505 Games Game Reviews
Mini Review Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (PS5) - Decent Souls-Like Suffers Technically
Wu chang clan
The demands for fewer Souls-likes in the gaming release calendar make quite a lot of sense when they're as formulaic and familiar as Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. From developer Leenzee, the debut effort is a mostly competent attempt at a Dark Souls experience, but it doesn't do nearly enough to stand out from its many, many peers...
Review Blades of Fire (PS5) - Steely Action with Blunt Art and Storytelling
Fantasy epic sure to quench your thirst for combat
Blades of Fire is a dark fantasy action adventure game inspired by Santa Monica Studio's modern God of War series and FromSoftware's Souls series, and it's a fairly compelling melding of the two. Central to its narrative and gameplay is the ability to forge a wide variety of powerful melee weapons,...
Review Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (PS5) - Stars Align for Classic JRPG Adventure
Holding out for a hero
Every time you boot up Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, you're met with a dedication that reads: "With our appreciation to all JRPG fans", which we take as a declaration of intent. Hundred Heroes is a triumphant return to the golden age of esoteric PS1 JRPGs; equipped with a few modern conveniences but designed for an...
Review Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake (PS5) - Cult Classic Shines Through Technical Troubles
It can't all be for nothing
Years before becoming a household name thanks to a hilarious, impassioned speech at The Game Awards, Josef Fares — alongside Starbreeze — was already releasing quality games. His first venture, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, is an emotional excursion that sees two brothers set out on a dire journey. Now, Avantgarden...
Review Ghostrunner 2 (PS5) - Slash-Happy PS5 Sequel Is a Bit Choppy
A Ghostbummer?
Ghostrunner 2 is a perplexing experience. Its predecessor, which was released at the tail end of 2020, provided us with a fast-paced, stylish, cyber-ninja-themed action platformer that managed to rival other games attempting a similar thing. However, with the sequel, developer One More Level has designed an entry that seemingly...
Review Miasma Chronicles (PS5) - A Frustratingly Uneven But Mostly Rewarding Tactical RPG
Kicking My-Ass-Ma
Miasma Chronicles is a tactical role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic America in which the disparity between the haves and have-nots has grown to an unfathomable degree. The country is ruled by The First Family; an untouchable, self-serving elite born from the ashes of big corporation in the post-cataclysm world. They've got...
Mini Review Stray Blade (PS5) - Solid Entry Level Souls-Like Adventure
No Amygdala here
Stray Blade is a Souls-like, RPG title from indie developer Point Blank Games. You play as Farron West, a self-proclaimed adventurer, who meets an untimely demise when stumbling across The Lost Valley of Acrea. You awaken to find yourself bound to Acrea by a crystal that has been pushed into your chest by Boji, a magical talking...
Mini Review Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (PS5) - Attractive Action RPG Struggles to Rise Above
On Runebarrowed time
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising acts as something of a prologue to the crowdfunded Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, which is aiming for a 2023 release on PS5 and PS4. It's a side-scrolling action RPG with an emphasis on character-switching combat, but it also dabbles in Metroidvania-esque exploration and even town building. An...
Review Control: Ultimate Edition (PS5) - A Great Example of What a PS5 Upgrade Can Offer
< A game/experience worth discovering/exploring >
Control’s road to release on PlayStation 5 has been a bit of a rocky one. Between the Ultimate Edition boxing out early adopters from a next-gen upgrade, certain users accidentally being given the upgrade they were told wasn’t possible, and now Control: Ultimate Edition releasing as a PlayStation...
Review Control - Remedy's Return to PlayStation Is Worth the Wait
Take back control
Republished on Wednesday 27th January, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February 2021's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. Control could, and probably should, have been something worth shouting about. It’s been 16 years since Remedy Entertainment last released one of...
Review Control: AWE - An Intriguing Must for Alan Wake Fans, But No One Else
It’s not a lake, it’s a CONTROLcean
Alan Wake is a property of Remedy’s that has a pretty hardcore, dedicated fanbase. There have been promising signs by way of the spin-off American Nightmare or the more recent instance of Remedy buying back the right to the IP, but Control: AWE is by far the best indicator yet. Much like Control: The...
Review Journey to the Savage Planet - A Shallow But Easy Going Sci-Fi Escapade
Journey to the Average Planet
As you fire up Journey to the Savage Planet, its theme music begins to play. With plenty of banjo and slide guitar riffs, you'll get an idea of what to expect from this game before you even push a button. It's fair to say this sci-fi action adventure isn't taking itself very seriously, but don't expect to be bowled over...
Review Indivisible - Gorgeous 2D Platforming and Battling Let Down by Difficulty Spikes
Indie visuals
Four years on from its successful Kickstarter campaign, Lab Zero Games’ Indivisible comes to PlayStation 4 with a decent degree of anticipation. Described as an experience that combines a number of different genres into one cohesive undertaking, the final product comes together much better than you might think. Indivisible is sure to...
