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Olly Smith


50 games reviewed
76.7 average score
80 median score
58.0% of games recommended
1.5 / 10.0 - Crimson Earth
Sep 16, 2017

The PC market is already over-saturated with zombie shooters, and Crimson Earth doesn't bring anything new to the table. With enough bugs, odd design choices and crashes to fill a book, you'd be better off sticking to richer shooters such as Killing Floor or Nation Red. Even for the £2.79 price tag, this is really hard to recommend.

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4.5 / 10.0 - Earthfall
Aug 21, 2018

Despite providing the foundations of an interesting multiplayer experience, Earthfall massively holds back on its delivery as a Left 4 Dead successor. It instead sits on a shelf amongst other co-operative horde shooters, unable to stand out as anything spectacular or bring anything new to the table.

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4.5 / 10.0 - Black Mirror
Feb 13, 2018

Black Mirror has potential to be a decent horror puzzle adventure, but its technical limitations and pacing issues prevents that from ever becoming apparent. Its £25 entry fee is steep for the short experience you'll be getting, and the end product feels like a shadow of its former self.

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4.5 / 10.0 - The Search
Oct 4, 2017

For an hour-long experience, the main thing I took away from The Search were cheap puzzle mechanics and quotes by American lecturer Joseph Campbell. If the game's main themes were not as openly sermonising, then I could see the narrative being less tedious and players would get more out of it. But sadly, the extent of the story would have been much better suited as an essay, short film, or poem.

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5 / 10.0 - Milanoir
Jun 22, 2018

Despite hitting a lot of the same notes, Milanoir is not the Hotline Miami successor many were expecting. The game has a lot of style, enough for its 6-8 hour campaign to keep you engaged, but it is hidden underneath a layer of extreme frustration brought to light by its technical issues and extreme difficulty curve.

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As much as I love the Fatal Frame series, I’m not at all hopeful for the future of the series if the publisher thinks this title will renew any interest in it. It’s cumbersome, unfocused and simply not fun to play. Sorry Koei Tecmo; I really love the original trilogy, can we bring them back instead please?

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As a fan of FPS games and a casual fan of the CoD franchise, it pains me to say Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is one of my most disliked entries in the series. The campaign is a huge step down from its original namesake, and the multiplayer has disappointed me on many levels. I know Activision loves to get a slice of the CoD pie every single year, but I still think we’d be better off with fewer titles, bigger innovations.

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Sep 21, 2023

Payday 3’s high-octane action and extravagant heists make it another iconic entry into the heist shooter franchise, but it is ultimately held back by a lackluster user interface, matchmaking issues, and online DRM. While these problems can be addressed in later patches — as Starbreeze proved with its post-launch support for Payday 2, the game ends up feeling a little half-baked in its current state.

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Jun 5, 2023

Amnesia: The Bunker has all these little pieces that work well, but doesn’t fully deliver on its main hook. Fans of the series may be set up for a No Man’s Land of disappointment, where just a few tweaks here and there might make it a much more enjoyable experience. With it also launching on Xbox Game Pass, that might be the best place for it to gain an audience.

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6 / 10.0 - State of Decay 2
May 31, 2018

With hardly any other true zombie survival simulations on the market, Undead Labs present a competent horror game. It's rough around the edges, with many bugs and features that feel lacklustre, and a multiplayer that doesn't fully deliver on its promise, but it's still a fun ride with many other improvements over the original. For all of its faults, it's an adventure you can rely on if you were a fan of the first.

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Altogether, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake feels like it’s exactly in line with what the cartoon has become. The humour isn’t quite what it used to be, the characters are flanderisations of their original counterparts, and the plot is just too weird that it probably won’t appeal to older fans. But the children will love it.

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6.5 / 10.0 - Raid: World War II
Oct 16, 2017

On a whole, RAID: World War II feels exactly like what you'd expect from a Payday clone. It takes less of a political approach than other games featuring Nazis such as Wolfenstein or the upcoming Call of Duty: WW2, and instead moves away from the ‘war is hell' narrative to opt for a more hyper-violent, stylised approach to the subject matter. While the choice of game engine severely lets itself down, there is still much to appreciate if you enjoy other co-operative shooters of its type.

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6.5 / 10.0 - Abermore
Mar 29, 2022

Abermore is a fantastic idea with lots of potential. I love the writing, the comedy that comes through in gameplay, and the whole vibe as a modern Thief. But just like the classic games that inspire it, Abermore comes with its fair share of jank and bugs. Right now that makes it a frustrating experience.

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Nov 7, 2019

For as long as I recall, MediEvil has been a crucial part of my gaming upbringing. It was the first game I ever played; I remember spending long weekends with my dad trying to beat a level. I remember using our horrible dial-up internet to look up cheat codes. I even remember going around the school playground shouting at the other children and muffling my voice like Sir Dan. This is for the fans and it’s not very accessible to anyone outside of that circle. Regardless, it was a big treat to see Sony has not entirely given up on the franchise, and if there’s enough interest, may consider developing a new game altogether.

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7 / 10.0 - As Dusk Falls
Jul 18, 2022

So overall, is As Dusk Falls worth it? It has a captivating story with more than a few rocky moments, but is as close to feeling “genre” as it can get. It also has a lot of shortcomings that might only be saved by the interesting multiplayer features. It’s the perfect game to pull out for any digital or physical get-togethers, but is otherwise a reminder of wasted potential.

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7 / 10.0 - Sifu
Feb 6, 2022

Despite an excellent combat system and intriguing world design, Sifu falls too short of its premise. Regardless of whether you’re playing it casually or going harder, the death mechanic is simply too punishing to be enjoyable. Perhaps with a fairer system, this would make for a better game.

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Oct 25, 2021

So, Age of Empires 4 then. It’s certainly a competently-designed RTS. Thanks to unique units, buildings and technologies, playing around with each civilisation is fun and offers a different experience each time. Unfortunately, with it feeling so similar to Age of Empires 2 but with many stripped down features, it’s extremely difficult for me to recommend spending £50 on this when you can grab Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition for £15.

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7.5 / 10.0 - The Shrouded Isle
Jan 15, 2018

As a combination of both political strategy and Lovecraftian drama, The Shrouded Isle takes this idea and provides a comfortably tense experience whereby every choice should matter but with enough leeway that inexperienced players can still make mistakes. Fans of classic horror literature may be drawn to this game through its distortedly gothic art style and otherworldly premise, but the large difficulty curve may be too complicated for them, even if the repetitive gameplay structure can feel rewarding once you get the hang of it.

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7.5 / 10.0 - Thymesia
Aug 16, 2022

By now we’re definitely starting to feel the effects of genre fatigue amongst soulslikes. And Thymesia certainly reaches a point where it can’t separate itself from the games that came before. However, there is still a lot of originality in its combat systems and world design so that the game doesn’t feel too derivative. It’s just a shame that clunky controls and awkward bugs hold it back.

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7.5 / 10.0 - Evil Dead: The Game
May 20, 2022

Despite its faults, I think I’ll be coming back to Evil Dead: The Game quite often. It’s got a solid foundation for asymmetrical multiplayer that doesn’t tread on the toes of its competitors, while also remaining a fun and cohesive adaptation of the source material.

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