Tag: Reviews - Page 28
Review Five Nights at Freddy's 2 - A Sinister Sequel That Dials Up The Complexity
New location, same horrors
Five Nights at Freddy’s took the world by storm after its August 2014 release, yet series creator Scott Cawthon wasn’t one to simply rest on his laurels. A mere three months after the first game’s debut, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 was available for purchase, offering an expanded and revised take on that basic cat...
Review Farming Simulator 20 - Fine Farming With Some Serious Simulation
Keep farm and carry on
While reviews of any sort can only ever be subjective, sometimes writers have to don a different 'hat', so to speak. Games often have particular tempos or ways of doing things that may not marry with your mindset at the time, with other work and deadlines looming. Farming Simulator 20 requires a very particular hat – a...
Review Five Nights At Freddy's - Accessible Horror That Loses Its Edge Too Quickly
"The characters do tend to wander a bit..."
When it first launched in 2014, Five Nights at Freddy’s seemed for all the world like just another basic low-effort horror game; the sort of thing that wouldn’t make much of a splash in the broader gaming world. However, thanks to the help of some popular YouTube creators and a rapid-fire succession of...
Review Alien: Isolation - One Of The Greatest Horror Games Of All Time Comes To Switch
Get away from her, you Switch!
Straight off the back of a fantastic port of Grid Autosport on Switch, Feral Interactive is back with Creative Assembly's survival horror masterpiece, Alien: Isolation. The game's been out and receiving rave reviews since 2014 so we guess the first thing you'll want to know is have they managed to squeeze all of this...
Review Where The Water Tastes Like Wine - A Unique Narrative Experience That Fails As A Video Game
Don't take a sip
Given our hobby's slavish pursuit of the validation and prestige afforded to cinema, it's entirely common (and expected) for a video game to want to tell a story. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine goes beyond these limited aspirations, instead offering a story about stories, where narrative is your weapon and your currency. That...
Review Monkey Barrels - Thrilling Twin-Stick Shooter Action That Gets Samey A Little Too Fast
b-a-n-a-n-a-s!
There’s a pretty good chance you aren’t too familiar with developer Good-Feel. You will, however, be very familiar with some of their previous titles. Working almost exclusively with Nintendo since the days of the DS, Good-Feel has brought us titles such as Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and – most recently –...
Review Decay Of Logos - An Epic Mess Of A Game, Despite The Lengthy Delay On Switch
Soulless
Originally planned for release back in August on Switch, Decay of Logos was delayed by its developers in order to fix some issues with the game on Nintendo's platform. We played this original version back at the time and found it seriously lacking, suffering from a crushing number of gameplay bugs, some terribly muddy graphics and a dire...
Review House of Golf - Mini-Golf Madness Held Back By Some Awkward Issues
Suburbian tee off
Everyone loves a good game of mini-golf. The wacky courses and absurd obstacles combine to create a challenging, yet accessible game that almost anybody can get stuck into. There have been countless video games based on mini-golf, ranging from console titles like Carnival Games: Mini Golf to smaller, flash-based games of varying...
Review The Touryst - A Visually Stunning Island-Hop That's Loads Of Fun
We're Going To Ybiza
Shin'en Multimedia seem to wield some sort of superpower when it comes to pulling perfect performance out of the Switch. Fast RMX, Its superb Wipeout-style future racer – which helped fill a gap in the console's launch when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe arrived late – was, and still is, a dazzlingly handsome beast that runs at a...
Review Construction Simulator 2 US - Console Edition - A Celebration Of The Mundane
Building your construction empire has never been so fun
“Magnificent,” says Pete, your flatbed truck driving instructor and future foreman. “Congratulations on passing basic training. Now you can go ahead and fulfil your dream of running your own construction company.” You’ve never even thought of going into the construction business...
Mini Review Raining Blobs - Can't Compete With The Best The Genre Has To Offer
Familiar territory
Anyone even remotely familiar with game franchises like Puyo Pop and Tetris will feel right at home with Raining Blobs. It’s a puzzle game in which you need to match up coloured globules that fall down the screen in order to wipe them from the board, scoring combos and points in the process. That’s more or less all there is to...
Review Yaga - An Average Action Adventure Saved By Its Engaging Sense Of Humour
Ivan the (Not So) Terrible
Yaga is an action RPG steeped in Slavic folklore that tells the story of Ivan, an unlucky one-armed blacksmith who becomes accidentally embroiled in a supernatural beef and ends up on the adventure of his lifetime. You see the Baba Yaga, that mysterious old woman who dwells deep in the forest in a house built on chicken...
