Latest Previews
January2019
Hands On Resident Evil 2's Demo Is a Tantalising Preview of a Sure-Fire Hit
King Kennedy
We’ve played a bit of Claire Redfield’s campaign previously, but we weren’t going to turn down another 30 minutes of Resident Evil 2, were we? Capcom’s crafty 1-Shot demo gives you a full half-hour with its remade campaign, and while it’s nowhere near enough to offer any conclusions about the resurrected sequel, we really...
December2018
Hands On Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Spreads Christmas Cheer with Operation: Absolute Zero
Tis the season to be jolly
Call of Duty is back, and it really is better than ever. After launching as the greatest entry in the series this generation, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has received its first major content drop in the form of a new Operation, titled Absolute Zero. The update brings with it sweeping changes to a variety of different modes,...
November2018
Hands On Fallout 76's Massive 47GB Patch Does Nothing to Improve the Game's Awful Performance on PS4
Great
Earlier this week, Fallout 76 update 1.02 launched on PlayStation 4. The colossal 47GB patch promised performance improvements, specifically a fix for the game's stuttering issue. Those of you who have read our review of the release will already know that we highlighted this problem because it has a substantial negative impact
Hands On Fallout 76's PS4 Performance Is Embarrassing in 2018
Here we are again
There's no getting around it: Fallout 76 is a bit of a mess on PlayStation 4 as far as technical performance is concerned. Those familiar with developer Bethesda Game Studios' track record may have seen this coming, but that can't be used as an excuse. Fallout 76 isn't a total train wreck on Sony's system, but after having spent...
Hands On Spyro: Reignited Trilogy Fires Up Our Nostalgia with Gorgeous Remake
Flamin' good
Spyro holds a special place in our heart. The little purple dragon that could sits right alongside Crash as one of PlayStation's first great platforming heroes, so it's a pleasure to see him given the same treatment with a current gen remake. Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, much like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, brings together all three...
Hands On The Quiet Man's Audio Patch Brings Some Clarity to the Ears
Girlfriend or Mum? Now we know
The Quiet Man needs to be a lesson to all developers and publishers in how not to release a video game. After deploying to a critical panning from ourselves and other reviewers, the title is back a week later with the 1.02 update that adds audio in order to entice a second playthrough that promises to answer all the...
Round Up Déraciné PS4 Reviews Divide Critics
FromSoftware's faerie tale splitting opinion
Déraciné reviews are out, and we’re still not sure how to pronounce it. Is it ‘Day-ress-a-nay’? Is it ‘Deh-rah-seen’? Is it ‘Day-rass-an-eee’? Goodness knows – what we do know is that critics can’t quite decide whether they like it or not. There are some glowing reviews for this...
Hands On Fallout 76 PS4 Beta Has Us Worried for the Full Game
Take me home
We've been playing the Fallout 76 beta on PlayStation 4, and to be frank, it's not looking particularly good. Being a multiplayer adaptation of Bethesda's beloved franchise, the game's no stranger to scrutiny even at this early stage, but after spending around eight or so hours with the beta, that scrutiny is, unfortunately, starting to...
Hands On Tetris Effect Is a Borderline Spiritual Experience with PSVR
Yours forever
There were no shortage of people who scoffed at Tetris Effect when it was announced at E3 2018 earlier in the year, but anyone who’s played Rez Infinite on PlayStation VR will have understood. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the mastermind behind the likes of Lumines and Child of Eden, excels at evoking emotional responses through audio-visual...
October2018
Hands On Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Is One of the Best Multiplayer Games This Generation
The king is back
It's completely understandable for you to be sceptical of the reviews that have dropped for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 so far, as it's a series that has stagnated somewhat during the PlayStation 4 generation as fans fight for the return of more grounded combat while studio heads offer more and more means of mobility. Call of Duty:...
Hands On Devil May Cry 5 Is the Sequel You've Been Waiting For
Dante stop believin'
Wherever you stand on DmC: Devil May Cry, the fact is that Ninja Theory didn’t deliver the game that fans wanted. By rebooting the series and changing a certain character’s hair colour, the Cambridge developer lost most ardent fans overnight; the combat, despite being especially good in the remastered Definitive Edition,...
