American Fugitive is solid, it does what it does well without really picking a lane and allowing the character of Will Riley to shine through. What feels like a story arc that is justifiable (you see Will not commit the crime he’s in prison for, after all), it’s soon forgotten for murderous mayhem and whilst I’ve complained about it somewhat, what’s on offer is really good fun. It’s an easy game to recommend, but I think more so than usual it’s important to know what the game is before you jump in. It’s fun and frantic and a nice love letter to that which its inspired by.
It’s intense, searing with tension and absolutely nerve-shredding, whilst telling a hugely powerful story that hit me hard a few times over. There’s a tremendous depth in this game that I wasn’t expecting, but I’m so glad it’s there. It makes you care for this brother and sister duo who are doing everything they can to stay alive in impossible circumstances, and given everything you’ve had to put them through to reach some kind of other side, you want to see them succeed. Every free moment I had was given to this game, I had to know how it all ended. Amicia and Hugo deserved my time.
Snooker 19 brings a fully licensed simulator back to players and does so in some style.
Katana Zero is simply a very easy recommendation. From the utterly perfect mechanics tweaked to an inch of their life to the visuals, the overarching story and inner conflict of your highly skilled protagonist and his external relationships with the world around him, counteracting with the hyper-violence he calls his work, the game finds a delicate balance between ridiculously stylish action and the more subtle downbeat moments that really bring out some wonderful character development.
It’s not meant to be for hardcore football gamers. There isn’t going to be a Legendary Eleven esports tournament anytime soon but the game is fully aware of this. It’s not really trying to be anything other than what it is and that’s hugely important when considering picking this one up. It’s local multiplayer is fun and frantic, so long as you don’t play with a person who was comparing it to FIFA every five seconds like I did.
The most frustrating part of the game is the ‘game’ itself, and when absolutely every other aspect of The Red Strings Club is so strong, it’s really frustrating. Thankfully, the terrific characters, the strong narrative, the gorgeous visuals and the moral questions the game poses at you tip the game into the ‘must-play’ review score. The brilliant story drags you in and doesn’t let go.
After several hours of dying and dying again the game gives you reason to think it’s all over before it just isn’t, and this could throw some people off. It certainly did me, whilst it’s no bother at all to keep playing The Messenger the pacing felt a little strange in the closing moments, and there’s a fair amount of backtracking to be getting on with. Fortunately this allows you to head back to old levels that have a 16-bit remix that you wouldn’t have seen before, which makes it worthwhile all the more.
I feel like this is the kind of game I should have picked up for the PC after all and just powered through, or even for the Switch. It feels like a game I want to chip away at over time rather than sit in front of my sofa and devote hours of my attention to it in one go. The story is good though the gameplay can feel a little flat at times and given the fact you can fail so easily just by taking the orders of the game, it can feel somewhat disjointed.
When you’re powering through mansions like Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, blasting your way through bad guys and smashing up the place all for the greater good, RICO really comes into its own. It’s by far the most fun we’ve had playing an online co-op game this year. It isn’t even close.
Anthem is not worth the money they’re asking. It just isn’t. It might be someday, the ‘quality of life’ has to be improved significantly because once you’re in the game, you can see what BioWare want Anthem to be, you know where it’s heading and the story ending leaves it open enough to ensure that it’ll continue in the same way that Destiny just keeps on going. It’s not dreadful, there just needs to be a serious overhaul of the navigation, the bloody menus and the ‘looter shooter’ aspect which at this present moment is ensuring you’re getting very little back for your momentous efforts.
Ape Out is persistently challenging, completely bonkers and deliriously entertaining.
So this is game that had some lofty ideas of what it could have been and delivered a broken slodge of a simulator, devoid of anything that can be considered worthy of its utterly disgraceful price-tag. It’s clear the developers did what they could with a seemingly small budget and little time but this just isn’t good enough.
Downwell finally made it to Switch and it’s found the best place to play. The Switch has done it again.
Deeper than you may have been expecting, New Star Manager ticks the 'football management sim' boxes.
At Sundown is a game full of style and substance. It has a unique artistic style with terrific character models and well designed maps. Some can be a little small, making movement even more difficult than it already is but there’s plenty to like and is a fun party game if nothing else.
I was ready to trash this cash-in to high heaven, and no, it’s not going to bother Forza or Gran Turismo anytime soon as your favourite racing game. It’s an interactive companion to see if you could do any better at being a member of the crew better than Clarkson, May or Hammond. And with twelve more content drops incoming over the next three months, that twelve quid price tag is looking like a bit of a bargain. Better than getting fired for punching someone because a steak was cold.
Physics based games are never my strong point, but I always like to give them a go to see if there’s one that will break the cycle for me and allow me to get better at them. Unfortunately Solar Flux offers very little in terms of complexity or excitement. Once I beat the game for review purposes I never went back to it, and there’s just too much available right now on Switch to really consider why I would want too.
Just when it begins to become nearly too overwhelming, though, it’s all over. GRIS is undoubtedly a compact experience, but one that needs to be experienced, either on Switch or PC (though it’s worth mentioning whilst it looks terrific in handheld mode, GRIS really should be experienced docked on a big screen). Whether it be the spectacular soundtrack or well, the spectacular visuals, GRIS tells a story that is tragic and uplifting, emotionally fuelled and near-perfect in its execution.
Monster Boy stands alongside the likes of Celeste and Yoku’s Island Express as truly fantastic representations of the genre, doing enough differently and with enough style, polish and care to ensure it’s kicking and screaming on the doors of the Game of the Year contenders.
It’s by no means an awful game. The level design is solid, it keeps you on your toes constantly and playing with friends can be a blast. The issue is I’ve no doubt you have similar games in your collection which are similar and much, much better.