Mini Review Zumba Burn it Up! - Ring Fit Adventure Too Crazy For You? Try This Instead
Rhythmic calorie counting
Out of all of the family-centric games introduced during the lifetime of the absurdly popular Nintendo Wii, only a handful have seemingly thrived and continued into the present day. Perhaps the most prevalent is the Just Dance franchise, which releases every year like clockwork, but the Zumba series is just about hanging by...
Review Narcos: Rise Of The Cartels - An XCOM-Style Outing That Doesn't Live Up To The Show
Plata o plomo?
Remember when licensed games used to be all the rage? A generation ago, practically every film worth its salt had a tie-in video game, and while there were the occasional good ones – GoldenEye 007 anyone? – for the most part, they were a cheap and forgettable way to boost your Gamerscore while simultaneously filling up the shelves...
Review Disney Tsum Tusm Festival - A Colourful Party Game That Isn't As Fun As It Looks
Less 'Heigh Ho', more 'hey ho'
Like the toys themselves, Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is a mutated mess that is both adorable and yet utterly bewildering. On the face of it, this is a collection of mini-games populated by stylised versions of your favourite Disney characters, yet it doesn’t quite live up to that promise. This is in part down to its...
Review Romancing SaGa 3 - A JRPG Classic That's Often Quite Hard To Love
"You and me could write a bad romance"
It would take years to fully play through the entirety of Square Enix’s seemingly bottomless back catalogue of RPGs, and though the company is best known for genre stalwarts such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, there’s also a staggering number of ‘other’ offerings that – for some reason or another...
Hardware Hyperkin Admiral Review - Wireless N64 Controller Goodness
Cut the cord
Anyone who's ever crammed around a TV with a Nintendo 64, GoldenEye 007 and a few friends will know the struggles that the short cord on the N64's controller caused. Few companies have tried to remedy this in the past with controller extensions – and controllers that just don't hit the mark – but no one has really succeeded...
Review Black Future '88 - A Frantic Cyberpunk Classic
Cyber delight
Everybody’s been bitten by the cyberpunk bug recently, with CD Projekt Red’s long-awaited Cyberpunk 2077 finally being unleashed on the world next year. There’s no word as of yet regarding whether the futuristic adventure will be following The Witcher 3's leather-booted footsteps over to Nintendo’s machine, but those waiting...
Review Animus: Harbinger - A Budget Dark Souls Clone Which Needed More Polish
Diet Souls
Animus: Harbinger attempts to take the well-worn Dark Souls style of slow, methodical combat and create a boss-rush game that sees you battle your way through a total of twenty-one small arena levels, defeating a handful of run-of-the-mill enemies before taking on an area boss in order to gain new weapons, grab upgrade shards and money to...
Review Thief of Thieves: Season One - More Of A Snore Than A Score
Like Inspector Clouseau, but without the comedy
It's not hard to see what Rival Games was thinking with Thief of Thieves. Take a long-running comic series by Robert Kirkman, co-creator of The Waking Dead, give it the Telltale Games treatment with fancy cel-shaded comic book stylings, add some Hitman-lite sneaking about in trendy European locations...
Review Bee Simulator - An Interesting Idea That Never Really Takes Flight
To Bee or not to Bee? That is the question
For many years, simulator games were previously the preserve of uber-serious players, keen to try out loving recreations of pastimes that could charitably be called dull. If a game had ‘Simulator’ in the title, it was a clear sign that it’d be an admirably straight-faced experience, with a focus on...
Review Children Of Morta - This Enjoyable Rogue-Lite Is A Family Affair
The family that slays together stays together
There's absolutely no shortage of excellent retro-pixel style roguelikes and rogue-lites on Switch, with the likes of Enter the Gungeon, The Binding of Isaac, Crypt of the Necrodancer and Dead Cells being just a few of
Review Headsnatchers - Multiplayer Mayhem Mangled By Manky Controls
Don’t lose your head
Headsnatchers is a surprisingly unique party game in which you need to, er… snatch the heads off your opponent’s bodies in order to score points. This may be by kicking the head into a football (soccer to those on the other side of the pond) goal, slam-dunking the head into a basketball hoop, or climbing to the top of a...
Review The Lord Of The Rings: Adventure Card Game - Can Be Rather Hobbit-Forming If You Let It
All hands on deck
Having found success as a more traditional tabletop card game, the artist formerly known as The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game has finally made the transition to the world of virtual decks. Having emerged from Early Access on PC, The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game arrives on consoles with cross-play and all the story...
Review Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story - A Neat Bonus, But That's About It
Hot-Blooded Tough Guy Kobayashi Side Story
Unless you are a hardcore Kunio fanatic, there's a good chance that "Kobayashi who?" might be the first thing that goes through your head as you read this, so it's best we start off this review with a small introduction. Kobayashi Masao is both leader and strongest member of Reihō Academy’s Shitennō –...
