Alessandro Barbosa's Reviews
InnerSpace wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and manages to replicate the tranquil atmosphere it's clearly aiming for. Its flight is enjoyable, with breath-taking views and colourful planets to poke around in. But it's progression and overall narrative really buckle under the weight, making the crumbling Inverse a wasted space for this otherwise relaxing exploration title.
Star Wars Battlefront II is a gorgeous, incredibly fun shooter that builds on its roots with a host of new content, welcome gameplay tweaks and a fun single-player campaign. But all of its improvements are overshadowed by the Star Destroyer of crooked business decisions and terrible progression, making it a hard sell right now.
Mr Shifty makes an incredibly strong first impression with its unique teleporting twist on top-down brawling action. But it's a game that overstays its welcome, with a dry well of ideas that struggle to evolve past their basic premise.
Farpoint makes the act of shooting feel exhilarating and accurate with the new Aim Controller, but just about everything else in this first-person shooter fails to live up to the billing PlayStation VR desperately need. A trite, boring shooter wrapped up with some poor decision designs and frequent bugs that's just incredibly disappointing.
At its core, For Honor is a stunningly great game with exhilarating combat the likes of which are hardly seen. But it’s crippled by online issues that reduce its core multiplayer to a frustrating mess.
No Man’s Sky is sadly one of the more disappointing games of the year, mixing small moments of grand wonder with inescapable hours of tedious, boring survival gameplay. If you’re willing to fight through that, there’s a game here for you. But it’s often not worth the effort
Super Mario Maker is every bit the engrossing, feature rich creation tool that it is on the Wii U, but only if you plan on sharing your creations with a very limited pool of people. Its lack of real course-sharing rips out the heart of what made this title so captivating on the Wii U, making it a clear second best choice.
When it’s hitting the highs you expect from a PC Port, Gears of War Ultimate Edition is simply the best way to experience Delta Squad’s first mission. But its unavoidable lows keep it from being an easy recommendation.
While Star Fox Zero offers up some exhilarating dogfights with a unique control scheme that actually makes motion controls work, its highest highs are let down all too frequently by repetitive, mundane on-rails segments that sour the freedom that the game gives you in short bursts.
Just Cause 3 is genuinely fun most of the time, but it's the periods where its not that hurt it most. Add to that some mystifying design decisions around progression and upgrades, and you've got a game that attempts to go bigger than its predecessors while forgetting some of the elements that made them so good in the first pace. A fun, albeit flawed game.
The Occupation's clever real-time investigations and immensely engrossing story are undone by its dedication to inducing tension by restricting saving, which is exasperated by uneven technical performance.
Lara Croft's final adventure in her revival trilogy is easily her weakest yet. Shadow of the Tomb Raider's story fails to critique the heroine in the many ways it attempts, while aging gameplay mechanics and troublesome new additions undercut deeply satisfying exploration and an exquisite visual presentation.
DOOM is a technological marvel to behold on the Switch, and the fact that id Software got it working at all seems like a miracle. But the magic comes with some heavy concessions, making DOOM on Nintendo's handheld a more difficult recommendation for Switch players than any other platform.
L.A. Noire is still a strange, sometimes brilliant game that you should try at least once. But if you're returning to try and recapture what enjoyment you might have had with it six years ago, you might find yourself staring at a package that hasn't aged well at all.
Forza Motorsport 7 is the exhilarating, technical racer you expect it to be when you've finally put rubber on the track. But outside of that it's a mess of randomised loot boxes, microtransaction structures, tepid progression and watered down multiplayer support. A real bump in the road for this illustrious racing franchise.
Mafia III is a flawed game at times, but an equalling captivating one in others. It's repetitive gameplay loops and standard mechanics hide an engrossing tale grounded by top of the class performances. It's a tale that pays off in closing, if only just barely.
Ghostrunner 2 expands upon its strong foundation in ways that don't always stick the landing, working best when it returns to its signature blend of parkour and close-quarters combat.
Dredge's engrossing gameplay loop and dark, Lovecraftian themes elevate a simple fishing game into something far more intricate and engrossing than its cheerful veneer may suggest.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales sticks a bit too close to its predecessor in terms of mechanics, but manages to stand on its own through its story and characters.
Hot Wheels returns to Forza Horizon with more track types and an even larger map to speed through, but its strict progression is an unwelcome speed bump.