Colm Ahern's Reviews
With a cast of well-realised characters, and a story that captivates from start-to-finish, Subsurface Circular's robot mystery will have your attention from the moment the train leaves the station.
It took two decades and change, but a team of developers has shown they understand what made the old Sonic games great with Sonic Mania, even if nostalgia is sometimes too much of a driving force.
Stretching your limbs across the battlefield to stop an impending throw is good fun, but there's absolute anarchy when you throw in an extra body. The mediocre mini-games, and antiquated single-player further block the punch of Arms.
Other games of its ilk may punch harder on their message, and the challenge here is all but non-existent. But RiME is a beautiful painting come to life, backed by an exceptional score that will make your journey across this island a joy.
Prey gives you all the tools you need, but allows you to decide how to get to your goal. The fear is constant, as is the joy from getting to safety. Despite a largely forgettable main story, I'll remember my own experience in Talos-1 for some time.
First-person, narrative-driven games generally follow a pattern. What Remains of Edith Finch plays with those established conventions to create a beautiful story that breaks your heart, while making you smile just as much. A triumph in the genre.
The opening episode of Guardians of the Galaxy sets up the series for what's to come, capturing the tone of the source material really well with on-point vocal performances and some terrific visual gags.
Yooka-Laylee would fit right into the late 90s with its vague puzzles, wakka-wakka voices, and confusing levels. Time has moved on since the N64, and while there are a handful of bright spots, this sadly isn't the catalyst for a 3D platformer revival.
This massive open-world is unfortunately full of dull objectives to complete that rarely vary from one to the next. There are some pretty sights in here, and it's more fun in co-op than solo, but that doesn't make Wildlands anymore than serviceable.
While the main narrative drags a little, wonderfully crafted characters that deal with real-life issues, fill this beautiful Saturday morning cartoon show where the mundanity of life is the backdrop for some wonderful exchanges between Mae and her friends
Destroying large robot beasts while frantically switching between weapons is intoxicating, but the strength of Horizon Zero Dawn is in Aloy's engaging quest to find out who she really is.
Looking down the scope and holding your breath to line up that perfect shot in Sniper Elite 4 is exhilarating, as are the subsequent Kill Cams. It's just a shame that the poorly delivered story and wooden characters get in the way.
While not offering anything groundbreaking as such, this tranquil, simplistic puzzler is a joyous distraction in a medium that can sometimes pride itself on pomp and circumstance.
Despite a disappointing final act, this chilling horror story set in 1960s Taiwan burrows its way into your skull and, brilliantly, makes you anticipate the worst around every corner.
The shock value of Ladykiller in a Bind's sex scenes wear off the more they occur, but that doesn't take away from the interesting manipulation game that sees you trying to gain votes from your classmates.
While A New Frontier's opening two episodes are the best looking Telltale's ever produced, they resemble what we've seen before in story. Things need to change for the rest of the season to thrive, if it can.
The visual overhaul makes this the best looking Pokémon yet. Naturally, the amount of Pokémon on offer is almost insurmountable and will have you catching them all for quite a while, but be aware, they are a needy lot.
Simplicity is what makes Trackmania Turbo so refreshing, and is it's downfall on the longer tracks. Yet, the death-defying jumps and breakneck speed on the shorter efforts are where everything comes together. Hammering the roads while some banging tunes are playing is exhilarating. There's even a button to turn up the music: the weirdness of Trackmania is alive and weel here.
Far Cry Primal retains the framework of previous entries, but introduces enough to breath life into the series.
Unravel can deliver some picturesque desktop wallpaper, but when in motion, this 2D platformer becomes a frustrating puzzler that expects you to know more than you've been taught.