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If it were a more robust experience, Basement Crawl could be a little gem. It's a simplistic sort of time-killing fun that I would expect out of a cheap mobile game, but as a full featured PS4 title, it feels like there is content missing and a lack of polish. Add to that the confusing nature of what Basement Crawl is really trying to be, the lack of anything to capture interest past playing a few matches, and the multiplayer-only focus which will create limitations when few people are online playing, and you have a game that probably isn't worth the space on your hard drive. You could wait for a sale, but even then, you'll probably have something better to play.
inFAMOUS Second Son isn't a perfect game. The overarching story is a bit stunted and combat can feel somewhat repetitive. What holds Second Son together is how solidly all aspects of the game were made. You can feel the passion that each person at Sucker Punch has for their individual role as each element solidifies and interfaces into an extremely well made game overall. While it may not be remembered for bringing anything new to the table in terms of overall mechanics, Sucker Punch have certainly set a benchmark for how games should incorporate the power of the PS4 to fuse all elements of a game and make one strikingly solid experience.
On the one hand, it may not seem fair to judge a game based upon its price. Prices can change, price drops and sales can occur, so a final score shouldn't be affected but what the retail value is. On the other, the value obtained by the purchaser is important, and if a game isn't delivering enough value for the player, they have a right to know. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a piece of something great but it always felt short of something whole. Kojima released this to tease and whet the appetites of the Metal Gear fans that were begging for more. If you fall into that camp, then you have probably already have your mind made up. For anyone who has never played a Metal Gear game however, I can't recommend that this be your first foray down the nanomachine-filled rabbit hole.
Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends: Complete Edition is like a comfy blanket you've had for years and years. It's starting to fall apart at the edges and smell, even though you've washed it to keep it looking respectable as it ages. You love the nostalgia and sentimentality it offers but you know in your heart you're going to have to replace it with a new one someday. This saddens you, but you choose not to think about it, as you curl up every night with it until all that's left are a few tattered threads. "Maybe the new one will last me even longer than you did" you whisper quietly. The thought brings a bittersweet smile to your face as you drift to sleep.
For free on PlayStation Plus, Mercenary Kings is an unbeatable deal. A great cooperative retro action title with plenty of challenge and reward. With the huge variety of customization, you can truly make the experience your own, while experiencing it with others. Even when this game leaves the Instant Game Collection, it will be well worth paying for. The few gaping flaws of not mixing the online and couch co-ops, and the lack of enemy variety throwing any real curve balls later in the game can be mostly overlooked by the sheer amount of fun you will have teaming up with a group of friends with independent builds and play styles to take on a particularly challenging mission. Whether you fail or not, Mercenary Kings succeeds at being a great experience on the PS4.
A minor issue I found too was while playing co-op with my wife. The game lets you visit two different areas of the map and work on separate things, which is nice. However, if I was working on a specific quest and then my wife started talking to an NPC to gain a new quest, the game collapses the split screen and reads you the quest. This becomes increasingly annoying when one person is in the middle of doing something and a quest is started, sometimes accidentally. This would be fixed with an option for online co-op, however that has still not been realized in the series sadly.
Trials Fusion is a good game. Great, even. It's taken what we've all come to know and enjoy, and added in quite a few new longevity ingredients to the mix. Create mode will occupy you potentially forever, and besting your friends on the leaderboards is proving to be a new addiction. Superficial unlocks and strange (possibly isolated) network issues aside, I'd definitely pick this game up if I were you.
I wanted to like Octodad more than I did. The concept and craziness of the idea intrigued me and the humor was great. If Octodad were a more robust adventure, I would have very few complaints. While it started out as a great experience, sadly, much like the floppy tentacles of Octodad, Dadliest Catch couldn't hold itself up and began to flail wildly all over the place. The hilarity and novelty wear thin quickly and there was too often that my tentacles became glitched inside of random objects or the environment itself. Octodad is worth experiencing just for how different it is from most other games out there, not to mention the trying multi-limb mode that is the co-op, but don't expect to be enthralled by it for longer than it takes to watch a couple of ocean life documentaries.
