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For a game that I knew nothing about until maybe a few days before release, The Last Tinker: City of Colors really did surprise and impress me, even with some of it's hiccups. What you have is a colorful and vibrant world full of cute inhabitants, quirky moments, and a great done soundtrack that do enough to keep you interested. This is the perfect example of a game that you could called a jack of all trades but a master of none. The combat, platforming, and puzzle solving are all serviceable game play elements that function well without being spectacular. Each section is just good enough. With over 10+ hours of game play, it is longer than I expected but has almost zero replay value to speak of. The Last Tinker: City of Colors is a throw back game that provides gamers with a simple approach to fun and it works.
I enjoyed the idea of Surgeon Simulator, but the difficulty made the game futile more than entertaining. Flinging internal organs about was fun (and quite disgusting), but I personally can't think of anyone I know who would enjoy trying so hard to score decently on a game like this for all of the many levels– except maybe my crazy husband. Even with its frustrations, I'm glad I own it, played it, and can refer to it as a "hilarious, crazy video game" in conversation.
Hohokum is a great, joyous escape into a well-polished, artistic video game. I felt very happy playing it. I felt an innocent kinship with my fellow eye-kite beings, and I had fun trying to find them. Over the course of playing the game, you gain a simple respect for adventure with friends. Any screenshot taken from this game could serve as a desktop background, and any person could find something to like from the many worlds, sounds, and little narratives. Hohokum is a game of many colors.
Road Not Taken proved to be a very unique game for its genre, or genres actually. The interesting marriage of what could feel like a mobile title, with the punishing difficulty and creative narrative of a console indie makes Road Not Taken a great game to have in your PS4 library. Also, in the Book of Secrets, this is the note under goat says "Goats eat flowers and then poop. Why? Because they are goats. Stop trying to change the world," and how can you go wrong with that?
Pure Pool is, more or less, everything a billiards fan could ask for. It is pure simulation at its best. The physics are spot-on accurate – any missed shot is entirely the shooter's fault. The ambiance is entirely convincing, with a soundtrack to match. Of course, the graphics are so incredibly life-like, you may actually be disappointed with how dull of a shine your average real-life pool balls usually have. While the game is a little lacking in explanations, it's not very hard to figure out by just poking around. At $9-$13 depending on if you have an active PlayStation Plus subscription, this is a no-brainer for billiards buffs. Those of you who are new or rusty to the game should definitely consider picking this up to hone your skills without the embarrassment that can accompany being absolutely walloped by the local pool shark.
Rogue Legacy is a gem among indies. As a wash of indie titles comes to the console market, many with nothing inherently fresh or new to offer, Rogue Legacy breaks through and offers a breath of fresh air with a strong variation on familiarity. I couldn't ever put it down, and when I did, I was only thinking about the next time I would get to attempt to make my way through the mysterious castle. Though Rogue Legacy has been in the hands of PC owners for a year now, it is a welcome addition to the console market. Each unique element of the game blends together perfectly to create a game that every owner of a PlayStation system ought to own.
The bottom line is, I thought this game was very much worthwhile even after being doubtful before I played it. Speaking to those who have already played the PS3 version, if you really loved it back then, I would suggest getting this version for PS4 too. It has a lot of extras and it looks really beautiful with the 1080p, higher frame rate, and updated graphics and character models. To those who are interested in diving into The Last of Us for the first time, what are you waiting for?!? The Last of Us Remastered is just a perfect game made even more perfect.
Not everyone may find the same humbling or existential experience that I did, but for me, the game left me with questions beyond the game itself as credits rolled. It successfully made me take a step back, look at my own being, and asked tough psychological, moral, and ethical questions that don't necessarily have a right or a wrong answer. All the while I was embroiled in some of the most well thought out puzzle mechanics in years. The Swapper will fly under many people's radar, which is unfortunate because with its unique take on graphics, puzzles, and narrative, they will be missing out on what I would say is the best puzzle platformer experience since Portal.
Crimsonland is a fun game to sit down with two or more players while trying to compete for a spot on the leaderboards, but it ultimately feels more like a distraction itself, than a twin-stick murderfest without distractions. Even destroying hoards of spiders, zombies, lizard people, and aliens can get a little bit old when there's not much more to the fight than cookie-cutter enemies, random weapon spawns, and a blood spattered field. Perhaps this will all be better suited when it releases on the Vita.
While it might be a little too simple for hardcore puzzle gamers, MouseCraft is a fun, solid puzzle game experience. The ability to play on any of your PlayStation devices makes it perfect for those times your brain needs a little bit of exercise. Just be wary of that cat, I just know he's up to something sinister.
Overall, Sniper Elite 3 does have a fun kill-cam feature, it does have online co-op and it does have an interesting multiplayer. But, almost everything about it feels like a rushed product that simply cannot be ignored. So, unless you are a huge fan of the series, or just want to see some intense kill-cams, this just isn't a game I can recommend at its current price point.
I give Blue Estate a little credit and weigh it more on the side of challenging instead of on the side of failure, just because there were some fun parts and some people might love the long levels, testy controls, and the crazy story. Personally, I was just tired of fighting with my crosshair through 20-30 minute long levels by the end. So if it's ever on a great sale and you really love rail shooters, you likely won't be disappointed, but no alternate methods of control and overly long levels killed my experience like a flood of gangsters getting in the way of Tony Luciano.
Ultimately, Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is just like the original, with a couple of added tweaks — this is a good thing! If you've purchased the original, it can be a hard decision to purchase this. If you are a big fan of the series and cannot wait to pummel enemies in Intenso mode, then by all means pick this up. If you never played the original and enjoy Castlevania-like beat-em-ups, then definitely pick this up. If you love lucha libre lore, then of course pick this up. Finally, if you are a fan of funny games, then don't hesitate to pick this game up and play!
This game made me shed more tears than any game I have ever played before, and I find that I am not alone in that sentiment. I even think this game communicated parts of WWI so well that it could be used as an educational tool, though the characters' story is fiction. I want my friends and family who don't seek out history for fun or play video games to play Valiant Hearts. I want to show this game to my favorite history teacher in high school– who was also a soldier and a lover of fine art, to see what he thinks, though I feel that I already know the answer. I want to tell everyone how wonderful and important the complete experience of Valiant Hearts: The Great War is so that many more people can enjoy it. Oh wait, I think I just covered that last thing.
Overall, the Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept DLC is a fantastic little package that does a great job of adding to the experience that the game already offers. But, the amount of value you can get out of it will greatly depend on your ability to rally friends or find quality players online to take on the game's four maps.
So, if you really love this type of game (tunnel/artistic), you may enjoy Entwined. But I ended up hating the mechanics, and that ruined the experience for me. The emotions didn't come through, and the colorful visuals didn't make up for it. I've played much better, simple, artistic games than this. The cinematic trailer and the actual game don't quite match each other. It feels more like a game demo meant to showcase the PS4 and Sony's support of indie developers. There are good aspects to Entwined, but being a frustrating, arcadey, tunnel game completely overshadowed any kind of art and emotion I was meant to feel, and that was the biggest let down of all.
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.
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.
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.
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?