Chris Harding's Reviews
No Man's Sky aims to capture your imagination and throw you into an adventure like no game has ever done before. It succeeds in creating a scarily vast universe in which you, the player, feel so tiny and insignificant. The thought that you'll never see another human is equally depressing as it is awesome. You know there's others out there, but the most interaction you'll ever have is landing on a planet called 'Your Mum'. It's a drag at times, especially once you dedicate yourself to getting to the center and seeing what all the fuss is about, but it's not really the end goal that matters, it's the journey. If you're a fan of exploration games, go for it.
While my experience with Windlands may have been a short-lived romance that ended as all such things do: lots of puke, lying down... A few tears... It's still an excellent game that really shows what can be done outside of the done-to-death first-person shooters that VR and motion controls tend to attract. It's a lovely world to get lost in and I'm hoping that I'll be able to revisit this old flame one day in the future.
The story is quite meaty and definitely worth playing through more than once, even if it's just for the cheap thrills. It's a truly terrifying experience, and now after having been inside a horror game, I don't think I'm ever going to be wimpering at anything on a regular 2D screen. That's VR, baby.
Batman: Arkham VR may seem like a glorified tech demo, but it's actually got a lot going for it and you'll get more than your money's worth after finishing the story and having a mooch around for the collectibles. It's a good looking release, too, and it does a great job at not only thrusting you inside the murky world of Gotham, but actually making you feel like a bad arse Batman. Top job, Rocksteady. More please.
Dexed is a nifty little game that'll get you moving your arms about like a bit of a div, but it'll also fire up a few brain cells as you try not to bugger it up. It's not the mindless shooter you were expecting, but trust me when I say that it's worth a punt at a penny under a tenner.
Snake Pass is a charming little game indeed. It takes the familiar collect-a-thon formula and turns it on its head with its fresh take on the genre. If you're hankering for an old-school platformer with some light puzzles, slide right on in with Snake Pass.
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.
That's You! is a simple quizzer that's dressed up pretty, to put it simply. It's a smart move to let players play by using their mobile phones, and I can definitely see it being a go-to game for when the extended family comes to visit. Questions range from mundane to bizarre, but the real fun will be authoring your own questions and getting to know your friends and family a little more than they'd like...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
GORN is good fun. It’s not clean fun, mind you, so you’ll have to watch out for younger players, but it’s good-natured and it works well on the PSVR hardware. The controls are decent enough, but the hardware does pull it down a touch from the PCVR version. All said and done, I highly recommend GORN for PSVR players looking for their next sweat-inducing game.
Saints Row: The Third Remastered is ridiculous in so many ways. It’s over-the-top to the point of parody. It’s hilarious, it’s outrageous, and it can be quite offensive to delicate souls. It’s not perfect, but it’s a bloody good game made better with a few coats of new paint and polish.
Windbound may look like a Zelda knock-off, but it has a lot more going for it. The core gameplay is solid as a rock, and aside from some niggles with combat and the pressure to survive, it’s a really fun game.
Watch Dogs Legion is a fantastic continuation of the franchise. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel with its gameplay, even if it does flip tradition by ditching a main character to follow. The new systems in place work really well and hacking around London is as good as it ever was in previous games. Where next?
Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection is the best possible way to play three of the finest games from the series. It's three great games - well, Revelations was good... - for a fair price in my book. Newcomers will have a ball exploring and learning the lore, while old-hats like myself will sit seething in silence at Ubisoft for distancing itself from what made the early games truly wonderful.
Ancient Amuletor may look like just another shooting gallery cobbled together for the PSVR, but once you look a little deeper you'll find a tactical shooter with a surprising amount of depth. It's best played online with a few mates, mind you, as the single-player will only keep you going for as long as the campaign lasts, which isn't all that long, unfortunately.
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.