The Outerhaven Productions
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True to form, with added focus and polish that was a bit lacking in the last few titles. Breaking the faces of Japanese miscreants never looked, felt or sounded so good. The graphics are great, the music is solid, the 80's vibe is charming, the story, while still ridiculous and fantastic, is much more coherent and focused. If you love that open-world, beat 'em up gameplay style and emotional, dramatic storytelling the series is known for you need look no further, as this game does it and does it well.
While beautiful in some aspects, Toby: The Secret Mine fails to grasp its potential, and leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. It's short, way too challenging, and way too random at points that will frustrate even the most patient of gamers.
Rise & Shine is a fantastic adventure and a change of pace for the traditional 2D side-scroller. A great looking game that plays well and has a lot going for it. Great gameplay, interesting characters and a nice change of protagonist as well. Sadly, the game is a bit on the short side and can be beaten in 4-5 hours. The ride is definitely worth the time spent, yet once you beat the game the first time, there's nothing to do afterward.
Wild Guns Reloaded is a nice blast from the past and one that definitely desires a playthrough. The main issue here is the fact that the game was a simple port with nothing really added with the exception of the 4-player co-op (local) and graphical polish. The lack of any online capacity will likely make many gamers ignore the title.The trophy omissions are also puzzling since Natsume took the time to upscale the graphical side of things but nothing else. The asking price is simply too high for less than an hour of gameplay with no online leaderboards, no online co-op, all of which simply kill any changes this title may have had.
Sadly, despite Spacehulk: Deathwing possessing a great atmosphere, I can't recommend the title. At least not in the current state of the game. The single player portion is standard flair that will only appeal to those who are fans of the Warhammer 40K universe. This goes double for the co-op. It's a nice experience but it really doesn't match up to what you find with single player campaign. The technical issues, which is my main concern with this title, simply robs you of any fun. With massive frame rate drops which can plummet on even the most powerful PCs, show the telltale sign of poor optimization. Bugs that can cause all sorts of odd things, including crashing your game also are rampant.
Batman: The TellTale Series Season 01 is a great view into the world of TellTale's Batman. Complete with beautiful worlds, deep characters, and fun twists that'll have you guess what you did, and didn't do, from start to finish. If you're up for a deep look at the man under the cowl, this is one Batman adventure you'll want to do.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a beautifully made, wonderfully crafted, and totally fun adventure. It's got great characters, fun gameplay that'll keep you entertained throughout, epic bosses that'll keep you on your toes, and plenty of collectables that'll have you going back through the levels multiple times.
To be 100% honest with you, if you’ve played Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, then you’re going to be familiar with the PlayStation 4 version. The gameplay hasn’t changed one bit, so you’re going to be right at home here. All your favorite characters, your best combo strings and yes, and even dreaded infinite combos are still intact. That said, if you’re new to the game or even the series, I’d highly recommend you brush up in both the training and arcade modes.
The Last Guardian is not a perfect game. None is. But I can't think of many titles that deliver such powerful experiences utilizing the tools that only gaming can provide. I couldn't in all honesty sit here and nitpick the controls or the occasional graphical hiccup, because I had too much damn fun and made a great friend along the way.
The random nature of so many of Rogue Wizards' elements guarantees experiences that are dynamic, but the repetitive core gameplay and tedium of inventory management can also make them monotonous. The Story mode's narrative doesn't add anything to make the gameplay more compelling, so you may be better off with the Gauntlet mode's endless dungeon. Either way, this game works best in casual play sessions.
Perfection in remastering. Batman: Return to Arkham is something that I was hoping for since they announced Batman: Arkham Knight on the PS4. I wanted to go back to the beginning of the series without having to go back to finding my PS3 and setting it up. It's good to see that instead of going the cheap code upgrade route that a lot of PS3 remasters have gone through (I'm looking at you Resident Evil), Rocksteady decided to take the care to get the game engine upgraded and used to its potential. This is right up there with Bioshock: The Collection in terms of how to do a remastered game for this generation.
