Jordan Campbell's Reviews
Cricket 22 is a good entry into the genre. Would I say it has improved on the last instalment? Yes is the answer, but clearly, it hasn’t exceeded the 2019 version massively. The addition of more modes, licencing and online options does make it a much better game overall.
Studio MDHR has done it again and blasted it out of the park. Whilst it has taken a fair amount of time to get it out there, it just goes to show that you should only ever really release something when it is truly ready.
House Flipper was an absolute joy to invest my time in. When I say time, minutes literally become hours. The game consumed me with its huge versatility in tasks, properties to invest in and the range of decisions and choices you can make. The financial juggling and being responsible for your own empire is wonderfully satisfying.
Super Perils of Baking caught me off guard in a great way. For the low price point, you have a detailed and content-rich 2D platformer which possesses enough nostalgic zest to keep us older gamers happy whilst giving casual newcomers a solid and varied entry to the platforming genre.
Personally, I ploughed through over thirty hours of gameplay for this review and I’m still wanting to put more time in. The longevity and replayability are huge here; I’d estimate I could probably pump another 100 hours in to reach where I wanted to be and I am still not sure whether I’d achieve everything the game has to offer.
Disc Room is not a game that should be overlooked, especially if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, then you have no excuse to not give it a go. No matter how many attempts I had at several of the rooms and how much it was making me frustrated, it spurred me on to keep playing over and over again. The gameplay is consistently moreish and before you know it, minutes have turned into hours.
Barn Finders consumed me almost immediately with its addictive and intriguing gameplay loop. Not only did I enjoy the managerial aspects of running my own store. I adored exploring the several locations spread across the world map and exploring and discovering everything on offer.
I went into Roller Champions with minimal expectations. Ubisoft appears to be desperate to imbed themselves with a successful live service game alongside EA, Epic Games and Activision. They have already tried and failed miserably with Hyperscape. Recently Ubi has also shown some concepts for future free to play projects that suffered hugely negative feedback from the gaming community. With those factors in mind, I do believe that this game has some strong legs if it can filter through fresh ideas, playlists and interesting, affordable cosmetics.
Naraka Bladepoint has the biggest learning curve of any battle royale game I’ve ever played, yet it is the most satisfying and rewarding when performing well. It is a mechanically solid and enjoyable experience mostly with some clunky bits and bobs here and there. The game definitely grew on me as time passed by, but sadly I think the majority who play this will drop out fairly early due to needing to absorb and continually learn.
WWE2K22 is quite possibly the most complete wrestling game we have seen in many years. Surprisingly I piled in over 30 hours over the course of three or four days and I still want to go and experience everything I haven’t seen. With a roster of over 160 wrestlers and 29 on the way as DLC, you’ll never run out of options on who to choose.
Fall Guys is insanely fun on your own or with a group of friends. It breaks apart from the hardcore battle royale titles and caters to casual and experienced gamers alike. Even my partner who has next to no interest in video games was consumed in watching and playing this one.
Dotemu and Tribute Games have not only beautifully re-energised and crafted a well-loved retro title, but quite possibly have created one of the best games of 2022 already. Whilst the game can be clocked in 2-3 hours, it is a reminder that sometimes quality eclipses quantity, and that rings so true here.
Blightbound for the most part ticks every box for the genre. With its Pokemon-esque approach of unlocking heroes and levelling them up at your own pace, it is a grinder’s dream. There are minor annoyances here and there and the AI bots could do with some work to make them easier to handle. You’ll be best suited to understand that this experience has been designed with co-op gameplay with friends or random players as the main focus.
I’m going to go ahead and say that I enjoyed TEN so much more than I thought I was going to. Whilst it can be a short few hours for some of the most experienced players, it can be a long endurance for those who whack that difficulty option higher. Whilst longevity and replayability are there for those who’d like to try and hack it on a harder run-through, once you’ve completed it the first time, you’ve seen it all.
Kao the Kangaroo is certainly up there with the best of the 3D platforming world in terms of its core mechanics. The revival of the franchise from Tate Multimedia is a solid comeback, but for me, it just wasn’t challenging enough to become one of the more memorable games in the pile.
Endzone – A World Apart quickly established itself as one of my favourite strategy games on a console. The game comes as a breath of fresh air when the genre is quite limited in terms of selection and watered down options of other titles. I’ve poured in excess of 30 hours into this title within a week and I have barely scratched the surface and this is without engaging with any of the scenario options.
Ayo The Clown impressed me much more than I thought was possible. The game is mechanically solid and provides a stimulating challenge for gamers of all ages.
If you haven’t played the Yakuza games then I guess you may have been hiding under a rock. Either that or you simply haven’t stumbled upon the series just yet. Judgement is essentially a spin-off of the Yakuza series and an excellent place to start for newcomers to this genre of game. Judgement was originally released way back in 2019 for the Playstation 4 and has now found its way to other platforms.
Not a lot of people in the gaming industry know that my day job is currently on the railway. So when I saw Train Station Renovation was releasing on Xbox I had to jump at the chance of playing it. It’s no secret that the railway network in the UK isn’t the best in terms of infrastructure and speed. Delays galore in built-up areas and signalling problems in the more challenging rural areas of the country. The truth is that the railway takes complex logistics to run. It is almost like a giant jigsaw puzzle, if one piece goes missing or wrong then the remainder is in a sticky situation.
If you placed a Tony Hawk title and the cars from Rocket league into a blender and mixed them together what do you think the end product would be? Well, I have the answer, that would be REKT: High Octane Stunts! Developed by Little Chicken Game Company and published by No Gravity Games, the game is available across several platforms. Starting its life on the mobile gaming scene, REKT: High Octane Stunts is also on Steam and Nintendo Switch. For the purpose of this review, I’ll be playing the game on Xbox Series X.