The Skinny's Reviews
You can see how good #IDARB could be, and almost certainly is right now for a select few, but the higher-end fun remains locked-off to the majority of players, at least for now.
The initial hours are a slog then, but for a game that requires months, maybe even years of play to get the most out of, that graft will be pretty small potatoes in the long run. Had Elite: Dangerous been published along traditional routes, such a steep learning curve would have probably been avoided by an industry that all-too-often likes to play things safe.
Gat out of Hell is a fun distraction but not one that we'd recommend buying on its own. However, if you never got chance to play the fantastic Saints Row IV first time around then this Re-elected/Gat out of Hell bundle is the best option available right now. It's just a pity that such a great game has received such a poor remaster.
Though brief and beset with occasional frustrations, at its best, Never Alone a simply spellbinding experience and a true reminder of the power of games to transport us to another place.
For established fans, Tales from the Borderlands is a great opening act. It has simple combat, snappy dialogue, and great voice acting. For players new to Borderlands, this is a decent appetiser but may well leave you feeling hungry. Either way, there's sure to be great demand for the next course.
As with previous instalments, LBP3 can be seen as a game of two halves; the standard platform fare and the online community building. The former is certainly the series' best yet although if that's all you come for you'll probably feel short-changed in gaming time. The latter is as forward-thinking and inventive as ever and fans will relish the new features.
For the kid who saw lego as a means of expression, Space Engineers has a lot to offer and its initial unwieldiness is unlikely to hinder their enthusiasm to create. But for this scribe, who was happy just building Hogwarts over and over as a child, Space Engineers' pedantic (though admirably ambitious) level of complexity was able to sustain interest for only so long.
Ultimately, Driveclub is a solid enough racing game, albeit one that's beset by some significant limitations. Casual fans of the genre are likely to have an enjoyable enough time but if you're looking for a title to plough hundreds of hours into, this isn't it.
Sure, we may have seen much of what Alien: Isolation has to offer before, but never from this frightening perspective.
Despite the nagging feeling that the game's mechanics are held up by a certain amount of smoke and mirrors, there's more than enough substance here to hold your attention for the fifteen to eighteen hours it takes to finish the game.
"Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction," writes Lovecraft, and in the end it is the game's loyalty to this principle which often makes The Vanishing of Ethan Carter such engrossing experience. And while a bit atmosphere never killed anyone, the subtle macabre of Ethan Carter's world will certainly mess with your head if you let it.
Underneath you'll find a serviceable and enjoyable escapade, if endless hacking and slashing are your things. It's been done better and it's been done worse for sure, yet coming with that Tri-Force stamp of approval, Zelda fans will likely have been hoping for a little bit more.
As a technological achievement, it's probably about as cutting-edge as console gaming gets right now, but as a straight ahead gaming experience, Destiny's component parts have been better done elsewhere, not least by Bungie themselves.
If you can endure the game's sense of humour, there is fun to be had here with a few friends, for a while at least, but it's hard to shake the feeling that Sacred 3 is ultimately a derivative and tedious experience.
All in all TLoU: Remastered is a compelling package; not only does it look and play better than the original, it's full of extra content and currently has a healthy online, multi-player community. And you know what, it's so good, if it came out on PlayStation 5 as The Last of Us: Remastered (The Director's Cut) we'd probably buy it again.
Overall, Whispering Willows is a satisfying experience that's straight out of a Disney story-book. There's a happy ending, a brave tween looking for her dad whilst trying to help out ghosts, good graphics, simple but stimulating puzzles and a manageable play-time that all help to leave you with a smile on your face.
Another World feels almost perfect, but twenty years of game innovations have scuffed its veneer.
The Wolf Among Us has gone out with the bang the series deserves.
The simple premise and brevity of an individual play-through is a good concoction for brewing up that 'one more game' mantra and whilst your passion for it may be as fleeting as its title suggests, you're likely to have a good time whilst it lasts.
By comparison to mindless shooters, this is a breath of clean air, but it's disappointing if you think outside the small window of possibility it gives you.