Andy Manson's Reviews
An outstanding package in its own right and the new standard by which all future retro compilations should be measured, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration serves as a love letter to a bygone era, a reminder of the power the name once held and a tantalising glimpse at how some of gaming’s most storied franchises can be revitalised in the right hands. Highly recommended for anyone remotely interested in gaming history. A particular affinity for Atari? Utterly essential.
I knew within five minutes that Firewatch was special. And, whilst the game itself isn't mechanically perfect, it didn't have to be. By the end of it, it had emotionally affected me in a way that perhaps no other game has.
Ultimately, what sets LawBreakers aside from its competitors in a very crowded genre is its ability to create moments.
The bastard child of DOOM, Devil Daggers and Tetris Effect, BPM: Bullets Per Minute is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year and a game I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone with a hankering for something different in the FPS genre. Just don’t expect an easy ride. Even on Easy.
A natural evolution of Absolute Drift, art of rally is a terrific passion project that serves as the perfect love letter to rally driving. Designed to be accessible to anyone, regardless of skill level, and with a huge amount of content, it’s a game that you could easily be playing a year from now and still finding new ways to approach it. As such, it’s an incredible value proposition and one of the best racing games in recent memory.
Free-to-play it may be, but Rogue Company is a high-quality title that’s among the best shooters I’ve played this year and a welcome alternative to the more standard shooters you find on console. I’d highly recommend it, even if it had cost me money. For the grand total of nothing, it’s almost essential.
Look up the word “charming” in the dictionary, and you might very well find the cover for this game looking back at you. A bright and breezy game with an important message at its core, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a terrific experience, imbued with personality at every turn, that can be polished off in a single session. Another winner in a rapidly burgeoning library from ustwo games.
Brief and concise, but being no less affecting for its brevity, Before I Forget is heart-breaking and uplifting in equal measure. The framing of the story induces a genuine sympathy and understanding of what those who suffers such conditions go through, but successfully stops short of crossing the line into patronising schmaltz. I urge all of you to experience it for yourself and make sure you avoid spoilers for maximum effect. I cannot recommend this enough.
As an epic sci-fi story or as an elaborate futuristic dating simulator or even as a third-person shooter, Mass Effect Legendary Edition has a little something for everyone, and puts many modern narrative-driven RPGs to shame. It may not quite be the full-blown remake that many hoped for, but it’s still the ultimate way to experience Shepard’s story, regardless of your history with the franchise, and easily takes top spot in the running for my game of the year so far. Even the Mako sections are less annoying…
With solid gameplay, excellent style and some of the funniest writing I’ve ever encountered in a game, this pastiche to a classic is one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve experienced this year. It would be impressive enough as is, but when you then consider that this is largely the work of just one person, it becomes an almost unbelievable achievement. If you want an old-school adventure with some new-school panache, you’re not going to get much better in 2021 than UnMetal.
Difficulty aside, Sine Mora EX is a unique and fun experience that sits memorable amongst the plethora of cookie cutter shmups. More importantly, it's just a genuinely good game in its own right. If you didn't play it in 2012, you should definitely play it now.
Metrico+ should serve as a pleasant surprise for Xbox One owners looking for something to tax the brain, whilst whiling away the time until the big releases start to roll through again. However, it’s actually a game that I’d recommend at any time. It’s a unique mix of puzzling and platforming in its own right, but tie in the abstraction that permeates every aspect of it, and it’s a surprisingly intriguing package.
A bright and breezy game that unfortunately drags a little at points, Paradise Killer is nevertheless an enjoyable jaunt that does something a little different with a genre that has a reputation for being somewhat dour. Absolutely worth your time – just be prepared to dedicate a little more of it than you might expect in the early stages.
Retaining what made the first game unique, whilst making it a much more rounded experience that you’ll be more likely to revisit, Surgeon Simulator 2 is a good single-player experience that becomes pretty special in online co-op. Gather some mates and it’s one of the most fun multiplayer experiences of the year.
A fun premise, solid mechanics and excellent presentation mean that Bartlow’s Dread Machine might be my favourite twin-stick shooter since Geometry Wars. Hopefully, it doesn’t get lost in the madness that is the end-year shuffle, as it more than holds its own and deserves an audience.
A dating sim that deserves to be talked about alongside the likes of Dream Daddy and Hatoful Boyfriend, Lovingly Evil is a funny, smart experience that doesn’t drown you in exposition and keeps it all charmingly light and breezy. Absolutely worth your time.
Dirt 5 feels like a game designed for the new generation of consoles, but there’s still plenty here for those not upgrading in the short-term. Whilst it has some technical issues and frustrating AI, the driving is as solid as ever, Playgrounds is a great new addition and there are some genuinely stunning moments to be experienced. It’s one of the best rally games in recent memory and I can’t wait to try it on a new platform.
>Observer_: System Redux represents a solid improvement over the 2017 original and, therefore, a worthwhile upgrade. It’s a little too long for my liking, but it looks gorgeous at points and tells a terrific story that’s worth experiencing. With a reasonably friendly price, it’s also a relatively cheap way to show off your new toy. Absolutely worth a look.
The reason Let’s Sing 2021 works as well as it does is because it feels more like a game than many of the titles it shares DNA with. Whereas most previous karaoke games were of the common “sing a single song and we’ll give you a score” variety, this feels the template on which all future games should be based upon. A more extensive core tracklist would be nice, and I hope future iterations might do a bit more to cater for the quieter singer, but this feels like an excellent pushing-off point for the franchise and the genre as a whole.
If you’re an old codger like me with fond memories of old 8-bit computer games, picking up a title that evokes those memories so well is a no-brainer. If, as is more likely, you’re a young whippersnapper (I hate you), I still thoroughly recommend Kinetic Edge. It’s a terrific mix of genres that’s great in single player and even better in multiplayer. Get on it.