Latest Reviews
Dig your way to retro heaven
Shovel Knight is one of the finest video game success stories of modern times. When a few employees left WayForward to start their very own indie studio, they took to Kickstarter to pitch their first project to the masses and round up the proper funding. That project, of course, was Shovel Knight. The campaign was a...
Review State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition
New and unimproved
When it comes to writing a review, sometimes the words are easy to put together, while the score causes problems and doubt. Sometimes, the opposite occurs and while you've got the score locked in your head, the words just don't flow. With Undead Labs' remaster of the cult Xbox 360 hit State of Decay, we seem to have run into...
How do I jump?
For the uninitiated; Neverwinter is a free to play, massively multiplayer online roleplaying game based on the Dungeons and Dragons universe which truly tests the limits of how high an in-game item can be priced while still qualifying as a micro transaction. We explored Neverwinter's world for a few weeks using the two character slots...
Taking it to the X level
Back in 2011, Mortal Kombat was reinvented for home consoles with its ninth entry, which amounted to what many consider to be the definitive game in the series. Introducing a story mode unlike anything ever included in a fighting game before it, as well as remixing characters, locations, and plot events from its...
Travelling without moving
One type of game that until now has yet to make the jump to Xbox One – some would say thankfully – is the endless runner. Made popular by the likes of Temple Run and a billion other pretenders on mobile devices, the genre has yet to really get a foothold on any home console platform. This is more than likely due to the...
Review Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China
Changing perspectives
The concept of taking the Assassin's Creed franchise into a 2.5D game world is certainly an interesting proposition. Many were wondering how Ubisoft and Climax Studios would go about getting the free-running elements of the main franchise into a side-scroller whilst keeping an element of freedom about the proceedings. The good...
Review The Evil Within: The Assignment
Extra marks for excellence
If you're expecting The Evil Within's first story-based DLC, The Assignment, to play anything like the main game, you may want to sit down and read this first. While the original gave players a chance to fight back the horrors with plenty of weapons and gadgets, The Assignment throws all of that away for a more methodical,...
Bleat It
If you have logged into Steam recently, you have undoubtedly noticed that there are simulators for just about every single type of activity. Farming? Check. Warehouse and Logistics? Of course! This trend is obviously ripe for parody, so it made sense that the April 1st release of Goat Simulator on Steam last year became a hit. Now over a...
Gone too soon
When it comes to twin-stick shooters, Geometry Wars changed the game when it reared its head back in 2003. Plenty of pretenders to the throne have come and gone and the release of Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (and the subsequent free content-doubling DLC pack) has raised the bar once again. Out twin-sticking the wireframe champion is...
Review Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
It's what's on the inside that counts
When Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel released back in October for last-generation consoles only, pretty much anyone and everyone with any understanding of this industry suspected it wouldn't be long before it found its way onto Xbox One. Sure enough, about 5 months later, it's shown up where we expected it to and...
Burnt out
When it comes to simulations of motorcycle racing, there's really only one name left in the business. When you buy a game based on MotoGP, Motocross, Superbikes, or anything else that runs on two wheels and has an engine, Italian developer Milestone is likely who will be behind it. With so many titles under their belt, we were expecting...
Bulletproof...We Wish It Was
Tower of Guns is a very simple game at its core. You play the protagonist, running through room after room of the eponymous tower, shooting anything mechanical that tries to do you harm. Once you've cleared a room, you shoot the door and move into another one to do the same, then repeat until you meet a boss character...
Review Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones
Sneaky Fun
It is quite fitting that Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones, a 2D stealth action game developed by Curve Digital, crept up on us. With the previous title being generally enjoyable, this was a game that was anticipated, but no more than your standard sequel. With this one though, you'll decide to play "an hour" before bed, and find that five...
Review Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty!
It's an odd, odd world.
Gamers may claim to be sick of remakes, but they keep selling. These remakes serve the purpose of updating past titles and allowing new people to experience them for the first time. The latest remake to hit Xbox One is Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty!, a remake of 1997's Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. Has time passed Oddworld by or is it...
