Darryn Bonthuys's Reviews
Far Cry 5's first big slice of DLC lasts almost an hour, trading the chaotic mountain ranges of Hope County for a more subdued and streamlined stealth-heavy tour of duty in the Vietnam War that fails at feeling meaningful or having anything to say.
Trailblazers has plenty of charm and style with its gimmick of painting your way to victory, but it barely crosses the finish line thanks to its uneven AI, sloppy handling and lackluster multiplayer.
Beneath the mountain of bugs, shoddy design and inconsistent performance, there's a genuinely good adventure waiting to be experienced in Darksiders III. Unfortunately, its numerous problems are more than just annoying in nature. They're quite simply…apocalyptic.
Who knows, maybe Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy would have been more attractive in this day and age if it exuded more…Pharoahmones.
At its best, Rise and Shine is a marvelous reinvention of shooter mechanics wrapped up in puzzle-heavy stages that require some serious grey matter to think through. But most of the time? Rise and Shine’s charm can’t save it from its sadomasochistic formula.
Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 makes some massive strides towards improving on some of the deep flaws of the original game. It’s just a super-shame that it also forgets to actually add anything to that foundation to help it feel like a true sequel. I’m just Saiyan’ that is.
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.
A satisfying blend of action, stealth and Russian history, undone by a frustratingly stupid difficulty spike that makes it a red menace.
There's a lot to love about ReCore. It's charming, has character and a spark of creativity that hasn't been seen in decades. But the more you play it, the more you'll despise it when yet another technical blunder ruins the experience. After all, you only hurt the ones you love.
What had the potential to be a great piece of DLC, is instead an all-too brief episode of missed opportunities and squandered potential starring a great heroine who deserves far better.
Buildings Have Feelings Too! has plenty of charm and character to go along with its fun puzzle game construction, but a few lopsided technical bricks results in an experience that has more than a few frustrating building code violations beneath its cheerful façade.
Fitness Boxing 2 isn't a bad way to keep your body energised, but the few improvements it has loaded into its gloves can't hide its flawed punching technique or its disappointing lack of beats to bounce around to between uppercuts.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is an interesting collection of ideas, but dead average implementation, aging visuals, and flawed gameplay make for an underwhelming package that barely rises above being just fine at best.
There's a decent game at the very core of G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout , but it's buried underneath annoying controls, a bizarre focus on co-op play instead of multiplayer, and missions that feel like an endlessly repetitive grind. Still, it's dedicated to its source material and it has its moments, but it doesn't do much else to stand out from the pack. And now you know, because knowing is half the battle.
Bite the Bullet is a game of great ideas that are hamstrung by terrible controls, performance issues, and a flow of combat that's at odds with the very gimmick that makes it stand out from the pack. All of that makes for an experience that bits off far more than it's capable of chewing.
There's no other game like Where The Water Tastes Like Wine, even if it does lose the plot when it celebrates the art of stories and the power that they possess.
Just Cause 4 may be a maniacal sandbox full of explosions and action, but it's a world that feels dull, repetitive and hollow inside as it missed the mark on being the perfect vehicle for some much-needed Christmas Catharsis.
Destiny 2 does have an identity once again, a solid bedrock upon which to build its future. But whatever Bungie has planned, it's going to need to be far sturdier than its latest collection of recycled content, uneven new events and a meagre amount of PVP content.
A solid and dedicated start right out of the gate, Monster Energy Supercross struggles to maintain its momentum across the entire race as technical issues and a bland road to Supercross glory hamper its progress.
Destiny 2's first substantial piece of DLC may look pretty, but it's a surface fix that misses the mark on truly pushing the series forward.