In the end, I cannot recommend this game enough. The story is extremely engaging and written intelligently. Much like the previous installment, they handle the notion of time travel and its consequences with great care. Nothing about it seems too far-fetched, either. The series does detract from the humorous tone that it once had, though, but I’m not complaining about it one bit. The darker, serious tone still allows for some light-hearted moments, but when the drama kicks in, it does so in a way that makes you want to pay attention and keep pressing forward.
I've been a fan of Killing Floor 2 for quite some time and played more than a fair share of it via my early access copy on PC. So, I was really excited to get a chance to try out the PlayStation 4 version, to see how it fared to what I played. I'm happy to report that Killing Floor 2 on the PS4 is easily as good as the PC version, both in the gameplay and visuals. Fantastic controls, a decent online multiplayer system and easily of the fastest paced shooters available on any platform. It's no surprise that this title has replaced my old stable of Left 4 Dead 2 and for good reason. On all seriousness, you don't have to take my word for it and I'd rather you didn't. Instead, go play it for yourself, I'll be here when you play a few rounds to tell me what you think about it.
This is like if you took Earth Defense Force, Starship Troopers and Guardian Heroes and tossed them into a blender. A wonderfully action packaged game, tons of fun combat and a vast customization system, Earth's Dawn is well worth the price of admission.
I'm a fairly casual gamer and enjoy first-person experiences that pose a challenge and tell a great story. While most of this is achieved in Dishonoured 2 - I feel the storytelling aspects left me feel a little lacking. There are huge bouts of exposition and lore to read - things that could be 'shown' rather than 'told' are extremely present and get repetitive quick. With the sheer amount of action taking place I never felt I really had time to read passages of books and pages of notes - and since this isn't a game like Elder Scrolls Online which rewards you for reading, it doesn't feel warranted here. Everything else is absolutely on point - from the excellent levels to intelligent enemies, it's a pleasure wielding your abilities to demolish anyone in your path and restore yourself to your rightful throne.
Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander is a fun (and funny) game with great art and novel ideas. For a casual experience, it’s a game that offers a lot of enjoyment, but can get a little stale pretty quickly. It’s a large improvement on everything that’s good about the games I love on iOS, but it doesn’t manage to bridge that gap to a full-fledged PC game completely, leaving you hanging in a few areas wishing for a bit more depth.
I cannot mince words here; Trillion seems like a gigantic waste of time. For a game with such potential, it squanders it so badly, that even I couldn't be bothered with it after playing the game for 8 hours. It is extremely tedious, everything seems pointless, the combat and movement are clunky...it just doesn't feel good at all. You might as well call this game RPG Simulator 2015 since that's exactly what it seems like. Despite the exceptionally engaging storytelling, this game falls completely on its face.
Xanadu Next is a fun romp and a nice eye opener to games that were created years or even decades ago. It shows that they can still stand the test of time and remain enjoyable. I was hard pressed to put down the game until I finished it and while I wished it was a bit easier on the eyes, there's no denying the charm that Xanadu Next generates.
I really have to give credit where credit is due - Owlboy is an amazing title from D-pad Studios. Full of charm and wonder, this is easily one of the best indie developed games I've played this year. I'm a huge fan of 2D platforming / puzzle games and have been since the days of the Super Nintendo. So being able to play a title such as Owlboy was a treat. The only sad thing about this game is when it ends as the game really doesn't have much in the terms of replaying the title. Unless you're a perfectionist and want to go back and find all the secrets and collectibles, there's little to encourage a reply of this gem. Finally, I'm holding out hope that D-pad Studio's has plans to port Owlboy to other platforms, especially the 3DS and PS Vita, as I feel that the title would be right at home on both platforms - but of course bring it to every platform as humanly possible.
World of Final Fantasy is a great game. I love every minute of walking through its dungeons, looking for a chest that I think will hold a cool weapon or rare item but only has a potion. It hearkens back to what myself and many others consider a "Golden Age" in the genre.