Dealspwn's Reviews
While owners of the PS3 / Xbox 360 version won't have much reason to upgrade, newcomers to Rocksmith 2014 Edition will find a wealth of options within this musical training tool… provided they have an optical-out audio solution. Without it, the latency could ruin an experience that is otherwise well presented, highly customisable, and a great way to improve those shredding skills.
Ultimate NES Remix brings brilliant pick-up-and-play action to the 3DS, blending heady NEStalgia with addictive remixed challenges. Sadly the ludicrously inflated price point, omitted content and lack of new features turns what should be an essential purchase into 'wait for a deal' wishlist filler.
LEGO Batman 3's irrepressible love for the universe and amazing attention to detail make for an essential DC experience, but the gameplay feels like a step sideways and even backwards for the LEGO series. This was the first time I stopped playing a holiday season LEGO game because I'd had enough, not because I'd collected everything. LEGO Batman 3 will do for now, but it's clear that TT Games needs to start thinking seriously about where to go next.
Far from pointing the way forwards for the series, Assassin's Creed: Unity is a model of creative indecision and corporate policy -- a corpulent, broken mess that plays neither to its own strengths nor to its fanbase. There are flashes of promise here, moments when everything comes together, and the game's content package is hefty, but ultimately Unity proves to be a mercifully forgettable disappointment.
Tales Of Hearts R is a fantastic handheld RPG and one of the most impressive remakes of recent years. Expect a top-quality JRPG experience from start to finish, even if it's a touch familiar in parts.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection sets a new benchmark for remakes, HD collections and re-releases by delivering thirteen years of excellence in a single purchase. Four restored campaigns, comprehensive multiplayer, one cohesive experience that reminds us just how important Halo was to videogames and the FPS genre... and how much fun it still is.
So, 2014. Is this the year that the double-jump finally found its regular place in the first person shooter? It's certainly been the 'in thing' this year, as has a general boot up the arse of the FPS genre. How does COD stack up against Destiny and Titanfall though? Ignore the internet trolls, posers and haters, you can enjoy them all. In this reviewer's eyes though, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has been the complete package. A star filled, explosion-packed blockbuster smash of a campaign mode with a set of stellar multiplayer modes where Kill Confirmed and the new ball-based sport, Uplink, are set to become new favourites. Both the campaign and multiplayer owe a huge debt to the exoskeleton, which has proven to be the ultimate catalyst in pushing Call of Duty back to the top this year. Your move, Far Cry 4.
Stealth Inc 2 is another magnificently frustrating bastard of pure stealth, brutal platforming and satisfying puzzles with a sadistic sense of humour. Though the new features and gadgets come with a few drawbacks, they ultimately expand on the gameplay experience in imaginative new ways, while exploration and content creation bulk out the challenge rooms into a cohesive package.
Make no mistake, this is a content bundle rather than a generational upgrade, but that's sort of okay. How To Survive: Storm Warning Edition presents a solid content package, but it is disappointing that technical hiccups of last year's version still remain. Still, if you're looking for some pick-up-and-play, zombie survival action, this is a pretty good shout, and the new modes are ace.
Sunset Overdrive brings the fun. Though Insomniac's inexperience with open-world games leads to inconsistent mission design and a few oversights, its infectious energy, breathtaking traversal, silly weapons and violently colourful playground make for a brilliant way to blow off steam.
Dungeon Of The Endless is the best Real-Time Turn-Based Strategic 4X Tower Defence Sci-Fi Roguelike RPG hybrid you'll play this week. And easily one of the very best games you'll play this year. Absolutely unmissable.
It's Civ, but not as we know it… and that's a good thing. The focus on choice and adaptability on the alien world allows players to deal with new challenges on the way to taming this new frontier. It's not a flawless effort, but provided you can overcome the slower pacing of progress, the addiction of going yet another turn is absolutely there, making Beyond Earth a highly enjoyable entry in the Civilization series.
The Evil Within is a good game, an assembly of Mikami's best work and a rather pointed lesson in classic survival horror that Capcom would do well to note, but it's also unashamedly rooted in bygone years. As such, it'll pleases nostalgic fans yearning for a shinier, bloodied love letter to the creepy classics of yesteryear, but it doesn't really deliver anything particularly new. Greatest Hits albums are usually stuffed with goodness, and The Evil Within certainly has its moments, but they're also usually put out by bands with nothing more to say, I can only desperately hope that's not true of Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks.
Shadow Warrior is still as savagely brutal, tough, slick and satisfying as ever, but its riotous gameplay has only matured with age. The console version is a great new opportunity to savour the joys of exploring huge levels, finding secrets and annihilating entire armies of ravening demons with ridiculous firepower.
The fact that DriveClub is still mostly a wreck for ALL of its online functions is frankly embarrassing and the lack of a large public beta was remarkably short-sighted. Once you've wrangled the handling model, there's a solid driving game underneath it all with fun tracks to tear down at terrifying speeds as you zoom through the incredibly detailed environments. But if the netcode isn't fixed soon, this'll be an abandoned rusty roadside wreck by Christmas.
As cliché as it is to say, good things come to those who wait. With an expertly written narrative, a brilliantly realised location in Europolis, and subtly far-reaching choices to make even at this stage, Book One: Reborn is an excellent return to The Longest Journey saga. In fact, if this is reflective of the episodes to come, Dreamfall Chapters could end up being a masterclass in adventure gaming
NBA 2K15 is probably the best example of sports game fan service out there. It's a comprehensive package for any NBA fan that does an enormous amount to capture the intricacies and the dramas of the league, all the while creating exciting on-court action that is detailed and nuanced and fun to play. However, its years-old connectivity issues, and the dependency of offline modes on online servers once again threaten to ruin what should an outstanding game.
Creating your own crazy remixes makes Disney Fantasia worth considering for Kinect-owning audiophiles, but its core semaphore-based gameplay feels more like glumly directing traffic than gleefully performing magic.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel makes up for some major issues with pacing and level design by simply being a ridiculously fun cooperative romp. A few more months of development could have turned a good game into a great one, but there's still some great bouncy butt-slammin' action to get stuck into here.
Bereft of a new-gen equivalent, F1 2014 is a stopgap game thrust into the spotlight that takes last year's version, strips back the Classic content, and adds in this year's cars. With the right setup, you can still get a pretty thrilling ride out of it, but to be honest you're best ignoring this hasty knockoff and investigating next year's effort instead.