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Someday You’ll Return is a great 6 hour game stuffed into an over-sized 15 hour package. On the plus side, the story is certainly gripping, the graphics look great and the sound design is some of the best in any video-game this year. Frustratingly, what begins as a really interesting and hellish dive into an adventurous mystery with horror elements quickly becomes bloated and bogged down, throwing in far too many unnecessary stealth sections and obfuscated puzzles.
In comparison to 2033 or the original Metro game, Exodus fails to match up. The open world setting is a nice idea poorly implemented, contradicting the claustrophobic, tense atmosphere that worked so well to define the previous games. There is some potential here but the shallow characters, clunky controls and cliched silent protagonist make this a game that would have been a hit 10 years ago, but feels out of place in 2019. There is enjoyment to be had here, but if you're looking for something to match its predecessors, Metro: Exodus fails to live up to expectations.
Having said all this, Medievil is a remake that'll almost certainly split opinion. On the one hand, the game perfectly captures everything the original did right, with faithful level design and updated visuals, whilst consequently carrying over all the baggage too, including the questionable camera and dated controls. As a fan of the franchise, I loved playing through this 6+ hour adventure again and the waves of nostalgia hit at every turn. As an introduction for newcomers in 2019 though, Medievil is a game that shows its age at almost every turn, groaning and bemoaning its luck much like our plucky hero Sir Dan.
Hideo Kojima reminds me a lot of George R.R. Martin and George Lucas. With a bit of restraint, these men have managed to achieve greatness in their respective fields. Without that overarching influence to keep them on the straight and narrow, and with free reign to conjure up something wholly self-published and original, these artists have struggled to reign themselves in and rekindle that early career magic, producing lacklustre and ever-so-slightly egotistical pieces of fiction. Death Stranding then, is Hideo Kojima following in that same vein.
Immortals of Aveum is not a bad game. However, it’s not as exciting or as magical as I hoped it would be with its fantasy setting and FPS gameplay that incorporates spells instead of guns.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty isn’t a bad game per-se and fans of Dark Souls-esque combat should find enough to whet the appetite. Once you get the hang of the Critical-counters and playing aggressively, Wo Long isn’t too much of a challenge though, which is perhaps a bit of a disappointment. The gameplay is very much going to be a make-or-break affair for many people.
If the developers had reigned in some of the more grotesque aspects of the story (and sped up the gameplay) this could have been far better. As it is, Martha is Dead is a game that is sometimes easy to admire but often hard to like.
In a bid for Ubisoft to try and remain politically neutral, Watch Dogs: Legion loses any sharpness it could have had with a more urgent and focused message. Instead, what we get is a watered down open-world experience that feels like just another NPC in a sea of open-world players.
If you can look past some of the frustrating puzzles and have a bit of patience with this, SHUT IN is a decent little game to shut yourself away with for a few hours.
The Last Of Us Part II will be an incredible game for some and a disappointing, narratively disjointed mess for others. Graphically, the title is easily one of the best looking on Playstation 4 and the level design is second to none. The art feeds into this beautifully too, with an aesthetic that switches colour palettes and ideas throughout the 25 hours to prevent the game stagnating. Unfortunately all of this is undermined by characters with very little depth, a narrative that flits between personas and flashbacks with little rhyme or reason, and some genuinely unsatisfying conclusions for almost every character at the end, save for Ellie. As someone who loved The Last Of Us, Part II is a tough pill to swallow. It’s a game that asks perhaps the biggest question of all – why should I care about these characters? And that’s something this never really answers with much conviction.
Overall though TT Isle Of Man 2 offers up a much improved experience over its predecessor. While it still remains a challenging and at times frustrating game to play through, there’s enough improvements to make it worth jumping back into to check out. If you’re on the fence then it’s worth a rental and just like driving itself, eventually it’ll click and the experience is unlike other motorcycle sims out there. It’s not perfect, and the long loading screens and steep learning curve will almost certainly be tall towers to climb but if you can persevere and make it to the summit, there’s a decent enough view that’s worth holding out for.
As a rental and a possible £25/£30 title, Resi 3 is well worth your time and although limited in scope, is an enjoyable enough experience to blast through. It’s not perfect but much like Nemesis itself, the Resident Evil 3 remake wants you to beat it again and again and again. After a while though, this becomes tiresome and it’s unlikely you’ll return to this one in a hurry when you’re done with it.
Kakarot is ultimately a game of two halves. On the one hand, this is the quintessential way to experience the entire Dragon Ball Z story beyond watching the anime, with some gorgeous aesthetics, faithful boss fights and some really iconic moments along the way. Unfortunately this is let down by a disappointing and barren open-world structure with little incentive to explore, especially give the long loading times and miniscule experience gains. It’s a game that could have been great, with all the ingredients to produce a spectacular RPG effort but unfortunately fails to hit Super Saiyan status.
Set in the Ancient Frontier universe, Steel Shadows continues the lore of the epic strategy RPG franchise with a new story and a return of the turn-based strategy combat that made the original so appealing. In doing so, Steel Shadows comes with the same flaws and questionable design choices the original had which may leave some fans a little disappointed.
Having said all that, there are some wonderful boss fights here, with the Great Serpent and Lady Butterfly my personal favourites. I loved the way these developed and throughout the game there are glimmers of excellence sprinkled throughout. With a lack of customisation and replayability, Sekiro pales by comparison to what’s come before though. It’s a good game, no doubt about it, but it’s a game that can’t quite decide who it wants to appeal to. It’s likely to be far too challenging for the average gamer while Souls fans will likely lament the lacklustre combat compared to what’s come before. What we’re left with then is a beautiful game, one that’s stuck with a real identity crisis that some will love and others will loathe.
Kart racers are tricky games to get right. Dwarfed by the mammoth success of Mario Kart and the recent release of Crash Team Racing, Team Sonic Racing is a surprisingly solid but ultimately forgettable addition to the genre. Taking the best elements from both of the aforementioned games, this Sega racer makes the most of its high-speed courses but is held back by some repetitive gameplay and a lack of variety with its tracks.
Overall though, there’s plenty to like with Illusion Island. This is a fun, vibrant platformer that feels designed to be played in multiplayer with your friends or family. While it’s not going to blow anyone away, this is well worth checking out all the same.
Fans of the Fate series and Japanese action RPGs in general should give this game a look as it provides a mostly rewarding experience during the 40-hour+ playtime. As you’ll also get a few history lessons related to the game’s setting, this is a good way to learn something without reading through reams of textbooks.
The Devil In Me should be a devilishly moreish entry in the Dark Pictures anthology, and it definitely has the narrative chops to make for a bloody good horror. Unfortunately, those aforementioned bugs and glitches haunt this title and hold it back from being a better experience. If you can get around these issues though, there’s lots to like here.
In many ways, The Quarry is just as good as Until Dawn, which is a solid 8/10 in this reviewer’s eyes. However, the lack of narrative depth and meaningful choices, the annoying graphical glitches mentioned and a surprising lack of ways to kill characters until late on, hold this back from being an outstanding offering in this genre.