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Thankfully Stealth Inc 2 is a game which never outstays its welcome, providing a frenetic puzzle platformer which entertains from beginning to end. If you're a high-score junkie you'll like get even more mileage out of this, each of the game's 60 Test Chambers provide you with extensive rankings breakdowns and fastest times, something which requires a little too much patience for these now-weary hands.
When they talk about games that stand apart from the crowd... well, Worlds of Magic is the crowd they're talking about.
Despite all this Mortal Kombat X is still an insane brand of fun, delivering the ultimate pick up and play bloodbath for those who don't necessarily want to take their fighting games too seriously. Absolutely packed with things to do, there's plenty there to encourage you to better yourself. If you're one of those hooked into Mortal Kombat lore then the story is definitely worth a playthrough here. What we've essentially got is a bigger and bolder version of Mortal Kombat 9, marred slightly by intrusive microtransactions and at times dodgy performance issues.
In conclusion, The Assignment provides a much more stealth-focused approach than the original The Evil Within and is different enough to make it feel like you're not just playing through a rehash of the same experience. If you enjoyed the original, or games such as The Last of Us, then this is an experience you will most likely have fun with.
All of this and then there's the extensive Raid mode for those interested in it. This offers hundreds upon hundreds of additional challenges, weapons, and characters which could have you playing Resident Evil Revelations 2 for months. One for the high-score chasers, Raid mode is the perfect distillation of the action qualities the series has had going for it in recent years.
In truth Episode 3 - Judgment is the weakest of the episodes seen thus far. A true game of two halves, the first part is one of the finest yet, let down by a weak second half that begins to drag all too quickly, despite its brief length. A modest stab at puzzle solving attempts to mix things up, but the uninspired environments and drab exploration can all-too-quickly sap the fun out of things. Still, things are teed up nicely on the story front for the final episode, when the events on this island should hopefully come to a head.
With three episodes still to go, Tales from the Borderlands has plenty of time to inject extra thrills into the story and hopefully introduce some more compelling gameplay elements. All the same, I'm looking forward to getting stuck into episode three, thanks to the compelling characters and hilarious dialogue.
The intense boss fights and action-packed sequences jammed into this three-hour play make it an at-times exhausting experience. It suits the episodic nature to a tee, giving you a week or so to gather yourself before heading back in for more. Let's just hope Capcom can keep it up for the final pair of episodes.
All in all, this is a game to buy and then spend some serious time with. Sure, there's a lot about it that's a bit corny but happily the corn is confined to the parts of the game that don't really matter. It's the racing in RIDE that's king.
For this pack to be a worthwhile pick-up you're going to need to be a consummate Call of Duty fan, at which point you've no doubt already splashed out on the season pass. There's a decent amount of content spread across the two modes, but the long term value ultimately comes from the map pack rather than the Exo Zombies mode.
With an entry price of $5 the developers humbly invite you to take a dive into their dream and judge it worthy of your time. The sales numbers and, surprisingly, the strong support from the Steam community speak for themselves. This game will not appeal to a massive portion of the gamer population, as it shouldn't have to, but to those who do like it, it's the perfect game. Dontnod know their story storytelling, and here's hoping it's only going to get better from here on out.
The fantasy genre is always one of nostalgia for a world long gone, the vague, wistful ancestral memory of weary travelers and simple taverns, of brooding castles and dark-blooded wars. But also nostalgia for a real-life youth spent whispering about orcs at the back of geography class. Somehow, Pillars of Eternity captures this personal emotion with flair and empathy.
Gearbox has achieved a nigh-on perfect remastering of Homeworld with this collection, making minor tweaks without disrupting the balance of what made them such classics in the first place. Screens don't really do it justice but the pitched space battles truly are a sight to behold, and considering you're getting two fantastic games for a budget price it's difficult to resist. The only problem I can see is those who want more beyond the final credits - they unfortunately really don't make them like this anymore.
There I go again, swinging back the other way! The problem is this. I am a little upset at endless Ubisoft FIFA-esque annual updates that, also like FIFA, are very slight variations on a theme. But these games will never be wholly beige and uninteresting, because they're built on a tried and tested way of making you have fun. Sailing the seven seas with a crew of salty sea dogs, taking on a pair of angry French frigates is just fun. Sneaking through the bushes at a governors' soiree, then sneakily shooting one of his guards with a berserk dart and watching him slaughter all of his erstwhile comrades - that's always good for a giggle. You can feel the swagger when you first buy the captain's uniform and cut a dashing figure through the streets of the colonies. The weaving of historical fact and off-the-wall videogame fiction is engrossing and superbly crafted. So what that it's basically a game you've already played? That doesn't stop it being fun.
The first episode offers enough twists and turns to keep us intrigued as to what will happen next on this adventure, and so long as Capcom can keep up the quality on offer here then the complete package should be a fine comeback for the revered series.
Colossal Order's stated goal is 'to let you build the city of your dreams', with the emphasis on everyone having unique needs and interests. Of course, their covert goal was to topple SimCity. In both cases, they've succeeded gloriously.
In the end the beauty of this game rests mostly on, well, the beauty of the game. The game is a wonderland of sounds and sights with an immersive and touching story of survival (less survival than I'd like in my case). Although the gameplay is smooth and succinct, with a playtime of a little over two hours to complete it may not be the sort of game you'll want to pick up to keep yourself amused for that lazy week off work. However if I had more time I would happily spend longer wandering around the lands to discover the objects hidden within or to simply take in more of the sights.
The issue of cost is an awkward one. £40 to one person might be a huge deal, to another it could just be another drop in the ocean. It's certainly a bit expensive for my tastes, but I don't think The Order should be judged wholly on that. Like any game nowadays you won't have to wait long to pick it up dirt cheap, and The Order: 1886 is certainly a game worth a playthrough. The worth of that playthrough however, comes down to you.
If this relatively obscure episode of history isn't your thing but you're jonesing for some Total War, of course, it shouldn't be too long until the incredible sounding Total War: Warhammer shows up. Apart from that, at least we know that Creative Assembly has a bright future making sci-fi survival horrors.
Part of the satisfaction of a city builder is looking down at your creation, watching it grow and develop. Just whizzing the camera around your constructed world in Cities XXL can be satisfying. It's just a shame it forget the other half of what makes the genre great - management. At its core it's a fun game with some solid tools and the potential for absolutely massive creations, but you'll have to overcome a pretty bland art style and a lack of challenge to get the best out of it. The makings are so nearly there for a great city builder, but Cities XXL just falls short in too many of the key areas.