Push Square
HomepagePush Square's Reviews
Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered may be tacked onto Miles Morales, but it is a worthwhile addition to PS5 library. Newcomers will have a blast swinging through New York for the first time, while veterans will appreciate all the new changes and additions, while still getting to transfer their PS4 save. Undoubtedly, the removal of load times is the highlight here, but all of the graphical enhancements show just how amazing Spider-Man can be. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered is easily the definitive way to play Insomniac's Spider-Man and comes with a huge recommendation for all web-slingers.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla really comes together on PS5. Near instant load times combined with silky smooth performance make it a joyous open world excursion, complete with an engrossing main story. What's more, the countless bugs that plagued the PS4 version of the game have, for the most part, been squashed. This is Ubisoft's best ever attempt at an open world RPG in the vein of something like The Witcher 3, and while it is still a little rough around the edges, Valhalla leaves its mark as a top tier entry in the Assassin's Creed series.
As solid as the package is, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has to be one of the safest series instalments for quite some time. Multiplayer is seriously starting to show its age with tired ideas and even duller gameplay, leaving the campaign to rescue things. Its open-ended approach allows player choice to take prominence while Zombies is just as deep as ever. A passable effort for the start of the PS5 generation, but Activision must buck up its ideas for next year.
The Pathless is an incredible experience, and easily one of the best launch titles available on the PS5 in what is already an excellent selection. A wondrous, beautiful open world with innumerable locations and secrets to uncover is placed alongside a moving narrative further heightened by an unexpectedly tender relationship between player and bird. And that's to say nothing of the game's exquisite use of colour, or the beautiful and wickedly unique soundtrack. The Pathless excels on all fronts.
Watch Dogs Legion might look and run better than ever on PS5, but that means little when the game itself struggles to break the boundaries of mediocrity. This next-gen version remains unchanged from its PS4 counterpart as far as gameplay goes, so the boosted performance does little to hide the title's underlying issues. No matter how well it runs, Watch Dogs Legion needs to sort out how it plays.
That's not to say the gameplay isn't good. Both sides of the game are fun to play, and again, controls are well thought out, allowing you to hop between the two to make progress. Most interesting is when the duo have an effect on each other, such as crafting upgrades for Dan using Ben's inventory items. There's a lot going on here, and while it's occasionally a little clumsy, its humour and ingenuity make it a success.
The layout is different on each level, but you’ll mostly be relying on luck rather than skill. Still, this has a weird moreish appeal to it, and it’s got our claws into us again. Obviously, this type of title is best suited to smartphones or handhelds, but it’s so easy to zone out with it that we can see ourselves returning to it a lot over the coming weeks. Odd, indeed.
We played it three times over a couple of bottles of wine, cringing together, laughing at the awkward conversations, and rolling our eyes in unison when one girl announced she was "an influencer". So if you've got a big bottle of claret and someone to play this with we'd recommend it. If you're on your own and after a romantic comedy, we'd probably go for The Wedding Singer.
If you enjoy business management simulations, then we recommend purchasing a ticket for Planet Coaster: Console Edition. While the coaster creation controls can be unwieldy, Frontier's done a generally decent job of mapping a very complicated title to the DualSense controller. The title allows for a ton of creativity, but time-strapped entrepreneurs can also have fun with the many pre-made assets available. It's the kind of game where, once you begin building a park, you're basically pledging the next 30 hours of your life to doing it properly – but once you start seeing those profits rolling, you may find it difficult to quit.
There's a lot of love been poured into Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and thus it's hard not to love it back. This is a brilliant platformer with tons of imaginative ideas and a strong sense of style. The lack of online multiplayer at launch is a bit disappointing, but it's coming as a free update before the end of the year, so we can forgive the developer that. If you're looking for something bright and breezy to begin your PS5 journey, then this is a near-flawless romp when it's at its pomp.
Teensy quibbles aside, it's difficult to imagine how this Demon's Souls remake could be any better. It looks great, it sounds amazing, and it's extremely respectful of the PS3 original, which has aged surprisingly well after all these years. This is an exceptional remake, and it's exactly what Demon's Souls deserves.
It takes a while to really get going, but once things finally kick into gear, Yakuza: Like a Dragon blossoms into one of the most unique and engrossing RPGs on PS4. At its core, this is still the Yakuza that we know and love, with shocking story beats and fantastic characters, but in embracing the structure of an old school RPG, it successfully branches the series off in a whole new direction. Equal parts refreshing and familiar, it's a crazy and creative game that knows how to have fun, as Ichiban Kasuga proves himself a worthy successor to the one and only uncle Kaz.
Bugsnax is a strange concoction of elements that come together for a truly unique adventure. Finding and catching the titular creatures is great fun, but the gameplay is broken up by story beats that belie the game's simple, whimsical style. The mysterious narrative and memorable ensemble cast will keep you interested between hunting for snax, too. Despite loading screens interrupting the flow and a handful of repeated beasties, this curious game is an unusual blend of flavours that works wonderfully.
Slide Stars is actually not all that bad, it’s just hard as nails. The gameplay sees you precariously balancing your rider, and depending on whether you’re piloting an oversized coin or a baby turtle, every vehicle controls slightly differently. The social media superstars each have different specialties, whether it’s gaming, fashion, or travel, and thus can inexplicably open up different paths in the stages, unlocking secrets and shortcuts along the way.
In the evenings you can spend time with your new human family to chat and eat a meal using the food that you’ve gathered and grown yourself. Watching Sakuna slowly mature and start to care about more than just herself is a truly heart-warming journey. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is an absolutely wonderful blend of farming simulator and action RPG. Whether you’re fighting off hordes of demons or trying to find the best way to manage your crop, there is constantly something new to learn and discover in this charmingly unique adventure.
Fuser is, frankly, a staggering technological achievement. The game takes the act of making music, an incredibly challenging thing to accomplish, and practically trivialises it. You don't need to have any kind of prior knowledge to make meaningful music with this title. The game walks you through everything with a perfect learning curve and near-limitless flexibility. It remains to be seen if it will court a large enough player base to confirm its existence, but as it currently stands, this title is yet another unexpected jolt of inspiration for the rhythm game genre, which even just a few years ago looked all but dead. Between the brilliance of rhythm titles in VR and now Fuser, the future is bright indeed.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is effortlessly cool. The overall gameplay structure may prove samey for those who failed to fall in love with Insomniac Games' previous effort, but everyone else will have a blast with this generous spin-off story. Great characters, tons of activities, and some epic set-piece moments round out a must play superhero romp – and with the developer on this kind of form, we can't wait to see more of the full-scale sequel that it's inevitably cooking up.
Astro's Playroom is deserving of every single superlative you're likely to hear associated with it. As a platformer, it's a varied and entertaining experience that's constantly introducing new and exciting ideas over the course of its campaign. And as a DualSense tech demo, it's similarly effective at showcasing the power and potential of Sony's new hardware. But perhaps above all, this is a love letter to the legacy of PlayStation, and it feels fitting that as we enter an exciting new chapter from an undeniably iconic gaming brand, we take a moment to remember the milestones that got us to this point.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered brings back a fantastic arcade racing game, and is still brilliant fun 10 years down the line. Autolog feels right at home in 2020, and the over-the-top cops vs. racers gameplay is a blast. While the remaster itself is a little underwhelming, and some of the original title's issues remain, this is nonetheless a great game for petrol heads and adrenaline junkies everywhere.
It’s not often that you’ll have to save the world by fighting zombie pensioners and demonic-looking Humpty Dumpty's. Undead Darlings isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself and, minor gameplay annoyances aside, the strong writing and compelling characters make this one worth checking out.