James Berich's Reviews
Snake Pass is a delicious combination of interesting concept, a solid execution but with room for future potential. A platformer without a jump button sounds absurd, but Snake Pass uses a kooky physics engine and great level design to make it feel as natural as ever. Though sometimes frustrating, Snake Pass is charming and simple, a different experience, even if it feels like it’s over a little bit too quickly.
Mass Effect: Andromeda manages to successfully bring back the sense of exploration and discovery that fans have longed for since the original Mass Effect, whilst honing and improving the already enjoyable combat mechanics of Mass Effect 3. The result is something truly special – a metaphorical slow burn, a hybrid that is sure to appeal to fans of both the original game and its flashier sequels. Despite this, Andromeda is hampered slightly by its lack of visual polish and presentation, which can kill the wonder and fantasy as quickly as it builds it.
Super Bomberman R is not worth the price of admission, but it is a surprisingly solid entry that plays best to the franchises strengths, rooted deep in multiplayer styles of play. While it does it's best to add value to the package, most of this content comes off as incessant filler. Online works, to a point, but if you're not grabbing Super Bomberman R for some fun multiplayer, it's probably best to skip it entirely.
Despite its issues, NieR: Automata is a game that we rarely have the privilege of experiencing. Auteur designer Yoko Taro successfully blends his oddball knack for storytelling, defying typical video game conventions in doing so. This leads to a truly unforgettable story, but the way in which it's told and demands repeat playthroughs is bound to be lost on some part of NieR: Automata's audience. Regardless, NieR: Automata blends strong action and RPG components into an atmosphere and game that's well worth experiencing.
For Honor feels like both a triumph and a failure in some senses. On one hand, it's an exceedingly genuine melee combat experience that manages to leverage the wild and varied styles of the knights, Vikings and samurai in a comprehensive package. The single player is great, if not terse. The multiplayer well designed. On the other, it's let down by consistently disappointing server and networking issues. These can be fixed in the future, no doubt, but for now, For Honor has some more territory to conquer before it becomes truly great.
Sniper Elite 4 is a vast improvement over Sniper Elite 2 and 3 in terms of scenario design and ambition, but there's just something missing. The team at Rebellion have got the combat down. They've got the sniping mechanics down. They've even nailed the traversal mechanics – whether vertical or horizontal. But there's a distinct lack of fantastical set pieces that stunt Sniper Elite 4 from reaching its true potential. Instead, we have some greatly designed, open missions; but ones that grow repetitive by the time the game ends. Issues with pacing and repetition aside, Sniper Elite 4 is still a competent experience, and one of the more authentic and true-to-life sniping simulators.
While it's easy to sit back and write Nioh off as another Dark Souls clone, it's something very different. Yes, it's slightly less challenging to get into, but it's a result of some incredibly synergistic systems that work so well together to improve and smooth the player experience. Nioh is still a difficult game, mind you, but it's an experience that consistently rewards players for performing well.
Resident Evil 7: biohazard manages to successfully consolidate the exploratory, slower paced, tension filled gameplay of the early games with the modernised visuals and technology of today. A new first person viewpoint will prove controversial with more seasoned veterans but such a change allows Resident Evil 7 to feel fresher than ever before. Make no mistakes, Resident Evil 7 is a victorious progression for the franchise which successfully melds new with old. The weight and harshness that technology like Playstation VR brings to the scares and tension is especially welcome.
After spending some solid time with Eagle Flight it's so, so hard to put into words just how I feel about it. The game itself, as an entire package, is an admirable effort. Eagle Flight obviously started out as a tech demo of sorts but the developers have done a great job of expanding it into a full (albeit, lower priced) experience. Eagle Flight does have its fair share of issues – namely whether it's truly worth the price of entry and whether it'll have longevity.
Regardless of what you think about the quality or effort put into this remaster, the underlying games that inhabit Ezio Collection are still very solid games, with a lot of great content to plough through for a reasonable asking price. It's just a little bit of a shame that these don't have the wow factor that improved models or even 60fps might have brought. Still, an improvement is an improvement, if only slight.
Dishonored 2 is a huge triumph, managing to achieve the lofty goal of outdoing its predecessor in almost every way.
Gears of War 4 represents the next level of classic Gears of War gameplay.
The trio of Dead Rising remasters are much harder to indiscriminately recommend to any players
BioShock: The Collection is an amazing effort. BioShock 1, 2 and Infinite all look their very best and plenty of effort has gone into making each of the games stand up to today’s lofty visual standards.
When I first sat down with ReCore there was one burning question that I wanted to answer. Was it a budget game? Was the $49.95AU price point indicative of the game’s quality? For the most part, I’m inclined to answer no.
ABZÛ is exactly what it appears to be – it's a linear game that encourages players to dive into its deep waters and interact with nature.
Song of the Deep is a very mixed experience but one that should be experienced at least once. On one hand you’ve got a breathtakingly beautiful rendition of the deep sea that progressively gets both more intense and intimidating as you descend into its depths. You’ve got a genuinely loveable protagonist with a great journey to undertake. You’ve even got a large map that’s quite fun to explore.
7 Days To Die has a compelling premise and concept that slowly disappears as players begin to play more and more of it.
Coming right off the back of Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 5 is an experience that really should not be missed.
When Capcom released Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City I thought they couldn’t put their publishing name to a title any worse. It felt awfully generic, it didn’t play all that great and it liberally reinterpreted Resident Evil in a way that rubbed me the wrong way as a fan.