Ben Salter's Reviews
Any new ideas have clearly been held back for when the new consoles are actually obtainable by the masses, but FIFA leaves the Xbox One and PS4 in a pretty good place — and with some extra pace — in 2020/21, still with plenty of scope to go from good to great next-generation.
The tweaks mostly relate to Toadette/Peachette and Nabbit as playable characters, but nothing really stands out.
With options to enable or exclude CPU racers, local multiplayer is the best of everything in Fast RMX, and at a very reasonable price. Even if you're pencilled in Mario Kart's encore as your multiplayer racing game on Switch, there's plenty of time to get in some quality time with the budget Fast RMX.
It’s an uncompromising old-school brawler than manages to feel both out-dated and timeless in its brutal gameplay, but that’s only part of the package. Yakuza 0 is all about its characters, with a compelling story that grabs you and won’t let go.
The Resident Evil 4 remake is a darker, more intense and safely faithful remake of one of the greatest games of all time. It’s the best way to play for new players with updated controls and a modern styling. It avoids the missteps of RE3 remake by staying very true to its source material – so close that it's reluctant to make improvements for fear of changing too much.
While combat may become repetitive, it’s more than serviceable, and fits in against the backdrop of an action-RPG that’s about so much more than killing goons — even if there is a lot of that. It’s a game that finally lets you live your dreams of 20 years ago, with a chance to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and have your own magical adventure.
Outside of those missteps, the remaining missions are all top notch and that’s why they’ll be spoken about less – they meet the lofty expectations of a Modern Warfare campaign. Infinity Ward has deliberately varied the pacing to avoid monotonous murdering, and while it doesn’t flow quite as well as Modern Warfare 1, it’s a nice mix that compels you to keep playing just one more mission until suddenly the credits roll. That’s Modern Warfare 2’s campaign. It isn’t as innovative as past Modern Warfare games, nor does it have as many iconic moments. But for the most part, it’s a unified campaign that nails what Modern Warfare should be. Fans of Call of Duty campaigns won’t be able to put their controller down.
While it’s on the shorter side, the collection of well-designed stages are perfect for pick-up-and-play short burst gaming, and that’s exactly what I need right now.
Mario Party Superstars succeeds with a fresh coat of paint and just the right amount of quality-of-life improvements to keep it familiar yet far more accessible than dusting off your Nintendo 64. You just can’t beat Mario partying like it’s 1999 (and 2000 and 2001).
Skyward Sword HD is more about updating a game designed for the Wii’s waggle to work well on a handheld and with a conventional controller. With that focus, it delivers a version of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword that is much easier and more natural to play from start to finish.
While the gameplay remains strong, and is improved in this Deluxe repackaging, Pikmin 3 is visually a dated game, and it’s a shame Nintendo refuses to remaster last-gen games, whilst still charging full price. Nevertheless, the cracks are covered up to a degree in handheld mode, as Pikmin 3 almost rounds out the full Wii U collection on Switch.
I had high hopes for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and it delivers across the board.
Like Ashes Cricket before it, Cricket 19 takes a good thing and touches it up. Its strength is definitely when bat meets ball, which is largely the same as Ashes Cricket, but its focus has been on enhancing everything around that.
It's easy to overlook, but the most meaningful enhancement is the overhaul of Kick Off
Battlefield 5 is a fantastic multiplayer experience, especially across the fan favourite Conquest and large-scale Grand Operations.
Blackout is just right, and the best battle royale game on the market./
Ashes Cricket is the best cricket game ever made, enhancing the foundations of the Don Bradman Cricket series, rather than starting afresh.
There's no denying it's safe across the board, but that safe mix of new meets old is what makes WWII a great Call of Duty game.
Samus Returns is my favourite 2D Metroid game since Super Metroid, and feels the best to play of any of them, but it's hard to evaluate on that front.
Don Bradman Cricket 17 expands on its pioneering predecessor with the fundamentals of cricket translating to fun, challenging gameplay. Batting and bowling are similar, but better rounded, and the introduction of female cricketers has been given the utmost care. The career mode is much deeper, and the customisation options are off the chart — it’s a cricket game that gives you back what you put in.