Neil Bolt's Reviews
A reasonably-priced pair of remasters that actually do improve upon the original games, plus you get a surprisingly decent bonus title in the mix too. Sadly, while technical hiccups are stifled in the main games, many of the mechanical flaws remain, with the passage of time not helping matters. This means Dead Island is better than it's ever been, but a lot harder to enjoy than it once was.
Downwell manages to blend simplicity with hidden, challenging depths to create a unique take on the platform and shoot 'em up genres that is hard to resist from the moment you first jump into that well. It may not have the lifespan of similar titles, and it occasionally feels a little cheap in later stages, but that doesn't stop it from being a highly enjoyable descent.
Easily the best DLC entry for Fallout 4 to date, Far Harbor introduces some exciting new enemies and a tighter, more enjoyable main storyline. It also brings an air of over-familiarity and fresh performance issues that blight an otherwise exceptional expansion.
A valiant effort has been made to salvage this long troubled game from the doldrums, but despite some good ideas, solid combat, and neat concepts, Homefront: The Revolution suffers for its long gestation more than it benefits from it.
An endless runner that at least dares to try some different ideas, Corridor Z still unfortunately remains very much stuck in the mud of its two overplayed tropes found in its chosen genre and theme. It is, however, still a fairly serviceable runner that’ll whittle away a few minutes a day for a short time.
There will come a day where The Park is available on PS4 for peanuts, and that day is when I'd fully recommend trying its fresh, but flawed, brand of horror out. Until then, the price of admission is too high for the brevity of the ride. Especially for one that has more than a few nuts and bolts missing from it.
World of Tomorrow is the best slice of Hitman for a decade. Sapienza holds so many deliciously dark secrets within its Mediterranean walls, and it’s worth exploring every single one of them.
On the one hand, Alienation is a joyous, punchy co-op romp of a twin-stick shooter, with every on-screen detail a veritable celebration of beautiful chaos. On the other, it's a step backwards in terms of what Housemarque could do. What is undeniable though, is that Alienation is a rather good time.
As overwhelmingly terrifying as it can be to learn, Invisible Inc just so happens to be a ridiculously compelling experience. The congregation of turn-based strategy, stealth and roguelike seems like an odd grouping, but my word, it works so very, very well.
A strong start for A Crowd of Monsters' Noir adventure. Stylish, dripping in atmosphere, and compelling enough to keep you on the hook for the next episode. It has its faults, not all of which may turn out to be a problem when the series is finished, but for now they are outshone by the things this first episode does right.
Koi comes close to being a remarkable indie title. The audiovisual design work is incredibly cohesive, and despite the gameplay simplicity, it does enough to keep your attention for its short play time. Koi’s issues lie with the weak delivery of its environmental message that unfortunately highlights the shortcomings found in such a simple game.
Few titles this generation will match the purity of Dark Souls III as a game. This is as brutal, exhilarating, and compelling as the series has ever been, but it is also laden with the heavy burden of expectation that its heritage brings. Significant, yet minor improvements are made to the established formula, and nostalgia is warmly embraced a little too often, yet this still doesn't prevent Dark Souls III from being a fine game.
Season One of Minecraft Story Mode ends on an all-time high with a highly amusing, and more importantly, fun standalone family adventure. The only drawbacks now are all related to Telltale’s own creaking game engine.
An admirable, if problematic, port of a fine strategy game, XCOM Enemy Unknown Plus gives the PS Vita a welcome, posthumous, shot in the arm.
Automatron has a short-lived story that’s enjoyable without ever really kicking into gear, but luckily, the robot-building and other new additions to the Commonwealth save this first batch of Fallout 4 DLC from being a disappointment.
With its eloquent mix of dystopia, stealth puzzling and point n' click adventuring, Republique is a gem of a game, soured only by some easily-avoided technical problems and a slightly uneven storytelling issue late on.
Sheltered depicts the grim, unpleasant side of the post-apocalypse to great effect for its limited resources. That doesn’t stop the game from getting frustratingly repetitive though as there’s simply not enough variety in the game’s opening hours.
As far as feature-complete packages go, Mortal Kombat XL is among the best examples of a plentiful bounty of playing options. It's not the greatest, nor the deepest, fighting game around, but it is gleefully gory fun for long stretches.
This first episode strikes a fine balance between accessibility and pleasing long term fans to make this the finest slice of Hitman since Blood Money. Some technical issues do sadly mar an otherwise superb start to Agent 47's latest.
Technical issues aside, Broforce is a delightfully chaotic love letter to the brightly-colored excesses of 80's action movie carnage and coin op shooters.