John-Paul Jones's Reviews
Trine 2: Complete Story is a grand embellishment of one of the most charming and accomplished adventure platformers in recent years. Bolstered by a wealth of additional content, multiplayer modes and the gorgeous 1080p/60 fps veneer that PlayStation 4 allows, this should be the next game to find a home on your PlayStation 4.
A stand-out physics puzzler very much in the Angry Birds mould, King Oddball has enough tweaks and accessibility of play to make it a worthwhile proposition for most, though folks adverse to the charms of Rovio's avian slinger will find little here to change their minds.
The absence of the practiced creative hands of previous Transformers developer, High Moon Studios, is keenly felt as Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark has sadly turned out to be both the weakest Transformers licensed title and the most uninspired third-person shooter in sometime.
A hugely triumphant take on the Metroidvania formula that delights with its fresh take on roguelike gameplay elements, Rogue Legacy empowers the player, rather than punishes them and is simply one of the finest games you can play on a PlayStation platform.
Road Not Taken might not always be successful in making players feel remorseful for paths avoided, but the game itself stands as one journey that at least everyone should attempt; if only to expose themselves to the game's frustrating, yet undeniably fresh idiosyncrasies.
GoD Factory Wingmen is a game where accessibility comes easy but mastery does not. Yet, the innate thrill in approaching the latter proves to be its own reward over the long-term as Nine Dot Studios sophomore effort proves to be its best, ably injecting new life into the space combat genre with innovative features and a real, loving focus on multiplayer gameplay and tactics.
For old, war-tested Stronghold players Crusader 2 is a triumphant evolution of the game that they've held dear for the last twelve years. For the rest of us though, there is perhaps no better time to see what all the fuss is about.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is more than just an excellent detective adventure, it also absolutely nails the essence of being the pride of Baker Street and in doing so provides an exciting roadmap for where Ukrainian developer Frogwares will take the series next.
As such, it's difficult to recommend Styx: Master of Shadows to all but the most hardcore shadow skulker when the many other games that have come before it have all done the whole stealth thing that much better.
A classic arcade puzzler with gameplay compounded by a tremendous amount of scope for mastery and blistering retro aesthetics, Pix the Cat is one of the most essential pressure-puzzlers that you can buy on PlayStation right now.
Ultimately, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stands as a last hurrah for Gearbox's RPG shooter in the form that we currently know it. With improvements that feel more incremental than innovative, 2K Australia have stepped up and provided a solid and long-lasting if technically safe entry in the Borderlands series and yet, it's one which stands out almost singularly on the merit of it's breathlessly entertaining cast and rowdy narrative.
A simple, yet enjoyable arcade style shooter, Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops proves entertaining enough but is somewhat stifled by its humble mobile origins.
Toybox Turbos might not have the Micro Machines branding then, but when it nails everything else that those licensed games did so well in the first place, it feels churlish not to look past such superfluous things. Camera issues and a relative lack of ambition aside, this is the new Micro Machines title that you forgot you wanted and quite honestly, it's just great to see this type of game again in 2014. Get some friends, get stuck in and don't mind the name above the door.
In borrowing so heavily from its heritage, developer Neocore could have quite easily overburdened the somewhat narrow tower defence formula with pointless additions and misery inducing micro-management busywork. As it is, Deathtrap approaches the qualitative apex of its craft and niggles aside, sets a splendid example of how to marry two genres together to make a superlative whole.
An enjoyable and attractive, if overly-familiar physics based puzzler, Unmechanical Extended could be just the ticket for puzzler aficionados looking for a game to burn the hours away.
Cities XXL represents a serviceable starting point for beginners certainly, but is simply far too riddled with bugs, performance issues and recycled content to recommend to anyone else who has sampled the series previously. Much like how Cities XXL encourages the player to build their sprawling domains from the ground up, so too should the developer look to apply a similar work ethic to this tired series.
Dig beneath the effortlessly stylish veneer of Apotheon though and it soon becomes clear that its impressive calibre bleeds through into its homage to the engrossing Castlevania and Metroid games pioneered back in the 8-bit days. And that folks, minor niggles aside, is a godly thing indeed.
A game that is comfortable in its own skin and endeavours to toil within its own ambitions is rare, yet that is exactly what Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty achieves. Such honesty should be applauded even if it does little to endear new fans to the fold who might be at risk of not properly adjusting to New 'n' Tasty's idiosyncrasies. Still, for those who take the time to persevere, New 'n' Tasty proves to be as delectable a treat as Abe's original Odyssey all those years ago.
An effective if not particularly ambitious or polished reboot of an arcade classic, Q*Bert Rebooted is as accessible as the franchise has ever been but offers little in the way of significant new additions to keep players hooked in the long term and remains hobbled by a lack of leaderboards.
Bolder than ever before, Olli Olli returns with new stages, tricks and a superb tutorial and practice system for folks who may have been dissuaded by the steep learning curve of the original. While no ground-breaking alterations have been made to last year's game, Olli Olli 2 still effortlessly proves itself as the finest skater in years.