Latest Reviews
Review Blasphemous - An Unholy and Triumphant Metroidvania
King of the castle
Perhaps ‘Dark Souls-vania’ is a bit of an overstatement, but there’s no denying the plethora of influences, both modern and contemporary, in this gorgeously sacrilegious metroidvania. Blasphemous is dripping in grim atmosphere and stuffed full of macabre religious iconography, bloody combat, and enough lore to fill the Old...
Review Metro Exodus: The Two Colonels - Satisfactory Action Down Under
Sound of the underground
After pitching itself as the series' big, breakout, open-world moment, it's almost comical that the first piece of downloadable content for Metro: Exodus immediately returns to what it was originally known for. The Two Colonels is a short, linear, claustrophobic experience that's not much more than serviceable in any...
Review The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors - A PS4 Remake of a Classic Beat-'Em-Up
Tengo's game works
Developed by NatsumeAtari's Tengo Project team, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a remake of a 1994 SNES beat-'em-up, The Ninja Warriors Again, which in itself felt like a mixture of sequel and remake of TAITO's 1987 The Ninja Warriors arcade game. With gameplay that expands upon the template set by the likes of
Review Risk of Rain 2 - Frantically Challenging Action Makes for Compelling Co-Op
Heavy loot showers expected
Risk of Rain 2 might just be one of the PlayStation 4’s most addictive co-op experiences. Crash-landing on a hostile planet littered with sparsely detailed but highly stylised landmarks and architecture, you and your team must survive using weapons and abilities that are in constant flux as you slot in more and more...
Review River City Girls - Retro Brawling With a Twist
Girls about town
Dishing out knuckle sandwiches as either Kyoko or Misako in couch co-op brawler River City Girls is immediately fun, with the combat comparing favourable to the genre favourites of yesteryear. As tends to be the case with this sort of title however, fighting the ever growing hordes of enemies on your quest to rescue the duo’s...
Review Monster Hunter World: Iceborne - A Truly Monstrous Expansion that Destroys Expectations
Beastly
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is an expansion that just keeps on giving. We've sunk close to 100 hours into Iceborne and it feels like we're still discovering something new every time we boot it up. Capcom has gone above and beyond with this one, transforming an already amazing action role-playing game into something truly special. This is...
Review Torchlight II - Diablo's One True Contender Finally Comes to PS4
Killin', lootin', and feedin' your dog
Back in 2009, developer Runic Games gave the dungeon crawler a spark of new life in the form of Torchlight -- A colourful action-RPG, both fun and satisfying to play. It was a finely tuned example of the genre, no doubt because of a creative team that consisted of ex-Diablo 2 devs. A sequel came in 2012,...
Review Root Letter: Last Answer - Manga Turned Live Action Is a Pleasant Surprise
Is that a ghost?
As far as re-releases go, Root Letter: Last Answer is one of the most dramatic of the generation. Originally released on PlayStation 4 three years ago as a manga-based visual novel, the title from Kadokawa Games is back with an all-new live action overhaul that turns what was already a decent experience into something that anyone...
Review Final Fantasy VIII Remastered - A Fascinating JRPG Classic, Gameplay Flaws and All
I've got a GF that's better than that
Do we think Final Fantasy VIII is a bad game? Not at all. Do we think it's one of the best Final Fantasy games? Not quite, but even now, a whopping 20 years after its initial release on the original PlayStation, there's a unique kind of magic to Final Fantasy VIII. The world, the characters, and the story create...
Review WRC 8 - A More Forgiving Alternative to DiRT Rally 2.0
Dirty tactics
WRC 8 is the latest rally title from Bigben Interactive, and unlike Codemasters' simulation series, it's officially licensed -- all the cars, teams, and tracks from the real world sport are present and correct. It's a neat advantage, but having an FIA sticker on the box doesn't guarantee a good time on the track. Fortunately, the game...
Review Catherine: Full Body - The Definitive Catherine Experience
Like a fine wine
A whole eight years after its original release on PlayStation 3, Catherine remains a unique experience. A mix of visual novel-style storytelling and often hellish puzzle solving, it's a game that's aged surprisingly well. Catherine: Full Body enhances the visuals, expands the story, adds to the already sublime soundtrack, and brings...
Review Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes - An Enjoyable Point and Click Adventure with a Dark Twist
Keep your eyes peeled
Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes is a follow up to 2008’s Edna & Harvey: The Breakout. Set in the same world as the original (not that you need to have played the first game to enjoy this one), Harvey’s New Eyes is a point and click adventure in the classic 2D style. Despite being a sequel to Edna & Harvey,...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan - An Unexplosive Opening
Until yawn
Maybe it's just because our Dad let us watch Jaws when we were six, but we've always been skeptical of the sea. It's wet, and there's weird things in there. Man of Medan – from Until Dawn dev Supermassive Games, and the first in an anthology of horror games falling under the Dark Pictures banner – sees four friends foolishly heading...
Review Darksiders III - An Entertaining Adventure That's Stuck in the Past
Fury rode
Republished on Wednesday 28th August 2019: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. The Darksiders series has always been an unexpected surprise. It's managed to garner a cult following, despite a proclivity for liberally borrowing...
Review Batman: Arkham Knight - Rocksteady Ends Its Trilogy on a High
Arkham night, night
Republished on Wednesday 28th August 2019: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Branded as the apparent finale to London-based studio Rocksteady's gritty affair with the world's greatest detective, Batman: Arkham Knight...