Hands On Resident Evil 2's Action Is Intense on the PS4
Busting Birkin
Resident Evil 2 feels like the best kind of déjà vu. You’ll undoubtedly recognise characters and locations in Capcom’s long-awaited PSone revival, but this PlayStation 4 remake is still very much its own game. We recently got to go hands on with Claire Redfield’s portion of the campaign, and while our demo was restricted to a...
September2018
Hands On The Best Indie Games at EGX 2018
Small but cool
While it’s the big blockbusters that always draw the largest crowds at conventions like EGX 2018, the most fun can usually be found nestled away in the deepest, darkest corners of Birmingham’s behemoth NEC, with indie games galore vying for… Well, any attention at all. This year’s show played host to approximately a billion...
Hands On Sekiro's Going to Be as Hard as You Fear - Or Hope
Samurai souls
Playable for the first time, FromSoftware’s ninja-action death frenzy Sekiro was the 2018 Tokyo Game Show’s hottest ticket. Sekiro sets out its threat in the subtitle: Shadows Die Twice. On the subject of death, we were reminded of a story by Pulitzer-winner Annie Proulx, in which she sees a goat after a family visit, representing...
Hands On Spyro Reignited Trilogy Is Fire for Fans and Fresh Faces Alike
Lit
Activision may draw the ire of gaming enthusiasts for its annual Call of Duty flagging and insidious Destiny expansion packs, but by the grace of Mark Cerny does Bobby Kotick and his boardroom know exactly what they’re doing. Enter the oft-requested Spyro Reignited Trilogy, three vibrant recreations of Insomniac Games’ legendary PSone...
Hands On Ace Combat 7's Unknown Skies Are Reassuringly Familiar
Triggered
You can always rely on Ace Combat to bring a dose of melodrama to the war-torn skies of fictional states. Except it’s been four long years since the last instalment in the series – and even that was a shoddy free-to-play version for the PlayStation 3. No, you have to go back as far as 2011 for the last Ace Combat proper: the divisive...
Hands On Team Sonic Racing Takes a Tailspin on PS4
Not-so super, Sonic
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is, for our money, one of the few kart racers that deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Nintendo’s all-conquering Mario Kart series. The celebration of SEGA’s illustrious legacy not only revelled in ridiculous fan service (Burning Rangers, anyone?) but it also had a sharp...
Hands On Starlink: Battle for Atlas Shows Promise That Could Prove Costly
Toys to life
As a concept, it feels like Starlink: Battle for Atlas is three years late to the party. The toys to life fad died out a long time ago, and so to see a title basing itself around the act of collecting weapons and ships out in the real world in the year 2018 almost seems like a foolish business decision to us. We got a chance to sample...
Hands On Arca's Path Brings Marble Madness to PSVR
Super monkey ball
Virtual reality allows us to interact with video games in ways that simply wouldn't be possible with a controller, and Arca's Path, from British developer Dream Reality Interactive, is about to introduce yet another take on control and movement within the PlayStation VR space. Without any sort of DualShock 4 or PlayStation Move...
Hands On Man of Medan Is a Return to Form for Until Dawn Dev
Ghost ship
Developer Supermassive Games has been treading water for far too long now. After its 2015 title Until Dawn became a bit of a cult hit that deserved a lot more love, it overloaded itself with PlayStation VR projects, most of which missed the mark by a big margin. The likes of Bravo Team and The Inpatient seem to be behind the studio now,...
Hands On In Hitman 2, You Can Finally Claim Fatalities as a Flamingo
An assassin's need
There’s surely a formula to the very best Hitman levels, and the good news is that Hitman 2’s new Miami stage follows it to a tee. While you get the feeling this vibrant environment could have been added as an episode to the first season, developer IO Interactive would no doubt argue that a lot has changed under the hood. From...
Hands On Dreams Is Going to Be a Game of the Year Candidate
If it ever comes out
Media Molecule’s showing a compilation of mini-games that it’s made in Dreams here at EGX 2018, and the highest compliment we can pay them is that many of them would comfortably hang in the indie stand. We don’t even need to get hands on time with the package’s impressive and comprehensive creation suite to realise that...
