Richard Walker's Reviews
A celebration of everything that makes MGS so brilliantly unique, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain heralds a new stage in Kojima's stealth opus that might sadly be his last. Should the Metal Gear series continue without Kojima Productions, we'd be surprised if it's anywhere near as superlative as this. The Phantom Pain is sensational.
A solid first effort at Formula One on current consoles, F1 2015 is nevertheless hamstrung by a dearth of modes. The strength of the on-track action does bode well for subsequent F1 games, however, although F1 2015 feels like something of a stop-gap. That said, die-hard F1 fans will still love F1 2015 regardless.
A fine twin-stick shooter, Tachyon Project is good, solid entertainment that's worth whiling away a few hours with. Pew pew, and so forth.
Spectra is good clean fun, providing just the right amount of challenge without ever feeling unfair. Its chiptune soundtrack is excellent and the undiluted arcade experience it provides will keep you hooked for a time, until a sense of repetition will have you throwing in the towel. Still, for a very reasonable asking price, Spectra is a solid little arcade title that's well worth a look.
An uncompromising, visionary conclusion to Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy, Batman: Arkham Knight is the world's greatest detective in the world's greatest superhero game. Even the presence of an overused Batmobile doesn't dampen the experience. It's simply incredible, hitting you like a batarang square in the face. Be the Batman? Yes, please.
Completing an HD overhaul for the entirety of the Devil May Cry series, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is a definitive package that represents decent value for money for returning players, and is pretty much essential for anyone yet to play it. Grab it with your Devil Bringer arm. It's brill.
Addictive and entertaining, Sparkle Unleashed is a more than competent Zuma-style puzzler for Xbox One that's definitely worth a look. Go on. Get your balls out.
A remarkably pleasant, entertaining and pure stealth puzzle game, Spy Chameleon is one of the best games starring a lizard we've played in some time. Lick it up.
A must for casual and hardcore racing fans alike, Project CARS does practically everything right, providing plenty of options for players of all skill levels and persuasions. I'm not much of a racing sim fan, but I found myself completely immersed in Project CARS. This is a good thing. Project CARS is a good thing. The end.
Another Nazi-blasting triumph, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is the perfect companion piece to The New Order, and proof positive that MachineGames knows exactly what it's doing with the series. The Old Blood is more of the same, which is certainly no bad thing.
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.