Paul Hunter's Reviews
If you enjoy classic horror games from yesteryear, this game is ready to give you an earful of scares.
Smurfs Kart doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, instead giving you a clear Mario Kart-inspired kart racer with fantastic visuals, a good variety of playable Smurfs and accessible gameplay. If your family is looking for their next competitive racer, this game delivers tons of multiplayer thrills.
What a great surprise The Chant was. It's a superb debut game from Brass Token filled with top-notch motion capture and voice acting, highly detailed environments, an engaging story, and it has some truly haunting enemy designs. If you like horror adventure games, book your trip to Glory Island immediately.
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed is a saucy game full of foul-mouthed characters and silly antics. Fans of the original, which I'm definitely one of, will love this new remake that totally revamps the graphics while retaining the classic gameplay. It's too bad the game is so bug-ridden though as those moments stunk of serious Ark-doo-doo. Still, with probing this fun, I was easily compelled to see this invasive operation all the way through.
I had a great time with Thymesia, from it's Bloodborne-inspired atmosphere to it's buttery-smooth gameplay. I only wish the game was longer—its three worlds can be completed in about 6-8 hours. At its budget price though, it's certainly worth the cost of admission.
In my family, DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace is a tale of two gamers. For me, I thought the game offered decent fun, the type of game I'd play and platinum over the weekend and likely not touch again. But my child's experience was much better, he's totally into the game and had incredible fun playing it.
Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions is a fun and innovative tactical adventure that introduces some cool mechanics to the genre. Any fan of Jump+ manga will love this game, as will younger players or seasoned veterans looking to flex their tactical skills in low-pressure combat missions.
If you're looking for a neat indie horror game to play over the weekend, Oxide Room 104 delivers a satisfying experience. It's not a long game—you can beat it in about two hours—but with four endings and multiple remixes of the hotel there's plenty of replayability. I especially enjoyed the escape room puzzles and thought the majority of them offered a good challenge.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a flawed, but actually quite enjoyable action RPG. The story is surprisingly good, combat is incredibly satisfying and the excellent character customization goes very deep. Graphics are a major sore spot, as was the disappointing end-game content, but overall I'm glad I got to experience this game.
As a first effort for Pulsatrix Studios, FOBIA St. Dinfna Hotel is commendable. The hotel has exquisite level design and the numerous puzzles kept me interested and engaged over the campaign. I also love the camera alternate reality mechanic, it's a neat twist on a familiar concept. Combat needs improvement, as does the voice acting, but overall FOBIA is an easy recommend for fans of classic Resident Evil or Silent Hill.
I had more fun than expected playing Dolmen and everyone who enjoys a good soulslike game should check it out. The environments are varied and look nice, the level design was appealing, it has great character and gear upgrades systems, and multiplayer was a nice touch. The real downside is the poor enemy A.I., so while combat was satisfying, aside from a few well-designed bosses don't expect a stiff challenge. Overall though, it's still a solid recommend.
Centipede Recharged takes a beloved classic and reinvents it for the modern era with exceptional graphics and inspired gameplay upgrades. This is the perfect game to unwind to when you've got an hour to spare or a great bite-size game to play between those all-consuming AAA titles. I'm hooked on this game and it's making me excited for the next Recharged titles Atari is cooking up, like Black Widow Recharged and Breakout Recharged. It would have been nice for the game to ship with more modes, but with it's incredibly satisfying gameplay loop and $9.99 price point, retro fans shouldn't hesitate to pick this game up.
I've had a lot of fun playing Habroxia 2 on PS5. At only $10 it's a steal and certainly a must-play game for shoot 'em fans on every platform. You can get the Platinum trophy in about ten hours, so it's great for achievement hunters as well. I play a lot of longer games, so whenever I get fatigued and need a break it's great to know that Habroxia 2 will be there to jump into for some quick and fun arcade shmup action.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood isn’t bad, but it’s not amazing either. It’s a serviceable Wolfenstein entry with some great standout parts—like the gunplay—but also has odd coop mechanics that detract from the gameplay. The difficulty feels unbalanced: you start out super weak and enemies are super bullet spongy. This eases over time as you gain levels and purchase gun upgrades, but it’s a slow grind.
At less than $40 to buy, ScreamRide offers a lot of excitement for its comparatively low price. You can ride, destroy, and create dream roller coasters, effectively giving you three games in one. When you add in a steady stream of user-generated content into the mix, ScreamRide is value proposition is very tempting.
The Saints Row IV Re-Elected + Gat out of Hell combo pack is well-suited for anyone who missed out on Saints Row IV when it released 18 months ago on last-gen platforms. If you've already played through that game, unless you're dying to play through a slightly enhanced edition, your best option is to pick-up the standalone version of Gat out of Hell, also available now.
Ultros is a gorgeous hallucinatory escapade that dazzles visually as much as it impresses gameplay-wise. From the mesmerizing alien ship backdrop to the methodical combat to the taxing-yet-rewarding gardening mechanic, this game is full of surprises. If you're looking for a wholly original Metroidvania game with innovative new roguelite elements, Ultros is quite the trip.
I've been thoroughly enjoying my time with Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons and it's an easy recommendation for anyone who's enjoyed Nintendo's Picross series or is a fan of Story of Seasons. Virtually anyone can enjoy this game given the myriad of accessibility options that lets you customize the challenge exactly to your likely.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake takes you on an unforgettable journey that simply should not be missed. The enhancements, including the new local co-op option, the revamped graphics and the re-recorded orchestral soundtrack make this already exceptional indie masterpiece even better.
Alone in the Dark offers a compelling world filled with interesting characters and engaging puzzles, brought together with its great ambiance and immersive audio. Combat is sloppy and could use refinements, although it wasn't enough to deter me from thoroughly enjoying this eight-hour descent into madness.