has spent the past three episodes being knocked around and bullied by House Bolton, House Whitehill, and a plethora of other antagonists. But while we found this series to be a bit of a slow burn at first, it has picked up pace of late, so can...

  • Life Is Strange: Episode 3 - Chaos Theory (PlayStation 4)

    14

    Review Life Is Strange: Episode 3 - Chaos Theory (PlayStation 4)

    Life is beautiful

    Life Is Strange: Episode 3 – Chaos Theory marks the third of five planned story instalments in Remember Me developer DONTNOD's divisive high school story. We had our fair share of problems with the first two episodes, but left the door open for the developer to truly deliver on the glimpses of promise that it had shown thus far...

  • Toren (PlayStation 4)

    12

    Review Toren (PlayStation 4)

    You're Toren us apart

    Toren marks the first release by Brazilian developer Swordtales, and is the latest of the smaller indie titles to grace the PlayStation 4. Sony's console seems like a great fit for the foray, too, as it takes a huge helping of inspiration from a PlayStation 2 classic, ICO. Of course, while drawing influence from such an iconic...

  • Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PlayStation 4)

    15

    Review Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PlayStation 4)

    Night of the Living Führer

    MachineGames has made a much quicker than expected return to the Wolfenstein series that it helped to re-popularise. After a number of years outside of the limelight, Wolfenstein: The New Order marked an exciting and exceptionally well constructed return to form for the franchise. Gone was the overbearing emphasis on...

  • Broken Age (PlayStation 4)

    20

    Review Broken Age (PlayStation 4)

    If it ain't broke, don't fix it

    Broken Age is the newest release from Double Fine, the developer founded by adventure game legend Tim Schafer. The release is noteworthy for having a massively successful Kickstarter campaign; with a goal of $400,000, the studio ended up raising almost $3.5 million. Of course, with huge money came big expectations,...

  • Scratching Our Heads Through Soul Axiom on PS4

    3

    First Impressions Scratching Our Heads Through Soul Axiom on PS4

    Axiom verge

    What do you get when you mix Tron with BioShock Infinite and Antichamber – and sprinkle a helping of Indiana Jones on top? The answer is, er, Soul Axiom. At least, that's the vibe that we got during a hands-on session with an early build of the game. The follow-up title from Master Reboot developer Wales Interactive, this is shaping up...

  • R.B.I. Baseball 15 (PlayStation 4)

    6

    Review R.B.I. Baseball 15 (PlayStation 4)

    Shutout

    R.B.I. Baseball is not a new series per se. The brand's legacy dates back all the way to a line of bat and ball titles that launched on SEGA platforms – among others – through the 80s and 90s. The last one released in 1995, until last year, when R.B.I. Baseball 14 brought the series back – albeit in underwhelming fashion. Spoilers:...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 3 - The Sword in the Darkness (PlayStation 4)

    13

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 3 - The Sword in the Darkness (PlayStation 4)

    The Watchers on the Wall

    Telltale seems to have slotted into a nice little groove with regards to its episodic release schedule of late. Game of Thrones: Episode 3 – The Sword in the Darkness marks its second outing of the month – a paltry one week later than the most recent instalment of Tales from the Borderlands. If this pace can be...

  • Life Is Strange: Episode 2 - Out of Time (PlayStation 4)

    20

    Review Life Is Strange: Episode 2 - Out of Time (PlayStation 4)

    Boyhood: The Game

    On the surface, DONTNOD's divisive Life Is Strange seems to have a lot in common with Richard Linklater's Boyhood in tone and feel. Sure, there's the heavy sci-fi underpinning and a city with plenty of dark secrets – in a Twin Peaks kind of way – but it retains the feel that the aforementioned flick captured by incorporating...

  • Slender: The Arrival (PlayStation 4)

    5

    Review Slender: The Arrival (PlayStation 4)

    Look who’s back

    Slender: The Arrival is a title that's been steadily seeing release across a variety of platforms for a while now – and the latest victim is the PlayStation 4. You may remember the game hitting the PlayStation 3 a few months ago, where it had its fair share of issues. If you need us to jog your memory, it was a really poor port...

  • Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 2 - Atlas Mugged (PlayStation 4)

    2

    Review Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 2 - Atlas Mugged (PlayStation 4)

    Cool story, bro

    It's taken an age for Telltale Games to release the second instalment in its Tales from the Borderlands series. The first episode deployed all the way back in December, and in the time since, it's released not one but two episodes in its other ongoing story, Game of Thrones. The question is: has the continuation of Rhys and Fiona's...

  • White Night (PlayStation 4)

    6

    Review White Night (PlayStation 4)

    Good night and good luck

    White Night, the debut title from OSome Studio, is a bit of an oddball. A monochromatic neo-noir horror adventure, the game is certainly more than capable of standing out from the crowd. Sadly, while it gets a heck of a lot of things right, it also has some issues that let it down. The title's colour palette is almost...

  • Limbo (PlayStation 4)

    5

    Review Limbo (PlayStation 4)

    Arachnophobia

    Playdead's critically acclaimed Limbo has been slowly creeping onto just about every platform on the planet since its original release in 2010. Now, a whopping five years after its inaugural outing, the experience has lurched its way onto the PlayStation 4. You play as an unnamed boy on the edge of Hell – the title is taken from the...

  • Apotheon (PlayStation 4)

    22

    Review Apotheon (PlayStation 4)

    Commence the Apotheonslaught

    Apotheon is the latest game from Capsized developer Alientrap, and also just happens to be the most recent in a long line of PlayStation 4 releases to debut as part of the Instant Game Collection. The quality of these freebies has been all over the board since launch, leading many to question the quality of this Greek...

  • Game of Thrones: Episode 2 - The Lost Lords (PlayStation 4)

    3

    Review Game of Thrones: Episode 2 - The Lost Lords (PlayStation 4)

    To ice we all return

    Game of Thrones: Episode 2 – The Lost Lords marks our second journey to Westeros courtesy of Telltale Games. Those of you with longer memories may recall that we thought that the season premiere was decent, if not outstanding – but fortunately this seems like a better indication of where the series is headed. Naturally, the...

  • Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis (PlayStation 4)

    19

    Review Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis (PlayStation 4)

    Go f*** yourselfie

    Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis marks the latest release from French developer DONTNOD, the studio behind Remember Me. Being an episodic game, it marks a change of pace for the firm, and allows it to join the ranks of Telltale Games, who has essentially defined the model in its current guise. Series like this are extremely...