Gareth Brierley
If you’re seeking a tense and atmospheric horror experience, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is an excellent choice.
It’s for games like this in which I bought an Xbox Series X; the reason I love playing games. This is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
I could have done without the stealth sections but if you are truly after a new experience that takes you to a far away land, Chants of Sennaar will be right up your street.
Frank and Drake is a unique example of indie gaming at its best, mixing great storytelling, unique artistry, and good puzzles in a delightful combination.
Varney Lake is a charming addition to an interesting game franchise. Seeing returning characters come back with a fresh new story to tell, working an X-Files and Stranger Things vibe, isn’t a bad thing at all.
If you are after a night of horror and are looking to play something a bit different with unusual gameplay techniques, The Childs Sight might be worth a punt, mainly as it's very cheap to pick up. The sound design is excellent and the concept is unique, but for me the gameplay wanes quite quickly and eventually you’ll become more frustrated than scared.
For the price asked, ADVERSE is good for what it is – a trial action-adventure game for skilled gamers to flourish with.
TAURONOS on Xbox is a game that I have enjoyed playing, particularly due to its old-school visuals and fascinating take on the old great myth. I like the idea of being stalked by one creature and experiencing a hero’s strange journey to escape the maze. However, some of the traps are utterly unforgiving and having to restart the game from the beginning makes things tiresome.
Jet Kave Adventure on Xbox is something that you’ll begin to enjoy the more you progress. The extra gameplay features that are brought about via the use of the jetpack add a new dimension to the platforming genre and manage to give the game a sense of urgency and speed.
Spending time in the Bermuda Triangle with Down in Bermuda on Xbox is tremendous. It's a game where you can just kick back and relax, solving puzzles in your own time without anything trying to kill you, or you ever needing to worry about silly time restraints.
So, Cyberpunk 2077 on Xbox. This is a game I had been looking forward to for what seems like a lifetime, and it was never going to live up to the high expectations that CD Projekt Red, I or the world as a whole has been putting on it. It’s a great RPG, but at the same time it doesn’t do anything grounding breaking in terms of style and gameplay. Yes it has bugs, there is an annoying UI and I can’t ignore the mission stutters, but similarly it’s a game that I constantly think back to when I’m not gaming, looking forward to my next deep session with it.
The Complex on Xbox One is a good sci-fi experience that delivers a decent tale about pharma-terrorism with many complex and interesting themes running throughout. The production values, acting and the script are all very good and it’s a very enjoyable yarn, with all this helped by the fact that there are several different – and hugely interesting – outcomes in place. But the actual choice-driven gameplay has not been able to make me feel connected to the story enough
If you’re looking for an strange little alternative to No Man’s Sky then look no further than The Long Journey Home
Instead, it has a very unique tale to tell, a brilliant concept for a platformer and some interesting game mechanics that both innovate and surprise
For me, the visuals, gameplay tweaks and huge array of sandbox elements to have fun with put Farming Simulator 19 right up there in the farming entertainment world
The whole Heavy Fire: Red Shadow experience feels like it should be on VR, and that may well be the best way to get anything out of this turret shooter. The price is too high as well – at least for anyone to take a punt on – and even though it does nothing wrong and all appears to work fine, it does become very repetitive quite quickly
It’s different though, and that should be wholeheartedly applauded, however I’m afraid the gameplay just becomes too repetitive for any long term bull riding fun
The sandbox elements, the amazing level design, and variety of gameplay options on offer are all superbly crafted and highly addictive, but I do think that fans of the previous game may well look at this more like a Version 1.5 of the previous title
If you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft’s work then I feel this is one of the best experiences out there, simply because it loves its source material. Yes it’s a linear journey and you’ll struggle to find much in the way of replay value, but that’s okay because it’s a welcome breather from the huge open worlds that are dominating the games scene
Neonwall is one of those games that is fun to pick up and play, if only so you can have a quick go every now and then