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Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a bit like when you fancy watching a game of footy but there's only the Scottish league on the telly. Sure, it looks like football to the untrained eye, and yes, occasionally it's entertaining just like real football, but you're mainly there hoping that someone is going to get chinned.
Project CARS 3 marks a significant departure for the series, abandoning most of its sim heritage in favour of arcade racing. Offering a variety of different cars and tracks, there's plenty of content on offer, making for a fun distraction, but it lacks the excitement we expect from wheel-to-wheel racing. It takes inspiration from all over the place, but it's perhaps most closely aligned with Sony's own DriveClub. It would seem, then, that the PS4 cycle is ending the way it began. We're just not sure we'd pick this over what's come before.
As a mostly solo experience, Crystal Chronicles is a decent, if somewhat repetitive dungeon crawler -- but this remaster should have been so much more.
Ultimately the result is a fun world, with fun characters that absolutely nails its boss fights, but settles for adequacy on all other fronts. As the first game from a new team, it’s not bad, though.
There's absolutely fun to be had here, though, and those looking for something different should try it regardless.
Spiritfarer is a game with a lot of moving parts, but most of its elements are well handled. Progression comes at a good pace as you upgrade Stella's ship, her abilities, and build relationships with a colourful crew. The crafting minigames are a weak spot, and the writing doesn't always land, but there's a lot to like about this maritime management title.
Descenders is a solid experience if you're looking for a time waster that you'll return to over and over. While constant screen tearing issues hamper its presentation quite a bit, the game has solid controls, as well as simple though endlessly entertaining mechanics. While the controls aren't the tightest we've seen, they do everything adequately and contribute to the fun. Add in the wide range of biomes to race through, including some more wacky ones towards the end of the game, and it makes for one fun package. And that's to say nothing of the fun little gimmicks, like the first-person mode and the trials-style courses. Descenders has everything you could possibly want in a downhill cycling roguelite.
Train Sim World 2 is unquestionably an acquired taste, but even if you're not a railway enthusiast, there's a relaxing release here that we recommend. Once you get to grips with how to operate the various locomotives, there's a tangible satisfaction to kicking back for 60 minutes with the hum of the engine in the background, as you travel cross-country through urban and rural routes. We've already lost dozens of hours to this title, and with the base package merely representing the beginning of its journey, we suspect we'll be spending a lot more time behind the controls of some of the world's most famous trains.
It's a delightful, jolly, collectathon platformer, and if it keeps your kids off Fortnite for a day or two then you can't say fairer than that.
Ultimately, this isn't the Samurai Jack game of your dreams. But despite its flaws, this is a good action game that will please fans, and its simplistic nature may even introduce the property to a younger audience.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a strategy game that requires very little strategy for much of its short running time. While it does eventually present a little more challenge in the closing chapters, the hum-drum narrative and bargain-basement cut-scenes won't provide you with much incentive to persevere through the duller moments which make up most of the game. If you're a massive fan of the show waiting for the next season, then you're probably better off just forming your own gang while talking in a comedy Brummie accent.
PGA Tour 2K21 is the best simulation golf game on the PS4, and it represents a real evolution for The Golf Club franchise as a whole. While it retains many of the features from previous instalments, it's much better presented than ever before, and it finally includes a career mode that's worth your time and attention. There are still improvements to be made here – the licensed courses lack character and the visuals are static – but if this were a long par five tee shot it'd comfortably find the fairway.
The star of the Manifold Garden show is far and away its presentation, and witnessing it in motion is worth the asking price alone. It's just a shame the puzzles themselves can't quite hit those same levels of spectacularity.
With beautiful environments and plenty to discover, Mortal Shell is a compelling world to explore. After a steep learning curve, its combat is challenging but fascinating, and with a great sense of reward once you master it. It might be a little too similar to Dark Souls in terms of overall tone and style, but it brings enough new ideas functionally to make it stand out from the crowd. Ultimately, this is a great entry into a demanding sub-genre that fans won't want to miss.
EA Sports UFC 4 is not a massive departure from its predecessor, but it's a significantly better game. EA Vancouver has successfully recognised the way fans want to play, and with its array of arcade-inspired options and emphasis on Career mode, it will appeal to casual fans of the sport as well as MMA obsessives alike. While the ground game still needs work, it's much more approachable now, and we really like the fast-paced Blitz Battles as an accompaniment to the more traditional online ranked matches. The presentation has stagnated somewhat, but combat still feels appropriately crunchy, and with rotating challenges to hold your attention, we can see ourselves sticking with this brawler for some time.
If you're after something relaxing, we can easily recommend The Alto Collection.
Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS. Maxiboost ON is the ultimate Gundam Versus experience on consoles. The series' steep learning curve remains, but once you've broken through that initial barrier, there's a massive amount of metal-mashing fun to be found. As both a comprehensive gameplay package, and as a celebration of all things Gundam, it's very, very hard to fault.
In particular, quests with strict time limits can often feel unfair, and grinding out tasks purely to improve your relationship with different characters is a slog.
How Fast & Furious Crossroads wound up as a full-price release will forever remain a mystery. It is lacking in every department possible, from shallow and repetitive gameplay through to abysmal visuals that belong on the previous generation of consoles. Not even the most committed Fast & Furious fans should subject themselves to this monstrosity. That is unless you want to have a good laugh alongside Vin Diesel.
Once you overcome Skater XL's learning curve there's some fun board-based entertainment to be had here. But this is a lightweight package with subpar presentation, and unless you're so deep into skater culture that you absolutely need a simulation for your PS4, we'd recommend either waiting for this to be updated – or pre-ordering Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 instead.