PS4 Game Reviews
Review Katamari Damacy Reroll (PS4) - Roll 'Em Up Remake Rocks
Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'
We're sorry for the Limp Bizkit lyric in the tagline. But if we had to think about them while trying to come up with puns on rolling then it's only fair that you think about them too. If, by chance, you don't know who Limp Bizkit is then all you need to know is that the early 2000s weren't kind to rock music, but...
Mini Review Lair of the Clockwork God (PS4) - A Witty and Effective Blend of Genres
Point n' click platformer
Lair of the Clockwork God presents itself predominantly as a point and click adventure game, but doubles up as a 2D platformer. Ben and Dan, who respectively personify these two disparate genres, are the stars of this quirky game, and they must work together in these opposing styles to help save the world from multiple...
Mini Review Five Dates (PS4) - Interactive Romantic Comedy So Bad It's Almost Good
Daters gonna date
"I've got a surprise for you," says Vinny to his friend Callum over a video call: "I've joined a dating app!" Callum reacts with such glee, one would be forgiven for thinking that Vinny had just announced the reformation of The Beatles. Surely everyone uses dating apps in 2020? Who wants to awkwardly wander up to someone in a bar...
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...
Review Fuser (PS4) - A Bold New Frontier for Rhythm Games
A real banger
Harmonix, through the years, has carved out a huge niche as the head of the rhythm game movement. One of, if not the only constant for music games, Harmonix has created an impressive array of revolutionary titles. Starting with Frequency and Amplitude, running through the Guitar Hero and Rock Band craze, and Audica last year, we now...
Mini Review Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (PS4) - Gorgeous Action RPG with Deep Farming Mechanics
Have a rice day
In Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, you’ll be playing as a young goddess, called Sakuna, who spends her days being lazy and drinking in the home of the gods. After a small mishap involving a fire and some sacred offerings, she ends up being banished to the Isle of Demons and told that she can only return once all the monsters are...
Review Bugsnax (PS4) - An Enjoyable Treat That Packs a Unique Flavour
Talkin 'bout Bugsnax
Yes, we've all heard the catchy song, and yes, we've all had a good laugh about that ridiculous game with the food creatures. Bugsnax might have achieved viral status back when it was announced, but we're here to tell you this surreal adventure is more than just a meme. Developer Young Horses has made a proper game that manages...
Mini Review Slide Stars (PS4) - You Have to Unlock Holly H
Like, comment, share
We just wanted to play as Holly H really. The gregarious 20-something TikTok-er from Guernsey stars alongside several other influencers in this irreverent Trials-style platformer, but she requires 46 tokens to unlock and we’re rubbish at the game. So, we spent several hours playing as a Hungarian cosplayer, avoiding dynamite...
Review Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered - An Okay Remaster of a Great Arcade Racer
I've got to get away
Need for Speed diehards might not agree, but Criterion's Hot Pursuit was a triumphant arcade racer back in 2010. A slick handling model and a choice selection of vehicles led to epic police chases through miles of winding roads, and the Autolog feature brought addictive asynchronous multiplayer to the forefront. A decade later,...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - So Much Better Than Man of Medan
There's hope yet for Supermassive
We don't need to tell you what game The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope will immediately be compared to, so let's get it over and done with straight away. The second instalment in Supermassive Games' compendium series is the closest it has come to replicating the success of Until Dawn. It finally feels like the...
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Mini Review Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ - Great Writing Lifts This Average Dungeon Crawler
Zombie road trip
Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ is part-visual novel, part-dungeon crawler, and is very entertaining despite being a little rough around the edges. You’ll play as Reggie who, thanks to a spiked drink, manages to sleep his way through the end of the world. He takes the news pretty well, even though it’s delivered by his...
Review Watch Dogs Legion - The Dullest Ubisoft Open-Worlder Yet
Dear Old Blighty
Watch Dogs Legion could, and probably should, be so much better than this. Following two entries that introduced and refined the open-world hacking concept across the PlayStation 4 generation, Ubisoft has stagnated in an effort to heavily promote a new feature it hasn't managed to capitalise on. The result is an experience that...
Mini Review Stories Untold - Uneven Horror Anthology Frustrates More Than It Frights
Be afraid. Be marginally afraid
For the uninitiated, Stories Untold is a creepy collection of four stories, each taking no longer than an hour or so to finish, and each with different gameplay elements. The first and by the far the best episode pays homage to the old school text adventures that you might have played if you grew up in the '80s. The...
Mini Review Pacer - Anti-Gravity Racer Comes Surprisingly Close to WipEout
Smooth sailing
We don't want to make too many comparisons to its clear inspiration, but rest assured that if you like WipEout, you'll probably enjoy Pacer. Having said that, it definitely puts its own stamp on this racing sub-genre that gives it a unique identity. The on-track action is where it really shines. Familiar controls mean you're...
Review Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition - A Splendid Knight's Crusade
Breaking souls at its finest
Republished on Wednesday 28th October 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Take a deep breath before you take on this deceivingly simple game because Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition everything but an empty...