Review Black Desert - Ugly Technical Issues Hamper Pretty MMO
Black Sheep
For the uninitiated, Black Desert is an MMO that supplants the standard combat that you'd expect to see in a game like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV with an action-based battle system more akin to a really low-budget God of War. It takes place in one fairly sizeable open world map rather than lots of smaller ones joined together...
Review Oninaki - A Dark and Intriguing Action RPG That Loses Its Edge
Break the cycle
Oninaki is developer Tokyo RPG Factory's third game. Like I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear before it, Oninaki is fundamentally a role-playing title, but it differs greatly in that it takes more inspiration from Diablo than it does Final Fantasy. This is a dungeon crawling action RPG with randomised loot, expansive character progression,...
Review Knights and Bikes - Girls on Bikes Take a Delightful Nostalgia Trip
On your bike
Every close knit group of childhood friends inevitably spawn their very own local legend. These stories are birthed not only by a child’s unique perspective of the world, but probably a bit too much sugar in their diet as well. For this reviewer, it was an ominous looking house that could just be seen over the treeline on my walk to...
Review Wreckfest - Technical Issues Fail to Void This Great, Destructive Racer
It's daa-bee, not dur-bee
Racing games have been seemingly few and far between this generation. DriveClub will cease to exist at the end of this month, Codemasters’ GRID is only just making its return in October, and the less said about Burnout and Need for Speed the better. In their wake comes Wreckfest – a title that has been a bit of a kno
Review Decay of Logos - An Action RPG for Those Who Love to Explore
Discover the truth behind this ruined realm
A burning village, a dark abomination harassing a noble looking elk, and a sword at your feet. These are the opening moments in Decay of Logos. No tutorial, no lengthy exposition of the world’s lore, just you and a sword. This opening is a sign of things to come. This is not a game that’s going to hold...
Review RAD - Mutant Roguelike Madness in a Dystopian Future
The New Mutants
Combining addictive roguelike gameplay with a rocking 80s aesthetic and an assortment of flesh altering power-ups, RAD more than lives up to its name. Throwing you into a world clinging to life after not one, but two apocalypses, your character is tasked with purifying the desolate land. By locating respirator machines, you’ll...
Review Ancestors Legacy - An Impressive, Robust Console RTS
Generational talent
As recent as last console generation, an RTS on console – with the exception of Halo Wars – was pretty much guaranteed to be a nightmarish experience. There are just too many systems and too many things to monitor to be able to successfully transfer the genre to a controller. Fast forward a few more years and now it’s...
Review The Copper Canyon Shootout - A Fun, Compact Light Gun-Esque Experience in VR
Once upon a time in PSVR
The Copper Canyon Shootout's name evokes a specific image. What kind of game might it be? Some sort of Western, maybe a cowboy shooter is probably your first thought. If you pictured that, you’d be partially correct. Does it make you think of robots? Probably not, but as it turns out, all of your enemies are made of metal...
Review Madden NFL 20 - Personality Traits Add X-Factor to Annual Update
King of the fling
What makes an NFL superstar stand out? For the Carolina Panthers’ starting quarterback Cam Newton, it’s his ability to scramble out of the pocket, picking up essential yards for his team without needing to fling the pigskin or hand the ball off. Meanwhile, the New York Giants’ Rookie of the Year running back Saquon Barkley...
Review Bear With Me: The Complete Collection - Surprisingly Deep Film Noir Point & Click Action
Paw-fully good
On the surface, Bear With Me appears to be little more than an amusing, story-driven, point and click adventure, infused with the tone and style of noir classics like The Maltese Falcon. However, there's much more at play within this clever episodic tale. The plights of Amber, Flint, and (collective sigh) Ted. E Bear amidst the...
Review Tetsumo Party - An Unusual Party Game That's Shorter Than a Sumo Wrestler's Mawashi
Bring on the wall
If you've ever watched Hole in the Wall, the game show based on the Japanese phenomenon, you'll know roughly what to expect in Tetsumo Party. This odd little game sees up to four players surviving for as long as possible against a constant wave of panels with sumo wrester-shaped holes in them. It's your job to get your character in...
Review Metal Wolf Chaos XD - Former Xbox Exclusive Brings Its Bonkers Plot to PS4
"The beauty of me is that I'm very rich"
Who would have thought that after Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, From Software’s next project would have you sitting in the driver’s seat of a mech in an attempt to rescue the United States of America from the wrath of the vice president? We’re only half-joking: Metal Wolf Chaos XD is an updated version of...
Review Forager - A Refreshingly Simple and Fiendishly Addictive Adventure
Living off the land
Forager is a wonderfully apt name for this curious adventure game. Not only does it tell you immediately what you'll be doing - foraging for resources with which to build up the world - it also hints at the game's many borrowed elements. It's a potent mix of classic action games and the gathering/crafting/farming trend that's...
Review The Church in the Darkness - Cult Simulator Devoid of Depth
Not so holy
It feels like The Church in the Darkness has bitten off a little bit more than it can chew. Packed full of ideas, themes, and a handful of mechanics on top, it’s the infiltration of a cult whose ocean spreads far and wide but only goes a couple of inches deep. There are things to like in Paranoid Productions’ latest effort, but...
Review Doughlings: Invasion - Fun But Forgettable Space Invaders-esque Action
Dough and steady wins the race
In a surprising shift in genre, Doughlings: Invasion, the sequel to last year’s Doughlings Arcade, moves past its brick-breaking routes, now acting as the indie scene’s answer to Space Invaders. Though at a glance its seemingly rudimentary gameplay appears to match its unappealing visuals, there’s a surprising...
