Adam Kerr
Given Konami's commitment to gambling games over the last few years, you'd think they'd be averse to making poor gambling decisions.
The Uncertain: Light at the End is a game that interweaves everything through its narrative. Sadly, that narrative is frustratingly tedious, meaning the rest of the game's building blocks fall apart without a strong base.
A middle of the road performance for New Pokémon Snap. It will certainly find its niche, and anyone who considers themselves a big Pokémon fan will come away from this game grinning about some really beautiful moments. The biggest issue with New Pokémon Snap is that there is no reason to stick around after the first couple of hours.
If you want to learn more about the ocean, this would be a great experience for you. If you want a beautiful, relaxed experience about fish, Beyond Blue just about misses the mark on that, unfortunately.
The Captain Is Dead does so many things well independently, but is held back massively by the pure luck factor of the games events. There's a great game in here, but it's marred by miserable gameplay experience in which victory is snatched out of the players' hands regardless of their skill level.
Startup Panic is fun for its first few hours, but tails off quickly. It's cute art and music will keep you interested, but once you stop playing you are unlikely to return to this office.
Great mech design and accessibility cannot save Override 2: Super Mech League from it's weightless, lifeless gameplay. The maps often come across as too small, leading to cluttered fights that really affect the games flow.
An enjoyable game, with an interesting premise which is bogged down and held back by an underwhelming PC port. The gameplay does feel great, so if the technical faults are ironed out, Nioh 2: Complete Edition is certainly a title to keep an eye out for.
Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition is an improvement on the base game from last generation, but never truly feels like a next gen title. The added content will make this a worthy upgrade for those who enjoyed the base game, however the game remains too generic in terms of story and far too easy when it comes to gameplay.
Although rough at times, Calappa Games have created something fun and light-hearted that a lot of people will get their fair share of joy from.
A solid game at its core but lacks the content remain engaging in the long term.
Far Cry 6 is two steps forward and a step back. The characters are brilliant, as is the work put into bringing them to life. Sadly, the game continues to be bogged down by more pointless content. The epitome of 'less is more'.
Twelve Minutes is a videogame that is fantastic in every area, except being a videogame. There's a lot to love, and I think people will overlook its faults. Sadly those faults are there, almost completely tanking an otherwise excellent piece of fiction.
The Farm 51 understood everything about the setting of Cherobylite, which the nail incredibly. Sadly, their inability to stick to a solid gameplay plan means the overall experience is bloated with pointless systems which just pull the whole experience down a level.
My experience with Galactic Mining Corp definitely ticked the positive column more often than the negative. Sadly, the game's commitment to making the overall experience easy to use and accessible for everyone, means that neither side ever gets the experience they truly wanted.
Colonials Programme is a fun game with a few bumps along the way. If you soldier your way through a rough beginning, you'll find a game that has been crafted quite well. With that being said, the beginning is a slog that is likely to lose some of the users before being given a fair chance.
At times frustrating, Garden Story is a fantastic example of how charm can help push a game to the next level, despite some frustrating design choices.
Tribes of Midgard is a well-polished, accessible experience. Allowing up to 10 players to take part, the game runs well on most hardware and is easy to pick up and play. The biggest concern is how unenjoyable the game is alone.
Oddworld: Soulstorm refines a lot from the previous games, but it comes at the cost of adding in new mechanics that never really click. The core element has improved, and it's easy to see the franchise continuing to improve going forward, without needless additions. Soulstorm just falls that little short of great this time around, sadly.
The gameplay loop of Warframe remains the same, but the smooth frame rate and great loading times will be a great benefit to long term console players as they move to the PlayStation 5. If you're a Warframe fan, you can look forward to a much sharper experience.