GameSpew's Reviews
Engaging from start to finish and full of wonderful touches that take your breath away, Astro Bot is a phenomenal experience that will keep you glued to your screen.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a good game but not a great one. Its campaign is very linear and feels balanced around multiplayer, which is disappointing if you're planning on playing solo. Needless to say, it's more rewarding when played in co-op, and additional multiplayer modes add to the fun. But however you play, performance issues might frustrate.
The Casting of Frank Stone has a compelling story, some fantastic acting and some of the best visuals that Supermassive Games has ever delivered. This is an utter success, and welcoming to all players regardless of how well you know Dead by Daylight. Not even the slightly headachy multiverse shenanigans could stop us coming back.
Featuring a cute cat protagonist with a foul-mouth sentient hoverboard sidekick, Gori: Cuddly Carnage is a good, old-fashioned, stage-based action game that's a blast from start to finish. Though be warned: with lots of gore and plenty of bad language, this certainly isn't a game for kids despite its bright and colourful visuals.
Star Wars Outlaws perfectly captures the essence of the much-loved franchise, making you believe you've actually stepped into its world. Locations are densely packed with things to do, and whether you're sneaking around or engaging in an all-out firefight, it's always a blast. Add in the Syndicate system which means your actions have consequences, and you have one of the best Star Wars games yet.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - ISEKAI Chronicles is likely to be enjoyed by fans of the franchise, but it won't wow them. It's a basic action RPG with fun 2D hack-and-slash sections that quickly become repetitive, and basic village building elements that feel underdeveloped.
The Crimson Diamond is a pixel-styled point-and-click adventure where your would-be-detective is only as smart as you are. Its tale of greed and murder will have you hooked — and even if you fail to dig up every truth, it's still a joy to play.
Cat Quest 3's selling point is also one of its biggest detractors, depending how you feel about the series: it's simply more of the same. It looks fantastic, and exploring its cutesy world is a joy, but the addition of sailing a ship isn't enough to make this stand out from its predecessors.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing is the best-looking shoot 'em up out there, and along with its epic soundtrack, it's a treat for the eyes and ears. But a number of issues, such as its stages being too long and the screen often being simply too busy, mean that it doesn't fulfil its potential.
Thank Goodness You're Here! is a game that's quintessentially British, inviting players to explore a Northern English town and rub shoulders with its bizarre locals. It's weird, it's clever, and it's utterly surreal at times, but it's always entertaining. It's just a shame that your visit is over so soon, but there's perhaps reason to return to it a time or two. In any case, it's an absolute delight while it lasts.
Filled with engaging puzzles and a story that's both compelling and deeply emotional, there's a lot to love about Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss. Some of its mechanics are a little clunky, and there's the odd technical issue, but they're worth overlooking for the mystery that awaits under the waves.
Roguelike fans who love fast-paced first-person shooter action are in for a treat with Deadlink. Its combat encounters take heavy inspiration from DOOM Eternal, and with four combat shells to choose from, along with a wide range of upgrades to acquire, there's plenty of variety to be found from one run to the next. A new time trial mode complete with global leaderboards adds even more fun into the mix.
It's been a long time coming to PS5, but Monster Train has been worth the wait. This roguelike card battler is sure to win over fans of the likes of Slay the Spire, but with its own unique twists on the formula, it feels unlike any other game in the genre. Suffice to say, this is one we're going to be coming back to, time and time again.
Beautiful and cleverly designed, Été is a game all about painting: literally paint the world around you, and create works of art for the people you meet. It's held back a little by a few technical niggles, but it's impossible to let them get in the way of how utterly joyful this game is to play.
Mixing puzzles, photography and a touching narrative, there's a lot to love about The Star Named EOS. Its beautiful art style shines over its 3-4 hour running time, and while the ending perhaps isn't as strong as the game's first half, we still wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to any puzzle fan.
Impeccably presented, The Operator leaves you feeling like a real government agent, solving real crimes and becoming embroiled in a real conspiracy. It's not the longest experience, but we were thoroughly engrossed in every minute of it; our only real complaint is that we were left wanting more.
If you like being guided from one objective to the next while playing a game, Magical Delicacy is not for you. But if figuring things out for yourself, exploring a wonderfully designed pixelated world and cooking up some unique delicacies in the kitchen all sound good to you, there's so much to love here. It's a unique blend of crafting and metroidvania, and it works incredibly well.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a unique game that brilliantly blends together action and strategy, resulting in a game that makes you think and keeps you on your toes. Add in sublime enemy design and a wonderful soundtrack, and you have a game that rubs shoulders with the best of 2024 so far.
SCHiM looks absolutely fantastic, and its idea is innovative: you're a shadow who has become untethered from its human. But the goal of reuniting the pair is unfortunately more frustrating than it should be: while there are some enjoyable elements here, ultimately we were relieved when it was over.
Anger Foot is essentially Hotline Miami played from a first-person perspective, with your foot being your most valuable asset. As fun as kicking things with a variety of effects is, however, the action gets repetitive pretty fast, the difficulty feels unfair at times, and the soundtrack may drive you up the wall.