PlayStation LifeStyle
HomepagePlayStation LifeStyle's Reviews
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is amazingly dumb, which is exactly the reason the series became such a cult hit in the first place. The dialogue and voice acting are awful, the sound mixing is abysmal, the graphics would have seemed dated two generations ago and the gameplay is a simple exercise in mindless destruction. But as with all glorious garbage of this nature, there's a certain je ne sais quoi about the way it comes together — or rather, fails to come together — that makes it perfect for multiplayer hilarity. Leave your brain at the door and you'll probably have a good time.
It's such a shame that this is the only expansion that is going to hit Bloodborne. With a great attention to detail, and meaningful changes to single player, we can only wonder what other sort of innovative ideas From Software had in store for us before their plans changed. Still, The Old Hunters enables Bloodborne to go out with a bang, and a challenging one at that.
If you ever dreamed of recreating some classic battles or sequences from the Star Wars movies, and are okay with the lack of any sort of campaign, then there is a fair amount of content to keep you occupied. Especially if you are a completionist, expect to sink at least 100 hours to unlock everything in that diorama. You can tell DICE has a bunch of Star Wars fans on staff, and Star Wars Battlefront feels like a loving "welcome back" from a developer who has missed the franchise as much as us gamers have.
Sword Art Online: Lost Song's story is probably not going to win over non-adherents of the popular anime franchise, but thankfully it's not required to enjoy the rest of what's on offer: a fun, lighthearted and breezy run through well-worn action-RPG territory. Aside from the game's breathtaking flying mechanic, the rest of the mechanics can feel a bit stiff and even dated, but that surely won't be able to dissuade anyone enamored with the addictive quality of beating quests and raiding dungeons.
War. War never changes. And neither does the amount of time I'm willing to sink into a Fallout game.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is an insanely full featured game. If code was a physical thing, this game disc would be bursting at the seams with how much Treyarch has packed onto one Blu-ray. There's a little something for everyone here. Players looking for a dark, rich narrative have the campaign. Competitive players have a whole new way to play in multiplayer. Fans of roguelikes and horde modes have Shadows of Evil. Switching between all of these modes is extremely easy too, and it never felt like I was stuck playing one thing or another. Player freedom, customization, and choice are central to every element. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 isn't just a great Black Ops game. It isn't just a great Call of Duty game. It's a damn good game overall.
I enjoyed my time with Need for Speed. Ghost Games is onto something seriously promising with this franchise reboot. However, being unable to pause the game as well as no option to play offline may prove two obstacles that are not surmountable for some players.
Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition is best as a purchase for those who haven't yet experienced the original version. The game remains a fantastic riff on adventuring conventions perfected by the Zelda series, and that it gets the imitation right is a compliment of the highest order. Still, the graphical upgrade here isn't as noticeable as in other remasters, and the game remains a bit uneven in its performance.
The writing and flow, apart from the sudden cut after (spoilers), are once again top-notch, and Telltale flexes their unique ability to cast a known property in a light that feels completely different, yet retains the crucial elements that keep it rooted in the source material.
Ultimately, playing Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition on consoles is a fantastic experience. It may not be the best way to play, as PC still reigns supreme, but it's a fantastic version of an already great game. If you're willing to roll the die, and have luck decide your fate, then you'll have a blast playing through Larian Studios' update of Divinity: Original Sin.
It's bad enough that Overlord: Fellowship of Evil waters down the more substantial gameplay of its predecessors in favor of a generic action-RPG model, but that's actually the least of the game's problems. Technical problems make the framerate and collision detection bigger obstacles than the traps and enemies, and the level design reduces everything to the lowest common denominator. It never gets old hearing the witty dialogue penned by Rhianna Pratchett, and the score is suitably epic and whimsical, but those are two bright spots in an otherwise dreary mess.
There is definitely some fun to be had in Primal Carnage: Extinction, especially on the dinosaurs' side. There is a nice selection of modes, but when the end result is almost always the same it can get boring. Circle Five Studios has a fantastic premise for a game, it just needed some more time to incubate before it saw the light of day.
[W]ith solid combat, a very fun grappling hook gun, a wonderful recreation of Victorian-era London, and a pure focus on the single-player campaign, Assassin's Creed has returned to its roots, and hopefully this has set the stage for something epic as the series used to be known for.
And that's about all I can say about Episode 5 without giving anything away. It's a great ending to a great game, and might possibly be called the best episode of the bunch. Episode 5 is the reason why you should buy Life is Strange if you haven't already, and it's the reason why you should hurry up and finish it if you already own it.
You just need to buy the game and the streaming library is at your fingertips. But they've also added the offline Live mode, and gone above and beyond in creating an extremely unique way to live out your rockstar fantasies. Add in the brilliant new game mechanics that come from the reconfigured guitar controller, and combining our old love of rhythm games with the modern way we consume music, and Guitar Hero Live is the worthwhile reunion of an old favorite that we've all been waiting for.
If you're already embedded in one of the other great role-playing experiences on Sony's platform, Sorey's adventure is worth looking at as a follow-up. If you're not, this is a great place to start adventuring this fall.
By taking Geralt out of his element and changing the course of what we'd expect from a stoic witcher, Hearts of Stone is a must own for anyone that's been hanging on to The Witcher 3. The story alone is enough to warrant jumping back in, but the way it integrates into the existing game just expands the already massive scope of the world. It's not perfect, and there are a few missteps in execution — most notably in the lackluster addition of runewords — but it more than makes up for its faults in the things that it does well. It leaves me feeling very excited for the next expansion, Blood and Wine, which is reportedly double in size.
If you've been looking for an official story set place in the Minecraft universe, this is as official as it's going to get. There's no denying the charm of the world that Story Mode takes place in, especially with the number of in-jokes that are thrown fans' ways. The story may not be particularly deep, but it is age-appropriate and will make for a great time to be shared with the younger Minecraft fans out there (and there are millions of them!). However, even for young, attention-deficit minds, The Order of the Stone feels like it ends a bit prematurely. If you or your child are fans of Minecraft, then this is an easy buy.
Bedlam is undeniably an enjoyable kick for those who grew up in the '80s and '90s, surely drawing from personal experiences with the games it's emulating. The eccentricities found in Brookmyre's writing may work to alienate those merely passing through, but for those drawn in by the familiarity of its charming block graphics it'll simply be an added bonus. If you're still missing the days of dial-up LAN games of Quake then this is well worth a look, but if you have no idea what that first sentence meant, well you're probably better off giving it a miss altogether.
If you can get past the UI and control issues, then by all means, get Wasteland 2: Director's Cut on PlayStation 4. It offers up hours of engrossing and strategic gameplay, and is probably worth the $60 if you're a fan of old-school RPGs. However, if you have a decent PC, then I recommend getting it on there – it'll be a better optimized experience.