The setting is decent, the atmosphere can be good in an intimidating way but as it's a first-person shooter with awful combat and an even worse frame rate it's impossible to recommend.
Any initial excitement is washed away within the first hour or two, giving way to repetition, boredom and often complete frustration. Extinction had great potential but sadly comes up way short.
As a franchise, it seems to have lost its way.
Hugely disappointing after such a strong start, Mafia III is too much of a grind to fall in love with.
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.
A reasonable twin stick shooter elevated from complete mediocrity by the licence - not really worth the asking price due to limited amount of content on offer but at the discounted rate for Windows 8 game owners it's probably worth picking up, if only for the addition of co-op and the inclusion of the DLC for free. Halo fans will purchase regardless and likely love every minute of it, this is the nature of adoring everything about a franchise, for anyone who doesn't live and breathe the franchise though there just isn't enough content and what there is has been done bigger and better many many times over.
Underwhelming is probably the best way to describe The Lego Movie Game; sticking too closely to the movie, lacking in the fun factor, having little character of its own as a result, feeling padded and most certainly rushed to coincide with the movie launch
Unpolished to the point of seeming unfinished in places, The Golf Club isn't a rival to the EA Sports Tiger Woods franchise but is more of a throwback to the hardcore, simulation days of Links. It will likely find a home with a specific group of players and the course creator will also likely add a ton of replay value for that group. The masses however may be put off by the lack of polish, the lack of progression mechanics and the tricky controls.
Disney Infinity 2.0 is lacking in content, even after you have paid out in excess of ~120 for all the available playsets, and sadly what content there is is bland, repetitive and generally uninspiring. The toy box is the package's saving grace, offering a Minecraft like experience chock full of your Disney favourites. Kids will nag their parents to buy it and the figures themselves are really well made collectibles, it's just a shame that if dad grabs the pad for some split screen co-op he's going to be highly annoyed at the value for money the package represents. Fun, but far too brief and as a result very expensive.
Charming and beautiful but severely lacking in content, Sea of Thieves feels like an early access game that will one day come good. For now it's throwaway fun with your friends and simply not worth full retail price.
A bizarre mix of gameplay styles utilising Metal Gear V assets, none of which are particularly interesting, providing little incentive to work your way through the long campaign to the end game co-op.
Ambitious in both scale and scope but sadly is just too much for consoles
A brave attempt at cross medium entertainment, let down by leaning more one way than the other.
Max The Curse of Brotherhood is a mixed bag. It looks fantastic, it can be fun, even exhilarating plus some of the puzzles are totally wicked (in a good way). Sadly though it is unable to be anymore than something reasonably priced to play on your Xbox One over Christmas if you have completed your Xbox One back catalogue from launch day. Platforming/puzzle nuts will easily overlook the issues and the difficulty that these present, and if you are one of them, Max will satisfy.
Yes it screams "I used to be a Kinect game," yes it's limited in story as well as combat and yes, you've played many, many games like this previously, better games with more systems and gameplay but...but...crucially, Ryse: Son of Rome looks breathtaking. The perfect launch game, doing nothing new, arguably less so than current gen games but adequately showing off the new hardware - think of it as a tech demo with quick time event executions and you will not be disappointed.
Zoo Tycoon is challenge free but a fun, fuzzy, warm experience that could just be the change of pace that some gamers would welcome, particularly those with small children. Reasonably deep and utilising the Xbox One pad really well, Zoo Tycoon can be fun if severely limited in challenge. It remains one of the most random launch titles of all time but is well worth a purchase if you are looking for something that isn't a first person twitch fest.
The sumptuous graphics are enough to keep you playing even if the missions have bored you and the combat whilst tricky initially really sours when you have acquired a few of the obtainable powers. It's genuinely fun once you hit that sweet spot and shows off the PS4's potential in a big way, it's just a shame that it plays it very very safe throughout. Here's hoping the next Infamous game pushes the boat out that little bit further in terms of world and gameplay.
It's arguably not fair to criticise a Lego game for being a Lego game but having seen three on the Xbox One (or PS4) since its launch, it is becoming more and more difficult to hold back the feeling of repetition. Lego The Hobbit is better than The Lego Movie Videogame but that's not a massive accomplishment and sadly neither are as good as Lego Marvel.
Gripes aside though, the story, LA Noire - like investigations and general tone of the game pull it through. It's interesting, ominous at times and has a really solid atmosphere throughout. Not a masterpiece and sadly quite flawed in places but ultimately at a time where game releases are few and far between, you could do a lot worse than play through Murdered: Soul Suspect.
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.