James Berich's Reviews
HITMAN III is a decidedly epic conclusion to the events established in the first two games. It offers fantastic, well-realised locales with objectives that are unconventional, at least by HITMAN standards, to come out feeling fresh. Though in pursuit of this, it has lost a bit of the breadth we've come to expect from the series. Ultimately, it delivers what it promised to - a strong conclusion to the trilogy.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition brings together everything that was lost all those years ago to dreaded licensing issues to remind us of why we missed it so much. It's a fun and quirky beat-em-up, though the lack of online in all the modes offered feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Twin Mirror has an intriguing premise but ultimately fails to do anything remarkable with it. While it's DONTNOD's most impressive game technically, Twin Mirror is a by-the-book thriller that only just manages to scrape through to solve its core mystery that's unfortunately lacking thrills.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is an epic adventure that perfectly leverages the rich, storied history of Greek mythology with a focused and honed version of Ubisoft's now-ubiquitous open-world design. Deviating from the norm, the game's unique design and structure help Immortals be one of Ubisoft's most focused adventures and easily one of their most enjoyable yet.
Demon's Soul is without a doubt one of the strongest PS5 launch titles, providing one of the most challenging, yet rewarding experiences. Bluepoint's treatment, although controversial, is immaculate and represents the best way to experience the classic that started it all.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla blends old and new to create a unique experience and one of the best Assassin's Creed experiences yet. It combines series-best combat, a compelling story, and mesmerising locales to dually offer a definitive Viking and assassin experience.
The Dark Pictures: Little Hope makes an earnest attempt to build upon the formula established by Man of Medan in many ways. It offers an engaging and well-paced story, great characters, and an intriguing yet typical twist that genre fans will no doubt appreciate. Despite numerous improvements to the underlying gameplay and excellent production values, incessant jump scares prevent Little Hope from standing on the shoulders of Man of Medan, instead merely beside it.
Watch Dogs Legion builds upon the solid foundation established by Watch Dogs 2 while adding its own ambitious twist with mixed results. Having literally every character playable is a gargantuan task, and from a gameplay perspective it works to cement Legion as the best Watch Dogs game thus far. Narratively speaking, however, it collapses under its own aspiration to offer an intriguing concept with spotty execution. Regardless, Legion is a triumph for making good on most of its lofty promise and a triumph for the series.
Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One does a great job of setting up some genuinely intriguing plot points while also committing to the aspects that I loved so much about the base game. In the process, it’s bound to frustrate some players – it’s bloody difficult, has more platforming elements and the Marauders just keep on coming – but it’s still more of Doom Eternal and that’s hardly a bad thing.
Windbound is a beautiful artistic accomplishment in terms of presentation, but fails to make good on its promise of bringing together an open-world single-player game and typical crafting-survival elements. Despite attempts to make it approachable for all, it is an ultimately frustrating affair that squanders its potential with the same rigid survival mechanics that we've seen in a lot of other games and that's a real shame.