Screamer is quite simply an incredible arcade racer, with stellar presentation and gameplay. It’s a rare racer that can hold my attention for more than a few hours, but I’ll be playing this for a long time to come.
A strong setting and atmosphere provide genuine creeps and a tale that is engaging, though for me the combat is a weak spot in an otherwise enjoyable experience.
While there’s no denying Marathon is an aggressive PvPvE extraction shooter, it is also a remarkably moreish one. The core loop of exploration, looting and fighting feels great as we’d hope from FPS veterans Bungie, and while the UI could use some touch ups in both inputs and clarity, that one more game feeling is present and correct enough that I can see myself sticking with this for some time to come. With constant updates and additions promised, I think the future is bright for Marathon indeed.
While the base gameplay may be simple and of the time, Jaws Retro Edition proves that can still be fun even today. The Enhanced edition is great and offers more meat on the bones to the original, and while it may not be my favourite retro game ever, I have still enjoyed taking it to Bruce and his aquatic cohorts all the same.
A downer to end with, but I do want to reiterate that the game otherwise is excellent in terms of quality. The roster (at least what is unlocked to start with) is stacked, the match types are more varied than ever, and there are so many modes here to play with I am honestly staggered how anyone could find the time to explore them all properly. Showcase does CM Punk justice, while MyRise is a great character builder for our custom superstar, and the creation suite is even more mind boggling in its scope than ever.
Across all aspects of the experience - gameplay, story., audio, and visuals - Planet of Lana II is a resounding success. A joy to play, a touching story, and incredible soundtrack make for what will be a top contender for my favourite game of the year.
Easily the best Resident Evil game in many years, with inspirations from both RE2’s survival horror and RE4’s more action horror. Paced perfectly, and with plenty of surprises to discover, I can’t recommend Resident Evil Requiem highly enough.
As a debut FMV title, Trapped Predator has done a great job of following in the wake of publisher Wales Interactive. The tale is engaging with plenty of twists, turns, and reasons to replay. We’d have liked a few more choices, more frequently to make along the way and we hope that whatever they bring us next can fine tune what is already a solid base in their production and story telling.
While the narrative didn’t grab us, the brilliant presentation and moreish challenge did. It may make us curse more than a few times as we die yet again, but the challenge was ultimately enjoyable enough to want to continue on regardless.
Romeo is a Dead Man is a fun, crazy, chaotic action title with a lot to offer, even if a few niggles rear their heads at times.
All in all, The Run is another excellent FMV title from Paul Raschid and his team. The performances are great, the choices present some real dilemmas, and the conclusion is satisfyingly surprising.
In short bursts there is fun to be had with Rightfully, Beary Arms, and once we nab a few permanent upgrades some of the issues are less pronounced. But we simply didn’t find it all that engaging enough to want to repeatedly play and progress, with one-note combat and occasionally cheap deaths.
Overall, it’s been good to play these classic racers again. Nostalgia is doing some heavy lifting though, and if you’re not familiar with Street Racer then I would hazard a guess that you won’t quite see what the fuss is about. A lack of archival content, as well as some other versions of the game, is a shame but if you’re into retro gaming and fancy a fun – if challenging – racer, then this collection is worth a look.
While it improves massively in the final act of the game - thanks to fantastic performances and a wrapping-up of the story that had me on the edge of my seat - there’s no denying that the opening hours of Fort Solis are tedious. Between slow progression and a lack of interactivity, Fort Solis seemingly does everything it can to put us off from reaching the finish line.
As a whole then, Kamikaze Lassplanes is a game of two distinct halves: a romance-heavy narrative adventure, and a good scrolling shooter. Personally, I’d have preferred more of the latter than the former, but what’s here is decent enough to enjoy all round.
Routine grounds the player within this lunar base, and trusts them to get out alive with a fantastic diegetic presentation, compelling narrative and setting, and genuine creeps and tense atmosphere.
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is yet another fantastic brawler, with excellent combat complimented by the dual character switching and combos, some brilliant A/V work, and plenty of reason to play it through multiple times. Some difficulty spikes ruin the flow a little, but get some buddies in and you’re in for a real treat with MARVEL Cosmic Invasion.
Strong multiplayer props up an otherwise poor showing from Call of Duty this year. The combat and movement is a good as ever, but a woefully dire co-op campaign drags the experience to one of the lowest points in years, and is only mildly mitigated by the End Game extraction mode that has some good to it, albeit marred by not being the main focus of the release of Black Ops 7.
Dispatch is a refreshing piece of gaming. Bringing back the Telltale-style choose your own adventure is great, but doing so with such brilliant style, technical proficiency and excellent script and performances has won me over entirely. Engaging from start to finish, Dispatch is easily one of my favourite games of the year, and a new standard in the genre.
Some weaker combat and a few UI problems aside, Tormented Souls 2 is a good love letter to the survival horror genre, with good exploration and puzzles to keep us wanting to see more.