Ken Barnes

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Mar 3, 2016

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Action Henk is enjoyable and challenging, of that there is no doubt. It isn't going to win any awards for visuals – despite looking good enough to get the job done – and we'd like to have seen the comedy brand placement from the initial playroom area be used more in the levels themselves. With that said, neither of these things is going to interrupt your entertainment and the enjoyment and exquisite frustration that the game provides is more than enough for it to get our recommendation. Good stuff.

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Feb 22, 2016

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Relatively very minor gripes aside, Rocket League is a genuinely new type of game that provides addictive, enjoyable, skill-based fun that doesn't prevent new players from joining the fray and which never threatens to become dull. Even folks who aren't necessarily excited by football, sports in general, or cars will find something to love here and for many, it'll become their new favourite pastime. This is absolutely superb and will keep you entertained for many, many hours.

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Feb 11, 2016

Critic80/100

Agreement—

This War of Mine: The Little Ones is a fantastically atmospheric, emotional, and compelling game that constantly makes you doubt what you're doing, in a way that feels entirely natural as part of the experience. You have to weigh up every decision in order to keep your crew safe from harm and that coupled with the strong desire to play through just one more raid to see how things turn out, means that you're more than likely to get your money's worth here. Great stuff.

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Feb 8, 2016

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Assassin's Creed Chronicles features a generally solid game engine, nice storyline, and is for all intents and purposes a decent proposition. However, it's constantly prevented from shining by some dire level design and so many instant deaths that if you counted them, would probably see you reaching triple digits by the time you complete the game for the first time. There's some enjoyment to be had here, but it's frequently punctuated by massive bouts of frustration. If you want to try the series, you should grab China, since it remains the best of the three.

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Jan 25, 2016

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Level 22: Gary's Misadventures is a fun puzzler that doesn't take itself too seriously. Even with that in mind, the developer has obviously lavished love and attention on the game and produced a product that, while not the longest or most challenging game in the world, is enjoyable enough.

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Jan 18, 2016

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Oxenfree is truly unlike any other experience that you can pick up for the Xbox One right now. While it isn't heavy on gameplay, the narrative and aesthetics really build a superb atmosphere and give a great sense of weight to proceedings. It doesn't necessarily score a direct hit with every story beat and we could definitely live without the crashes. There's also an argument to be made that around four or five hours, the game is a tad short in the grand scheme of things. It feels shorter still when you pick up the controller to make a quick bit of progress late in the evening, then find yourself staring at the rolling credits at 3am with all the lights on because something just doesn't feel right.As we said, Oxenfree is an unsettling game.

Pure Xbox

Ken Barnes·Jan 12, 2016

Critic50/100

Agreement—

If you liked Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, then there's a decent chance that you'll have a good time in India, in spite of the problems outlined above. There's enjoyment to be had, but the main worry is that almost everything new that has been thrown in is flawed to the point of not being a worthy addition. With the Russian entry just around the corner, we're hoping that this is a missed step in the journey, rather than an inevitable and unalterable course.