Ryan Esler's Reviews
Shadow of Mordor provides Lord of the Rings and high fantasy fans with an interesting take on the Assassin's Creed formula. A visually stunning experience paced well and complimented by the Nemesis system.
A piece of art that asks the player to buy in to it's massive cast of characters and fall in love with The Banner Saga's involving story. Finding the perfect route will have players replaying The Banner Saga an endless number of times.
Battleborn is an important milestone for Gearbox Software, it’s a new IP and their first attempt at a competitive online shooter from the ground up. And to that effect Gearbox Software have completely knocked it out the park. It's a game best played with friends as there is little to nothing on offer in terms of a singleplayer experience.
If Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 was the last entry in CyberConnect2's lengthy relationship with the series it would most certainly be a high note to end on.
One of the scariest and most immersive experiences on the Playstation 4 right now. Even with a few lingering plot threads, you'll be haunted by your decision in Until Dawn and talking about them with friends for months to come.
Tiny Troopers:Joint Ops is brilliantly captivating. Meant to be played in short bursts, but interesting enough to grab you for prolonged periods. Even the awkward voice acting can't turn you away from the rest of Tiny Trooper's charm.
Ultimately, you get what you put in to No Man’s Sky. It takes a load of dedication and searching to get the most out of the world and as more and more players continue through the galaxy it will be amazing to see what everyone finds. That being said if you aren’t one for picking an objective, like finding all a planets discoveries for a tidy lump sum, and need a narrative focus there is no real point to picking up No man’s Sky.
There’s a great feeling of risk and reward to Sniper Elite 4; you can take risky shots and clear entire maps with just your sniper or you can take on a full battalion assault with a scavenged MP40. With impressive depth and more to do than any other war time shooter in current memory, I would highly recommend the game to anyone.
Tekken 7 is a massive milestone for the series in terms of gameplay, but a poor story and lack of offline modes might work against it.
Even as a relatively distant fan of Dragon ball, I was totally invested in Dragon Ball FighterZ. Dangerously so. Hours dropped off the clock as I perfected my team.
Far Cry 4 takes what made Far Cry 3 so special and expands on a winning formula. With lots to do in both singleplayer and cooperatively you'll find Ubisoft's latest entry to the series a worthwhile investment.
The Evil Within takes the survival horror genre back to its roots and executes it in an extremely cinematic fashion with great atmosphere. Slightly jarring bugs and frustrating camera angles can be totally overlooked as you bask in Mikami's excellence.
In a surprising turn of events, GG&C presents a humour riddled take on gangsters vs zombies. It's snappy and great fun with friends at a low price. It's hard not to pass up an Italian zombie mash-up of Metal Slug.
The return of Gears of War is a bittersweet one. The updated graphics detract from the original artstyle, but the improved netcode and online features drag Marcus and the gang kicking and screaming in to the next generation. Putting aside the issues with frame rate, it is a smut have for any lancer enthusiast.
A glorious return to form for Agent 47 and the Hitman series. Even the constant server issues can't stand in the way of just how rewarding the gameplay is and the multitudes of approaches to the mission.
Every facet of Fortified is riddled with charisma, from the witty one liners at the start of rounds to it's unique take on the tower defence genre.
Gears of War 4 just falls short of hitting the peak of the series, but as a start to a new trilogy its pretty damn good.
It’s not the greatest RTS and it’s by far from the greatest Halo game, but in a world where Microsoft IPs are dropping harder and faster than bloated flies it’s just what I needed. A little MAG blast of hope to combat the monotony. For Halo fans it’s just another fix to an ongoing story; for RTS fans it’s probably on the lower scale of their expectations; and for me it’s an odd beast the bridges the gap.
Jotun gives an easily digestible and wonderfully paced journey that is let down by shallow combat. Playing the story itself it deeply satisfying and to see this world come to life is magnificent, I just wish there was more.
Injustice 2 sinks its claws in deep and the story makes sure that you don’t want to go anywhere, even if you did try and pry them out.