Adam Llewellyn
Dark Souls Remastered is a special experience. With almost no narrative or direct story the game somehow utilizes combat to force the player to feel true emotion, you’ll feel victorious, devastated, inspired, distraught, confused, powerful and so much more. The world really works well with the story that’s available to convey a quest of epic proportion. You know what you’re doing is important. You feel the stakes. It’s this gauntlet of emotions that a player feels that makes Dark Souls so unique. There’s no doubt that this is an incredibly challenging game, but it’s a challenge well worth undertaking. There is no way to describe the sense of personal achievement this game will give you, experience it yourself and you’ll feel an addiction creeping in that you won’t be able to escape. This Remaster really is the definitive Dark Souls experience and a brilliant way to make one of the best games as accessible as possible.
City of Brass is an amazing rogue like title. It really captures the spirit of the genre and understands what the strengths and weaknesses of this style of game are. It addresses these superbly by allowing players to customize their experience. The gameplay is fun but does start to feel repetitive after extended periods of play, considering the price of the title though, the hours of fun you’ll get well outweighs the eventual grating. If you are in anyway interested in rogue like titles like The Binding of Isaac, City of Brass shines as brightly as the best of them.
God of War is the game that will define this entire generation. It takes great ideas from multiple games and doesn’t just improve on them, it brings a unique twist to make those ideas shine brighter than they ever had. The story has epic moments of brutal, stylish combat like any God of War game should have, these are tempered by emotional moments that Oscar winning movies can’t compete with. The world and characters are brought to life in a way that no other video game has matched, Midgard truly feels real as you are totally immersed in the journey. To call God of War the Game of the Year in 2018 is really not doing the title any justice, there are very few games that have ever been made that stand close to this game’s brilliance. Sony Santa Monica have crafted something totally unique here and deserve every single sliver of praise that players have to throw their way. If I could condense this two thousand word review into three words, these would be: Play This Game.
Time Carnage VR has some truly exceptional moments. Staring down hordes of spiders, raptors and mutants with two mini guns in an abandoned street is cool and fun in the best kind of way. However the repetitive gameplay in the Campaign really drags the package down. If the campaign’s levels had been half the length this would have been an excellent content package. Instead the repetitiveness of the gameplay will really turn you away from the rest of the brilliant content.
The American Dream VR is a decent take on gun culture in the USA. It really does lampoon some traditional American experiences very well, the only issue is that the game only really has one joke. While the joke absolutely works, it also wears thin. The game does try to bring more elements in near the end, shifting the focus to the nature of capitalism rather than the second amendment. However, this felt tacked on and was never properly explored. The gameplay is generic enough that it will get you through each area without a lot of effort or without you feeling bored. Luckily Michael Dobson’s Buddy Washington absolutely pulls you through the game. If you go into this looking for something fun with guaranteed laughs you will be pleased. If you’re desperate for some absolutely biting satire that digs into the roots of the problems in the United States of America while also getting to play an over the top action game like Far Cry, you’ll be disappointed.