Latest Reviews
Indiana Groans
Note: This review of The Lamplighters League was prepped and ready to go for Thursday's embargo, but we held off publishing it until the Friday because of a separate video embargo. Over the past few hours, The Lamplighters League has received a 11GB patch on Xbox that we need to spend some time with before potentially returning to...
Review EA Sports FC 24 - A New Era Begins With An Impressive Result
The next chapter has kicked off
This year marks a major milestone for EA Sports and what used to be known as the FIFA series, now adopting the new name of "EA Sports FC" and embarking on a new era in the process. In the case of EA Sports FC 24 though, we're not looking at a massive overhaul compared to last year - instead, it's a subtle but...
Review Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways - Ada Wong Returns In A Dynamite Slice Of DLC
All killer, no filler
2023 has been quite the year for Resi fans, with Resident Evil 4 Remake surpassing all expectations in serving up a revamped version of a stone cold classic that may actually go down as the definitive version in the long run. We certainly thought so here at Pure Xbox, dishing out a perfect 10/10 score in our review, where we...
Review Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - CDPR's RPG Finally Lives Up To All Of The Hype
Back to the Future
What a rollercoaster ride we've been on with Cyberpunk 2077. After a hugely disappointing experience with the borked original console release, which resulted in a much lower scored review than we ever expected to dish out, we were then pleased to report on patch Hotfix 1.4's litany of incremental improvements that made a notable...
Review Party Animals - Cuddly Carnage Brings Fun And Laughter To Xbox Game Pass
All-out pawfare
What do you get when you mix Gang Beasts (the popular physics-based brawler) with some unbelievably adorable characters, a bunch of unique features, and a day one release on Xbox Game Pass? The answer is Party Animals, which is not only a great and hilarious new addition to the genre, but it's also one of the very best party titles...
Review Mortal Kombat 1 - 30 Years In The Making, But Does It Live Up To The Legacy?
Welcome to Liu Kang's reborn universe
Where do you start with a series as big as Mortal Kombat? The brutal and bloody game has not only popularised and evolved the fighting genre over the past 30 years but also helped transform the video game industry. It had jaws dropping (in more ways than one) during the era of arcade gaming with its unique...
Review The Crew Motorfest - A True Forza Horizon Competitor Enters The Playground
The new motorfest
Forza Horizon has ruled the open world racing roost for years now, subsequently becoming one of the jewels in Xbox's first-party crown as Playground Games has taken the genre to new heights. However, we did feel like 2021's Forza Horizon 5 was a little bit of a drop off for the series, as it — perhaps naturally — started to run...
Review Lies Of P - Dystopian Pinocchio Slashes And Stabs His Way Onto The Best Soulslikes
We're telling the truth
FromSoftware games - especially Bloodborne and the Dark Souls series - are typically hard-as-nails, punishing experiences set amidst Gothic architecture with light horror elements and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired monstrosities for enemies. Non-FromSoft games in the genre often forego everything bar the difficulty, such as the Star...
VATS entertainment
Depending on how much you bought into the hype during the long run-up to the release of Bethesda's Starfield, it's hard to know quite what you might have been expecting when you finally sat down to press the start button and get stuck in. Was this going to be some monumental step forward for video games, a piece of interactive art...
Review Sea of Stars - An Instant Indie Classic Magics Its Way Onto Xbox Game Pass
Total eclipse of our hearts
If you've played Sabotage Studio's rather excellent 2018 effort, The Messenger, you'll know this is a dev team that's a dab hand at revisiting retro classics - in this case the likes of Ninja Gaiden - and updating them into slick and entirely modern-feeling experiences that keep the old-school vibes alive whilst providing...
Mobile Suit Gundaaayum!
There has, understandably, been a whole heap of interest leading into the release of Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon, and certainly a great deal more hype from a much wider range of gamers than is usually the case with this long-running, and rather niche, mech shooter series. Of course that's all down to how FromSoftware's...
Review Immortals Of Aveum - EA's Spellbinding Shooter Packs A Punch
Story ain't this one's strong suit
The scale of EA's 'Originals' program has certainly grown this year with the arrival of Wild Hearts and Immortals of Aveum - two full-priced titles aimed squarely at the AAA gaming market. We've spent this week playing through the latter — EA's brand new magic-based shooter — and have come away largely...
Strog Rock
Almost exactly two years on from Nightdive Studios' phenomenal remaster of the original Quake, old-school FPS fans are being treated to a second helping of revamped retro-fragging action with this all-new enhanced version of iD Software's seminal sequel and, joy of joys, it's only gone and dropped onto Xbox Game Pass. Let’s not beat...
Review Atlas Fallen - AA Adventuring Rises Above Its Flaws With Addictive Action & Exploration
The Essence of Combat
Deck13 has been on a pretty solid run over the past nine or so years, with the likes of The Surge, The Surge 2 and, to a slightly lesser extent, Lords Of The Fallen, seeing the German studio serve up some satisfyingly crunchy AA action of the Soulslike variety. While 2014's Lords of the Fallen was a valiant effort, it had a...
Review AEW: Fight Forever - A Fun Wrestling Game That Doesn't Take Itself Too Seriously
It's Wednesday, you know what that means!
I'll start off our Pure Xbox review of AEW Fight Forever by admitting I'm an absolutely massive All Elite Wrestling fan. I watch all the shows, I buy all the pay-per-views, and I'll be in attendance at the historic Wembley event this August. Therefore, there was a lot of expectation going into this specific...
