Latest Reviews
Mini Review Pixel Ripped 1978 (PSVR2) - Atari Adds Impressively to Newest Nostalgic Treat
A matter of time and place
Gaming heroine Dot is back for her third adventure, and this time, developer ARVORE has gone even further back in time than with Pixel Ripped 1989 or 1995. Now, we travel back to 1978 and bask in the glory of the era of Atari. Not only does the game deify and lampoon all manner of Atari projects, but with 1978, the title...
Review Amnesia: The Bunker (PS4) - WW1 Terror Marks an Upgrade for Frictional Games
The darkest descent
After effectively pioneering a new type of horror experience in 2010's Amnesia: The Dark Descent, developer Frictional Games hasn't shown much willingness to create something wholly authentic all over again. Two sequels followed the revolutionary original — with a few years of production set aside for SOMA — but with little...
Review We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie (PS5) - A Great Version of the Series' Highlight
Is it too on the nose to say We Love Katamari?
After the immense success of Katamari Damacy, The King of All Cosmos deems fit to send his miniature son back to the planet earth to grant the requests of fans of the original game. This bizarre fourth-wall destroying plot serves to kick off a suitably bizarre game: We Love Katamari. Following on from...
Mini Review Red Matter 2 (PSVR2) - Soviet Sci-Fi Sequel Makes for an Exquisite Follow-Up
In space, no one can hear you solve puzzles
Vertical Robot has delivered a stellar follow-up to its 2018 puzzler, Red Matter. Stepping into the shoes of Sasha, it’s up to you to chase down and locate your friend — believed dead — before uncovering an SOS message. This message leads you to a Soviet space station orbiting Saturn. One thing...
Mini Review Budget Cuts Ultimate (PSVR2) - Strong Stealth Adventure Cut Back by Tracking Issues
Don't run with scissors
Budget Cuts Ultimate is a virtual reality stealth action adventure from indie developer Neat Corporation. You take on the role of the last human worker within TransCorp, a factory that has taken optimisation to a whole other level by replacing employees with robots. After you receive a mysterious briefcase from an outsider,...
Mini Review Killer Frequency (PS5) - An Intriguing Call-in Murder Mystery
Radio is dead
Killer Frequency is an odd concoction that just about delivers on its unusual premise. Playing as Forrest Nash, a smooth-talking DJ on a small town's local radio station, you're in charge of a late night call-in show. On top of that, though, a serial killer is on the loose, and the tiny police department is in disarray. Somehow, it...
Mini Review The Tartarus Key (PS4) - Quality PS1 Horror All About Puzzles
SAW loser
If games paying tribute to the low poly graphics of the PS1 era are going to be this good, then long may the renaissance continue. The Tartarus Key is a lot like classic Resident Evil without any of the combat or the undead enemies, told from the first-person perspective. You've woken up in a booby-trapped mansion, and a series of...
Mini Review Loop8: Summer of the Gods (PS4) - Shallow RPG With a Repetitive Time Loop Mechanic
Let’s do the time warp again
Part visual novel, part RPG, Loop8: Summer of the Gods is an interesting idea which unfortunately ends up stuck in a bit of a rut. It all starts off well enough, with the game’s protagonist Nini moving to a small town and one of the few safe havens left on Earth. Humanity has been driven to the brink of extinction...
Mini Review Beat Saber (PSVR2) - A Serviceable Port of One of VR's Best Games
May the force feedback be with you
Beat Saber is one of the best VR experiences you can play. The king of the VR rhythm scene and a constant presence on top-seller lists, Beat Saber finally makes its way over to the current generation with PSVR2. To read our initial thoughts on the PSVR game from 2018, you can view that here. To see how the port...
Review Diablo 4 (PS5) - Blizzard's Best in Years Is a Violent Delight for Infernal Types
By three, they come
Already the benchmark for AAA isometric action RPGs, Blizzard's series reaches dizzying new heights with Diablo 4. With endlessly gratifying combat, deep customisation, and virtually limitless build options, it's a Hell of a ride, front to back, and we can't wait to dive back in. Diablo 4, we're pleased to report, is an infernal...
