February2024
Review Skull and Bones (PS5) - Solid Sea-RPG Ships First-Rate Naval Gameplay
Stranger tides
Skull and Bones is, despite half a dozen delays and some lingering dark clouds, one of the most addictive and vibrant piracy simulators we've ever played; not that many exist. It offers a surprising amount of freedom in how players approach it, and it looks and runs beautifully on PS5, even during large-scale fleet battles. Developer...
January2024
Review Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (PS5) - A Slick, Satisfying, and Royally Robust Metroidvania
Crowning glory
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the first major game in Ubisoft's beloved series in a very long time, so we have to give the publisher some kudos for not playing it safe. While a straightforward remake of The Sands of Time is also on the way, this entry is a side-scrolling action platformer with a Metroidvania structure. It...
December2023
Review Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (PS5) - A World We Don't Want to Leave
Pandora Hunting Simulator
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a game this writer has been waiting a long time for. In many ways, it is the Hogwarts Legacy for fans of big blue folk and vibrant alien worlds. But with that apt comparison and Ubisoft Massive at the helm, does it do enough to stand on its own two feet? Or is it nothing more than a pretty...
October2023
Review Assassin's Creed Mirage (PS5) - A Solid But Slightly Dated Return to the Series' Roots
Blade Runner 861
You may remember Basim Ibn Ishaq from Assassin's Creed Valhalla — a seasoned killer who enlisted Eivor's help in tracking down key members of an ancient cult. Basim was one of the game's most intriguing characters — and one of its only actual assassins — and so the prospect of getting to relive his past in Assassin's Creed...
September2023
Review The Crew Motorfest (PS5) - Third Time's the Charm in This Vibrant, Varied Racer
Don't bring me the Horizon, actually
Ubisoft's premier racing franchise, The Crew, generally gets a bad rap. Developer Ivory Tower had very strong ambitions right from the starting grid, providing drivers with an open world approximating the entire United States of America. It's a great idea; roam the entire country from coast to coast with your...
March2023
Review Anno 1800 Console Edition (PS5) - Victorian Strategy on an Industrial Scale
Moving up in the world
Anno 1800 Console Edition sees the advent of 2019's excellent PC colony builder on PS5, and we were pleased to find the transition has been an incredibly smooth one. What was once the province of mouse and keyboard finds an incredibly comfortable fit on console, enhanced with all the DualSense bells and whistles. If you...
August2022
Review Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands (PS4) - Open World Shooter Lacks a Little Identity
Ghost of its former self
Republished on Wednesday, 10th August, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Ubisoft's open world games are pretty much all cut from the same cloth, with each implementing some common systems and design...
July2022
Review Assassin's Creed Unity (PS4) - Buggy French Open World Is Disappointing
Heads will roll
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. French publisher Ubisoft is on its home turf with Assassin's Creed Unity. With a sprawling recreation of 18th Century Paris to explore, the game...
Review Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection (PS4) - Return to Italy in Compelling Compilation
Three is a magic number
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. It's become somewhat of a regular occurrence for older games that had any degree of success to suffer some kind of re-release treatment,...
Review Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered (PS4) - Sailing Spin-Off Brings More Stealth
Shiver me timbers
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. In retrospect, 2014 has to be considered as one of the most important years for the Assassin’s Creed franchise. As Assassin’s Creed Unity...
Review Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4) - Ship-Shape Open World Pirate Escapade
Livin' the sweet trade
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Ubisoft has outdone itself with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, as there’s more to see and do than ever in this exciting world of...
March2022
The end is nigh
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok is the biggest expansion in series history. Ubisoft's been feeding us that marketing bullet point for months, and having played it for ourselves, it's safe to say that the French publisher wasn't lying. It took us roughly 33 hours to complete everything that Dawn of Ragnarok has to offer,...
January2022
Review Rainbow Six: Extraction (PS5) – Limited Time Event Turned Middling Co-Op Shooter
Live die repeat
The Outbreak event in Rainbow Six: Siege all the way back in 2018 was a ton of fun. It presented the tactical shooter in a new light, offering something different to players that might have wanted a more fulfilling PvE experience than the tepid “terrorist hunt” offering in the base game. Ubisoft clearly felt there was enough...
