Neil Bolt's Reviews
Deliver Us Mars offers a refreshing sci-fi adventure with an entertaining, emotional story at the forefront. It ups the scale from its predecessor and manages to reach for the stars relatively unscathed.
It gets off to a slow start, but Fashion Police Squad ends up being a refreshing take on the retro shooter with many of the qualities first-person shooters of the 90s brought to the table.
SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake makes for an inconsistent start, but grows into the kind of fun-filled platformer its star deserves.
Season: A Letter to the Future is a poetic, melancholy rite of passage experience like no other. Its take on facing the end of the world is about preserving what was rather than trying to survive what will be, and is all the better for it.
With this remake, Motive has managed to treat the original Dead Space with the utmost respect whilst rebuilding it to be perfect for today. Almost every improvement serves to enhance the reputation of a horror classic. Dead Space should be the blueprint for creating a truly exceptional remake.
While its mixture of Arthurian legend and the more flesh and blood trail of destruction left by Jack the Ripper is a great hook, Du Lac and Fey: Dance of Death's technical misfires prevent it from being something more meaningful.
While not as technically impressive as its predecessor, Monster Hunter Rise succeeds as a follow-up by focusing on getting players into the hunt quickly and comfortably without compromising on challenge.
A compelling murder mystery plot, a cast of likeable characters, and key refinements to the original game make sure that your stay in the rural town of Inaba is a comfortable one in this 2023 version of Persona 4 Golden.
Children of Silentown doesn't have the best pacing for a point-n-click game, but it does have an enthralling world filled with interesting characters that help push you through its foibles. Using folklore and the perspective of children to amplify its horror credentials allows it to stand out.
A pretty funny romp that never quite finds its speed both as a shooter and as a comedic story. It's unlikely you'll be bored with High on Life.
Sky: Children of the Light may not be as triumphantly impactful as Journey, but it still stands out as a very distinct online experience that gave me many of the same feelings thatgamecompany's 2012 classic did. At the starting price of free, it's hard not to recommend this game to anyone seeking an antidote to the combat-led arena of multiplayer gaming.
Blacktail isn't going for revolutionary status, and most of the things it does do are slight by comparison to the hitmakers of the genres it inhabits, but as a package, it's a delightfully dark fairy tale-infused adventure that keeps you invested throughout.
If not for a rather significant bug that dragged back my progress, Marvel's Midnight Suns would have been an absolute joy from start to finish. A nice twist on the RPG format that lets you get up close and personal (platonically) with some of the biggest names in the Marvel universe.
Shedworks has created a gorgeous throwback of an adventure game that settles the player in for a leisurely, minimalist voyage of self-discovery.
It's not the most accomplished platformer available on the market, but Kukoos: Lost Pets has that magical formula of generally decent platforming, co-op play and impressive presentation that could make it a favorite this festive season.
The idea of Soccer Story is good on paper, but as the saying goes, the best teams don't play on paper. A cutesy, goofy facade can't mask the messy, frustrating game underneath.
Norco takes the point n' click adventure to a despair-stained new plane. I've never been so happy to feel unhappy as I did living in this tech-noir graveyard of a world.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is very much a superior sequel in so many ways. It's still a bit of a brick wall to get past in terms of understanding its finer points, but keep hammering away and you will find them.
Goat Simulator 3 isn't exactly ripping up the thin rule book its predecessor scribbled out, but it recaptures the stupid anarchic joy and amplifies its influence across a bigger, better game world.
Supermassive Games rounds off its first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology with its strongest entry yet in the shape of The Devil In Me. It's a bit undercooked on the technical side, and it takes a while to get moving properly, but when you get to the meat of the game, it's up there with Supermassive's most confident work.