Ben Ward's Reviews
Overall, the Return to Arkham wasn’t quite as welcoming as I’d hoped it would be. The changes to certain character models and environments, be it subtle or blatant, have combined to strip the Asylum of some of its creepy charm, whilst technical issues mar both titles in the collection. It almost feels like the game could do with another few months of development, even after the delay, as the performance is something that could theoretically be tweaked and improved. Hopefully the team at Virtuos can get some patches together and tighten up the frame rate and adjust some of the lighting and colour grading, because if they do? This will be essential. As it stands, though, it’s a collection of two technically underwhelming ports of two incredible games that make some disappointing art style choices.
In spite of the immediately obvious drop in graphical fidelity, Driveclub VR has a great sense of immersion that can only be achieved with VR, and the PlayStation VR headset produces an experience that I don’t think I’ve ever had from a racing game before. An impressive swansong for a game that never had it easy, DriveClub VR is well worth picking up if you’re grabbing a headset in the coming weeks.
Overall, RIGS is a fast paced, fun and frenetic futuristic sports game. Guerrilla Cambridge have figured out exactly what is needed for a VR sports title, as well as a VR Mech title and somehow fused the two. Immensely enjoyable, RIGS demonstrates what the PSVR can do to truly immerse you in a world that you simply can’t get in actual reality and is incredibly stylish whilst doing so.
Functionally solid but ultimately repetitive, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a good example of one of the types of VR game you can expect to play. These types of shooting galleries are a dime a dozen on Steam and the Oculus store, but this is a good example of how well they can be done, particularly when mixed with a bunch of horror elements. If you want something to scare the living daylights out of your house guests or people at a party, throw this on and watch them squirm!
They told us they were done with Arkham. Rocksteady lied to us. But that’s OK. As well as being a great showcase for how VR should be done, Arkham VR is a short, sharp, and sometimes shocking Batman experience that should really be played by anyone with access to a headset and any fondness for the caped crusader at all.
Rive is a gorgeous looking game, which has taken two styles and fused them together pretty successfully. The blend of traditional twin joystick shooter and action platformer fits perfectly with what Two Tribes have done, but there are some caveats. The insane difficulty spikes destroy the pacing of the game at times, and sometimes the feeling when you get through an area that’s causing you trouble isn’t triumph, but relief. I suppose it’s to be expected from a game that starts off with its only playable mode being “Hard Mode”. Despite this, however, Rive proves itself to be more than competent, and is genuinely one of the better looking games of the year so far in terms of style. A game that fans of the genres should enjoy, Rive deserves your attention, but may well struggle to hold it all the way through.
ABZU, to put it bluntly, is a bit special. A stunning example of game design, allowing you to dictate your own pace through an ocean that gets more complex in both design and feel as you descend, with some moments that, in my opinion, surpass some of Journey's standout points. A beautifully simple game in terms of mechanics, ABZU's strength lies in its world and the emotional resonance it has with its player. If you suffer from anxiety or depression, this game should be made available on the NHS. It is, quite simply, wonderful.
I am absolutely staggered that Telltale have put their name to this game, as releasing this under the guise of it being a finished product is disgusting. I don’t follow too much in terms of the Steam Greenlight/Early Access scene, and genuinely didn’t know that this was an unfinished product. It’s being released at a ‘budget’ price of £30, with “DLC Packs” included. Here’s a tip, guys. If you want to hock DLC for a game, make sure it’s finished before you let it dribble out onto consoles. There was a point where every man and his dog was making a PC game trying to capture some of the DayZ market, and this feels like a rushed hangover of that time. In time, this could change. However, 7 Days to Die is being released and marketed as a completed game on consoles, and we are reviewing it as such. It is a buggy, glitch-ridden mess of a game, which looks like an A-Level project and has less atmosphere than the moon. The fact that it’s being released and pushed in this state is, quite simply, unforgivable.
Playdead have taken everything that Limbo offered, and expanded it exponentially with Inside. Crafting a sublime 2D platformer with another unique art style, they take so many unexpected turns with the game that they may as well ship it with a sat nav. A game that starts you off as a boy in the wood will immediately draw comparisons to their 2010 debut, but the connective threads between Limbo and Inside are slowly pulled apart as the latter goes on and begins its descent into something all the more disturbing. A fantastic example of polishing a game until it’s done, Inside may only be around 4 hours long but it’s been well worth the 6 year wait.
A game that had the potential to not only evoke memories of a classic franchise, but also stand alone on its own two feet, Shadow of the Beast stumbles and doesn't quite live up to the potential it clearly has. There are some lovely looking areas and when the combat sticks, it's enjoyable. The problem is that there are more moments of pure frustration than delight, including control issues and that unfathomable decision to force you to unlock native language subtitles. If you're after a blast of nostalgia and nothing else, however, the original 1989 title is included in the game as an unlockable, but this remake doesn't really add much to the legacy of the franchise.
