Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
It is a pretty decent VR title though, with a strong conceit and pleasant scenery. That makes it notable enough. To be honest, what it really needs is support for sticking your arms out at your side and flapping around like Big Bird, but perhaps the later Vive version and/or Oculus Touch support might let us live out our Michael Keaton mid-life crisis fantasies.
After a few campaigns, it’s left me a little cold. Topical it may be, but the lack of engagement with issues and their effects makes it hard for me to see the theme (both animal and political) as much more than a lick of paint on a fairly well-worked but narrow game of numbers. Perhaps that’s what electioneering actually is but if I had to cast my vote, I’d be sticking with the push-and-pull policies of Democracy rather than Political Animals’ detatched campaigns of territorial control.
It’s a tough game, in which I often feel like I’m grinding my way toward the top rather than discovering brilliant new tactics or innovative strategies. That makes me feel a little distant from my team, and makes this a game to play while burning through podcasts in the background rather than to focus all of my attention on, but I’m enjoying the challenge.
Infinite Warfare’s story mode is an expensive-looking spectacle without a single idea of its own, mechanically or narratively. Even Ethan the robot’s attempts to salvage the Marine vs Navy vs Army banter by playing off some well-worn robot tropes can’t save the story or dialogue from being hogwash. Even the rare glimpse of interesting ‘burning asteroid’ level design can’t redeem the rest of the grey corridors and flaming city streets. As for how good it looks (and it does look very good) that is no saving grace.
You probably already know whether you want a new Football Manager in your life right now. If you do, this is a better option than last year’s edition, particularly given its improvements for those playing long-term saves. It’s evolution not revolution, but that was needed given how much the match engine and transfer intelligence seemed to be creaking after years without a significant tune-up.
What a treat. And a surprisingly deep one, with compelling moments you’ll want to talk about. It’s a pleasure to control, it has impeccable difficulty balancing to keep you moving forward while always feeling like you’re being skillful, and all in the prettiest of pretty pixel graphics. Triumphant.
This is an excellent Hitman game, and a substantial one. As an all-in-one package it perhaps doesn’t feel as vast as it did when released in chunks, but it still works well. The experiment to make each level bigger, more distinctive and more ornate instead of having a glut of them has worked extremely well.
If you’re even mildly interested in buying a new multiplayer FPS, you won’t go wrong with this, and if you enjoy smart level design, the singleplayer is vital, though the pricetag is hard to justify given the short running time. None of those ideas I’m refusing to describe so as not to spoil them are going to add replay value either, unless, like me, you’re likely to replay just to show people the spectacle of it all.
To me, Dark Souls 3 was a good curtain call. Ariandel, however, feels like perhaps the series has come out for one round of applause too many, and my hands are starting to hurt now from the perpetual clapping. The combat and visual design are fantastic – that was never in question – and I enjoyed Ariandel for its short runtime of four hours, but it’s engulfed in the shadow of its predecessors’ far meatier expansions.
I like the game at CE’s heart, but interacting with it is simply unpleasant. Were it slick and reliable perhaps I could bear its extreme micro-management and unhelpful UI, but the fact is that it’s currently strewn with technical errors, most of which boil down to, once again, build orders not happening. Meteor storms, cult outbreaks and merman invasions are its highlight, yes, but ultimately they are just colourful interruptions to a deeply frustrating normality.
This isn’t the expansion or the patch to convince those who weren’t already convinced by what Stellaris has to offer, but it brings plenty of alterations and additions for those already on board.
If you picked up Battlefront last year and found it wanting, it’s worth a second look now. There’s easily a couple of evening’s worth of extra fun available for free.
If you’re after something light-hearted, gentle, and surface level to take your mind off a busy day, it’s charming and a breeze.
With Civ 6, I really do feel like I’m playing Civ right out of the gates – it’s remarkable how much it reminds me of the first ever game in the series. There’s a certain balance and pull of development vs competition that’s really present and correct, and now it’s accompanied by this delightful, colourful, busy appearance it feels surprisingly fresh, once one can get past its failure to explain stuff like Amenities.
While it’s not as impactful as Rusty Lake Hotel, or my favourite Cube Escape, Seasons, there’s an absolute ton going on here for a crazy tiny [price].
It is safely good. Even with the addition of Operations mode and the behemoths and the return to a more instinctively dramatic setting, it still feels like Battlefield.
Happy 20th birthday, Lara. I hope you find your way home one day.
Better responding controls would do a lot of good, but for £6.40 you’ve got a lovely idea, often delivered very well.
GoNNER is this year’s Downwell – a neat, short-form action game that has found the perfect visual style to communicate its near-misses and big hits. Whether you want to show off by pushing its systems to the limits or play at a more relaxed and careful pace, basking in the gorgeous music, it’s an absolute delight.
Astonishing amounts of work have gone into this, to creating such a vast detailed city, writing an apparently infinite story, building something on such scale. And then this has been dramatically let down by the dreadful AI, a woeful inability to edit, and the mindnumbing monotony of its identical missions. I'm fascinated by it, but I absolutely cannot recommend it.