Rack and ruined
Back in 2012, a game by the name of Pool Nation launched on Xbox 360. Pretty much overlooked by everyone other than hardcore fans of cue and ball action, it was a surprisingly good take on the sport, featuring a ludicrously addictive Endurance mode, great visuals, and smooth gameplay. Fast forward to 2015, and Pool Nation FX has...
Orange you glad we didn't say banana?
There weren't a great many solid titles released for Microsoft's first foray into motion-controlled console gaming, but few could argue that Fruit Ninja Kinect was anything less than a cracking game. Easy to get into, fun to play, and devilishly addictive, the game was ported from mobile platforms with aplomb by...
Police Brutality
Los Angeles is an odd location for a cop game. While the Los Angeles Police Department is one of the more famous precincts in America, it's famous for the wrong reasons. The LAPD is famous due to racism, unneeded brutality, and for being the catalyst for the 1992 LA riots. So unless you're trying to make some sort of larger point,...
Gettin' tough?
Like the Call of Duty franchise, Battlefield has been doing the same thing for a few years now, and some could argue that the result is becoming a bit stale. While Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare aimed to shake things up with futuristic weaponry and gadgets to spice up both the single-player and the competitive space, it still largely...
Review Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - Episode 4: Metamorphosis
Loose ends
Good or bad. This is what it all comes down to when discussing the fourth and final chapter of Resident Evil: Revelations 2. No, we aren’t simply talking about the quality of the episode — which remains as consistent as the previous ones — but rather the type of ending players will receive in the final act. Episode 4: Metamorphosis...
Nightmare is right
When Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War was released on the Xbox 360 back in 2008, it was a game that pretty much passed everyone by. Those who did play it tend to remember it with fondness, even though it was far from perfect. A genuinely inventive game that saw players leading battalions of troops across France while racking up...
A spell-cial surprise
While PSN and Steam have been quickly accumulating a substantial number of roguelikes, the Xbox One has certainly been lacking in this area. In fact, we aren’t sure if there’s a single game currently available for purchase in the Games Store that's built around this increasingly-popular design choice. Hope is not lost,...
Review Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - Episode 3: Judgment
The one with all the puzzles
Playing Resident Evil: Revelations 2 in its current episodic state really is like coming back to your favourite TV show each week. The quick recaps that preface each instalment do a good job highlighting all the important stuff, while at the same time, achieving a level of excitement for the next. Episode 3: Judgment...
Fade to black
With over-the-top prose, a very, very distinctive visual style, and with the potential for real thrills, White Night is absolutely stacked full of promise. A relatively low-key release, the game takes place exclusively in black-and-white, with the darkness only pierced by the occasional electric light and the lead character's ability...
Shift into turbo
The reopening of legendary video game publisher, Sierra, was met with much fanfare late last year. Now a part of Activision, Sierra's focus is on bringing high-quality downloadable indie titles to consoles. Their first release, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, was met with critical acclaim and proved to be a perfect jumping off point...
A bit of bump and grind
It's been a while since a decent skateboarding game has hit the shelves. The surprise resurgence in popularity of EA's Skate 3 with the YouTube generation, combined with the excitement over a new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater title being announced though, show that there's still a market for the genre. Hoping to kickflip into the...
Review Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - Episode 2: Contemplation
Better than the first
Without a doubt, the second episode of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 knows how to up the ante. The story is more compelling, the action more exciting, and the enemies significantly more challenging. While Episode 1 was a solid opening chapter, it also felt predictable and played things a little too safe. Episode 2, however —...
Review DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition
Here’s your chance to atone
Great games don’t always get the appreciation they deserve, and that’s a damn shame. Look at 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot, which was a smash hit with critics and most that played it, yet somehow it didn’t meet sales expectations. It’s a top-notch production all around, with refined gameplay, stunning art design,...
Review Ori and the Blind Forest
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...
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...
