Nicola Ardron's Reviews
Guns of Icarus Alliance brings a cool Steampunk vibe to a flying armada of ships, but a steep learning curve, and a lack of meaningful explanations of systems means the fun takes a while to come through.
A gorgeous 2D adventure game with light puzzles, platforming and branching narrative choices. Some design decisions slow the pace down negatively, but the story and the reveal of your decisions have devastating impact.
A mainly disappointing sequel, with some glitches that hinder the progress and the fun.
Conan Exiles excels in its sense of place, and has an absorbing and complex crafting system that will keep you coming back, but there is no escaping that it is a deeply flawed game that still feels a little unfinished.
The Adventures of Captain Spirit is an interesting way to generate interest in the Life is Strange sequel. Chris and his alter-ego is a likeable little boy trying to navigate a childhood filled with both imaginary and real-life monsters.
Mooncrash is an excellent piece of DLC that allows the more creative elements of Prey to shine.
Bomb Chicken is a fun little platformer that doesn't quite manage to balance its difficulty consistently throughout its entirety. Simple mechanics and an adorable fat hen do mean though that you'll have a good time for the most part.
A beautifully drawn adventure told by an extremely talented voice actor that suffers a little from its own style.
Sunless Sea is a unique title. A rogue-like set in a Lovecraftian nightmare with table-top RPG elements backed up by some truly excellent writing. The slow pace, and narrative delivery may well put some players off though.
A minimalist's take on the real time strategy genre, with a strong pick and play quality that doesn't quite do enough to bridge the gap between novices and veterans of the genre.
A huge, ambitious game building on the solid foundations of Origins to deliver a game that feels like another positive step towards a very interesting future for the franchise.
Black Ops 4 is an excellent entry into the series. Some may mourn the loss of the single player campaign, but this is the tightest most balanced multiplayer the franchise has seen in a long while.
Boundless is a game heavy on exploration and crafting. The existence of craft able portals to other worlds extends the scope considerably, but obtuse recipes and unintuitive menus dampen the enthusiasm somewhat.
It feels trite to put a score on a game like Memory of Us as it tells an important and poignant story that should be heard, it's just that at times the game parts get in the way of that story.
If you can re-frame Fallout 76 as a survival crafting game in the Fallout universe rather than viewing it as the next instalment in the series then you will have a better time. It is not without its faults, but there is a base there that has the potential to be improved upon as time goes by.
Legacy of the First Blade is a mostly underwhelming first DLC that has some interesting story information for long term fans of the Assassin's Creed series.
Subnautica is not without its issues, but it successfully manages to combine a strong sense of exploration and discovery with an interesting story hook and an exceptional soundtrack to make it one of the very best examples of the genre.
Shadow Heritage is slightly more fun to play than Hunted was, but some weird narrative decisions undo a lot of the character progression from the main campaign and totally expose the illusion of player choice
By trying to be all things to all people Genesis Alpha One loses any sense of identity. There is some really interesting ideas at work, and cool aesthetic in one portion of the game, but other areas feel underdeveloped.
Apex Legends is a superb game featuring an excellent array of heroes, tight, responsive gun play, smooth movement, smart communication system and an astonishing level of polish in a free-to-play game.