Latest Reviews
Review Phogs! - Utterly Cute And Charming Co-Op Fun
Where poodle meets noodle
What do you get if you take one part Push Me Pull You, one part Noby Noby Boy, one part CatDog and a weirdly large helping of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons? Depending on which parts you take, you'll either end up with a tale of fraternal love and body horror, or you'll end up with Phogs: a game in which you play,...
Review John Wick Hex - Stylish Turn-Based Action With Too Many Rough Edges
Hex Bomb
John Wick Hex is a rather clever turn-based action/strategy effort that sees you step into the blood-caked boots of Keanu Reeves' stylish and unstoppable killing machine – a man who's always ready, willing and more than able to punch, kick, shoot and fling his gun at the heads of as many bad guys as it takes to do the bidding of the High...
Review Commandos 2 - HD Remaster - A Shoddy Update Plagued With Both New And Old Annoyances
An in-fuhrer-ating remaster of an age-old classic
2001 really is beginning to feel like quite a long time ago indeed and Commandos 2, which originally released way back in September of that year is, it has to be said, now showing its age in many ways. Pyro Studios real-time tactics effort is undoubtedly something of a classic of the genre, for sure;...
Review Wildfire - A Thoroughly Enjoyable Slow-Burn Of A Game
I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you...
Sidestepping any potential controversy about whether or not they exist or if their persecution is merely an expression of historical misogyny, I think it’s a universal truth that if you’ve got a Witch, you need to be able to burn it. It’s an alarming development, then, that Wildfire begins with the...
Review Empire of Sin - A Criminal Waste Of A Superb Premise
Eliot Mess
Romero Games' Empire of Sin is an excellent premise for a turn-based strategy/management mash-up that sticks you in 1920s Chicago during the heyday of Al Capone and a host of other real-life gangster legends and charges you with building up your very own criminal enterprise. It's an era that absolutely oozes atmosphere and one that we...
Mini Review Absolute Drift - Zen-Like Powersliding Plagued By Technical And Design Problems
A car crash in more ways than one
Drifting, when done right, can be absolutely thrilling. There’s nothing quite like tearing round a corner with razor-sharp precision, and everything from Mario Kart 8 to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit relies heavily on your ability to execute drifts successfully. Absolute Drift is all about drifting; you don’t race...
Review Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise - More Of The Same, And That Might Not Be Enough
You might swipe left after a while
The original Fitness Boxing launched a couple of years ago, and while it certainly served its purpose, two years is a long time for anyone to be playing one game on a daily basis, as was its intention. With that in mind, Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise is now with us, but a lot has changed in two years:...
Review Immortals Fenyx Rising - An Off-Brand Breath Of The Wild That's Still Worth A Look
Breath of the Assassin's Creed of War
Do you remember when you were five, and your mum would ask you if you wanted anything from the supermarket, and you'd probably reply with whatever branded cereal you'd last seen an advert for in-between episodes of Scooby-Doo? Then, two hours later, she'd return with whatever off-brand cereal approximation she...
Mini Review Picross S5 - You Know The Drill By Now, Surely?
It's Picross, but now there's a '5' on the tin
There are plenty of excellent puzzle games on the Switch, but arguably the most ubiquitous franchise out there is Nintendo’s own Picross series, which has featured fairly frequently ever since the platform’s launch year. With the launch of Picross S5, we’re now looking at the sixth (!) entry in...
Mini Review The Alto Collection - A Breezy Pair Of Smartphone Classics On Your Switch
Cruise Control
Some of the best mobile games are often the most straightforward. By happy coincidence, this also means that they’re especially easy to port over to other systems. The Alto Collection takes two of mobile gaming’s most celebrated titles, Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey, and puts them together in one handy – albeit rather...
Review Ghostrunner - A Thrilling Cyberpunk Epic Dulled By Performance Problems On Switch
Be a literal runner of blades
It seems the cyberpunk genre has seen something of a resurgence in the indie game scene lately, no doubt spurred on by CDProjektRed’s anticipated tentpole release which now appears set to launch somewhere in the actual year 2077 (only kidding, of course! It's sure to be here by at least 2055). Ghostrunner is the...
Review Serious Sam Collection - Two-Thirds Enormous Fun, One-Third Crushing Disappointment
Seriously below-par
The central joke of Serious Sam is that he isn't very serious at all. And nor are his games. In fact, they're extremely silly, and if they don't start behaving they're not going to get any sweets. Yes, Croteam's long-running flagship FPS is a gleefully daft blaster that revels in throwing as many enemies at you as possible,...
Review Cake Bash - Delicious Multiplayer Action That's Too Tasty To Ignore
Much ado about muffin
The majority of people, young or old, would be forced to concede that cakes are delicious. Nobody dislikes sweets, and anyone who did would rightfully be cast out from society and forced to live in some sort of modified bin. It's a canny move, then, to make a game about said desserts. It guarantees at least a 5/10 from any...
Review Just Dance 2021 - Still Fun, But Feels More Like A Cash-Grab Than Ever Before
Blame it on the boogie
Just Dance 2021 is the latest in a long line of Just Dance games, each marginally different from the last. Much like serialised sports games, Ubisoft's choreographed creation is born anew each year, with a couple of new features thrown in, and a helping of new songs sprinkled over the top. Innovation is it not, but this isn't...
Mini Review Arcade Archives Zero Team - A Long-Lost Coin-Op Relic That's Worth Unearthing
We could be zeroes, just for one day
While the arrival of Streets of Rage 4 and The TakeOver might lead you to assume that the belt-scrolling brawler is back in vogue, it's still a pretty niche genre in 2020 – and, to be brutally honest, that has been the case since the mid-'90s, by which point Street Fighter II had made the one-on-one fighter the...
