Brodie Gibbons's Reviews
This quaint story about a workaday crow discovering that death is a force of nature that without discrimination takes all, both good and bad, winds up being far more memorable and touching than I could have ever expected. With a world and characters full of Miyazaki-proportional charm, and combat and puzzles that offer up a real test, Death's Door is a beautiful sophomore effort from Acid Nerve and is certainly something to crow about.
Metro Exodus shows some heart, and it's clear the developers have poured a lot into this third chapter of Artyom's story. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that keep the game from hitting the standard set by its predecessors. Pacing is hamstrung by the ambitious misfire of an 'open-world', while performance issues and glitches mar much of Exodus.
With some doubt at the front of people's minds, Returnal is a shushing finger across the lips of detractors as well as a tremendous example that PlayStation's middle line titles can still offer as much value and entertainment as its tentpole exclusives. Housemarque achieves an atmosphere like few can and set up a universe ripe for expansion while marrying it to a grind - which is more forgiving than most of its kind but will still alienate some -that's both brutal and gratifying all at once.
Although the story of Cody and May doesn't meet the standards set by the game's varied gameplay, It Takes Two sees the continued form of Josef Fares and his team at Hazelight in crafting wonderfully creative and engaging worlds for players to share and collaborate in. It Takes Two is a co-op experience that's second to none, which offers more ways than you can imagine to experience these larger than life play spaces.
The product of a one man team, Olija is a tight and entertaining seafarer's voyage that manages to be memorable despite not bringing anything particularly revolutionary to the table. Instead, it's in the atmosphere and tone that Olija excels, proving that the deep blue sea isn't full of just terrors.
Cyberpunk 2077 is staggering, overwhelming, and even surprising at times in its spectacle. Although my first dozen hours with the game has been marred by easy-to-fix problems, Nighty City, along with all it offers and all that call it home, makes for an intoxicating escape. Here's hoping the next one hundred hours are as utterly compelling.
With Observer's original atmosphere intact, System Redux is an exceptional refinement and redelivery of one of the generation's most underrated titles. The loss of Rutger Hauer felt even more profoundly exploring these tenement halls again, but his offbeat and quirky role as Daniel Lazarski will live on for another generation.
Although the campaign is only a small slice of the larger package in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, it's great that it counters its 'blink and you'll miss it' length with a bit of replay value and some memorable missions you're bound to want to play again. Raven Software's more subtle approach to Cold War espionage feels like viewing Call of Duty through a new, exciting lens.
Bright Memory is an utterly fascinating Swiss Army knife of a game that, despite its several ideas clashing in glorious cacophony, forces you to overlook the imperfections and other side effects of lone wolf development. It's an utterly confusing, but equally compelling, sub-hour whirlwind through a Chinese cultured fever dream that writes a few checks that I pray Infinite can cash when it releases next year.
A colourful, vibrant adventure that's sure to stand out as a true family-friendly option for the next-gen. The platforming feels imperfect when needed the most thanks to limited camera control, however, The Touryst's puzzles are bound to keep you on your toes throughout. Be sure to soak up the sun, explore at your leisure, and uncover monumental secrets in this unexpected gem.
Dirt 5 isn't at all the game I thought it would be. Far from a clinical rally sim, what it is is a simple, fun off-road racer that has a big personality. While it doesn't dive too deep underneath the hood, it still tears up a huge number of tracks across a great number of race types-it does more than enough to keep players firmly in the driver's seat.
Ghostrunner might be standing on the shoulders of games like Mirror's Edge, and even Dishonored, in terms of inspiration with its parkour and slick swordplay. But it also separates heads from those shoulders and stands proud as the far better application of both disciplines-Ghostrunner is a sleek, fun exercise for deft hands.
Not unlike the discs we spent so long combating, Disc Room is far more clever than it appears to be at a glance. Like Minit before it, Disc Room is another minimalist concept rooted in classic design and inspiration, except there's so much more beneath the surface. Just as the ship called out to our scientist like a siren's song, Disc Room's cool, addictive appeal does the exact same to me.
It's easy to argue that Star Wars: Squadrons doesn't offer quite enough. Players get what is essentially an eight-hour tutorial which acts as a prelude for the game's multiplayer, a limited but fun offering of modes with some potential for great staying power.
Serious Sam is a series that has long alluded me and I'm starting to think it might have been for the better. Although this fourth iteration might feature some staggering, titanic battles and silk-smooth gunplay, its existence feels like a clear reminder that it's often best to let the past stay dead. Serious Sam 4 is an excavation from a long-outdated era that is more Duke Nukem Forever than it is Doom.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a one-way ticket to the turn of the millennium. It's a complete, beautiful love letter to not only Tony Hawk himself as an icon but to a time when both the series and the sport of skateboarding itself were most pure and fun. As a bundle, and with the multiplayer providing even more longevity, this game offers unrivalled value.
Tell Me Why is a Dontnod game throughout its every part, right down to its bones. Although those bones might be bare, it has a lot of soul. With care, Dontnod dive into discomfort and drag us with them throughout three concise episodes that explore the power that comes coupled with familial ties, both bound by blood and by the metaphysical, as well as memory and all of its heartbreaking deceptions.
No Straight Roads has a laundry list of inspirations and it proudly pays homage to them all in one way or another throughout the journey. Though a few of the game's ideas end up feeling underdeveloped, the game has a lot of heart, a slapping soundtrack and the best boss encounters you'll see in a videogame this year. Just like Bunk Bed Junction in Vinyl City, I expect Metronomik to chart well within the indie scene.
Even with its budget price, it's somewhat difficult to recommend Mastermind given its brevity and few technical issues. I expect Peaky Blinders fans will most enjoy Mastermind as a gritty snapshot at pre-series Birmingham that expands on their favourite television family. I'd even go so far as to give it a cautious thumbs up for those who enjoy working up a mental sweat.
Fall Guys is not only a charming, whimsical take on one of television's biggest spectator events, it's on my shortlist of the year's very best games. I don't think the Mediatonic team could have ever dreamed just how big of a success their one-page pitch inspired by It's A Knockout would amount to. It's insanely addictive with the rapid turnaround episode-to-episode making it easier than ever to keep telling one of gaming's biggest lies: "Alright, just one more."