Review Skybolt Zack - Fast-Paced Action That Punishes And Delights In Almost Equal Measure
Faster than a speeding bullet
With Skybolt Zack being the first game to be published by popular online video game retailer Green Man Gaming, you could be forgiven for thinking that the e-commerce giant would play it safe and release a title with broad commercial appeal; perhaps a title that fits snugly into an obvious genre with familiar mechanics...
Review Monaco: Complete Edition - Thrilling Heist Action That's Perfect For Couch Co-Op
"I love it when a game comes together"
Breaking out of prison is easy, but staying out is something else entirely. When your face is on every police poster in the country, there’s only one place to go – Monaco. That’s the goal for the gang of criminals who make up the ensemble cast of top-down stealth-shooter Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine...
Review Raging Loop - A Gorgeous Visual Novel Cursed With Pacing Problems
Kill or be killed
If you’ve ever had a friend excitedly praise whatever TV series they’re currently watching only to have them, almost apologetically, say “it starts off really slow but gets really good about 12 episodes/chapters in” then you’ll have a really good idea of what it’s like to play Raging Loop. Initially, Raging Loop’s...
Review Hello Kitty Kruisers - If Your Age Is In The Double Digits, This Is Best Avoided
So easy an actual cat could play it
It’s odd what passes for rare these days. Take Hello KItty Kruisers, for example; released physically on the Wii U in limited numbers, it can be bought on the Wii U eShop for a mere ten bucks and yet the boxed version regularly sells to collectors for upwards of $60 online. Thankfully, the game has now...
Review WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship - A Decent Racer That Struggles In Switch's Portable Mode
Hits the skids
After the disappointment that was V-Rally 4 on Switch – the only other 'pure' rally game currently available on Nintendo's console which arrived in something of a shambolic state – can developer Kylotonn return to the platform and finally give fans of the genre something to smile about with the latest entry in its WRC series of...
Review Sparklite - An Enjoyable Rogue-Lite That Pays Homage To Zelda In The Best Way
Spark lite, spark bright, you must play Sparklite
Sparklite is a charming action-adventure game that channels the Zelda franchise whilst satisfyingly differentiating itself and establishing its own quirks and nuances. Players will find something both familiar and new here, but what everyone will definitely agree on is that this is an instant...
Review Root Letter: Last Answer - A Clumsy, Laughable Stab At A Visual Novel
The Last Answer to a question no one asked
Do you have a niggling doubt about something you experienced as a child? Something unresolved or unexplained? Perhaps we all have a faint memory that haunts us; a gentle denial that we think we’ll never have to face up to. Have you a tingle in your spine? A skeleton in your closet, a secret sin you’ve...
Review Pokémon Sword And Shield - A Solid Start To Gen 8 On Switch, Despite The Hate
Dynamaxing expectations
If there’s one thing everyone knows about Pokémon Sword and Shield is that they have been talked about. They have been talked about a lot. Whether it’s the controversy surrounding the omission of individual Pokémon or a tree that looks a bit too low-res for people’s tastes, chatter about these games has been incessant...
Review Bubble Bobble 4 Friends - A Timely Update That Proves Classic Gameplay Never Ages
One of the great arcade classics makes a welcome return
Since the release of the original arcade classic Bubble Bobble by Taito in 1986, the core of the series has pretty much stayed with its well-proven formula. The biggest deviations being Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars, two sequels which returned Bub and Bob to their human forms. However, it's...
Review The Stretchers - An Unexpected And Utterly Hilarious eShop Delight
Stretch Goals
The Stretchers is hilarious. Tarsier's comedy co-op puzzler that's just dropped unannounced onto the Switch eShop is a big, bright blast of ludicrously OTT ragdoll physics-based slapstick that sees you and a friend – you can play solo but two is the sweet spot here – take control of a pair of wibbly-wobbly paramedics and their...
Review Resident Evil Triple Pack - Only One Game On The Actual Cart, But It's The Right One
Diminishing REturns
In a similar way to the Resident Evil Origins Collection and the Resident Evil Revelations Collection, Capcom has decided to bundle its three most recent Switch ports into one physical package. Labelled the Resident Evil Triple Pack, it includes not only series jewel Resident Evil 4 (appearing on cartridge
Review Resident Evil 6 - Not As Nightmarish As You Remember
Global terror on a portable scale
Okay, here’s the thing… Resident Evil 6 isn’t that bad. Wait, hold on, just hear us out. First released back in 2012, it genuinely felt as if the once mighty survival-horror franchise had hit rock bottom. Atmospheric environments and terrifying, lethal enemies were replaced by sprawling cities, gun-toting...
