Thanks to the camera, it's hard to tell if you're going to make a particular jump, and the jumps themselves – especially the double-jump – don't feel consistent. The expansion also intermittently suffers from graphics bugs, where characters don't render.
Overall, Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame is an enjoyable racing game packed within a fairly lacklustre wrapper, one that doesn't try hard enough to please anyone but the hardcore supercross fanbase.
Although there are pieces of a good arcade basketball game here, it lacks polish, and seems to have been rushed out the door. Playgrounds is inherently fun because it lets you play out outrageous dunks, but it just doesn't do enough to stand up to the greats of its genre, let alone push the bar in any way.
For what it's worth, 'Tangled Up in Blue' does do a good job with its emotional beats, and it's going to be interesting to see where it leads.
[T]he UEFA Euro 2016 expansion for PES 2016 brings very little to a seven-month-old game, and that's unacceptable. But hey, at least it's free.
With the right weapon, there's a sense of dominance the game awards you with, and as you decimate your opponents, it feels rightly satisfying. By striking the proper note between challenging and fun, Good Robot manages to craft a game that is rewarding in its achievements.
For what it's worth, the AI is designed intelligently and adapts quite well. It is good at identifying your weaknesses and responding with a force that stresses on those points. At the same time, it never makes you feel that you couldn't have averted the disaster and plugged in the holes, which is proof of a well-programmed difficulty curve. Outside of its lacklustre campaign, Ashes of the Singularity has the framework for thoroughly engaging matchups but the final product fails to land a convincing argument.
The largely solitary experience of No Man's Sky is monotonous, easily frustrating and loses its charm way too early. For a game with the promise of all the wonders of the universe, it delivers so little.
While animals have served as human companions, attack assists, and Easter egg distractions throughout the history of video games, Stray — in what's a rare thing — asks you to play as one. It's nowhere near purr-fect, but it's a delight nonetheless.
For those looking for a dedicated simulation racer where you can spend hours tuning and practising to get the best out of the car and yourself, Gran Turismo 7 will no doubt appeal. But I don't think it's for racing game enthusiasts, it's for racing enthusiasts.
Rather than a new Uncharted game then, what's more likely (unfortunately) is a PS5 version of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, the PS4 remaster of the first three Uncharted PS3 titles. A studio like Naughty Dog shouldn't be ground down into churning remasters of its old games — it should be looking ahead to new entries or new IP. But this is just the world we live in.
It's been a polished experience otherwise, yet again proving that games are better delayed than rushed. Psychonauts 2 has faced a long uphill battle, but its release is proof that some battles are worth the slog.
When it all comes together, Outriders can be good fun. The gunplay felt a little stilted and laboured to me early on, but I've found it to be really satisfying at times, especially when you empty a volcanic-charged cartridge into an enemy's head — and they plop to the ground. And Outriders keeps you on your toes as you're constantly balancing various elements: where to find cover, dodging grenades, when to jump back out, who to target first, how to maximise your powers, and working with your squad. Outriders was built with co-op in mind and that's when it comes alive. It's nice to have a friend to lean on, and that goes for Outriders too, as they can help revive you. In fact, some of our most intense conversations have come out of debating when it's a good time to attempt to revive someone.
If the sticker price isn't a concern, in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, you'll find a game that is lacking in originality but thankfully built on a solid core that needs a few tweaks. It's a successful expansion of Insomniac's Spider-Man universe, but it's a new paragraph, rather than a new chapter. Hopefully it will give us the latter next time around. And though it's also good for representation, it still has a ways to go. (Though the game wasn't anything special, Marvel's Avengers gave us a Muslim-American lead in Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel.) Hopefully we can get Spider-Gwen from Insomniac next, or a Spider-Verse game, though given the lack of setup, either seems unlikely. For now, Miles continues his upward trajectory. He walked in 2018, so he could fly in 2020.
Mafia: Definitive Edition is crying out for a stronger hand at the wheel and a deeper rethink, for in its current state, it's oblivious of the fact that it's been 18 years since the original. That's a long time for any piece of entertainment, more so in video gaming, and Mafia: Definitive Edition is a long way from what it needed to be.
For a debut effort, ... it's proof that Indian studios with the right push can deliver titles for major consoles, and not be stuck in the free-to-play mobile mess that dominates Indian game development.
That said, there are aspects of the game that don't need that kind of money to be made better – be it gameplay that's stuck in a weird balance of realism and arcade-y fun, the nonsensical transfers or the lacklustre presentation – but it's starting to feel like PES might have conceded one too many.
It's not in all its glory, but it's still many steps ahead of other console ports, and a great addition to the Nintendo line-up ahead of the crucial holiday period.
For those that crave football action wherever they go, be it waiting in queues or at the doctor's office, it's an exciting addition to the Switch line-up.
Given the various aforementioned troubles, it's tough to recommend buying L.A. Noire on the Switch, especially if you own a Sony or Microsoft console.