Brendan Caldwell


87 games reviewed
Are you Brendan Caldwell? If so, email [email protected] to claim this critic page.
Sep 13, 2021

A raucous shooter that goes beyond its portal gimmick, with first-rate arenas and gutsy gunfights.

Read full review

Nov 16, 2020

But CODBLOPS: Cold War doesn’t reach the levels of self-awareness required to overpower its poor taste. It feels written to justify the actions of ruthless men and doesn’t offer the most basic character development required to give its deathsquad the benefit of the doubt. As a game, it’s a predictable ride. As a piece of fiction, it is servile.

Read full review

Unscored - ScourgeBringer
Oct 27, 2020

In the end, I do think it is too “hurt me plenty” for me, only just. The sensation of being slapped right back to the start every time and having to repeat the opening level is as likely to produce a frustrated sigh as it is to inspire a “one more go” mentality. In this case, new minibosses have started to appear to offer some variety. But I’m probably bowing out, at least for the time being. That’s okay. I can appreciate the knuckle-cracking attitude of improvement-by-death while also being ready to lay down my demon razor and die no more. You win this one, ScourgeBringer.

Read full review

Unscored - Disc Room
Oct 22, 2020

The game is also, yes, small in stature, it is one-note, it can be enjoyed in one sitting until you reach the crest of conditioning and competence, if not completion. It is single-minded to the point of being playable with precisely one digit. You might play it for a single day, as I did, have a wonderful time covering yourself with blood, and be satisfied to never touch it again. But if these are flaws they are also proof of focus and refinement. Disc Room might be readily slept on, but if you are the kind of tough game obsessive, a connoisseur of arcade death, or a bullet hellion who cannot resist the call to mastery, these rooms should be approached wakeful and willing and ready to die.

Read full review

Unscored - Star Renegades
Sep 11, 2020

So yeah, it has more than a bit of roughness to it. But hoo boy, do I admire its spirit, its extra-ness, its enthusiasm for small-scale RPG design.

Read full review

Unscored - Wasteland 3
Aug 27, 2020

If I have to fight through listless combat, buggy UI, and an onslaught of juvenile gags to see one of the many endings, I’d rather leave the snowfields of Colorado behind. To hell with the consequences.

Read full review

Apr 29, 2020

For anyone hoping it would bring a little modern fluidity to a long-stagnant genre, you might have to moonwalk upwards from this one. But for Ragers, it’s a sturdy score-attacking blowout to while away some hours, perfecting your flying knees and enflamed uppercuts, arguing over who deserves the trash salad.

Read full review

Unscored - Hitman 3
Jan 19, 2020

As a final act, Hitman 3 is as capable and pleasing as its trilogy-siblings. As a trilogy, it is one of the most fun-loving games of the previous decade.

Read full review

Nov 19, 2019

Its saving virtue is that it is a right biggo, a thoughtless blast of blockbuster ‘splosions, a popcorn game, the grand kahuna you can point to when some bore starts burping on about how single player is dead

Read full review

Unscored - The Surge 2
Sep 23, 2019

If you missed the first Surge, but always meant to take a look, hop into this one instead. Think of it as a shortcut to a better game.

Read full review

Unscored - Blair Witch
Sep 2, 2019

Blair Witch is lumbering and predictable, as horror often is, and the rattling moments come mostly from jumpscares. The rest is a tepid sort of horror.

Read full review

Unscored - Control
Aug 26, 2019

I can’t overstate the fact that it’s a funny game – funny enough that the humour keeps you going from fight to fight, searching not for the source of your mysterious enemy, or for the answer to all the sub-mysteries surrounding Jesse, but for the next episode of the Threshold Kids.

Read full review

Aug 26, 2019

I wrote most of this review, then felt maybe I was being too harsh. So I took a break and went back. I wanted to enjoy it.

Read full review

Unscored - Streets of Rogue
Jul 19, 2019

If you want a tiny, varied Deus Ex that will make you laugh, this is it.

Read full review

Unscored - Pathologic 2
May 23, 2019

At its heart, Pathologic 2 is a frustrating game. Ten times more interesting than your average immersive sim (probably the genre it belongs), yet hundreds of times less inviting.

Read full review

May 21, 2019

It feels a bit eager at times, a UI that is maybe too minimal and trusting. If your scrolling comes to rest on one of these days for even a short while, it’ll launch right into that day. There’s no clicking to confirm. But you eventually get used to this, discerning the day by the drum beats that accompany each drag of the mouse wheel.

Read full review

Unscored - Astrologaster
May 14, 2019

With that in mind (among other crimes) it would be easy to see him as the charlatan he is said to be by his enemies. But there are also moments that reveal a more complicated and conflicted man. In a short game full of haughty songs and jokes about willies, that’s an impressive achievement.

Read full review

Unscored - Yakuza Kiwami 2
May 10, 2019

If you don’t mind button bashing through some brawls, just to see more of these good fellas solving bad problems with their strong fists and stern words, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is ready, once again, to get ridiculous.

Read full review

Unscored - Mortal Kombat 11
Apr 30, 2019

This is a remarkably good fighting game, and it feels like a disservice to the craftsmanship of its creators not to acknowledge that.

Read full review

Mar 27, 2019

Yes, Sekiro hurts. But look at this smile as well. Shadows Die Twice is a beautiful, masochistic misadventure. Some of its boss fights are so stupendous, I dare not speak about them. It is a test of mettle and nerve that proves From Software are still winning the arms race against us cheesey rats.

Read full review