Kirk McKeand's Reviews
It’s not going to win any Game of the Year awards, but if you’re looking for a fun co-op game that scratches a similar itch to something like PayDay, Rico is well worth picking up.
For now, I have to at least commend The Division 2 for getting the basics right. There’s a compelling endgame, there’s loot that actually matters, and missions don’t feel like they’re copy and pasted to bulk out the runtime. If some of the frustrations can be ironed out, it could be the best of its genre.
It’s Bloodborne but faster, with fewer crutches yet somehow more fair. It’s also one of the best games released so far in what’s already looking like a strong 2019.
While it’s still slightly better than most recent Xbox One exclusives, Days Gone just isn’t anywhere near the quality of the majority of PS4 first-party releases.
If you sleep on it, you’re sleeping on one of the best – if not the best – single-player FPS games of this generation.
While there’s an inherent fumbliness to Blood & Truth – I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve dropped a grenade under my own ass, my friend – it’s a game that wants you to feel and look cool. When you’re in the zone, it’s the closest to playable John Wick as we’re likely going to get – that is if John Wick liked flipping people off and collecting vape bottles.
Most of its good points are inherited from the last game, and while the excellent level design improvements are welcome, there’s not enough variety to get the most out of them.
Despite the fact Borderlands 3 seemingly wants me to hate it, I really, really like it. Like, a lot.
Ubisoft has failed in two areas where it usually excels here – sequels and open worlds – but there’s still a small glimmer of hope in another area: reinvention. Perhaps this concept will get scrapped entirely for the next one and we’ll go back to the good old days where Ghost Recon was an excellent shooter with its own identity. Right now it’s out of focus, confused, and frustrating. A ghost of its former self.
If you do manage to hold out, you will be rewarded with flashes of brilliance, it’s just that those flashes are buried as deep as the core story is buried in the endless dialogue.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a brave prequel that isn’t afraid of taking risks. It is innovative, surprising, stunning, dramatic, and generous – a highlight of this generation and a benchmark for other open world games to aspire to.
Despite these annoyances, despite the fact that it’s a game designed with decades-old sensibilities, I enjoyed my time with it. It doesn’t have the conclusion we’ve been waiting two decades for and it barely drives the story forward at all, but the climactic battle is as satisfying as that 70-man tussle in the first game’s harbour.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a masterpiece. No joke. If automation was to take my job right now, at least I’d have something to lose myself in during these long summer months.
Zombie Army 4 is the reanimated corpse of gaming’s past, stitched together from the best bits of Sniper Elite. It’s a B-movie pastiche stuffed with classic movie references and thousands of heads (and bollocks) to pop. But most importantly, it’s a new game. A new, fairly-enjoyable video game in 2020 – what a concept.
This is the strongest Doom has ever been.
It turns out Valve just needed new tech. It just needed VR. And it’s what I needed, too.
It’s still worth playing, but Resident Evil 3 Remake is a step backwards for Capcom, coming off the back of one of the best games of last year. It’s gorgeous to look at, the jump scares will get you, and it’s like stepping into a comfy pair of slippers. But even though your feet are cosy, it never feels like home.
The journey is completely worth it.
XCOM: Chimera Squad is perhaps the best value proposition I’ve seen in video games for a long time.
When the credits rolled on The Last of Us Part 2 I was still buzzing from the excitement of the final few hours.