Bella Ryse's Reviews
What did I want from Forza Horizon 4? I wanted to jump in my car, join my friends seamlessly and tear up the road all day and night without getting bored. To be able to chill on my own, search for cars in barns, spend hours creating custom designs, and fine tune my vehicles. A map that would take me weeks to search every inch of, collect all the point boards and complete all the events and tasks. I wanted a game that promised substantial support and continued content. Did Forza Horizon 4 deliver on my expectations? Yes. I’m having a blast with friends, in some of the world’s finest automobiles, in picturesque Britain full of fields of autumn red leaves and spring fields of blossoms, crashing my way through most of the country-side. With Forza Horizon 4 you get what you would expect. It’s another Forza, there’s only so much variety you can get every year whilst still staying true to the core of what Horizon is about, however I have I am really enjoyed this year’s version of ‘the festival’.
Fun from start to finish. Light-hearted humour with a grim twist that provides for hours upon hours of gaming enjoyment. Proclaimed by Zoink Games as their “Spiritual successor to our well-received game Stick it To The Man!”, Flipping Death shares a very similar art style, whilst taking a completely new gameplay direction. An adventure game based on platforming puzzle solving progression that will challenge you with every chapter you progress through whilst leaving you with a strong sense of accomplishment (or frustration depending on how quickly you figure out the games mechanics). At the time of this review no release date has been announced.
Monster of the Deep is a lot of good light hearted fun. Whilst there were a couple of little issues with calibration early on, an update fixed that pretty quickly. The minor complaints that I mentioned in the review didn’t effect my enjoyment of the game enough to stop me wanting to play it. All in all it’s a well designed game and I highly recommend this pick up for PSVR owners. It doesn’t matter if your not a Final Fantasy fan as the main fun of this game is the act of fishing. Being Square Enix’s first attempt at VR content, Monster of the Deep is a great start to what I hope will be many more VR experiences from them.
The Frozen Wilds expansion for Horizon: Zero Dawn is worth every single penny. Depending on how you play it and the amount of activities you completed you can breeze through it as quickly as 10-12 hours, or spend as long as 20-25 hours completing everything. The environments are spectacular and second to none that I have seen in other video games, with memorizing glacier glows and chilly blasts of icy snow, and the new machines have an added color range which really lights up the screen. Whilst the storyline is not quite as compelling as that of the main game – naturally, it is still a lot of fun to play and feels like it has clear purpose. I highly recommend The Frozen Wilds to anyone who just enjoys good video games, and am thoroughly looking forward to any further expansions that Horizon: Zero Dawn has to offer in the future.
Faith in the Call of Duty franchise – Restored. I am very impressed with basically every element of the game (apart from a few minor gripes about framerate drops and spawn positioning). As someone that was expecting to strongly dislike this game, I am utterly relieved to say that I am very impressed with all game modes and look forward to losing hundreds of hours of productivity playing it. If you are new to the franchise this is a great place to start as there is a real return to form in WWII. Sledgehammer’s take on zombies is refreshing whilst staying true to the identity of the game mode, the campaign is compelling and visually spectacular, and the multiplayer is fast-paced boots on the ground fun.
I’m hooked! I knew I would be before even starting the game as so much about the mechanics of the Destiny franchise appeal to me. There was certainly room for a lot of change that just doesn’t seem to have been utilized, and the expanse of the tower also feels a tad unrealized (it is however, more extensive than that of its predecessor). The general improvements to leveling up, the class system and greatly improved storyline are extremely welcomed and focus on character development really leaves an impression on you. Whilst I love just about every element of the Destiny 2 I do however, feel like I am playing a massive expansion to Destiny as opposed to a completely new game. I know that the universe is the same and there is only so much that can be changed in that regard however, enough is the same that I felt instantly at home again as opposed to playing a completely new entry in the franchise. In saying that I am happy with level of familiarity as I know there is a lot still yet to come that will define Destiny 2 as its own entity. Overall I am very impressed with Destiny 2 and will most certainly be pushing forward with the grind to get ready for the inbound raids and expansions.
Overall Injustice 2 has made many improvements from Gods Among Us whilst staying true to what we loved from the first installment. Even through some of the annoyances that I faced I still found Injustice 2 to be one of the most enjoyable fighting games that I have played. There is a strong storyline with loads of content for both single player and multiplayer preferences, along with great value for money with its replay value.
