Karl Smart's Reviews
WWE 2K22 is one of those games that, as a wrestling fan, I don't mind playing a few times over before using it as a WCW/ECW/AEW simulator game till something else comes along. The MyRise career mode looks to be a highlight of an otherwise limited video game. Now only if WWE could do something about their real-life product (and not fire half the roster before a game release) that can compare to some of the bookings you can do in WWE 2K22 and maybe they might have a chance to return to dominance… Till then, bring on the AEW video game!
Gran Turismo 7 is probably the best racing simulation game on the market right now, something that every car fanatic needs to own. Gran Turismo 7 allows you to fine-tune everything from the motor, to the circuits, to the paint, and more. Everything can be made just the way you want it to be. Gran Turismo 7 is also the BEST looking game on the PlayStation 5… PERIOD. Everything is reflective, from the paint to the chrome on the wheel covers… It's AMAZING. If you're a racing fanatic, then this is the game for you.
OlliOlli World looks like the type of game that you would find as a free-to-play mobile experience, but once you get into the grind of things, you'll be kickflipping with excitement as you tackle challenge after challenge that will keep you coming back for more each time.
Final Fantasy XIV Online: Heavensward & Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood are prime examples of how you should follow up a great opening chapter in a multi-game game like Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn. The time spent with Final Fantasy XIV Online now feels like it is really getting somewhere instead of just one long introduction. While Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood doesn't quite balance the leveling experience with the story questline, everything comes together as an overall amazing experience leading into Final Fantasy XIV Online: Shadowbringers.
Final Fantasy XIV Online: Heavensward & Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood are prime examples of how you should follow up a great opening chapter in a multi-game game like Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn. The time spent with Final Fantasy XIV Online now feels like it is really getting somewhere instead of just one long introduction. While Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood doesn't quite balance the leveling experience with the story questline, everything comes together as an overall amazing experience leading into Final Fantasy XIV Online: Shadowbringers.
Back 4 Blood is a good game, it improves on the Left 4 Dead formula in a way that is challenging and creative. However, the move to forcing people to advance the overall game by going online, being forced to work with randoms in a very badly connected cross-platform multiplayer games where without a solid communication base, resulting in Back 4 Blood being an experience in frustration rather than a very enjoyable game. If Turtle Rock allows for private games where you can do under 4 players with bots instead, then maybe this game can truly be something that is a must-own. But at the moment Back 4 Blood is only worth playing if you have a premade group of friends.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a great introduction to the world of Final Fantasy for both new and old fans of the series, as well as people looking for a new or different MMO to play. While still having a lot of the standard tropes that an MMO does have, along with a lot of ones from the Final Fantasy series, the combination of both are a breath of fresh air for those people who have been stuck inhaling the stench of World of Warcraft for over a decade.
Resident Evil Village is a great entry into the otherwise weird third trilogy of the Resident Evil franchise. Taking a lot of what made Resident Evil 7 work as a great horror experience and adding to it with things that people enjoyed about Resident Evil 4. However, Resident Evil Village does feel like by adding things from Resident Evil 4, that CAPCOM is about to remake some mistakes of old.
CARRION is a game that only someone associated with the madhouse publisher that is Devolver Digital could create.
At the end of it all, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is just the same old Dragon Ball Z story with the Dragon Ball Xenoverse cost of paint and a much shinier graphical upgrade.
Mario & Sonic: Tokyo 2020 is one of those games where you would think it would be very stale, but thanks to some retro nostalgia it doesn't. Sure, the games are limited and do wear thin after a while, but there are so many that it will give die-hard sports fans something to play at all times. The story is enough to give you a few chuckles but is only worth one play through.
While it is nice to see the portable titles make their way to home consoles, you can tell that this was just another distraction from the bigger issue for Kingdom Harts fans. While this game does fill that hole in the collection nicely, it's not really worth a full retail price, or even a slightly lesser discounted price. These side stories aren't going to give us any huge insight into the game series and is completely skippable. While it is an enjoyable romp if you do buy it, this is a game I'd recommended for hardcore fans only.
Tekken 8 is a solid outing for the Unreal 5 engine, using it to improve the already impressive graphics we had with Tekken 7. The gameplay is solid with a lot of modes for you to play for hours on end. However, PC users should be warned that their version may have frame rate issues. If these issues are patched, then Tekken 8 will be the best fighting game on the market.
Robocop: Rogue City brings the world of Old Detroit back to life with a slightly populated slum of a city while keeping the soul of the Robocop franchise intact. Placing Robocop: Rogue City between Robocop 2 and Robocop 3 was a risky move that paid off for Teyon. If nothing else, you deserve to give Robocop: Rogue City a try in a world where nothing else from the 1980s seems to be allowed to be revived and enjoyed.
Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways should be shown to all developers as to how to do DLC going forward. Not only do we get a great campaign that almost rivals the main game, but it’s done at a cheap/affordable price point. The story of Ada gives us some more questions as to what is going on with the future of the Resident Evil remake franchise while keeping its own story relevant and interesting.
AEW: Fight Forever brings me back to the "glory days" of wrestling video games with its easy-to-learn but hard-to-master controls, fun and entertaining graphics, and a KISS match selection that gives you just enough of a taste of what All Elite Wrestling is about. AEW: Fight Forever might not have the complex simulation look and feel that we've come to accept because of WWE video games over the last 20 years, but it's FUN, something that the WWE games tend to forget about.
Resident Evil 4 improves on the original by changing the story just enough to keep players guessing, and adding new details that help with bringing the game more in line with the remakes of the previous two games, leading into the newer games in the series like Resident Evil VII and Resident Evil: Village. However, there are times when you can see the age of the original creep in, and some lazy asset use too, not to mention there are some bad graphical glitches in the review copies that I pray are fixed with the day one patch. Taking my personal bias out of this was hard, but I still couldn't see it as the masterpiece everyone else will be calling it.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a really good game in its own right, capturing the look and feel of the Konami-era arcade games that fans have wanted to see come back for decades. However, when compared to other fan-made efforts (You know the one I'm talking about), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge feels like it was just the same exact concept done with a bigger budget yet more limitations.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 is the remaster that gets just about everything right. The graphics are amazing, the skaters are here from both games alongside some newer skaters from the modern era, the gameplay is lifted from the best games in the series with the option to customize things to your liking, and the music brings that good wave of nostalgia that the series is famous for. Though there are some missteps here and there, the remaster is right up there in the realm of the best remasters available for any video game. Working nostalgia into a very satisfying recreation of two of the best games in the genre is something that will have you smiling from game to game.
Yakuza kiwami 2 shows exactly what happens when a good story meets good gameplay… Perfection. You’ll spend hours of your life playing the main game, then another half of your life just doing the exciting and awesome side missions and distraction events. Any game that makes taking a piss into an action filled experience deserves the highest of praise.