Tag: Hands On
Hands On They're Rough Around the Edges, But It's Awesome to Have PS2 Games Back on PS5, PS4
Retro revival
Let’s try this again, eh? Sony originally released a batch of PS2 games on the PS4, but they were buggy, performed poorly, and lacked quality of life features. Now, with its well-established PS1 and PSP emulator, it’s giving the strategy another go – and including the releases in its PS Plus Premium subscription. But how are its...
Preview Metaphor: ReFantazio Is Already a Contender for RPG of the Year
No metaphors here
Metaphor: ReFantazio is a lot. We were only allowed to spend around an hour with Atlus’ upcoming RPG at this years’ Summer Game Fest, but in that time, we ran into egg enemies wearing boots; we acted like an ass to our other party members; we made kebabs with one of or companions; we also fought squid Jesus which had a heart...
Hands On Will Wuthering Waves Really Replace Genshin Impact on PS5, PS4?
A new challenger enters the arena
Wuthering Waves has released worldwide amid a global marketing campaign likely to have HoYoverse’s higher-ups in cold sweats. The game has seen wall-to-wall promotion here in Asia, where the release’s anime promotional material can be glimpsed in every baseball commercial break, inside most subway stations, and...
Hands On Stellar Blade Does PS5 New Game + the Right Way
A great reason to replay
Stellar Blade is a fantastic game that deserves your attention – but it actually got better after the review embargo lifted with the addition of New Game +. One of the only minor criticisms we had of the Shift Up title in our Stellar Blade PS5 review was that it felt like a game that deserved to be replayed, but during the...
Hands On Fallout 4 Next-Gen Runs Great on PS5, But Some Old Problems Persist
Fall in, Fallout
Ah, the Commonwealth. A great example of dense open world design, Fallout 4 still has its charms almost a full decade after its original release in 2015. We've spent a good ten hours or so with the game's freshly launched PS5 version, and we're here to report on our findings with regards to technical performance. For the record,...
Hands On Dragon's Dogma 2 Update Improves Frame Rate on PS5 at the Cost of Ray Tracing
30fps option feels pointless, though
Dragon's Dogma 2 has been blessed with some notable improvements via its first post-launch update. With patch 1.050, Capcom has implemented several graphics settings on PS5, and we're happy to report that the open world RPG has taken a decent step in the right direction. To start with, let's go over the options...
Hands On Unicorn Overlord Has the Potential to Be One of 2024's Best RPGs
Vanillaware doesn't miss
Look, at this point, we're automatically sold on anything Vanillaware does. The Japanese studio has an incredible track record stretching back to the PS2, and although it's an eternity away from being the most well-known developer in the world, there's simply no denying the quality of its output — especially in recent...
Hands On Honkai: Star Rail's Huge PS5 Update Brings Big BioShock Vibes
The city that always sleeps
The advantage of single player live service games like Honkai: Star Rail, for all the criticism they receive from enthusiasts, is that the action never ends. That makes updates like the enormous v2.0, which takes the Trailblazer to a new planet named Penacony, possible – and this is Chinese developer HoYoverse at its...
Hands On Suicide Squad Takes a Lot of Getting Used to, and It May Not Be Worth It
Our thoughts after three hours of play
If making you feel like a speedrunner was Rocksteady's intention as it put together the opening hours of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, then it at least nailed that aspect. Forcing one slapdash mission after another onto your HUD, the story introduction is told at such a breakneck pace that it can be...
Hands On Rocket Racing Is a Super Fun Drive Yet to Meet Its Full Potential
Drives me up the wall
To put it lightly, arcade racers struggle to succeed in this day and age. Big budget attempts are almost extinct, and indie efforts unfortunately rarely make an impact, regardless of quality. What's the answer, then? How can drift-obsessed, arcade racing, petrolheads get their over-the-top kicks? Well, here's one answer —...
Hands On Fortnite Festival Rekindles Fond Memories of a Forgotten PSP Favourite
Unplugged
You won’t find Rock Band Unplugged at the top of many Best PSP Games lists, but the Harmonix spin-off – released during the peak of plastic peripheral popularity – was one of the finest games you could find on Sony’s handheld during its pre-PS Vita renaissance circa-2009. A stripped-back version of the main console games, this...
Hands On The Finals Is One of the Most Exciting New Online Shooters in Years
Frenetic team shooter has a ton of promise
If you’re wondering what confidence feels like, try releasing your free-to-play shooter with no warning during The Game Awards, two days after CoD: Warzone's biggest free update in a year. That’s exactly what Embark Studios did at the end of last week with The Finals, and it’s fairly remarkable...
