Nicola Ardron's Reviews
Effie is a 3D puzzle platformer with a strong nod to games of yesteryear. Simple combat as well as a lack of any real challenge and samey boss fights make it a title best suited to a younger audience.
World War Z is a competent team-based shooter that doesn't really add anything new to the genre. It is, however, great fun to play with friends in short bursts.
Astroneer is a lovely serene survival crafting game that can feel aimless at times, but has masses of potential to be something special.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
InnerSpace is a visually stunning game that ultimately fails to connect. It wants the player to explore and uncover its secrets, but places them in an environment that is deliberately confusing to the point of frustration.
The Sims 4 is a compelling game with tonnes of customisable options. Sadly, poor attention to the functionality of playing with a controller rather than keyboard and mouse, and a sparse tutorial make this version difficult to overly recommend.
Below the Bedrock is a disappointing episode. It feels nothing more than filler in preparation for what I hope will be an action-packed finale.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a lovely, sedate open world adventure game that inexplicably gates its crafting mechanic behind an obtuse, tiered system that renders it moot.
Maize is an amusing title, it's puzzles don't really require any critical thinking and it is overly linear but it kind of works as a curio with some genuinely funny jokes dotted throughout.
SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell is a repetitive game, but one that has enough draw to it to give you that “just one more go” drive.
Access Denied is a better episode than the last, helping to refocus on the Order of the Stone's adventures, but the standalone nature of the stories are really exposing the weaknesses of the Telltale model.
Descent feels a little bit of a disappointment. Two maps are fairly bland, with Beserk being the most interesting, and Empire while being a fantastic remake of Raid, doesn't suit the speed and core movement.
A great new game mode, and the inclusion of Lando Calrissian aside, Bespin is a fairly bland DLC pack that really only serves to split the player base further.
ADIOS is an interesting little game, but fiddly controls and annoying camera can quickly erode that fun.
A fun, but unremarkable beat-em-up, best enjoyed with a group of friends.
GNOG is a game that defies explanation. It is a weird, abstract puzzle game that has a sense of play and about it, but ultimately leaves you wanting a little more.