Hands On Metro Exodus Pledges a Petrifying Apocalyptic Playground to PS4
From Russia with blood
For a franchise named after Russia’s subway system, Metro Exodus certainly seems big. The sequel to the PlayStation 3’s Metro: Last Light hints at its scale as we pull up its in-game map; we’re located in the bottom-left of the survival sandbox, but there’s clearly miles of apocalyptic landscape to explore here. It’s...
Hands On FIFA 19 Demo - Five Things We Learned
Pep talk
The FIFA 19 demo has been out since last week to give fans of the FIFA franchise a chance to have a feel of the game before its 29th September release date. It’s worth noting that the demo is an old build and the full version of FIFA 19 will feel more fluid according to the EA Game Changers who were present at the game’s final capture...
Hands On Mega Man 11 Brings the Blue Bomber Bang Up to Date on PS4
You rock, man
Capcom should probably send a thank you letter to Keiji Inafune before the year’s out. While it could be argued that the Japanese publisher has been laying the foundations for a new Mega Man with various re-releases and compilation packs, it doesn’t take a cynic to suggest that Mighty No. 9’s enormous Kickstarter success may have...
Hands On Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout Gives Fortnite Stiff Competition
Nuketown funk
Another Battle Royale mode. As if the constant presence of Fortnite over our everyday lives wasn’t enough, we now have to deal with the increasing number of clones releasing. Grand Theft Auto V did it, Battlefield V’s doing it, and, of course, so is Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Those exhausted by the proliferation of the genre might...
Hands On Destiny 2: Forsaken Is Feeling More and More like a Taken King Turning Point
The Forsaken King?
The original Destiny was in a rough state before The Taken King swooped in and sorted out so many of its problems. The big expansion was the definition of a turning point for Bungie's shooter -- it laid the foundations for a much more enticing experience, and expanded upon the stuff that the game actually got right...
Hands On Dragon Quest XI Is a Really Refreshing Return to Japanese RPG Greatness
Quest for the best
We were ten hours into Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age when we realised something: it's been way too long since we played a proper, old school Japanese role-playing game -- especially on PlayStation 4. Despite being over 30 years old, the Dragon Quest series hasn't changed much at all on a fundamental...
August2018
Hands On Bending Reality with the Case of Ted Walter in Transference
Unexplained wonder
If you were hoping to get some clarification on what Transference, the upcoming game from the Elijah Wood-fronted studio SpectreVision, is exactly, then this pre-release demo probably won't satisfy your needs. What we have here is a 15 minute teaser that dives into a weird and wondrous world to set up the events of the main game...
Hands On PES 2019: Pro Evolution Soccer Stands Firm(ino)
On Klopp of the world
The PES 2019 demo is finally here, and encouragingly it actually has a player wearing the correct shirt on the cover; Konami must have learned its lesson after last year’s Neymar debacle. Still, seeing as Liverpool are an official partner of the game and all, it would be nice to see Andy Robertson’s lovely mug adorning the...
Hands On How Similar Is Marvel's Spider-Man's Combat to Batman: Arkham?
How Insomniac's system compares
Batman: Arkham Asylum was such a gigantic success that many a famous franchise has copied its combat mechanics, from Assassin’s Creed to Sleeping Dogs. The PlayStation 4’s previous web-slinging outing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also borrowed liberally from Rocksteady’s releases, so how does Marvel’s Spider-Man...
Hands On Marvel's Spider-Man's First Boss Fight Begins Things with a Bang
Iron Fisk
Marvel’s Spider-Man puts a strong foot forward during its opening mission, as Insomniac Games lays out all of the controls and puts you in pursuit of the Kingpin within minutes. It’s no secret that the web-slinger brings down Wilson Fisk at the very beginning of the game, but this kickstarts a chain of events that will eventually see...
