Tag: sequel

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Review – More Borderlands, For Better or For Worse

Probably every review of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is going to refer to this game as being Borderlands with a coat of Dungeons & Dragons paint. But as unoriginal as that might sound, it’s also an incredibly accurate statement that explains everything about the game that you need to know. This is essentially a reskin of Borderlands 3, and with that comes a lot of good and a fair bit of not so good. The shooting and looting loop is excellent and the humour is much stronger than it was in the previous game. But on the other hand, the structure of the game has barely changed since the original Borderlands and there’s a strong sense Gearbox needs to think about how to evolve their missions designs. In short, if you still love Borderlands and have a soft spot for fantasy then this is going to be for you. And if Borderlands is starting to grind your gears, it’s best avoided. Me? I fall firmly into the first camp.

Days Gone PC Review – Better Than Ever

Days Gone has ridden onto Steam as the latest Playstation exclusive to make it onto PC, opening up Bend Studio’s work to a whole new audience. I reviewed Days Gone when it first launched on the PS4 back in 2018 and found it to be entertaining to play with a strong lead character. A couple of years on my initial thoughts haven’t changed too much, so you can check out the original review for those. Now, though, we the recent news of a potential sequel being turned down by Sony it’s interesting to revisit Days Gone and see why I think it does deserve one to fulfil all the potential it has. And if you just want an idea of how good the PC port is, jump down toward the end of the review.

Evil Genius 2 Review – It’s Boring To Be Bad

Over the last few years, we’ve seen a bunch of old games being brought back, like how Streets of Rage 4 resurrected a long-dormant franchise or how Crash Bandicoot 4 brought back an iconic character. Now it’s the turn of Evil Genius, a strategy game from 2004 that had you taking control of a Dr Evil style villain and carving out a lair in which you could plot the downfall of the world. The critical reception was fairly middling but the game earned itself something of a cult status. Now, after years of careful plotting and planning, Rebellion has given us the sequel that the original game so deeply deserved.

Helheim Hassle Review – Bjørn To Be Good

In 2016 Perfectly Paranomal gave the world Manual Samuel, an adventure game where the goofy hero was given a chance by Death to live again provided he could go 24-hours doing everything manually. 4-years later, Perfectly Paranormal are back with another unique experience in the form of Helheim Hassle, mixing the weird humour of Manual Samuel with an equally weird gameplay idea: what if you could detach all your limbs and control them? And while Helheim Hassle does actually take place at the same time as Manual Samuel, you don’t need to have ever played Perfectly Paranormal’s Prior work to enjoy this wholly barmy adventure. But is Helheim Hassle worth an arm and a leg? Does it even have a leg to stand on? Can it possibly get ahead of all the competition? Or is it just another h(armless) adventure game? Okay, I’ll stop now.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Review – Sick

Let’s assume for a moment that you’ve been living in some sort of perpetual darkness your entire life with no access to the Internet, game consoles or even a toilet. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is a skateboarding game that’s all about arcadey thrills and spills as you link together tricks into increasingly absurd combos. For millions of people, myself firmly included, the Tony Hawk series was a childhood staple that helped drive interest in skateboarding and introduced kids to some of the greatest music to ever grace a video game. To this day Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is one of the highest rated games ever, a classic among classics. Sadly the Tony Hawk game empire crumbled eventually, with Robomodo taking over from Neversoft and doing a bloody awful job it, culminating in the crappy Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 and a naff attempt to remaster the first game. But now Vicarious Visions are taking a stab at bringing both of the first two Hawk games back to life in this remake, and I’m happy to report Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is both a nostalgia filled trip down memory lane and a bloody awesome game for anybody looking to jump into Pro Skater for the first time.

The Last Of Us Review – I Finally Played It

Everyone has holes in their gaming CV, important games that they’ve missed out on over the years. Mine is a particularly big one: The Last of Us, widely regarded as one of the greatest Playstation exclusives of all time and one of the best games to have been released. With The Last of Us Part 2 away to launch I wanted to finally get The Last of Us ticked off and reviewed in time for its sequel. So let’s see what all the fuss was about.

Injustice 2 Review – The Batman v Superman We Deserve

It has done my heart good to see Netherealm return from the brink of self-annihilation. The creators of Mortal Kombat were a huge part of my childhood as I spent many happy hours trying to master Sub-zero. But along the way the studio got off-track and Mortal Kombat plunged into the depths, and many thought it would never be seen again. Seemingly against the odds, though, Netherealm returned to form with a new Mortal Kombat that was brilliant, then proceeded to follow it up with Injustice: Gods Among Us, a DC-themed fighting game that was basically Mortal Kombat under the hood but without the gore. The release of Mortal Kombat X saw the studio improve on the formula again, and now here we are with Injustice 2. Spoiler alert: Netherealm have done it again.

Dawn of War III Review – Day of Defeat

Way back in the dark ages of 2004 Relic produced Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, a strategy game that has, over the years, taken away hundreds of hours of my life thanks to its wonderful gameplay and its chunky expansions. Then Dawn of War II turned up and I lost interest as the series ditched base building in favor of more tactical/RPG experience. Now, some eight years after the second game, with Dawn of War III it seems Relic attempted to have the best of both worlds, melding their two previous entries together to form a game that is both frustrating and glorious. For many people it isn’t going to be the sequel they wanted, but taken on its own merits there’s a lot to like here, even if it does mean it’s hard to see exactly what the future of the franchise may be moving forward.