Ken McKown's Reviews
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is not a good game. Perhaps if there was a single player campaign, some competent combat, or even some unique online modes, it might be redeeming, but as it stands it is a textbook example of how to ruin a great idea. I imagine the online community also died in the time it took me to write this review, so I guess my best advice would be to stay as far away from this game as possible.
Pumped BMX + had the potential to be a solid recommendation, but it's frustrating design and lack of fun really drag it down. I have no problem with mobile games getting the port to consoles; I just expect them to receive some care to make that port worthwhile.
MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore is a bad game. This hurts me considering I have been an avid fan of Rainbow's titles since the PS2 era. They were always dumb fun with friends, and now they have slowly become an attempt to cater to an audience that really doesn't care either. I wish they would go back to the more arcade-style racing and focus on fun more than realism. Now excuse me as I boot up my copy of Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild.
Wanted: Dead is a mess of a game with hints of excellence strewn about. I wanted to love it a lot more than I did. Instead the game kept making me frustrated at every turn. There have been a million examples of how to make a challenging game without making it frustrating. Wanted: Dead is the epitome of the latter. It simply uses lazy tropes instead of clever game play to create its difficulty. The end result is a game that has some great ideas, but will not interest most players. I expect most to quit before finishing the first boss.
There are a lot of cool ideas here; the crafting system for example is robust and interesting, but it doesn't make up for all the issues the game has. Tie that in with the complete lack of originality and Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 feels like a half-baked attempt at the genre. It could have been great; it SHOULD have been interesting, but in the end it just ends up frustrating and disappointing. There are much better games in this genre, and there is little reason to invest in this sniper's mission.
Red Goddess: Inner World is kind of a mess technically, and that just drags down the experience. I truly hope the developers get a working patch to sort out the issues, but as of now it is just too much to recommend. The ideas are sound, and the story is interesting, but too much holds it back. I feel like it should have waited for release, as once again this title will likely be forgotten long before it is fixed.
At least what is here is solid. These games feature the standard options and the emulation is genuinely solid in most cases. I had fun diving into each game, but again only a couple warranted a repeat viewing. This feels more like Taito Obscurities as opposed to Milestones. For the price it ends up cheaper than picking up each game individually, but that is assuming you want all ten games. As a collection this feels more like an afterthought than a solid purchase.
Balan Wonderworld is a game that I tried hard to love. It is not the pariah that the internet makes it out to be though. I think the game is charming and flawed. It has tons of issues, but I still finished it. I had some good times sprinkled in with the frustrations. It took me to a simpler time in platform games and there is truly nothing else out there with the same kind of presentation and whimsical ideas it delivers. That said $60 is a hard ask for a game that seems to want to frustrate players at every turn. I wanted to love Balan Wonderworld, but it did everything in its power to test my love every chance it got.
Stone is a game that looks interesting on the surface. Sadly it falls short on delivering just about every step of the way.
Contra: Rogue Corps is a game a lot of people would consider Konami to make. After seemingly wanting to exit the business even with a string of classic IP, this game feels like it was made for the sake of releasing a new Contra in 2019. It has good ideas hampered with poor implementation. It is not fun to play and that is its biggest crime. I wanted to love Rogue Corps. I tried to love Rogue Corps. I simply cannot find any fun to be had with the latest in this beloved franchise.
The Forbidden Arts is a game that feels like a relic from the past. If someone had told me this was a budget title on Gamecube and somehow got the HD treatment, I would believe them. It just lacks polish and interesting content to keep players interested. I doubt many people have heard of this title and even fewer will remember it. It is just a plain adventure title that never steps outside the boundaries of mediocrity.
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot feels like something that should be free or included in a bundle for PSVR owners. It doesn’t feel like it warrants its price tag and it is linear and criminally short. Even hardcore fans hoping for more Nazi-killing action should probably avoid this one until it drops way down in price. There just isn’t enough here to warrant the price of admission.
SNK Heroines is a game that attempts to appeal to a very specific audience, but it is not even a good "one of those" games. It mishandles the aspects it is attempting to nail and is just not a lot of fun to play.
Extinction is a game that feels like a novel idea that didn't get fully fleshed out. I wanted to love it, but the repetition really drags it down. At a lower price or with a little more variety to the encounters this game could have been something special. As it stands though it is nigh impossible to recommend it.
There is a lot of content in Dynasty Warriors 9 and the ideas are sound, but the execution is just atrocious. I hope they continue to iterate and spruce up the genre. I love seeing new takes on familiar formulas. Sadly though this outing feels like a half-baked idea that no one on the team was really behind.
Infinite Air is the epitome of an OK game. Nothing stands out, and the fun to be had is minimal. Also at the $50 price point it is hard to recommend to anyone, especially with Snow being free-to-play, and Steep just around the corner. It feels like the start of the genre and not the ultimate entry it so desperately wants to be.
Sadly, this title doesn’t bring anything new to the table, nor does it set itself apart outside of the visuals. The levels are boring and the enemies and shooting are not satisfying enough to keep it going.
Sadly this "remaster" is nothing even remotely close to that. It is two games, somehow coded to run on new consoles, and a reminder that backwards compatibility is indeed a possibility. Nothing has been added, no care given, and sadly these games deserve better than that.
I had a lot of fun playing Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, but it fizzled out way too soon. The game play is excellent, but the lack of modes and diversity really suck the fun out of it after a couple hours. Not being able to play with friends online is a drag, and the AI is simply not enough to keep me coming back. I wanted to love Ultra Smash, but it fought me at every turn to keep me from wanting to play more of it.
Gemini: Heroes Reborn is certainly not a bad game, it is just excessively forgettable.