Graham Banas

Push Square

Graham Banas·Dec 1, 2015

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Episode Three of Minecraft: Story Mode marks what can easily be considered the high point of the season – but it's still not great. Coming hot off the trail of one of Telltale's worst episodes has certainly helped make this release far easier to like, but its own accomplishments should not be sold short. This episode is a light, fun romp, and its consistently goofy tone helps to craft the series' identity at long last.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Nov 4, 2015

Critic30/100

Agreement—

Minecraft: Story Mode has, again, failed to impress. A miniscule run-time paired with a plethora of uninteresting events helped to make this one of the weakest episodes we've seen from Telltale in a long, long time. We're now two episodes in, and we're still not finding a whole lot to like. The alarm bells are ringing – maybe this series is one that sounded better in theory than in practice, because it has not delivered thus far.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Oct 16, 2015

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: Order of the Stone is a lacklustre start to Telltale's latest series. While it's certainly not bad, it's not exactly good either. A great performance from Patton Oswalt and some fun sequences aren't enough to cancel out the wonky pacing and bland narrative, while the ensemble cast mostly falls flat. This instalment is inoffensive enough, but it never really provides enough for you to latch on to. There's still plenty more to come, of course, but the jury's still out.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Sep 24, 2015

Critic70/100

Agreement—

When you come right down to it, NHL 16 is an improvement over last year's release in virtually every department. Unfortunately, that isn't exactly saying a lot.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Sep 21, 2015

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The plot is compelling, the presentation is generally very good, and the conclusion is outstanding. But all of these achievements will be tempered if you're looking for the kind of scares that defined Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Aug 25, 2015

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Really cool art and a great score pair to ensure that Mike Bithell's latest is worth a shout – but we'd advise proceeding with caution, because there are still kinks to be worked out.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Jul 28, 2015

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Episode four of DONTNOD's Life Is Strange continues the exceptional level of quality that episode three delivered. It even goes so far as to surpass what came before in a variety of ways.

Push Square

Graham Banas·May 17, 2015

Critic80/100

Agreement—

We weren't particularly sold on the first two episodes of Life Is Strange, but we could see the kernel of potential that was hiding beneath the surface. Episode 3 – Chaos Theory is where that promise finally bursts to the forefront, delivering an almost perfect balance of tense storytelling, organic dialogue, and improved gameplay – all while setting up a potentially brilliant follow-up episode. This series is finally delivering what we always thought it could, and that makes us hella happy.

Push Square

Graham Banas·May 12, 2015

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Terrible textures aside, there's a beauty to Toren's art and audio direction that's worth beholding. The problem is that outside of these assets, Swordtales' two hour adventure falls short. A plethora of technical problems and uninteresting level design win out over the positive aspects, and this experience is below par as a consequence. Listen and look at it by all means – just try to avoid actually playing it.

Push Square

Graham Banas·May 8, 2015

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood has its fair share of problems – but it's still worth playing. With an enormous amount of content available for such a slender sum, fans of The New Order shouldn't hesitate when it comes to this alternate history treat.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Apr 5, 2015

Critic40/100

Agreement—

At the end of the day, we're not entirely sure why R.B.I. Baseball has been revived. A full-on, retro styled game would perhaps be a reasonable alternative to MLB The Show, but this game ventures way too closely to Sony's series without having the budget to compete – and it makes a poor connection as a consequence. Bench this one, and get your baseball fix elsewhere.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Mar 26, 2015

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Life Is Strange: Episode 2 – Out of Time has an excellent ending, but it's letdown by pacing issues that make the events leading up to that point feel inconsequential. There are a lot of interesting and engaging elements working in this release's favour, but it's yet to really pull them all together in a fulfilling manner. In some ways, this is an improvement – the dialogue's better for a start – but it really needs to step up soon. To use a tired baseball analogy, it's had two strikes now – one more and it's out.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Mar 9, 2015

Critic60/100

Agreement—

White Night does a lot right, delivering a great story which only dips slightly in the run up to its conclusion. The art style is fantastic, and while it hurts other things – like the visibility of the title's many collectibles – the trade-off is honestly worth it. Unfortunately, the release's biggest issues sit in the gameplay department, as it's exceedingly frustrating on far too many occasions. The end result is interesting, then, and worth experiencing – but perhaps not recommended for everyone.

Push Square

Graham Banas·Feb 8, 2015

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Apotheon is not perfect, but it's still more than fit for a God. Minor crashing and design issues aside, this gorgeously presented action platformer packs plenty of variety beneath its pottery-inspired shell. Plus, who doesn't love Greek mythology?

Push Square

Graham Banas·Jan 31, 2015

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis certainly is strange, but perhaps not in the way that DONTNOD intended. There's enough ground work laid here to pave the way for future instalments, but a lot of the good is undone by lip sync issues and some of the most mind-bogglingly bad dialogue that we've heard in recent memory. While some of this is inadvertently hilarious, it does end up hurting the product at points. There's definitely still hope for this season, but the jury's out right now.