Chris Harding's Reviews
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.
Bravo Team was supposed to be the next big thing for PSVR. A tactical shooter that you'd spend hours of time playing with your mates. Instead I'll probably spend more time telling people about how bad it is than I'll ever spend playing the damn thing. It's that bad.
It's definitely rough around the edges and it's not comparable to FIFA or PES, but that's not a terrible thing at all. It's a completely new way to experience the beautiful game from the comfort of your living room, and new things always come at a cost. If the player base for VRFC can stay alive, I can definitely see VRFC being a permanent weekend fixture in my house.
Mulaka has ambitions. It has potential. Neither of them have been fully realised in this outing, but there's something there. If it released a generation ago, it'd have been a decent offering. As it stands, there are plenty of better-made indie games in the same vein of Mulaka. Give it a shot if you're genuinely interested in the cultural aspects and don't mind a bit of naff gameplay, but avoid it otherwise.
I've said enough about this in the body of the review. There's nothing I can put here you haven't already read. I'm already wasting my time writing this. It's a bad game.
inFamous: Second Son still carries a lot of the weight of a last-gen release, but with the pretty coat it's wearing it's easy to overlook the few issues it has. Even those crappy graffiti mini-games...
Morphite wants so badly to be No Man's Sky that it takes as much as it can from Hello Games' indie flop without giving anything back. There's little in the way of originality. This is No Man's Sky: Poor Man's Edition - The Low Budget Sequel Nobody Asked For.
I'm giving this one a 'Not Bad'. It's not a terribly bad game and there were some flashes of brilliance, but unfortunatley it's just not quite there. At least not yet. Perhaps a sequel could right the wrongs and get this racer back on track.
X-Morph Defense is a strange one: it doesn't deserve to be as good as it is, and it's very good! Fans of twin-stick shooters will be happy, while tower-defense nuts will also be happy. You take on Earth, you kill the good guys, and you can even do it with a mate in co-op mode. There's a decent campaign, though that's about it. In all, it's a shame there aren't more modes and that the voice acting can be irritating, but if they're my biggest complaints then I say it's a job well done to the developers.
Redout: Lightspeed Edition attempts to fill the void that the big guns aren't willing to. For the most part it does a great job: massive speed, funky anti-gravity racing ships, mind-bending tracks - even some electro music for those who're fans of it. That being said, it's let down by its poor technical performance. Apparently it runs fine on the PS4 Pro, but if you're rocking an OG or Slim PS4, you're gonna have to live with dodgy frame-rates until an update is released.
If you're a veteran airship racer then you'll have no qualms with this collection. It's decently priced, it looks bloody amazing, and it plays like a dream. If you're a newbie coming in fresh as a daisy, take the time to learn WipEout's intricacies and style before you resign it to the bin. What you're getting is effectively three great games at one great price. They're a little old, and at times their clunky, but it's a decent release no less.
LawBreakers is a fast, fierce, fun shooter. It's just a shame that I'm not very good at it! That's not a problem, though, thanks to the objective-based gameplay that's pushed to the forefront of this gravity-bending hero shooter. So if you, like me, are crap at shooters but really want to get involved, LawBreakers will welcome you with open arms. Then its players will crush you with mad floaty parkour skills, but that's all part of the charm. Right?
Nidhogg 2 is insane, but I say that in the best possible way. Simple controls with simple goals make Nidhogg 2 an easy one to recommend. There's a decent single-player challenge, though it's not all that long, and the multiplayer will keep you and your mates challenging each other to duels to the death for a long while to come.
Comet Wars 2: The Kronkoid Wars is a rarity in the console space. It's a RTS that doesn't only work, but excels at what it does. It may not be up there with the greats, and it may not be a "true" RTS when the focus is more on tower defense/offense, but it's a bloody decent game that'll have you punching the air after victory, and slamming your DualShock into the wall after another failure.
Smashbox Arena ticks all the boxes: Fun? Yup. Functional? Yup. Plenty of content? Yup. More content on the way? Yup! You can't go wrong! If you've been itching for a tactical team-based shooter, by default this is the best thing available, but it's pretty damn great in its own right anyway.
Aven Colony bravely attempts to bring a PC-style sim to consoles and, for the most part, it succeeds. Controls and user-interface can make or break such a game, but while the controls are on-point, the performance isn't. The campaign isn't all that interesting from a story stand-point, and you'll need to up the difficulty to get a challenge out of it, but if you're a fan of city building sims then you'll find something to enjoy here.
Infinite Minigolf has the ingredients to make a great little addition to any game collection. There's a solid offering in the single player, and the Creation Mode will just expand the content exponentially. The only problem is finding the gold may take a bit of digging through the crap. If you're a minigolf fan, or just a fan of fun, really, then Infinite Minigolf will suit you to a tee.
CastleStorm VR is a sort of middle-of-the-road release for Sony's fledging platform. It's not going to be a massive hit that'll be remembered fondly as one of the early greats, nor will it be hated by VR enthusiasts on release. It's a familiar experience with the added flavour of VR. An ice cream with an extra chocolate stick is how I'd put it.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles has no right to be as good as it is. I had low expectations going in, but I've come out a believer that pacifistic games have a place in gaming today. If you're looking to just chill out, explore a bright and colourful open world while collecting all sorts of bits and bobs, then Yonder will have you smiling for hours on end.