Push Square
HomepagePush Square's Reviews
Halo: Campaign Evolved has brought back a true classic in style, faithfully remaking and expanding one of the best shooters of all time. With bonus missions that feel like they've always been there, expertly slotting into the original Halo experience, Campaign Evolved presents an incredible package of old and new that's never looked better. Welcome back, Chief.
Palworld offers an incredibly expansive survival, catch 'em all experience. Its action-packed traversal and exploration are accompanied by a fully fleshed out base building system to provide a package that's bursting at the seams with content. This game proves there is still plenty of space in the monster-catching genre for successful competitors to the world's biggest IP.
For me, this is what game preservation is all about: exposing a new audience to a cult classic, lovingly repackaged with the care and attention it deserves.
I really enjoyed K-pop Idol Stories' glossy presentation and breezy introspection into the K-pop industry. There are better management and tycoon games out there, but if like me you're a little obsessed with K-culture, it's hard to look past this effort.
Denshattack is a blast. While it may present a steep learning curve at the beginning, its unique, arcadey gameplay rewards skill and quick thinking in a way that feels old school and fresh at the same time. From its silly, train-tricking premise through its challenging, fast-paced action and colourful presentation, it's a cohesive game that delivers big fun at every turn in the track.
At the end of the day, Escape the Backrooms is just a fantastically fun and scary co-op experience. It's not some highly curated horror with flashy graphics and audio design, nor does it break the wheel in any wild way. But considering you are basically being put in a level with some murderous creature and being asked to avoid it and escape time and time again, Escape the Backrooms manages to keep things impressively fresh.
Like a captain going down with their ship, Ubisoft has remained loyal to the classic Assassin's Creed: Black Flag experience in this new Resynced version. It's as you remember it, except better, bigger, and markedly flashier in all the right ways. Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced demonstrates there's still a charm to staying faithful.
Echoes of Aincrad understands the tone and appeal of Sword Art Online - and that counts for a lot - but it's let down by undercooked gameplay systems and disappointingly dull quest design.Those looking for a grindy action RPG might enjoy how progression is handled, and hardcore fans of the source material will probably push through for the sake of a mostly entertaining story, but you'll still need to stomach so many issues.
This should have been a more generous bundle, with all content included, a tag-team mode, and rollback netcode. Instead it’s a cash grab with scant new features to justify its inexplicable existence.
Gothic 1 Remake is a faithful retelling of the original Gothic, warts and all. Perhaps too ambitious for its budget, it offers even hardened gamers a truly unique, hardcore roleplaying experience. While weighed down by a litany of bugs and issues, there is a lovingly made product underneath – but it's hard to recommend in its current state.
Mina the Hollower is a good game for people who love the idea of mixing Zelda with Dark Souls. Unfortunately, if you don't fully love what that entails, I don't think it will win you over as much as others. For some, they will find the combat challenging in a good way, with a world you can get lost in. Others will see a series of roadblocks thrown in the player's face as they try to navigate those problems. Regardless of if you think the sum of its parts makes a masterpiece or not, Mina the Hollower was clearly crafted with a lot of passion and care.
I'm not quite finished with 007 First Light just yet, but overall I'd say it's exactly what I was hoping for. The characterisation of this young Bond and his associates is really strong, and the globetrotting story lets you explore some great locations. It really shines in its sandbox missions, but shootouts have their moments too, and the whole thing weaves together really quite nicely. I'm really interested to see how the final few missions shake out, but beyond some technical quibbles and uncertainty on the driving, I'm pretty happy with IOI's new vision for James Bond.
Not everyone will have the time and patience required to truly appreciate Crimson Desert. It's a monumental achievement in open world design, but it's constantly struggling with the details.The campaign is a frustratingly disjointed journey, and quests range from downright epic to mind-blowingly bad. Mechanically, it's a game that tries to do everything, but would have been better off just focusing on what it gets right.Still, it's an all-consuming open world adventure that hits some truly incredible highs, and it's already come a long, long way since launch. If you can stomach its more obtuse moments - of which there are many - then Crimson Desert borders on being brilliant.
In some ways, Bubsy 4D is the best the series has ever been; the bobcat's wide range of abilities affords him a huge amount of freedom to move through levels with style. However, a fairly narrow focus on movement means other aspects suffer; enemies may as well not be there, and stages are static and sparsely furnished. The result is a good 3D platforming character stuck in a pretty bland 3D platformer.
Luna Abyss is a AA shooter that holds its own against some of the elite of the genre. Its enticing and ominous sci-fi world is a delight to look at artistically, even if its muddy graphics let it down on closer inspection. Its story is fine, but a slick sense of progression keeps its action and platforming interesting from start to finish.
A referential and joyful deep dive into the world of Batman, the latest LEGO effort from TT Games is elite brick gaming. Legacy of the Dark Knight just wants to be an enjoyable time, and it refuses to falter from that commitment. This new LEGO Batman will be some of the best fun you have all year.
Directive 8020 had some serious potential, but it fails to conjure up anything of any real substance. There are little sparks of enjoyment in there, and I liked the Cassiopeia's gradual descent into a gloopy, fleshy hell. But a dull setting, uninteresting characters, and overly simplistic gameplay segments left me fairly uninterested in seeing how else I could play out this branching narrative experience.
Through utterly superb set-pieces, gorgeous visual design, and an impactful soundtrack, Mixtape crafts one of the most meaningful story games in a long time. It's beautiful to look at, a joy to listen to, and so enjoyable to play - altogether, Mixtape is a sensational achievement.
If you like urban open worlds with life sim elements, then it's impossible not to recommend NTE right now. This game has one of the most beautiful, vibrant sandbox settings I've seen in some time – and despite some irksome characters, I'm generally enjoying its plot so far, which blends slice of life mangas with sci-fi horror.The gacha business model is understandably not going to resonate with everyone, but at launch this is one of the more generous games in the genre thus far. And the sheer number of things to do day one, from managing coffee shops to beating down possessed DJ decks in DDR-style rhythm battles, is simply unprecedented.
Monster Crown: Sin Eater's lack of direction and often demanding difficulty won't be for everyone. But if you can embrace the grind, there are some deeply addictive RPG systems at work here, backed by a shockingly mature and engaging story.