Wrath of Scan
Dimfrost Studios' Bramble: The Mountain King initially released on consoles back in April of this year and, now that it's headed to Xbox Game Pass, we're diving in for a review of this dark and brooding Limbo-like set within a fantastical Scandinavian fairy-tale world. If you're already au fait with your Nakens and Skogras, Gnomes and...
Review Crash Team Rumble - Toys For Bob Serves Up Another Crash Bandicoot Banger
Wumpa Warzone
When we first got wind that Crash Bandicoot was to star in his very own online multiplayer game, you'll forgive us for not having got all that excited. As much as we love Crash, and as much as we enjoy this genre of game, well, it just feels as though these sorts of online arena-styled efforts come and go all too frequently these days,...
We just got made
If you've ever watched Michael Mann's sublime 90's crime caper Heat, and specifically the famous heist scene within it that ends in a prolonged running gun battle down the streets of LA, you'll know the exact tone and flavour that Czech developer INGAME STUDIOS was hoping to nail with Crime Boss Rockay City. This Payday clone, in...
Review Aliens: Dark Descent - Finally! An Aliens RTS That Mostly Gets It Right, Mostly
Open up, sesame!
The Aliens franchise has charted a fairly choppy course across various mediums throughout its 44 year history. Whether in video game form with the likes of the execrable Aliens: Colonial Marines, or on the silver screen where Michael Fassbender whipped out a flute to put the final nail in the filmic coffin that was Alien: Covenant,...
Review Layers Of Fear - A Gorgeous Take On A Pointless Remake
Too many layers
In the wake of Hideo Kojima's PS4-exclusive 'P.T' demo, Polish developer Bloober Team unleashed its take on a similar concept with 2016's Layers of Fear. At the time, we quite enjoyed our experience with Bloober's slender adventure - its focused nature prevented the concept from getting stale over a roughly four-hour runtime...
Review Dordogne - A Heartfelt Indie Delight That's A Perfect Fit For Xbox Game Pass
Conte d'Eté
Un Je Ne Sais Quoi's Dordogne first appeared on our radars all the way back in 2020 via a delightful gameplay trailer that showcased its charming watercolour style and sun-dappled setting. What we got a glimpse of three years ago has now finally arrived on Xbox, and it's a genuinely touching little journey through long-lost childhood...
Review Diablo 4 - Blizzard's Biggest Diablo Game Ever, But Is It The Best?
The Mother of Sanctuary makes her return
Blizzard Entertainment has an amazing legacy in the games industry, but in recent years the California developer’s public reputation has suffered following a series of controversies, a change of guard across many of its key franchises and certain projects simply not meeting the expectations and high...
Review Amnesia: The Bunker - Frictional's Frightening Follow-Up Creeps Onto Xbox Game Pass
The horrors that lurk below
Frictional Games' Amnesia series has been one of the premier horror franchises in gaming over the past decade plus. The team's first Amnesia game, The Dark Descent, burst onto the PC scene way back in 2010 and is now renowned for being one of the spookiest games out there. We've had a few indirect sequels since, and while...
Review Street Fighter 6 - The World Warriors Make A Triumphant Return To Xbox Consoles
Metro City Marvel
Have a quick browse through a few online rankings of the best Street Fighter games and you’ll find that Street Fighter V - yep, the one that never made it to Xbox consoles - usually lingers somewhere behind Street Fighter IV in the minds of many a fan of the franchise. Whilst it was still a top-notch effort when it came to actual...
Review Company Of Heroes 3 - A Solid Xbox Version Of A Fantastic WW2 RTS
World War Wahoo?
Relic's Company of Heroes series has been doing the rounds on PC since all the way back in 2006 and, especially with regards to the first game, is still considered to be one of the premier RTS franchises out there. This is deep and addictive real-time strategy that presents its historical battlefields in luxurious detail and gives...
Review Planet Of Lana - A Gorgeous New Xbox Game Pass Adventure
We've been looking forward to this one
From the moment Planet of Lana was first announced as an Xbox Game Pass title back in 2021, there was plenty of excitement surrounding its amazing visuals - and therefore a lot of hope that it would translate into an entertaining puzzle-adventure experience. Fortunately, developer Wishfully has managed to...
Review LEGO 2K Drive - An Open World Racer Where Side Missions Shine
It's the taking part that counts
When 2K first announced its open world racer based on all things LEGO, we were a little confused by the name. Sure, LEGO 2K Drive sounds fine as a title, but given the history of 'LEGO Racers' as a toy line and a video game series, we thought it'd make more sense to pull from that well and return with a LEGO Racers...
Review Redfall - Arkane's Undead Experiment Brings Mixed Results To Xbox Game Pass
Stranger Fangs
After multiple delays, and the somewhat controversial decision to launch on current-gen consoles at a locked 30FPS, Arkane Studios has finally managed to get Redfall out the door and into the hands of Xbox Game Pass players. This is a game we’ve been really digging the style of from what we’ve seen in pre-release footage, with its...
Review EA Sports PGA Tour - EA Returns To The Fairways With A Slick Golf Sim
It's in the game
Well, we may be a tad late with our review of EA’s first foray into the world of golf in eight years but, as it turns out, our delay has rather worked in the game’s favour. Indeed, our biggest issue thus far with EA Sports PGA Tour, its rather demanding analogue shot system, has now had a classic three-click option added via a...
Review Dead Island 2 - Long-In-Development Sequel Embraces The Absurd
Infected on set
Emerging from the flames of development hell is Dead Island 2, with this long-awaited sequel eventually being scrubbed up and brought to market by Dambuster Studios. Yes, we've been waiting a long, long time for this one to release, and while the Dying Light series has done a great job at plugging the gap since 2013's Dead Island...
