Keith Milburn
A journey of pros and cons, but it's one worth taking.
Cutesy and colourful, Life Goes On takes a core concept from most games, flips it, and embeds it in an environment with reciprocating elements. The result is an engaging puzzle platformer that delights more than it frustrates. The ending credits sequence is also one of the most charming things I've seen this year.
The PC port of Dead Rising 3 manages to bring the core experience over well. The combat is still visceral, insane, and funny. The sheer quantity on offer here is impressive, but don't come to this version if you're looking for something new. Also, make sure to bring a controller.
MachineGames have, again, gone beyond the scope of what most people would come to expect from a game with the Wolfenstein tag on it.
Frantic, kinetic, and fun multiplayer – when removed from its context.
Overly familiar Multiplayer, but tells a compelling story.
Uneven UI elements and poor tutorials don't detract from the base action.
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is currently retailing on PSN for $33.95 (NZ) and is a 4.5GB download.
The culmination of changes in Advanced Warfare make it the freshest playing entry in the series, and the largest departure from its norm.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is an enjoyable action-puzzler. It effortlessly presents combat and puzzle encounters to the player, without inundating or starving them of one or the other. Just make sure you bring some friends along for the ride.
If you're returning to Dark Souls II, you'll either come away pleased that you're on the same page as the designers, or annoyed by the seemingly perfunctory remix of enemy and item placement. On the other hand, brand new players may find Scholar of the First Sin to be an ideal, more guided tour of the world of Drangleic.
Ambitious design elevates it, creating one of the most unique survival horror experiences out there.
Realises the potential of its predecessor.
An inscrutable black box, covered in punk-rock graffiti and splattered in blood.
Still one of the most charming, innovative RPGs of last generation, despite the rough edges.
Games are at their best when they subvert expectations, or challenge longstanding norms. While Everybody's Gone to the Rapture mostly accomplishes this by questioning traditional videogame storylines, it stumbles, and falls back on the very thing it's critiquing. That, however, doesn't detract from the overall worth of the human experiences that underpin it.
Bloodborne lends heavily from its forebears, but transforms the combat into a fast-paced dance of death. It rewards aggression rather than hanging back and waiting for opportunities to present themselves. While some technical, design, and pacing issues mar parts of the experience, Bloodborne is the freshest playing entry in a genre that has very narrow gameplay constraints.
Proof that Uncharted can exist without Nathan Drake.
Quality-of-life features elevate the game's standout elements.
Fights with a popping staccato rhythm, and capes-galore to unlock.