Sammy Barker

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Sammy Barker·Dec 25, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Infinity Nikki, even in this early phase of its lifespan, is utterly essential – assuming you can stomach the twee, whimsical tone to it all. Its cosy vibes will prove an acquired taste, but its attention to detail and commitment to keeping the player engaged during every minute of exploration is impeccable. Moreover, its visual presentation is up there alongside the best you'll find on PS5 – an extraordinary achievement for a free-to-play game that also miraculously runs on mobile. Some control quandaries and an abundance of proper nouns prevent it from achieving perfection, but these are minor blemishes on an otherwise outstanding experience.

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Sammy Barker·Nov 4, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Frustrating at times but fearlessly inventive, Slitterhead is an absolute must-play if you're looking for an original take on the survival horror genre. Serving as a spiritual successor to fan favourites like Siren, Gravity Rush, and Soul Sacrifice, this haunting tale about a body-hopping spirit – who uses humans as fodder to put a stop to the eponymous enemy – is a scintillating albeit occasionally undercooked debut from Bokeh Game Studios. Repetition and an overall lack of refinement do bring it down, but you'll be hard-pushed to find a more imaginative experience this year.

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Sammy Barker·Oct 30, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Horizon Zero Dawn is very much one of Sony's standout projects of the past ten years, and this superb remaster by Nixxes puts it among the best looking games on the PS5. While the side-quests and supporting content don't quite match up to sequel Forbidden West, the more focused story is arguably better than its successor, and it's presented almost flawlessly in this remastered format.

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Sammy Barker·Oct 14, 2024

Critic40/100

Agreement—

There’s actually the glimmer of a good idea here. If the shooting sequences were better executed and the car handling better honed, you could end up with an interesting alternative take on the arcade racer that serves its license well. But while there’s some reasonable presentation on display, the package doesn’t deliver on its ambition at all.

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Sammy Barker·Oct 13, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Undisputed doesn't pull its punches, and it's a tidy first attempt. While the game lacks the polish of a true champion, there's the meat of something special here. Career mode has all the elements of a great, but it's a bit dry in its current guise and could use a little more spectacle and variety. Meanwhile, the actual core boxing feels fantastic, but repetitive commentary and a lack of in-ring drama let it down. This is a release that's not quite ready to contend for a belt yet, but it's not a million miles off.

Push Square

Sammy Barker·Oct 8, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

EA Sports FC 25 is the best playing version of the annual soccer sim in quite some time, with more intelligent artificial intelligence and weather physics adding a layer of density and dynamism to the experience – albeit largely offline. To us, Ultimate Team feels like it's getting a bit stale, but we like the addition of Rush across the entire release, which offers something a little different for when you fancy a change of pace. And while the commentary and menus are below par, the overall quality of the presentation continues to be underappreciated.

Push Square

Sammy Barker·Oct 8, 2024

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Unfortunately, the slow, cumbersome movement undoes the otherwise likeable presentation. We’re glad this era of licensed games is slowly making a comeback, we just wished this was more fun to play.

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Sammy Barker·Oct 7, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

By daring to downscale some of the fluff, NBA 2K25 brings its focus back to basketball in a positive way. Improvements to the series' dribbling system and ProPLAY make this the best feeling hoops sim Visual Concepts has made, while the sheer density of different modes and features means you could play nothing else all year – and still never get bored. But the borderline insulting emphasis on microtransactions remain a thorn in this series' side, and something you simply have to accept if you want to enjoy everything else on offer here.

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Sammy Barker·Oct 1, 2024

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Across the board, the emulation is excellent, and the package has been enhanced by beautiful 3D renders of the original Famicom cartridges, as well as artwork and high-resolution scans of each game’s manual. This is a well-done and loving bundle, then, but the games themselves are ancient and demand a very specific mindset if you plan to extract any actual entertainment value from them.

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Sammy Barker·Sep 19, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

But it’s this type of boundless creativity that many feel PlayStation is missing these days. Sony may have lifted the overall quality of its output, but it’s come at the expense of unbridled oddities like this; a game that, when considered critically, is barely above average – but ends up more memorable than the latest AAA fancy purely because of the sheer insanity of it all.

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Sammy Barker·Aug 31, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Vampire Survivors, then – it’s f**cking brilliant and it costs less than a coffee. Get it fed into your eyeballs fast!

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Sammy Barker·Aug 24, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement100%

Concord is a clean and well-meaning first-person shooter, with no shady business practices to boot. Its lack of real identity is an issue, and it's difficult to determine just how much Sony is going to get behind it long-term. However, there's a polished and beautifully presented experience on offer here, with some interesting tactical team-building systems and sublime animations. Firewalk's debut may not be out of this world, but it's genuinely pretty good overall.

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Sammy Barker·Aug 5, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

If you’ve been looking for a more modern take on Touhou, Radiant Silvergun, or any of the many other bullet hell shooters on the market, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing ticks the box. It’s fast, it’s frantic, and it looks frankly unbelievable at times. And considering it’s being flogged at half the price of most other modern PS5 titles, it represents relatively reasonable value for money, too.

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Sammy Barker·Jul 27, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The ten-year wait for EA Sports College Football 25 has been worth it, with its all-encompassing Dynasty mode likely to prove an obsession for some football fans. Great gameplay paired with a deep spreadsheet simulator makes this one of the most fun and fresh sports games in eons, and it's backed up by some stellar presentation, too. Ultimate Team feels superfluous, and Road to Glory could do with more time in the oven, but as far as comebacks go, this is one for the ages – even if it's mere existence is likely to bemuse practically everyone outside of America.

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Sammy Barker·Jul 15, 2024

Critic50/100

Agreement—

But if you love Spy x Family, there’s still plenty to enjoy here. Exploring the Forger household, small as it may be, is unquestionably fun – and Anya is as expressive and amusing as ever, resulting in regular laugh-out-loud moments. It’s not a bad game, then – in fact, it’s something a little different in the licensed anime category. But it could have benefitted from a bit more variety.