June2018
Hands On The Crew 2 PS4 Beta Is Big, Barren, and Boring
Sail away
After spending several hours behind the wheel of The Crew 2's open beta, one warning light kept flashing up on the dashboard: it's too big. The map, a truncated version of the entire United States, is enormous - impressively so - but it's dull as dishwater. One of the major changes to this sequel is the addition of planes and boats, and...
April2018
Hands On 10 of Our Favourite Games from EGX Rezzed 2018
Indie highlights from this year's show
EGX Rezzed is the little brother of the UK's biggest games exhibition, and it's a great venue for smaller games to spend some time in the spotlight. Indeed, we usually discover a number of titles we'd never heard of before. We attended the event across all three days, playing as much as we could to find out...
Hands On Strange Brigade Is a Punchy, Pulpy 1930s Shooter
Just the ticket
One of the higher profile games at EGX Rezzed 2018 was Rebellion's thirties-tinged third person shooter, Strange Brigade. Oddly enough, the demo we played was single player, despite the main focus of the game being its four-player co-op. Still, what we played of this B-movie inspired action game proved it has some fun ideas that...
Hands On Windlands 2 Adds Co-Op, Weapons to Virtual Reality Platformer
Second wind
We rather liked the original Windlands on PlayStation VR. The satisfying movement and exhilarating sense of speed and altitude made for one of virtual reality's early successes -- at least, if you had the stomach for it. This holds true for Windlands 2, but the sequel isn't just reuniting you with a pair of grappling hooks and calling it...
Hands On Guacamelee! 2 Brings Mexican Madness Back to PS4
Holy guacamole
Juan's first Metroidvania adventure, Guacamelee!, remains one of our favourite modern examples of the genre, mixing addictive exploration, challenging platforming, satisfying combat, and a whacky sense of humour to great effect. Guacamelee! 2 is set to continue this trend. It recaptures the first game's compelling gameplay and...
Hands On Roguelike Adventuring in The Swords of Ditto on PS4
Adventure time
The Swords of Ditto is out very soon indeed, but we couldn't resist giving it a quick test run at EGX Rezzed 2018 ahead of its release later this month. For those not in the know, this is a roguelike, 2D adventure game in which generations of heroes take on the evil witch Mormo in order to lift her curse over the land. Randomly...
Hands On Onrush is an Action Packed, Addictive Arcade Racer
Rushing around
Onrush is a bit of an oddball. An arcade racer with no traditional races, the focus is squarely on contributing towards team-based objectives. There are no laps or checkered flags; this game is gunning for something a little different. By combining the high-speed, high-risk thrills of games like Burnout, Motorstorm, and SSX with...
March2018
Hands On Ni no Kuni II Is a Pure Joy to Play on PS4
Our thoughts after 15 hours
There's really no other way to put it: Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a delight. Level-5's latest role-playing game is as charming as it is colourful, and after around 15 hours of play, we simply can't wait to continue our adventure. So far, it really has been worth the wait. As its title suggests, Ni no Kuni II is a...
Hands On Tera Seems Like a Solid Free-to-Play MMORPG on PS4
Our impressions from the open beta
Over the weekend, we got stuck into the open beta for Tera, an upcoming action MMO role-playing game from Bluehole. Although our experience was on and off due to the stress test nature of the beta, we did manage to get a decent feel for the title. Long story short, we think it's shaping up quite well on...
Hands On Yakuza 6 PS4 Demo Promises Big Changes for Kiryu's Final Adventure
It's Kamurocho, but not as we know it
We're all big fans of the Yakuza series here at Push Square Towers, so when SEGA (rather messily) released a demo of Yakuza 6 last week, we began swinging bicycles at each other in delight. Last year's Yakuza 0 was fantastic, telling a compelling origin story for main man Kiryu and series mainstay Majima, a
February2018
Hands On PSVR Platformer Moss Impresses in Opening 30 Minutes
Happiness in a headset
Moss is delightful. Frankly we could leave our hands on impressions there, because those three little words sum up our sentiments so far. Polyarc’s hotly anticipated PlayStation VR platformer has impressed us every time we’ve tried it prior to release, and now with just days to go until the title drops onto the PlayStation...
