Joe Donnelly


49 games reviewed
75.7 average score
80 median score
68.1% of games recommended
Are you Joe Donnelly? If so, email [email protected] to claim this critic page.
Mar 21, 2024

"Enemy AI appears torn between realistic long-distance vision (which is neat but totally un-video game-friendly) and some pretty non-existent hearing"

Read full review

Feb 12, 2024

"Just when you thought Ultros couldn't get any more outlandish, it has its own gardening system."

Read full review

For those wanting more in the same vein as 3D adventures like The Sands of Time, this ain't it. But it is a return to relative form for a series whose last mainline outing landed 14 years ago – it's just disappointing that this very good game was held back from true greatness.

Read full review

Nov 2, 2023

"This sequel brings Croteam back to the top of that table, where it's more than earned its place."

Read full review

Oct 16, 2023

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 improves on its predecessor across the board, while saluting the superhero genre over the last 30 years as a whole. With a captivating narrative and unrivaled spectacle, it's the quintessential superhero game, in story and mechanical terms

Read full review

Aug 17, 2023

"Easily the game's crowning features, Blasphemous 2's blockbuster boss showdowns are spectacular affairs, sometimes bizarre and always brutal."

Read full review

Jul 17, 2023

Sad Owl Studios has delivered a puzzling experience that's both instantly approachable and inventive enough to keep you guessing throughout. Viewfinder is simply wonderful – a breath of fresh air that shouldn't be ignored.

Read full review

The Last Case of Benedict Fox could be a great game, but it's let down by its own confused execution.

Read full review

Jan 26, 2023

Motive Studio's Dead Space is a horror remake done right.

Read full review

May 25, 2022

Sniper Elite 5 is the best it's ever been with a new game mode that'll blow your mind.

Read full review

- Sifu
Feb 6, 2022

Sifu is a gorgeous, original and intelligent brawler whose self-confidence is leveraged by its masterful ageing mechanic and super tight combat.

Read full review

Rainbow Six Extraction is a neat standalone follow-up to Siege's Outbreak mode of 2018 – it has potential but is yet to fully realise it.

Read full review

Sep 22, 2021

Sable is downright beautiful in its execution and storytelling, and captures an innate desire for exploration like few other open-world games.

Read full review

85 / 100 - Ashen
Dec 18, 2018

Ashen's slant on the Soulslike subgenre isn't revolutionary, but is a wonderful example of the familiar formula executed well. It's thoughtful, gorgeous, challenging and a dream to explore.

Read full review

Oct 30, 2018

Football Manager returns with a kitbag full of new and overhauled features. It's the best at what it does, and FM 19 is the best it's ever been.

Read full review

Nov 9, 2017

The quintessential football management sim is back with its most ambitious undertaking in years.

Read full review

Oct 16, 2017

An intense and thrilling psychological survival horror sequel that improves on its forerunner in almost every way.

Read full review

Recommended - Owlboy
Oct 28, 2016

It's taken nine years to land, but Owlboy is well worth the wait.

Read full review

Jun 6, 2016

What makes Heart of Iron IV work is the fact that although it’s moulded around just ten years of history, it offers so much historical background and variable outcomes, and as such packs a mightier punch than might be at first expected. It’s complicated - overly so at times - and may not offer the same amount of replayability as other genre similars, but one thing is certain: there is rarely a dull moment.

Read full review

9 / 10.0 - Stellaris
May 9, 2016

Stellaris is simply wonderful. If you enjoy grand strategy games then you'll love this. If you don't then this could be the one to change your mind. If you've been too intimidated to try the genre before now, then here's your ideal starting point.

Read full review