PJ O'Reilly

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 20, 2020

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Warborn takes the tried and tested Advance Wars formula, adds a bunch of huge Mechs, some overwrought '90s anime-inspired cutscenes and a story that sees you take control of four different commanders as you seek to restore order to the Auros system. There's nothing inspired or unique here; Raredrop Games is playing it safe and straight down the line, but fans of the genre, and most especially fans of massive Gundam-esque robots, will get a solid (if unspectacular) experience out of what's on offer with this one. Just don't expect any surprises.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 18, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Ruiner is an exceptionally stylish, brutal and bloody top-down shooter that hurls you unceremoniously into a relentless onslaught of deranged creeps, cyborgs and enormous mechanoid bosses all hellbent on your destruction. A steady drip-feed of new combat skills – alongside a ton of meaty guns and melee weapons – keeps the action feeling fresh, and the game's excellent graphics and thumping techno soundtrack do a top-notch job of bringing the whole thing vibrantly to life. There are a few framerate issues here and there in docked mode – something which has been an issue in other versions of the game – but, overall, this is a super-solid version of a supremely enjoyable and challenging cyberpunk action-adventure.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 11, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Project Warlock is an excellent throwback to the fast-paced, gory strafe-fests of the '90s. It's got tons of big, meaty weapons, magic attack abilities, some light puzzle elements and an endless procession of freakish hellspawn to blow into tiny chunks across five impressively varied settings. Buckshot Software's debut effort is an easy recommendation for retro FPS fans and one of the better shooter experiences currently available on Switch.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 4, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The Outer Worlds is a hugely entertaining "Fallout-in-space"-style RPG adventure filled with wonderfully vibrant locations, excellent companions, zippy and hilariously brutal combat and a ton of well-written characters to meet as you attempt to save the colony of Halcyon. Virtuos has made the expected tweaks to graphics in order to keep things as smooth as possible with this Switch port and, although things can look and feel a little rough in docked mode, in handheld this is a supremely enjoyable experience that's entertained us just as much this time around as when we played it at launch, and comes highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 3, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The XCOM 2 Collection on Switch is the full-fat XCOM 2 and XCOM 2: War of the Chosen experience. Virtuous has had to knock the graphics right down to the lowest setting, there's plenty of framerate issues and bugs that we've already encountered on other platforms and the not-insignificant – but hopefully very shortly patched – problem with the game's character creation pool, but this is still a highly playable version of the game. If you can make peace with some stuttering and long loading times and aren't too offended by pretty ugly textures here and there, you'll be rewarded with one of the very best turn-based tactical titles currently available. XCOM 2 is nothing short of a masterpiece and now you can play it on the go, which we reckon is well worth any sacrifices made here.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·May 29, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Minecraft Dungeons does an excellent job of taking the blocky world and characters that we all know and love from Minecraft and transplanting them into a light and breezy, kid-friendly action-RPG. The streamlined systems of character building and upgrading here are delightfully easy to engage with, levels are beautifully realised, and randomly generated slices of the overworld and the various mobs and bosses you come up against provide a fun challenge for up to four players to get stuck into. It may not be the most dark or difficult action RPG out there, but for newcomers to the genre, young kids or massive Minecraft fans, this one is an easy recommendation.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 25, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Journey to the Savage Planet is a wonderfully unique mixture of No Man's Sky-style exploration and Metroidvania puzzling and platforming with a wonderfully dark sense of humour that arrives here on Switch in a slightly compromised but still eminently playable state.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 24, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Never Stop Sneakin' is a lovingly crafted parody of early Metal Gear Solid games that pairs some genuinely funny dialogue and ridiculous characters and cutscenes with its own brand of impressively slick stealth action. Its levels are pretty repetitive and there's quite a bit of unnecessary grinding and replaying of missions in an effort to artificially extend the running time but, overall, this is a fun little title that's perfect for dipping in and out of for a hit of light-hearted tactical espionage action.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 23, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix is a strong portable version of a truly joyous rhythm game which loses out a little in terms of track numbers in comparison to the likes of series stablemate Future Tone, but makes up for this with a surprisingly solid Switch-exclusive motion control mode alongside touchscreen controls and a new art style that helps keep things running smoothly as you blast your way through its eclectic mix of excellent music.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 18, 2020

Critic30/100

Agreement—

The Elder Scrolls: Blades is a bland and repetitive grind, a free-to-play mobile game all dressed up like a proper Elder Scrolls title but lacking in any of the adventure, exploration, wit or charm of a mainline entry in the franchise.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 14, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Void Bastards is a delightful roguelike romp through a wonderfully unique cel-shaded comic book world full of loud-mouthed enemies and smart-arsed robots.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 13, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Huntdown is a delightfully detailed and expertly crafted throwback to old-school run n' gun arcade shooters.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 7, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Fury Unleashed takes the central gameplay loops of the likes of Dead Cells and Enter the Gungeon and infuses them with pulpy '90s action platforming resulting in one of the best roguelites currently available on Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Apr 29, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Streets of Rage 4 is the very best the series has ever been.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Mar 31, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Zombie Army Trilogy is a solid co-op shooter with a fantastically pulpy set-up that does exactly what it sets out to, pitting you and up to three other players against an almost endless army of gloriously gory undead Nazis and letting you snipe, shotgun and kick every last one of them to pieces. It may be of somewhat limited appeal when played solo, but gather together a crew or join forces with randoms online and this one springs to life, providing countless hours of admirably straightforward skull-smashing fun.