Hands On Metal Gear Survive Ditches the Series' Roots, But That May Not Be So Bad
Our impressions a few hours in
Controversy has never been far behind Metal Gear Survive ever since it was announced at Gamescom 2016. As the first entry in the franchise to be developed after the departure of Hideo Kojima, the name carries a certain weight that this instalment is unlikely to ever live up to. However, after working our way through...
Hands On Apex Construct Is a Beautiful But Irritating PSVR Adventure
Crap controls are a mood killer
The name Apex Construct reveals quite a lot about Fast Travel Games’ debut project. Created by ex-DICE employees specifically for PlayStation VR, it’s a narrative-based first-person shooter in which you’re armed with a bow-and-arrow in a distorted dystopian Earth. Despite the striking visual identity, though, it...
Hands On Knockout League Is Pitch Perfect Punch-Out!! for PSVR
Little Mac and cheese
Punch-Out!! is such a great game that it’s a surprise the formula doesn’t get “borrowed” more often. Knockout League does nothing to hide its Glass Joe shaped inspirations, delivering a PlayStation VR experience that owes its entire existence to Nintendo’s legendary boxing series. But while it is shameless to an...
Hands On Kingdom Come: Deliverance Marries the Open World of Skyrim With... The Sims?
Say goodbye to your social life
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is the latest invader to land on our shores, readying its blade to take Skyrim's crown. Much like The Elder Scrolls before it, this is a first person RPG of epic proportions, with a massive game world to explore, side quests aplenty, and as many systems as you have hair follicles on your...
January2018
Hands On Sky on iOS Sees Journey's Multiplayer Spread Its Wings
Cloudy with a chance of friendship
Yes, you're right: Sky is a timed exclusive to iOS, so what on Earth is a preview of thatgamecompany's Journey follow-up doing on Push Square? Well, the developer has a close association with PlayStation, having crafted three excellent exclusive titles over the course of about six years. When we received an...
Hands On Shadow of the Colossus PS4 Looks Outrageous on PS4 Pro
On par with PS4's best
That Shadow of the Colossus, a game that originally released in 2005, can be mistaken for a current-gen game is testament to the outstanding work that Bluepoint’s done on this PlayStation 4 remake. This is a complete rebuild of Fumito Ueda’s seminal boss rush release, and while it maintains the ethereal feel of the...
December2017
Hands On Suplexing Sinister Spirits in Guacamelee! 2
Winner winner, chicken dinner
One of the standout indie releases of 2013 was that of Guacamelee!, a Mexican-themed Metroidvania with plenty of beat-‘em-up luchador action. It was a wildly creative and fun release that shook up the genre in some notable ways, and stood as the defining game from the team at Drinkbox Studios. Now that some time has...
Hands On Monster Hunter: World Is Shaping Up to Be Something Very, Very Special on PS4
We spent the whole weekend with the beta
Monster Hunter has built up a loving, hardcore fanbase on Nintendo platforms over the years, but we believe now more than ever that its return to home consoles is what will propel the series to a whole new level -- and the amount of interest and hype surrounding the game's PlayStation 4 beta is an indication...
Hands On Jak X Helps Plug a Hole in PS4's Library
Has it really come to this?
Jak X: Combat Racing has released on the PlayStation 4 as a PS2 Classic and it’s made us realise just how rubbish Sony’s new-gen console is for good ol’ arcade racers. They exist, of course: Trackmania Turbo’s fine; DriveClub’s decent (although it’s more simcade than, say, SEGA Rally). But where are the...
Hands On Justice League VR Is One of the Worst PSVR Experiences So Far
Flash in the pan
With a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 41 per cent, Justice League has divided opinion. But the Zack Snyder superhero flick looks like an Oscar winner in comparison to the abysmal PlayStation VR experience that Warner Bros has squeezed onto the PlayStation Store today. Essentially a minigame compilation a tier below the kind of shovelware...
November2017
Hands On DOOM VFR Supports Three PSVR Controllers, But None Feel Quite Right
Hell in your hands
DOOM VFR is a very handsome game with PlayStation VR, a statement we’re noticing ourselves make more often as virtual reality titles mature. Bethesda’s also gone out of its way to support all three of Sony’s PSVR controllers: the DualShock 4, the PlayStation Move, and the (underused but outstanding) PlayStation VR Aim...
