Baz Macdonald
- Fallout 3
- Persona 4 Golden
- Mass Effect 2
Baz Macdonald's Reviews
The Bayonetta titles remain two of the most fun action games ever made, and so the chance to revisit them is a treat – especially as you can now play them anywhere and in their most technically reliable form.
The multiplayer integration of Fallout 76 opposes the core tenets of the Fallout games at every turn – utterly undermining the core formula. What's worse, it then fails to justify the multiplayer in any way. Buried beneath the bugs, network issues and multiplayer allowances, it is possible to see what could have been a wonderful single player experience in a fascinating time and location – but one that we will never experience.
Rage 2 is an incredibly well-executed combat loop that has been utterly buried by a terrible story, boring and repetitive tasks such as driving and infuriating time sinks such as collectible hunting.
Anthem is a game with unmet potential at every turn. The gameplay is fantastic and recreates the '30 seconds of fun' that has made its competitor Destiny such a success. But in its current state of bugs, server issues and poor design decisions, it is planted firmly in the 'play it in six months' category.
Despite a growing industry-wide acceptance that open-world games developed for the screen do not adapt well to VR – Gearbox bowled on ahead with their, years too late, adaptation of Borderlands 2. A port with unsurprisingly fails to fix the inherent problems with this transition – with gammy controls and gameplay not well adjusted for the VR medium.
In 2013, Crystal Dynamics presented a Lara Croft grounded in interesting psychology for the first time and setup the beginning of an arc for the character which could have taken this franchise to new heights. But now, with the final entry in this chapter, new developer Eidos Montreal have unfortunately plummeted this journey to new depths instead. In this logically inconsistent entry into the trilogy, we are presented with an unlikable Lara in a story-line which cannot meld its own premise with the actions of its characters. Though the games mechanics remain familiar and fun, the finale to this trilogy is dragged down into the mud by the failings of its narrative and the depictions of its once celebrated character.
The Frozen Wilds introduces many poorly-designed elements which make it a lesser experience than its brilliant base-game.
Submerged is underwhelming. It squanders a promising opening, and its slight mechanics will no doubt give ammo to those who question the validity of exploration titles.
Battleborn has plenty of ambition, but it just isn't particularly satisfying to play. It isn't broken, it's just the whole experience feels lightweight and derivative.
Mad Max has the basics right and looks great, but beyond the first few hours it's a monotonous grind.
FFXV's ambition is laudable, but it's flaws are too big to fully cast aside. The result is an interesting and spectacular-looking title likely hampered by a protracted and unfocussed development.
The first episode of Life Is Strange is a mixed bag – the dialogue grates and inspecting items is a bore, but there is promise elsewhere. With the story's foundations laid down, the next episode could be a standout.
It's an improvement on episode one, but there's too much inane padding in Out of Time for it to warrant a hearty recommendation.
The Station tackles with some of life's biggest questions with finesse, and will have you pondering it all long after the credits roll.
That a crossover as bonkers as "Mario plus Rabbids by way of XCOM" even exists is to be celebrated, and fortunately it's an absorbing title that's only slightly diminished by some simplistic cover mechanics.
Old school JRPG throwback I Am Setsuna tells an interesting story with a fittingly sombre tone, but features none of the combat oomph of its predecessors.
World of Final Fantasy could be an ongoing offshoot of the FF franchise, and has all the baggage to prove it.
Halo Wars 2 both illustrates the problems traditional RTS titles have on console, and demonstrates how to overcome them with its excellent Blitz mode.
Vita owners thirsty for new titles will rightly give an arm and a leg for this one, but they should know ahead of time that it can be hard on the ol' swipin' appendages.
Mafia 3 is a great step forward for storytelling in games that is dragged down by its consistently unpolished and poorly executed mechanics.