Review Garfield Kart Furious Racing - A Rancid, Regurgitated Hairball Of A Racer
This kitten's got flaws
“Garfield, the famous lasagna-loving cat, is back!” That’s according to the description for Garfield Kart Furious Racing on the Nintendo eShop. The reality, however, is quite another matter entirely. Despite a description (and a price tag) that would suggest this is a sequel to the infamous Garfield Kart, we’ve got...
Review Just Dance 2020 - The Same Old Song And Dance Perfected Over 10 Years
Dancing the decade away
Just like Christmas or a hefty council tax bill, you can always rely on the FIFA of dance to pop up with a new entry each year. Just Dance 2020 celebrates the tenth anniversary of Ubisoft’s popular franchise – the original Wii exclusive launched in November 2009 – and if you’ve played any of the numerous titles that...
Review New Super Lucky's Tale - The Perfect Tonic For Jaded Modern Gamers
The fox and the bound
We all need games like New Super Lucky’s Tale in our lives. You may not like to admit it; you may have a tough guy veneer and a no-nonsense online persona that suggests you have no time for such childish nonsense, but deep down – even if you don’t realise it – you could do with this sort of happiness in your life. We...
Review Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Well-Written Horror That Suffers From A Personality Crisis
Bloodcurdlingly inconsistent
If you thought the '90s action flick Face/Off had an identity crisis, wait until you meet Corpse Party: Blood Drive. Part visual novel, part survival horror, Blood Drive is the third game in the Corpse Party series and features the surviving cast of the prior two games. While the original Corpse Party – originally...
A story about one very curious Kat
The Professor Layton series is one that’s defined puzzling on Nintendo handhelds ever since the early days of the DS. Since 2007, we’ve received two trilogies and two spinoffs starring the eponymous professor, but declining sales and a general sense of stagnation seemed to have scared Level-5 off from...
Review Mistover - A Dungeon-Crawling RPG That's Over-Encumbered With Punitive Mechanics
Mist Opportunity
Take the most casual of glances at a couple of screenshots or some gameplay footage of Krafton’s Mistover and it’s not hard to see where it gets the vast majority of its inspiration. Following very closely in the footsteps of 2016’s sublime Darkest Dungeon, this is a dungeon-crawling RPG that has all the most important pieces...
Review Race With Ryan - A Thoroughly Average Racer Tied To The Most Annoying Licence Imaginable
Team Cynic Racing
It might be difficult to believe, but Race With Ryan is one of the most difficult reviews we’ve written in a while. When you’re covering a game based on a licence it’s always important to make sure your opinion of the licence itself doesn’t get in the way of the review. After all, nobody wants to read a review of an NBA...
Review Ritual: Crown Of Horns - Brutal Yet Rewarding Horror Action
This town ain't big enough for the both of us
There’s been quite a few cracking games based on the Wild West over the years, most notably Rockstar’s acclaimed Red Dead Redemption and its sequel. There's no sign of either appearing on the Switch anytime soon, but here we have a rather intriguing little horror-western game by Draw Distance. Horror...
To the Vector go the spoils
With the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang cruelly overlooked for some reason, fans of the Mario & Sonic series haven’t had a new entry for nearly four years now. Given that the 2020 Olympic Games are being held in Tokyo, the home of video games, it would have been truly bizarre for Sega to pass on that one too...
Review Xeno Crisis - An Old-School Twin-Stick Shooter Which Supplies A Stern Test
Standup fight or just another bug hunt?
The twin-stick shooter – originating in games such Robotron: 2084 – has proved to be a perennially popular genre. The fundamentals remain the same, generally, even when the themes differ and gameplay elements are layered on; players must clear a single screen of enemy waves before moving on to the next,...
Review Let's Sing 2020 - Uplifting Karaoke Goodness On Your Switch
A solid music title for modern pop fans
The real initial rush and heyday of home karaoke on consoles was the PS2-era, when it seemed like a never-ending cascade of SingStar games were being released every few months to a public that seemed to practically inhale them. They were everywhere, catering to most popular genres from rock to Disney...
Review Dusk Diver - Enjoyable Combat Can't Fully Atone For The Problems Elsewhere
Interdimensional Express
JFI Games’ Dusk Diver is a Musou-style hack-and-slash affair that tells the story of Yuma, an innocent high school student thrown into the middle of an interdimensional battle between the ancient animal Gods of Kunlun. Taking place between an impressively detailed recreation of the Ximending district of Taipei and its...
Not a Jaeger bomb in sight
Override: Mech City Brawl is a game that will let you fulfil those desires of being a pilot in a Pacific Rim movie without the need to meld your mind with someone else’s. There’s something truly satisfying about crushing houses and skyscrapers as you fling grotesque monstrosities around San Francisco, or accidentally...