Xbox Series X|S Game Reviews
Review Black Ops 7 (Xbox) - Zombies Mode The Shining Light In This Undercooked Call Of Duty
Black to the drawing board
Call of Duty returns in 2025 with its first back-to-back Black Ops release following last year's Black Ops 6, and the result is an undercooked COD experience that feels like it needed more time in the oven. Truth be told, Black Ops 7 is a bit of a mess, and it's only the game's tried and tested gunplay and deep...
Review Ninja Gaiden 4 (Xbox) - Platinum Propels The Series Forward On Xbox Game Pass
There's a new kid on the block
When it was revealed that PlatinumGames was helping with the fourth major entry in the Ninja Gaiden series, I had two immediate thoughts. How would the Bayonetta studio handle this kind of responsibility, and could another character really lead the next big entry in the modern series, in place of the 'main face' and...
Review Keeper (Xbox) - A Memorable Puzzle Adventure From Xbox Studio Double Fine
Reviewed across both Xbox Series X and ROG Xbox Ally!
I totally understand why Xbox hasn't been marketing Keeper very well ahead of launch. Microsoft has suffered some criticism for not putting the spotlight on Double Fine's new Xbox first-party game, but after playing it, I think there are a couple of key reasons behind the decision - the first...
Review Battlefield 6 (Xbox) - A Fantastic FPS, And A Great Base For The Future Of Battlefield
Back to winning ways
EA and the newly-rebranded Battlefield Studios had a lot to prove to me with Battlefield 6. The previous game in the series, Battlefield 2042, left a lot to be desired - and truth be told, I was losing a bit of faith in the series ever getting back to its glory days. With BF6 now here, backed up by a pretty smooth opening...
Review EA Sports FC 26 (Xbox) - A Fresh Take On The Series Thanks To Its 'Authentic' Twist
Two ways to play = a better game for everyone
When Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series closed its doors in favour of a free-to-play Ultimate Team alternative called eFootball a few years ago, I have to admit I was gutted. It's not like I didn't play FIFA as well, but I felt like PES gave me a more authentic-feeling game of football on the pitch -...
Review Silent Hill F (Xbox) - A New Front For Konami As Silent Hill Makes Its Return
Hinako's horror
We played the entirety of Silent Hill F on PS5 for this review, due to our early access code. We have since tested the game on Xbox Series X and S, the details of which are explained towards the end of the review. A quaint, semi-rural Japanese town covered in a thick layer of fog that never seems to dissipate... despite a switch...
Review Indiana Jones: The Order Of Giants - Puzzle-Focused DLC Expands On Xbox's Indy Adventure
Slow and sluggish wins the race
MachineGames is back with another dip into Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - this time with an extended outing in the game's Vatican location, or should I say, underneath the game's Vatican location. Yep, The Order of Giants takes titular hero Indiana Jones underground to explore the various caverns and sewers that...
Free trial available now via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
With EA's NHL 26 getting a free trial for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members today (via EA Play), I thought I'd take a look at the latest entry in the series - courtesy of a review code from EA Sports - and the result is a fun hockey game! However, the NHL series is in a weird place these days, with...
Review Gears Of War: Reloaded - An Xbox Classic That Flourishes On Modern Hardware
A near-perfect active reload
We've been here before a few times, haven't we? Yep, the first Gears of War returns in a shiny new package for Xbox Series X|S, with Gears Reloaded largely based on 2015's Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. While this is a wholly new experience for PS5 — which joins the platform list this time around — Xbox players are...
Review Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 (Xbox) - Another Great THPS Game, Despite The Odd Bail
The five-year wait was worth it
Back in 2020 when Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 first arrived, I gave it a "Great" 8/10 in our Pure Xbox review - highlighting it as a superb return to form, but with a few issues around its career mode, multiplayer and customisation. However, with five years' worth of playtime under my belt, I'd actually give it a 9/10...
Review Rematch (Xbox) - A Highly Addictive Blend Of Rocket League And Real Football
Launching day one on Xbox Game Pass!
Back in the day when Rocket League was just about to come out, I had a feeling after playing the beta that it was going to be something massive. It had that "just one more game" feel - packed with addictive qualities that meant it was very difficult to put down. Rematch, from the developer behind 2022 brawler...
Review Space Marine Master Crafted Edition - A Proper 360 Throwback On Xbox Game Pass
Gears of Warhammer
At the tail end of last month, SEGA surprisingly announced that it was bringing a modern version of the original Warhammer 40K: Space Marine to Xbox Game Pass - and that time is almost here as the game goes live on the service tomorrow, June 10th. Naturally then, we've been pumping some time into Space Marine Master Crafted...
Review Xbox Retro Classics - A Great Addition To Game Pass, With Just One Caveat
Stream Activision's classics from the '80s and '90s
Yesterday marked the surprise launch of Xbox Retro Classics for all tiers of Xbox Game Pass, allowing players to dig into a list of over 50 Retro Classics games from the 1980s and 1990s that are all based on Activision-owned IP. I've been checking out Xbox Retro Classics ever since it dropped...
Banjo Got High on No Man's Sky
You know, I'd sort of forgotten how much I enjoyed 2020's Journey to the Savage Planet. Typhoon Studios' debut was a fantastically unique and colourful one that challenged you to think at all times, as you made your way across what was - and still is - a great big planet-sized platform-puzzle populated by cute aliens...
