AusGamers's Reviews
So the question heading into Astro's Playroom becomes - is it actually a game, or more of a tech demo to showcase the fancy new next-gen controller Sony has been cooking up for years?.
Taking even the most passing of glances at any of the pre-release trailers and seeing real-world jobs like chef or bouncer or pop idol or musician re-imagined as RPG character classes, or witnessing crustaceans swarming enemies in what looked like mage abilities (aka spells), you could very easily chalk it up to the Yakuza team indulging in their absurdist tendencies.
For a game that centres itself around the idea of settlements, negotiation, alignment and choice, Valhalla does an amazing job of making you feel like the spotlight is always on you.
In the end, with more varied activities that went beyond the usual by-the-numbers story missions, say, a more emergent city full of events to match the unpredictability of who you control - then Watch Dogs: Legion could have been an experience on par with its impressive technology. As it stands it’s a fight and a cause worth joining, but like its cast your reasons might only extend to the escape from the monotony of a normal everyday existence.
But if you're like me, playing every year, then know this: NBA 2K21 is the best basketball game around, but it's also the only one. And as any high-level competitor will tell you, that's never a good thing for long.
Surprise and variety mean no two attempts are ever the same, and for that alone Hades is immediately intoxicating.
It just needs something more to it, whether that's an expanded career-type mode (like <b>Rocket League</b>'s Seasons, perhaps) or a bigger story to hold it all together. The handful of new arenas add to a large roster of locations, though without some sticking power Volta will always feel like a secondary mode compared to other stuff within FIFA.
In the end though, by not committing to either the sim-style of TIE Fighter or the arcade-action of Rogue Squadron – the middle-ground falls a short of brilliance. Most campaign missions follow a similar flow, rarely delving into sheer cinematic spectacle or pure sim-like protracted and intense battles. But there’s no denying that when played in VR Squadrons often feels like a dream come true - and when it stays on target, it’s a force to be reckoned with.
And between the three of them for completionists, we're talking at least 100 hours of gaming, but really, probably more.
Underneath the beauty, there’s a morality tale that slowly unfolds amid the sometimes overblown spectacle. An element that was present in the original but feels more prevalent and potent here. The ending backs an even bigger gut punch this time around.
It's not funny.
What we’re presented with throughout the campaign and as a whole though is as they say, rough around the edges.
If you’ve ever played either game or the series before, you know what you’re in for, it’s just more. If you haven’t and this is your first time dropping in -- don’t be scared, the opposite transition awaits and gravity will take hold in that this series will launch you to new, fun and endearing heights.
I’d love to see this survive as a franchise -- all the elements are there, it just suffers identity crisis throughout and needs a bigger hook than “alone among a series of islands trying to find answers”. And unfortunately, that’s the game as is presented -- a solitary experience, directionless and without contextual form. Gorgeous, yes, and presented as an ambitious and familiar package with an equally resonant soundtrack, but oddly empty.
Battletoads is fun, challenging and self-indulgent, but in ways that are respectful and reverent.
In 2020, Microsoft Flight Simulator leverages technology that feels as much of our current place and time as it does the immediate and distant future.
Overall, it was easy to be drawn into A Total War Saga: TROY.
Either way, it's a tough sell, but the reward for effort and perseverance is a good one, the bigger question: how committed are you?.
Carrion is ultimately fascinating, engaging, and short and sweet. By putting you in the role of the alien threat it imbues you with a strange supervillain-like sense of playing in an insect farm.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is as advertised above, a brooding yet charming affair that brings the collector in us along for a colourful ride through a kingdom gone foldingly mad.