Dealspwn's Reviews
Imagine Game of Thrones crossed with a dark, brutal, bleak Disney production that Disney would never dare to make, and you're pretty close to The Banner Saga. Stoic have delivered a cracking tactical RPG centred around an impressively elegant combat system and a peripatetic adventure that never lets up with tough choices and decisions to be made, letting the burden of leadership weigh heavy on players' shoulders. Engrossing, challenging, and aesthetically striking, The Banner Saga is a crowdfunded triumph.
Max: The Curse Of Brotherhood is a handsome and surprisingly sharp platform puzzler. Though stronger characters, storyline and controls could have made it truly special, it's still well worth exploring if you're looking for something fresh to play on your Xbox One.
Risk Of Rain is a retro-tough indie gem that pumps Roguelike and RPG elements into insane old-school run & gun platforming. You'll love every ridiculously addictive hardcore second of it, probably grinning and gurning like a sweaty lunatic as you do so.
Part one of Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse sets a decent standard for the franchise. In a return to its roots it shows that a beautifully imagined 2D world can still be engaging and relevant. Its puzzles are varied without being over-strenuous, but the game's narrative makes them feel somewhat linear, which could put some gamers off. Overall though it's a worthwhile purchase, assuming the second half can maintain the same standard or even surpass it.
Spartan Assault proves that Halo can power a solid and entertaining twin-stick shooter. Though short stages and annoying mobile holdovers can spoil the fun, we have our fingers crossed for more - so long as future games remember that what works on a mobile device sometimes isn't fit for the living room.
NES Remix actually stands as a Nintendo example of an iOS game. Loads of pick up and play charm, mixed with the Nintendo magic. Memorable games, numerous challenges, and great MiiVerse integration creates a nice little package for a reasonable price. Some however will resent these being the same games they've played (and paid for) numerous times already. The remixed stages serve as a reminder to what this game could have been, but as such its content, whilst entertaining, will not be new and different enough for everyone.
Bravely Default dares to refresh the classic Final Fantasy formula with quiet yet confident innovations across the board, resulting in one of the best JRPGs of 2013 and a fitting end to a barnstorming year for Nintendo's handheld.
A whimsical, living sketchbook of self-realisation and a quirky look at what it means to be human, Doki-Doki Universe guides players along its absurdist, surreal journey with a cast of weird and wonderful characters, warm storytelling, and offbeat humour. You won't find challenges to beat or puzzles to really solve here, and the game perhaps doesn't do enough to break up the repetition at its core, but Doki-Doki Universe is a strangely uplifting game, one that might just put a smile on your face even as you ponder the definition of love while hurtling through the stars on a flying poo.
Peggle 2 is more Peggle, only vastly prettier. Which is absolutely what we want. If you're looking for a shot of colourful fun and orchestral orgasmic peg-busting bliss on Xbox One, you can't go far wrong here.
How did it come to this? Knack is basically a risible film tie-in without a film to recommend it.
Despite some frustrating complications towards the end, Contrast has been one of the best titles I've played of the PS4's launch lineup. The noir jazz age setting is fantastic and the game's use of shadows and silhouettes for both platforming gameplay and telling the story of a struggling family is unlike anything else I've played. I only wish it lasted that little bit longer.
There's still room for improvement, but Visual Concepts have created a truly next-gen instalment for this year's iteration of NBA 2K. Everything, from the furrowed lines on LeBron's brow to the engaging back and forth between your MyPlayer and their agent in MyCareer mode, oozes personality like never before. Probably the best sports game on the planet right now.
Zoo Tycoon overcomes a weak first impression with effortless charm and hidden depths: a colourful blend of management and playful fun that puts its animals first and foremost. A surprisingly capable launch title for more relaxed players, animal lovers, youngsters or just the young at heart. Granted, that's a cheesy cliché, but it holds true here.
Need For Speed: Rivals is an exhilarating thrill ride that's very nearly brilliant. The foundations for fun are present and correct, but last-gen compromises transform AllDrive from a game changer into a nigh-on dealbreaker.
This graphically exquisite and mechanically impeccable racer shows off the Xbox One to advantage, but ends up slightly hamstrung by a lack of tracks and inconsiderate progression system. The all-important cars are more beautiful than ever, handle better than ever, yet some of the series' magic and generosity of spirit is gone.
The first couple of hours of Killzone: Shadow Fall hint towards a game that might just play as well as it looks. And it looks phenomenal. But sadly, the game falters and falls rather quickly, crushed under the weight of its own ambitions, and it retreats to the safe banality of staid FPS conventions for a second half that's all filler, no killer. It's a great game to show off the power of the PS4, a magnificent spectacle, and its Custom Warzones hint towards the possibility of a bright future, but it's just not that fun to actually play.
Dead Rising 3 is the essential Xbox One launch title: a rampant, ridiculous and riotous sandbox that delivers countless hours of unapologetic unrestrained fun. Rather than a pristine graphical showcase, it's a bountiful content-rich slaughter smorgasbord that encourages us to get our hands dirty in obscenely silly ways.
Ryse is stupid, beautiful, stupid, visceral, stupid and much more fun than we ever gave it credit for. A surprisingly solid launch title let down by a limited stock of enemies to fight, not its controversial yet ultimately entertaining swordplay.
Another magnificent Saori Kobayashi soundtrack and some visually arresting scenery can't save Crimson Dragon from the mean-spirited cynical sickness at its core. What could have been a gorgeous and uncomplicated shooter has been hacked into tiny chunks in the name of microtransactions, butchered almost beyond recognition until you push through several miserable hours. Microsoft And Grounding broke their own game. Willingly.
Stood against the best SHMUPs of this passing generation, it's not necessarily as special as it seems, helped along by being the first and only current game of its kind on the PS4. But it's a great little PS Plus pack-in for new adopters, and will no doubt please genre fans immensely on the harder difficulty settings with a purity of purpose and execution that makes for a deliciously balanced and focused slice of SHMUP action.