Xbox One Game Reviews
Review Ori and the Blind Forest (Xbox One)
An unforgettable journey
Some people are bothered by the term Metroidvania, which we’ve never really understood. We’re fully aware that it’s an unnecessary subgenre classification that derives its name from two of the industry’s most respected franchises, Metroid and Castlevania, but we're quite alright with that. For those of you unfamiliar...
Review Zombie Army Trilogy (Xbox One)
Probably Nazi game you were looking for
Zombie Army Trilogy began life as standalone downloadable content pieces for Sniper Elite V2 on PC. The initial release was a fun diversion that saw Adolf Hitler summoning his own army of zombies to help defend an almost-defeated Germany in the final days of World War II. A second edition that followed on from...
Scream if you wanna go faster...
Every so often – with increasing rarity – a game comes along that provides genuine doses of innovation on a wide scale. It may be entirely original. It may build and improve upon notes taken from another title, or even from more than one. But with more and more copycat products just rehashing the same old...
Review Pinball FX2 - Iron & Steel Pack (Xbox One)
Catapults and six-shooters aplenty
It feels like ages since Zen Studios created pinball tables that weren't based on comic books or cartoons. Actually, it's been three years. In that three years time, we've watched this talented studio craft fantasy pinball experiences that excel beyond anything we could ever expect to find standing on four legs in...
Review Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - Episode 1: Penal Colony (Xbox One)
Prison break
The debut episode of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 won’t have you convinced the horror series is back on track, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun with it. Sure, it isn’t the prettiest game out there, and the voice acting — after all these years — can still be grating; but Revelations 2 succeeds in creating the...
Review Pneuma: Breath of Life (Xbox One)
God us
We weren't quite sure what to make of Pneuma: Breath of Life before getting our hands on it. Early trailers gave the impression that it was to be a Myst-like puzzle game that took itself very seriously. The visuals looked stunning and, although certainly having an artistic spice to them, appeared to primarily be concerned with realism...
You spin me right round
Every year without fail a new release is heralded as the 'Citizen Kane' of video games. It's a baffling, completely unfair comparison, as movies and games are two totally different mediums; but it's one that is easy to make when recognizing a quality product. While No Goblin's revolving limousine arcade game, Roundabout, is...
Review Don Bradman Cricket (Xbox One)
A great knock
Over the years, there have been a fair few attempts made at replicating the incredibly complex sport of cricket. Some have come close to perfecting the mix, with the likes of Codemasters having multiple attempts at getting things right. But there's always been the feeling that the developers who are trying to emulate the sport have...
Natural Selection
With an obnoxious marketing campaign, a controversial amount of planned DLC, and multiplayer betas after discs have been pressed, it has been hard to not hear about Evolve in the past few months. Lost in the media shuffle though was that Evolve - despite whatever concerns one may hold over its business plan - is a fantastic game...
Rucking terrible.
When it comes to forming an opinion of the annual sports titles that we love to hate, it can be really easy to overlook all the things they get right. The little things that build up into the overall picture, such as the pace of the game, the way players move, and the intelligence of the AI. We tend to focus on the new features...
Review The Escapists (Xbox One)
A Great Escape
As a reviewer of video games, every now and again you can fall into a bit of a dull patch. Every game looks the same. Nothing is interesting. Nothing on the horizon really excites you the way that games of old did. It all gets, for want of a better phrase, a bit "meh." Generally though, you'll find that something comes along that...
Are you afraid of the dark?
To say that Dying Light is influenced by developer Techland's other main franchise, Dead Island, would be something of an understatement. Entire gameplay features are reemployed in this title, which admittedly, contains a heck of a lot more polish and refinement than any of the Dead Island games. That isn't to say that...
Review Unmechanical: Extended Edition (Xbox One)
The little robot that could
Sidescrolling puzzle games are truly a dime a dozen these days, and we’re getting to a point where it’s hard not to wince every time a new one is announced. That's not to say that a strong selection of these games haven't been knockouts — Braid, Limbo, and Fez, for example, have been absolute homeruns — but even...
Review Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (Xbox One)
Into the depths
It has to be said that there can be few people who weren't salivating at the prospect of a new game set in the Saints Row universe being released for less than £16. Even fewer when you consider that the new title would also be available with a rehashed edition of the excellent Saints Row IV for less than £40 for the pair. Indeed,...
Drop in the ocean
Anyone that lived through the last couple of generations of console gaming has probably at least tried their hand at a water-based racing game. Whether it was the seminal Wave Race, the fondly-remembered Hydro Thunder, the massively underrated Splashdown, or even the somewhat disappointing Rapid Racer, more or less every platform...
