Outward is billed as a survival RPG and that it is. The survival elements do make it an interesting adventure to an extent but sometimes it goes overboard and frustrates. The fighting is awful, the spells are too confusing and convoluted and as mentioned it’s really hard to give a crap about your character. Massive kudos to Nine Dots for embarking on a game of this magnitude and there is some great ideas here to make it stand out from the glut of other fantasy RPGs.
Wizards is an entertaining game when it works with plenty to keep you occupied. I just wish you didn’t have to fight with the controls so much then this would be up there with the best.
The Kings Bird is perhaps one of those games suited to gamers who love speedruns, where twitch platforming comes second nature and has the patience to really stick with the game. I enjoyed the first few levels, but the shortcomings of the controls and the haphazard nature of if they work or not kind of distracted me from what is an interesting and challenging game to play. Perhaps I need to just get better and these types of games, but having played games for 27 odd years I like to think I have the skills necessary to at least get to grips with the most challenging of games. As it stands The Kings Bird is hard to recommend to the casual gamer, but speedrunners will probably get the most out of this if they can get to grips with the somewhat broken mechanics.
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 2 gives you everything you would want from an official Motorcross game, whether you will get the most out of it though really depends if you are a mad fan of the sport. Along with the gameplay shortcomings mentioned earlier, the rawk soundtrack is terrible and gets way too repetitive way too soon. The visuals aren’t great either, but then I guess how pretty do you need muddy stadiums to be?
Vane is game that has much potential, It has the feel of The Last Guardian to it and that in itself is a reason to want to like this game. The incredible visual style and the haunting 80s synths soundtrack adds buckets of atmosphere. It’s just a shame that the game is so obtuse for its own good.
All in all Pang Adventures is a great remake of a classic. If I had one concern, it would be that the game can feel quite samey after a while, but for pick up and play fun-times it’s damn good fun and did leave me with hunger Pangs to play more….see what I did there?
The shameful thing is that had Gungrave just been re-released with a lick of paint for the PS4 I probably would have bought it and enjoyed it as I like these types of games. And you can tell even while craning your neck to see the bad dude behind you, there is some good old-fashioned shooting/slashing gameplay to be had if it wasn’t in VR. But alas in VR it is and you’re left with a game that will either make you feel ill or give you cramp before you get past the first couple of levels. Which is a shame when you know that if this game was more traditional, it would be much better for it.
Beat Saber is as good as you imagine it to be no doubt there and has joined the ever-growing list of must-play games on PSVR.
Resonair and Monstars have reinvented something I didn’t think could be reinvented. They have created as much an experience as they have a game.
The whole team weigh in on Insomniac's mighty Marvel triumph, Spider-Man.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is certainly not a game for everyone. It’s very slow paced and with very little to do it can become frustrating pretty quick. I’m not the biggest fan of these types of games and if I played it with a standard controller I would have been done after the first five minutes. But in VR it adds a whole new dimension which makes it a far more tantalizing experience.
There is some quick blast fun to be had here, along with some secrets to find like underground sewers to ride. If you can stomach the graphics, and repetitive sound loops then you’ll probably have a big nostalgia like grin while playing this game simply due to its charm. It’s just a shame that the game it tries so hard to emulate is ultimately more fun.
It’s a pity the story and acting is so weak and for me, I wish they had kept the pixel graphics from the previous version. If you have some spare minutes between games or outings or work, then Aces of the Luftwaffe is a good enough game to choose to fill those gaps.
There is a lot of fun to be had in The Crew 2 though and hopefully if Ubisoft’s post-game updates are as plentiful as their other games this sequel can blossom into something wonderful.
For me, I loved the story, the setting and the mystery, but the controls let the game down. Has it made me change my opinion on walking sims? Well, it's made me hate them less.
The Shape of the World is an experience so I can’t really review it as a game. But as an experience, it fails to ignite my imagination in any way. I was bored very quickly and there isn’t much on offer either with only a limited number of chapters to explore.
Agony is game that tries really hard to produce a disturbing and scary version of hell. But it fails on both counts. Had the developer Madmind spent more time on the gameplay instead of getting butt physics correct (yes you read that correctly) we might have something here that could pass for a game. The desperate attempts to add shock with the now infamous censored scenes are just schoolboy tricks in a bid to generate hype and ultimately end up a moot point given just how terrible the rest of the game is.
I loved Runner 3, surprising seeing as I have a short attention span and even shorter temper. I guess that’s a testament to the level design, music and the graphics which all keep you hooked. There is plenty to do and find which gives the game some longevity which given the price of £24 is much needed because it’s not a cheap indie game. Gamers who are thinking of picking this game up should think long and hard about if they can stomach the sheer frustration this game vomits out at you. I hear it can be done in around 4 hours (not done by me I hasten to add) but getting 100% probably takes god-like powers.
Overall the Cast of the Seven Godsends isn’t terrible, there is much to be applauded for the small team that made the game. The trouble is, it’s all just a bit basic. A bit forgettable. Eventually, after a few playthroughs, you’ll kind of just ‘get it’ and all the trial and error moments will be remembered to make the next play through a bit more of a smoother experience. The trouble is, one playthrough is enough, it’s just a bit of a none event so it’s unlikely you’ll go back for more, and I’m not sure that you would want to. 2D platform games are everywhere at the moment and many of them are much more fun than this, and I would recommend you try one of those.
Island Time VR has some terrific bright visuals and peppy voice acting, and you can see that there is a fair bit of charm about the game. It’s just a shame that the entire game is just too limited.