Dom kicked off his games writing career first as a production assistant at Future, then as Production Editor for Official PlayStation Magazine UK. He became Editor at Nintendo Life in December 2017 before pivoting into a career in marketing.
Review Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath - An Expensive Way To Get The Full Mortal Kombat 11 Experience
I'd buy that for a dollar!
Ever since the launch of Mortal Kombat X in 2015, NetherRealm Studios’ output has continued to soar in quality. The alternate fighting styles of X fed into the impressive facial animation of Injustice 2, with that second round of DC super-fighting leaving its mark on the customisation depth of last year’s Mortal Kombat...
Review Super Mega Baseball 3 - Step Up To The Plate In This Slugfest Sequel
Hitting it out of the park
For the initiated, baseball is the great American pastime. From the pang of a freshly struck home run to the smell of hot dogs wafting down from the stands, it’s the quintessential U.S. sport. Much like gridiron and basketball, the sport’s recent video game recreations have also become more focused on hyper-accurate...
Review TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2 - Better Than The Original, But With Room To Improve
Manx speed
Racing games have been a staple of the games industry since its inception, but very few of these virtual drivathons have managed to truly capture the heady mix of excitement and outright fear that comes with pushing real-life machines to their absolute limit. Modern superbikes can reach incredible speeds, but most other two-wheeled racing...
Review Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road To Boruto - Naruto Fans Will Lap It Up
Storm warning
Like most ports of Japanese origin, the Nintendo Switch version of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto has taken its time to go handheld – the original launched back in 2016, and its anime film tie-in expansion a year later – but with three different story modes, and a frighteningly large number of playable...
Review Ion Fury - Hail To The Queen, The Old-School FPS Is Reborn
Shellshocked
Ion Fury doesn’t just love 2.5D ‘90s shooters, it is a 2.5D ‘90s shooter. Developed by Voidpoint, a studio made up of veteran Build modders (the same engine used to create Duke Nukem all those years ago) and published by none other than 3D Realms, Ion Fury has all the hallmarks of a nostalgic killing spree down memory lane...
Review SNK Gals' Fighters - A Simple Yet Robust Brawler Which Is Perfectly At Home On Switch
Gal power
Fighting games have always had a welcome home on handhelds – even if the genre has served up a fair share of turkeys over the decades – and 20 years ago, Japanese powerhouse SNK was doing wonders with its plucky little Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color systems. One of those little gems was SNK Gals’ Fighters, a pint-size...
Review ITTA - Beautifully-Designed Bullet-Hell Brilliance
What a rush!
ITTA is the kind of game that will make you scream with frustration as much as it’ll make you’ll whoop with joy. One of those interactive experiences that gets your adrenaline pumping like a shot of epinephrine to the heart, while simultaneously putting your Nintendo Switch at risk of being smashed to smithereens. That, of course,...
Review MotoGP 20 - Tremendous Two-Wheeled Racing Action On Your Switch
Hello, Moto
With over 25 years of experience in the racing game development scene, it’s safe to say Italian studio Milestone has cemented its place as one of its most prevalent developers. Outside of the official F1 and WRC games, it’s established a foothold in almost every facet of modern motorsport and while double-A budgets haven’t always...
Review Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - Back To School
A mature student
Years ago, when the Star Wars franchise wasn’t under the world-dominating scrutiny of the House of Mouse, developers were farming out all games like no one’s business. And while that did mean we were ‘treated’ to the likes of Star Wars: Demolition and Kinect Star Wars, it also meant the long-defunct LucasArts produced some...
Review Saints Row IV: Re-Elected - Marvellously Madcap Open-World Fun
POTUS power
Few games do ‘fun’ with as much enthusiasm and self-awareness as Saints Row. While GTA tempers its acerbic tone and pop culture devotion with a firm set of in-game rules, Volition’s open-world series has always aired towards the silly and the slapstick. Want to throw yourself into oncoming traffic and ragdoll your way to insurance...
Pulled punches
Few shonen anime series fit popular culture’s continued obsession with western superhero tropes quite as well as My Hero Academia. This long-running manga and anime follows the journey of Izuku Midoriya, a young boy born without powers (or Quirks, as they’re known in the series’ canon) in a world where extraordinary abilities...
