Keith Mitchell's Reviews
While Fast RMX is the only game in town for Nintendo Switch owners, thankfully it's a fantastic experience. Breakneck speed, responsive controls, plenty of tracks to race on and a vast list of vehicles. Toss in the added challenge of the higher end leagues and hero mode and you have a game you'll play for a long time. Once Shin'en Multimedia adds in the time trial and online friend racing, Fast RMX will be the defacto racing title for the Nintendo Switch.
After spending well over 20 hours in this post-apocalyptic cyber world, I still can not put NieR: Automata down. While the original was clearly a niche title that failed to make a massive impact, the sequel was designed to keep the original charm but appeal to a greater audience. Easily one of the better titles from Square Enix, thanks to the Platinum Games putting their foot into the fantastic combat system. The story is interesting, the music captivating and the world has its own charm and personality. Another reason to own a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 4 Pro.
At first glance, Nioh resembles a Dark Souls clone and that's an unfair comparison. While Nioh draws heavily from Dark Souls, Koei Tecmo has provided more than enough features to put Nioh on the same level as Dark Souls. Plenty of action, an engaging combat system that encourages you to develop your own style of play and it's own charming yet deadly world.
That said, for nostalgia fans, you're right at home. Sadly, this game doesn't even match up to Double Dragon II, which is 28 years older and still holds up. Still, nostalgia will only get you so far. Double Dragon IV definitely had some potential as a throwback to the late 1980's of gaming. Sadly, there's no enough substance to give Jimmy and Billy the return they deserved. I wanted greatness, I got mildly ok. Stick with Double Dragon II, III or even Double Dragon Neon.
Rise & Shine is a fantastic adventure and a change of pace for the traditional 2D side-scroller. A great looking game that plays well and has a lot going for it. Great gameplay, interesting characters and a nice change of protagonist as well. Sadly, the game is a bit on the short side and can be beaten in 4-5 hours. The ride is definitely worth the time spent, yet once you beat the game the first time, there's nothing to do afterward.
Wild Guns Reloaded is a nice blast from the past and one that definitely desires a playthrough. The main issue here is the fact that the game was a simple port with nothing really added with the exception of the 4-player co-op (local) and graphical polish. The lack of any online capacity will likely make many gamers ignore the title.The trophy omissions are also puzzling since Natsume took the time to upscale the graphical side of things but nothing else. The asking price is simply too high for less than an hour of gameplay with no online leaderboards, no online co-op, all of which simply kill any changes this title may have had.
Sadly, despite Spacehulk: Deathwing possessing a great atmosphere, I can't recommend the title. At least not in the current state of the game. The single player portion is standard flair that will only appeal to those who are fans of the Warhammer 40K universe. This goes double for the co-op. It's a nice experience but it really doesn't match up to what you find with single player campaign. The technical issues, which is my main concern with this title, simply robs you of any fun. With massive frame rate drops which can plummet on even the most powerful PCs, show the telltale sign of poor optimization. Bugs that can cause all sorts of odd things, including crashing your game also are rampant.
To be 100% honest with you, if you’ve played Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, then you’re going to be familiar with the PlayStation 4 version. The gameplay hasn’t changed one bit, so you’re going to be right at home here. All your favorite characters, your best combo strings and yes, and even dreaded infinite combos are still intact. That said, if you’re new to the game or even the series, I’d highly recommend you brush up in both the training and arcade modes.
I've been a fan of Killing Floor 2 for quite some time and played more than a fair share of it via my early access copy on PC. So, I was really excited to get a chance to try out the PlayStation 4 version, to see how it fared to what I played. I'm happy to report that Killing Floor 2 on the PS4 is easily as good as the PC version, both in the gameplay and visuals. Fantastic controls, a decent online multiplayer system and easily of the fastest paced shooters available on any platform. It's no surprise that this title has replaced my old stable of Left 4 Dead 2 and for good reason. On all seriousness, you don't have to take my word for it and I'd rather you didn't. Instead, go play it for yourself, I'll be here when you play a few rounds to tell me what you think about it.