Review Street Fighter 6 (PS5) - Iconic Capcom Fighting Franchise Finds Its Form
Hadouking
Capcom saw your Street Fighter 5 complaints and threw the kitchen sink at its vastly superior successor. Street Fighter 6 is a live service game that will grow and expand over the course of the entire generation, but those anticipating a light, half-hearted effort at launch will find one of the most robust, feature-rich fighters of all...
Review Company of Heroes 3 (PS5) - Veteran RTS Series Enjoys Pyrrhic Victory on PS5
Fire in the hole
After almost two decades of setting the standard for WWII real-time strategy on PC, Relic Entertainment's venerable series reaches PS5 with Company of Heroes 3. Burdened by a hefty legacy, it's another valiant attempt at streamlining the genre's interface for controllers. It succeeds in part, but the masterful combat is at odds with...
Mini Review Railway Empire 2 (PS5) - Locomotive Strategy Sim Has Signal Failure
All aboard the innovation train
Throwing us into the brink of a revolution, Railway Empire 2 starts in 1830 at the dawn of the age of railways. It’s an exciting time for the rail industry, with many competing companies wanting a piece of the pie and many discoveries changing the face of rail travel. There are various game modes, including a...
Review Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust (PS5) - Better Than the Main Game
Square Enix just did that
In Tanta We Trust is a rare example of DLC better than the main game it's based on, but that doesn't mean you need to rush out and buy a PS5 copy of Forspoken in order to play it. This optional expansion trumps the original campaign purely because it doesn't need to bother with the baggage of an open world experience: vast...
Mini Review Nock (PSVR2) - Intensely Addictive Bow-and-Arrow Football
Nocket League
Nock is a bow-and-arrow football title from developer Normal VR. Equipped with skates, a high jump, and a bow-and-arrow, you must shoot the ball into your online opponent’s net across the three available game modes: 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3. Nock focuses heavily on exhilarating traversal with big empty arenas being the perfect space for it...
Review The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (PS5) - There's Nothing Precious About This
We don't likes it, precioussss
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum poses itself as an epic quest across the treacherous realms of Middle-earth, where an inner conflict will rage inside the mind of one halfling. Of course we refer to the split-personality of both Smeagol and Gollum, an integral character across both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings...
Review Miasma Chronicles (PS5) - A Frustratingly Uneven But Mostly Rewarding Tactical RPG
Kicking My-Ass-Ma
Miasma Chronicles is a tactical role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic America in which the disparity between the haves and have-nots has grown to an unfathomable degree. The country is ruled by The First Family; an untouchable, self-serving elite born from the ashes of big corporation in the post-cataclysm world. They've got...
Review After Us (PS5) - Big Swings and Some Big Misses in This Artsy Platformer
The Last of After Us
When developing a game, having lofty ambitions in mind for your project can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if everything involved works in concert to execute on a well-defined creative vision, the results can be magical. However, if any of what you strive to accomplish misses the mark, each failure shines that much...
Mini Review Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (PS5) - Rock Solid Shooter Gets Bogged Down in Design
Heretical thoughts
The resurgence of old school shooters has given us some corkers in recent times, including the fantastic Prodeus. But to stand out in this new era of DOOM-esque blast-'em-ups, you need a hook — and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun certainly has that, thanks to its unmistakable Warhammer 40k aesthetic. You play as a big and bulky space...
Mini Review Glitch Busters: Stuck on You (PS4) - Co-Op Platforming Shooter Doesn't Stack Up
Stuck on the environment
Glitch Busters: Stuck on You is a one to four player, cooperative, platforming shoot-'em-up from developer Toylogic. In a far-flung future, you play as four AI Tubers that can only be described as emoji-faced Smarties with magnets for legs. They're on a mission to cleanse Interland of Badface's bugs and glitches, with the...
