Neil Bolt's Reviews
Friday the 13th is a technical horror show redeemed by a fairly enjoyable core multiplayer experience. The nagging problem with that is that the stars have to align for players to achieve that experience in the first place. Time and effort will likely help make Friday the 13th a stronger package in the future, but time may well not be on its side if the player base dwindles rapidly.
Housemarque has broken its own quality barrier with Nex Machina. This pulse-pounding twin-stick arcade shooter is the developer's finest work. Brutal, compelling, enthralling and layered with hidden depths, Nex Machina is awash with retrotastic glory, and serves as the new benchmark for twin-stick shooters.
The Elder Scrolls Online gets its biggest shot in the arm yet with the extensive Morrowind chapter. It doesn't properly fix the fundamental flaws of the base game, but it does add an interesting, fresh depth for veteran players whilst keeping it somewhat accessible for newcomers.
While The Town of Light is rough around the edges, both in technical and narrative terms, it does at least provide a different kind of horror compared to the current market. It's one based on a grim, bleak history of the treatment of mental health issues, and that makes for an unpleasant, yet fascinating experience if you can stomach both the subject matter and the low quality of the game's performance.
Danger Zone might be a lean package, but the car-smashing joy that package contains is more than worth investing in.
What RiME does so well is marry pleasing puzzle platforming to a tender, understated story, and then puts it in a beautifully bleak world filled with mystery. RiME takes the baton from the likes of Journey and Ico, and strides to victory with ease.Tequila Works takes aspects of those classics, and puts a personal touch on the results to create something special.
Injustice 2 goes to great lengths to be a fighting game with longevity in mind without ostracizing a more casual audience. A superb story, a great roster, and a smart, if overly complicated, Gear system all contribute to that, and the result is arguably the best overall fighter of modern times.
Poral Knights just about pulls off being a crafting game and an RPG adventure in one by keeping the important things simple. A well-implemented 4 player co-op adds another layer of enjoyment to proceedings, but combat and controller mapping problems slightly spoil an otherwise pleasant game.
Flying Wild Hog has gone for ‘bigger is better' on Shadow Warrior 2, and occasionally that works. Sadly, there's too much open space and inconsistent combat to make it a memorable return for the puerile Lo Wang. These issues are patched over somewhat by the highly enjoyable co-op, where you get a fair share of chucks out of mowing down hordes of demons with pals.
Akiba's Beat is a step down from its predecessor on almost every level. A bland, soulless JRPG that yearns to emulate more successful titles without any of the style, grace, or nuance.
Prey gives you a luxurious sci-fi playground and a great set of tools to use within it. Combat may be underwhelming, and the main story equally so, but the level of immersion on display is still absolutely stellar.
Dreamfall Chapters is a hard sell for all but the most devoted fans of The Longest Journey. Story aside there's little else that encourages investment of your time. Troublesome tech niggles alongside poor pacing and inconsistent puzzling sits some really intriguing characters and two worlds filled with narrative wonder. That you have to outpace your boredom to reach the juicy bit of Dreamfall Chapters' rich story is perhaps the biggest obstacle of all.
The Walking Dead and Telltale are both suffering from increasing fatigue, but this season's penultimate episode helps this particular story soldier on towards a potentially satisfying, if predictable, conclusion.
Any hesitancy about this mesh of two puzzling greats working as a whole can be put to rest, as Puyo Puyo Tetris is a superb puzzle title that works for players of all ability levels. Single Player is a touch hit and miss, and online against strangers lacks the exciting punch of local vs, but otherwise, this is an absolute cracker.
Full Throttle Remastered is a no-nonsense package that does exactly what it sets out to do by updating the audiovisual experience whilst retaining the original game. It has its faults, borne of its age and shift towards what would become the modern adventure game style, but it remains a fine game, and an important part of the history of point n' click adventures.
While these aren't entirely among the finest of platformers from the 8-bit era, the Disney Afternoon Collection does make some enjoyable retro titles more accessible for newcomers, whilst offering old hands so e fresh challenges.
Late Shift is an interesting update on the idea of the interactive movie. While it brings decent tv-quality production values and soap opera level acting to a genre notoriously riddled with far worse, it still doesn't do enough to stand out as a film, nor offer enough interactivity as a game. There's potential for this template, but the interactivity needs to be much more ambitious.
A bit more love and attention would have seen the PS4 version of Lego City Undercover receive the commendation it deserves, but its unresolved shady past has caught up with it.
A fairly competent remaster of one of the last generation’s most underappreciated shooters, Bulletstorm: Full Clip Editon reminds us that dumb fun doesn’t mean no creativity. For anyone who’s already played it, there’s not much new to make this an essential repurchase, but if you see it for a lower price down the road, grab it.
PaRappa The Rapper Remastered is not quite the hero’s welcome PaRappa deserved. I wanted to believe, and there’s evidence here of why the game is fondly remembered, but this particular dog has had his day.