John Cal McCormick

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John Cal McCormick·Oct 22, 2016

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky is an advertisement for the mantra that less is more. There's an enjoyable ten hour game here, but it's buried in a repetitive and frustrating forty hour experience in which the majority of the content not only feels superfluous, but actually detrimental to the whole. The story it tells might be good enough to justify grinding through the uninspired battles and platforming sections were the game dramatically shorter, but as it is the sporadic narrative can't save what is a largely tedious affair.

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John Cal McCormick·Oct 4, 2016

Critic90/100

Agreement—

While the occasional technical issues might hamper the experience somewhat, XCOM 2 remains a superb strategy game that expertly weaves stellar mechanics and emotional story-telling into an engrossing campaign in which every choice that you make feels genuinely important. It can be both brutally difficult and depressingly ruthless, but the scant moments of joy that you'll experience in your attempts to overthrow the alien regime should provide more than enough incentive to keep fighting the good fight.

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John Cal McCormick·Sep 9, 2016

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Even if you haven't seen the Psycho-Pass television series before, Mandatory Happiness does a good enough job of making it clear what's going on to be enjoyable. It tells an engaging and thought-provoking story that deals with some heavyweight and uncomfortable subjects, and one that poses plenty of ethical dilemmas along the way. If you can get past the borderline non-existent gameplay then the narrative will probably keep you entertained for a dozen hours or so, although it may leave you wondering if this story would have been better told over a few episodes of the anime instead.

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John Cal McCormick·Aug 27, 2016

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X is definitively the finest music game on PlayStation 4. It boasts a ton of replay value, and the mechanics are in a league of their own. Trying to better your own high scores can become incredibly addictive, and you could sink hours into the game without even realising it. If you know that you hate J-pop then this game won't be for you any more than a great football game like FIFA 15 would be for someone that hates sports. But if you're willing to take a chance on Hatsune Miku and her sugary sweet brand of pop, then you'll find an incredibly well-crafted rhythm game that is welcoming to new players while providing just enough of a challenge for veterans of the genre.

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John Cal McCormick·Aug 22, 2016

Critic100/100

Agreement—

As far as puzzle platformers go, Inside is the new benchmark. This is a game that manages to spin a compelling yarn without uttering a single word, and one that is designed so meticulously that the puzzles it contains never once become rote or frustrating. It's beautiful to look at, and the minimalist sound design complements the almost greyscale aesthetic perfectly. But beyond the technical proficiency on display, the true genius of Inside is in the feeling that it left us with once it was all over. This is a game that will probably stay in your thoughts for days once you've finished it.

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John Cal McCormick·Jul 17, 2016

Critic20/100

Agreement—

Roger Ebert once famously opined that video games are not art, and Ghostbusters is Exhibit A for his case. This is not art. It barely qualifies as a game. Sure, it's not broken like some games are. It's functional. It works. But there's no risk, no ambition, and not a trace of anything resembling the personality of the Ghostbusters movies or cartoons. This is a game that seems like it was made with the specific purpose of tricking parents who don't know any better into buying it for their kids.Who ya gonna call? The Samaritans, probably.

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John Cal McCormick·Jul 12, 2016

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Where The Banner Saga stands head and shoulders above most other role-playing games is that the world created by Stoic Studio here feels truly on the precipice of collapse. So often when we play role-playing games we're given a rag-tag band of heroes who must join together to overcome a seemingly insurmountable threat. But for all the apocalyptic histrionics of games like Skyrim, Persona 4, or one of many Final Fantasy titles, there's always amusing side-quests to take part in or brief moments of levity to break up the tension. The Banner Saga 2 is a story about the end of the world, and few games do a better job of constantly reminding you of that fact.

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John Cal McCormick·Jun 25, 2016

Critic30/100

Agreement—

Dino Dini's Kick Off Revival doesn't attempt to compete with FIFA and that's fine. There's a place on the market for simpler, old school sports games that rely on arcade fun rather than authenticity. But this reboot of the franchise is actually a step backwards for the series in some ways, and the lack of a tutorial or help of any kind results in the learning curve being more of a learning brick wall. There's nothing wrong with being difficult to master, but the game is difficult to pick up and play too, and the rewards too few to justify the effort. Kick Off Revival can be okay in short bursts, but the sheer weight of issues with the game make it hard to recommend to anybody other than fans of the original Kick Off games. And even they will likely be disappointed.

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John Cal McCormick·May 22, 2016

Critic30/100

Agreement—

Shadwen is a stealth-action game in which there's no action and the stealth is completely undermined by counter-productive design choices that defy logic or reason. The whole package suffers from a distinct lack of polish and is chock full of half-baked ideas and badly implemented mechanics. It's a Frankenstein's monster of a game stitched together from the dead bits of other, better games, but ultimately it possesses the heart and soul of none of them. There's no reason to recommend Shadwen to anybody other than prospective game developers looking for a lesson in what not to do.

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John Cal McCormick·May 8, 2016

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Shadow Complex Remastered is, in many ways, a perfect gateway drug for the Metroidvania genre. It's accessible and straightforward, and the story features just the right mix of swashbuckling heroics and moustache twirling pantomime villainy. It's perhaps too easy for seasoned veterans of the genre, and some aiming issues and questionably designed boss encounters sour the package a little, but if you've got a few hours to kill and you're waiting for another proper Metroid game, then you could do a lot worse than Shadow Complex.