Includes PushSquare
Last reviewed: Halo: Campaign Evolved · today
there's no denying that Age of Mythology’s gameplay can feel simplistic, which is ironic, considering how influential the series has been. Having played a bunch back in the day, the missed campaigns are appreciated, but we can’t see ourselves regularly returning to the well.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn't quite BioWare back to its absolute best, but it is the most cohesive and emotionally engaging RPG that the studio has delivered since Mass Effect 3. Its shift to crunchy action combat is an improvement over Inquisition's middle-of-the-road approach, and although the game feels a little light on meaningful player choice, the storytelling pulls no punches when it actually matters. This is a gorgeous and gripping adventure, backed by a cast of endearing heroes and deliciously devious villains.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is an incredibly entertaining fighter that hinges on some brilliantly crafted team mechanics, so it's a real shame that the overall product is cloaked in controversy. Accessible yet open-ended and deep, Arc System Works' latest is slick and expressive, but it's the questionable DLC practices that ultimately muddy the waters.
Despite bringing a few new mechanics to the table, Far Cry 5: Hours of Darkness is a lesser experience when compared to the base game in every possible way. Its story is almost non-existent, the open world is completely generic, and with a fair few features from the original experience missing, it all feels like a step back. The core of what makes this a Far Cry game is still present, but you were probably already tired of that long ago.
Vampyr has a ton of interesting ideas, an intriguing world, and a great cast of characters, but is ultimately let down by its narrow-minded focus on unnecessary combat.
Along Together serves up a fun virtual reality experience that doesn't attempt to do anything new, but rather refines mechanics introduced by others. It's mildly challenging puzzles won't present much of a roadblock in your path to progress, besides the unintuitive junkyard location, and so an afternoon's worth of enjoyment is around about where your expectations should lie.
While Milanoir does a whole lot of things right with its fair share of positives and highly stylized aspects, it still manages to drop the ball on some key elements like crucial gameplay mechanics. Regardless, this game is a fun play, and we'd say it's definitely worth your money, assuming you are looking more for a solid story and over the top experience than you are for the smoothest, frame-perfect gameplay.
Gorogoa is an immaculate puzzle game. Gorgeous art, beautiful but ominous ambient music, and mind-blowingly clever design combine for something special. It's a game like nothing we've ever played before, and with a modest run-time and low price-point to boot, you have no reason not to snag this outstanding experience.
A depiction of hell that hasn't really been fully realised before, Agony is marred by frustrating stealth sections and some poorly explained mechanics. The horrifying imagery is generally effective and the overall presentation manages to survive some glaring technical issues, but this is very much an acquired taste in every sense of the word.
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a lovely compendium of every single Street Fighter from the arcade original right up to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Fans of the franchise will really appreciate having so many entries in a single place, and the wealth of customisation options, online modes, and extra content in the museum will go down a real storm.
Yoku's Island Express is one of the most surprising games of 2018. The combination of pinball and Metroidvania is, on paper at least, a little like dipping your French fries into your milkshake; as good as the two elements are separately, they shouldn't really work together. But thanks to an array of smart design choices, a wonderful art style, and some genuinely inventive puzzles, Yoku's Island Express is a game that only rarely frustrates – and frequently delights.
Moonlighter is a delightful mix of action RPG, rogue-lite dungeon crawling, and shopkeeping sim with an ingenious gameplay loop that'll have you hooked. The way the game's contrasting parts blend into one another means you're always making progress, and it feels great. Exploring the dungeons is challenging and fun, and managing the shop is addictive, thanks to an intelligent economy system. There are some rough edges, such as complex menu screens and one or two minor bugs, but when this game gets its hooks in, you won't care. Shopping around for your new favourite indie? Look no further.
PixelJunk Monsters 2 is a brave sequel that attempts to fix something that isn't broken, and has ended up taking away more than it adds.
Everspace is a fun and fast paced space exploration roguelike with beautiful visuals, solid combat, and rewarding progression systems. Unfortunately, it's let down by regular crashes and major drops in frame rate throughout. Rockfish has created a slick ship in the form of Everspace - it just requires a few patches before it can take off.
With a dearth of decent games based in the Warhammer 40k universe, Space Hulk: Deathwing seems at first glance to be heading in the right direction. With a reverence for the source material that'll appeal to Warhammer 40K aficionados, it successfully evokes the space hulk setting and the relentless battles at its heart. While the basic building blocks of a decent experience seem to be here, the undeveloped gameplay, and repetitive structure – that degenerates into tiresome battles of attrition – mean that even transplanting it into the co-op multiplayer mode and adding more unlocks and rewards won't be enough to keep your finger on the trigger for long.
Detroit: Become Human is vintage Quantic Dream, delivering a multifaceted choose-your-own-adventure that's both ambitious and somewhat of an acquired taste.
Dark Souls Remastered is an excellent remaster of a standout entry in the Souls franchise. Those who played the original will feel right at home, and will really appreciate the visual and technical improvements – particularly to Blight Town, which now runs at a butter smooth 60 frames-per-second. However, those that weren't there at the beginning may not appreciate the inferior visuals and general jankiness that later entries have all but ironed out.