GameOnAUS's Reviews
Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t veer too far from the tried and tested open-world racing formula of the series, only now we get to explore the biggest land expanse in the franchise utilising the power of Xbox Series X/S.
Faraday Protocol is definitely in a league of its own.
Chorus’ fluid, fast and action packed combat is so satisfying and the visuals are stunning. As much as I enjoyed the main story, the side quests and random encounters helped me explore more of each of the amazingly detailed systems and find more component upgrades for my ship. I highly recommend this game for space combat shooter fans and PC players can play a demo on Steam or Epic to try it out.
Tails of Iron is a fantastic action RPG with great hand-drawn art and challenging souls-like combat.
The events of Halo Infinite certainly round out the key story elements of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians for me. I loved the emotional hits that Master Chief takes, which has been a mainstay from across the series. I felt the game dragged out in certain points and ammo was a pain like previous Halo games, but the open world exploration was a great addition to the series.
Riders Republic is a big step up from Steep in many ways and is a whole lot of fun with multiple disciplines and biomes to keep your interest at an all time high. With banging music tracks and plenty of sights to explore, the game has a long life ahead, particularly with seasonal content and just the sheer variety on offer.
Blackwind is a decent hack-and-slash action game with fast agile gameplay and a good mix of puzzles and platform sections. The story and cartoon-stylised cutscenes were enough to keep me invested in wanting to find out what happens next, and the voice acting was great. I often fought against the camera angle, particularly when trying to be precise with platform jumping sections, but the combat and execution takedown animations was great fun.
Battlefield 2042 has moments of brilliance in the base game and Battlefield Portal certainly hits all my nostalgia strings, but I can’t help but feel this needed another six months of refinement, especially with cross-play.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem is more of the chaos, mayhem and classic one-liners, but some recurring issues from Serious Sam 4 reared their heads marring the experience. Whilst the environments looked incredible in parts and it still impresses me how they can support the sheer volume of baddies on screen at once, there were constant reminders of issues. Chapters 4 and 5 were standouts though with good levels of humour and bloody gory action, leaving me wanting more once the credits rolled.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a tour-de-force of epic proportions and an absolute must-play, get-it-as-soon as it launches experience. It’s an incredible showcase for the Xbox Series X as well as a Game Of The Year contender.
This is an outstanding and highly enjoyable game, but take your time with it, do all the side missions (think of them as extensions of the main quest, in fact) and don’t rush the main storyline. You should absolutely take the earliest available opportunity to explore Night City and everything it has to offer. From the visuals to the music to the vibe, it’s a superb experience and one I am looking forward to spending a lot more time with.
Everything about the way Hitman III looks, feels, and plays is absolutely top-notch. This is an outstanding game, a fantastic way to start 2021’s AAA releases, and a must-play for anyone who like stealth, espionage, or complex scenario games.
Ultimately, Ghost of Tsushima is the closest I’ve come to feeling like I was the hero of a film from the Golden Age Of Samurai Cinema. It was rewarding, fun to play, thoughtful and just a unique experience I’m glad I had the opportunity to enjoy – and if you like samurai adventures or open world games, you’ll want to experience Ghost of Tsushima too.
Ultimately, Transport Fever 2 is for a particular kind of gamer – the kind who wants to build and run a transport network and watch as it helps cities and towns grow. There’s still a few potholes in the road and some trackwork that needs to be done, but there is a lot of fun to be had here as long as you mind the gap – and if you like transport or simulation games, this is definitely one you want a ticket for.
Make sure you hunt this one down, reel it in, and add it to your digital aquarium – it’s well worth the fishing trip.
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.
If for whatever reason you didn’t previously have Ghost of Tsushima, then this is the time to rectify that shameful oversight. If you’re already a legendary ghost, then the chance to visit Iki Island is a worthwhile one – and even moreso if you’ve got a PS5 and a decent TV that can show off the enhanced visuals and features too.
I really enjoyed Psychonauts 2; it was funny, it was quirky, it was imaginative, and it was well designed all around.
I had a great time with Deathloop and really enjoyed the experience overall. It’s fun, it’s stylish, it’s rewarding, and it’s a very good game which I hope we see more content (and sequels) for in the future.
Far Cry 6 is an explosive action-fest which represents a welcome return to form for the series, and despite a few mis-steps still manages to be one of the year’s standout releases.