Richard Walker's Reviews
You may spend a lot of your time comparing Gotham Knights to the Arkham series, and that's to be expected. But this is a different beast, and something to be relished on its own terms.
As far as horror games that ape the works of H.R. Giger are concerned, Scorn is certainly one of the most interesting examples around, and many of its puzzles are nicely executed. However, crappy combat cramps Scorn’s style, while the unrelenting bleakness of the thing will leave you feeling deflated.
A soothing and enjoyable adventure with a smattering of smart LEGO-building puzzles and a dose of metroidvania exploration, LEGO Bricktales is a polished and fun way to while away a few quiet evenings.
Games like No More Heroes III are remarkably rare. Brimming with ideas and genuinely humorous moments, this is something uniquely Grasshopper, uniquely Suda. Get on it as soon as humanly possible.
A hardcore heavy-metal shooter boasting a side order of rhythm with its brutal ultra-violence, Metal: Hellsinger is good fun, but you'll probably get a lot more out of it if you actually enjoy the music.
When you buy NBA 2K, you know what you're getting. Except this year, NBA 2K23 sees Visual Concepts bringing its 'A' game, with an excellent MyCareer mode, the return of Jordan Challenges, and an addictive MyTeam offering. This is a straight-up slam dunk.
Yet another elegantly composed and impeccably designed Arkane sandbox, Deathloop is an intricate murder puzzle that’s part-Hitman, part-roguelite, and entirely sensational. There are few better ways to kill time.
As a vibrant and energetic revamp of a nine-year-old fighting game, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R succeeds in breathing new life into something quite niche, with meaningful tweaks to its fighting system, new features, and more, giving it a well deserved second chance.
F1 Manager 2022 succeeds in being an engaging experience, immersing you in the various intricacies and minutiae of running a constructor, while determining the ideal race strategy – you can't help but feel fully invested.
Did you grow up with the Turtles? Then we don't need to tell you that you need to buy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection right away. For anyone else even moderately curious about the TMNT's 8 and 16-bit past, jump in – the sewer water is lovely.
It's slightly upsetting how close Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed is to being a properly good remake. Were it not for the parade of annoying bugs and the occasional crummy mission, this would be easy to recommend. In its current, messy state, however, Black Forest's latest effort falls agonizingly short.
As a new start for the eponymous gang, Saints Row ticks most of the boxes, but falls short in offering up anything fresh. A litany of technical and visual bugs also conspire to spoil the party, making for a solid enough, enjoyable, but ultimately uninspired, return for the series.
A slender and streamlined FPS made by just one person, Bright Memory: Infinite is quite the feat – an action game that flies by at a lick, bombarding you with slick set pieces and cracking gunplay. This is a first-person shooter distilled to its raw elemental components, and it's marvellous.
Normally, with a choice-driven adventure, I'm once and done, ready for a post-game water-cooler discussion. As Dusk Falls' warrants more than one playthrough, if only to see how differently things can pan out. If that open ending is any indication, there's more to come.
While many of the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers games included here are already available in previous collections, Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium still includes a plethora of arcade classics, and you're bound to discover, or indeed, rediscover, something well worth playing.
While the new F1 Life hub and the addition of supercars are no substitute for last year's story mode or 2020's classic cars, F1 22 is nonetheless another superlative Formula One game, and a damn fine racing experience in its own right.
A knockout combo of ten arcade greats – including five sensational Darkstalkers games – Capcom Fighting Collection represents fantastic value, online play with rollback netcode the icing on a delectable ass-kicking cake.
While it's almost impossible not to have fun with Sonic Origins, it is easy to lament the missing features, neutered Sonic 3 soundtrack, and absence of the blue blur's outings on the Master System and Game Gear. Disappointing.
Final Vendetta is so very nearly another scrolling beat 'em up revival that could have rubbed shoulders with Streets of Rage 4. Instead, it's scuppered by an egregious level of difficulty that slowly sucks the fun away. If you crave retro beat 'em up nirvana, then do yourself favour, and play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.
A sensational nostalgia trip imbued with magical mutagen ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a triumphant return for the TMNT that will scratch any and all scrolling beat 'em up itches, and give fans a sharp kick in the 'feels'.