Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
Not a disaster then, but Unity is Assassin's Creed reverting to type despite its glitzy surface. For that reason, and not for the belly-aching about performance and paygating, Unity is probably one to skip.
Given it's much broader of content than the original and still packed with surprises I've yet to uncover, let alone master, Rebirth very much lives up to its name. I do feel it makes some stylistic misfires that let the side down, but perhaps that doesn't matter. Just one more go. Damned forever.
Witnessing Advanced Warfare in its gamesuit made from chopped-up pieces of better games, it's easy to picture the series as a Pinocchio aching to be a real boy, but the sympathy you feel in light of its efforts does little to quell your instinct to escape.
In other words, despite its combat being such a chore, take that on the chin and Costume Quest 2 just about finds its way to being the sort of game we want Double Fine to make – a puzzle-adventure with gags and fun characters silly ideas. Only just about, though. Is it a children's game? Yeah, but so what?
There is apparently a 5GB patch incoming for Lords of the Fallen, which may make a difference, but at this point I'd advise steering well clear unless you're rocking an absolutely monster rig. Even then, is it worth it? From the not-inconsiderable amount I've played of LotF it feels like a game that lacks the finesse and precision of its inspiration, lacking any kind of multiplayer element and offering only a Diablo-esque quantity of loot to keep you coming back. Presuming that the game is patched to a workable state RPS will return to take another look in a week or so's time – but until then, you'd be better-served replaying the Souls games.
Creepy, surreal, intense and occasionally very clever indeed, The Evil Within isn't undone by its ludicrous setting – it embraces it to wonderful effect, always ready to add another layer of bizarre hand-stitched horror. But the overall experience is frustrating, never managing to fully escape that narrow field of view, making me feel as boxed in as the game's posterboy.
You're not going to love Styx. It's not the kind of game you're going to be itching for a sequel to. It seems kind of unfortunate that it was released within a week of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Alien: Isolation. But sometime five or ten years from now you'll be talking about stealth games with a friend and you'll go, "Oh, hey, remember Styx? That was pretty good."
At the centre of the debate will be one of the finest entries in the Alien canon in any medium, and one of the finest horror experiences in ours.
So, so much effort has gone into this. But sadly, to little entertaining result.
But wow, I've enjoyed it.
It's the sustained snacking aspect of Defense Grid 2's many modes and weapon options, rather than the intended banquet that is its campaign, that'll keep your belly full.
FIFA is built on a bedrock of design decisions that have become geologic in their permanence, and as unconsidered as the ground we walk on. I hope one day they get rid of all the shit underfoot.
If you didn't think much of the games initially, there may not be enough in Redux that will change your mind.
The Last Tinker is mechanically uninteresting to the point where it's impossible to recommend, but being there, wandering around, properly taking in everything I'm allowed without being moved along, that's where it's noteworthy.
It's unquestionably smart, almost intolerably cute, and splendidly novel. I'm not quite convinced the balancing is right, and think the levels become too cluttered, too quickly. But it remains completely lovely to play despite it.
I'd love to have seen Rebellion weave more WW2 history into their solo campaign, and put a bit more love and novelty into their online play modes. Other than that, mark me down as a satisfied customer.
Then I remembered. Those things aren't a game. The game is sloppy controls which cause you to constantly do the wrong thing accidentally with disastrous consequences; is inconsistently interactive world design; is a cover system whereby you get stuck on scenery or it guesses incorrectly where you want to move. The game is insta-fail stealth missions, wave-defense missions, escort missions, missions where what the characters say and what the objective is don't match up. The game is five crashes to desktop, including two which required me to reboot my machine before it would reload. The game is restrictive objectives which don't make use of the possibilities provided by the open city or the hacking mechanics, and checkpoint positions that force you to re-watch short cutscenes or re-perform rote actions after every death.
Like its protagonist, Murdered is dead on arrival. But if you do play it, gather an audience and have some fun. Sure, you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but it's the best way to endure this particular afterlife.
I do not believe Transistor is everything it could've been, but it's still close enough that I won't hesitate to recommend it to basically anybody. I critique because I love, and that second part is especially true in this case. Transistor's got brains, heart, and a knack for always knowing just what to say and when to say it. And also, perhaps more importantly, it knows precisely when it's better to say nothing at all.
Like so much of the game, it dreams of being epic, but ends up just feeling slight – RPG action that would love to be in the same company as The Witcher and Dragon Age, but instead has to sit with the likes of Game of Thrones: The Game in the pile of adventures that are better than they feel they have any real right to be, past their terrible openings at least, but which offer little reason to burn money or the midnight oil on.