Posts By Mat Growcott

It was almost sound logic on Sony’s part. If you can make a single Fortnite, it doesn’t matter if there are a dozen failures. Fortnite is that big. So big in fact, that it takes more than a dozen failures to dethrone it. Why don’t people want to play games that are trying to steal oxygen from Fortnite and Call of Duty? Because they’re playing Fortnite and Call of Duty. They’re already in those ecosystems, they’ve already put ...

There’s a new pope kicking around, and while I’m sure his schedule is fairly busy I have a request: please bless the skippable cutscene. During his next visit to GamesReviews.com, I’m hoping he sees this and fully understands the absolute sincerity in which I ask this. The skippable cutscene is potentially one of the most beautiful inventions in the modern world. Firstly because it doesn’t require a subscription, but mostly just because ...

How much is a game worth to you? I’m not talking a specific game. Not the wishlist, dream game that you’d trade your firstborn for. Just a game. $80? My guess is it isn’t even close. The average gamer isn’t spending anywhere near that much. Maybe a few times a generation or in support of a certain publisher. Perhaps you’ll splurge at Christmas or when a console launches. But those are outliers. Factor in deals, bundles, deep ...

Just a few short weeks after we were all bouncing up and down about the Oblivion remaster, a new rumour has sprung up. Rockstar are working on bringing Grand Theft Auto 4 to PlayStation and Switch. That should tell you everything you need to know right there. Skipping Xbox (and PC for now) implies that this is just a straight port, bringing the fourth numbered entry in the legendary franchise to audiences who currently can’t access it. The game is…

At a time when the house of cards that is the old games industry looks set to topple, Grand Theft Auto 6 will send standards skyrocketing. On the surface that might seem like a good thing. It isn’t. We saw it with Baldur’s Gate 3. The “why can’t” conversations. Why can’t big publishers do it if a relatively small indie can? Why can’t RPG makers focus on this or that, instead of this or that. When something hits and ...

Rockstar has delayed GTA6. It’s unsurprising. As games continue to get bigger and gaps between titles longer, this is something we’re going to have to learn to live with. It’s nothing new. That once-in-a-generation title you’ve been waiting for has been pushed back again. It doesn’t have to be GTA6. Pick a game you’re looking forward to and there’s a good chance it’ll see some sort of delay. This isn’t a ...

Days Gone was one of my first finishes of 2025, so no surprise they released a remastered version just after. That’s brought up the old conversation about if it’s really a bad game again. Honestly, I expected a poorly scripted, mediocre open world zombie game that only the biggest Sony fan could love. And sure, it’s a diamond in the rough, but you ignore the rough at your peril. Granted, I played it on PC a few years after release.…

There have been a slew of games lately that have had good scores but bad performance. Should critics take this into account when writing their reviews? It’s a harder question than some might give it credit for. What is bad performance? Since making the switch to PC, one of the things I’ve noticed is that bad performance is one of the most subjective things around. I’ve seen too many people bragging about 4090s before furiously ripping ...

Critics get very excited about visuals, and sometimes even story. It rare we talk about one of the most impactful areas of design: the power of sound. South of Midnight proves why it’s so important. South of Midnight is a fantastic game. It’s understated, reminding me of a PS3-era game in many ways. That’s good and bad, coming with it a touch of jank that we don’t necessarily expect from a publisher like Microsoft. But, like back in the ...

There’s a lot of excitement around the Oblivion remaster, which should be revealed and released this coming week. Put it in your diaries. A lot of the excitement is coming from the improved visuals. Images have leaked from the developer’s website, and mentions of the game have also been found hidden in the Bethesda website too. We talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the shadowdrop earlier in the week, and I’ve been thinking since ...