Jamie Davies
Link's Awakening is a joyous adventure and a treat for the eyes, marred by some minor performance hiccups. It's truly a shame that this title is following up the most ambitious entry in the series' history and feels dissapointingly small in comparison.
Woven is not a fun game, but it's certainly a nice story. There are concepts —particularly the body-swapping mechanic— that could have been enjoyable with the right execution, but this game doesn't even come close to pulling them off.
A fun, but simplified take on the turn-based strategy genre, think "baby's first XCOM" and you're on the right lines. Its flaws are obvious but easily overlooked for newcomers to the genre. If you're a die-hard strategy fan, consider giving Narcos: Rise of the Cartels a pass, it won't have much to offer you.
At £8.99, it's not asking for much money, but it's certainly asking for too much of a player's time with the excessive and repetitive grinding.
The studio clearly sees potential in the format as a storytelling platform, and I definitely want to see them refine it in the future.
There are some heart-warming themes of friendship and scenes of goofy fun that might appeal to someone looking for an optimistic gaming experience, but in many ways these only make the sexual scenes even less pleasant. NEKOPARA is a franchise for a very specific type of person, unfortunately, that's just not me.
Triangle Studios' latest release makes a strong first impression with striking visual effects and satisfying shooting mechanics. Sadly, the appeal quickly wears thin, exposing its repetitive gameplay and samey environments. Good for a handful of short bursts, especially with friends, but it feels too much like an unfinished product to fully recommend.
An improvement on its predecessors in just about every conceivable way. Zombie Army 4: Dead War offers one of the 'gamiest', most carefree and satisfying shooting experiences of recent years. Technical bugs and a lacklustre horde mode prevent this from reaching its full potential, but it's just so hard to stay mad at a game that's this much fun.
Ego Protocol: Remastered is a tile-sliding Lemmings-like that offers about as much excitement as a geriatric knitting club. Outside of some temperamental controls and poor use of its sci-fi theme however, there's not much to highlight as a real issue. It's not offensive enough to incite mass riots but it still feels like a chore every step of the way.
Dezatopia is a spectacle that gets more impressive the better it's played. With the most satisfying-to-use weapons this side of DOOM and a seemingly endless variety of enemies to use them on, there aren't many stronger cases to be made for the return of the 2D scrolling shooter.
There's nothing novel with this release; much like the droning ten-note melody that punctuates the menus and all too much of the gameplay, it's repetitious and bland. Memories of Mars asks for too much player commitment and offers too little in return. Whatever this game does well is done better elsewhere.
A would-be bland, but harmless kids' platformer that, due to insulting levels of gameplay padding, crosses over into dreadful territory. Truly, it's hard to imagine anyone enjoying this tedious, personality-devoid bore of a game.
With a simple but engaging upgrade system; enough weapons and gadgets to make James Bond blush; and a great parrying mechanic that brings an unexpected rhythmic element to combat, this is one title that warrants a purchase even without any fancy VR setup. Repetition with enemy variety and level structure may mar the experience for some players, but it's easy to overlook these faults when the core game has so much to offer.
With a simple but engaging upgrade system; enough weapons and gadgets to make James Bond blush; and a great parrying mechanic that brings an unexpected rhythmic element to combat, this is one title that warrants a purchase even without any fancy VR setup. Repetition with enemy variety and level structure may mar the experience for some players, but it's easy to overlook these faults when the core game has so much to offer.
In the gameplay department, Cloudpunk simulates the boredom of a minimum wage job a little too well. Looking back, I'm happy to have played Cloudpunk, but I never want to sit through it again.
Atomicrops is frenetic, challenging and addicting in the way that all the best roguelike/lites are, with a silly streak that helps give the title its own identity. A lack of content does harm the game's longevity.
Project Warlock wears its 90s first-person shooter influence on its sleeve. It's fast, violent and perfectly paced—a must play, whether you harbour fond memories of its inspiration or not. Besides some minor setbacks caused by level design quirks, Project Warlock was pure, unadulterated fun from start to finish.
Even with its many imperfections, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated ultimately succeeds as an attempt to spruce up a 17-year old game. It doesn't stand alongside the 3D platforming greats, but it's a fantastic, humour-filled tribute to a beloved show. People less familiar with the yellow sea sponge's exploits will find it harder to overlook the creaky, PlayStation 2-era quirks. It looks better, but that doesn't mean it plays better than it did 17 years ago.
Hunting Simulator 2 combines arcade and simulator elements to form a game that lacks much of an identity. Hardcore hunting enthusiasts will find things too simplistic; players after an animal shoot 'em up will be frustrated by the more realistic elements. While not completely devoid of fun, it's just too dull to fully recommend.
Varied items, engrossing gameplay and a killer soundtrack make Risk of Rain 2 one of the best roguelike shooters in recent years. The lack of a mid-game save feature and some uninspired environments hold this sequel back, but the astonishing translation from 2D to 3D more than makes up for it.