It’s been a long time since the original Red Dead Redemption made its debut on the PS3 and Xbox 360. That title might not have received as much hype for the subsequent Red Dead launch, but it laid a fantastic blueprint for Red Dead Redemption 2 to be built on. But is this new title up for the challenge? We think so, so let’s chat why!
There are a dozen open-world RPGs every single year, and enough of them are post-apocalyptic that it’s almost impossible to have your game stand out unless you have a budget running hundreds of millions of dollars. The solution is perhaps obvious in hindsight. Why not let players create their own weird playable hamster thing? Well, Biomutant has that locked down. Yes, the world has fallen apart. Yes, the ...
You’ve seen the werewolves. You’ve seen the ridiculously sexed-up memes about giant vampire ladies. Other than giving the internet a new fetish, Resident Evil Village is a worthy new entry in the long-running series – and a great indicator of just what these new consoles are capable of. The latest Resident Evil seems to have been more meme than game for most of its known existence. Don’t ...
Darkside Detective was originally released in 2017, however I was only introduced to it a few weeks ago on Google Stadia. How did I miss out on such a great game? It completely flew under my radar. After completing all the cases I was ready for more Detective work, and thankfully, A Fumble in the Dark came out. I enjoyed Darkside detective for its great writing, having to use my brain thinking about clues, and ...
Welcome to Empire Bay. I grew up playing the Mafia series on every platform and was so excited for a remaster. Mafia 2 stars Vito Scarletta, a young Italian who wants to live large and make real money. To achieve this, he turns to organized crime. At the start of the game, Vito lives with his mother and sister in a little apartment. When the game starts, Vito is with his best friend Joe Barbaro doing a jewelry ...
It’s the hidden gem of the bus smashin’, double-decker car ridin’, lawnmower racin’ genre – and now Wreckfest has got that shiny next-gen glean to go along with it. Why aren’t more people talking about Wreckfest? It’s not only an awesome game, but it’s right there on Game Pass. Play it on PC, play it on Xbox – but play it. With a new 4K/60FPS patch on Xbox ...
You seek untold riches, eternal life, divine powers – it leads to this accursed temple, a seemingly-infinite labyrinth of bottomless pits, deadly traps, and monsters. Collect mystical Relics and an arsenal of weapons to make yourself unstoppable. Battle through hordes of enemies in dark, cavernous passages filled with traps and secrets of all sorts – fire-spewing statues, explosives, hidden spikes, ...
Hitman 3 gives back what you put into it, and man is it nice to play a game like that again. You can put zero effort into it, taking the path of least resistance and treating it like the action game it clearly isn’t. You’ll ‘finish’ it in about three hours, huff a bit and then move onto something that holds your hand a little more. Or you can see it for what it is: an assassination ...
Summer in Mara is a single-player summer adventure. Take care of your own island, farming the land, and crafting new tools to survive. You can also sail away with your boat to new islands, meet unique characters and find hidden treasures. But the ocean wants you to fulfill your destiny and when it calls you, you’ll have to answer. Summer in Mara is a game about small details that will surprise you every ...
We didn’t review the Xbox One seven years ago. We didn’t get a preview unit and nobody on staff at the time was interested enough to pick it up day one. Man, what a difference seven years makes, because the Xbox Series X is a triumph. Check out our One Dislike, Three Likes article about the Xbox Series X! This console has been built by gamers for gamers, and it comes through in every interaction you ...
John Wick Hex really clicked for me when, after clearing a level, I watched it back “in real-time,” versus the time-based strategic puzzle-combat gameplay. Watching the titular hero make his way through a street, punching, rolling, kicking, and shooting adversaries in under 10 seconds is a lot of fun. Of course, 10 seconds in “real-time” translates to about 5 minutes of gameplay, as the player tries to ...
Puzzles! Romance! Adventure! If Call of the Sea was a story from the 1930s, its advertising would speak entirely in exclamation points – and it’d almost live up to them. It’s filled with brainteasers designed to fairly but frequently trip you up, all on one of the most beautiful islands in gaming. It boasts next-gen features like raytracing, but doesn’t feel the need to overdo them or ...
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 – a game title that deserves a Kingdom Hearts style “2.5D Ultima Super Dream Final Edition” if I’ve ever heard one. People know what Tetris is, and a good chunk of those will know what Puyo Puyo is if you explain it in Mean Bean Machine terms. It says what it is, for better or for worse. But hidden behind that slightly mystifying name is a potent mix of puzzling fun ...
I’m not sure there’s a more intense single-player racing experience than coming to the end of a long rally stage as the rain starts to spit. The time pops up at the checkpoint and you’re either a second ahead or behind the pace heading into the last stretch. Every time it happens in WRC 9 on Series X, I shift forward in my seat and try my darndest to hit each apex without careening off an edge and down a…
Breath of the Wild meets Assassin’s Creed – it’s a recipe that amazingly we haven’t had until exactly this moment. But boy, does Immortals Fenyx Rising taste good. Mixing in a bit of fourth-wall breaking Borderlands humour and plenty of mythology, this is a game that wears its influences on its sleeves. You enter every “shrine” knowing full well that you’re venturing ...
