NZGamer's Reviews
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood offers a decent amount of entertainment for the price-tag and could appeal to fans of games like Limbo (including the similar, dark, horror-like themes.) It will take casual players around seven hours to complete, but there is little reason to come back to the game after the climactic finish, which makes this title difficult to recommend to everyone.
Titanfall is just so full of things. The world is beautiful and detailed, the maps are detailed and confusing, the giant robots have plenty of places to hide. Take your time to drink it all in as the bullets zing around and into you.
A great, simple shooter for all ages.
The first episode of The Walking Dead: Season Two was undoubtedly great, but definitely had its flaws - partially due to being a pilot episode, and partially due to the writing being, though damn good, not quite up to the par of sheer excellence that Telltale have set themselves. The same can't be said of Episode Two: A House Divided - this is some of the studio's finest work.
Yoshi’s New Island places almost all of its eggs in the nostalgia basket. It's a bold decision, but one that ultimately holds back the game by bringing with it some retro-inspired design best left to the 90s. Series fans will enjoy a trip back to this oft-forgotten Mario spin-off, and some of the newly introduced mechanics are good, if used too sparsely. Ultimately, though, Yoshi’s New Island is an enjoyable, but underwhelming, romp.
It's never dull, not even for a moment, and while technically repetitive (there are so many drug dealers and enemy bases) the variety afforded by both your abilities and the environment ensure that it never feels like a chore to play.
I've really enjoyed coming back to Diablo 3 with this expansion, Reaper of Souls. I had grown bored of playing through the same stuff, so having some fresh content to dive into has been great. It's still the same, fun game it always has been, but now with more stuff to do after you finish the story, and extra randomness that can hopefully stop its end game from becoming stale as quickly as the main game did. Whether or not this new Adventure Mode will be enough to keep away the boredom of repetition is something that is too early to tell. But after putting a good chunk of hours into it, I am hopeful it will.
Overall, Hearthstone is a well-executed and fun card game, one which lives the "easy to learn, hard to master" mantra to the utmost. If you like either card games or Warcraft, this is definitely worth checking out. And if you - like me - are a fan of both, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try.
[I]t doesn't seem to quite live up what we've been led to expect from the new Kinect sensor, resulting in a lot of frustration the ultimately gets in the way of the experience. It'll make a great rental for when you have friends over, but it's hard to recommend for anything beyond that.
All that for $18.95? You'd have to be a Square not to.
The Elder Scrolls Online is a solid, meaty title. It has hours of gameplay, satisfying character trees, and a wealth of online role playing experiences to churn through. It's safe and secure. It serves up the classic habitual MMORPG experience, albeit with a "Tamriel Twist". And for many gamers, this will be fine. But Bethesda have created an example - not an evolution - of the genre.
If you are into space combat action (and that's all you are looking for) then Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut might just scratch that itch for you. It's not a bad game and the general combat can have moments of fun. But as I said at the start, most of the time when I was playing this title, I just kept thinking to myself "I am not enjoying this and would rather be doing something else right now". Take that for what you will.
Now with that out of the way, it's time to go see what all this fuss is about these "Wills" and "Kate" characters, whoever they might be.
If you already have a regular get together, and you own a PS4 and a handful of controllers then you should definitely consider grabbing this to add to your group's schedule.
This leaves me wishing Dead Nation built more depth into its upgrade system. I wish developing your character in an RPG-style was a bigger part of the game. I wish the levels emphasized that, with more dynamics, exploration, and down-time. I wish it had these things because then I'd want to replay the game on harder difficulties. It makes me wish for a co-op zombie action RPG - a blend of Left 4 Dead and Diablo with twin-stick shooting. Ultimately, while Dead Nation is a decent game, its biggest issue is that it always left me wanting something more. As far as my last word goes, this is the best version of Dead Nation you can get. It isn't much different from the PS3 game though, so if you already played that you've seen most of what there is to see. The bigger issue is with the foundation of the game itself. I always found it to be falling short in one way or another. As a zombie twin-stick shooter it gets the job done, but its qualities are lessened by lost potential. Nothing jumps out at you, and everything seems to have been done better in other games.
Travellers Tales have created another sterling example of how to make a family-friendly platformer. There are challenges and puzzles that will test older gamers, and plenty of action for casual and younger audiences. While some of the maps aren't very well planned out, often leading to random running around until you see the way forward, LEGO The Hobbit is still accessible and fun. However for those who already own LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, or the recently released LEGO The Movie - there is nothing special on offer here, except perhaps for die-hard fans of the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings.
If you enjoyed the movie, you will thoroughly like this game. You will see a number of cut-scenes again, all of which are taken directly from the film, but you'll relish at the opportunity to explore the worlds and re-live the characters (and jokes) all over again. As always in a LEGO game, there are bucket loads of brick-related extras to explore and unlock, including a massive cast of characters, many of whom I never even saw in the movie. The gameplay formula hasn't been changed from previous LEGO titles, and The LEGO Movie Videogame offers fun two-player madness with an energetic and creative vibe for all ages.
Cutesy and colourful, Life Goes On takes a core concept from most games, flips it, and embeds it in an environment with reciprocating elements. The result is an engaging puzzle platformer that delights more than it frustrates. The ending credits sequence is also one of the most charming things I've seen this year.
If you enjoyed the other games, this is likely more of the same, but in a different setting and probably a bit prettier. However, if you're new to the series, like me, and curious to give it a go, you might be better trialing it out with one of the earlier, and cheaper, games in the series first.
A Realm Reborn was already a great game when it launched, though it admittedly ran out of steam after a few months. Thanks to a bunch of content upgrades and a new level of sheen afforded by the PS4 hardware however, the game is easily one of the best on the market right now.