John-Paul Jones's Reviews
Streets of Rage 4 is an absolute masterclass in maintaining the essence of a classic but also in reimagining certain aspects of its design DNA for a contemporary audience. Streets of Rage 4 is without doubt the best side scrolling brawler you can get on any system.
Simultaneously a big leap over the MudRunner titles and a compelling effort in its own right, SnowRunner's improved focus on the hard fought conflict between man, machine and nature results in a highly rewarding and satisfying driving simulator that is quite unlike anything else.
Those looking for island bound thrills of escaping deadly shark attacks, delving down into forgotten wrecks and living the life of an island castaway will find much to love in Stranded Deep
A maddening eschewing of basic exposition makes Below feel like something of an arrogant work - but ultimately it wields a tremendous audiovisual aesthetic and weaves an interesting, if not an always thrilling, take on the roguelike adventure template.
Though the amount of polish lavished on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player campaign is commendable, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered doesn't go far enough to make people forget that the bones of its design are well over a decade old and neither can it escape the gaping black hole left by the absence of Modern Warfare 2's award-winning multiplayer mode. Sure enough though, fans of the six-hour campaign who haven't played it recently will find something to love here, but few others likely will.
Not since Yoku's Island Express has another title managed to extrapolate addictive pinball gameplay into something quite so unique. Creature in the Well is a delight - I just wished it lasted longer and wasn't quite so repetitive as it turned out to be.
Despite its repetitive nature, Curious Expedition is nonetheless a highly accessible and thoughtfully constructed roguelike, where tactics, discovery, decision-making and luck all meld together beautifully into a charming pint-sized adventure.
Dated visuals and presentation issues aside, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy brings a much improved single-player campaign to the table alongside a genuinely clever and more importantly an enjoyable competitive online multiplayer offering, making it an essential purchase for Star Wars aficionados and fans of fast-paced action titles alike.
Though a little too short for its own good, Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries Of New York is nonetheless a highly entertaining visual novel that provides a grand introduction to the world of Vampire: The Masquerade at large.
DOOM 64 deserves another bite at the apple, not least because it presents a clever and atmospheric twist on the classic DOOM formula that was previously thought lost to time. Able to stand on its own merits, DOOM 64 comes highly recommended to fans of both DOOM and retro shooters at large.
A triumphant celebration of blood, sweat and fury, DOOM Eternal is a genre and generation defining FPS that through some occult ritual, somehow manages to comprehensively blow its 2016 GOTY contending predecessor completely out of the water with remarkable ease. This one is for the Slayers.
With its evocative setting and a delectable mix of PvE and PvP gameplay that provides a peerless theater for emergent player stories, Hunt: Showdown is an exceptionally clever and thoughtful shooter that elevates the genre as a whole. I can see Hunt Showdown being a fixture of my gaming diet for months, even years to come.
Draugen is a gripping detective adventure that weaves psychological and Nordic mythological themes to grand effect. Though a short duration and some technical hiccups take the shine of the package somewhat, Draugen remains a compelling propostion for armchair slueths everywhere.
A stellar remastering of two of the previous generation's most legendary action titles, the Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle gives a whole new generation of PlayStation gamers a golden opportunity to experience these games in their definitive form.
Even though the visual remastering is a touch on the modest side, Sega have nonetheless done great work here. With reworked localizations, improved sidestory finding and smoother gameplay overall, the Yakuza Remastered Collection nonetheless proves itself as the definitive way to play Sega's PS3 trio of core Yakuza games.
All conspire to create a game that, while ultimately enjoyable, cannot survive comparisons to the series it so desperately wishes to be.
Though overly tame crashes and a no-frills campaign rankle, a superb handling model and improved feature set both ensure that Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 3 is the best the series has ever been and clearly showcases Milestone's Supercross franchise on an upward trajectory.
A soaring achievement in the genre, very minor technical issues aren't enough to detract from the fact that Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire: Ultimate Edition is the first must-have game of 2020 and the finest RPG in an age. Adventures don't come much more essential than this.
An attractive trio of JRPG titles given a new lease of life with polished audiovisual presentation and a range of quality of life fixes, there's no better entry point to the Ateiler franchise than this highly enjoyable trilogy for newcomers. However, previous players of these games will find little to return to them as the range of improvements are ultimately meagre.
An enjoyable enough bite-sized FPS offering, Demon Pit simply doesn't do or offer enough to hold attention in the long-term, as its presentation, firearms and enemies all feel like discount versions of greater games that have come before it.