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Jay Ball

Melbourne
Ballzup
BallzupJB

Favorite Games:
  • Oddworld: Strangers Wrath
  • The Last of Us
  • Portal 2

31 games reviewed
66.0 average score
70 median score
34.5% of games recommended

Jay Ball's Reviews

It takes a special type of game to blow me away. A combination of good handling and quality visuals isn't nearly enough. I'm moved by well crafted narratives and characters that the player can connect with. I need to be left thinking about a game long after I'm done with it. Play the Last of Us or Spec Ops: The Line to understand what I mean.

Currently, I’m roughly 9-10 hours in to Suicide Squad and I feel pretty confident I’ve seen all that it has to offer by way of gameplay. To be honest, I don’t really want to spend any more time with it. That not how this works, of course — I’ve not yet spent enough time to properly score this fairly and accurately because we received our review code three days after the refund window closed on the die-hard DC fans that forked out ridiculous sums for early access, and only 13 hours before its general release. Do what you will with that information.

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Jan 12, 2024

Prince of Persia The Lost Crown graciously blends the best components of previous iterations -- the original game included -- into what is easily the best Metroidvania game we’ve seen in recent years.

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8 / 10.0 - Starfield
Aug 31, 2023

For the sheer size of it, the beauty of the hundreds of different landscapes you can explore and the always engaging missions, Starfield is a massive technical achievement.

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Feb 27, 2023

Horizon Call of the Mountain is absolutely beautiful and features some fun moments, but it bears repeating that it in no way feels like an $80 AUD game; it barely feels like a $60 AUD game and should have been included with the PSVR2 without an additional cost. It’s without a doubt a fantastic way to show off what the PSVR2 can do (eye tracking aside as it’s only used in menus and dialogue sequences). When your friends come over to check out your new toy they’ll come to see Horizon Call of the Mountain, but they’ll stay for Gran Turismo 7. While this offers fans a literally alternate perspective into a universe that many really love (myself included) and is a fantastic as a tool to show off the PSVR2, it lacks depth as an actual game. Challenge and balance are overloaded with tedious climbing sequences and not enough of the fun stuff.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Dead Space (Remake)
Jan 26, 2023

This new version of Dead Space is one of the few remakes that has managed to slot in that little window of time where it’s not been too soon or too long since the release of the original. It brings with it nostalgia, and almost enough change to make it feel fresh and familiar at the same time. For some this will be good news, for others not so much. For me, having loved every minute of only a single play through back in 2008 I was elated by the fact that I had pretty much forgotten almost all of the details in the game.

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5 / 10.0 - Splatoon 3
Sep 7, 2022

Splatoon 3 adds nothing of significance to the series, which is quite disappointing considering that it, as a whole, was bursting with originality when it first launched.

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Sep 28, 2021

This is the kind of game a cheap uncle buys a kid for Christmas out of the bargain bin giving little thought beyond, “little Timmy likes cars so I’ll buy him this thing.” Sadly, it will only keep kids entertained for as long as it takes them to realise the odds are stacked against them. While some real passion has gone into the transition of some much-loved toys into digital form, the challenge of Hot Wheels Unleashed is just too great for its target audience. Without significant fixes, it will do little more than frustrate all who pick it up.

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6.5 / 10.0 - Doom 3: VR Edition
Mar 28, 2021

While VR definitely makes things better by making the the world feel a little more real, the enemies feel a little larger and adding in the ability to free aim your weapons — all without being too gimmicky — it’s not enough to warrant a purchase of new VR gear if you don’t already have it.

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9.5 / 10.0 - Cyberpunk 2077
Dec 8, 2020

The most important thing that everyone needs to know about Cyberpunk 2077 is that while it’s imperfect, it is without a doubt a superb game.

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Nov 19, 2020

The Zelda devout have already decided to to buy this game and I hope they love it. Everyone else might want to spend some time with the demo first.

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Sep 3, 2020

As a recreation it highlights how good the original games were for their time. Challenging, original, addictive and damn fun to play.

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9 / 10.0 - DOOM Eternal
Mar 18, 2020

I can’t emphasise how much fun Doom Eternal is to play and that’s what really counts.

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Feb 14, 2019

Despite changes to the formula, New Dawn is still very much Far Cry at its core.

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Jan 18, 2019

Due to its niche nature, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown won’t be for everyone. You’d really need to love this style of game to get the full benefit of it. That being said, it’s a well crafted addition to the genre and may very well make some some new fans of aviation titles that were otherwise not interested

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Oct 16, 2018

Combat against all the bosses is both challenging and rewarding. There's great variation between all enemies in their look, how they fight and how you need to behave with each

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7 / 10.0 - Mega Man 11
Oct 2, 2018

Mega Man 11 is as challenging, fun and frustrating as every other game in the series in literally every single aspect.

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Jul 30, 2018

I envy anyone out there experiencing No Man's Sky for the first time this month.

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5 / 10.0 - Danger Zone 2
Jul 13, 2018

Danger Zone 2 isn't quite as much fun as I remember Burnout being.

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1.5 / 10.0 - Bravo Team
Mar 6, 2018

It's poorly made and is, hands down, the worst game I've ever played. The fact that the end credits didn't include a personal apology because you simply made it to 'em is astonishing.

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Oct 26, 2017

The best in the series, by far.

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