Includes PushSquare
Last reviewed: Mina the Hollower · 5 days ago
A referential and joyful deep dive into the world of Batman, the latest LEGO effort from TT Games is elite brick gaming. Legacy of the Dark Knight just wants to be an enjoyable time, and it refuses to falter from that commitment. This new LEGO Batman will be some of the best fun you have all year.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an excellent action RPG that offers an even more hardcore take on the increasingly popular Soulslike formula. It's fast, frenetic, and hits like a truck, with one of the most mesmeric combat systems we've ever had the pleasure to master. It might scare off more casual players, but those looking for a challenge, well - you can stop looking.
Bound is beautifully presented and will make you think, but its basic platforming doesn't have the legs that developer Plastic thinks it has. Fans of emotionally charged titles like Gone Home will be satisfied with what's on offer here – but those looking for a quality platformer may want to dance with something a little more competent in that department.
No Man's Sky is full of potential, and Hello Games has laid strong foundations on which to build. Its main gameplay is simplistic but becomes totally engrossing, and the technical achievement is impressive. The atmosphere created by the graphics and sound is second to none, and there's an amazing sense of place. Some may struggle to find the fun with the lack of direction, and there are some technical issues that need addressing, but if you're able to create your own fun with the tools that you're given, you'll be playing this for a long time.
Chambara is a smart, stylish, and truly entertaining game to play locally with friends and family. There's a timeless class to games of this ilk which offer experiences that you simply cannot get elsewhere. As long as you can provide a steady stream of willing players to engage with, Chambara returns the favour with a limited but excellent selection of arenas to engage with them in.
ABZÛ is a triumph of exploration and atmosphere. Its gorgeous underwater playgrounds are a joy to explore thanks to its perfectly tuned controls, awe-inspiring visuals, and beautiful sound design. A somewhat predictable story does little to hamper what is otherwise an utterly unique and rapturous experience.
Brut@l is a fun dungeon crawler regardless of whether the historical significance of collecting letters and throwing the @ sign at goblins is lost on you. A distinctive visual style complements simple and enjoyable combat, a satisfying collection of craftable weapons, and a rewarding learning curve. Dungeon runs can get a bit samey, but a co-op mode and robust dungeon creator reward further visits.
Aside from a few minor presentation and performance niggles, Overcooked is a wonderfully executed game, and is one of the best co-operative experiences in recent years. The simplicity of the controls and gameplay make it extremely accessible, while there is still plenty of challenge in the later, crazier kitchens. Working together effectively with a few buddies feels fantastic, and even when things get a bit heated, it's all part of the fun. If you're looking for a light-hearted couch co-op game, Overcooked should definitely be on your menu.
Heart&Slash has some enjoyable moments. The weapon and armour unlocks coupled with the randomly generated levels will keep you coming back, but ultimately, the experience is let down by unfair encounters and repetitive combat. It's a quirky combination of roguelike and brawler that will leave fans of either genre disappointed.
Videoball is a classy and low cost game that is manic fun in multiplayer and an okay grind in single player arcade mode. Don't let the simplistic looks put you off – have some balls and fire this up at your earliest convenience.
To put it simply, Hyper Light Drifter is incredible. Lovingly wrapped in a distinctly retro shell, the title fires on all cylinders. An intriguing, abstract narrative set in one of the most beautifully vivid world's we've ever seen helps provide a near flawless experience. Add in great combat and controls as well as an amazing soundtrack, and the end result is easily one of this year's must-plays. Its difficulty may scare away some, but for all who can cope, the experience is a truly rewarding one.
It's a testament to the excellence of Headlander that it can only be faulted for its slight technical flaws. Everything about it is so finely tuned, from its gunplay to its platforming to its puzzles, and it doesn't just stay true to classic Metroidvanias – it also builds upon the foundations that they laid. The story is well told, the characters are entertaining, the environments are fleshed out, and the humour is as brilliant as always. Headlander's one of the best games that Double Fine has ever produced.
Moon Hunters is certainly an ambitious idea from Kitfox Games, and for the most part it hits the right notes. There's an interesting world and story on show that complements the unique, randomly generated areas, enjoyable combat, and personality trait mechanics, so it's unfortunate that its constant attempts to promote replayability cause things to fall a little flat. And, with only four different endings to discover, it's quite possible that you'll only be spending four or five hours with the release, which is disappointing, as the title's universe feels ripe for immersing yourself in.
Tricky Towers is a good romp when playing local multiplayer with friends – the floppy physics add tension (both literally and metaphorically) and the spells make the gameplay interesting and dynamic. The gameplay suffers quite a bit in single player, though, and even though the price is cheap, the game does wear thin eventually.
Vault-Tec Workshop is Fallout 4's best settlement DLC, but that won't mean much to those who don't enjoy building settlements to begin with. The often comical experiments that you can subject your dwellers to offer a few hours of fun, and the add-on provides loads of new items and structures to work with, but at the end of the day, we're glad that this marks the end of the game's Workshop offerings - we're just not convinced that Fallout 4 needed so much premium crafting clutter.
Boring is not an adjective you expect to use when talking about an arcade racer, but somehow Carmageddon: Max Damage manages to be so tedious that you'll struggle to keep yourself interested enough to see out all of its events. The disappointing car handling, aimless AI, and basic visuals all come together to make a real clunker, which even with its few interesting aspects, doesn't come close to being classed as roadworthy.
There are some interesting and well-implemented ideas here that make Obliteracers stand-out, but it gets drowned out amid the rest of the game which more often than not fails to make use of its unique mechanics and relies on generic tropes that have been better implemented elsewhere. There's still some fun to be had in a spare 30 minute session alone, and it excels when played with friends – but on the whole it fails to provide enough depth and variation to keep the average player Obliteracing after the initial taster.