Expansive's Reviews
I’ve really been enjoying spending time in London and I really hope Watch Dogs finds the success it deserves from here on out. The concept piloted here needs to be allowed time to blossom and grow as much as it possibly can throughout this generation. While Watch Dogs 2 is still the series high, Legion feels like something of a renaissance for the series – similar to how Origins changed the fortunes of Assassin’s Creed. It’s not perfect – and at times does still feel a little bit bland with more limited mission variety – but there’s some really smart and clever ideas here that could pave the way for some truly special games in the years to come.
If you’re looking to take a chance on a good adventure indie, with an entertaining story, Jenny LeClue offers a generously sized campaign full of twists and turns and clever gameplay hooks that you’ll really struggle to put down. I just hope this isn’t the last we see of this intrepid investigator. Fortunately, if the end of the game is anything to go by, it certainly seems like I’ll get my wish.
The Survivalists is fun, if not a little limited in its current state. Fortunately, there’s lots more coming down the tracks with the game’s extensive content roadmap which will surely flesh out the experience even more and make it interesting for months to come.
Completionists will relish all Isle of Armor has to offer, with so many new Mon to add to your dex and lots to explore, as well as some new and unique powerups that further alter the way you play, it makes for an essential purchase. If you’re coming into this for story, though, you’re probably going to be pretty disappointed as it’s over before it even gets going and you’ll feel like Game Freak could have done a lot more with it.
Ghostrunner is both hard and easy to love. It has a wonderful sense of style and there’s an interesting world that’s been built up here, but it definitely puts you through the wringer to get some free-flowing action and to appreciate everything that’s been cultivated. While it won’t be for everyone, there’s a fairly solid game to find under the blemishes and when you connect with it, you’re guaranteed one hell of a ride.
FIFA, to no one’s surprise, remains the kingpin of sports and FIFA 21 is the best this generation has seen. Providing you’re not playing on Switch, of course.
Being a newcomer to the series, I like what I’ve seen here, but hope that Milestone can be a little more forgiving next time around and make the game a little easier to fall in love with. I wanted to fall head over heels for RIDE 4, but instead I had to be content with settling for a middle ground.
There’s plenty of fun to be had here, though – as well as stress and sadness – so if you’re looking for a different kind of outer space adventure from your Star Wars: Squadrons and Hardspace: Shipbreakers, you’ve come to the right place. Everything you loved about Bomber Crew is still here, and a little bit more besides.
Without doubt, one of EA’s very best takes on the world of Star Wars.
Tennis World Tour 2 has its moments, the career mode can be good fun with creating your own star to tackle charity matches and tournaments to earn money for cosmetics and cards. You also can’t beat the feeling of playing as Nadal and going head to head with Federer. But be prepared to work hard to love this game and to get the most out of it. Nothing comes easy, and it may just make you wish for a game that seems no closer to coming to fruition.
Approach this one with caution. I don’t often warn people off playing games, but between some potentially bad triggers and a really hamfisted approach to a sensitive subject this may not be the game for you, and in that case, I’d just advise playing something else entirely.
Hades is incredible. Every inch of it memorable, and writing this review has just talked me into doing another run. Supergiant Games have made their masterpiece, and it is wonderful.
I’ve had so much fun with Hotshot Racing, it’s exactly the kind of racing game I’ve been looking to dip into and it offers enough to keep me coming back for more. Disregard at your peril.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is probably not something I’ll be revisiting years down the line, but for now, it does what it’s set out to do and that’s keep the franchise fresh in people’s minds long enough for its big re-emergence next year.
Quite how studios keep finding new and exciting ways to get the most out of Nintendo’s ‘super mini engine that can’ will never cease to amaze me. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is now a genuine Game of the Year Contender with launch issues aside and the Switch is a truly wonderful home to play it on.
Obsidian have built a mostly entertaining piece of DLC that – while not essential – is one Outer Worlds fans will enjoy from start to finish.
We need more games like Lair of the Clockwork God, especially at a time when the world isn’t in the happiest of places. There’s enough unique, interesting, and different about this game to get you hooked, but it’s the humour that’ll keep you and make you stay to the end. Thanks for giving me something to smile about, Size Five Games. Playing this made me realise I’ve definitely not been doing enough of that this year.
NBA games have always been standard-bearers in terms of visual quality and performance and this is a well-produced, content-heavy swansong for one of the most impressive gaming generations of all time, even if it’s not the best of entry points for series newcomers.
In a year absolutely full of them, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is not the best remaster I’ve played over the past nine months. But what you have here is a brilliant RPG that is just loaded with content, a gripping story that keeps you playing, a lot of customisation, and, all told, a game that’s still fun to play in 2020. Beyond next years’ DLC, it’s unclear what comes next. Hopefully this morphs into a full-blown next gen sequel or perhaps that MMO project long rumoured. While this isn’t the best of remakes, there’s more than enough in Re-Reckoning that the game deserves its second chance. Most importantly, it’s earned the right to finally move the story forward and we can’t wait to see where that leads.
What Remedy are pitching us is incredibly ambitious. They’re looking to tie their past games together and put them under the same roof. AWE has given them a gateway. It’s given us all a glimpse as to how it might be possible and provided a new starting point for Remedy’s bold future. In some ways, you might even see the ending of AWE as a soft announcement of their next major project. But it’s more than that because this DLC gives them the context needed to do that, while surely sowing the seeds for even more projects further down the line. Because of that, AWE could well be the most important DLC of this, or any other generation.