GameOnAUS's Reviews
The Forgotten City is a fantastic emulation of Roman times and I really enjoyed manipulating the time loop mechanic. The casual pace of unraveling the mystery through conversations and testing the golden rule was intriguing and kept me wanting to find out what happens next. This was all backed up by outstanding voice acting and visuals that really invested me in each character.
Microsoft Flight Simulator runs amazingly well on the Xbox Series X and has been a surreal experience that will stay with me for some time. The revised tutorials and new discovery tours are superbly designed to explore wonderful locations in beautiful detail, as well as optimisations for the PC version available at the launch on consoles. It’s an experience that every type of gamer should witness for themselves.
Beautiful Desolation is a decent isometric game with outstanding voice acting featuring South African dialects and slang, amazing environment art and a gripping story. It will not be for everyone and is more of a slow burn story progression which suits me just fine as a gaming dad with limited time.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood has much to offer new and veteran players alike, with customisable companions being the highlight, giving players more goals to achieve and good reasons to revisit old zone content.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 isn’t a must-buy at the moment – but keep your scope zeroed for it on sale down the track.
Red Solstice 2: Survivors hits all the marks of a good sequel with vastly improved graphics and gameplay elements, gritty atmosphere and intense battles requiring thoughtful tactics.
Chivalry 2 is an outstanding medieval multiplayer combat game that sways more towards the Monty Python lighter comedic side than true historical accuracy, and if you’re one to look on the bright side of life, Chivalry 2 has plenty on offer. The combat is by far the best feature, having me shifting in my chair to swing my weapon true at my enemy’s head.
The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom is a lot of good light-hearted fun and another great game for young gamers over eight. Even this almost 40 year old gamer got right into it and couldn’t put the controller down. It’s a decent challenge for the target age group and the content is balanced with great cartoon graphics and humourous story elements. It has all the hallmarks for an aRPG with 4-player couch co-op and lots of collectibles and upgrades to extend your playtime.
Overall, I found Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart to be particularly enjoyable. It’s landed right in the Goldilocks Zone of gaming – not too difficult, not too easy, not too long, not too short, not too complicated, not too simple and there’s something in there for everyone.
Imagine Earth is a well-designed sci-fi strategy sim that is suited for novices and veterans of the genre. The excellent graphical representation of the planet and resources immediately caught my eye, and the tutorial planet and story missions progressed the complexities of the game without overwhelming me.
As a single-player gamer, I enjoyed this addition to the world of Iron Harvest. There’s so few ‘new’ RTS games out there so I’m glad Iron Harvest is succeeding and growing, and hope there’s more DLC of Operation Eagle’s calibre on the way in the future.
I had a lot of fun playing Paw Patrol Mighty Pups: Save Adventure Bay co-op with my 4-year old daughter. This is a great game for parents to play with their kids, and one safe enough for them to play on their own once they’re able.
Biomutant is a beauty to behold with environments begging to be explored, and the combat is fluid, agile and a heck of a lot of fun. The mini boss creatures are challenging enough, but the worldeaters are something else entirely. The wilderness does feel a little too empty at times, even with mounts and vehicles, and fast travel doesn’t help in this regard. However, when you do get in and explore that cave, abandoned ruin or underground bunker, you’re rewarded with copious amounts of loot and components.
King of Seas is a fantastic isometric pirate action game with a good story and plenty of loot to plunder. It’s great for short bursts or long loot hauls as I worked towards the next best ship.
The new setting has plenty of charm and is just different enough to differentiate it from England, the story is well done and moves at a good pace, and there’s a lot to see and do.
Base One is an enjoyable space base building game with great ship interior detail, a decent story and good challenging gameplay. Without a multiplayer component, custom games will extend the gameplay beyond completed the campaign free of mission objective shackles. It’s well worth the purchase price though and I’m looking forward to the first DLC.
While from a gaming perspective it ends up a bit disappointing, from a “Games as Art” perspective there’s a worthwhile message here about the broader consequences of seemingly unrelated actions – messing with natural gas prices, for example, can cascade into triggering a civil war – and pointing out that the relentless pursuit of profit above all else is ultimately hollow and meaningless.
Insurmountable is much more engaging and in-depth than at first glance with a good balance between challenge and the excitement of exploration. The tile-based terrain navigation gives you various options as you climb higher, and the allure of the next event challenges your thought process.
If you like challenging games which require reflexes, juggling several different threats at once, and grinding through levels to improve your skills – and are interested in a sci-fi thriller – then Returnal will have a lot to offer. For gamers looking for a more accommodating action/adventure experience, or wanting something that doesn’t have more grind than a lensmaking factory, however, Returnal is not the game you’re looking for.
It’s been more than 25 years since I last played a Sam & Max game and playing Sam & Max Save The World felt like it was yesterday. The graphical and audio improvements are outstanding, with the same great humour and whacky fun to be had.