Tag: Hands On - Page 5
Hands On The Grand Tour Game Puts a New Spin on Episodic Gaming
“It’s like playing a film!”
Not long after being forcibly removed the BBC and its insanely popular car show Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, along with their producer and apparently most of the behind-the-scenes talent, started a new show of the same ilk on Amazon Prime called The Grand Tour. It takes all of the crazy...
Hands On Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown in PSVR Passes with Flying Colours
More please
For some, a huge part of the appeal for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is its additional PlayStation VR mode. Much has been made of the VR content in Bandai Namco's aerial arcade action title, as the idea of dogfighting among the clouds sat in the virtual cockpit is a perfect fit. Luckily, Project Aces hasn't hastily slapped something...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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 Is Shenmue I & II a Knock Out on PS4?
The day the snow turned to rain
Even in 2018, there’s something unusual about Shenmue. While most games strive to create lush, idyllic fantasy worlds, mid-80s Yokosuka is a claustrophobic dive, inhabited by everyday people living uninspiring lives. It’s this slice of life format that’s made the series a mainstay in gaming culture for almost...
Hands On What Kind of Side-Content Is in Marvel's Spider-Man?
Extra activities
Marvel’s Spider-Man will see the eponymous superhero battling the Sinister Six over the course of the campaign, with hundreds of henchman recruited to get in the web-slinger’s way. You can expect a dense storyline in Insomniac Games’ latest, exploring Peter Parker’s life as a scientist, as well as his relationships with...
Hands On Yakuza: Kiwami 2 Could Be One of the Best Yakuza Games Yet
An extreme remake
Before Yakuza was niche on the PlayStation 3, it was even more niche on the PlayStation 2. The original Yakuza was undeniably rough around the edges and its somewhat shaky remake, Yakuza: Kiwami, reflected that. But with Yakuza 2, the series found a real foothold. Improved gameplay and a more complex, intriguing narrative pushed...
Hands On How Good Is Spider-Man PS4's Swinging Gameplay?
Swing time
Following a recent Marvel’s Spider-Man hands on, we’ve talked about a lot of the anticipated PlayStation 4 exclusive’s features, including its combat, first
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 Electronauts Turns You into a Cosmic Composer with PSVR
Put a donk on it
God bless PlayStation VR. There’s always going to be scepticism regarding the viability of virtual reality as the medium remains in its infancy, but we never fail to be impressed each and every time we put Sony’s glowing headset on. In fact, looking like you’re a member of Daft Punk is part of the appeal with Electronauts, a...
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...
Hands On Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Multiplayer Changes 4 the Better
Get those boots on the ground
The first weekend of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 private beta is over and it’s been a surprisingly entertaining ride. The series’ multiplayer mode has always been very popular, but the last two instalments seemed a little too comfortable, despite their setting of the far future and World War II being very...
Hands On Peter Parker's Gameplay Is a Massive Departure in Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4
Science fiction
Marvel’s Spider-Man is just as much about Peter Parker as it is about the eponymous web-slinger. During our two hour hands on session with the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive, we got our very first glimpse at the 23-year-old graduate’s own gameplay sections, which primarily appear to take place in a
Hands On Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4 Is Shaping Up to Be the Best Spider-Man Game Ever
We've played the first two hours of Insomniac's superhero romp
Spider-Man PS4 – or Marvel’s Spider-Man to give it its official title – is exactly what you’re expecting it to be. Insomniac Games is not trying to reinvent the open world wheel with this hotly anticipated PlayStation 4 affair – rather it’s merely set out to refine it with...
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...
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...
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...
