Listen, aside from having to deal with hardware limitations, The Hong Kong Massacre on the Switch is plenty serviceable. If you’re a fan of the bang-your-head-against-the-wall experience that these games offer, look no further. But I can’t recommend this on the Switch over any other system. And then, at that point, you might as well play something better. If ever a game garnered the title of mediocre, The Hong Kong Massacre is it.
I can’t argue that at the heart of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light is the tried-and-true Fire Emblem formula. And when used as nothing more than a reference to how far the series as a whole has come in 30 years, it answers the question of whether or not it’s worth your hard-earned $6. But I’d bet the farm that the majority of casual Fire Emblem fans won’t be able to deal with the games offensively slow pace. And to top it all off, I love the sights and sounds of the eight and sixteen-bit by-gone era, but by the end of the campaign, I was ready to never again play another classic. There are only so many beeps and crumple sound effects that I can handle in one lifetime.
If you’ve been itching to get back in the driver’s seat, DIRT 5 is what the doctor ordered. Despite a lackluster career mode that fails in both connecting to the player and building tension, DIRT 5 succeeds where it matters most. Driving. This is the best representation of off-road vehicular shenanigans I’ve ever had the joy of playing. Mastering my skillset and conquering each course was as fun as any racing game over the last five years – I attribute much of this to each class of car being as certifiably entertaining as the last. It isn’t often I find this to be the case. It won’t replace Forza, and it won’t replace Gran Turismo, but it doesn’t need to.
Budget Cuts surprised me in more ways than I expected – and to clarify, that’s good and bad. What I thought was going to be a fun homage to the likes of Job Simulator turned out to be a game that, more than it had any right to, made me feel like I was in ‘The Matrix.’ It’s easy to feel like a badass when you glide through a room and eliminate all threats without breaking a sweat. But, it’s also easy to get caught up in aggravating tracking issues that you won’t find on top-of-the-line VR headsets. If you can play Budget Cuts on your PC, do so. But if your only option is the PSVR, you aren’t entirely left out in the cold.
I stand by that it plays as well as it ever has. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a proper representation of the sport. If EA Vancouver ever hopes to stand alongside the giants of the genre – NBA 2K and MLB The Show – they’ll need to rethink what simulation hockey really means.
Crash is back, baby! Fans can rejoice as Toys for Bob and Activision have come together to create platforming perfection.
Anyone hip to the source material is sure to find a lot to love about Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions.
In between some of the most frustrating moments I’ve had with any sort of game in quite some time, PGA Tour 2K21 flashed with hopeful, brilliant optimism.
Without any concrete information as to when we can expect the next season of Peaky Blinders, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind might end up being a nice distraction from the limbo we’ve all been left in.
If Guerrilla Games hopes to maintain a grasp on its prospective fanbase’s attention, they’ll need to put a hefty amount of work into Horizon: Zero Dawn PC.