Luke Lawrie's Reviews
The franchise's first-person foundation is beefed up in some areas but weakened in many more.
While all of these new additions are great, these expansion sets end up segregating the community between the haves and the have-nots.
If you enjoyed the last game in the series then Just Cause 4 will give you a lot of fun creating explosions across the world, it just doesn’t push the series in any meaningful direction.
There’s some fun to be had in Watch Dogs Legion, but it becomes so repetitive that by the end of the game everything feels like a chore — one I was desperately wanting to be over hours before its credits rolled.
Although I might seem down on Aliens: Dark Descent, there is a great game here under the inconvenience that is the main systems constantly getting in your way of trying to have fun. Balancing this out so scenarios aren’t piling on top of one another at the same time would definitely alleviate some of the frustrations I had being gated into outlandish fights. With a game where permadeath for characters is such a vital component, having bugs and technical issues that cause you to lose progress can be gut-wrenching, and it’s something I experienced far too often. Aliens: Dark Descent isn’t exactly what I had hoped for, but there’s plenty of room where improvements can be made.
It’s not its appearance that lets Driveclub down, it’s the racing and all bits in between. The handling of the cars feels solid but the racing aspect is overshadowed by the frustrating A.I. opponents. Its main draw is supposed to be playing the game while online – but this is far too annoying as you get flooded with notifications. Ultimately there are games out there that have done a much better job with asynchronous multiplayer like Need For Speed’s Autolog system. When you sit down and play Driveclub you can see that it had potential, but it still feels like its missing too many components. In the end Driveclub is an incredible looking driving game, but it’s not a good racing game.
I did not enjoy my time with Far Cry 6, and I couldn’t believe how quickly I lost interest with it. Not only is it disappointing because of the calibre of games that have preceded it — which I’ve had immense amount of fun with — but what it could mean for the franchise going forward if this is the direction Ubisoft continues it in. Too many of its mechanics have been streamlined to the point where they are oversimplified, and there’s a lack of innovation when it comes to ways in which to engage the player in interesting ways. I found all of the repetitive tasks you’re asked to check off a list extremely dull, and even its story couldn’t hold my attention.
In a world where developers are getting used to working from home and games are being pushed back due to the global pandemic, EA decided that Battlefield 2042 was ready for this year. It’s not. More time is needed to fix a lot of the problems, but even then that might not be enough to save it from being one of the most lacklustre Battlefield titles yet.
Crackdown 3 feels too similar to the game that came before it; it's like Sumo has made Crackdown 2 again
Friday The 13th: The Game has the potential to be a great game but sadly it's not right now.
My experience with Aliens Fireteam Elite was frustrating, but aside from the technical issues I still don’t think it is very good. The repetitive nature of the missions, a lackluster atmosphere that is missing the horror and tension from its source material, and a boring gameplay loop which doesn’t evolve at all over the course of the handful of hours it takes to complete. Aliens Fireteam Elite is an uninspiring and dull game that should have been shot out of an airlock.