As challenging and frustrating I found some of the stages in Aaru's Awakening, I felt a sense of accomplishment seeing my name listed on the top ten. Bosses slow down the relatively fast-paced stages, too slow for my likening, but still provide a unique take on platforming encounters.
You're enjoyment while planning the big escape in The Escapists depends on how much you enjoy building out your own fun in a sandbox prison environment. Watching a plan unfold is undoubtedly satisfying, but putting the plan in motion can be tedious. According to the developers, the game will eventually allow gamers to create and share their own prisons, given you a reason to keep the game installed long after you've escaped the included eight prisons.
The Order: 1886 will embrace you in a unmatched cinematic experience and the shooting mechanics are solid. The overall short time you are actually "playing" the game is a major disappointment. There are no advancement options for weapons and the only collectibles in the game are audio logs, photographs and newspapers. There are trophies for finding them all, but no indicator of which items you may have missed. Let me be clear: I did enjoy my time spent with the title, but with no clear reason to trek through the adventure multiple times, combined with the fact it can be beaten in a single afternoon, The Order: 1886 is a rental at best.
Hand of Fate is an entertaining adventure that will impress tabletop fans and action RPG fans alike. The combat is solid, although a bit on the simple side, but the game provides a deeper challenge about halfway through the game. Earning tokens even when you lose helps with progression and every new card you gain can mean the difference.
Although the similarities are easy to see, Dying Light is set in a darker, grittier, and more realistic world than the bright and colorful island from Dead Island. Combat lacks limb interaction, but still allows you swipe legs with baseball bats or cave skulls in with heavy items. The game peaks when you are playing with a few friends, either completing missions, challenges or just roaming to uncover all the secrets of Harran. The mission structure leaves a lot to be desired, but throwing additional players into the mix keeps the game from feeling like a chore.
Citizens of Earth is an enjoyable charming retro-inspired RPG with clear inspiration from the SNES classic EarthBound. There are occasional pacing issues, as certain areas seem to be padded with additional areas and enemies. The writing hits the mark throughout, making jokes about the political system and the occasional pop culture reference.
Playing with a friend, either locally or online has been my highlight with Pure Pool. Being able to adjust the angles and power of your shots feels smooth without the restraint of on-screen meters. The way the balls react to the other balls on the table, reflect the lighting of the bar, as well as tuck neatly into pockets and softly touch the edges of the table is satisfying. At any point in a game, you are able to instantly update the color and decals of the table, as well as your pool cue (once unlocked). Pure Pool is a great addition to the Pure series, and the most realistic pool game to date.
Costume Quest 2 makes key changes to the way battles unfold, removing the unique play style of each costume. The streamlined mechanics work to the game's advantage, especially when you are trying to focus on bonus attacks, as well as blocking and countering. The dialogue is well-written, but the last hour or so of the game falls short of expectations. Parts of the narrative aren't explained as well as they should be, and the last battle in the game occurs rather abruptly.
With a minimalistic approach to the visuals, Race the Sun is quite pleasant to look at, even if the amount of colors are kept to a bare minimum. As you progress, the obstacles in the landscape become increasing more complex with a plethora of moving parts. Shapes will get increasingly taller, producing greater areas of shadows. For only $10, the endless replayability of Race the Sun is well worth the price. Excuse me; Race the Sun is calling my name.
Skylanders has always focused on collecting various figures and even more apparent in Trap Team. You'll still come across in-game videos that show off new special moves and Skylanders you haven't encountered. As the villains are the best part of the game, you'll want to purchase traps for each element type. Each trap can only hold one villain at a time, so you'll have to switch them out between levels.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is an enjoyable collection of different cases putting you once again in the shoes of the one man that can solve them all. The synapse style deduction board is a giant leap forward for the series, allowing you to finish cases with inaccurate information. I did end up sentencing an innocent man to death, but the game does allow you to go back and adjust your conclusions before proceeding to the next case.
If you are looking for a new multiplayer game to play on your PlayStation 4, Anomaly 2 may not fit the bill, unless the population increases. The narrative missions provide a challenging experience, even for veterans of the traditional tower defense genre and Anomaly series.
Worms Battlegrounds brings the chaotic Worms multiplayer experience to the new consoles for the first time in a solid package. I still think Team17 needs to add everything missing from the classic 2D games, but shows promise with the integration of the online clans.
I found Daylight a better survival horror experience than any of the other titles that fall into the same subcategory. The game may only last a couple of hours, but the randomness of each playthrough and modest price point make Daylight an enjoyable and tense experience.
Tiny Brains succeeds in providing a resurrecting to the on-the-couch party genre, which I haven't enjoyed since the original Mario Party. Although the game is functional with less than four players or when playing online, the experience is completely different. I'm a huge supporter of online multiplayer, but Tiny Brains is the perfect game to spend a weekend playing with friends and family squeezed together in the same room.
Killzone: Shadow Fall will be best known for the visual showcase on day one of the PS4's launch, but looking past the graphics, the game boosts a very solid multiplayer experience and lengthy campaign. The campaign can be frustrating at times and the pacing is inconsistent, especially late in the game where it feels like you are defending a room against waves of incoming Helghast soldiers every 20 minutes.
As with many of the next-generation launch titles that released on last-generation platforms simultaneously, the content in the game remains virtually untouched. The most notable difference is the sharper looking visuals, running at a smooth 60fps at 1080p, compared to the PS3 version of game that was limited to 720p.
The Masterplan offers a completely open-ended approach to all of the game's heists, allowing you to return to the locations to test out different tactics. Heists may feel repetitious if you happen to replay them without changing your tactics. I've completed each of the heists multiple times however, using different tactics each time helped kept everything feeling fresh.
The sheer amount of things that can be done in Harold is astounding. I never thought an endless runner game could become as complex as the game Mood Spider has created, and yet I've found myself drawn to the challenge. Even after acing the practice segments, adding in the additional racers creates a new dynamic. Less hand holding and full on old-school experience, Harold's gameplay is only surpassed by the top-notch animation and vibrant visuals.
Through all of my success, Constant C remained a frustrating experience, from cheap deaths, to my own ignorance by rotating the environment in the incorrect direction. Constant C provides an enjoyable and challenging experience that will have you literally standing on your head thinking of a solution.