PS5 Game Reviews
Mini Review Empire of the Ants (PS5) - A Confused RTS That Shines in Its Multiplayer
Jack of all trades, master of none
Empire of the Ants is a victim of its own ambition. It burrows into the undergrowth offering a fresh perspective on the lives of critters dwelling on our forest floor and raises some interesting environmental questions during its campaign, but spreads itself too thin trying to be both an RTS and a platformer...
Review Slitterhead (PS5) - Inventive Horror Is Essential for Japan Studio Fans
Smells like Shibito spirit
Slitterhead – directed by Japan Studio veteran Keiichiro Toyama – feels like a spiritual successor to Siren, Gravity Rush, and Soul Sacrifice all at the same time. This inventive, unusual survival horror is far from perfect, with inconsistent visuals, repetition, and some unrefined gameplay systems. But if you’ve...
Mini Review Planet Coaster 2 (PS5) - Improved Sequel Offers a Ride Well Worth Taking
Splashtastic
Much like its predecessor, Planet Coaster 2 is a theme park creative management game which lets you design and run your own amusement park and offers new features compared to its predecessor. The biggest and most obvious change to the sequel is the addition of water parks. You can now add swimming pools, lazy rivers, and a variety of...
Review Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (PS5) - The Strongest Return to FPS Form
Gulf in class
Nobody likes a quitter, and last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is proof of what can happen when you get your head down and work to right one’s wrongs. Heavily criticised as a glorified DLC, a year of unmatched support has seen the game rise from the ashes as one of the most robust, content-rich multiplayer offerings the...
Review Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (PS5) - A Sublime Remaster of a Modern PlayStation Classic
Aloy-al to the original, but better
Dutch developer Guerrilla seemingly achieved the impossible with Horizon Zero Dawn. After a decade slaving away over first-person shooter series Killzone, the studio effectively retooled itself as a maker of open world RPGs, and sold tens of millions of copies in the process. The intellectual property has since...
The sins of our fathers
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a remake of the influential, Japan-only, 1993 original JRPG of the same name. Square Enix has modernised the experience, which holds its own even in a year which has proven extremely strong for the genre. With a classic design, exciting twists on well-worn systems, deep combat, and...
Review Phasmophobia (PS5) - A Hilariously Horrid Co-Op Experience
Welcome to the Spook Squad
Cult co-op horror game Phasmophobia has finally made its way to PS5. This is one of those games we’ve watched from afar, somewhat jealous of all the hilarious clips that have spread since its initial launch on PC back in 2020. Now on PS5, along with PSVR2 support, have the spooks been worth the wait? While Phasmophobia...
Review Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (PS5) - Hallmark Series Loses Its Charm
Hella disappointing
After taking over development duties from Don’t Nod, Deck Nine really made the Life Is Strange series its own with 2021’s True Colours. Now heading up Double Exposure, the developer is reaching into Don’t Nod territory by bringing back everybody’s favourite hella awkward teen, Max Caulfield, now as an adult. With a...
Review Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
Let them Rook
It's been close to ten whole years since Dragon Age: Inquisition, if you can believe it — and it's fair to say that developer BioWare has endured a difficult decade. The studio effectively tanked its once industry-leading reputation with Mass Effect: Andromeda and ANTHEM — two titles that fell so far short of past standards that...
Mini Review Starship Troopers: Extermination (PS5) - Not Just a Helldivers Clone
Thrilling, retro bug killing
You might think you're familiar with Starship Troopers: Extermination because you've played Helldivers 2. They're both satirical games where you take up arms as an indoctrinated foot soldier in a fascistic army and fight endless hordes of terrifying bugs, but Extermination has a well-implemented base-building twist and...
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Mini Review MechWarrior 5: Clans (PS5) - An Obsolete Model
Grinding gears
If you're a fan of mech games, there are different subgenres to choose from. There's the difficult twitch combat of Armored Core and the beat-'em-up brawls of Gundam Breaker. MechWarrior 5: Clans doesn’t fit into either of those categories. You pilot slow, lumbering machines, and it's more like a mecha XCOM than anything else. While...
Mini Review Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered (PS5) - A Hella Good Update
A dish best served hella remastered
It’s been a long time since Shadows of the Damned dropped — 13 years, in fact. The game industry has changed substantially in that time, but a good game is still a good game. And that’s what we’re lucky enough to encounter here with Shadows of the Damned Hella Remastered. Narratively, this gonzo world...
Mini Review Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake (PS5) - A Gorgeous Return to Series' Roots
“I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me”
Koei Tecmo is almost single-handedly keeping the niche historical simulation strategy subgenre alive at this stage, which is fitting, as back in 1985, when the company was just Koei, it was primarily responsible for creating it. Not to be confused with the series' latest, PS4's Romance...
Mini Review A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (PS5) - Immersive and Surprisingly Impressive
One to shout about
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead snuck up on us, releasing amid a slew of other games and horror titles, but you shouldn't overlook it. Stormind Games has crafted a really solid and terrifying horror experience that captures the intense fear and meticulous precision of movements the franchise is known for. Taking place 118 days...
Mini Review Vendetta Forever (PSVR2) - Exhilarating Puzzle Shooter Is Next VR Must Play
Yeah, I’m thinkin’ I’m back
Meatspace Interactive’s Vendetta Forever is a brilliant puzzle shooter for PSVR2. Across a hearty supply of levels –many of them goofy or fun in tone – you’re tasked with killing a collection of faceless grunts all wielding an impressive array of weapons. But here’s the catch: you can only move by killing...
