Black Flag presents a game world that is wonderfully historic, yet incredibly fun. Being a pirate is one of those childhood fantasies I'd love to live and ACIV brings me one step closer. Probably as close as I'm going to get without the help of an actual animus.
Enough time, energy and money has been spent on creating Ghosts that it's still a decent game in its own right, but eight games on from COD4, this series seriously needs a revolution to get it back on track as the FPS king.
Even if you really invest in the digital people you're interacting with, there just isn't enough variety in the gameplay to have a truly enjoyable experience. This is an interesting experimental game, and also an acute demonstration of human manipulation. If nothing else, Redshirt will make you appreciate the power of your online actions.
Unless you know you love pinball already, I'd say it's a bit of a gamble. Zen have also included demos of each table, though, so feel free to try them at your own leisure. Overall, this an experience worth trying at the very least, and buying even if it's just for the split-screen.
Some clever puzzles are interspersed with more exciting challenges that are interesting when playing both alone and with friends. There's nothing particularly new on offer here, but it's a decent platform puzzle game, especially on the software-short PS4.
Single-player and multiplayer combined, this is a good package, and certainly one of the highlights of the PS4 launch titles. Unfortunately, it's also a highly typical launch game, in that it does little to actually provide a truly next-gen experience.
Knack has left me a little confused. While at times the game is awkward, annoying, uninspired, and even boring, it also manages to be fun, beautiful and rewarding at others. In the end though, if the question is would I recommend this game, the answer would probably be no. The local co-op is a great addition but not enough to sell the game (let alone a new console), while the gameplay is so old-fashioned you might as well dig out the PS1 and play Crash Bandicoot instead.
This is ultimately something very different and represents a brilliant transferal of typically PC-only gameplay to console. I fully recommend buying Don't Starve on PS4, but if it ever joins PS+ again, then you've got no reason to miss it.
Luftrausers is a good game with an excellent presentation, it's just too repetitive to recommend to all of the gamers out there.
It sums up Bound by Flame well that although you'll be deciding which end of the moral spectrum to play throughout, you're still presented with the same options by the end of the game. This is a badly planned game that clearly suffered from time, management or technical issues during development and is best avoided.
I'm just going to state the obvious to round things up: this is basically Tropico 4.5. There simply isn't enough variation from the previous game to justify its development, let alone the full price tag, so I simply cannot score it too highly. Yet, as mentioned, I can happily recommend Tropico 5 as a game in and of itself. For newcomers to the series the inclusion of multiplayer, the eras system and some decent general balancing work make this the best iteration of Tropico yet. For series fans however, it'll be difficult to see past the lack of innovation. In all likelihood though, like me you'll still have a great time playing it, and isn't that what's most important?
For the Anomaly series as a whole, this seems like an unnecessary step backwards from the fun convoy-leading gameplay of the first two games. As a game in and of itself however, Anomaly Defenders is a capable and fun game that fans of the genre should enjoy. At a low price it's worth a gamble, but don't expect the same inspired experience of Anomaly 2.
While The Western Front Armies could have been so much better, it's still a good piece of DLC in its own right, all for a reasonable price. If you've always been intrigued by the series but felt a little intimidated by the strategy elements, then this is a great opportunity to shake off that fear (seriously, you should really shake off that fear). That is probably the ultimate aim of this DLC, even if current fans will still enjoy it. Still, those same fans will undoubtedly be disappointed by the lack of additional modes and story elements, even if the selection of new maps are all adequately decent. Also, if we could just get a giant DLC pack of co-op Theatre of War missions, that'd be great.
As gamers, we've certainly become a lot more demanding for original and varied content across the stretch of a game, and while repetition and score-beating held up well 30 years ago, it's not the case anymore. For series fans looking for a temporary time machine this'll do the trick, for most other gamers, it's a simple reminder of gaming's brilliant, but dated, past.
The core elements of the game are all very good: story, visuals and gameplay are top notch, but they don't combine particularly well. The lofty ideas of player independence are held back by the need to tell a convincing story and the narrative can conversely be held back by the degree of player agency that does exist. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is an enjoyable short game by all accounts, the sum just isn't quite as good as the parts.
For a group of friends who regularly play together in the same room, this would be an ideal addition to the rotation. It's an ironically fitting tribute to the days of Goldeneye, and one that will have your group in stitches by the end of your first session. Of course, you'll be at it tooth and nail by the second session, and by the third you'll probably be sick of it. While the idea and execution are both excellent, the game just isn't substantial enough to warrant extended play sessions.
It's funny, there's a lot about Beyond Earth that I'm not too sure about and a fair number of mechanics that could be better. Yet it's incredibly playable and just as addictive as every other Civilization game. It's incredibly easy to lose a lot of time while playing, which is a testament to how the game can really get the player involved. It's ever-present that the game has a tendency to force the player down a certain path, lacking the overall freedom of something like Europa Universalis IV. Yet when the path is as beautiful, thoughtful and fun as Beyond Earth, it's not exactly a challenge to walk that path over and over again. It does indeed feel like a reskin of Civilization V, but it's a skin that the game wears quite well.
Randal's Monday is a novel attempt at comedy videogaming, but in messing up the crucial element of a game - that being the interactive experience - it will leave most players frustrated and gagging to play something sensible.
It feels stripped back, but not in a 'finely tuned race car' kind of way, but rather 'old banger that's had more than a few collisions' way. It's a significantly worse game than most of those that have preceded it, with some jaw-dropping omissions and rather dull additions. I had hope that once Yuke's gave over the reigns we would see an new age for WWE videogames, but this isn't the new start that I imagined. 2K15 is a serviceable game, and can be great fun at times (the ability to play with friends is what's keeping the score from dipping below five), but it pales in comparison to the older WWE titles, making it almost pointless to upgrade.
The Eden Games heritage of Ivory Tower shines through in just about every element of the game - including, sadly, the awful story. The social features are also a little underwhelming, and there are much better looking driving games out there. Yet for every stumble, The Crew makes a huge leap. It's so immediate, with very few loading screens, and the fact that you'll probably never race on the same route twice cannot be understated. It's a game changer, and I'm somewhat concerned that I'll never be able to play a normal circuit racer ever again.