If you like NBA Street and NBA Jam, you will enjoy NBA Playgrounds. Just be warned though, that unless you happen to be lucky with your location and can join random opponents in the online matchmaking, you are going to be playing this by yourself until future updates expand the game.
Outlast 2 is what I hoped it would be. It’s horrifying, dark, gritty and disturbing. I was left wondering how the concepts that are implemented into this game were even conceived. After the team at Red Barrels gets a chance to relax from launch I think they should all check into a mental health wellness retreat just to clear their heads of the horror they created for our enjoyment. I also particularly enjoyed how Outlast 2 pays homage to other games in the industry such as DOOM and Mortal Kombat, this adds a rather quirky element of humor to these moments in the game. The new mechanics introduced are a major plus, the added layers to the storyline bring a new element to the franchise, and the sense of fear and dread are almost overwhelming at times. Well done Red Barrels, you smashed it out of the park and I will be sure to forward an invoice to you for the many ours of lost sleep I can look forward to from ANY noise I hear in the dark for many weeks to come.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is overall an enjoyable experience, with a stand out combat system and expansive worlds to explore. Where it lets itself down in character animations and dialogue, it makes up for it in the gripping storyline and customization options. I believe that the release time was essentially one of the biggest problems Andromeda has had to deal with regarding its acceptance, due to hitting the shelves after games that are contenders for Game of the Year such as: Horizon: Zero Dawn and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After experiencing games that are almost graphically perfect and storylines that captive you from the word go, it can be quite easy to pick apart what is essentially a very good game, but hasn’t hit the mark quite as well as those released just before it. It is important to push through the first few hours of the game to really begin to experience everything that Andromeda has to offer, and it’s a lot. Fans of the franchise will most likely be as conflicted about their overall feelings as I am however, still be happy with the end result. Andromeda deserves it’s time in the spotlight, as the things that have not been done well are greatly outweighed by the things that have been done exceptionally well.
Horizon: Zero Dawn exceeded all my expectations. From the impeccable graphics to the character development, every aspect of this game compels you to play more. The freedom of the open world coupled with the lore driven storyline is extremely well balanced and flexible. The customization options and variety in quests allows you to linger as long as you like, or push through the gripping storyline to find the answers that you seek. Aloy is a strong and positive role model who inspires you to overcome any obstacle and stay strong during times of hardship. Her character is both refreshing and a powerful influence on the way we see the world as we progress through the game. This is one of the most polished, visually spectacular, and engaging video games I have ever played. The bar has most certainly been raised. Thank you Guerrilla Games, for stepping into the Action-RPG genre, you nailed it!
Halo Wars 2 is certainly a worthy addition to the RTS genre and has raised the bar from its predecessor Halo Wars. The artistic style and cinematics complement each other nicely and are accompanied by a fantastic sound track.
There are only a couple of really minor things that stop me from being able to give Forza Horizon 3 full marks. The Aussie accents leave a bit to be desired, the amount of time you have to play solo before being able to join your friends online I think is a bit too long and the racing simulation aspect of the game is almost perfect but the game certainly leans towards arcade racing more. FH3 is a rocking time, with STUNNING graphics, tons of customization and a never end list of things to keep you occupied. I highly recommend this game to anyone basically as you don’t need to be a fan of racing games to be able to enjoy what FH3 brings to the party. Well done Playground Games, well done.
From the moment you load up Ratchet and Clank you are smacked in the face with absolutely stunning and vibrant graphics. I instantly started smiling and continued to do so for that long I lost count of time. Ratchet and Clank follows on from the original story that we played through back in 2002, however this is not simply a remake/remaster, it's an entirely new experience regardless of if you have played the original or not. Made from the ground up to showcase the power of the PlayStation 4, Ratchet and Clank exceeded all of my expectations which were already set very high based on the trailers I had watched on the lead up to release day.
Blue Estate has taken this technology and run with it, creating a Time Crisis-esqe style game that is full of quirks and humor. This is the first of what I hope will be many next gen rail shooters for the Xbox One. Based on the comics from Viktor Kalvachey, Blue Estate harnesses the motion detection technology in the next gen Kinect to allow you to feel more involved in the game and also proves for some very entertaining moments when you can't quite work out what to do and find yourself doing 'the robot' dance moves unknowingly in front of your family.