Darryn Bonthuys's Reviews
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is still a Deus Ex game through and through, even if it doesn't always manage to hit the same highs as its predecessor. But for all its faults, its numerous other triumphs made it utterly compelling to play through until the end.
Hitman is back on track with yet another solid episode so far, that swaps the size and scope of previous maps for a more intimate and gorgeous setting where you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave.
Batman: The Telltale Series may stumble a bit in the opening act, but it quickly hits a comfortable stride with a promising first episode as Bruce Wayne steps out of the shadows.
Tricky Towers is an okay single-player game, but you’re going to want this Tetris-inspired skyscraper builder for some couch co-op. It’s easy enough to grasp, but it’d be a whole lot more satisfying if the balance of the game wasn’t heavily favouring the luck of the draw over actual player skill.
The Farce is strong in LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as TT Games doesn't deviate too far away from their usual formula of puzzles and slapstick.
Certainly not the greatest Trials game ever made, but definitely the most experimental entry in the series that showcases a ton of personality as players return to the gloriously over the top Blood Dragon universe.
Valentino Rossi: The Game knows everything there is to know about the man behind the number 46. I just wish it knew a little bit more about crafting an exciting MotoGP game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan's greatest sin isn't that it's a bad game that feels like the result of minimum effort. It's that it takes a great concept, and makes it unrelentingly boring in every way possible.
It may not hit the same high notes that Sapienza did, but the third Hitman episode is still a high level game of infiltration and assassination that is peppered with plenty of memorable moments.
DOOM is unrepentantly old school. It's gore porn to the max, a ballet of bullets and blood that I can't get enough of. Satisfyingly brutal, solid and most importantly, fun.
Pocket Card Jockey sounds like the kind of game which just shouldn't work. But it says neigh to those disbelievers, as it's easily one of the most addictive games of 2016 to grace the Nintendo 3DS.
Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation is a game that strikes an incredible balance between narrative, combat and creating an family first and an army second.
Picking up the ball that Fire Emblem: Awakening passed to it, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is a second chance at jumping into an iconic franchise for the first time and getting lost in the magic of love on the battlefield.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest is proof that less can be more. Harder, more intense and balancing a better plot between the two games, it's Fire Emblem at its purest.
Hitman Episode 2: Sapienza distills the entire Hitman experience down to one homicidal happy level, resulting in some fatal fun in the sun.
DiRT Rally is an unforgiving, temperamental beast at times. But it's also the very best game in a genre that has been brought back to its purist roots with style and love.
Yo-Kai Watch might look like a pocket monster clone with a fumbling battle system, but it's the genuinely endearing cast of characters and Yo-Kai who give it enough heart to be more than just a simple copycat. It's not the next Pokémon, but it certainly is going to be something in the future at this rate that other games will aspire to emulate.
A strong start for Agent 47 that will have old-school fans in their element as they experiment with murder, although a few technical challenges still need to be taken out back and introduced to some piano wires around the throat.
Pokken Tournament may have the image of a kid-friendly fighting game, but it's absolutely dead serious in its approach to offering something new to fighting game fanatics.
A reworked yet subtle combat system, visuals that'll make you think that you've fallen under a Genjutsu spell and a story that has finally reached its climax. This final chapter is purely for the fans.