How good can Tetris get? The definitive version on the Gameboy (or NES) did everything that this genre needed to do. Every effort since has just been more of the same. How much innovation can there be after billions of blocks? Turns out, you can squeeze quite a lot out of it. There’s been plenty to play on Xbox Series X this past week, but Tetris Effect: Connected has proven to be the most addictive. If ...
There are certain things we can rely on in life to have an annual release, Things like the Shamrock shake at McDonald’s, or they claymation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special during the holidays. Just Dance has been in that same category since it’s inception over a decade ago. With its infectious song lists bright colors and fancy unique choreography Just Dance has always been a fun time for ...
It’s time to enjoy two of the best co-op games ever made… again. Overcooked! All You Can Eat combines the first and second games together into a “remastered” pack on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, but it feels a bit like warming up leftovers. If you’ve never played this series before and have somebody to play it with, disregard any negativity in the coming 900 or so words. They ...
Tis the season everyone, time for Call of Duty to release a new game, Time for them to climb the sales charts with another new title, Time for wives to mourn the loss of their husbands as we all prepare our bodies and new consoles for some elite level pew pew action. The Campaign mode of Black Ops Cold War was designed and developed by Raven Software which was already designing a campaign based on the Cold ...
How do you make a great racing game like Dirt 5 into a must-play experience? You optimise it for Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. It’s that easy. Racing should be a bigger genre than it is. When you look at the mobile scene, the biggest titles are things that are intense, fun and playable in short bursts. That’s driving games to a tee. We haven’t been able to have that pleasure on console ...
There’s no sign of the roguelike rush stopping any time soon, and ScourgeBringer is the latest to join the often-punishing genre. A well made game that nails its gameplay execution, ScourgeBringer is a fun ride that will remind you of a game with tight controls from the NES or SNES era. There’s a story to ScourgeBringer, but it’s ancillary to the experience. From the time you first load up ...
There’s no better way of rounding out a dinner party than to load up Jackbox. The mini-game compilations are fantastic fun, often come to Gamepass, and, more amazing than anything, are now up to their seventh pack. This latest compilation brings with it five new games, each worth looking at. For what it is, there’s nothing quite like the Jackbox compilations, and I think if you know you’ll get ...
London’s facing its downfall courtesy of state surveillance, private military, and organized crime. Recruit a well-rounded resistance to overthrow the wankers ruining this once-great city. The fate of London lies with you. As heavily advertised, Watchdogs Legion allows you to play as anyone. Each character has their own backstory, personality, motivations for joining, and skill set – all of which ...
Here we are on the cusp of a bonzer new generation of consoles, and I’m thrilled that Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is still here, biting it up with the big boys. Old games deserve to live on, and that’s doubly true when you’re talking outside the holy trinity of Mario, Sonic and Crash Bandicoot. Seeing those ripper levels again was a joy, but Ty HD is just that: those same familiar levels again. The ...
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! takes the fevered cooking game on the road, which opens up a slightly different gameplay style while further refining the original gameplay concept along the way. All three of the games in the series amount to what is a frantic rhythm game as orders come in associated with specific sequences of button presses to complete. For many of the early orders, this can lead a player to a ...
The last time I really loved a hockey game, Patrick Roy was tending the net for the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets — my de facto hometown team — was in its infancy, led by a guy with the last name of Tugnutt. Like many gamers my age (mid-30s), NHL ’94 will forever hold a special place in my heart. My go-to team back then, with Jaromir Jagr my favorite player. Add in the Mighty Ducks movie ...
We are knee-deep in the spooky season, which I always find myself playing spooky games throughout, this year was delighted to find a trick not treat in my goodie bag in Pumpkin Jack. Which is a 3D platformer much in the same style as the cult classic MedEvil with a bit of a modern flair. The peaceful Boredom Kingdom, with its happy citizens, monotonous calm… and adorable little bunnies, has sent the Devil ...
It’s the back-to-school season! Time to open the doors of your school and welcome your new students. Put on your schoolbag and get your notebooks: the game My Universe – School Teacher is available today on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and digitally on Xbox One and soon on PC/Mac. Play as a young teacher with a mission: take on the challenge to bring your new school back to the top and become the best ...
Now in its fourth iteration, the Ride series is firmly entrenched as the Gran Turismo of motorcycle racing games. The developers clearly love motorcycles and have a reverence for the history of the various makes and models. Ride 4 can serve as a digital museum of sorts for motorcycles. On the track, controlling the various bikes feels great, and there is a marked difference between bikes. Nailing the apex ...
Whatever happened to the brawler genre? One day, every game was a brawler, and the next it was gone. It had become retro, with new content consigned to stylised sequels like the incredible Streets of Rage 4. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is an attempt to bring those old titles back in something feeling a little fresher – and it mostly succeeds. But not just that. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a perfect combination of ...
