Category: Videogame Reviews

All the latest videogame reviews from me. Take that how you will.

Gunfire Reborn Review – A Great Game Pass Addition

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Initially released a year ago on PC to a very positive rating, this rogue-lite FPS where you blast away heaps of baddies while collecting upgrades has made the leap to console. Gunfire Reborn was a supremely pleasant surprise to me, coming from absolutely nowhere and being a good time from start to finish. It’s also another solid grab for Game Pass in Xbox’s continuous mission to find content to feed its ever-expanding subscription service. This is the kind of game you can stumble upon while browsing Game Pass, download on a whim and wind up engrossed in.

Gotham Knights PS5 Review – Standing in the Shadow of the Bat

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It has been nine long years since Warner Bros Montreal last released a game. Batman: Arkham Origins was the forgotten child, shoved to the side as people referred to the Arkham “trilogy” developed by Rocksteady. And while it was certainly true that Arkham Origins didn’t hit quite the same highs, Warner Bros Montreal still delivered a rock-solid Batman game. With that success, the future seemed bright for Warner Bros Montreal as they were primed to take over the Batman license while Rocksteady moved on to other things. But then they released the Batgirl DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight and…vanished. Reports of canceled projects such as an Arkham Knight sequel starring Damian Wayne and a Suicide Squad title threw the entire studio’s existence into question. Nine years is a long time for a studio to expend money without putting anything out. Here we are, though; Gotham Knights, a brand new Batman game that isn’t set in the Arkham universe, a chance for Warner Bros Montreal to don their cape and cowl again, an opportunity to prove themselves the heroes we deserve.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Revew – A Solid Indie Action-Adventure

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Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is yet another game in a long line of games that wants to liken itself to the “souls” genre despite actually having very little in common with From Software’s desire to beat people into submission. Aside from a lack of a map and losing some resources when you die, Asterigos has nothing to do with Dark Souls or its ilk, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in good qualities. While it might not offer anything new or groundbreaking there is a solidly designed action-RPG here that offers a lot of content for a relatively low price, and for the right person that’s going to be a killer deal.

Dakar Desert Rally – And Dabike and Datruck and Daquad

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The Dakar Rally is one of the coolest motorsport events in the world, an epic race across the vast expanses of Saudi Arabia that tests not only pure speed but also navigation skills and endurance. Cars, trucks, quads, bikes and buggies blast along tracks, leap over dunes and slide around bends in a bid to get the best time in stages that span hundreds of kilometres. It’s also a testament to just how crazy and arrogant humans really are – we see an endless desert and think to ourselves, “let’s drive some stuff over it!” Dakar Desert Rally from Sabre Interactive is the latest attempt to capture the magic and epicness of the event and I’m happy to be able to tell you that it’s quite a step up from the 2018 game. This can be a rewarding game for anybody willing to put in the time, but some rough edges keep it from being truly great.

Return to Monkey Island – Welcome Back, Guybrush

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In 1991, Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck’s Revenge dropped a bonkers cliffhanger on fans that wouldn’t ever get truly addressed. The man who created the series, Ron Gilbert, left Lucas Arts after the second game was released and with him, the exact plan for the story of Monkey Island was gone. But the series wouldn’t end there – several more adventures would be released that tried to capture the magic of the first two, and all the while Ron Gilbert dreamt about getting to make a third game. That dream would take three decades and the Monkey Island IP going to Disney to come true. Made by Terrible Toybox with Gilbert at the helm, Return to Monkey Island is a triumphant resurgence for a beloved series.

Isonzo Review – A WW1 Multiplayer Shooter Worth Playing

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Since 2016, Blackmill has been putting out World War 1 based shooters. Verdun and Tannenburg have both tried to provide a somewhat authentic experience of the warfare of the time, pitting teams of players against each other using period weapons. For this third entry, the developers chose the Italian front, specifically an area of the Isonzo river which was the only feasible place for the Italians to attack the Austro-Hungarian forces which had fortified the mountainous region. Half of the Italian’s war casualties would occur in this small area as they attempted to overcome the core problem they faced; to cross the river they needed to eliminate the Austro-Hungarian defenders but to eliminate the defenders they needed to cross the river.

Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed Review – Bring On A 3rd Game

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The massive monstrosity that is the Embracer Group continues to gobble up more and more developers and intellectual properties, and regardless of how you feel about that one good thing has come of it; a willingness to mine their extensive catalogue via remasters and remakes, many of which seem to designed to test whether there’s an audience for a brand new game. In 2020, Black Forest released their remake/remaster of Destroy All Humans, a cult classic from the Playstation 2 days where you played as an alien invading Earth. Now, the much-beloved sequel has gotten the same treatment from Black Forest, making me wonder if we might finally get to see Destroy All Humans 3. That’s the future, though – let’s focus on the here and now; is Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed still fun in 2022 and has Black Forest done it justice?

Cursed to Golf – In The Rough Or On The Fairway?

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As a Scotsman born and raised, there is no fate I would dread more than being cursed to play the game of golf forever. And yet this is the premise of Cursed to Golf, a roguelike 2D recreation of the sport where you have to work your way through 18 holes of golf purgatory, having been cast down there due to being struck by lightning during a golf tournament. I have no idea if this is a common occurrence during golf, but if it is I might actually start watching the sport. So, is Cursed to Golf a hole in one, or a bogey? Let’s find out.

Two Point Campus Review – Ruining The Next Generation In Style

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Two Point Campus is built on the very same foundations that the excellent Two Point Hospital was. In fact, it does feel a lot like Two Point Games slapped a new theme on their hospital management game and called it a day. That’s an oversimplification, of course – a lot of work has gone into Two Point Campus, it’s themes and a few new mechanics. But it’s important to temper your expectations going into this second entry in the growing Two Point County universe because if you do then you’ll discover another satisfying, enjoyable management title with plenty of fun changes under the hood. If you want the shortest possible review, then here it is in all of its cliched glory: if you liked Two Point Hospital, you’ll probably like Two Point Campus.

Stray Review – One Of The Best Games Of 2022?

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I’m not a cat person but I can’t deny how fascinating they are. They are creatures of contradictions, leaping from one behaviour to the next like a bipolar sufferer on a freaking pogo stick. One minute they are affectionate and loving, the next they want to murder your face and burn down your house. They can be fiercely independent and willing to completely ignore your existence, and then two minutes later they become needy little bastards who won’t even let you go to the bathroom alone. They’re astonishing, they really are. And now a cat is a star of this fantastic new indie title called Stray that has taken the Internet by storm, mostly because of people posting videos showing their own cat entranced by their digital facsim