Fast-paced combat, limb-specific attacks, easy to understand crafting, and flexible levelling is what sets The Surge apart from its peers and, at times, puts it ahead of the Souls series. The bulk of the gameplay, and indeed much of the narrative pacing, is lifted straight from Lords of the Fallen and should be familiar to fans of the genre.
The Surge 2 doesn’t feel like a massive technological step forward from the original, but on the narrative and gameplay front, it exceeds or refines the experience. Jericho City is a joy to explore, the narrative is more complex, bosses more numerous, and the excellent combat and progression system still engaging.
Amnesia: The Collection offers up a good 15+ hours of tense exploration, puzzling, and scares that survival-horror fans should enjoy. With a strong focus on the narrative and mostly linear progression, you're unlikely to play through them more than once, but it's still great value for money.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is easy to recommend as a compelling action-RPG with well-written protagonists and rewarding systems, though the second half of the game loses the plot - both literally and figuratively.
While ELEX II’s core gameplay could be dismissed as traditional or dated, the way all the elements of the world interact with you and one another is what creates the magic.
There’s always something to do, the first-person parkour and combat remain top-class, and the story missions offer both memorable locations and set-pieces. On the other hand, the bulk of the gameplay on offer feels derivative. It’s hard to immerse yourself in the world when you’re engaged in methodical icon-clearing.
Life is Strange: True Colors is Deck Nine’s best work to date and I’d place it just behind the original brace of games. It’s more streamlined, has no “fail” states, and doesn’t delve quite as deeply into the supporting cast, but the story is compelling.
As a linear, narrative-driven horror game, The Medium is easy to recommend – and a no-brainer if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription – thanks to the balance of unsettling exploration, involved puzzles, a handful of terrifying encounters, and frequent narrative beats.
A fun but ultimately limited quiz game that’s a great way to entertain guests for a few hours.
Mr. Shifty often feels like a low-violence, puzzle-oriented, super-powered version of Hotline Miami. At its very best, it captures the stop-start flow of the original Hotline Miami — observe, plan, and then engage in a glorious display of speed, skill, and violence.
Played back-to-back, the Outlast Trinity collection begins to feel a little stale as the basic gameplay loop barely changes. That said, each title features its own slowly unravelling narrative, intimidating foes, terrifying locations and slowly builds up in intensity towards the conclusion.
The World to the West was a real surprise for me after Teslagrad. The dark, oppressive fairy-tale world gives way to a more light-hearted adventure story that focuses on the joy of exploration and puzzling, rather than tough platforming and unforgiving boss encounters.
Despite a small development team and limited budget, a lot of thought and effort has gone into designing the interwoven narrative and gameplay elements in GreedFall, with nothing feeling underutilised or overdone.
I’m not a huge ‘Souls fan, at least not since bouncing off Dark Souls 2, and I tend to shy away from these games as I get older; however, even though Ashen has some difficulty spikes that remind me of those games, the vibrant world, likeable characters, companion system, and soothing soundtrack all kept me coming back.
If you’re looking for more Life is Strange, Deck Nine has delivered a fantastic and consistent prequel that is a must-play for fans.
The music is great and the new voice work, although often campy, keeps the Chosen hovering somewhere between menacing and humorous, providing some much needed levity.
Gears Tactics is a great fit for the IP and its gameplay complexity matches – and sometimes surpasses – that of other long-established IPs in the genre.
Blazing Chrome is a must-buy for retro fans. It looks and plays great - albeit with a few frustrating aspects inherent to the genre - and is even more fun, and chaotic, in coop.
Gameplay is certainly more of the same, wrapped in a new narrative, but it matches the same high standard set by the original.
Red Dead Redemption 2 offers up an epic narrative in an intricately-detailed open world but questionable designs choices make large parts of the game feel like a chore.