Nexus Hub's Reviews
I was rather looking forward to seeing what NBA had to offer – especially with all the buzz of next-generation – hoping for some fresh ideas and a bit more life injected into NBA 2K21. However, this was not to be, as we simply got a familiar refresh of years past – and not that it’s a bad thing, its just a little underwhelming. NBA 2K21 still offers an immensely fun, and impressive, basketball title, with a ton of modes to play through, but its time for NBA 2K to start switching up their plays a little bit.
Kirby Fighters 2 is flooded with charm and potential with some well thought out level designs. The different abilities of the characters while different seem to fade into each other and the various Kirby’s all become the same character. Simply put, it all feels very watered down and mundane.
Star Wars: Squadrons doesn't bring anything particularly new or inventive to the table that we haven't seen before in dogfighters, but it nails almost everything it embraces. The first-person perspective greatly benefits the immersive nature of the space battles, the sound design and music is about as perfect as they could ever be, and the story flips between the Imperials and Rebels to show us the ugly and beautiful sides of war.
The only redeeming quality WWE 2K Battlegrounds has at present is the simplicity of its gameplay. Even that can become frustrating after a while. There are no combos or sequences to remember or even master here. Throw a controller at a friend, mash a few buttons, and move on to another title altogether when the system inevitably grows stale.
Mafia: Definitive Edition, despite some technical hiccups, is still one of the best and most faithful remakes I had the pleasure of playing this generation. The story is engaging and thoroughly entertaining, the voice acting is terrific, the writing and characters are phenomenal, and the visuals are spectacular for modern hardware.
Overall, if you are a fan of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine or Super Mario Galaxy, or haven’t played any of these titles, this compilation package will definitely appeal to you.
Minecraft Dungeons: Hero Edition isn't going to take your breath away, but it does provide a charming spin on the dungeon crawler/hack-and-slash formula that warrants some attention for fans of the genre. The core Minecraft experience is kept well in tact while re-balancing most of its mechanics to be better suited to its genre shift.
Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is a decent game that suffers from repetition and poor AI making the game a tad too easy. It is a fun distraction and with 3 campaigns following different vampire clans, it is a long game. Unfortunately, you may get bored by the ease of winning long before you make it through the story and the different campaigns, but it does show promise and it is great to see strategy games make a comeback of sorts to PC and console.
A little extra time in development and more inventive ideas would've done this disappointing third installment in a beloved racing series well, but all it did was rehash previous ideas, significantly dumb down many aspects that made its predecessors so exciting, and mash together an incoherent mess of a sim racer that was clearly out for money above a good time.
Marvel’s Avengers suffers from an identity crisis. It tries to do too many things at once and that leaves you with an experience that's torn between two points. It has a single-player campaign that does a fantastic job of harnessing the Marvel universe into an exciting and action-packed set of events.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning still plays much the way it did in 2012 – ambitious in scope but lacking in depth. You may not be compelled to see it through to the end, but you’ll enjoy most of the time spent with it.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is easily one of the best remakes in gaming, and does the legacy of the series and Tony Hawk's name proud after a few stumbles. The graphics are great and the stellar visual upgrades to classic locations makes it feel so much more than just a skateboarder's playground now.
UFC 4 takes a huge leap for EA Sports, and is really one of the best sport games you can play at the moment. The evolution of the formula from UFC 3, shifting it more to an arcade-y “simulation” experience makes the fighting that much more satisfying. The overhauled career mode is excellent too; there is just something about UFC 4 that is positively addictive and that we cannot recommend enough.
PGA Tour 2K21 delivers a great golfing gameplay experience throughout. The nuanced aspects of the challenging career gameplay as well as multiple gameplay modes and the strong golf course designer means that players can easily spend hours and hours playing the game.
Mortal Shell has enough fresh ideas to set itself apart and takes enough inspiration from existing titles to create a unique experience for veterans of the genre and new-comers alike.
Ghost of Tsushima is a fitting swan song for the PS4, and ends this generation of PlayStation on a triumphant note. Sucker Punch have to be applauded for once again creating a jaw-dropping open world with strong visual fidelity and some of the best art direction they've ever achieved.
The Last of Us Part II delivers an emotional and well thought out story, all accompanied by great graphics, phenomenal voice acting, and sleek mechanics. It may not be Naughty Dog's finest, but it's one I cannot recommend enough for fans of the series.
Gears Tactics is a great fit for the IP and its gameplay complexity matches – and sometimes surpasses – that of other long-established IPs in the genre.
MotoGP 20 fortunately goes back to the drawing board and doubles down on delivering more content and player agency. However, taken as a package, this latest installment is sure to please veterans of the franchise.
For as much as it rewrites the rule books of what a video game remake can be, it also honours the original in ways that will certainly please fans. The combat is captivating and entertaining, the visuals are often jaw-dropping, and the world design is top-class from a developer who is no stranger to vibrant and detailed worlds.