Sunset Overdrive is solid if underwhelming romp in parts which admirably sets out to poke fun at itself, along with the genre, and inject some joy into proceedings. At times it does, too often it doesn't and it ultimately comes off as a mix of Jak and Daxter along with Tony Hawk minus a lot of the tight gameplay that made those successful. It's really not a system seller, making the Sunset console an oddity but it is a solid open world franchise template which will hopefully improve if we see a sequel in time. Decent but not quite as much fun as it should be.
Yes there is high cost to entry and an even higher one should you wish to experience everything on the disc but once you are on board what you will find is a very well crafted, fun, good looking experience which strikes the perfect balance between young, old, experienced and casual gamers alike. Arguably the best entry in a franchise which shows no signs of withering.
On sheer value for money alone The Master Chief Collection is a fantastic proposition, add in that it contains some of the highest regarded Xbox titles of all time, touched up, enhanced and fit for a whole new generation of players, it's quite simply a must buy.
It looks fantastic - the gun play, whilst different from your standard Call of Duty fare, is solid, the open world is huge, bursting with life and activities to undertake plus they've finally realised what makes Far Cry so great - freedom to blow stuff up as you please. Technically fantastic, a joy to play for the most part and an awful lot of game for your money.
Unlike some of the better previous titles like LEGO Batman 2 and LEGO Marvel, LEGO Batman 3 feels more claustrophobic, smaller in scale and lacks that open feel that the aforementioned titles gave us. There is a lot of content for your money, albeit nothing new and the little ones won't be disappointed but it just isn't as good as previous efforts. A handful of poor design decisions, the odd ropey celebrity cameo and a smattering of technical issues along with a small dose of LEGO game fatigue all add up to a slightly underwhelming experience. Good, but don't expect evolution.
The key problem with the expansion is that Saints Row has now become impossible to one up, even by its makers, due in no small part to the fact that it went off the scale bonkers in the main Saints Row IV adventure. Mix this in with the fact that the port is poor, bordering on shoddy, and you are left with a game that looks last gen, plays last gen and offers very little in the way of new content.
Co-op is always a hoot and Zombie Army Trilogy proves that your game doesn't have to be a massive triple AAA, technically breathtaking piece of pseudo art to be a success. Sure it is rough around the edges, although less than it used to be on the PC and of course the gameplay along with the environments will get a little tiring after a while, but Rebellion seem to get this and have priced accordingly. For at most, £24.99 (UK RRP), you are getting Nazi zombies, slow mo sniping, bone-breaking impact close ups, robust four-player co-op, some Horde modes and to top it all off you get to shoot Hitler in the nads. No masterpiece then, but perfect Friday night entertainment.
There isn't anything particularly bad about Battlefield Hardline, it's solid enough, but one cannot help but lean towards those initial detractors who were very vocal in the run up to launch. Despite a clearly big effort and no doubt a ton of money, we are still without a decent Battlefield campaign and what we are left with is a Battlefield off shoot with no long term life in it.So there we have it, a Battlefield game with weak single player and solid if underwhelming multiplayer - absolutely no one saw this coming.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is sadly a bit of a let down. Gorgeous to look at, fiddly to control and a tad dull to experience, this is yet another AC iteration that falls flat. A bold idea, poorly executed.
Batman: Arkham Knight is a very good game, held back from greatness by some odd design decisions.
Sadly for all concerned, especially those that had pre-ordered and had been counting down the days, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is a huge disappointment on multiple levels and if there was a viable alternative then it wouldn't do anywhere the numbers it likely will do in the first few weeks of launch. Please EA, go back to the drawing board and invest.
As a franchise, it seems to have lost its way.
Forza Motorsport 6 is a truly fantastic racing simulator
...a solid addition to an already well established franchise.
A rough gem that is not only a great game in its own right but also acts as the perfect hype generator for Fallout 4.
As a package Rise of the Tomb Raider is sublime pure Hollywood blockbuster entertainment with the only real negative that some could level is that the minute to minute gameplay presents very little that would be considered groundbreaking or new and at times it might feel similar to the previous iteration. This is really clutching at straws though. Looking at the package as a whole, as a cinematic adventure experience one of this stuff matters. Lara took it up a notch!
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition takes a difficult but excellent old school RPG and improves it in almost every conceivable way. A treat for all existing owners of the PC original and an absolute must for RPG lovers who only have access to a console. A must buy!
Battlefront is a fantastic game for a certain type of person. Its dip in, dip out accessibility, matched with the obvious lashings of love and detail from a development team that clearly respect the franchise and its fans - it is absolutely perfect for fans of the original trilogy who these days have limited game time.
Ambitious in both scale and scope but sadly is just too much for consoles
A solid entry but it's getting a bit tiresome now.