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It’s a shame, because there are elements of an enjoyable co-op adventure here that still kept us playing over several nights. At the end of the day, it all just felt a little bit soulless; ticking the boxes of what the genre should be, but never pushing to excel in anything in particular.
Amnesia: Rebirth is one that is well worth prioritising in your ever-growing list. Take the plunge and descend into darkness… if you dare.
While the style is certainly remarkable, the gameplay is the exact opposite. There isn’t much to think or do within combat besides spam the attack button and dodge. Admittedly, rushing through each stage and finishing the game was purely driven by wanting to explore the outstanding art. However, after only three to four hours the adventure ended anticlimactically. Pumpkin Jack is like any Halloween candy; appealing for all ages but isn’t going to hold your interest for long.
The great ideas within The Signifier make it all the more frustrating when the overall experience doesn’t leave you with anything memorable. If it were expanded upon, the sum of its parts could make an amazing experience. The game has some shining moments in the memory sequences, but its ending does nothing with the fascinating threads offered up by its middle.
Disc Room is a great example of a little indie game doing a damn fine job. From a small idea of bullet hell meets dungeon crawler, the developers have polished the concept up quite nicely. The variety of design ensure that each room feels unique. The innate difficulty of the game provides a satisfying challenge although it can also lead to some frustration. But thankfully the difficulty settings here are highly customisable and allow for great accessibility. Sure there are some confusing rooms, but they’re balanced out by amazing boss fights that left me wanting more. Overall, whilst there are some missteps, it’s definitely one game that’s well worth a try.
ScourgeBringer offers players an engaging roguelike challenge that will be a joy to play for fans of the genre. With its tight controls, beautiful graphics, and thrilling combat, ScourgeBringer is sure to keep you on your toes throughout a run.
It’s interesting and innovative for sure, but what it brings in terms of magic and child-like wonderment, it loses something in the repetitive nature of each course being in the same space of your house over and over. While kids may be stoked to let their imagination run wild with Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, I think most adults will enjoy the novelty for a few races, show their friends and family, but ultimately go back to the more feature-packed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The question is, beyond the real-world factors of space to play, how much are you willing to pay for that Nintendo Magic?
A few bugs here and there and some weird performance ticks aside, this remastered version of Age of Empires III, certainly qualifies to receive the ‘Definitive Edition’ moniker. The updated visuals and compatibility with today’s PCs, combined with the entire package of expansions and newly added content, creates for a wholistic RTS experience that should not be missed by those who are fans of the genre.
Partisans 1941 offers some great combat and stealth mechanics that will appeal to fans of the Command series, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, and Desperados III. While it might not have the engrossing story of its counterparts and may lack polish in places, the gameplay mechanics still make for a thrilling ride from start to finish.
The Survivalists is a great sandbox game that will have you exploring for hours, whether you’re playing by yourself or with friends. With its engaging and colourful pixelated environment, it’s easy to while away the hours roaming the game’s beaches or sailing the seas. If you don’t mind a non-linear gaming experience and you’re not afraid to explore the world in your own time, this game will be a joy to play.
While all the components are there to make Port Royale 4 an immersive strategy game, it just falls short of being completely engrossing. A slow naval battling system and counterintuitive UI hold the title back and make the overall experience sluggish.
With an insane amount of enemies that can appear on screen at a given time and an insane arsenal of weaponry at your disposal, Serious Sam offers a hectic good time for those of us looking to turn our brain off and just get into the flow of blowing up aliens. Not to mention, playing co-op with friends lends to combined bewilderment and joy. However, be aware that this game is a slog on PC with performance being highly variable. It will require a lot of graphical tweaking, but thankfully Croteam has provided a plethora of graphics options which should make finding that performance sweet spot a breeze.
I’m glad I was able to dive back into a game I genuinely consider to be one of my favourite shooters from back in the day. It feels a little more cliché now than it did back in 2007, but you can still see why Crysis was able to make such a name for itself. With more than serviceable gameplay and narrative, Crysis Remastered is worth a play for those who are yet to check this title out. Although with visuals that feel a little underwhelming, I wonder if those who already own the original would get much out of this remaster.
Going Under takes some of the most frustrating trappings of late capitalism and turns them into literal dungeons. It’s a funny, acid-spirited take on the organisational failures of tech startup culture that doesn’t pull its punches. Between whacking baddies with a giant stapler and trading useless cryptocoins for powerups, there’s rarely a dull moment on the floors of these office hellscapes. While playing for long periods exposes some of Going Under’s repetitive elements, there’s more than enough fun here to recommend this action-packed rogue-lite to any dungeon-crawler fan with a LinkedIn profile.
Supergiant Games’ Hades has proved that the studio shows no means of slowing down, creating their best product yet. It’s firmly become my game of the year thus far and has left me in awe with its design. Like other indie staples in the gaming industry, it’s safe to say this will be a title talked about for years to come. Well done, Supergiant. Well bloody done.
Inertial Drift is an impressive effort from Level 91 Entertainment especially for a debut game. They really delivered on the visuals and atmosphere across the board, even though it will take some practice before you are able to take some time to enjoy the scenery. The varied vehicles all require very different approaches to racing which adds replay value. Drifting may not be my thing, but Inertial Drift is well worth a drive.
When it’s all said and done, I can’t shake the feeling that WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a quick pivot after last years disastrous WWE 2K20, a way to simply distract wrestling fans with a new shiny object while they work on what will hopefully be a stronger WWE 2K22. So much of this wrestling experience is copy and paste, from the animations, to the move-sets, to the painfully slow method of unlocking the roster and even the lack of polish that sometimes brings frame-rates down to a grinding halt. There’s a fun arcade fighting experience to be had, especially when it comes to local multiplayer where the shallow nature of the gameplay is less obvious. But while this may be accessible and “fun for the whole family”, it’s ultimately about as successful as a Sasha Banks title reign. Satisfying at first, but inevitably short and disappointing. We deserve better.
Overall, Necromunda: Underhive Wars misses the mark when it comes to being enjoyable. If you’re a fan of the 40K universe and can’t play the physical game, then this game may scratch an itch. But it’s a game for fans, and only the fans. And even then it’s not a very good one. If you’re new to the franchise then perhaps this may not be the best entry point. The more I sat with this game, the more I thought on it, the more sour I became. There’s a major missed opportunity here. It really could have been something amazing but instead it’s just infuriating.
With quite the high price point, Super Mario 3D All-Stars will be quite the difficult sell for long time fans. However, for every fan burned by the age old story of expensive remasters and ports, there’s players like me, getting to explore the magic of some wonderful games for the first time ever. Frustrations aside, you could do a whole of a lot worse when it comes to ports. If you’re at all keen to get your jumping, cleaning and galaxy surfing on, delve on in.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an amazing experience, and not just for Sci-fi or Mecha fans. Its unique combination of genres is refreshing and exciting, and its art style is the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen all year. The combat doesn’t quite match the majesty of the rest of the game, but it’s more than good enough to see the player through. It’s definitely worth it to see the ending which, while complex and difficult to fully understand, is a masterpiece.