There's a small shimmer of something fun and interesting under the 13 years of rust that coats Cel Damage HD. While certain areas show potential, others show the age of the game. If you're itching for local multiplayer car combat, Cel Damage HD may whet your appetite. This isn't a game that I absolutely don't want to play at all, but it's not going to be anywhere close to the top of the list of things I decide to pull out and play, especially given the massive selection out there. Cel Damage HD is like re releasing a mediocre car from a decade ago and only giving it a fresh coat of paint. Without any significantly new content added to this year's model, consider this a 13 year late mixed review of the original.
Finally, the fourth but certainly not last table is titled Masters of the Force. This is a tribute to the Force itself, or as Zen Studios puts it, "the highest powers in the universe." Each side of the table is themed for the dark and light sides of the Force on the left and right sides respectively. Perform missions for either Emperor Palpatine or Master Yoda, and the balance of the Force will begin tipping to either side. This table feels a little cramped at first glance, but that feeling quickly subsides as you explore and especially when you interact with the holocrons.
I want everyone to play this game! Child of Light is a great example of a modern RPG that bridges gaming with other forms of art. I will be showing this game to any friends and family who are not too familiar with what gaming can be, or who have some uninformed stereotypes about what all video games are like these days. Beautiful painting-style art, moving music, refreshing and simple gameplay, and a multifaceted, emotional storyline make this game well worth the time and money.
My biggest disappointment in Spider-Man 2 is not inherently within its flaws or even that it is a licensed game. The problem is that a great game can be seen swimming just beneath the surface of the game that we ultimately got, but a severe lack of polish with the need to rush this out to match the film's release left what could have been a good game buried under mounds of flaws, issues, and sheer drudgery. While there were aspects of this game that really could have been something special or even passable, I would have to say that the overall package of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't really all that amazing.
Nothing short of great and fun.
Correction: We incorrectly stated that the secret code and options in J. S. Joust don't save and reset to defaults each time you restart the game. This was an error that occurred when we ended up on D'yani's account instead of mine without realizing it. We've gone back and verified that options do actually save which makes hopping back in and playing with your favorite settings a breeze! Our apologies for the mix-up and thanks to Die Gute Fabrik for pointing out our mistake.
While have always enjoyed making my march to the majors, there is another mode that I try to jump into at least once a day and that is The Show Live. Baseball is a marathon of a season and each and every game, right down to the proper line-up and pitching match-up, is replicated daily and each game can be played in this mode. You can also use this screen to check real game times, live scores, and live situations. You can exit out of the mode and re-enter to refresh the games if you want to use it as a real time score tracker. Pretty nifty and the mode is available for the PS3, the PS Vita and the PS4.
Editor's Note – Check out our interview with Transistor's Creative Director.
Limited graphical and audio faults aside, altogether, Wolfenstein; The New Order is a very good game — a true gem among shooters in a sickening sea of shooters. A story that captures interest and characters that hold it until the end, gameplay that falls somewhere between Killzone, Call of Duty, and Duke Nukem, and a complete focus on the single player experience create a roughly 10 hour campaign full of Nazi slaying goodness. And let's be honest, that's what we all really want to do in first-person shooters, right?
These missteps get corrected through truly next-gen multiplayer that'll pervade the experience if you let it, along with gobs of side-objectives, collectables, augmented reality games like NVZN (third-person alien blasting around the city), and digital trips that allow Ubisoft to add fantastic elements like the Spider tank. The focus on setting up Watch Dogs as a new franchise will pay off in the years to come, but it does come at the main game's expense.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is a really great idea for a game. It could have been really high quality all around, but maybe certain things were overlooked while focusing on the story rather than getting feedback about gameplay during development. This title feels like a tween game (to use Dan's term). It's in between console generations, where it could have been a lot more but still had some good points. I feel like I could have bought this game in 2011 just the way it is, But now it's 2014, and I expected a lot more. So, if you are usually interested in the stories that games have to tell more than anything else, go ahead and try this game out (maybe once it goes on sale), but if you don't think you can overlook somewhat boring gameplay just for an intriguing mystery, you might want to move on to the next game and leave Murdered an enigma.
While less emphasis on DLC, a practice mode, and a better explanation of the submission game would have been helpful, EA Sports UFC gets a no-contest from this reviewer. It doesn't hurt that there's no other MMA game to compete against, much less on PlayStation 4, but the game's presentation has all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a fully loaded fight card. You'll have to stop short of beating the virtual opponent in front of you to death, but bruises and blood will leave you feeling like your TV just fell on you and got the clinch in two moves.