Ryan Esler's Reviews
It’s not the greatest RTS and it’s by far from the greatest Halo game, but in a world where Microsoft IPs are dropping harder and faster than bloated flies it’s just what I needed. A little MAG blast of hope to combat the monotony. For Halo fans it’s just another fix to an ongoing story; for RTS fans it’s probably on the lower scale of their expectations; and for me it’s an odd beast the bridges the gap.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is a game made for fans; Musuo and Berserk. Berserk fans will pick at the intricacies, or lack thereof, in the story mode and Musuo fans will lament it for the lack of innovation and shallow offerings. It’s a hard sell for either market, but for what it is worth; I did enjoy seeing the characters come to life on screen and flying through levels in the berserker armour.
There’s a great feeling of risk and reward to Sniper Elite 4; you can take risky shots and clear entire maps with just your sniper or you can take on a full battalion assault with a scavenged MP40. With impressive depth and more to do than any other war time shooter in current memory, I would highly recommend the game to anyone.
Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers manages to break its mould slightly with the introduction of a tactical RPG combat system and is ultimately strong enough to tide fans over until the next inevitable instalment.
Ultimately Rise & Shine just didn’t hit the spot for me. Failing to reach the end I often found myself frustrated with no real satisfaction. There was never a grand pay off for my achievements and several bugs relating to dying would often result in completely killing the game and starting several checkpoints back.
Ultimately my time with Final Fantasy XV was spent chasing the very few highs I found among a lot of mediocrity and poor design choices. Realistically, nobody ever enjoys filling their petrol tank, ever. And it’s this obvious lack of thought in design choice that rings true with large sections of Final Fantasy XV, I just failed to see the point in it all.
At this point, all that remains of Dead Rising is the name. A once interesting and promising franchise has been neutered, changed for a more palatable creation. Dead Rising 4 could have been something, anything, but instead chooses to be a “cash in” on holiday season and a further diluted formula.
Watch Dogs 2 might be the best soundtrack and scenic open world game from Ubisoft in recent memory, but inconsistent theme and my failure to really resonate with the central themes prevented me from enjoying it.
Titanfall 2 doesn’t just improve on the original, it leaves it in the dust as it speeds ahead laughing. Leaps and bounds ahead of its competition with a brilliant story to boot. The only thing holding Titanfall 2 back is the release date, it feels like were this released in the summer it would have just a few more players online.
Mantis Burn Racing is a loving note to games like Micro Machines and R.C. Pro-Am. Although it captures the feeling well, it seems to be lacking that xfactor that made those title greats. Best played in small chunks, Mantis Burn Racing is an interesting title to lose a couple of hours too.
Gears of War 4 just falls short of hitting the peak of the series, but as a start to a new trilogy its pretty damn good.
When I first picked up Rogue Stormers I felt a sense of longing for games passed, just like Contra and Metal Slug, but the reality of Rogue Stormers brought those daydreams to a halt. It’s poor execution and rather clunky controls stopped me from truly investing myself and instead started to question should this type of game really make a return.
There are some really great ideas in ReCore and they feel realised, but it never really hits the point where they feel like they have been executed efficiently.
Jotun gives an easily digestible and wonderfully paced journey that is let down by shallow combat. Playing the story itself it deeply satisfying and to see this world come to life is magnificent, I just wish there was more.
Valley is never going to be on anyone’s “Game of the Year” list, but it does have loads of potential. With a little more time in the oven and perhaps a bigger budget this could have been something special. Instead we are faced with a linear game that feels the need to offer value without committing to delivery.
A fighting game that packs a punch and is worthy of the series’ name. Once you see past some questionable animations you’ll find countless hours of fun mixing and matching teams on and offline.
Ultimately, you get what you put in to No Man’s Sky. It takes a load of dedication and searching to get the most out of the world and as more and more players continue through the galaxy it will be amazing to see what everyone finds. That being said if you aren’t one for picking an objective, like finding all a planets discoveries for a tidy lump sum, and need a narrative focus there is no real point to picking up No man’s Sky.
When it comes to Batman, I have some unreasonably high expectations and I am highly aware of it. But I can’t shake the feeling that I am not the only one let down by what Telltale has provided. On one hand they have laid the groundwork for a truly interesting and perhaps more human story that we have seen in Batman games before, but at the same time the delivery of said story doesn’t quite match the potential.
It's not that Carmageddon is a bad game, in fact I am fairly sure that there was a brief moment that I actually enjoyed it(possible onset Stockholm syndrome), but there isn't a single point I could pick out as being good either. The fact that the biggest accomplishment of Carmageddon: Max Damage is that the developers have managed to make seeking out revenge on pedestrians and smashing other characters up in a fit of road rage incredibly dull.
Aheartfulofgames have created something special with Heart & Slash, it’s unrefined and could do with tweaking, but all of that can be forgiven if you are a fan of the genre.