First Impressions Erica Proves That Playlink Can Offer More Than Party Games
Live action point-and-click impresses
The best feeling when you’re a games reporter is heading into a demo feeling like you know exactly what you’re about to see – only for your expectations to be completely shattered. Erica is one such game. Announced as part of Sony’s barnstorming Paris Games Week 2017 press conference this week, it looked...
Hands On Will Monster of the Deep's Final Fantasy Fishing Reel You In?
Hook, line, and stinker?
For a game that’s always looked like a bit of a gag, Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is surprisingly fleshed out. Packing a story mode, alongside multiple FFXV-esque hunts, there’s a lot to do in this PlayStation VR powered angling adventure. And while the quality is admittedly a bit inconsistent, you may find that...
Hands On Skyrim VR Looks and Plays Great with PlayStation VR
Is The Elder Scrolls any good in virtual reality?
We’re some four hours into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR and we’ve already got a quest list longer than our armspan, but we can say definitively that this is a great version of the game. Adapted for PlayStation VR, Bethesda’s behemoth open world looks exactly like you remember it – but also...
Hands On Skyrim VR Has Improved a Helluva Lot with PlayStation VR
The Elder Scrolls V's final build fares much better in virtual reality
Our early The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR impressions weren’t exactly enthusiastic. We tested the game in sub-optimal convention conditions with hellish teleportation enabled, and walked away from our demo like we’d just spent an afternoon in The Bannered Mare. The opportunity...
Hands On Stepping Out of SMITE's Shadows Over Hercopolis
Adventure time
Throughout 2017 deity themed MOBA SMITE has been mixing things up via some limited time adventure events. Covering some different ground, these diversions have had varying degrees of success. So, while the kart racing event turned out to be about as much fun as slamming your head in a car door, it was the Trials of King Hercules – a...
Hands On Shadow of the Colossus, One of the All-Time Gaming Greats, Stuns on PS4
Resplendent remake breathes new life into hall of famer
Between the likes of the God of War Collection and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, developer Bluepoint’s rightly earned the reputation of being the masters of remasters. But with Shadow of the Colossus’ impending PlayStation 4 remake it’s taking its work to an extraordinary new...
Hands On The Inpatient Shares Until Dawn's Penchant for Jump Scares
Boo
Yes, yours truly screamed. Are you happy now Simon Fitzgerald? Here your humble host was, sat in a partially empty room surrounded by kindly Sony temps, with cries muffled only by the cover of a PlayStation VR headset. Much like Until Dawn before it, The Inpatient cheats with its jump scares – but goddamn is it effective. (Everyone was too...
Hands On Detroit: Become Human's Escalating Tension Is Unparalleled
White knuckle ride
We’ve played Detroit: Become Human a handful of times now and our takeaway has always been the same: this is tense. Like, it’s really freakin’ tense. We’re, of course, referring to the hostage demo (again), where android detective Connor is tasked with defusing a rooftop situation that sees a small girl inches from the...
Hands On Bravo Team Is Straight-Faced Co-Op Time Crisis for PlayStation VR
Guns up
There are nameless terrorists to slaughter and you’ve got an ally to help you get the job done: PlayStation VR first-person shooter Bravo Team doesn’t really need much introduction. Built with Sony’s underused but excellent PlayStation VR Aim Controller in mind, our hands on demo is set against the backdrop of a Golden Gate-esque...
Hands On DOOM VFR Cleverly Keeps You on the Move in PlayStation VR
Welcome to your DOOM
DOOM is not a stop and pop shooter. In last year’s franchise reboot, developer id Software transformed the kinetic nature of the original games into a game mechanic, with Glory Kills forcing you to get up close and personal with your demonic adversaries in order to recover ammunition and health. It was a genius system, forcing...
