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.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape feels like a promise fulfilled. We can't help but think back to all of the late night sessions exploring iconic corners of this vibrant sci-fi universe, and digging into all manners of lore to help make sense of it all. And now, despite it's ups and downs, we have a gratifying end to the decade spanning Light and Darkness saga, that evokes all those memories in one big celebration. Destiny 2: The Final Shape is the hope and dream of every other live service game out there. It's a testament to Bungie's unwavering commitment to a riveting saga that defied all odds, and did exactly what it set out to do. This one is for the fans.
Ultimately, the game’s charming visage is enough to overcome some mechanical shortcomings and provide a game that's equal parts relaxing, charming, and goofy.
XenoVerse 2's outstanding longevity must be praised, and it's still a fun game to explore, but it can be difficult to recommend. Parts of this time-travelling adventure haven't aged well at all, and although the game's impressive scope does counterbalance a lot of its flaws, you need to know that the core gameplay loop is an almighty grind — now more than ever before.
Outside of the core campaign, there’s online multiplayer with full crossplay, which should help to ensure matchmaking remains snappy across a prospectively small install base. Rotating challenges also offer new gameplay wrinkles and modifiers to keep things fresh in a very basic live service fashion, with cosmetic unlocks like paint and leaderboards available to keep you engaged. Ultimately, the game won’t hold your attention for too long, but you’ll be smiling plenty while it lasts.
Most disappointing is the lack of clown comedy. Their shoes squeak when they walk and there are some jokey lines of dialogue, but no hilarious kills. As a human, sometimes a funny cutscene will play when you die, but that doesn't translate to combat. There’s no clown cars or circus tricks, no killer klown spaceship to fight in. Just rural, small town American levels littered with guns and melee weapons. Without the film’s silliness, there’s little reason to play Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game over other popular asymmetric horror titles.
XDefiant is a solid shooter that will likely scratch that arcade-y itch with its snappy gunplay, iconic map design, and fan-favourite game modes. It's the perfect multiplayer shooter to chuck on at the weekend, and we suspect it'll be home to several late-night sessions for old-school Call of Duty fans. It's not quite the breath of fresh air for the genre that The Finals is, but more like a blast from the past. Is it a CoD killer? No, but if Ubisoft can work its magic and go hell-for-leather with its multi-franchise post-launch content, then XDefiant could flourish into a regular staple of the shooter genre.
While we've got issues with some of the less than adventurous gameplay mechanics, in most other regards Indika is an absolute triumph. It teeters on a cliff edge, tonally, but never goes too far in any one direction. It never becomes preachy, or maudlin, or too silly for its own good. It's a wonderful balancing act, and one that it continues right up until its final moments which will leave you unsure about whether you should laugh or cry.
Paper Trail is a charming game with an interesting and unique puzzle mechanic. The story doesn’t quite reach the emotional highs that we were expecting but it’s still a sweet coming-of-age tale set in a gorgeous world complemented by a beautifully atmospheric soundtrack.
Braid is undoubtedly a classic that revolutionized the indie game landscape, and it still has enough unique ideas to make it worth a playthrough for the first time today. Whether or not the Anniversary Edition is worth it, however, will largely depend on your experience with the original. For newcomers, the enhanced graphics and extra levels make this the definitive edition, and worthy of a purchase. Similarly, up-and-coming game developers will find lots of love and advice poured into the game's comprehensive commentary system.However, for those who have experienced Braid before, unless you're itching for a revisit, there may not be enough new content here to justify double dipping. Whether it's the original or the Anniversary Edition, though, Braid is still a game that should be experienced by everyone at least once.
Animal Well is an extremely rewarding game — if you're willing to lose yourself in it. The sort of mysteries it's hiding go well beyond finding collectibles, giving you a rich and detailed world to unpack. If you have the patience and the curiosity, it's absolutely worth plumbing its depths.
It’s truly impressive what SFB Games has accomplished with such a small team. If you like 90s horror games — Resident Evil especially — then you owe it to yourself to try out Crow Country.
Fallout 4's core gameplay loop is still enough to hold everything together, even if the surrounding adventure is really showing its age, almost a decade after its initial release. A smooth 60fps performance mode is exactly what a lot of returning players will have wanted, and there's still fun to be had in roaming post-apocalyptic Boston - especially with the timeless V.A.T.S. system at the ready. But there's no looking past the fact that open world games have come a long way since Fallout 4 - a title that arguably felt outdated even back in 2015.
Sea of Thieves is a blast when playing with friends. With its focus on cosmetic customisation, we slipped into the pirate's life with ease – even after six years of updates and seasonal changes. Its natural and immersive approach to navigation makes it a seafaring sandbox well worth visiting, and a focus on cosmetics over high-tier loot make it a game you can play at your own pace. It's a delight to steadily come to grips with the mechanics of the game too, whether that be how to outmanoeuvre enemy ships or sell your loot with quickened efficiency. It might not have the same level of grind that a lot of players look for in a live service game, but there's endless pirate fun to be had here, and we're glad that PlayStation players finally have the opportunity to join in on the swashbuckling chaos.
Broken down into individual pieces, Sand Land doesn't do anything particularly amazing, but when taken as a whole, this is one of the best anime-based games that we've played in a long time. It's got plenty of great story moments, its open world structure is moreish, and combat is satisfyingly solid. A robust and lovingly crafted adventure that charms from start to finish.
Stellar Blade is a slick console debut from a developer clearly on the rise. With an ever-evolving counter-attacking combat system, some superb art direction, and a sensational soundtrack, this is the kind of back-to-basics PS5 outing that fans have been pleading for. A dire English dub and some trite story beats mean the studio still has plenty of room to refine its craft, but Eve's inaugural outing is largely excellent across the board, and destined to become a firm favourite among PS5 enthusiasts.