November2021
Review Riders Republic (PS5) - Try-Hard Extreme Sports Sandbox Is a Technical Feat
How do you do, fellow kids?
Ubisoft’s approach to open world game design has worn thinner than a snowboarder’s baggy pants, but the French publisher keeps returning to it because it works. Riders Republic does little to hide the fact that it’s effectively The Crew 2 in an extreme sports skin, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This...
October2021
Review Far Cry 6 (PS5) - The Best Game in the Series, Sort Of
Chorizo style
If you've played any one of Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Far Cry 5, or Far Cry: New Dawn, then you already know exactly what to expect from Far Cry 6. Ubisoft is back with yet another course of comfort food in its exotic open world FPS franchise, and this review feels almost inconsequential in its effort to explain what's what for a fifth...
August2021
Out of the black box
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's second expansion, The Siege of Paris, sees Eivor travel across the channel to Francia. As per usual, our intrepid Norse hero is eager to establish some new alliances — with both Viking raiders and King Charles the Fat on Eivor's list of potential allies. What follows is a much more gritty and...
July2021
Review Watch Dogs Legion: Bloodline (PS5) - A Much Better Plot Built on Existing Foundations
London's falling
A little over six months since its PlayStation 5 debut, Watch Dogs Legion is undoubtedly in a better place. Make no mistake, this ambitious but ultimately flawed open world jaunt through futuristic London is still let-down by the weight of its own ideas, but Ubisoft – as the French publisher is wont to do – has worked tirelessly...
May2021
Naill-ed it
The open world, RPG-infused Assassin's Creed games — Origins and Odyssey, before Assassin's Creed Valhalla — received some great post-launch support. Origins in particular was blessed with a fantastic expansion in the form of Curse of the Pharaohs, and Odyssey lived long thanks to a slew of solid episodic escapades. We had reasonably...
March2021
Journey to the East
Immortals Fenyx Rising's second DLC takes the form of an entirely separate adventure titled Myths of the Eastern Realm. Based around Chinese mythology, this expansion features a new playable hero, a new map, and a new story. However, things have barely changed on a mechanical level, making for a very familiar journey. Main...
January2021
"You are incorrigible"
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is finally back after years removed from digital shelves. The 2D beat-'em-up translates the story of the graphic novels and movie well, with each stage culminating with a boss fight against one of Ramona's evil exes. It's a highly entertaining title, but with no real changes in this new...
December2020
Review Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (PS5) - Multiplayer FPS Is Only Let Down by Its Community
Intentional team kill
As of December 1st, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege is five years old. Yes, you read that right. But how to celebrate such an incredible milestone for one of the only true Games as a Service success stories? Well, how about a shiny new version of the game that offers an array of improvements? Sure, there are still plenty of...
Review Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5) - Formulaic Open World in Ancient Greece
Gods & Monsters aplenty
Immortals Fenyx Rising is what happens when Assassin's Creed Odyssey meets The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There are some ideas the latest IP from Ubisoft can claim as its own, but it's impossible to deny the comparisons between it and the two open-world juggernauts. As such, it feels like the French publisher has...
November2020
Review Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS5) - Next-Gen Upgrade Is One of the Best Games in the Series
The raven's call
Assassin's Creed Valhalla was a disappointment on PS4. Plagued by a constant and unending stream of bugs, an otherwise great open world adventure was held back on Sony's last-gen console. Thank the Norse gods for PS5, then. The new system improves Valhalla massively, to the point where we could actually sit back and enjoy the game's...
Review Watch Dogs Legion (PS5) - Bland Open-Worlder at Least Looks and Runs Better
Rude Brittania
Technically speaking, at least, Watch Dogs Legion is an objectively better game on PlayStation 5 than PlayStation 4. It runs better, it looks better, and it loads much faster. That all does wonders for creating a much smoother experience on Sony's latest console, making sure you spend a lot more of your precious time in the thick of...
Review Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS4) - Epic Viking Adventure Buckled by Countless Bugs
The Raven still beguiling
Picture the scene: you and your battle-hardened Viking clan are storming a huge Saxon fortress. You've smashed through the main gate, torn your enemies to pieces in the courtyard, and now you're racing towards the central keep. A degenerate king waits inside, surrounded by his finest warriors — but they're not going to...