Review Middle-earth: Shadow of War - Another Great Showcase for the Nemesis System
Shelobs me, Shelobs me not
Republished on Wednesday 28th October 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Middle-earth: Shadow of War takes the best parts of its predecessor and gives them room to breathe. It's a sequel that opts to expand...
A Class VII act
Have you played through Trails of Cold Steel III? If not, take our advice and don't even think about trying Trails of Cold Steel IV. Apparently, the two games were originally meant to be just one big instalment in Falcom's long running The Legend of Heroes franchise — but the sheer scope of the saga forced them apart. Put simply,...
Mini Review Carto - Map-Manipulating Puzzler Is an Adorable Adventure
Mo maps mo problems
Carto has a unique gameplay hook — you can rearrange the world map in real time to solve puzzles — but it smartly doesn't rely solely on it. You play as a small girl who's separated from her airship-flying grandmother, and must use some map-altering abilities to reunite the pair. However, this simple task has you traversing...
Review NHL 21 - The Best Iteration of the Generation
Bardown? More like bar up
Sports games bring with them a certain expectation from fans. The titles get churned out every year, with relatively little difference, except maybe a few new ways to try and pry some extra money out of your hands with microtransactions. But you keep coming back because if you love a particular sport, there aren't any...
Review DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One - Much More of PS4's Best FPS
Back with a vengeance
If DOOM Eternal was the kick up the arse the gaming industry needed towards the start of this year, DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One will leave those buttocks raw. The Slayer himself has returned with the first instalment in a new expansion so utterly relentless that a rude awakening is in order for even those who...
Mini Review Ray's the Dead - A Flawed But Novel Zombie Adventure
I was a teenage zombie
Ray's the Dead has been in development for a long time, but it's now finally shuffled onto PlayStation 4. As the name implies, you play as Ray, brought back from the dead under mysterious circumstances. In order to discover what's going on in the 80s inspired town, Ray must use his zombie abilities to resurrect others, defeat...
Mini Review This Is the Zodiac Speaking - A Great Idea with Underwhelming Execution
Man is the most dangerous animal of them all
The Zodiac killer is one of the most infamous serial killers of all time, and for good reason. Whereas we generally know complete stories for most, we to this day, don’t actually know who Zodiac was, or perhaps is. This amount of unknowns serves as a perfect jumping-off point for Punch Punk Games’...
Mini Review Cloudpunk - Sci-Fi Noir Deliver 'Em Up Does Just Enough
UPSo-so
Cloudpunk is the name of a legally ambiguous delivery company that operates in the future city of Nivalis, delivering whatever — or whomever — the job requires and asking zero questions. They're a bit like Yodel, only they've got flying cars and they actually deliver your packages. Anyway, you play the role of Rania, a newcomer to the...
Review Amnesia: Rebirth - The SOMA Team Has Its First Dud
One foot in the grave
It really does feel like Frictional Games has come full circle. After redefining what it means to be part of the horror genre for the past decade, the Swedish team has reunited itself with the series where its name was made. That takes the shape of a proper sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent. However, this is no longer a match...
Mini Review Cake Bash - A Sweet Party Game with a Short Shelf Life
Just desserts
A party game about becoming the tastiest treat in a series of sugar-coated mini games? What's not to like? Cake Bash is a light-hearted multiplayer title for sweet-toothed gamers of all ages. Select an edible character and engage in a series of simple party games to determine the most delicious one of all. Get Tasty is the main mode...
Review FIFA 21 - A Step Up from FIFA 20, But Must Do Better on PS5
Tired legs
In the real world, Premier League football stadiums have no crowds thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In FIFA 21, these same stadiums are packed — packed with the exact same awkwardly animated, ugly crowds that have been a part of FIFA for over half a decade. We're not sure which is worse, especially when these virtual fans...
Mini Review Torchlight III - Torchlight Returns with a Familiar Dungeon Crawling Adventure
The owl or the retriever?
Torchlight III has had a somewhat troubled development. With original developer Runic Games, it was tooled as a free-to-play MMO called Torchlight Frontiers. After poor fan and dev reactions, Echtra Games — a team made up of Torchlight and Diablo luminaries — was formed. It acquired the license and rebuilt the project...
Review Vampyr - An Intriguing, Bloodthirsty RPG
Sucky combat
Republished on Wednesday 30th September 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. DONTNOD has so far released two games: 2013's often forgotten Remember Me and the breakout success Life Is Strange. Vampyr is the ambitious company's...
Review Need for Speed Payback - A Fine Racer Bogged Down By Microtransactions
Pay up
Republished on Wednesday 30th September 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. We’re not sure about The Fast and the Furious, but Need for Speed Payback sure will make you furious fast. Ghost Games has spent two years tuning up...
Mini Review The Walking Dead Onslaught - One for the Undead Fans
Building a new beginning
It’s been a good year for The Walking Dead fans on PlayStation VR. Having previously seen The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners back in May by Skydance Interactive, we now have The Walking Dead Onslaught arrive as an entirely separate VR adaptation. Developed by Survios, Onslaught takes us directly into AMC’s television...
