James Berich
- Resident Evil (2002)
- Metroid Prime
- Deus Ex
James Berich's Reviews
Falling short of its potential, Still Wakes The Deep's linearity and simplicity of gameplay does disservice to a great concept. Despite this, it's still well worth a look, owing to its stellar art direction, well-written characters and strong atmosphere. The result is an inviting and alluring world that's a joy to take in, even if it doesn't quite scare the player in ways it intended.
While the changes to the ending and some quality-of-life improvements do great work in improving this remake, System Shock still brings with it the thirty years of baggage that the original game did. Despite its resounding influence and its impact on a genre it arguably helped to carve out, the System Shock remake does best with what it has to offer an experience that's authentic to the original game, for better or for worse.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a great remake – implementing a strong shift in artistic direction, engaging co-op options and well-crafted puzzle and platforming elements. Co-op is an especially clever inclusion, and combined with difficulty options, broadens the appeal of an otherwise niche experience to a wider audience. While hardcore players might be let down by the lack of difficulty, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a sensational update that fans of the series and even newcomers will enjoy.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 does precisely what it claims to do - bring the first three Metal Gear Solid games to all major platforms after a much-felt absence. While the technical updates given to each game are scarce, this still represents a great way to get into one of the most important and prolific series in video games. Could there be some more touch-ups to modernise these games? Absolutely. But it's hard to ignore the quality of the games included in this package, and it's a testament to their strengths that, even with slight improvement, they're still as compelling as ever.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp leverages its already strong foundation with some very nice quality of life improvements to offer an almost definitive version of a Game Boy Advance classic. However, limited multiplayer options and uneven difficulty modes stop it from being the best that if could be.
Forspoken offers a unique and thrilling experience with its impressive combat and smooth traversal mechanics. The story and open world may fall victim to the pitfalls of its genre and the largely formulaic side quest design only shines occasionally, but it's an overall satisfying and well-crafted action RPG with fast-paced and energetic gameplay.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me remains as enjoyable and engaging as previous games in the series, though it ultimately squanders its potential with a distinct lack of dread, tension, and surprises. While its more grounded approach is bound to be divisive amongst fans, it's still well worth your time and an enjoyable, if not inconsistently, put-together thriller.
The Chant combines a unique setting and premise with striking art direction to offer an experience that feels wholly unique as a game. While it lacks scares and doesn't quite capitalise on it's unique stats system, The Chant is still a game that any self-respecting horror fan shouldn't miss.
Gotham Knights is both something different and something familiar for Batman fans. While the new role-playing elements create some pacing issues throughout the story, the breadth of abilities and ease of progression stop the experience from being as tedious as it could have been.
Scorn successfully leverages an intense atmosphere with striking artistic direction to offer a horror journey like no other. While combat can get in the way of an otherwise strong offering, and the story takes a back seat to everything else, Scorn is a unique horror experience and a great debut.
A compelling concept and a beautifully realised world, Ghostwire: Tokyo leverages Japanese folklore and a unique combat system to provide a unique open-world experience. While some aspects of the combat feel underdeveloped and the game structure has been done-to-death, Ghostwire: Tokyo's uniqueness helps it stand well above where you'd expect it to.
Little Nightmares II isn't content with just iterating on its predecessor, instead improving on it in practically every way. The puzzles are challenging and rewarding, combat surprisingly functional, and the imagery is as striking as ever. While trial-and-error design bogs down Little Nightmares II considerably, it's far and away a better game than the original.
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.
Journey to the Savage Planet is a concise yet well focused adventure that channels the best bits of games like Metroid and Prey. Despite this, some unsatisfying combat and repetitive locales keep it from being the achievement that it could be.
The Surge 2 successfully builds upon the original game in practically every way – offering a larger roster of bosses, more equipment to pillage, and a bigger, more organic open-world to explore. A few pacing issues and some issues with the visuals aside, The Surge 2 offers a greater variety of experiences over its predecessor and is easily Deck13's best.
Blair Witch is the best Blair Witch game yet. However, its willingness to get you lost can be frustrating despite being so authentic to the franchise. Regardless, despite some uneven presentation, Blair Witch is a passionate love letter to the first and third films in the franchise. It manages to maintain its scares from beginning to end, even if it becomes a little predictable.
Borderlands 3 is what you would expect from a Borderlands game, for better or for worse. It does little to innovate on the now ubiquitous looter genre it helped to define ten years ago and plays it safe. While it's almost the same Borderlands it was those ten years ago, it's still hard to deny that it's a great romp with mates.
The Outlast Trials successfully co-opts the Outlast formula into a multiplayer experience. It does a great job at offering what Outlast does best – macabre gore and tense horror with some genuinely gruesome objectives. But while it's fun to experience with friends, the solo players will find little reason to continue playing after the first program, and reusing some of the stalkers feels like a missed opportunity.
Assassin's Creed Mirage makes great effort to simplify the Assassin's Creed formula back to what it was when it first found popularity. The solid stealth mechanics lend themselves well to creating satisfying infiltrations and the open-ended assassinations are some of the series most engaging contracts. It's just a shame that in scaling so much back, the optional content is lacking and the story ultimately goes nowhere. Still, if you're here for an experience akin to the original Assassin's Creed, you'll find little wrong with Mirage. It's an endearing callback to what made us fall in love with the franchise over a decade ago, for better or for worse.
Lies of P takes a bit to get going but once it does it's an absolute joy to play. While as challenging as you'd expect from a game channeling Bloodborne, its minor improvements help make the experience ever so slightly more accessible. More importantly, it manages to carve out its own niche and is one of the strongest adaptations of the formula that make games like Bloodborne so revered. And while some aspects of it's source material don't translate as well as you'd hope to a video game, Lies of P is a solid action game that's well worth your time.