Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
Battlefield: Hardline is a stupid game. I quite like it.
The story is a touch blandly presented, but hardly an important factor in the scheme of the game. It's completely novel, and that's a rare thing to say about any game, and even rarer to conclude it succeeds in its originality.
If it's playing I can close my eyes and feel what HLM made me feel. Because my associations for HLM2 are confusion and frustration more than exhilaration and escapism, the second doesn't seem to have power. But there are some lovely pieces in there for sure.
Apart from the splendid graphics, there's nothing particularly outstanding about White Night, but it's a decent horror-mystery game. It'd fit beautifully under the Alone in the Dark banner and seems like a much more obvious successor than…well…
Throughout all of this is the lovely music, the gorgeous artwork and a moving story. That intro sequence brought a lump to my throat, but I wasn't sure whether the game would be able to sustain that ability to be affecting once it became less cinematic. But as the story plays out and I completed tasks I was fed more snippets. The game gradually reveals what's behind the tragedy of the forest and that emotional facet is unspoilt by unforgiving and unadventurous mechanical requirements.
The way that ships, planets and research all simply accrue numbers in various areas rather than opening up new avenues to understand, explore and exploit makes Starships seem like a game set at the end of humankind's ambition rather than the beginning of a brave new age.
You're going to love it.
Shelter 2 has a memorable visual identity and a considered soundtrack, but in terms of survival and a rewarding exploration of the space there's just not much there.
I'd tell you if the changes are sufficient to justify a purchase but I shat it on the second night and uninstalled.
It's very simple to complete, and your interaction with the world is fairly primitive. And yes, sliding tile puzzles. But it also has a deeper story and much darker tone than you'd expect from the casual market... I rather enjoyed it.
Oscura is probably a good fun platform game with little originality, underneath its frustrations. But just now, those frustrations are covering it up too well.
I'm not sure the Homeworld games were first built with the expectation that they'd stand the test of time like this, but because there was so much care, because there's been nothing quite like them since, and because the remastering has been sensitive, this package comes across as beautifully timeless, and as essential as real-time strategy gets. Welcome home.
What makes Hand of Fate so very special is that it does very successfully bring one very human emotion to bear: hatred. I'm gonna give you what for, Australian Raistlin.
Everything is stripped away, leaving two coaches to duke it out over a weird looking ball. It's how robots would design a sport if, you know, they actually liked sport. Just the bare essentials, all purity and rawness with simple rules, simple tools and a clear objective. It's a game that, at a glance, you know how to play. And you should probably go and do that.
Don't underestimate how clever and how careful Evolve is, and just how many deeply different elements it genuinely manages to balance. But sadly that's not backed up by a huge amount of personality.
With such a light story and relatively sparse worlds the game needed its combat to feel polished in order to shine. Sadly the unwieldy controls mean it's an interesting-looking game which never quite delivers.
Look, Sunless Sea isn't for everyone. It requires patience, and it requires no small amount of imagination. For those who have those qualities, or are prepared to try and acquire them, I would say that Sunless Sea is an uncommonly rewarding roleplaying game, and an essential one.
Take your time, play with the flora and fauna (although be careful, it's not all friendly), search out the gems (some are cunningly hidden), and enjoy taking your time. This isn't a game to rush, but to wobbily savour.
I'm sticking with Game of Thrones, but I'd definitely appreciate some changes to the pacing. I.e. calm down! Sure, feel free to maim and kill anyone anywhen, but give me a chance to look around a little first, won't you?
Icons on the minimap don't match those on the main map. Characters piss mid-conversation. The jump barely functions. There's just nothing redeemable here. Frankly, it's damned rude to release a game in this state.