Review DOOM 64 - Will Tide You Over Until DOOM Eternal Arrives On Switch
Eternal doom
Players of a certain generation might recall just how special it was having an actual Doom on Nintendo 64. The FPS that put corridor shooters firmly on the map was pretty ubiquitous in its ports – even back in 1997 – but having a graphically superior take with bigger levels, more guns and even more challenging demons to slay made...
Review Kitty Powers' Matchmaker - A Refreshingly Inclusive Dating Sim That Grows Stale Too Quickly
Love is in the air
Do you love watching Celebs Go Dating, Dinner Date and other mind-numbing entertainment on TV? Has it inspired you to start your own dating agency? Well, before you up-end your career and invest your life savings in becoming a professional cupid, how about investing in a Nintendo Switch game instead? And who better to mentor you...
Review Warface - A Perfectly Competent Free-To-Play Shooter For Your Switch
Face for radio
While most of us – this writer included – have given up any hope of seeing a Call of Duty or a similar triple-A multiplayer shooter on Switch anytime soon, some studios have attempted to fill this void with their own take on asymmetrical gunfights. Some have been a success (Paladins being a fine example), while others have ranged...
Review Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 3 - Mucky Madness On Two Wheels
Scrubbed up
Italian developer Milestone might not have the pedigree of Polyphony Digital or Codemasters – at least, not yet – but the racing specialist has always seen the value in porting many of its games to handheld platforms. Just being able to play the original MXGP – albeit in its ‘Compact’ form – on PS Vita, years before Switch...
Review Coffee Talk - A Refreshing Brew Indeed
Mean bean machine
One of the brilliant things about Nintendo Switch becoming a new harbour for indie development is the sheer number of unusual ideas and concepts that see the light of day. So, even the most oddball of premises have the opportunity to cultivate an audience when they land on the eShop. It's this inclusive atmosphere that's allowed...
Review SpeedRunners - Move Over Sonic, These Guys Have Some Serious Pace
Gotta go fast
Ah, the classic superhero. Humble. Brave. Selfless. A beacon of hope to us mere underpowered mortals. And, as it turns out, massively competitive as well. Because in a city full of other metahumans, there’s only so much justice and glory to go around. So that means any super-powered persona in the vicinity is going to have to move...
Review Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - A Superb Addition To The Witcher World
Cry me a Rivia
Once upon a time, the sheer notion of The Witcher appearing on Nintendo Switch in any form seemed a fantastical pipe dream. It didn’t even seem like we’d even get a version of Gwent, the card-battling spinoff based on the in-game card game of the same, never mind a full-fat version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition...
Review Warhammer Quest 2: The End Times - Passable Fantasy Role-Playing Action
Dungeon brawling
The Warhammer licence has spawned countless games over the years – from surprisingly decent shooters to god-awful tactical offerings, and everything in between – but it’s when developers attempt to emulate the tabletop gaming that things can get really interesting. The original 1995 version of Warhammer Quest was recreated in...
Review Blacksad: Under The Skin - Technical Woes Make This A Tough Case To Crack
Feline rough
Detective games can be an unpredictable sort. Their quality often comes down to A) how engaging the core mystery is, and B) how well its mechanics blend with the traditional features of their chosen genre. At their collective best, Telltale and LucasArts really nailed this delicate balance, but some of the recent Frogwares Sherlock...
Review Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy - A Somewhat Drab Retelling Of A Classic Series
Fighting (Fantasy) words
For readers of a certain age – to which this writer is very much a member – adventure gamebooks were the best. Splicing the agency of roleplay with the narrative depth of a fantasy novel, these souped-up ‘choose your own adventure’ novels took readers on all manner of dark and daring quests that could easily end...
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 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 Skullgirls 2nd Encore - A Western 2D Fighter That Might Surprise You
It’s (show)time!
It’s a wonderful thing to think of almost any genre and see how well it’s represented on Nintendo Switch. Take the ever-competitive arena of modern fighting games; as the console continues to roll through its third year we’ve got full-fat ports of the biggest names in virtual hand-throwing, including Mortal Kombat 11, Street...
