Moons of Madness is a wonderfully chilling outing that blends horror and sci-fi to excellent effect, delivering a palpable sense of dread. Most pleasingly, it channels the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft without yelling “CTHULHU!” in your ear every five minutes.
Rain of Reflections: Episode 1 isn’t perfect, but kicks off what seems like a strong story, offering a tantalising taste of things to come with a mood-setting soundtrack that I’d happily listen to on its own.
Green Hell is a thoroughly engaging survival outing.
Battlewake can be a blast in small doses and is a good way show off the PSVR’s potential (unless the person you’re showing it is prone to seasickness).
Date may not be a great detective, but there’s no doubting that AI: The Somnium Files is a great detective game. It blends humour and human horror to deliver an engaging, mind-bending experience that’s a cut above most visual novels.
Unlike its protagonist, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son shows little interest in forging its own identity. If you’re craving a return to Punxsutawney, rewatching the movie is a far more rewarding choice.
GreedFall certainly left me wanting more; while its story may be a bit shallow in places, it’s still got a lot of depth, a fluid, intuitive combat system and enough morally-grey missions to bring me back to Teer Fradee some time soon. Forget waiting for the next Dragon Age, GreedFall is an impressive debut for what could well become a classic series.
It won’t turn you into a pinball wizard, but it will provide you with several hours of unique entertainment.
If Panache can squash most of the bugs, this could be a Game of the Year contender. As is, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is still well worth monkeying about with and I know I’ll be coming back for more.
Mable & The Wood oozes charm from beginning to end and, even in a market that isn’t short of Metroidvanias, it more than distinguishes itself.
Ion Fury is flawed, but there’s plenty of gruesome fun to be had here, more so if you’ve got fond memories of 90s shooters. If Voidpoint/3D Realms can tighten up the game for an expansion pack or a sequel, I’d definitely be up for more Bombshell. Just don’t expect this outing to blow you away all the time.
Elsinore can be dry sometimes, particularly when you’re hunting for the next significant step forward. There are moments when you’ll feel Bill Murray’s frustration at reliving Groundhog Day again and again, and repeatedly bumping into Elsinore’s Ned Ryerson analogue (which stops being funny after the tenth encounter). But there’s a lot of joy to be had uncovering Elisnore’s emotionally-loaded secrets and, providing you don’t push it too far, playing characters off against each other. Just don’t expect everyone to get a happy ending.
Silver Chains is by no means perfect, but it uses its scares sparingly and offers enough gloomy chills to keep you spooked and hooked.
There are glimpses of potential here, but it’s lacking nearly everything that makes Wolfenstein fun. Gunning down Nazis in a virtual reality mech might sound like a lot of fun on paper, but the reality completely misses the mark.
Streets of Rogue is an odd yet hugely entertaining outing, one that rewards the time you put into it and never says no to even your most ridiculous ideas. It’s far more than the sum of its inspirations and even if you find permadeath an obstacle, there’s so much to love about this deceptively complex gem.
Sairento VR is such a ridiculous, over-the-top joy to play and once you’re done with the campaign mode, the game’s additional challenge levels and multiplayer mode will keep you occupied. Sairento VR the closest thing you’ll get to a truly interactive, immersive action movie, and if you’ve invested in a PSVR you’d be mad to miss it.
It won’t scare your socks off, but if you can avoid getting bogged down by The Sinking City’s clunkier elements, there’s enough to enjoy here.
Altogether, it’s a thoroughly delightful detective adventure.
Underneath it all, Pathologic 2 is an engaging and disquieting game, one that has the potential to be something really quite special. But its survival mechanics are unnecessarily suffocating and take much of the joy out of it. Until Pathologic 2 is cured of that particular problem, be prepared for an uneven slog.
Lovecraft’s Untold Stories is a fun shooter, for the most part. It doesn’t gain much from mining Lovecraft lore; you could swap out the foes for any other number of pixellated nightmares. But slaughtering your way through the hordes is a satisfying and challenging experience, and there’s enough replayability here to keep you diving back into the abyss.