Chris Harding's Reviews
The big standout this year is The Journey. It's a really nice addition to the series and one that I hope EA carries forward to the next game. Maybe a historical story? The rise and fall of one of the greats? Who knows... Bottom line is that it's FIFA and if you're a fan of FIFA, you're going to be fan of this. Simple.
Nasty bugs aside, Watch Dogs 2 is a superb game. A true improvement over the franchise's first outing in just about every sense. A wicked cast of characters backed up by some sharp and witting writing. A visual treat for the eyes and a good mental workout with those mind-bending puzzles. A bloody good game, basically. If you've a gap where Assassin's Creed would normally be at this time of year, Watch Dogs 2 will fill the gap, make another gap, and fill that one too.
Videoball is, in a word, awesome. It's easy to pick up and play but it'll take more than a few goes to master. With four player support on PS4 (more on PC) this could become THE go-to party game. It's basically Pong made for the millennials and I can't get enough of it. I'll say this: I wouldn't be surprised to see Videoball reach the same level of Rocket League in terms of popularity.
Mantis Burn Racing sets out to be a fun top-down circuit racer that you can pick up and play with ease. In this respect it has succeeded massively. It's a fun little game that'll keep you going for hours on end with the extensive career mode, though I imagine this game will get its legs from its multiplayer suite. It's a simple, fun, and unpretentious racer that harks back to the good old days when a racing game was just a racing game. Get a mate or two (local or online) and you're bound to have some silly fun.
Eagle Flight is a genuinely awesome game, and not just an "experience." A decent story mode with the usual collectibles (oh, Ubisoft, never change, darling) and a multiplayer portion that's proper intense makes this a viable purchase. It might seem a little light on content, but in comparison with similarly priced PSVR games, I can't really complain. With a few updates to add in a bit more content, this one could be flapping its wings for a long time.
Robinson: The Journey is sure to divide opinion with its slower gameplay and short running time in contrast with its high retail price. Those aside, the game's a marvel to look at and the audio work is sublime. An action-packed adventure, this is not, but for those who relish exploration and have a keen mind for problem solving, Robinson: The Journey will provide in buckets.
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.
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.
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.
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
As a fan of the original arcade coin-suckers, I can say that Shredder’s Revenge hits the right notes in all departments. However, modern gamers who didn’t grow up with cartridges that needed a good blow and a bang might find the admittedly simple and one-direction gameplay a bit too basic. Basically, if you’ve used a VHS player in real life, you’ll get what Shredder’s Revenge is all about. If you’ve never touched a floppy disk, you might get bored of button bashing by Episode 6.
With a large number of collectibles, endlessly fun gameplay across various modes and a very friendly and approachable aesthetic, Kirby’s Dream Buffet is the perfect couch party game for younger players.
For those of us with fond memories of pushing coins into arcade machines and handling sticky light-guns that only worked half the time - Crisis Brigade 2: Reloaded is great fun, and a throwback to a simpler time of gaming. Even if you're a youngster who has had to go on the TikTokTubeBook to find out what an "arcade" is, you'll have a blast, too. There's enough single-player content and multiplayer, as well as the promise of future content updates to make it worth a download on your headset of choice. Just remember the knee pads.
Marvel’s Iron Man VR is a decent game, no matter where you play it, though I would argue that the Meta Quest 2 version is perhaps the best way to play thanks to its ease of use and cleaner visuals. The intuitive controls, fun aerial combat, and some quality presentation make for a heroic effort by developer Camouflaj, and a worthy addition to any Quest 2 library.
Toy Soldiers HD is a fantastic tower defense game that fans of the genre should definitely play. It's easy to learn, hard to master, and there's a ton of replayability with the lengthy campaign, the extra levels, collectibles, achievements, and survival modes, which I've spent a lot of time playing. The controls for vehicles can be a bit stiff and the lack of co-op multiplayer is a big disappointment, but given how few decent tower-defense games there are on console, it's easy to overlook the very few shortcomings Toy Soldiers HD brings to the table. Now, when are we getting Toy Soldiers Cold War?
After a dozen or so hours in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, I can safely say that it's the real McCoy. This is not a watered-down port to give Microsoft an easy first-party Xbox Game Pass release. It's the real deal and as feature complete as the PC edition, which is quite an accomplishment. A myriad of quality-of-life improvements makes the original game, while still a classic, very much redundant. The only reason to keep hold of the original is to preserve those big beautiful boxes PC games used to ship in. We're in a new age now, and Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is the perfect example of taking an ancient game and giving it just enough love to make it feel almost new, something that many other remasters and re-releases so often miss the mark on.
N.E.R.O: Nothing Ever Remains Obscure isn't your typical game but is instead an experience worthy of your time, provided you've got a bit of maturity about you. The story is excellent, if a little predicatable, and it moves along nicely thanks to the expertly deployed music, creepy yet fantastical world, and strong controls that keep you in the moment. The only real downside I can think of is that its running time is just a couple hours too short for my greedy self.
Mafia 3 is all about Lincoln Clay's rise from the bottom. It's a good old fashioned single player experience that wants you to be suckered in. And you know what? The writers, developers, and actors all deserve your undivided attention whenever a character opens their mouth. Invest in Mafia 3's narrative and you'll be rewarded with a payoff that'll have you begging for more. Gameplay is strong, even if it is a little bit on the samey side of things after a while, but with such a large map to explore and side missions and meaningful collectibles to, er, collect, there's no chance you're getting out of New Bordeaux in under 20 hour
Arizona Sunshine is a little rough around the edges, that much is obvious, but it's still a fun, albeit frightening experience. If you're looking for something a little meatier than some of the crap that finds its way on the PSVR, Arizona Sunshine is a worth a peek.
Far Cry Primal does enough to shake off the feeling that it's just Far Cry 4 with a different coat on. Exploration is the name of the game and the story kind of takes a back seat. Obviously the game follows the Ubisoft open-world playbook to the page and doesn't skip a beat, but it's actually a refreshing palette cleanser to do away with the futuristic shooters that have bombarded the market in recent years.