Hands On Moss Is a Divine Demonstration of What PlayStation VR Can Do
Mice one
If you’re still not convinced by PlayStation VR then you simply have to play Moss, a cutesy puzzle platformer by Polyarc. We’ve previewed this a couple of times already on Push Square, but it’s the first time that yours truly has got some hands-on time. And it really is the revelation that everyone says it is: this is why virtual...
October2017
Hands On Who Has a Hidden Agenda in Until Dawn Dev's Crime Thriller?
Whodunnit?
Republished on Wednesday 25th October 2017: We're bringing this preview back from the archives following the release of Hidden Agenda in North America. The original text follows. The next game from developer Supermassive Games is a lot like Until Dawn at first blush: it has unnervingly lifelike virtual characters, branching plot...
Hands On How Does Gran Turismo Sport Fare with PlayStation VR?
Ups and downs
Around about a year ago, we hopped inside Gran Turismo Sport’s cockpit with a PlayStation VR headset on and walked away somewhat unimpressed. We felt that the game looked fine in virtual reality – better than DriveClub VR, we commented at the time – but we weren’t exactly blown away, especially after seeing the title running in...
Hands On The Evil Within 2 Is a Familiar Yet Different Beast
Daddy issues
The Evil Within was an overlooked survival horror gem. It may have been rough around the edges with some performance and gameplay issues, but it was a much-appreciated return to old survival-horror design philosophies. Scarce ammo, unforgiving difficulty, intentionally limiting controls – elements like these filled the void that...
Hands On The Invisible Hours Is an Incredible Narrative Experiment
Fly on the wall
The Invisible Hours unwinds over the course of 90 or so fraught minutes, and you’re able to manipulate time in order to experience it all. This brilliant narrative feast from RIME developer Tequila Works sees several famous historical figures – Thomas Edison! Sarah Bernhardt! – invited to Nikola Tesla’s mansion moments before...
Hands On Chernobyl VR Shows How Educational Experiences Can Excel in Virtual Reality
Ghost town
The Farm 51 quietly released a new educational experience on the PlayStation Store recently: Chernobyl VR Project. The developer’s perhaps best known for its work on Painkiller or the more recent Get Even, but to our knowledge this is the Polish studio’s first crack at something more akin to a documentary. The premise, as you’ve...
Hands On Star Wars Battlefront 2 Is a Clumsy, Complicated Sequel
Not feeling the force
Have you heard that famous Steve Jobs quote where he implies people don’t really know what they want? It’s all we’ve been thinking about playing the Star Wars Battlefront 2 beta. The thing is, we complained about the original game: we said it lacked depth, customisation, and replay value. And we weren’t the only ones:...
Hands On Shining a Light on PlayStation VR Puzzler Light Tracer
Beam cast
It can seem, at times, like everyone is making the same kind of PlayStation VR games. This isn’t true, of course, as there’s plenty of variety on the headset – but there is an overabundance of cockpit-based mech games and shooting galleries. Light Tracer deserves kudos, then, for at least trying its hand at something new –...
Hands On Rogue Trooper Redux Recaptures PS2-Era Action
Rogue legacy
Oxford developer Rebellion has quite the checkered history, stretching across 23 years and multiple platforms. Now best known for the ball-busting Sniper Elite series, its output ranges from classic (Aliens vs Predator) to not so classic (Rogue Warrior). Now, alongside fellow UK studio Tick Tock Games, it's revamping a PlayStation 2-era...
September2017
Hands On Fortnite: Battle Royale Plugs a Gap in the PS4's Catalogue
Winner, winner?
Y’know, whether Bluehole’s got a point complaining about Fortnite: Battle Royale or not, you’ve got to credit Epic Games for being incredibly astute with its capitalisation of PlayerUnknown’s Battleground’s popularity. While we’re sure various other developers are scrambling to implement their own survival...
Hands On Bravo Team Fails to Make Its Mark
Bravo?
Announced back at E3 2017 this year came the arrival of Bravo Team, the first-person PlayStation VR exclusive currently being developed by Supermassive Games — the brains behind PlayStation hits such as Until Dawn, and its soon to be released virtual reality brethren, The Inpatient. Bravo Team’s manifesto offers heart-pumping and...