Hands On Genki ShadowCast 2 Pro - A Seriously Powerful Capture Card
Perfect for your PS5
Via its growing stable of products, hardware maker Human Things is slowly but surely changing the landscape of gaming tech. It all began with the Genki wireless USB adapter for Switch, which was supplanted by the Waveform wireless earbuds. Then, the firm expanded into the realm of Switch docks with the
Hands On Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Update Is an Outstanding, Game-Changing Overhaul
Chippin' back in
Cyberpunk 2077 has come a long, long, long way since we gave the initial PS4 version the most disappointing 3/10 review this website has ever seen back in 2020. We'd go as far to say it's been a great game since its release on PS5, and now, having spent over 50 hours with the title's highly anticipated 2.0 update (prior to its...
Hands On Red Dead Redemption PS4 Port Seems Solid, But Should Be So Much More
A remaster, but only just
The source of much criticism since its announcement, Red Dead Redemption — the freshly released PS4 port — admittedly isn't as half-arsed as we feared it would be. But at the same time, it's far from the remaster that such a beloved PS3 classic deserves. We've ran through the open world epic's opening hours in order to...
Hands On The Expanse: A Telltale Series PS5, PS4 Gets Off to a Strong Start
Kowlting gut, bosmang
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a newly-reanimated Telltale Games' first outing since filing for bankruptcy in 2018, before reviving a year later under LCG Entertainment. Now, with many of the studio's original staff having returned in a freelance capacity, the first episode (of five) is available, and we were eager to dive...
Hands On Exoprimal PS5, PS4 Shows Early Promise, But May Not Have Staying Power
Dino crisis
Capcom has been on a winning run with critically acclaimed releases like Street Fighter 6 and the recent Resident Evil 4 remake. Oddball dinosaur shooter Exoprimal always looked like a risk to its unflinching reputation, however: the publisher doesn’t have the best track-record with online shooters – just look at the dour Resident...
Hands On The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Is Massively Underwhelming So Far
House of horrors
At what point do we consider Until Dawn a curse? UK developer Supermassive has been trying to better the PS4 narrative horror for the best part of a decade, with both its ongoing The Dark Pictures anthology and standalone The Quarry coming up short. Now, based on the first half of our playthrough, we’re sad to report that the...
Preview Has Like a Dragon: Ishin's Journey to the West on PS5, PS4 Been Worth the Wait?
SEGA's historical period drama finally arrives overseas
It’s as ancient as Like a Dragon: Ishin’s backdrop, but there was a time when Yakuza fans had to fight tooth and nail like Kazuma Kiryu for Yakuza games. Back when Yakuza Ishin released as a Japanese exclusive launch title for the PS4 in 2014, PlayStation’s third-party evangelist Gio...
Hands On PSVR2 Represents the Next Big Step for VR
Our first impressions having played it
For the time, Sony's PSVR headset was competent and functional. It didn't push the boat out compared to other devices, but by making itself at least somewhat affordable, Sony struck gold with the best-selling VR headset to date. The firm is now looking to beat the sales of the device with PSVR2, except it's...
Hands On Is Marvel's Midnight Suns Any Good on PS5?
Strategic superheroes
In the aftermath of Cyberpunk 2077, any game that leads solely with PC reviews is right to arouse suspicion. We only received PS5 review code for Marvel’s Midnight Suns today, and have been eager to put the release through its paces in order to bring you some early hands-on impressions. The good news is, so far, we’ve had...
Hands On Crunchy Combat Shines in PS5, PS4's Wildly Impressive The Callisto Protocol
Prison break
You’ve got to feel a semblance of sympathy for Striking Distance Studios. Fronted by Dead Space’s executive producer Glen Schofield, the team has clearly designed The Callisto Protocol in direct response to the clamours for a return to EA’s iconic sci-fi horror. But on the eve of the gruesome debut’s release, Motive has started...
Hands On God of War Ragnarok on PS5, PS4 Is PlayStation At Its Pomp
Impressive, boy
After several hours with God of War Ragnarok there are some things we can tell you and much, much more we cannot, but we’ll begin with our overriding sentiment so far: this is why we love PlayStation. The reality is, biased as we may be, no one does it quite like PS Studios. Nintendo may be the kings of gameplay – and, to be...
Hands On Resident Evil 4 PS5 Makes a Masterpiece Even Better
We played the remake's first 30 minutes
In 2023, there won't be a safer full-price purchase than the Resident Evil 4 remake. With the 2005 original still judged to be one of the best games of all time, it's extremely difficult to see how a PS5, PS4 modernisation could go pear-shaped. A recent Hands On session at Capcom's UK headquarters revealed to...
And the community is playing a huge part
We shouldn’t forget that Media Molecule makes amazing games. The likes of Tearaway and LittleBigPlanet were award-winners, but Dreams’ post-release discussion has centred squarely on its community. This will please the modest Guildford-based first-party, of course: it has one of the most collaborative...
