What we’re left with is a mostly competent, not particularly memorable arcade racer with a handful of highs, but some baffling lows as well.
It took six entries, but the RIDE franchise has finally graduated. What used to be promising, enjoyable, but ultimately not particularly remarkable motorcycle racers, now gave way to RIDE 6 – a legitimately great bike racing game.
Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is a mechanically satisfying destruction-based racer, offering high-octane and chaotic races combining bold weapons, lots of zombies and lots of crunching metal.
Don’t Stop, Girlypop! presents a brilliant audiovisual experience, combining over-the-top “girly” Y2K aesthetics with one of the fastest FPS modules on the market. If you’re a fan of the 2000’s pop culture, the high-energy female vocaled pop music of the era and have been dying to dazzle your weapons in a shooter, this game is for you. Those searching for an Ultrakill-tier boomer shooter, however, might walk away disappointed, as underneath it all is a slightly clunky, not particularly memorable sequence of arenas with big hordes of enemies and weak platforming on the side.
Ultimately, like many licensed games based on pre-school programs, Dora: Rainforest Rescue is not a deep or innovative platformer. It is, however, very loyal to the Dora IP, it is bright and colourful and incredibly accessible for even young players’ first videogame ever. It could have used some more inventive or variety, but it’s a great Christmas gift for young Dora fans. Especially now that it’s 50% off!
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is an absolute riot. It's not afraid to rely on copious amounts of nostalgia, while also pushing the series forward in the most logical direction. Treyarch have looked back at Black Ops 2 and 3 for inspiration, and have delivered a fantastic Call of Duty, full to the brim of incredible content.
RENNSPORT has all the core elements in place to be an engaging and accessible racing simulation. A handling that feels solid even a controller, a more welcoming approach than most hardcore sims have, and a lot of solid ideas to have great racing going at all times – against the AI and online alike. Yet, with only 12+2 tracks, a limited selection of cars, a lack of polish in many areas, various missing features and a confusing microtransaction model, it needs more time in the oven to truly become an essential racing simulation.
Let Them Come: Onslaught is a quality bullet heaven experience. It offers a lovely art style, an exciting soundtrack and an intense difficulty with well-designed level progression. It is, however, a bit on the short side, with only 4 levels, 2 characters and not a huge build variety.
XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION is a great evolution of DEMON’S TILT sensational digital pinball formula. A table that looks and plays even better, various new modes and ideas, even though the general feel of the game has not changed much. Eye-popping 16-bit visuals, a banging 16-bit soundtrack and a brilliant gameplay loop.
1000xRESIST is a marvelous narrative-oriented videogame. Its minimalistic, sometimes slow gameplay is accompanied by one of the most engaging and well-crafted stories in modern gaming. Themes such as discrimination, rebellion to authorities and the pandemic are handled with utmost care and credibility.
Revisiting the original trilogy is still a blast, especially online, despite many other collections already exploring those games. Padding out the title count with many ports of the same goes is a bit futile, but a good exercise in game preservation.
Halls of Torment efficiently combines the highs of some of the best bullet heaven shooters out there, with immaculate Diablo-coded looks and sounds. Despite not being revolutionary, nor packing the outrageous depth of some of its rivals, Chasing Carrots‘ title is easily one of the most interesting and addictive titles in the genre.
The game’s presentation doesn’t quite do it any favours. Unimpressive graphics, odd visual design choices, floaty handling, physics and destruction that are legitimately worse than the old school Burnout games it’s trying to replicate. It also has its share of glitches with weird collisions, the framerate tanking temporarily at times and so forth. However, not only you get used to this, but the game just keeps improving. The open world keeps getting filled up, Live Mix keeps things fresh, and the possibilities of its online sandbox are practically limitless.
Ultimately, I walk away from Painkiller with somewhat mixed, but overall fairly positive feelings. The gameplay is fast, satisfying, with rock solid peformance and excellent graphics making for a blast of a shooter. It is, however, Painkiller in name only, as not only it loses the series’ core aspects, but also is rather uninspired all around
Despite the incredibly janky physics, the shockingly low amount of content, the outdated graphics… Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition can be pretty enjoyable. The high speeds, the adrenaline-filled courses, the retro vibes… in short, I still had fun. I can not recommend a game like this, however. It’s way too short, way too unpolished, way too expensive for what it offers. Thus, you might want to wait for some patches and some deep discounts before joining this family.
All in all, Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed is a fast-paced, yet accessible racer, based on Netflix’s show and the Hot Wheels toys. It certainly fails to live to some of its full potential due to a variety of reasons. These include an oddly twitchy handling, lack of online, a lack of real challenge and limited variety.
NASCAR 25 is a great videogame of an entertaining racing series, offering all sorts of thrills online and offline alike. Solid graphics and presentation, satisfying handling, tons of settings to allow every kind of player to find the experience that suits them most.
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is… fine, for the most part. If you’re not a purist, and can accept a few occasional glitches, it’s a decent way to experience a classic. But the very few improvements don’t quite offset the game’s increased price, nor its technical and design woes.
Battlefield 6‘s multiplayer is the most Battlefield-coded entry in the franchise in many years, taking us back to the series’ glory days. Tight gunplay, excellent presentation, impressive polish and a surprisingly robust launch arsenal.
King of Meat may not feature the tightest 3D platforming ever, nor the most engaging brawler mechanics in history. Yet, its eventful and varied dungeons offer exhilarating platforming, satisfying exploration and chaotic combat. It’s fun as a solo game, but with other players it turns into an absolute riot. Tons of items to throw around, explosions, moving platforms, wacky physics – it’s hilarious chaos