Robert Cram's Reviews
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.
DOOM Eternal ticks all the right boxes to be a great addition to the series. Whilst it does keep things fresh with its combat resource management approach, some players might find this too overbearing for their enjoyment when hoping for a straight-up shooter. Therefore, it’s advised to remove any preconceived shackles from 2016, and approach it as a fresh experience under a familiar guise.
This is a fun game harking back to the old-school with a little bit of modern flavor added in small touches here and there. It’s a solid game and well worth the price of entry for any Duke Nukem 3D fans. Anyone else will also have a blast collecting health, weapons and not relying on waypoints rather than current gen regenerating health and assists. It’s tough as nails on harder settings too, and sits as a pick-up-and-play experience worth checking out even if you don’t dig the retro style.
Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a class game despite its simplicity. Cool characters, easy to pick-up and play gameplay and wonderful visuals make this a highly recommended game. The good thing about it is you get what you put into it. Rather than endure long sections, you can dive-in for a quick skirmish and then drop out without any limits or penalties.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s pacing might get to some players, that’s a given. The combat can feel a little wonky at times too. The overwhelming attention to the simple things might get the better of some players. Then there is the horse AI. But when all is said and done, this is a quality experience that I am glad to have played and found closure after so many invested hours. I can only fully recommend RDR2 to gamers who want a thoroughbred entertainment experience. That said, it comes with a cost of requiring some effort from the participant. Something players should most willingly provide.
HITMAN 2 feels like it sits on well-trodden ground with little deviation from 2016’s HITMAN game despite some notable differences. The core game isn’t broke and needs no adjustment – although a classic mode complete with suspicion and awakening KO’d NPCs is a desire. With plenty of options to suit the skills of a varied audience, HITMAN 2 presents itself as the ultimate assassination/murder/subterfuge sandbox game. It accomplishes its goals with ease and with all the trimmings included means fans of the series will have a blast. HITMAN 2 is accessible to new players and vets in equal measure making for a slick and stylish action stealth game to eat away the Winter nights. Ultimately, it’s fun, easy to understand and well executed. Additional features waiting in the wings such as the elusive targets means players have more to look forwards to in terms of game support.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey keeps the familiar formula, adds some new bits and places players at the heart of it all. It’s hard not to like the presentation here despite familiarity setting in pretty much as soon as the game begins. Greece is a wonderful playground, Kassandra a lovely character and the quests meaningful fodder. It’s easy to dismiss Odyssey as Origins in a new skin, but would not be fair on the obvious high quality production. If you tire of Assassin’s Creed games, then perhaps this one won’t bring you back into the fold in any meaningful way. However, for action adventure fans after a massive open playground to stamp their mark it doesn’t get much better than this.
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.
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 Walking Dead Saints & Sinners is a cool VR game that feels feature complete and is well-worth the asking price. Whether you’re a fan of the TV series it’s based-on or not, this is just a cool game for VR audiences. It boasts excellent production values and despite featuring more “zombies” which is a very common theme in VR games, manages to avoid the usual wave-shooter mechanic we’ve seen so many times before.
SoulCalibur VI comes as a welcome addition to the series despite some niggles. Overall, the package is grand and certainly appeals to fans of the franchise. It’s an accessible title for newcomers and generally heaps of fun to play across all its modes. Obviously, the lack of a bigger budget shows here, but what is provided is enough to charm like-minded players. That said, the creation mode whilst limited in comparison to previous offerings is the star of the show. It’s a game in itself to customise the default roster or make your own deranged or beautiful fighter. The fact players share creations online is a massive boon.
Starlink Battle for Atlas is a cool game which adults and younger gamers can enjoy in equal measure. The toy aspect is awesome but not compulsory which is plus point – especially given the cost of extra parts. The core game whilst repetitive in some respects, has enough charms to keep players entertained for many hours. The game has seen a lot of love obviously making for a wonderful space shooter. Great visuals, excellent designs and unrestrained freedom makes for a welcome game. The core target audience should lap this up especially if toys come as part of the deal.
Black Ops 4, looks great with its excellent designed maps (which all run smoothly on PC by the way). The bots do a decent job of keeping players on their toes, and the zombies provide enough drama to keep you coming back for one more attempt. The entire package works despite the lack of an actual campaign. The bite-sized chunks of modes make up for this offering plentiful replay value. The bonus in all of this is once you feel competent enough to play with others then that option is available as well depending on how good your Internet connection is. Black Ops 4 is worth a punt if you enjoy the game modes on offer. If a more story based antics appeal to you more then it’s a no-brainer this isn’t going to scratch your itch.