Sammy Barker's Reviews
SnowRunner's glacial pace won't appeal to everyone, but this unique haulage simulation manages to transform everyday terrain into an enemy you need to tame. This is a game that's less about the destination and all about the journey you take; in that sense it's unmatched, and wildly rewarding in a way that few other open worlders are.
A shallow, shallow experience overall that will only hold your attention for an hour or two at most.
It’s all largely competent, but its main concept could have been taken much further.
There’s nothing here that will keep you occupied for long, but it’s a fun distraction.
It’s a lot of fun to play, though – and should prove a treat for fans who’ve been following Moriarty since the days of Shatter on the PlayStation 3.
Fun, alternative take on football
. Minor collision detection niggles aside, this is a well-executed adventure, it’s just not especially interesting from the outset. Some may find a few hours of fleeting entertainment here, but it’s not going to live long in the memory once you eventually close the application down.
Unless you’re already deeply engrossed in supercross as a sport, there’s very little here that’s going to give you the aftereffects of a Monster Energy-induced high.
The title does a good job of simulating the territorial battles that occur in real-world rugby matches, but it’s generally clumsy and there’s no real consistency to the way players move.
The gameplay is a little floaty, but it generally feels okay.
This is earnest entertainment – and it’s got one helluva puppy sprite taking centre stage.
Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire doesn't reinvent the shmup rulebook, but it leverages some interesting wrinkles first introduced by the Castle of Shikigami series to excellent effect.
The title’s as straightforward as side-scrollers come, but its chunky pixel art and biting chiptune soundtrack make it an entertaining distraction for an hour or two.
It looks lovely and it plays fine, but without its headline feature it winds up largely uninspired.
Overall, the title is ridiculously restricted, and while there are different endings encouraging multiple playthroughs, you’ll have seen all that it has to offer in hours.
AO Tennis 2 is a winner, raising the baseline for all tennis titles on PS4. There are still minor quirks to its gameplay, but it's well-presented and fun, making its enriched Career mode dangerously addictive.
Shenmue III is a game lost in time, but that's probably the greatest compliment you can pay this long-awaited sequel. Newcomers will be utterly bemused by its slice of life-style idiosyncrasies, but for franchise fans this is the faithful follow-up that they've been waiting almost two decades for.
The package is rounded out with various Time Trial options and the minigame-powered Decathlon, but not even the addition of online leaderboards can make the title’s awful adaptation of Whack-a-Mole entertaining.
This is a very different kind of two-wheeled platforming to the recent Trials Rising, but it scratches the same kind of itch – arguably more effectively, too.
There’s a great business management experience here; the gameplay may seem shallow at first blush, but plunge a little deeper and you’ll find plenty of depth.