Dylan Burns
Hitman is an amazing return to form, particularly after the mess that was Absolution. There are so many hours of experimentation to be had in each level. Addictive and challenging. A must have.
Torment is a sedate but deep narrative experience that speaks to the patient, studious gamer. Despite feeling at times like a game out of time, its charm manages to shine through and the strong writing and weird narrative more than make up for the lack of AAA elements.
All said, while I appreciated what the game was trying to do, I only persisted in order to review it. Obscure sequences got in the way of the narrative and those loading times made everything more horrifying than intended.
Mario & Rabbids is far more than ‘my first strategy game’. It manages to make Rabbids likeable and even at times quite funny. The mashing with the Mario-verse means that everything feels vibrant and Nintendo-esque.
The whole time I was playing Payback, I was thinking “I’d be much better off just replaying Burnout Paradise or one of the Forza Horizons”, which is sad but true.
I enjoyed it in handheld mode, with only a few moments of tiny text marring the experience. Docked mode reportedly offers a more stable frame rate and higher resolution, but this is hardly a title where you need to worry about graphical effects. It’s just fine in handheld and, quite frankly, part of what makes gaming on the Switch so exciting in the first place.
Everything that makes Dishonored great is distilled into a handful of brilliant, extensive missions that will take hours each to enjoy.
The dry Aussi-ness of Golf Story wins through. I still can’t quite tell if the developers secretly hate golf and the whole thing is a big piss take. Either way, it comes across as well-meaning and tongue-in-cheek. I even chuckled a few times at the charming innocence of this world where everyone loves golf and all the world’s problems can be solved with a handful of balls and a good swing. Wouldn’t it be nice?
You’re better off with just about any other gun-focused RPG on the market, but if you’re in the mood for something more unforgiving than your Destinies and Borderlands, this is the game for you.
Burnout Paradise Remastered is a crazy and exhilarating vehicular playground. It may not be the most alive or even the largest city in gaming, but there’s an intimate and comfortable magic on display that keeps you addictively on the lookout for tell-tale yellow gates.
I’ve had a blast with Strange Brigade in single player. There’s just enough hook to keep you replaying levels for the secrets and puzzles you missed, and while the campaign tends to repeat notes across different scales, the act of killing nasty monsters never gets old. If you’ve pined for more Mercenaries modes these past few years, this will well and truly scratch that itch.
Felix the Reaper is a mildly difficult puzzler that will appeal to those who enjoy object swapping and thinking several moves ahead. It’s light, gory humour and unique art style keeps things fresh. I just wish there was more room for pushing things beyond set solutions. It feels more like following a set of instructions than forging your own path.