Push Square
HomepagePush Square's Reviews
All The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope wants to be is the popcorn flick of the horror genre. And despite an ending that robs some merit from the experience and intruding load screens, the game achieves that. An interesting cast of characters lends weight and impact to your decisions while the story itself intrigues and surprises. Perfect for an unsettling night in? You got that right.
The game doesn't get everything right. Menus and UI are a little clumsy, and you're unlikely to feel attached to any of the teams in the career mode. However, it has it where it counts — fun, speedy racing, lots to do, and a CoLD SToRAGE soundtrack. WipEout fans looking for a new entry: this is as close as you'll find.
Each chapter of Stories Untold is framed like an episode of a Twilight Zone-style anthology television show, replete with a killer John Carpenter-esque synth-backed intro. It pays more than a passing nod to the introduction to hit show Stranger Things, but it's undeniably cool, and we'd love to see an Untold Stories 2 that continued the theme, only with a more consistent episode quality.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a stellar sequel to a surprisingly great game. The Nemesis System remains the real star of the show in all of its expanded glory, and while its dynamic brilliance threatens to make the main story missions seem boring by comparison, there's enough heft to the overall package that you can look past its shortcomings. In the barrage of blockbusters hitting PS4 over the next few months, Shadow of War should not be missed.
A real strength of Carto is its cast of NPCs, written with real warmth and charm. The world they inhabit is also surprisingly well fleshed out, even though you can breeze through it in six or seven hours. This is a puzzle game, but it also tells a sweet, worthwhile tale about tradition and companionship. Combined with lovely visuals and chilled out music, this is a refreshing, relaxing game that's worth marking on your map.
On its own, Trails of Cold Steel IV is far from being the best game in the series, but as a conclusion to an epic story with characters that have long since won us over, it's a fitting finale. Class VII remains one of the most endearing groups in gaming, and although they demand so much of your time across four whole games, both the journey and the eventual payoff has been worth it. When packaged together with Cold Steel I, II, and III, this is easily one of the most engrossing RPG sagas of our time.
DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One is so much more of the PS4's best first-person shooter. It doesn't do anything dramatically different from the base game, rather letting its phenomenal gameplay loop revel in new environments and against new enemies. Difficulty spikes present more problems than we'd like, though, to the point where casual players might feel like giving up. Nevertheless, bring on Part Two.
NHL 21 is absolutely a step forward. We won't be able to see if this improvement is a one-time thing until next year, but as it stands, this final release of the generation is also its best in that span. With a long-overdue update to the Be a Pro mode, alongside the pretty fun HUT Rush and the changes to Franchise, the series took a bigger step forward than it normally does. Sure, there's a give and take quality to many of the alterations, but the overall product is a net positive. It won't be scooping up an endless stream of awards any time soon, but this series has been in far worse shape in the past.
Ultimately the game feels like the first draft of a really great idea. Add some polish, and we’d love to see what it could become.
There's some fun to be extracted from this, especially given that Halloween is upon us, but sadly this is a game that won't live long in the memory.
For the few things Amnesia: Rebirth gets right, there is a mountain of reasons why it feels like Frictional Games is still stuck in 2010. This hide and seek style of gameplay has long outstayed its welcome and the game doesn't do enough to lessen the disappointing impact that brings. It's heartbreaking to say, but after the fantastic SOMA, maybe the Swedish developer shouldn't have bothered returning to what it thinks it knows best.
Gameplay-wise, as an employee of Cloudpunk you're expected to deliver packages around Nivalis, sometimes within a time limit. You'll do this by piloting your HOVA — a flying car that you can customise — around the city, keeping an eye on both how much gas you've got left and whether your vehicle needs any repairs. It's simple and straight-forward, and it amuses just enough to keep Cloudpunk from dragging during it's nigh 10-hour running time.
Each of the games are fun for what they are, but unfortunately there's just not quite enough going on. The rounds are over quickly, and there's not a huge variety, meaning you'll probably have your fill before long. It's a well crafted game that looks and sounds great, but there just isn't an awful lot to sink your teeth into. For an evening or two of candy-flavoured fun playing online or off, this is an entertaining treat — it's just something you'll want to snack on sparingly.
This is the same old Torchlight, but somewhat diminished. Classes are full of character and lots of fun to play, while Relic abilities encourage experimentation and significantly change combat. However, there's nothing especially new or exciting about this third instalment.
Stop us if you've heard this one before: FIFA 21 isn't a huge upgrade on FIFA 20, but a boatload of small improvements do help it rise above its predecessor. The on-pitch action arguably feels more arcadey than it has done in years, but there's no denying the excitement that comes with playing through a 5-4 thriller. FIFA is still king in delivering a robust and accessible footballing package, but the series needs to step up its game on PS5 - particularly when it comes to presentation.
There's almost too much to talk about with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, but rest assured that this is a return to form for the series. It might be tough, even a little mean at times, but this is the proper sequel fans have been asking for. With so much to see and do, this is a stylish, confident 3D platformer that brings Crash back at his best.
Star Wars: Squadrons has its heart in the right place and a comprehensive, in-depth set of flight mechanics go a long way towards realising that childhood dream of piloting an X-Wing. It achieves the vision in some ways, but in others, the package lacks excitement and content. While excellent PSVR support will be enough for some, a boring story and inadequate multiplayer modes leave a lot to be desired.
There are several issues though and its biggest one regards movement, which offers three options: teleportation, swinging the PlayStation Move controller, or a smooth option reliant on button pressing. None of them click perfectly and adding to this, character models look a bit rough. If you can get past these flaws, Onslaught is ultimately enjoyable, bringing good combat and rebuilding Alexandria is quite fun. If you’re a fan of the TV series, this is worth a look.
Going Under is a roguelite that ditches some of the genre's usual depth in favour of a compelling satirical tale. It won't last you too long, but there's enough here to hold your interest as you delve into some truly unique dungeons. Though it isn't the best dungeon crawler, it's certainly one of the most unusual, and we love it for that.
It’s just a shame that the campaign only lasts a few hours, though there is a separate arcade mode to keep players busy. If you can look past that issue, Budget Cuts is a fantastic experience that all PSVR owners should play. Offering an engaging and fully immersive experience, we can only hope the sequel also makes its way to PSVR in good time.