Shannon Grixti's Reviews
Ubisoft have crafted something extremely special in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and it's absolutely worth the time, effort, and patience to see it all the way through to the end. The references, the tone, and the way it all works with the Switch's portable nature makes it one of the platform's best by a good mile.
Big Bash Boom offers an arcade take on T20 Cricket, but ultimately lacks the variety and content to keep users coming back. While its visuals and animations are the high point, an unsatisfying grind to progress through matches and unlock items, it makes it hard to recommend to anyone that isn't a die hard cricket fan.
Payday 2 is a very competent FPS game that allows you to tackle it in just about any way imaginable. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Nintendo Switch version, the price, performance and the fact that content is lacking behind versions that have been out for years will only make it worth purchasing for gamers who are desperate for a new FPS on the go.
I've had a lot of fun with AO Tennis over the last week and definitely plan on continuing to go back. The core mechanics are promising, gameplay is extremely fun but definitely still a little rusty at this point. If you've played the Top Spin or Virtua Tennis franchises, you'll be disappointed with the features on display, but these are things that can be added over time. I have high hopes for what this game could be with a little more time and I sincerely hope that Big Ant continue to add and improve.
It's hard to recommend 1-2 Switch at $70+. It's a fun collection of mini games that for the most part do a really good job to show off the potential of Nintendo's new Joy-Cons. However, you're only likely to want to play each mini game once and they're that damn cringe-worthy, that you'll only want to pull this game out for a certain bunch of friends or family.
VR Ping Pong is a game that I’ve already sunk a huge number of hours into. It can be incredibly frustrating at times, but it’s also scarily realistic. At times, I would literally go to rest my arm on the Ping Pong table to realise that it obviously wasn’t there. The game can be let down by the PlayStation Move Controller tracking which can lead to you losing a crucial point at times. All-in-all, for $22, it’s not bad if you’re hugely into Table Tennis and have nobody to play with in real life.
Nostalgia will hit hard within the first few hours, but once this fades, you'll realise that Yooka-Laylee is never able to live up to the brilliance that was Banjo-Kazooie. You'll get some enjoyment from the open-world platforming aspects of the game, but the unlikable characters, coupled with a clunky camera among other redundant game mechanics will more than likely ruin the experience for you. I don't doubt that even the biggest of Banjo-Kazooie fans will be left wondering what could have been.
PlayStation VR World’s biggest problem is that it is essentially five experiences that vary from must-play to not being worth your time.
Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a fun collection of games that absolutely anybody can enjoy. The story mode is delightful, although a little bit tedious and repetitive, but doesn't detract from what is otherwise, a nice package.
Starlink: Battle For Atlas is a fun game that adults and children alike will enjoy. The planets are beautiful and the amount of customisations that can be made in the game is impressive. Ultimately, the missions get a little bit repetitive and the Nintendo Switch version leaves a little bit to be desired in the visuals department, but as far as Star Fox goes, this is better than most Star Fox games in recent times.
Super Mario Party has successfully stripped back a lot of the bloat to return it back to the simple, fun and classic game that it was intended to be. At the same time, the game cleverly uses a number of key Nintendo Switch features making it a game that almost anybody could enjoy. Unfortunately, the weirdly implemented online and lack of boards are only thing stopping it from joining the most top tier of Switch titles.
Farpoint is the first game that has made me believe that fully-fledged games could make use of the technology in order to provide a better experience. It's the most in-control I've felt whilst playing a game and without doubt the most I've ever felt immersed in a game world. Farpoint definitely doesn't have the most interesting story, and there's still some issues surrounding the length due to the fact that it is a full-priced game, but Farpoint is going to give gamers a world of hope, when it comes to VR.
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a solid game. It doesn’t do anything ground-breaking, but it’s one of the better games in the PlayStation VR launch lineup.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is an interesting idea and definitely not a bad game.
Mario Strikers: Battle League is a fun time that is easy enough for anybody to pickup and play but still without depth to mean it should keep an audience engaged for a long period of time. It's a little lacking in the single player department, but it's doing some interesting things in the online space to make up for it.
Nintendo Switch Sports feels familiar, yet still remains fun after all these years, especially when played with groups of friends. Whilst the offline offering is a little bit basic, we're hopeful that what's on offer online will take advantage of the easy to play, hard to masters gameplay mechanics.
Mario Party Superstars is a fun, nostalgic ride and will provides hours of fun among groups of friends. However, it's hard not to look at what else could be added when there's such a rich pool of content to pull from, and most other games have launched with more on offer.
At the end of the day, Peril on Gorgon is more The Outer Worlds. Whether that's for better or for worse will largely depend on how much you're itching to re-enter the Halcyon Colony and how satisfied you are with the game as it is. Obsidian have doubled down on delivering best-in-class RPG design backed by fantastic writing and quest structure and a solid gameplay loop, even if it gets there without much of an attempt to break the mould. Hopefully the next expansion throws caution to the wind a little more, but if you're dying to jump back in I can absolutely recommend nipping off to Gorgon for a weekend.
51 Worldwide Games is a solid mini game collection that will definitely be a fun time among family and friends. There’s some inconsistency (as well as some glaring omissions) in the mini games collection as well as some of the confusing control schemes.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is some of the most fun I've had with the new saga of Wolfenstein games, but that came at the cost of the hallmark storytelling that MachineGames has become synonymous with. It's a gratifying cooperative experience that I can wholeheartedly recommend if you have a friend to blast through it with, but I can't provide the same sentiment if you're a solo player. It suffers from a myriad of issues that keep it from being something extraordinary, but that doesn't mean Youngblood isn't worth experiencing if someone can join you for the ride.