Steve Wright's Reviews
The positives easily outweigh the negatives; Deathloop offers up a highly enjoyable gameplay loop shrouded in mystery.
Ultimately, The Artful Escape is so stellar in terms of both character building and narrative
I couldn’t help but giggle at its stupid jokes and wackiness.
Despite its strong narrative focus, Bloodline is a sequel to Pearce’s Watch Dogs but a prequel to the events of Watch Dogs Legion; as such, we (at least partially) know what will happen next. I’m glad we had a chance to dip into Pearce’s journey again, but I’m hoping that any subsequent dealings with the character will be fully forward in time.
Scarlet Nexus isn’t for me, but those who like the frenzy of Bayonetta, the quirkiness of Persona or the aesthetic of Code Vein (but not its Soulslike component) could find something that clicks.
Biomutant ultimately wants you to invest a lot of time and effort in it, and I found a lack of willingness to do so.
Should you play Mass Effect Legendary Edition? Of course you should. This is BioWare firing — for the most part — on all cylinders and hopefully is the dawn of a new resurgence of the franchise (fingers crossed for EA Play 2021!). Get in, get immersed, explore the galaxy and defend it from a once in a 50,000 year occurence. Then head on over to Andromeda to appreciate that before the next adventures in the Sol system take place.
It Takes Two wears a lot of hats, and each of them well. It’s a romantic comedy, a challenging shooter, a head-scratching puzzler and more. While it has a somewhat predictable narrative (less so than A Way Out, for the most part), it’s still charming and full of Pixar-like whimsy. Find a loved one and get into this one; you’ll certainly be glad you did.
Little Nightmares 2 is certainly polished and beautifully stylised, but it didn’t offer me a new experience. While many on-screen antagonists snared me in their traps, it itself didn’t grab me. I far prefer the titles I mentioned before — Limbo, Inside and Unravel — over this, but fans of this genre will certainly feel differently.
Despite an improved narrative when compared to Layers of Fear, The Medium does drag on a bit — especially near its climax — and resorts to a couple lazier puzzles at around that same point. On the whole though, The Medium is a rather enjoyable experience, especially for those who are fans of any of the myriad survival horror franchises I’ve already mentioned.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World The Game Complete Edition is perfect for fans of the original game, the Scott Pilgrim franchise itself or fans of beat ’em ups. It’s available on Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S & X, PS4, PS5 and Switch from 14 January. Priced at $22.95 AUD, you can’t go wrong.
If I’m being honest, Twin Mirror is DONTNOD‘s most experimental work in a long time, though it also pales in comparison to previous outings. That’s not to say it isn’t good, it’s not just great. With such a high bar to hit, coming off truly impactful games, Twin Mirror just doesn’t quite manage to hit the same calibre (The Adventures of Captain Spirit FTW). I’m also disappointed that — based on previews and promos — I believed it had a Twin Peaks vibe didn’t follow through to the full release, but I’ll largely take responsibility for that one. Those who enjoy DONTNOD‘s work will certainly enjoy this, but those getting into the genre for the first time should consider this game’s predecessors before it.
Though it liberally borrows from Breath of the Wild, Immortals Fenyx Rising is fresh and fun, offering up an exciting new IP I hope to see more of. That said, its endgame pacing issues certainly don’t do it any favours, nor does the timing of its release.
The same feeling of repetition is present throughout Devil May Cry 5's story, basically becoming background noise as you move from encounter to encounter.
Spider-Man Miles Morales is a tight little package that provides a thrilling Spider-Man experience, trimmed of nonessential fat and full of emotion and excitement.
While still creating horror games with fairly visible flaws, Little Hope is a vast improvement of Man of Medan. With another — and perhaps the last — in The Dark Pictures anthology seemingly teased by the mysterious Curator in this one, I’m rather excited to see what Supermassive learns for next time around.
Griz said how amazing Tetris Effect can be in VR, but I’m happy enough just playing with the sights and sounds emanating from my TV. If Xbox isn’t your bag, you’ll be pleased to know that Connected will eventually be coming to your platform — and that includes your VR platform — of choice soon, and for free at that. Everybody wins.
After a couple different track designs and laps, we’d had our fun with the tech, but I’d imagine children wouldn’t tire (pun intended) of Mario Kart Live Home Circuit‘s novelty quite as quickly. It’s largely targeted for that demographic, we’d say, a creative and novel way to spend time in whatever level of lockdown you’re currently engaged in.
There’s no denying NHL 21 is a tight little package — in fact, it’s been years in the making (click that and thank me later) — but that’s because EA Vancouver is doing everything it can to refine a polished hockey game year-on-year. NHL 20 introduced or improved most of the items that feature inside this, so unless you’re super into single-player modes like Be a Pro, you could get away with buying it instead of this. If you’re into multiplayer, well, you have to upgrade; I don’t need to convince you. I’m ultimately rather pleased with NHL 21, but still have to throw some shade at EA for choosing not to support this on next-gen consoles in any way. Boo.
Simply put, It’s About Time manages to capture the feeling of old school, challenging Crash games of old while adding a modern spin to increase enjoyability for those of us who don’t enjoy bashing our heads against a brick wall when difficulty skyrockets. It’s full of quirkiness, humour, and is a worthy sequel in comparison to Naughty Dog’s previous outings. Kudos to Toys for Bob.