Hands On Side-Scrolling Multiplayer Shooter SquadBlast Is Like 2D Overwatch
And it has potential
It's difficult to stand out in today's overcrowded games market, especially in the highly competitive, make-or-break multiplayer landscape. We don't envy any developer currently crafting a game that needs thousands of players logging in each and every day. However, the right combination of interesting concept and good execution...
Hands On You Know What? Sonic Frontiers Might Actually Be Okay
Maybe
We played Sonic Frontiers at EGX not once, but twice. Normally, we wouldn't put ourselves through a Sonic demo more than necessary, and the queue was, as you'd expect, constantly lengthy. The trouble is, after playing the 15-minute slice of the "open zone" experience for the first time, we realised something rather shocking. Had we really just...
Hands On Goat Simulator 3 Doubles Down on the Dumb on PS5
Goated
As the playable demo for Goat Simulator 3 got started, we had to ask: what's the real reason Coffee Stain North labelled this as the third game in the series, when it is, in fact, the second? Stuart Docherty, sound designer and composer, provided a simple, honest answer. It turns out the team just thought it would be really funny. This would...
Hands On Modern Warfare 2 Scraps Red Dots, But This Is a Great Beta
Mini-map mysteries
"Welcome to the new era of Call of Duty," the Modern Warfare 2 beta very proudly proclaims on the PS5 home screen. Is it, though? Infinity Ward's latest looks a lot like the other 18 mainline instalments before it, but with Warzone 2 alongside the main game, we could be about to enter another generation of Call of Duty dominance...
Hands On Shadows of Rose Turns Resident Evil Village into Magic
Return to Castle Dimitrescu
If Resident Evil Village was proof Capcom isn't afraid to change the sort of enemies its survival horror franchise has to offer, then DLC Shadows of Rose is evidence the developer can do the very same for its main character. Ethan Winters' daughter Rose may use the same weapons her father became accustomed to, but she has...
Hands On Street Fighter 6 Makes It Fun for Newcomers
Quick Step to victory
Every game genre comes with some level of complexity, but fighters perhaps struggle the most with their onboarding process. With more complex controls to master and a hardcore community to get up to speed with, it's no surprise many newcomers fall at the first hurdle. Street Fighter 6 attempts to streamline those first few...
Hands On Star Ocean: The Divine Force Needs Work, Serious Work
Charge my AP Gauge
You've always been able to tell when Square Enix has decided not to give one of its upcoming RPGs a suitable budget, but the Star Ocean series feels like an IP devoted entirely to the lower echelons of its monetary commitments. Not since the PS2 generation has the franchise had a quality instalment, and The Divine Force looks set...
Hands On Valkyrie Elysium May Well Be a Pleasant Surprise
Goddess of war
Announced in the same State of Play showcase as Star Ocean: The Divine Force, the return of the Valkyrie series with Valkyrie Elysium isn't getting quite as much fanfare as it perhaps deserves. With a PS5, PS4 release just weeks away, a demo quietly released on the PS Store
Hands On Crisis Core Is a Welcome Reunion with Final Fantasy VII
We're on a Digital Mind Wave
It's already been almost two and a half years since Square Enix reinvented the story of its 1997 JRPG classic Final Fantasy VII, and we're itching to see what the Japanese publisher has in store next. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will provide those answers next winter, but to tide us over until then, Crisis Core: Final...
Hands On Train Sim World 3 PS5, PS4 Is on Track to Be Dovetail's Best Railway Sim Yet
Rollin', rollin'
Train Sim World 3 chugs to PS5 and PS4 today, and while we need to spend several more hours in the driver’s seat before we bring you a verdict, we thought we’d engage the throttle on our first impressions. TL;DR: it’s a revelation compared to Train Sim World 2 in some ways, thanks to the tidier user interface and vastly...
Hands On Sonic Frontiers Is a Positive Step Forward That Needs Further Work
Welcome to the Starfall Islands
Sonic Frontiers didn't leave the strongest impression when SEGA first revealed it. Despite positive first previews, concerns were raised regarding combat and the game's visual design, amplified by the publisher's
Hands On Turning Back Time with Train Sim World 2's Spirit of Steam on PS5, PS4
Steamy stuff
In the aftermath of the Train Sim World 3 announcement this week, this rail head couldn’t resist returning to Train Sim World 2 for one last relaxing trip on the tracks – and Spirit of Steam was always going to be our destination. In truth, readers, Dovetail Games was kind enough to hook yours truly up with a code when it released...