This is like if you took Earth Defense Force, Starship Troopers and Guardian Heroes and tossed them into a blender. A wonderfully action packaged game, tons of fun combat and a vast customization system, Earth's Dawn is well worth the price of admission.
Xanadu Next is a fun romp and a nice eye opener to games that were created years or even decades ago. It shows that they can still stand the test of time and remain enjoyable. I was hard pressed to put down the game until I finished it and while I wished it was a bit easier on the eyes, there's no denying the charm that Xanadu Next generates.
I really have to give credit where credit is due - Owlboy is an amazing title from D-pad Studios. Full of charm and wonder, this is easily one of the best indie developed games I've played this year. I'm a huge fan of 2D platforming / puzzle games and have been since the days of the Super Nintendo. So being able to play a title such as Owlboy was a treat. The only sad thing about this game is when it ends as the game really doesn't have much in the terms of replaying the title. Unless you're a perfectionist and want to go back and find all the secrets and collectibles, there's little to encourage a reply of this gem. Finally, I'm holding out hope that D-pad Studio's has plans to port Owlboy to other platforms, especially the 3DS and PS Vita, as I feel that the title would be right at home on both platforms - but of course bring it to every platform as humanly possible.
Flying Wild Hog takes everything that made the original remake of Shadow Warrior so much fun, and amps it up. Combat is fun, there's plenty of action to be found and Wang is a riot. Sure the quests get repetitive, but with so much action going in throughout the stages, it's hard to get mad. If I could change one thing, however, it would be the constant use of Lo Wang's witty one-liners. They're funny, but they repeat so often I found myself getting tired of them.
Thankfully all my fears were disproved with the release of Gears of War 4. And even though the game still plays things close to the hip, instead of going balls deep into a new territory, make no mistake that this is a Gears of War title that does exactly what it was meant to do - Get you excited and have you smiling from ear to ear.
I have to hand it to Playground Games. They took everything that made Forza Horizon 2 great and refined it. There's basically nothing in Forza Horizon 3 that doesn't say perfection. From the moment you press start, the game throws everything it has at you, from flawless execution on or off the track, its presentation, and fun online session / matchmaking. This is, at least for the time being, the pinnacle of racing games for the Xbox One. Forza Horizon 3 has my vote as Game of the Year and if not that, easily the best title on the Xbox One by far.
If Two Tribes' plan was to go out with a loud and glorious bang, they have succeeded in doing just that.
If you liked Wipeout or F-Zero, you're going to be right at home with Redout. Fast, sleek, pretty and has just about the right amount of challenge. If you can overlook the rubber banding issue and desktop resolution configuration, Redout, is your best bet if you're the market for racing title that you can pass the time with.
To my surprise, Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom turned out to be perhaps the best anime adaption to ever make its way over to a video game. There's always a concern when a game is created around an existing license. Especially since those few games of recent that featured either an anime or cartoon didn't fare too well. Thankfully, this isn't the case with Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom. It may be a bit too restrictive as it doesn't really stray from the anime or manga. In its defense, it really didn't need to as the world that was created is full of over the top action and a really odd-ball story, both of which are just fine for a video game.
Though shallow in its execution, the plane-switching mechanics of Poncho contain enough cleverness to prove intriguing. With a pleasingly melancholy atmosphere and beautiful pixellated visuals, the titular robot seems destined for a truly memorable side-scrolling puzzle platformer. Unfortunately, this is not it.
As someone who used to enjoy the Riptide games on the Android and iOS platforms, I really can't recommend Riptide GP: Renegade to anyone. The difficulty is ramped up too high to start off which, the story isn't enjoyable and the overall presentation of the game is poor. I wanted to like this game, but it just seems like a half-hearted attempt, which is disappointing. I was excepting perhaps a game similar to the one great Jet Moto, but that didn't happen. It just feels half baked.