Steve Wright's Reviews
I’m not an avid snowboarder by any means, but I’ve found Shredders to be a delight, a quick and rewarding, pick-up-and-play title that I can jump into for some quick runs after bashing my head against Elden Ring for far too long. It’s full of fun, humour and generally a delight to play.
OlliOlli World has something for everyone, be it hardcore skaters, platformer enthusiasts or those simply looking for a chilled out time.
Dying Light 2 faces two big issues at present: technical glitches that can be fixed with a patch, and design choices that will be harder to deal with.
The bundled games are undeniably great, their enhancements solid — but nonetheless, these are old titles pulled off the shelf and given a fresh coat of varnish, and at an additional cost to those who’ve already purchased them at that. Timed for the onset of a whole bunch of new and engrossing titles in February 2022, take a second and reflect before you drop cash on this one. There’s plenty to play right now.
It's strange to see games that become worse after launch, but this is undeniably true for Halo Infinite. Because I trusted that couch co-op, a staple of the Halo experience, would be added in a post-launch patch, I gave the title the benefit of the doubt. I also expected multiplayer seasons to be plentiful, regular and full of engaging cosmetics, maps and modes. None of these things has happened.
Despite all my problems with Infinite, it’s a game made by a single developer (for the most part) that was amazing looking enough that Xbox wanted to tie it to its then next-gen, now current-gen console. While Infinite isn’t available on Xbox Series yet, it will be, and on PC has some amazing visuals that are worthy of your attention.
The whole business model leaves a bad taste in my mouth and otherwise tarnishes a near-perfect, joyful experience. It also makes it that much harder to recommend — I’m loving it right this second, but that won’t be the case in a couple months.
These little niggles aside, a stellar soundtrack from Jeff van Dyck helps to create a sense of calm and zen (that I can only maintain myself for one or two levels at time) as you continue to play voyeur and peek into the lives of the silent protagonist and their loved ones. The anxiety of moving prevents Unpacking from being something I would get stress relief from, but I nonetheless find myself returning again and again to continue its story.
This simple change to the formula equates to a tremendous evolution, one that weaves a storyline in with its teachings rather than simply having you plod along from point to point hitting the A button. Danny Wallace returns as the Assassin Shaun Hastings, and while he doesn’t provide voice-over for every single point on the map, his occasional inclusion is always most welcome. Ubisoft includes imagery from museums as well as its own concept art and research together with images straight out of Shutterstock to create what’s undeniably a unique experience. It’s not perfect by any stretch — accessing the map caused my PC to chug and there’s a bunch of pop-in and flickering when it comes to NPCs. That said, the issues were fairly minor and didn’t detract from the overall experience too much.
In the grand scheme of things, I’d say that NHL 22 is a skip overall, though long-time hockey fans will certainly find enjoyment. And hey — just like NHL 15 before it, this is one of those years that means double Achievements/Trophies because of its cross-generation release. Quite honestly, though, I’d prefer cross-gen play and one Achievement set instead, and that’s a lot coming from Mr 600,000 Gamescore over here. It’s very likely that the matchmaking problems I’ve encountered have been exacerbated by the lack of current-gen console availability; while the Xbox One version is near identical to Xbox Series X in terms of gameplay, I’ll stick to playing the prettier-looking one.
Alan Wake Remastered is a remasterpiece. I caught myself audiably saying, “man, I love this game” over and over while playing. I’ve dipped back in to Alan Wake’s American Nightmare to continue on, and I have a feeling I’ll be scheduling another replay of Control when this silly season quiets down. Remedy’s universe has captured my heart; Remastered certainly holds its own in 2021, but also serves as an impressive reminder of how far the studio has grown since 2010.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is weird, expansive and tricky. I just know die-hard fans are going to love that combination, but I’m not sure about anyone else.
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.