Paul Hunter's Reviews
Trenches is a bold first-person survival horror game that delivers chilling jump scares in a unique war-torn environment. The audio design is the real winner here, and playing the game with headphones on is a must. The visuals wear thin after one playthrough and there's not much incentive to reply this short game, but at ten bucks it offers a couple of hours of intense scares that are worth experiencing if you're a big horror buff.
If you enjoy classic horror games from yesteryear, this game is ready to give you an earful of scares.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider kicks off 2023 in the best way possible with an immaculate retro platforming title delivering tight gameplay, gorgeous visuals, great enemy variety and intense boss fights. Anyone who enjoys classics like Contra or Shinobi should have this game on their radar.
Jitsu Squad is pure brawling awesomeness. The gameplay is buttery smooth, lightning-fast and thoroughly satisfying—exactly what you'd want from a beat 'em up. Mix in the eye-popping hand-drawn cartoon graphics, finessed animations and a thumping soundtrack and this game delivers the goods. It's a shame then that in its current state the content is a bit lacking, but hopefully, the Kickstarter stretch goals get rolled out soon as they'd make the game an unqualified recommendation.
The Callisto Protocol is an impressive first release from Striking Distance Studios with sublime visuals and immersive 3D audio, all set in a captivating new game world I just have to see more of. The performance on PS5 is exceptional: buttery-smooth frame rates, crisp 4K resolution and one of best implementations of ray tracing and DualSense features I've seen yet. If only the combat was better this would be a near-perfect outing, but alas that aspect needs some major reworking.
Do Not Open delivers on its escape room horror promise with cleverly designed puzzles that are fun and challenging to solve. Combined with its spooky story and high-quality environmental visuals, there's enough here to make a solid recommendation to horror fans. One caveat though: depending on your budget, its $24.99 price tag may be a little steep considering the game's length, so you might want to hold out for a sale.
Evil West is a silly slaughter-fest that has gameplay I instantly got into and enjoyed.
Atari has just set a new benchmark for retro game compilations with Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. There's been a lot of talk recently about how bad the gaming industry is at preserving its history, but this robust package should be the ideal that all game companies strive for.
The Devil in Me is Supermassive's best entry yet in The Dark Pictures Anthology series. The new gameplay mechanics push the series into the modern era (finally!), but it's the haunted antagonist Du'Met that's really the star of this horrorfest. If you've enjoyed previous entries in the anthology, don't hesitate to book your ticket to the murder hotel.
Syberia: The World Before delivers an impactful story that perfectly wraps up Kate Walker's legendary story while whetting the appetite for more stories involving newcomer Dana Roze. Visuals in the game are simply exquisite and combined with the beautiful soundtrack and stunning piano arrangements it's an audio-visual feast. I really hope we one day get more stories in the exotic world of Syberia, but if this is it, the series is concluding on the highest note possible.
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.
Save Room is one of those games I didn't know I needed until I played it. It takes the most tedious part of Resident Evil games and turns it into a comedy puzzler with 40 levels that'll test your mental muscle and RE item management mechanics. I wish the game was longer, but given its budget price, it's hard to complain. This game is quite possibly the most fun you can get for the price of a sardine sandwich. What are you waiting for, stranger?
Garfield Lasagna Party is a solid mini-game collection that won't knock off the kings like Mario Party or WarioWare, but still offers enough that families should get a real kick out of it. The majority of the 32 mini-games are fun to play, but it is too bad the main board game race mode doesn't deliver. Stick with the challenge mode though, which lets you play mini-games of your choice, and you're bound to have a great time.
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.
Sony's latest God of War game is Ragna-rock solid. It outdoes the previous game in every way, from expanded gameplay to exciting new realms to explore to a banger of a story to new characters to meet and play as. Graphically, it's a stone cold stunner with pristine 4K visuals, plus DualSense integrations that add tremendously to the immersion. With dozens of hours of side content, on top of the lengthy main campaign, this is among the most content-rich games of the entire year.
Resident Evil Village Winters’ Expansion is a great add-on with its new third-person mode and new story campaign, but I thought The Mercenaries Additional Orders was the best new content. If you enjoyed RE Village, I'm convinced you'll be lycan this DLC expansion.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed delivers on its promise of fulfilling your ultimate Buster ghost-zapping fantasy.
While I wasn't too thrilled about the Court of Owls storyline, thankfully the villain subcases featuring Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze and Clayface are top-notch. Batman fans shouldn't hesitate to grab this game and step into the knight.
Scorn frustrated the heck out of me at times, but the world and art style are so darn interesting I just had to push myself forward. And while it was tough at times, I'm glad I made it all the way through. This is a very unique experience offering disturbing-yet-breathtaking visuals and a story that will make you think during and long after it's over.
Alfred Hitchcock – Vertigo is a fantastic narrative adventure worthy of the Hitchcock license. Pendulo Studios has created a chilling thriller layered with captivating themes told through characters oozing with personality. If you're looking for a story-focused title that'll keep your attention from the beginning straight through to the shocking finale, this is the game for you.