Hands On The DioField Chronicle Is a Bit Dull, But It Could Still Be a Special Strategy RPG
Fredret and the dreamers
When The DioField Chronicle was first announced, we must admit that its debut trailer didn't leave us impressed. Believe it or not, out-of-context dialogue slapped over janky-looking gameplay cuts isn't the best way to sell a project. Thankfully, Square Enix has made the right move in giving the game a lengthy playable demo...
Hands On Digimon Survive Has Potential, But It Feels Padded So Far
Visual novel RPG is slow to start
Digimon Survive is out right now for PS4, but you may have noticed that we don't have a review here on Push Square yet. This is unfortunately due to issues outside of our control, but having sunk roughly six hours into the game, we thought that it would be best to bring you some hands on impressions ahead of the...
Hands On Rollerdrome Feels Utterly Phenomenal to Play
We preview the first six levels
There's a real sense of speed, motion, and style fuelling Rollerdrome that can only be matched by the early Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games of the PS1 era. The second game in the space of six months from British team Roll7 feels sublime to play, asking you to kill enemies with a touch of swagger in between performing...
Hands On Saints Row Is That Same Dumb Fun, But Better
Like a boss
It almost feels like the initial, divided reaction to the new Saints Row title was for an entirely different game considering how similarly it plays to past entries. We recently had the chance to play the latest open worlder for a whole four hours, and we can report this is the same Saints Row you know and — quite possibly — love...
Hands On The Crew 2's PS5 Patch Feels Better at 60fps, But There's a Catch
It's stinging our eyes
The Crew 2, due in part to outstanding ongoing support from publisher Ubisoft and developer Ivory Tower, remains relevant four years on from its original release. In fact, you could argue the game is getting better, with the latest season adding events inspired by Formula Drift World Champion Chris Forsberg – it’s...
Hands On Destruction AllStars' Improvements Tease PS5's Live Service Future
Glimpses of a new era
We’ll let you in on a secret: we had a wager running at Push Square Towers regarding when Sony would pull the plug on Destruction AllStars. This may prove difficult reading for the team at Lucid Games, so it’s important to stress that our internal book was entirely tongue-in-cheek – after all, we’d never purposefully...
Hands On Assassin's Creed Origins PS5 Patch Reminds Us That It's One of the Series' Best Games
A cut above Odyssey and Valhalla
It might be cool to hate on Assassin's Creed these days, but there's no getting away from the fact that the series is more successful than ever before, raking in absurd amounts of dosh for Ubisoft. What was once a stealth-focused sandbox franchise is now a proper open world RPG property, with Assassin's Creed Odyssey...
Hands On Roller Champions Has a Strong Core, But Struggles to Maintain Momentum
Dropped the ball?
Roller Champions is the newly released free-to-play multiplayer game from Ubisoft, presenting players with a brand new digital sport to master. On a surface level, it combines roller derby with basketball, though it folds in its own rules to make for a fresh experience. It's a perfectly good idea, and there are most definitely...
Hands On Two Point Campus on PS5, PS4 Is a Tycoon Title That's Too Cool for School
School's out for summer
What a time to be alive! This author grew up on the Bullfrog era of tycoon titles, meticulously managing theme parks and hospitals on a 14” CRT from the edge of his bed. That spirit is very much alive with the Aardman-inspired Two Point series; the excellent Two Point Hospital already reminded patients not to die in the...
Hands On MultiVersus Leans on Fantastic Cast of Characters in Entertaining Smash Clone
Nostalgiaverse
MultiVersus, as its name implies, is a game in which characters from disparate worlds come together to duke it out. To what end, we're not sure, but it makes for a wildly entertaining platform fighter nonetheless. If you grew up watching Tom & Jerry, for example, hearing the cat's iconic scream as he's flung from the arena is...
Hands On Sifu's New Difficulty Settings are a Superb Addition
Something for everyone
When Sifu first launched back in February, its steep difficulty curve wasn't necessarily criticised, but it was enough to put a lot of potential players off. Indeed, even if you go take a look at our review — which dropped prior to release — the comments section is full of people questioning whether they'd be willing to...
Hands On Matchpoint: Tennis Championships Could Be the Ace We've Been Waiting For
We 15-love it so far
When you really stop and think about it, tennis and video games will forever be tied. Pong, one of the earliest arcade success stories, may be simplistic – but it’s effectively tennis in everything but name. Ever since this author got Anna Kournikova’s Smash Court Tennis on the PS1 (remember her?!), we’ve been huge fans...
Hands On Sniper Elite 5's PS5, PS4 Sandbox Design Has Us Hyped
Lone ranger
With open worlds larger than ever, we appreciate the developers designing denser sandbox levels. Ever since the excellent GoldenEye on Nintendo 64, we’ve been a fan of the sandbox format: the idea that a single stage can be approached in a dozen different ways, whether it’s stealth, full-on combat, or a combination of both. Hitman...