Review DOOM: The Dark Ages (Xbox) - Puts The Finishing Touches On A Masterful Trilogy
Glorious Game Pass Gibbings!
Id Software's new trilogy of DOOM games, now that I've had the chance to sit down and play them all and a have a bit of a think (I can think, you know), comes across as a rather dazzling package when taken as a whole. It's almost, in hindsight, as though the devs have had a plan all along. And it's a plan that 100%...
Review Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Xbox) - A Sublime Debut And One Of The Freshest RPGs In Ages
Final Fancily
I'm coming in a little bit late on this review because Bethesda decided to drop good old Oblivion in a fancy new outfit right before embargo, so forgive me! However, and continuing with the Bethesda link as a lazy-ish way to kickstart this review, it's lucky for the masters at Sandfall Interactive that their brand-new action-RPG is so...
Review South Of Midnight (Xbox) - A Fantastic, Soulful Outing From Xbox Game Studios
Worth headin' south for
Update (Tue 8th Apr, 2025): With South of Midnight available on Xbox Game Pass as of today, we're re-publishing this review to give you an idea of what to expect. Original review: Ever since wrapping up my early preview of the game almost two months ago now, I've been desperate to get back to Xbox's
Review Split Fiction (Xbox) - An Incredible Co-Op Adventure That Blew Our Minds
Turning this trilogy up to 11
When the credits rolled on Hazelight Studios' Game of the Year-winning co-op adventure It Takes Two back in 2021, my wife turned to me and asked when the next one would be out. She utterly adored what that game had to offer, and aside from the odd round of Mario Party in the years since, no other video game has really...
Review Monster Hunter Wilds (Xbox) - A Great Hunt, But Maybe Avoid On Series S
The next-gen hunt is on
Capcom’s storied history is commonly associated with series like Street Fighter and Resident Evil, but it’s Monster Hunter which is on track to eventually become the Japanese video game company’s best-selling IP. Over the past two decades, this larger-than-life series has evolved into an unstoppable force thanks to its...
A welcome revelation
A year ago to the day, Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr launched what felt like a bit of a no-brainer in Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered - a modern Xbox collection containing some of gaming's most iconic adventures. One year later, they've returned with the next phase of the Lara Croft saga, and whilst Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered doesn't...
So, Eora into action RPGs?
Have we ever told you how much we love The Outer Worlds? There was a little pushback when it launched; some folk thought it was too short, too lightweight and wishy-washy, but we loved everything about it. Obsidian seemed to actively decide to remove itself from what felt like bit of a race circa 2019, to make the most...
Review Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (Xbox) - Here Comes A New Challenger!
Better late than never
Although it felt like Xbox almost missed out on the Marvel Vs. Capcom Fighting Collection, in the end, things got sorted and now roughly four months after the original release, the Xbox One version is ready to take you for a ride. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is made up of seven titles
O Come, all ye (hardcore) faithful
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a hard-ass game, no matter how you choose to approach it. It's a hard game to play, to get a footing in and to stick with in its early hours. It's hard, too, in how it refuses to readily explain its myriad of interlocking mechanics and systems, or to help in many of the ways we've...
Review Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (Xbox) - A UE5 Appetiser Ahead Of The Fourth Outing
You're looking sharper than ever, Ryu
Hearken back to the original Xbox lineup and one game you might remember is the notoriously difficult ‘exclusive’ Ninja Gaiden, leading to the ‘Black’ rework during the same generation. Now, decades on, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black follows in the footsteps of not only the Xbox 360 sequel but also the more recent...
Resistance is futile, you slags
Have you ever wanted to play an entry in Rebellion's fantastic Sniper Elite series that stars Danny Dyer as the protagonist? Have you ever wanted to give a whole bunch of Nazi slags a right good doing? Well, we reckon you're not alone, sunshine. In fact, we've been petitioning Rebellion for this very thing for years...
Review Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles (Xbox) - The Return Of Another Prequel Game
The nostalgia is strong with this one
More than 25 years after the release of the Phantom Menace movie, Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles has now returned. Like the movie, this game wasn’t all that well-received on release when it launched for the original PlayStation in the year 2000 – with the Dreamcast release tidying up the whole...
Nobody trusts anybody now … and we're all very tired
Here's the thing about The Thing Remastered; it's still very much 2002's The Thing. Which is either a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how much you like your The Thing. 2002's The Thing, you see, which is based on the intensely sexy Kurt Russell movie, The Thing, (itself based on a...
Review Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind (Xbox) - 30 Years In The Making
It's morphin time!
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers celebrated their 30th anniversary last year with a special television film reuniting some of the original cast members and paying respects to a few of the others, and now to continue the legacy, Digital Eclipse has followed this up with a brand-new video game channelling the arcade classics of...
Review Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (Xbox) - A MachineGames Misfire
Indiana Groans
Okay, look, let's get this out of the way right off the bat - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle feels very Indiana Jones, and you've got nothing to worry about if you thought those classic Indy vibes might be off with this new adaptation. The teams at Bethesda and MachineGames have nailed that aspect of this 2024 take on the...
Review Stalker 2 (Xbox) - GSC Game World's Long-Awaited Sequel Is A Mess
Zoned Out
There are many reasons why an endeavour as complex as creating a huge open-world video game sometimes doesn't pan out the way it should or could; absolutely millions of things that can and will go wrong at the best of times, no matter how much hard work goes in. Add in the stress of being at war during the development of your project -...
