TrustedReviews
HomepageTrustedReviews's Reviews
It's true that if you own a PS4, played Street Fighter a while back and fancy returning to it, Ultra Street Fighter IV isn't a bad purchase: it gives you a lot of gameplay for the money and, at a base level is great to play – or will be once updates have been disseminated which fix the more glaring bugs. But the game's core audience is more or less guaranteed to own it already on PS3 or Xbox 360, and it would be well advised to stick to those versions of the game. Even in this day and age, it seems, porting is still a minefield.
Dead Island 2 is a great zombie-slasher with impressive physics and satisfying melee combat, but that’s about it, with a boring, uninspired storyline, a semi-open-world design and a tongue-in-cheek approach that occasionally borders on the dumb.
Saints Row now feels like a mediocre open-world action game, becoming just like all of the games at which the series used to poke fun. Mission objectives are bland and repetitive, while the story is boring and lacks cohesion. Worst of all, the slapstick jokes rarely land and are arguably more cringeworthy than they are funny.
Ghostwire: Tokyo introduces a creepy take on Tokyo with a fascinating exploration into the themes of death and spirits through the lens of Japanese folklore. But the combat can be both boring and frustrating, while the open-world map feels a little too formulaic to offer any joy in exploration. With so many superior action RPGs already releasing in 2022, it’s hard to recommend adding this to your wishlist.
In its current state, Rainbow Six Extraction feels like an excellent expansion pack to Rainbow Six Siege, or the starting point of a free-to-play game with a bright future. But I just don’t believe the content in Extraction currently justifies its high upfront cost, especially when you have to spend even more money to unlock cosmetic items.
Call of Duty: Vanguard does have its moments, even if they are quite few and far between. The campaign goes back and forth between innovative and entertaining, to repetitive and bland, while the Multiplayer and Zombie modes don’t bring anything new to the table other than how impressive they look.
Biomutant is a charming open-world RPG that is blatantly aimed at children, with a low difficulty level and overly cutesy tone that will likely put off older gamers. Combat is fun with a large range of craftable weapons and mutant powers at your disposal, but boring puzzles and a barebones story means there isn’t much else here to keep you captivated.
The Medium is an enjoyable survival horror that's held back by a lacklustre narrative and a signature mechanic that never reaches its full potential. Even with Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka's score ringing across the twisted soviet world, Bloober Team's latest project pales in comparison to the legends that came before it.
Journey to Batuu is an enjoyable new game pack for The Sims 4 and a worthwhile glimpse into the Star Wars universe, but it sadly lacks ambition when it comes to doing something new with the property. At times, it feels like a glorified tourist attraction, and the lukewarm narrative doesn't pull you in enough to feel worthwhile. But for hardcore fans, this is definitely a journey worth taking for the price.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is a transcendant pile of garbage. It's both strikingly ambitious and laughably imcompetent in every regard, which is somewhat fitting given the iconic status of its predecessor. But all the campy brilliance aside, it's difficult to overlook its monolithic performance problems and decrepit approach to game design.
Isle of Armor is an enjoyable expansion to Pokemon Sword and Shield and brings the franchise one step closer to embracing a cohesive open-world, but it isn’t enough to detract from an experience that is far too brief for its own good.
The Outer Worlds on Nintendo Switch is a passable iteration of Obsidian Entertainment’s excellent RPG, but arguably makes too many sacrifices to make itself comfortable on the portable platform. Visual, performance and gameplay quirks emerge frequently enough that I’m forced to ask whether adapting such a large adventure was worth it in the first place. If you don’t own a PS4, Xbox One or dedicated gaming PC, this is certainly an option, but even then I’d wait for a discount.
At its best, Predator: Hunting Grounds is a tense asymmetrical shooter that forces you to pay attention to your surroundings in a dense, jungle environment. At its worst, it’s a mess of waiting, loading and gunning down shoddy AI-villains in forgettable missions.
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Switch doesn't feel suited to Nintendo's latest portable, with the awkward use of the stylus and flimsy handwriting recognition sapping the joy from sharpening your smarts. There's still plenty of fun to be hand with the brain-teasing puzzles, but limited content ensures this is a far cry from the Nintendo DS original
With a charming campaign, dynamic score and pleasing graphics, this 2020 instalment does redeem itself as a worthwhile purchase for fans of the series looking for more Olympic fun.
Layers of Fear 2 is an enjoyable horror adventure, but rarely does anything new with the genre. I've seen it all before, and given the excellence of Bloober Team's last project, this feels like a step backward in terms of both ambition and quality.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is a budget reimagining of a fan-favourite series that fails to live up to the heights of that franchise. It plays and looks like a last-gen game, and it was a struggle to plow through the game, even for review purposes.
Team Sonic Racing is fun yet ultimately underwhelming kart racer. It's innovative team-based mechanics can make the solo campaign a joy, but aren't fleshed out enough to prevent things becoming repetitive.
Warriors Orochi 4 is not a particularly bad game, but it does feel like it's trying its best to innovate on a tired formula, but those new additions might not be enough. Compounded with finicky menus and performance issues, it leaves the game leaving a little bit more to be desired than what it offers currently. And no, that doesn't mean they should add more characters.
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is, honestly, a bit of a disappointment. It's a perfectly competent tactics game, and there is a solid 10 hours of narrative here for you to explore. However, it's mostly upsetting because of the flecks of brilliance that don't quite fit together, and the good ideas that aren't explored enough.