Richard Walker's Reviews
State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition is a generously proportioned package (that's not a euphemism), containing a stack of content, a huge open-world packed with ravenous zombies and precious few supplies to see you through. The apocalypse has never looked so damn bleak, although the 1080p upgrade helps bolster the gloomy visuals. State of Decay heralds the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
As endless runners go, Infinity Runner is a fine example, but greatly lacks polish and finesse. Repeated use of assets also leads to deja vu, and some parts of the game are just plain broken. The story too is deeply unsatisfying with its eye-rolling conclusion. But then for the price, you can't really go too far wrong. If nothing else, Infinity Runner offers a few hours of silly sci-fi entertainment. With space werewolves.
A gloriously unhinged and unashamedly stupid game, Goat Simulator is still one of the most enjoyable things I've played in some time. It's a horribly glitchy mess, but it's also somewhat majestic in its commitment to providing surreal lunacy that will have you in fits of laughter. If this is what it's like to be a goat, I don't want to be human anymore.
NetherRealm has outdone itself with Mortal Kombat X, delivering an uncompromising fighting game that revels in blood-drenched ultra-violence. Not just essential for Mortal Kombat fans, MK X is something that deserves to be enjoyed by all fight fans over the age of 18. Brutality!
With two mahoosive games and a ton of additional content stuffed into the box, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is well worth the asking price, what with its sharp, pimped-out visuals and what not. If you've already taken this ride before on Xbox 360, you might want to think twice before parting with more cash for the Xbox One version.
It might not reach the dizzy heights of seminal Resident Evil, but Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is nonetheless a solid fleshy slab of survival horror that represents great value for money and a fun few hours of infected freak shooting.
Final Fantasy: Type-0 HD might not be to everyone's tastes, but the game's combat is mostly enjoyable and there's plenty to explore and discover. The story might be convoluted, but it's engaging and the characters are (mostly) likeable. Final Fantasy: Type-0 HD is good fun, and well worth delving into for a few dozen hours.
LA Cops is a neat game of cops and criminals that's just too short-lived and lacking. The 70s style is a nice touch and the partner dynamic adds a strategic bent (even if we did mostly just use the second cop as an extra life) to what is otherwise a fairly sterile twin-stick shooter. It's not quite our bag of donuts.
DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition proves that DmC is still brilliant. A slight resolution upgrade, frame rate boost and additional content make for a good value package, but if you've already played DmC on last-gen platforms, you may want to carefully consider re-purchasing this, despite it remaining deliciously devilish.
Pneuma: Breath of Life should have been the kind of game you turn to between Call of Duty sessions, but instead it's a slightly insipid, short-lived and ultimately disposable puzzler. Console gamers like us are crying out for games like these, but Pneuma really isn't it.
A love letter to fans, Dragon Ball Xenoverse features almost every character, masses of content and the trademark vibrant and frenetic art style. Unfortunately, it's not really much fun to play, succeeding in being something of a repetitious slog. A game for the Dragon Ball purists, Xenoverse is unlikely to appeal to anyone else.
What looks like a bright and breezy game turns out to be an incredibly stiff challenge that can occasionally be hugely rewarding. More often than not, however, The Escapists is about as pleasurable as a swift kick in the bollocks.
Dying Light is a cavalcade of zombie ultra-violence that's hard to put down. The parkour can be a little sketchy at times, and it's not without its flaws, but whether you're playing alone or with a squad of Kyle Crane clones, you simply can't fail to have fun amid Harran City's zombie apocalypse. If this is how the world ends, count me in.
Life is Strange Episode 1: Chrysalis is an engaging and enjoyable first instalment in what promises to be a compelling adventure series. If subsequent episodes can live up to what Dontnod has started, we're in for a treat.
Resident Evil still holds up after 13 years as a masterclass in survival horror, this HD remaster making it utterly essential once more.
A bold and smart Xbox One indie platformer, Kalimba takes a simple and clever idea, transforming it into something that's equal parts tough and rewarding. Totem-ally worth a look.
Huge fun with friends and enjoyable on your own, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a strong follow-up to Guardian of Light. It might retread a lot of old ground from its predecessor, but it also offers enough twists and interesting puzzles to keep you playing for a good few hours, making it well worth excavating and dusting off.
Lucid has succeeded in bringing Geometry Wars back with an almighty bang. A more than worthy successor to Bizarre Creations' originals, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions makes the formula work in 3D, while providing the same kind of engaging gameplay that made the previous games so addictive. Finger pain and scorched eyeballs might be side-effects, but screw it. It hurts so good.
Not nearly the new-gen reinvention we were hoping for, WWE 2K15 continues to plod along, delivering the same old well-worn gameplay with only a few minor improvements. It looks wholly authentic and is the best-looking game in the franchise to date, but with less content and few meaningful changes, WWE 2K15 needs to get back in the gym.
Over one year on and Grand Theft Auto V is still a stunning, unmatched achievement. An open-world that's still utterly absorbing, characters that you'll still want to spend time with and enough new stuff to drag you back for more, all conspire to make GTA V on new-gen entirely indispensable. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.