In short (and with a little yellow raincoat on), Little Nightmares is an incredible game and without a doubt one of the finest and most grotesque horror games ever made. If you’re after cheap thrills and jump scares then you won’t find any here, as what Little Nightmares does is turn those overused, short-term horror story elements on their heads, and in doing so makes the game unpredictable and tremendously scary for the entire duration of your adventure.
After such a strong start it’s difficult not to be a little mift with Hide and Seek, an episode that seemed to have disregarded everything that made its predecessor so enjoyable. Instead of in-depth and revealing confrontation, I was given almost meaningless exposition and mindless chatter, and before I could say “cool, a juicy murder!” it was back to overly complicated puzzles within an already tiresome story.
The Mind’s Eclipse is an incredibly deep and unsettling tale that is so quickly brought to life in such an incredible and vivid way, without a doubt holding a candle to the franchises that have inspired it. Though on the surface the game’s art work appears primitive, the monochrome comic panels play a huge role in delivering the perfect amount of bleak realism into the narrative, leading me to believe that everything that has transpired could happen in the not so distant future. This may lack the budget of a high end studio but the product does not suffer from that, this is an essential story that you simply have to hear, and I am incredibly grateful for having it shared with me.
Mantis Burn Racing has had a rather busy 12 months, and within this time it’s really surpassed all expectation and, perhaps most importantly, all of my first impressions. Upon initial release it was a relatively bland and rather dull arcade racer, and though the actual racing was slick and impressive, it was unfortunatley featured in the most basic game modes in the simplest way possible. Now however, it’s anything but, and for the first time in my journalistic career I am eating my words. Thanks to some incredible minds behind some mighty impressive DLC, Mantis Burn Racing is as chaotic, explosive and challenging as I hoped it would be. Sporting far more brutal and action packed vehicles, game modes and tracks than it once did, as a complete package Mantis Burn Racing is a completely different beast, and an essential purchase for any arcade racing fan; the game runs particularly well on the Switch, as if it was made with Nintendo’s machine in mind.
Despite the cringey dialogue and general over arcing storyline, Need for Speed Payback is a pretty enthralling 4 wheeled crusade. It may contradict itself by featuring linear, checkpoint ridden roads on a wide open, treacherous continent, but the races themselves are slick, chaotic and heart pounding for the most part, and with numerous secondary objectives and challenges to complete, there’s certainly a lot to keep you and your car occupied.
Assassins Creed Origins is as big, beautiful and brutal as the version you played in your dreams, simply making it the best game in the history of the Creed. This is the innovation the 10 year old franchise needed, and the blueprint that the next 10 years needs.
t’s reassuring that even when cashing in on the impending Autumn blockbuster, Warner Bros have pulled no punches when making this game. If you’re looking for a solid platformer to play alone, with friends or with family, then LEGO Ninjago is a pretty kickass choice!
Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is a terrific game and Konami have definitely scored a cracker here. It may not have the shine, the names, or the good commentary that FIFA has, but the challenging, rewarding and impressive tweaks to the AI and gameplay really do make PES2018 the most realistic and enjoyable football games on the market right now.
Everything in F1 2017 far surpasses everything that made 2016 such a great racing sim, and though the results aren’t as noticeably superior as last year’s improvements, the subtle changes here have set the bar on what makes a truly deep and exciting Formula One experience.
Retailing at just £1.99, this maniacal expansion really takes Mantis Burn Racing onto a whole new level, bringing with it that explosive excitement I so badly craved for when I first played this game in 2016.
I’ll keep it brief, Pillars of Eternity is a masterful love letter to old school RPGs, making it an absolute must buy for adventure connoisseurs.
To put it simply, Children of Zodiarcs is a fantastic, challenging and hugely enjoyable tactical RPG; however, a lack of variation in its gameplay stops it from being so much better. Each battlefield, though simple, is a tremendous task to navigate round and conquer, with each mission asking more from you than the last.
Back in 2014 we thought Toybox Turbos was the closest thing we'd get to a revitalised reboot of Micro Machines, so upon reflecting on the release of an actual brand new Micro Machines, is Toybox Turbos a better Micro Machines game than World Series? It may not have had the franchise name but it tried to be Micro Machines and succeeded, whereas World Series IS Micro Machines and it's sadly disappointing.
Black the Fall is an enjoyable, devilish platformer and one that deserves a tremendous amount of praise, however what it lacks is character and narrative, and this is what sadly prevents it from joining the top ranks of other titles in the genre.