Robert Cram's Reviews
We enjoyed the Resident Evil 2 Remake immensely. It was a breath of fresh air to an aged game bringing it into the modern age. When Resident Evil 3 Remake was announced to get the same treatment it was a time for excitement. However, the reality is we’re left with just an OK game that is somewhat uninspired and falls way short of its potential.
Cloudpunk looks like an ambitious project that needed rounding-off before it could be fully realised. However, as it stands you’ll find an interesting cyberpunk-themed story to play through, and then there’s the amazing city to just fly around. Toss-in some awesome music and it’s almost worth recommending the game just for these two aspects alone.
We played the original Saints Row The Third to death when it released and found the game took us up to the upper echelons of gaming madness but still kept its toes in some warped reality. In this regard, the game is full of character and we love it. The remaster then makes an already cool game even better and for those who love visual elements will especially be pleased at Volition’s efforts here.
The Last of Us Part II is an excellent game overall despite some niggles and shortcomings in places. If you take things at face-value and lose your invested allegiances, there’s a clever tale here of two perspectives coming together under the guise of murder, horror and revenge.
Issues aside, there's a cool, fun game to play on offer here (albeit somewhat bare-bones), marred by technical hiccups and an awful DLC policy. We can't fully recommend this game despite its merits. Once the technical issues get resolved and the pricing lowered then it might be worth a look.
It's hard to say whether this game is better than Man of Medan, but in terms of story and ending Little Hope feels like a step-backwards. The characters were also not as interesting, despite having some cool moments. Where Little Hope excels is with its varied spooky locations which lend themselves far better to the horror experience than the gloomy and often confined ship interior of the previous game.
The story presents an assortment of scenarios for the player to work through as they conquer England, though force, diplomacy or guile. However, no matter how great the story or optional side-questing, the game becomes severely let-down by bugs and expected glitches. The latter is easy to overlook, but the former often impacts play which is a massive shame. In this regard it might be prudent to wait for more patches. That said, if you're willing to endure, you will find an entertaining romp with such a great subject matter. Plus, there's still plenty of assassin action within this Assassin's Creed instalment.
Observer System Redux looks great and thankfully plays excellently as well. The new content is nice to have and offers additional twisted and perverted happenings for Lazarski to uncover. The visual overhaul is pleasant, although a shame the game didn't include the original visuals as an option to toggle. That said, it feels fresh to revisit the game here after enjoying the original release in 2017. If you’re not a fan of walking-sims, then the pure assault on the senses might mean this could be an exception for you. It’s an engaging investigation, full of neat touches. The only negative, aside from not being able to explore more of the game world, are moments where progression forwards feels a little too-contrived or unclear, but this is a minor niggle. The core game, its character Lazarski and the world around him make for an exceptional journey for players that comes recommended for anyone with an interest in cyberpunk/sci-fi adventuring. Action gamers need not apply though.
Night City is the host of a very neat and cool playground for a mercenary, gun-for-hire, bounty hunter type persona. We can't fault CDPR's handling of the main-story and fleshed-out side quests. These are both excellent and well worth playing the game for. Whilst the game does feel lacking in other areas as if unfinished, and has its fair share of bugs, it's still a cracking top-notch experience on top-end PC.
To conclude, HITMAN III is a fitting end to the current trilogy and it will be interesting to see where IO take the series moving forwards. With lots to do in this game, plenty of replay value and the chance to create your own missions means it is a solid package.
Little Nightmares II offers an atmospheric romp inside a crazed, surreal world. Part horror, a little stealth with some platform-puzzle solving tossed-in make this a joy to play. It is short in length though, so bear that in mind if you are on a budget and perhaps wait for a sale. Some fiddly controls might get the better of you at times as well, but persevere and you have a very good game well worth checking out.
Is Borderlands 3 Director's Cut worth it for its asking price? There are two perspectives here really. On one side having just spent in excess of 35 hours playing through the main game, the new content didn't matter much and perhaps there might be an element of Borderlands burnout or fatigue. If it wasn't for this review, there was still plenty to go back to with the base content. So, for newcomers it's not an essential addition to the package as far as we are concerned. However, on the other side, those players who already invested X numbers of hours and in need of more content will find the additions interesting but perhaps a little on the pricey side considering how long it will take to see it all (2 hours or less). Therefore, it's hard to recommend fully to both camps at the current pricing unless you have deep pockets or just have to play anything new as soon as it releases.
To wrap-up then, Resident Evil Village is a fun game to play for those looking for a less scary experience and one that is not too taxing on the grey matter. It feels like Resident Evil 4 revisited and works using a similar style of gameplay. Fans of the slower-paced survival horror games might feel like this game could quite easily have had its own spin-off series and in some ways we can agree with that sentiment. However, in its own right and for all its theatrics, Village pushes the right buttons where it counts. In many ways it’s liberating to reside on the side of aggressor rather than tortured weakling, and that gets a dismembered thumbs-up from us.