Chris Harding's Reviews
The Hong Kong Massacre is a treasure of a game. It’s basically John Woo’s Stranglehold, but as a top-down shooter, and as Stranglehold is one of my favourite game’s of the PS360 era, that’s the highest praise I can give it.
The Grand Tour Game could have been a decent little add-on to a brilliant TV show. Instead it crashes and burns at every turn. You can thank to ‘naff handling for that.
Smash Hit Plunder has a great concept but it doesn’t do a whole lot with it. Smashing things is always fun and it’s even better with friends. Get this one for the multiplayer.
Nippon Marathon is a weird game for weird people. I consider myself to be weird, but this is some next-level stuff. If you find that your tastes in games generally align with mine, leave this alone. If you sit around watching anime on your Hello Kitty TV whilst eating imported noodles with authentic wasabi sauce – go for it, you weirdo.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy offers great value for money with three fantastically presented remakes of classic games. The quality-of-life additions are a nice touch, too, as is the option for dynamic music. The performance could have been a little better, but if you played these games on the original PlayStation then you’ll no doubt be able to look past the very few shortcomings this collection has.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an interesting game. Fun is pushed to the background in place of realism and a dedication to keeping the world grounded in reality. You’re a guest and you have to play by the rules, and Rockstar lets you know this by dictating everything and putting a limit on what you can and can’t do.
Marvel's Spider-Man leans heavily on the tried-and-tested open-world formula, to its benefit and its loss. While it apes those that came before at every turn, it does so in such a way that it doesn't even matter - it's a beautiful Spider-Man game that tells its own story while delivering gameplay that's familiar but fine-tuned. Spend a few minutes swinging around and you'll barely care for the game's shortcomings. This isn't just the best Spider-Man game to do - it's the best super-hero game thus far.
The American Dream is silly from start to finish. Its over-the-top commentary will no doubt rub some the wrong way, but for those of us with a modicum of intelligence, The American Dream is a silly gallery shooter that just happens to mock American gun culture.
Surviving Mars has its flaws, sure, but they're inescapable when you're dealing with complex RTS systems on a console that doesn't allow you to use a mouse. Once you've got the controls nailed down and you've started building your colony, everything just clicks into place. It's a deep, rewarding time-sink of a game that should keep RTS fans happy for many, many sols
Pure Farming 2018 isn't going to change the genre in one go, but it does a good enough job to stand out from the current leader in the farming sim space. It's welcoming to newcomers with an extensive campaign, but it doesn't shy away from the hardcore micro-management that proper farming nuts crave.