Unfortunately, The Fall 2: Unbound does not hit the highs of the first game in the trilogy, as the puzzles seem a little bit more like random luck this time.
Batman: The Enemy Within - Episode 5: Same Stitch is an extremely satisfying end to what has been such a rollercoaster of a season.
TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge is a good motorbike game for easy access for those who wish to jump in and begin driving without having such a steep learning curve. While mastering each of the bikes and learning their unique quirks takes more time, they are quite fun to figure out and sometimes frustrating, as well. AI riders prove quite the challenge, thanks in part to the inconsistent crash-physics that seem to prevent them from ever falling off their bikes, while Career mode provides a great reason to progress further into the game and rise throughthe ranks to be the best rider on the Isle of Man, but outside of this mode, there is really nothing else to do except to go online or invite a bunch of friends over in order to watch each other attempt the same track over again to see who can get the best time.
Insidia is an interesting turn-based battle title that plays out like a heroic chess match. Trying to predict the enemies' moves as they happen simultaneously means always being on alert and having a flexible strategy. With a selection of heroes, ranging from Fighters, Tanks, and Assassins, to Support and Specialist classes, there are a range of strategies that can be derived with the army of four heroes. Unlock new heroes, skins, and avatar themes to further deck out the team in this free-to-play PC game available on Steam. There is really no reason not to check this title out, as it is an interesting concept with a lot of potential to be fleshed out in future iterations.
MotoGP 17 is a good motorcycle-racing game that does offer a deep managerial mode, which takes the cake for this recent offering. While it's really an expansion of the Rider mode, with the added focus on running the team, managing the riders and staff members, signing on sponsors, while upgrading the bikes performance and managing marketing campaigns, this is a robust mode that can easily steal plenty of hours. For those just after a pure racing experience, playing this on the hardest difficulty is a heck of a challenge, or jumping online and racing real-world drivers is the sure-way to go.
Super Toy Cars feels like a preview build of a game that is not yet ready for home release.
Tesla vs Lovecraft is a wonderful action-packed shooter that combines H.P. Lovecraft's monsters with the magical electric inventions of Nikola Tesla.
Aven Colony is an addictive city-building game set on a planet called Aven Prime, with a science-fiction twist. Growing a small colony into a massively sprawling cityscape is a very fulfilling experience, with plenty of hazards and obstacles along the way.
Metal Gear Survive is not for everyone. This is better approached as an open-world survival-horror game where building weapons from scratch, clawing at animals for food while drinking dirty water found in the world defines what it takes to survive. Including the Metal Gear name increases the external pressures around this game, as it is different to what fans of the franchise may expect. Aside from the aggravating always-online infrastructure of the game, Metal Gear Survive is a pretty good outing for those looking for a reason to battle zombies in an extremely vulnerable state. While the story is pretty meh, it is the exploration factor and sense of discovery and accomplishment, as well as feeding those hunger and thirst meters that showcase the fun and enjoyment of this experience.
Samsara is a visually attractive puzzler that plays out on two planes. Trying to simultaneously navigate Zee and her shadow self to their respective doorways by manipulating the walkways with placed blocks is a tricky thing to do. With limited blocks, and endless lives, trialling different solutions and seeing what works and what doesn't is a fun and rewarding experience. There are always surprises hidden; whether it's weird deaths or getting Zee trapped between a rock and a hard place. Figuring out these puzzles is a fun little diversion, and Samsara is well worth the time to solve some puzzles.
While Circuit Breakers attempts to revisit the glory days of the top-down twin-stick shooters, it does not purely reflect the fun and insanity of those older games. Frustration creeps in when the barrage of enemies grows completely out of control, while killing them all requires burning all the ammo and breaking down the weapon. As far as the weapon variety goes, the machine gun, shotgun, laser, and rocket launcher offer different dimensions to the combat in terms of visuals, but they still play out the same way: run, aim, and shoot. It does have four-player couch co-op, which is fun for a few hours, and that's really the only way to play this game, although the fun will quickly run out.
Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two: The Telltale Series is another good inclusion to the Telltale library of adventure games, and is well worth checking out. It does tell an intriguing story with an almost child-like level of danger, as the Admin threatens the world with his petulant, whiny behaviour.
Pinball FX3: Jurassic World Pinball is a great addition for any pinball-lover who already has a huge collection of tables, or for someone starting out.
The art style is beautiful and it makes for some nice shots of the locations, but other than that, there is really no need to delve into this endless-platformer.
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth: Book Two is more of the same as found in Book One, with the same beautifully drawn characters and locations. The voice acting continues to drive the emotional beats of the story, as Daedalic continues to sprawl through the huge novel and bring it down to a manageable and still enjoyable visual novel. While glitches, bugs, and some annoying open world areas ruin the flow of an otherwise intriguing story, this does well to set up what promises to be a satisfying Book Three, as all the character arcs and story threads get tied up in a satisfying conclusion.
Monster Hunter: World is a vastly complex action-adventure game littered with plenty of menus that customise the various weapons and armour pieces, while gathering useful resources to assist the hunter in taking down the next big monster. The gameplay loop of hunt-upgrade-hunt-upgrade is an addictive one that rarely stumbles into "grinding" territory, although some may see the whole game as a grind. Fans of the long-running series will find plenty to love with this latest edition, although newcomers will have an accessible title with which to dip their toes into. Do not be fooled, though, as this is not an easy game that sugar-coats the experience. Monster Hunter: World is hard, but it is satisfying to do the homework on each monster, preparing well for them before dishing out some hunting justice and slaying them for their materials. While the battle system can be mechanically clunky, and issues will surely arise in every fight, this is by no measure a deal breaker, as the majestic monsters and beautiful locations with the addictive gameplay loop and complex systems more than make up for it.
Unfortunately, this whole dynamic is a great risk for Bruce to take; he could potentially lose more than just his company should his evil endeavours and the company he keeps come to the public light.
There is a lot to juggle with two episodes to go, and there promises to be plenty of heartbreak along the way.
If the last few episodes have shown any signs, it is that the final episode will be the long awaited crescendo.
Batman: The Enemy Within - Episode 1: The Enigma is easily the best episode of Telltale's Batman story so far. While Season One put the wheels in motion, The Riddler's return to Gotham invites "The Agency" into town to make its presence felt, while Lucius Fox, Alfred, and Bruce Wayne are still trying to fully come to terms with the events of the first season. The story is a lot tighter, and the animations are well-polished and cleaner, setting the expectation for what to expect throughout the second season.