Looking upon the whole package, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is an excellent upgrade. In many ways it's a sublime treat for fans of the series, with behind-the-scenes content that we lapped up, a survival mode worth the purchase price on its own, and small, albeit present visual and performative upgrades to one of the best games to come out of the PS4 generation.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is an excellent open-world adventure. Thanks to Ubisoft Massive's collaboration with Lightstorm, this is easily the best movie tie-in we've experienced. The level of detail is second to none, and fans of the series will have a whale of a time spotting little references here or there to the mainline films. However, we'd be tempted to say unlike Hogwarts Legacy, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora would be a good time even if you weren't a fan of the series or haven't seen the films. The game is certainly filled with tropes of the Ubisoft formula, but the lore and focus on harvesting and hunting elevates that open-world design to create an immersive and inviting setting that we happily lost ourselves in.
Like a mystery once thought solved, Alan Wake 2 reopens the case for what's possible in its genre. It's a delight to relive classic horror titles through modern remakes, but what Remedy has cooked up here is something special - a gust of fresh air aiming to revitalise video game horror. There's expansive lore and a twisting story that might not be for everyone, but the developer packs so many exciting and unique ideas into this ambitious sequel that you can't help but play along with a nervous smile on your face. With stunning visuals, pitch-perfect tone and atmosphere, brilliant pacing, and a fascinating mystery to sink your teeth into, there are no twists or turns about it: Alan Wake 2 is an all-timer.
Lords of the Fallen is an exciting kind of Sous-like. Whereas many others aim to perfect the formula, Lords of the Fallen's goal is to innovate. It certainly has its own array of problems, like lacking audio, repetitive enemy types, and combat that could be tightened up a little. However, when the game sinks its claws into you with its thrilling dual world mechanic, you won't be able to get enough of it.
Fort Solis starts out promising, with an eerie and mysterious narrative that just seems to get everything right. From environmental details to pacing, this opening act genuinely had us thinking we had a Firewatch or Everybody's Gone To Rapture on our hands. However, as the game begins to expand, the pacing tanks, the story fumbles its way across the finish line, and the gameplay experience makes us want to throw our DualSense off the wall. There are a number of ways in which we should be impressed by the game - it's made by a 10 person team after all - but in the end Fort Solis is an experience as dusty as the red planet itself.
C-Smash VRS is a brilliantly restorative VR experience. With finely tuned motion controls, sparklingly simple visuals, and a chilled-out electronic score, it's yet another fine addition to Sony's roster of VR titles. We can even see it becoming a go-to with friends who just want to game and have a catch up. Yet while the core experience is fun enough, its lack of content and currently empty matchmaking experience leaves it feeling like an unfulfilled promise - especially if you're playing solo. We'd love to see an improvement to matchmaking and servers, but until then, C-Smash VRS will leave more of an impact on our battered walls than it will our memories.
F1 23 is a solidly packed racing experience that improves upon its predecessor in almost every way. With a little something for everyone, on top of an immersive and impressive experience on PS5, it's a worthwhile addition to the libraries of enthusiasts and casuals alike. We loved how tailormade the game could become, whether that was a heavily assisted racing experience, or a brutally immersive one. The campaign doesn't always hit the mark, and F1 World while expansive isn't exactly revolutionary, but at the very least, it's nice to see Formula 1 get the same care and attention that many other popular sports games have been receiving for years.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a broken mess of a game. There are barely any redeeming qualities to be found amidst what can only be described as a massive missed opportunity. There is some serious potential in a single-player linear Lord of the Rings experience like this, but with outrageously dated level design, clunky controls, a severe lack of polish, muddy and unimpressive graphics, and a dull story, Gollum completely misses the mark. As massive fans of the books, films, and games, it's sad to see that there is nothing precious about this experience.
In the end, though, Dead Island 2 is a refreshing surprise amid the 2023 release roster. It's a fun and simple zombie-slasher experience that may be let down by its uninspiring RPG elements and boring loot-cycle, but more than makes up for it with its killer setting, brutal melee combat, and stunning graphics. While we suspect some will be disappointed by the game's size after all these years, we found it utterly revitalising to find a AAA experience that respects your time, and more importantly doesn't overstay its welcome. In the day and age of 300-hour RPGs, it's nice to know that some games are here for a fun time, not a long time.
There is so much we could still cover with this latest expansion, like Buildcrafting 2.0 and the new Guardian Ranks system, both of which aim to streamline the Destiny experience. However, at its core Lightfall is all about its story, setting, and gameplay changes. The campaign and setting largely let us down, with the whole thing feeling like the middle child of the Witch Queen, Ligthtfall, and Final Shape trilogy. However, the vigorous excitement that Destiny 2's brilliant gameplay elicits greatly elevates the overall Lightfall experience, with some stellar enhancements thanks to Strand subclasses and grapples. It's irritating to be left in narrative limbo for yet another year, but you'll still struggle to find a space shooter that is this much fun.
The absurdity of World War Z's Horde Mode XL is certainly worth checking out, and for newcomers it has a fun campaign to shoot your way through, too. As a PS5 upgrade, it's supremely disappointing to experience worse performance than what came before, but it isn't quite enough to spoil the fun we had spraying bullets into piles of zombies.
Ultimately, the worth of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC will depend on your situation. If you've experienced the boosted performance and fidelity of the existing PS5 remaster, you'll struggle to justify another purchase - but for those who have yet to experience these classic PS4 titles, this is a fantastic port, complete with all of the graphical prowess that you'd expect.