Review Alan Wake 2: The Lake House (PS5) - Stellar DLC Paints a Path Forward for the Remedy Universe
The next step into the Remedy-verse
Remedy is the master of blending genre, tone, and style. It proved it with its seminal sequel Alan Wake 2 in 2023, and continued to prove it with its whimsical DLC Night Springs earlier this year. That streak continues with The Lake House, the conclusion to the world of Alan Wake (for now at least), which tightens...
Mini Review Squirrel with a Gun (PS5) - Forage for Chaos in This Silly Sandbox Adventure
Ro Dent Redemption
Every now and then, it's really nice to play a game that doesn’t take itself seriously at all. At the end of the day, this medium we all love is focused on entertainment, and while a gripping narrative and meticulously developed controls are great to have, sometimes we want to play the stupidest games that developers can think...
Get in the Halloween spirit
Horror is something that Blumhouse does very well in its movies, so with its newly founded gaming branch, it stands to reason that its first release, Fear the Spotlight, would follow suit. From small gaming studio Cozy Game Pals, this is a love letter to a retro horror gaming genre from years past. Fear the Spotlight...
Review New World: Aeternum (PS5) - Full-Bodied Action MMO Will Devour Your Free Time
Just when you thought you were safe on console
New World: Aeternum is an expanded re-release of Amazon Games' promising MMO New World, bursting at the seams with new content, and available now on PS5. Completely reborn, the game is in a very different place than the bug-riddled state in which it first launched, and has grown into a behemoth in the...
Review NHL 25 (PS5) - Another Season Mired in Mediocrity
Puck me up
In life, there are three certainties: death, taxes, and underwhelming, incremental upgrades to annual sports titles. Enter NHL 25, EA Vancouver’s latest iteration of the greatest game on ice. While EA’s hockey titles tend to fare better year-to-year than Madden or EA Sports FC, that doesn’t mean the title is always able to escape...
Mini Review Kong: Survivor Instinct (PS5) - A Repetitive Cinematic Side-Scroller
Not particularly ape-pealing
Following last year's abysmal Skull Island: Rise of Kong, the King of the Beasts is back in unexpected form with Kong: Survivor Instinct. Canonically set after 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong movie, this 2.5D cinematic side-scroller offers a more human-driven story instead of the kaiju beat-'em-ups we're more accustomed to...
Review Sonic X Shadow Generations (PS5) - Shadow the Star of This Splendid Platforming Package
Prickly business
Back in 2011, Sonic Generations was heralded as a return to form for SEGA's spiky mascot. After a spate of poorly-received games, Sonic Team finally brought the hedgehog back with this simple and reflective title, celebrating the character's 20th anniversary. 13 years later, this fan favourite has returned with a remaster on modern...
Mini Review Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred (PS5) - Hard to Hate This Meaty Expansion
Welcome to the jungle
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is the first major expansion for Blizzard's excellent action RPG, serving up throngs of awful new beasts to blast through and piles of shiny gear to gather. It ventures into the corrupted jungle of Nahantu, and a new storyline picks up from the base game's colossal cliffhanger ending. It's largely...
Mini Review Arizona Sunshine Remake (PS5) - More Remaster Than Remake
Killing zombies never gets old
Just a year after its brilliant sequel, Arizona Sunshine Remake arrives on PSVR2 as a graphically revamped version of the 2016 original. However, it isn't just a graphical glow-up that Vertigo Games has in mind, as it's also bringing its far more advanced (and satisfying) reload mechanic back from the sequel. The base...
Review Unknown 9: Awakening (PS5) - Brand New IP Shows Plenty of Promise
Step into the Unknown
Unknown 9: Awakening is the debut game from studio Reflector Entertainment but not the first entry into the Unknown universe; so far there are novels, comics, and even a dramatised podcast. Thankfully, Awakening is a standalone experience and so you don’t need to delve into any of the other cross-media releases to understand...
Mini Review Transformers: Galactic Trials (PS5) - A Nice Idea Gone Awry
Less than meets the eye
Transformers: Galactic Trials is not a bad idea at all – in fact, it’s a pretty good one. This is an arcade racing game where you’re occasionally required to transform into your chosen character’s robot form in order to work through simple shooting galleries. In principle, it has all of the elements you’d expect...
Mini Review Neva (PS5) - A Stunning Masterwork of Art and Animation
Time to stock up on tissues
GRIS made waves in 2018 for its stunning, painting-like visual style and story, and when it came to PS4 a year later, we thought it was great. Now Nomada Studio is back with Neva, a game that builds upon the strong parts of GRIS and vastly improves the other areas to create a gorgeous, emotional, and captivating tale of...
Review Undisputed (PS5) - Spirited Boxing Sim Is on the Path to Greatness
A contender
Sports games are outrageously difficult to create, so you’ve got to give credit to Sheffield-based studio Steel City Interactive for having the guts to step into the ring. EA Sports defined generations with its Fight Night franchise, but lagging sales mean it’s moved on to the more lucrative UFC license. Undisputed swings for the...
Zero hour
Close to two decades after its release, beloved PS2 arena fighter Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has been handed a sequel in all but name. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a throwback of epic proportions — the kind of all-out, franchise-encompassing brawler that's been sorely missed beyond the Naruto Ninja Storm series. Zero's biggest...
Review Throne and Liberty (PS5) - Beginner MMO Is Plagued with Technical Issues
Not grindy, but not great either
Throne and Liberty is a fantasy MMORPG that debuted in Korea last December. Since its global launch the free-to-play game has dominated Steam's concurrent players and top-sellers charts. While it's certainly popular, a long list of technical issues and uninspired mechanics cast doubts over its longevity. You take up...