Review Chicken Police - Paint it RED! - No Fowl Play Here, This Is A Great Detective Adventure
Finger lickin' good
Chickens know things. It's obvious. They have that look in their eye, the slightly disdainful squint of someone who knows what you did and why you did it. They'd be perfect detectives, if not for the small obstacle of their inability to communicate in any meaningful way. Thankfully, developers The Wild Gentlemen saw the potential...
Review Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory - A Marvelous Musical Trip Down Memory Lane
Simple and clean
It’s hard to believe that the Kingdom Hearts franchise has been around for nearly twenty years. The odd pairing of Final Fantasy and several Disney franchises always sounded like an idea that just wouldn’t play out right, but the series has gone on to garner quite a sizable and passionate fanbase over its long run. With last...
Review Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered - A Racer From A More Innocent Time
Cop a load of this
Here’s a fun fact for you: there isn’t a single person on this planet who can recite the titles of all 24 Need for Speed games in order. It’s actually physically impossible, like licking your own back or hearing the words “Hi, I’m Daisy” without getting irritated. While this ‘fact’ is open for debate, here’s one...
Review Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Not The Zelda Game You Want, But Perhaps The One You Need
Calamity game
You know the Gerudo Valley theme from Ocarina of Time? It's a kickass tune – probably top five Zelda tracks – and one that's sure to get your blood pumping. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is all Gerudo Valley, a rousing number that'll fire you up for the journey ahead. It's also a tad repetitive and just one part of the symphony...
Mini Review Five Dates - An Amusing Dating Sim That Doesn't Seem To Know Its Audience
“Are you courting?”
Lockdown in 2020 has undoubtedly forced us – as a society – to rethink a few things. Gone are the simple pleasures of attending a concert or a sports game, and even the anxiety-inducing dating scene has largely migrated to the online world. With this in mind, Wales Interactive has concocted a surprisingly funny, authentic...
Review Sniper Elite 4 - The Nazi-Slaying Series' Best Entry Comes To Switch
Moisten Nagant
Rebellion's Sniper Elite 4 was released to some high praise back in February of 2017, and is widely regarded as the best entry in the long-running series to date; it's a fun and flexible sniper's paradise with ten lengthy campaign missions set across the largest, most varied and vertical levels that crack Nazi skull-exploder Karl...
Review Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin - A Unique Farming Sim Which Requires Vast Reserves Of Patience
Rice, Rice, Baby
As comedian Mitch Hedberg once said: "Rice is great when you're hungry and you want 2,000 of something." You can buy it anywhere. Everywhere. But those grains don't come from nowhere – they are grown in huge flooded paddy fields, filled with workers who painstakingly harvest the stalks, dry them on racks, hull them, and process...
Review Fuser - A Flawed, Dorky And Often Brilliant Music Game
Disc Joycon
The Harmonix office must be an absolute nightmare. Plastic instruments everywhere, like an elephant graveyard of peripherals, gathering dust and leaking memories of Rock Band parties long past. Do they use the fake drum sets as plant stands? Are the guitars mounted on the wall as if they used to belong to Van Halen? Or do they just chuck...
Mini Review Pure Pool - As Close To The Real Thing As You'll Get On Switch
A ball game right on cue
Pure Pool does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a pool game through and through, and a darn good one at that. Developer VooFoo Studios has wisely restrained from flooding Pure Pool with wacky flourishes and overblown physics, instead focusing on delivering an experience that’s as close to the real deal as you’re...
Review Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues - A Surprisingly Decent Belt-Scrolling Brawler
Just remember, licence never replace eye, ear, brain
The Karate Kid movie series always seemed like a bit of a hard sell to this writer. Not to detract from the inarguable skill of said Kid, but there are plenty of films out there starring at least one Karate Adult. It stands to reason that the Karate Adult would simply be better at Karate than the...
Review Dungreed - A Great Roguelite For Those New To The Genre
More like roguelove!
Live, die, repeat. Such is the way in roguelikes, which are experiencing somewhat of a resurgence in popularity lately, with the likes of Spelunky 2 and Hades dominating whatever remains of watercooler talk now that no one goes to the office any more. You live, making your way through dungeons, finding new weapons, beating a...
Review Carto - A Beautifully-Rendered Puzzler That Loses Its Way Too Quickly
Mind the map
Anyone who has ever played tile-matching, friendship-sabotaging board game Carcassonne will recognise Carto's main mechanic: square tiles must be placed according to the patterns on each side. If the patterns match the edge of another tile, they can be placed next to each other; a forest tile must border another forest tile, a desert...
Review Seven Knights: Time Wanderer - A Tragic Waste Of Time
Wander away from this one
Mobile games are very different beasts to console games. That’s why when successful properties like Granblue Fantasy and Azur Lane get standalone adaptations to home computers and consoles, they tend to unfold very differently to their pocket-sized counterparts. Console players demand more depth and don’t like...
Mini Review Mad Rat Dead - A Delightful Mix Of Rhythm Action And Platforming
Rodent rave
There’s one thing that really stood out to us when we started getting to grips with Mad Rat Dead: this game is cool. Everything about it, from the stylish visuals to the sublime soundtrack, screams attitude, and the devs have done a remarkable job in conveying this feeling without going overboard. If you’re a sucker for rhythm games,...
Review Tropico 6 - This Enjoyable Empire-Building Epic Comes With A Few Technical Niggles
The great dictator
You'd be forgiven for thinking that a city builder/sim game such as Tropico 6 might be a poor fit for the Switch. A huge number of systems at play, an archipelago's worth of individually tracked citizens... it's something of a recipe for compromise. And, sure enough, there are compromises here – but far fewer than you may...