Omi Koulas's Reviews
Impaler is a good time for shooter fans looking for an instant nostalgia fix. The gameplay, music, and visuals achieve the ideal 90s aesthetic with a gothic twist. While it is limited in content, short, and a little too easy for the genre, the cheap price tag is appropriate if you want to give the game a stab.
The voxel creations and freedom that Dual Universe offers are pretty impressive. It's a concept with a lot of potential. However, the failed execution and many bugs leave this game dead on arrival with honestly no reason to play unless it ever receives a resurgence in players and a massive gameplay overhaul.
Overwatch 2 restores the fantastic hero shooter by making it free for all to enjoy. Changes to multiplayer mechanics make gameplay even more enthralling and address annoyances with the original. Although, there are still valid concerns about hero balancing, UI overload, and the future of the battle pass model. While it may not feel like a true sequel without the promised PvE story mode, Overwatch 2 can potentially be the most popular shooter on the market.
Temtem isn't just a copycat Pokémon. Incorporating MMO elements and engaging characters into fan-favourite gameplay is an overwhelming success, with an abundance of addicting endgame content. Unfortunately, Temtem suffers from optimisation issues and needs to present its most captivating features at the forefront rather than behind the MMO grind and a slow main story. I can't deny how much fun it is to play Temtem, it just needs more time and polish to be the best there ever was.
Soul Hackers 2 is one of Atlus' best games to date. The story is compelling and rooted in familiar dark themes while avoiding the fluff to be a sharper experience. It refreshes the gameplay of Persona 5 with streamlined changes to make it approachable for a wider audience. Its parallels to Atlus' most recent JRPGs mean it offers more of the same thrilling style along with the same minor faults. Still, Shin Megami Tensei fans will love this game.
Playing as Babyface with such smoothly animated mocap and fluent combo chains feels powerful. Being able to charge through levels, using everything in sight to bounce off goons like a martial arts master is an unstoppable sensation. Sure, the story isn't that deep and doesn't have the budget or quality of larger game studios, but the game compensates with very inventive fights. Midnight Fight Express is the John Wick experience in video game form.
Despite its flaws and hardship, Digimon Survive is an absorbing visual novel. It is a more profound and darker story than generally expected from the Digimon world with captivating characters and storytelling. The exploration and tactical battles provide a break from the immense amount of dialogue, albeit not as fun and the latter feels like a lacklustre last-minute addition. Regardless, Digimon Survive is a great game for fans of the universe.
Blasting through unbelievable tracks at sonic speeds, Redout 2 is one of the fastest racing games around. It shows off beautiful science-fiction races across an alternate Earth and galaxy. Yet, the track design is impractical, making it a challenge to play and that difficulty extends into the beastly AI, tiresome overheating mechanic, and time trials demanding precision and perfection. Multiplayer doesn’t hold up either, with network and matchmaking problems galore and a handful of bugs breaking races and visuals. However, there is still a fantastic amount of single-player content for the adrenaline junkie looking for extreme fun.
Welcome to the sunny shores of High Isle, an idyllic zone and Chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online. The storyline is down to earth, with politics and conspiracy at the crux of a deep but a little less engrossing narrative. Companions Isobel and Ember are useful fighters with great character-building quests. While Volcanic Vents aren’t an amazing multiplayer activity, the Dreadsail Reef is a challenging but satisfying trail to grind impressive gear sets. However, the cherry on top is Tribes of Tribute, which you’ll spend too much time mastering the mechanics of the new in-game card tournament. If the lack of PvP doesn’t bother you, High Isle offers another year of excellent content for The Elder Scrolls Online.
Visually, this is a cosmic horror fan’s fantasy. Nameless creatures and an accursed world are all procedurally generated for a unique experience in each run. The downside is the incredibly disappointing gameplay often layered with grinding, camera and control issues, underwhelming combat, terrible UI, and repetition beyond the norm for a roguelite. Accompanied with a few haunting bugs here and there, Source of Madness is merely a shadow of more enjoyable games.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is easily the best expansion since The Taken King. Savathûn and her story are engaging and thrilling to play, each mission putting the always stunning art and design on display. With glaive in hand, new mighty Void powers, and weapon crafting at your arsenal, Guardians will have a terrific time annihilating hordes of Hive in the campaign and raids. Unfortunately, it’s not a newbie-friendly expansion. The complicated narrative and deep history which is partly unplayable due to removed content, as well as awful UI, make it challenging for even previous players to jump back into the journey. If you’ve been playing Destiny 2 and still are, you need to play The Witch Queen.
TUNIC is a dense journey filled with hidden paths and puzzles that provide a remarkable sense of accomplishment. Using an in-game instruction manual is a brilliant idea that makes learning and gradually revealing how the world works more enjoyable. While the combat isn’t flawless, the rest of the exploration is. This is a game for fans of classic action adventures, cute little foxes, discovery, and secrets. However, the real secret is how wonderful TUNIC is.
GRID Legends is a mismatched racing game with a surprising story mode and features. The gameplay is an awkward mix of simulator and arcade that doesn’t lend itself to either’s strengths, and with puzzling direction will likely alienate fans of both. Yet, Driven to Glory and the sensational crashes in races make for good fun. With Codemasters’ car expertise and implementation of hardware accessories, the experience is worth trying. Still, coming up against other big-name racing series, I don’t think GRID Legends will make the podium finish.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the future for Pokémon games. The graphics are disappointing and the combat is very simple, yet it’s undeniably fun to play. Exploring areas with roaming Pokémon has been a distant dream for a long time and it’s finally here. With improvements and tweaks, this is how the mainline series should stay.
Gravity Chase is not the most ambitious or creative racing game, but it offers a competent and fast futuristic racer. With a decent variety of tracks that are all easy to unlock, three game modes to pick from, and a satisfactory roster of ships and music to race with—there’s a handful of fun in this package.
Master Chief is back and better than ever. Halo Infinite introduces open-world elements that don’t distract from the main story and add value to its replayability and memorable action. Even with the inclusion of the thrilling Grappleshot, the gameplay still maintains its signature feel. Multiplayer may need a lot of finetuning, but it costs nothing to play and provides plenty of frantic fun for a group of friends and solo players. With more features and additions to come, Halo Infinite isn’t slowing down… No. I think we’re just getting started.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is As Expected: The Video Game. You get the polish, the excitement, the rush the series always delivers within the stylised World War 2 setting. This year, the single-player campaign is undoubtedly the standout action blockbuster, with the Multiplayer serving chaotic fun and Zombies mode failing to try something different. Pick it up if you’re already a fan.
If it wasn’t for a few poorly designed 2042 maps, combat balancing issues, and performance concerns, Battlefield 2042 might be the best in the franchise
To The Rescue! delivers a meaningful message about animal welfare in a family-friendly package. An inoffensive tycoon game full of cute dogs and happy moments makes running a dog shelter a cheerful task. Yet, that task becomes painstakingly frustrating with a poor interface, micromanaging dozens of pups with a limited inventory and clumsy controls. It doesn’t help that there are many, many glitches and game-breaking bugs. Little Rock Games might be biting off more than they can chew with To The Rescue!.
Whether it’s your first time shooting zombies or you’re a Left 4 Dead veteran, Back 4 Blood is frantic action that you’ll love.