Review Resident Evil (Xbox One)
REmake. REmastered. REmarkable
The Resident Evil name doesn't quite hold the same weight it once did. While Resident Evil 4 is widely accepted as the peak of the franchise, it also marked the beginning of a series that would continually struggle to find an identity in the years to follow. So perhaps Capcom's decision to remaster the GameCube remake...
Review Funk of Titans (Xbox One)
Something's funky
Funk of Titans is a tough game to describe, but we're going to give it a go. The ancient Greek god of the sky and thunder, Zeus, has tasked you, Perseus, with defeating the ancient Music Titans of Pop, Rap, and Rock, using your own brand of "Funk-fu." To do this, you must auto-run and jump through a series of levels, collecting...
Review Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show (Xbox One)
Keep calm and BWAAAAAAAAH!
First there were Rabbids. Then there were Minions. But the Rabbids were first. It's probably impossible for anyone to have missed the Ubisoft spectacle that is the Ravin' Rabbids. They are loud, they are over-the-top, and they are everywhere! They don't have a proper language, but their mimed slapstick (heavily infused by...
Review Tetris Ultimate (Xbox One)
Block-dropping beats
When it comes to rebooting games, building a new version of Tetris has to be the easiest thing that can be done. After all, as long as you at least have the basic tetromino-dropping and line-clearing endless gameplay mode that set the world on fire back in the 80s, you'll have a bunch of satisfied customers who just want to play...
Two Is Better Than One
Developer Press Play has a track record of consistently creating interesting platformers that allow players to experience inventive mechanics. In Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, they allowed players to wield a magic marker to interact with the game's levels, for example. They continues with their trend of crafting well-made...
Review Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island (Xbox One)
Making it rain.
When crafting a DLC package of any significant weight for a game that has gone down really well with gamers and critics alike, developers have to be careful. What they add can’t interfere with the mix that they already had, as they really don’t want to be messing with a successful formula. Playground Games found a way to ensure...
Review Pinball FX2 - Venom (Xbox One)
Lick it up
One of the many things that we appreciate about Zen Studios' work with their Marvel Pinball tables is their commitment to acknowledging characters and properties that don't have as much mainstream appeal as, say, Spider-Man, Iron Man, or Captain America. For every Fantastic Four and The Avengers, we've had Doctor Strange and The Infinity...
Ice cold.
Some games are truly beautiful and – let’s not waste any time here – Never Alone kicks off with the potential to be one of them. Telling tales of the Alaska native Iñupiat people and their folklore, the game is part educational experience, part non-traditional side-scrolling platformer. While one half of that is really well done,...
Crew cut.
When it comes to writing reviews, some games are easier than others to cover. There are times when you can play a game for an hour or two, and have at least an idea of at least the general direction of where your review is headed. Ubisoft’s The Crew most certainly does not fall into that camp. We think it’ll be safe to say that this...
Review Boom Ball for Kinect (Xbox One)
Short boom.
It’s no secret that the number of Kinect-compatible titles for Xbox One is on the low side, to say the least. Given Microsoft’s decision to unbundle the console from the Kinect sensor at retail, that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. However, the device is perfect for a bit of ID@Xbox experimentation and that’s what we see here,...
3+3=6, 6+6=12
Threes! may not look like much at first sight, but it's actually one of the more potent, more addictive games for tablets and smartphones that's now been ported to Xbox One. The concept is simple — you basically make big numbers by adding up smaller numbers; 3+3 makes 6 and so it goes. The game is based around a board consisting of...
Review Pier Solar and the Great Architects (Xbox One)
Built with love
You've gotta hand it to the folks over at Watermelon. Taking on a project as ambitious as Pier Solar and the Great Architects is by no means an easy task. Originally conceived in 2004 as a small homebrew project known as Tavern RPG for the Sega Genesis, development swiftly transformed into something much bigger. As the team puts it,...
Review Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (Xbox One)
Everything old is new again
When Bizarre Creations was shuttered a few years ago, a lot of people feared for one of the company’s finest creations, Geometry Wars. A twin-stick shooter released via digital means, the game flew in the face of the overblown and increasingly-complex hundred-hour behemoths that were slowly becoming the backbone of the...
Review Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One)
The boys are back in town
Last year, we reviewed Grand Theft Auto V for Xbox 360 and walked away all kinds of impressed. We thought the game’s only real weakness - the only thing holding it back from a perfect score - was that it was a current-gen game with next-gen ambitions, which resulted in minor technical complications that could occasionally...
Review Monopoly Plus (Xbox One)
This version Mayfair well.
When it comes to converting the ubiquitous property trading board game Monopoly from the living room table to digital platforms, things have not always gone well. Despite being released for every console, computer, and mobile device known to man, it’s probably safe to say that there hasn’t been a genuinely good and...
