Charles Tyldsley's Reviews
Control is a fantastic game that comes so close to being an absolutely incredible one. Providing some of the best gameplay Remedy have created since Max Payne, it's an undoubtedly fun game with an intriguing story. Some areas such as the weapon and environment variety only slightly negatively impact what's an otherwise brilliant title.
Priced at $24.99 / £22.49, SteamWorld Quest provides brilliant value for money. The genre blending turn-based RPG meets card game mechanics serve as a refreshingly addictive change of pace. It's all wrapped up in a polished, quirky and light-hearted adventure featuring fun characters and a beautiful hand-drawn art style. The game is a blast from beginning to end, and is well worth your time and hard earned cash.
A Plague Tale Innocence isn't a flawless experience, but it's certainly a superb one. The game features plenty of solid stealth and puzzle mechanics, an intriguing narrative, some beautiful environments, and one of the best video game soundtracks in recent memory. It's a title which puts fairly unknown developer Asobo Studio firmly on the map. A Plague Tale is well worth your hard earned cash.
Hyper Jam harkens back to the golden era of Xbox Live Arcade. A low priced no-frills arena brawler that oozes style and nails what's important, whilst offering a brilliant amount of hidden depth for higher level players. It's easy to pick up and play, and full of hilariously enjoyable moments thanks to the incredibly tight feeling moment to moment gameplay. A true indie classic.
RAGE 2 is a bombastic blast to play from beginning to end. The game's combat offers some of the most satisfyingly enjoyable shooting found in a video game in years. Whilst the open world elements add little to the package with repetitive side content, the core gameplay loop is more than enjoyable throughout. At 30fps base console owners should beware, ideally experienced on the enhanced consoles or a PC. RAGE 2 is simply a straight up fun video game.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a stunning game - a gigantic beautiful recreation of Greece, with wonderful ship combat, smooth traversal and plenty of satisfying gameplay moments. Unfortunately numerous design decisions lead to a mix of frustrating gameplay with numerous glimpses of greatness. It's not perfect, but it undoubtedly offers plenty of the series' best.
A solid remaster which has evidently had plenty of work put into it. Red Faction Guerrilla still holds up today thanks to its fantastic destruction which remains relatively unrivalled. Whilst some areas of the game do show their age, this is still a great game being sold at a fair price point.
Whilst each element isn't perfect, Vampyr manages to weave a brilliant dialogue system into a bleak yet atmospheric depiction of early 19th century London. The combat is serviceable, and the crafting system is basic. Yet the game is still a fantastic accomplishment - a refreshing reminder of just how important mid-tier titles can be.
State of Decay 2 is a lot of fun. Co-op really helps the game's replayability and the number of systems at work lead to some fantastic unexpected moments. The game is still a little rough around the edges, both in terms of bugs and performance, but it's possible to overlook some of the niggles thanks to the overall enjoyable and addictive gameplay.
Darksiders 3 shifts the series in a new Souls-like direction. Whilst not all of the new elements are a home-run, the game's combat is fantastic throughout. Despite some frustrating difficulty spikes and performance issues here and there, the game still manages to provide a whole lot of fun from start to finish. In an era of microtransaction riddled experiences, Darksiders 3 feels like a breath of fresh air.
The OlliOlli series offered some of the best skateboarding games you could buy back when they released many years ago. Fast forward to 2019 and both games still hold up brilliantly. OlliOlli: Switch Stance is a fantastic port of a superb set of games, and it's priced fairly to boot. This slick yet brutally addictive gameplay loop is just as much of a blast to play as it was 5 years ago.
Marvel's Spider-Man is an absolute blast to play from start to finish. This is clearly an incredibly expensive game to make, one that shows an amazing attention to detail and level of polish throughout. Visually stunning, mechanically fun and just downright fantastic in almost every aspect. Whilst not quite perfect, it's easily Insomniac's finest hour
Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most impressive games I have ever played. A truly monumental achievement. It's not without its flaws, nor will it be for everyone. However the staggering attention to detail and sheer number of stunningly impressive elements put it up there with some of my favourite moments in gaming. A genuinely superb open world experience in almost every regard.