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.
Port Royale 4's gameplay consists almost entirely of all of the bits in other strategy games that you'd normally set to "Automate" because they're fiddly and boring. It's a game set in the era of pirates with nary a hint of swashing nor buckling.
If there was a little more to it, it'd be easier to recommend, but it's certainly worth a quick trip.
But with all these setbacks, perhaps the age old question of 'Can you run Crysis?' should be refrained. Maybe we should instead be asking, why would you want to?
You'll be hard-pressed to find a remake more faithful than Mafia: Definitive Edition. It pays a great deal of respect to the source text with excellent cutscene direction, voice acting, and a cast of characters you can't help but fall in love with. The game definitely shows its age with frustrating controls and vehicle handling, but the next story beat is enough of an excuse to continue pressing forward. Mafia: Definitive Edition's narrative and everything that comes with it holds up to this day, and it's one worth revisiting even if you know it like the back of your hand.
Tennis World Tour 2 captures the flow of real-world tennis well, but that comes with a steep timing-based learning curve. Overcome it, and you'll be rewarded with a deep skill-based gameplay experience, that's elevated by a strategic deck building accompaniment. There's inconsistency to the presentation, with some awkward animations, physics, and art direction decisions – but the campaign is entertaining and online play will add longevity. As it stands, it's the best tennis game currently available on the PS4, but there's still room for further improvement here.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a game that seems like it exists purely to house its storefront, offering predatory microtransactions which would be overly pricy in a free-to-play game. In a paid title - even a budget one - they're offensive. The only silver lining here is that the game is rubbish anyway, so feel free to skip it without feeling like you're missing out.
Spelunky 2 betters its predecessor in just about every area. Push through its tough outer shell and you'll discover a fantastic platformer well worth your time. More stuffed with secrets than ever and fleshing out the formula with all kinds of new additions, this is a rich and addictive roguelike with so much to unearth.
Konami is effectively taking a year off because it knows it has the basis of something special here and it wants to ensure it makes an effective transition to the PlayStation 5; we can respect that. But with barely any changes and the abovementioned licensing shortcomings, we’d recommend you just pick up last year’s game for a couple o' quid instead.
Perhaps our favourite thing about the expansion is that it gives your crew a little more room to breathe. A lot of new dialogue has been recorded for Peril on Gorgon, and your allies chime in throughout the DLC's main quest, which lasts a reasonable six to eight hours or so.
Sadly, Bounty Battle plays about as well as it looks. The goal is to empty the health bar of your enemies, but character animations are so basic and stunted that it's near impossible to tell what's going on — especially during three or four player fights. The controls are responsive enough, but the release is riddled with stuttering issues on PS4 — combat just never feels smooth, and that's a nail in the coffin of any fighting game.
Overall, it's just not particularly well made; music will drop out occasionally, some collectibles aren't fully explained, the writing isn't good, and it's awkward to control.
Buried Stars is an intricately woven visual novel with a lot of cool concepts. An interesting and varied cast keep you on your toes, while a plot filled with twists and mystery makes Buried Stars a must for fans of the genre.
In pursuing pro players, NBA 2K21 may be a little too intimidating for more casual players. Nevertheless, this is an obscenely detailed simulation that captures the ebb-and-flow of real-world basketball with unrivalled authenticity. It's also enormous, and while some aspects have been left untouched, the likeable story and revamped MyTeam modes mean that it's worth the upgrade. The in-game economy, which is heavily influenced by lucrative microtransactions, continues to be a sour spot – and it remains to be seen how much life this release will have with a next-gen successor right around the corner. Still, even with all of these drawbacks, it's comfortably one of the best sports games available on the PS4.
All in all, Intertial Drift offers a fun variation on drift racing with a broad level of challenge. A great visual style and plenty to do distract from the somewhat low-budget execution.
Hotshot Racing is an unapologetic return to arcade action, and it's brilliant fun. This game's charming retro aesthetic, sweeping powerslides, and glorious handling are a constant joy, and a perfect antithesis to the myriad simulators on PS4. Some might find the courses don't provide much of a challenge, and we'd gladly have taken a little more content, but you'll be hard pushed to find a better example of straight-up arcade racing this generation.