Uncharted 4 is an exceptional game. Naughty Dog have knocked it out of the park in pretty much every area, and this truly does feel like the sequel they've wanted to make for years. They have taken elements from the previous Uncharted games as well as The Last Of Us, honed and refined them, and created quite possibly the best action game I've ever played. A tight story with superb pacing, incredible set pieces and simply unbelievable visuals, Uncharted 4 should be mandatory if you own a PS4.
Building on practically every single area of the Paris level, Sapienza is simply breathtaking. A living, breathing seaside town, it’s a beautifully crafted arena for precision strikes from whatever weapon you decide to use. A neat secondary objective to bring in a fresh gameplay element, and the sheer variety of methods to dispatch your two targets is simply mind boggling. A delightfully twisted sense of humour ties the whole package together, with some of the approaches to assassination proving to be genuine laugh out loud moments, Sapienza is a fantastic follow up to Paris, and I can’t wait to see what happens next month.
Trillion: God of Destruction is a disappointing effort for a handheld game. Incredibly lengthy cut scenes interspersed with relatively short battles, clunky control systems and laughable hyper-sexualised characters ensure that a title with such promise never really gets past its initial confusion. The quality of the 2D artwork is fantastic, but the leap to 3D doesn’t quite work all of the time, and somehow feels lacking. A great idea that’s been sorely mistreated, with very little actual gameplay on display.
A beautifully crafted and hugely enjoyable experience, Quantum Break is a fantastic addition to anyone's library. The lighting effects alone make any arguments about resolution dissipate, with a solid set of unique mechanics and breathtaking set-pieces that keep the game fresh and exciting. Whilst I had some issues streaming the show, the content within is in such good keeping with the game, that it's a minor blip on the radar when all is said and done. Microsoft's flirtation with the world of TV proved to be a bit of a flop, but for the most part, Remedy have somehow managed to nail it.
Hitman's debut in 2016 is a fantastic starting point for this franchise reboot. Shaking off the mis-step that was Absolution has clearly not been easy, but Io have managed to create a brilliant sandbox that will allow you to dispatch of your target using methods from dropping a chandelier on their head (Del Boy would be proud), to blowing them away with an AK47, to making them throw up thanks to rat poison and then drowning them in the toilet bowl. Despite a particularly odd subplot that has almost literally been taken directly from the script of Zoolander, this first section of Hitman is the start of something beautiful. If Io can keep this up with the rest of the missions, then they've got a special game on their hands. Who's up for a trip to Sapienza next month?
If you've yet to pick up Heavy Rain, it's hard for me not to recommend as a curiosity. Released at a time when everything was getting increasingly more FPS centric, Heavy Rain made some bold leaps and for the most part, stuck the landing. Quite whether it all hangs together in 2016, though, it a subject that's up for debate. Personally, I think I'm enamoured with it enough to forgive its mis-steps, and even with very few changes outside of a sharpening up and new lights, it's well worth a pick up.
If you're going to pick up XCOM 2 having never touched Enemy Unknown, then beware. It's not the happy-go-lucky strategy experience many games will offer, in fact I'd probably say this is the video game equivalent to S&M. It is brutal. It will raise you to the peak of mental ecstasy before your attempt at humanity's redemption comes crashing down around you in only a few turns, your squad returning to HQ a crippled, shambling mess, if they do indeed return at all. XCOM 2 will make you its bitch. And the best thing about it? It'll make you want to come back for more. And you'll love it.
The Witness, then, is an exploratory puzzle game with very limited mechanics and has the tendency to make you pull your hair out in frustration as you begin to reach the limits of your own comprehension. In spite of this, it is an excellently crafted world, with a huge amount of brain teasers to attempt. Some people may not like the lack of immediate feedback when making your way through some of the areas, but the varied nature in solving the puzzles that ultimately combine with each other in such a way make figuring out The Witness an experience without parallel.
All in all, Not a Hero has some fantastic humour, brutal death animations (an achievement when done via pixels) and is pretty fun. You can easily spend a couple of hours trying to perfect a level, or you can kill a bit of time while you wait for your dinner to cook. It's not going to set the world on fire (As much as Bunny Lord would like to!), but it's not a regrettable purchase either.
I was worried for the return of Rainbow Six after the news that Patriots had been cancelled. Fortunately, Rainbow Six Siege is a fantastic entry in the series that has enough depth in its gameplay to keep things fresh each and every time you boot it up. It's currently my go-to multiplayer shooter, and that is genuinely not something I thought I'd be saying at the start of the year! Moment-to-moment gameplay is a real joy, and the balance is as close to perfect as you'd hope. I really wanted to score Siege higher, but Terrorist Hunt and Situations almost feel like an entirely different game because of the drop in frame rate, and there almost feels like a push toward microtransactions once you hit a certain point. It almost feels like Siege should've launched at £30. Still, if the promised free content is good and it can keep a good community, it'll be worth it in the end.