Review Bus Simulator 21: Next Stop (PS5) - Bright and Breezy Sim Is Better Than Ever
Stop it
Bus Simulator 21: Next Stop is not the refined PS5 showcase you’re going to show to all your friends. Despite benefitting from a couple years of extra iteration, this expanded new-gen port is still scrappy, with buggy AI behaviour and an underlying sense that the game code is almost falling apart behind-the-scenes. That said, few series...
Not quite haute cuisine
Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook is a turn-based, strategy RPG roguelike that sees a group of adventurers in the wrong place at the wrong time, stuck in an increasingly difficult dungeon while on the brink of starvation. Picking your primary character, you’re instantly thrown into a whole host of customisation...
Review LEGO 2K Drive (PS5) - A Creative All-Ages Kart Racer with Irksome Microtransactions
Building up speed
LEGO 2K Drive is so nearly there. This colourful arcade racing title makes great use of its licence, and has laid down a great foundation for fun, chaotic driving. However, for as much as the LEGO brand brings to a game like this, publisher 2K Games clearly saw dollar signs over its monetisation potential. The end result is a super...
Mini Review Tin Hearts (PS5) - Charming Lemmings Inspired Adventure Has Moving Storytelling
Quick march
Tin Hearts is a Lemmings-style game from Guildford based developer Rogue Sun. You play from the first-person perspective of a spectral being, exploring and experiencing Albert J Butterworth’s family life memories as you lead wind-up toy soldiers around his workshop, getting them from point A to point B by possessing various objects...
Mini Review Walkabout Mini Golf (PSVR2) - Teerrific, Whole-in-One Experience Fore the Players
May the course be with you
Walkabout Mini Golf is a mini golf virtual reality game from the developer Mighty Coconut. You’ll be teeing off solo or with up to seven other players online across a wide range of different locales. From a good old-fashioned turf course to wading through the dark depths of the ocean floor, golfing has never been more...
Review Humanity (PS5) - PS Plus Puzzler Is an Unusual But Enthralling Journey
We're just innocent men
In many respects, Humanity feels very much like something Sony's Japan Studio would've made about 15 years ago. We of course mean that as a compliment; an experimental game that doesn't quite conform to normal conventions, instead carving out a new path with a weird, singular vision. We can put this bizarre new puzzler from...
Mini Review Zool Redimensioned (PS4) - Blast from the Past Packs Neat Modern Features
Return of the ninja
Gremlin Interactive has a storied history, dating back to the early days of console gaming. Developing titles for Commodore 64, marshalling the Premiere Manager series through several generations, and later heading to PlayStation (anybody remember cult isometric shooter Loaded and its sequel?) — it's safe to say it has a varied...
Mini Review Another Fisherman's Tale (PSVR2) - A Charming VR Sequel to a Charming VR Game
A whale of a tale
The first Fisherman’s Tale was a clever puzzler that made use of a recursive lighthouse as the crux of its problem solving. Now, in the sequel, you assume the role of the titular fisherman’s daughter. You have a cluttered basement loaded with some elaborate dioramas. It turns out that when you were a kid, your Dad would use...
Mini Review Garden Simulator (PS5) - Grow Your Troubles Away
The grass is greener
Garden Simulator does what it says on the tin. Fed up with the rat race, and with a very pointed reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, the main character has had to work from home for the last few months and is struggling with worsening mental health. They move to their family’s old homestead to revive it and improve their own...
Mini Review Revita (PS5) - The Ultimate Roguelite Experience
It’s high time you clocked in
Revita is a 2D platforming roguelite twin-stick shooter from small indie developer BenStar. You play as a young blue-haired child, who awakens on the metro with no recollection of who they are. When leaving the train, you are faced with a long journey of self-discovery as you ascend an ominous clocktower in search of...
