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Crash 4: It’s About Time is a wonderful sequel that’s sure to appease fans with its challenging platforming and nods to the past titles. While the difficult learning curve is a little too steep and newcomers may feel alienated by the inside jokes, there’s enough here to make Crash 4 one of the best platformers to crash-land on Playstation for quite some time.
When it comes to utilizing the power of the Playstation 5, Miles Morales is a taste of what we can come to expect from this new generation. This is a well polished, beautifully rendered and emotionally engaging game that takes everything that made the first so good and amplifies it with some crackling, juiced-up venom. The ensuing explosion produces a real gem and one well worth the price tag to play.
Tense, beautifully rendered and armed with some fantastic sound design, Little Nightmares II is an unnerving deep dive into a nightmarish world you’ll never want to leave. The game is a shining example of how to do horror right.
Resident Evil Village is just about the right length, bringing together the best parts this franchise has to offer into one cohesive, neat little package.
Deathloop is a fun, vibrant shooter with an excellent art direction and a stunning soundtrack. For a game all about replayability though, this has a surprising lack of it once you’ve broken the loop.
Freshly Frosted isn't the most innovative title of 2022, but it is easily one of the best puzzlers. It's armed with a simple premise, but the way the gameplay constantly evolves, along with a near-perfect difficulty curve throughout, makes this doughnut factory tick at every turn.
With over 300 tracks to play, plenty of unlockables and some excellent Easter eggs along the way, Final Fantasy fans will be in their element here. It’s not perfect, and a few hang-ups like the repetitive backgrounds hold this back from being a perfect rhythm game, but there’s no denying this is an absolute blast to play through.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder isn’t a masterpiece by any means. Like other Mario games, it has its faults that shouldn’t be ignored by anyone. Yet, after playing through the title and experiencing many of its offerings, it wouldn’t be farfetched for someone to call this their favorite Mario game of all time. It contains a strong level of polish and creativity that’s been missing from his 2D quests for a long time. If you’re on the fence about buying this game, “wonder” no more, because it’s likely to make you a happy customer.
There’s a lot to like here and on the pitch, Pro Evolution is easily one of the best football simulators on the market. In terms of polish, the game suffers from some aesthetically janky menus and a cumbersome team management screen. The loading times are a little too long, especially during on-pitch breaks like throw ins and corners, while the commentary is pretty woeful all round. Compared to FIFA though, Pro Evo is all about performance, rather than aesthetic, and where it really matters, the game absolutely delivers.
With the dust now settling on Telltale’s time in the game industry (before the name has subsequently been snatched up ready for a revamp), The Telltale Definitive Series is a celebration of the hard work put in by the numerous people employed by the company who created these games. Featuring all four original titles, the 400 Days DLC pack and The Walking Dead: Michonne, for the first time all these games, plus a slew of special features, come together to make for one impressive collection, especially given the asking price.
Regardless of your feelings toward Final Fantasy VIII, there’s something timelessly endearing about this often-forgotten title. The plot progresses well, the characters grow into their roles despite a rocky start and the soundtrack is one of the best in the series’ history. The gameplay is largely unchanged and the battle assist options do cut out some of the grind, which will appeal to those looking to experience the story again without the need to grind through levels. It may not be the remake fans have been crying out for, but it is a solid reminder of how charming these early turn-based games were back in the day, and well worth a play all these years later.
Days Gone is not a perfect game. It never quite reaches the narrative mastery of The Last Of Us nor does it manage to instil the same awe-inspiring exploration games like Assassin's Creed have managed so successfully in the past. Its zombies are far less intimidating than those in Dying Light and some of the core gameplay loops, including Deacon's motorbike maintenance, are outright detrimental to the entire experience. Yet as I played through the 65+ hours of this open world game, Day's Gone really started to grow on me. So much so that if you can persevere with the issues, Day's Gone opens up in the best possible way to deliver a memorable and narratively compelling adventure well worth experiencing.
The Division 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable and challenging shooter. It improves on almost every aspect of the first game with a whole wealth of content and options on offer. Despite a few convoluted screens, the menus are better designed this time around and the loot progression fine-tuned to perfection. Given the scepticism I had going into this one, Ubisoft have delivered one of the best games of 2019 so far and a very enjoyable third person shooter in its own right.
After the financial success of the Crash Bandicoot remake it was almost inevitable that a slew of studios would follow suit and recreate other iconic classics. With Medievil and Resident Evil 2 looming on the horizon, Activision’s Spyro Trilogy was met with some criticism over delays and controversial downloads before its release. Thankfully, the game (or games as the case may be!) is another sure-fire hit, keeping everything intact that made the originals so endearing with enough of a graphical upgrade to make it worth the extra cash.
Moving Out is one of the best couch co-op games to be released in quite some time and combines the best elements of Donut County and Overcooked to create this hybrid of endless fun. The gameplay tweaks are smartly implemented, allowing both kids and adults alike to enjoy it, and the campaign is fun, full of great humour and increasingly elaborate levels. With a vibrant aesthetic, a simple but effective gameplay loop and plenty of levels to chew through, Moving Out is easily one of the best Indies of the year and a must-play for sure.
Timelie is a complex, stealth-driven puzzle game that doesn’t just use its time mechanics as a gimmick, it integrates this into the very core of its gameplay.
Problems aside, I would go so far as to say Dirt 5 isn’t a racing sim at all, more its own unique special blend of racer. It takes the best elements of both arcade and simulation racing, throws them into a blender and whizzes them around until they’ve become something else entirely.
As an introduction to a new console generation, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a big, bold, colourful platformer that makes up for any visual shortcomings with some excellent level design and a killer soundtrack.
For those who have always wanted to build the theme park of their dreams and haven’t played this on PC, Planet Coaster is a no-brainer purchase. The different game modes offer a good amount of challenge and the creativity and customization are bursting at the seams. The management options are admittedly still lacklustre after all these years and those not interested in the creative aspects and wanting something a little more challenging should probably wait before picking this one up. For everyone else, Planet Coaster is a wonderfully creative and aesthetically pleasing theme park game that raises a very high bar in the sim genre.
Technical issues aside, Rift Apart is well worth a play. It’s a wonderful game with polished gameplay, a decent enough story and an absolutely gorgeous aesthetic. While the combat grows a little stale on the final few worlds and those glitches and bugs are very annoying, there’s enough here to highly recommend.