Sammy Barker's Reviews
It’s all largely competent, but its main concept could have been taken much further.
A shallow, shallow experience overall that will only hold your attention for an hour or two at most.
. 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.
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.
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.
The only real accolade you can award this run-of-the-mill release is that it’s inoffensive, but even then it’s almost offensively inoffensive – if you get what we mean.
R.B.I. Baseball 18 doesn't really need to exist on the PS4, which is an issue. While it's competent enough to register a clean hit, The Show runs laps around the title in virtually every department. Yes, it's cheaper and more accessible than Sony's vastly superior alternative – but we still wouldn't recommend pinch hitting San Diego's effort for this.
The Inpatient's strong opening is undone by a rushed finale, and while the various plot permutations add replayability, they come at the cost of a fulfilling narrative. As a PlayStation VR experience, this is a fine-looking spook-'em-up with some neat innovations that help create a tactile world, but the story is far too fragmented and, frankly, flat to do justice to the universe it's inspired by.
Megaton Rainfall is an incredible accomplishment, but not one that we particularly liked to play. The sense of scale is outstanding – and it's even more impressive with PlayStation VR – but the cumbersome combat grates almost as badly as its cringe-inducing storyline. It would appear that even being a literal god isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Clementine is The Walking Dead, and by showing her transition into womanhood A New Frontier is just about a must for fans. But while it lays the foundations for new regulars in Javi and Kate, the fact is that all of the season's other story threads come to an abrupt and unsatisfying end in Episode 5: From the Gallows. There have been many good moments over the course of the season, but the finale does little with them, and the journey feels like a waste of time as a consequence.
Too many brickwalls prevent Clicker Heroes from reaching the "highs" of AdVenture Capitalist, but this is still a frighteningly addictive incremental title. The simplistic gameplay loop means that it's better suited to smartphones, but that doesn't make it any easier to put down once you get started – even on the PS4.
Super Stardust will always be an outstanding arcade game, but this particular version is a tired attempt at repurposing an ageing experience for yet another PlayStation platform. The classic gameplay options function fine in virtual reality but offer nothing new, while the added PlayStation VR-exclusive Invasion Mode fails to grasp what's great about the original experience. It's one of those launch games that's just kinda… there.
PlayStation VR Worlds is messy attempt at repurposing tech demos into a retail package. While there's no doubt that The London Heist is among the best that Sony's headset has to offer, Ocean Descent is short-lived and Danger Ball won't hold your attention much longer. VR Luge is a nice idea that demands a more precise control scheme, while Scavenger's Odyssey will leave you reaching for your sick bucket. There's some amazing presentation and tech on display here, but despite London Studio's best efforts, it never really comes together as a complete, cohesive package. And while it's undoubtedly left us excited to see which worlds the developer will take us to next, it's hard to shake the feeling that these ones are nothing more than proof of concepts.
Wailing Heights' presentation is perfectly in-tune, but its gameplay is out of time. While it neatly repurposes some old point-and-click tropes, it doesn't quite have enough quality to match the ambition of the classics it's so clearly inspired by. There are some laugh out loud moments and some real ear-worm audio, but it's not quite enough to demand front-row seats for The Deadbeats' reunion tour.
When it's obsessing over the broken politics of Gotham, this alternate take on DC's most famous franchise promises plenty – but lacklustre heroics and writing inconsistencies really drag it down. There's reason to be excited by some of the fictional deviations that the developer's taking, but they're yet to manifest themselves in any meaningful way, and the overemphasis on tired series tropes will draw many a groan. It's obviously too early to determine where this story is going to go, but our biggest concern right now is that Telltale isn't entirely sure either.
Hardware: Rivals is slow and safe – it's a far-cry from the high-octane vehicle eviscerator that we'd anticipated. Its slightest of similarities to Rocket League may have hurt it, but even if Psyonix's excellent on-wheels outing didn't exist, this would still be a pretty darn tedious title. It's a shame because it's not hard to imagine a faster iteration of the exact same game being ten times more satisfying, but ultimately Hardware's only real rival is its squandered potential.
It's not hard to see why Arizona Sunshine comes so highly acclaimed: its undead slaughtering story mode is undoubtedly dated, but the novelty of virtual reality keeps it alive. Unfortunately, this PlayStation VR version toys with Sony's full roster of input options, and never really settles upon one that feels right. It's a shame because there is a lot to like here, from the vibrant visuals to the generous helping of solo and multiplayer content – but without a comfortable means of controlling any of it, your enthusiasm will very quickly cool.
The forecast was never exactly great for Heavy Rain on the PS4. This remains a ground-breaking game, and it's still possible to appreciate the areas where it innovated, but time has not been kind to the title's damp performances and dismal writing. If you're eager to go back to the release that gave life to the current spate of narrative-driven games, then this new-gen port does an admirable job of sprucing up the visuals. But while we don't want to hang this important outing out to dry, you should certainly beware of the inclement weather within.
Need for Speed's got many of the parts required of a great racer, but it's lacking a mechanic to assemble them and apply a lick of paint. The cutscenes, as obnoxious as they may be, are the real stars here, which may just be an indictment of the game as a whole. Sure, the handling's good, but the events are insipid – and the visuals may sparkle, but Ventura Bay is as vanilla as open worlds come. For as pumped-up as its excitable cast of characters are, this reboot quite simply lacks energy. Now, has anybody got any Monster?