Review Portal Knights - Likeable Minecraft-Esque Action RPG
Knight and day
It's no surprise that a global phenomenon like Minecraft has inspired countless other games in a similar style. Portal Knights is another title that borrows Minecraft's blocky art style and crafting system, but it manages to put a fresh spin on many things and in some ways outdoes those that have come before it. The most obvious way...
Review Laser League - Futuristic Sport in Dire Need of Fans
Laser tag
Republished on Wednesday 26th September 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. At first glance, Laser League bares little resemblance to Roll7's previous work, but the similarities are there if you look below the surface. Like...
Review RAID: World War II (PS4)
Nein out of ten
Men-on-a-mission movies set during World War II – such as Guns of the Navarone or Where Eagles Dare – that see a mismatched group of people embarking on near suicidal missions have long been inspiration for video games. RAID: World War II – a co-op multiplayer title in the vein of the Payday series – hopes to apply this...
Review Redout: Lightspeed Edition (PS4)
Fast and furious
The anti-gravity racing genre may not be as popular as it once was, but that doesn’t mean developers aren’t still creating games for the genre. WipEout Omega Collection recently launched on the PlayStation 4, and while it was a fairly impressive collection, the fact that it focused squarely on the past held it back in some...
500 Days of June
Games are often about how many people you can slaughter, and the efficiency with which you can do so. This makes death abstract – a means to an end. The more death you can cause, the more points you’ll get, and the more points you get, the more likely you are to win. Last Day of June isn't about death in the abstract. In...
Shoulda stayed home
It always stings a little when you get your hopes up for a game and it disappoints you upon release. Sure, there are different tiers to this; for instance, it's hard to find a recent game that upset more people at launch than No Man's Sky. But often that initial letdown leads to hyperbole; there are titles that fall short of...
Ante-hero
There was a point ten years ago when it felt like the popularity of poker had reached fever pitch. You couldn't turn on late night television without it appearing on more than one channel, and there always seemed to be some bloke down the pub who swore he'd made a serious chunk of change online. This rise in gambling websites left poker...
Ass-etto Corsa
With Project CARS already in the wild and Gran Turismo Sport on the way later this year, as well as other realistic and excellent racers of their own kind in DiRT Rally and F1 2016 already out, there's plenty of variation and choice in the racing simulator market on the PlayStation 4 right now. But having garnered a hefty following...
Space oddity
In this reviewer's opinion, space disaster is one of the most interesting concepts in entertainment. You have the likes of Gravity, Apollo 18, and The Martian in film, Seveneves in literature, and Alien Isolation in games. Adr1ft, the debut game from developer Three One Zero, now joins the party following its PlayStation 4 release...
Review Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PS4)
Cool story, bro
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons released to much critical acclaim around two years ago. Celebrated for its unique control scheme and touching narrative, it was a hit, and fans to this day hold it in very high regard, among peers such as Journey and Ico. Fortunately for those of you who missed it the first time around, publisher 505...
Review Payday 2: Crimewave Edition (PS4)
The heist life
As a law abiding citizen, committing robbery is probably the last thing on your mind. That said, somewhere inside your deepest thoughts – whether you'd admit it or not – you've probably pondered what it would be like to throw off the shackles of society's laws, and turn to a life crime. In Payday 2: Crimewave Edition for the...
Review Sniper Elite III (PlayStation 4)
Boom headshot
It’s ironic that so soon after the release of Valiant Hearts: The Great War, another title with a very different outlook on war has stealthily marched onto the PlayStation 4. In Sniper Elite III, rather than making you think about the needless loss of life, this latest instalment in the distance shooter series asks that you revel in...
Review Tiny Brains (PlayStation 4)
Tiny brains, big character
Science: it’s a wonderful thing. Without science, we’d still be muddling through the dark ages, in a world without Facebook and instant soup. Of course, before such manmade wonders can exist, they need to be tested – and what better way is there to trial such innovations than by exploiting poor animals? Don’t call...
Review Terraria (PlayStation Vita)
Landheld gaming
Back when Terraria launched on the PlayStation 3, we praised its diverse collection of content and its overall depth, but felt that the title's awkward user interface and time consuming gameplay held it back from greatness in our review. On Sony's handheld, however, the game makes use of the system's touch screen – but is the new...
Review Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PlayStation 3)
Sibling Revelry
Renowned for developing first person shooters, it may surprise some to discover that Starbreeze Studios are behind this charming indie adventure. Whether they choose to continue developing titles like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is unclear, but they’ve certainly proven that they’re more than capable of expanding their scope...
Review Terraria (PlayStation 3)
Building blocks
Terraria is a strange title. Its 2D world suggests simple fun when compared to the gritty realism that most games portray, while its quirky styling and audio lead to an often comedic atmosphere. Don’t be fooled by the aesthetics, though – this is a release that demands your time and effort if you want to get the most out of it...
Review Sniper Elite V2 (PlayStation 3)
Not a bad shot
Sniper Elite V2 is a pretty single-minded game, when all’s said and done. The Rebellion-developed remake has grand plans of being a stealth action title with tactical frills, but in reality it’s much more content with being a profoundly simplistic shooter. With a limited arsenal and even fewer gameplay distractions, the success of...
