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Unfortunately, due to a late game code, we could only gather first impressions of the game based on the first few chapters. As it stands, however, the game has been immensely enjoyable and is a must-recommend so far, providing us with hours of gruesome, deadly fun in the void of space.
There are so few positive things to say about Dolmen. It combines Dark Souls and Dead Space together into something not nearly as good as either. It is such a generic game, that it looks like someone bought a bunch of sci-fi assets from the Unity store and hastily slapped them together. Even still, it is so unoptimized, it could be running totally smoothly one second and then start chugging the next. It is riddled with bugs, one day there was absolutely no sound and the next day the game tried to launch SteamVR every time I started it. The framerate is so inconsistent, especially during cutscenes, most flipbooks are smoother viewing experiences. Dolmen is a dull, incompetent clone of a FromSoftware game whose reach far exceeds its grasp.
You might be able to stick around for long enough to choose your own main (mine’s Oblina, just FYI), but once you’ve done that, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will have nothing else for you. Even playing with friends can’t manage to make the game exciting or engaging, and chances are, it’ll end up at the bottom of your gaming pile before you can say “smashing!”.
What’s unforgivable is that, at its core, South Park: Snow Day! isn’t remotely fun to play. Its combat and progression systems aren’t engaging, and only the most hardcore of South Park fans will find a glimmer of hope in the bulletproof humour that’s borrowed from the cartoon.
It was always going to be tough to pull off a Gollum game, but there’s simply nothing precious about this amateur stealth adventure. A general lack of refinement lurks in every shadowy corner of LotR: Gollum, a game disappointingly barren of interesting ideas or substantial gameplay. Even the most loyal Lord of the Rings fans will struggle through it. If you value your time, do yourself a favour and avoid it like the Eye of Sauron.
Though there are flashes of fun in Tin Hearts, it ultimately fails to follow through on its promises to supply intriguing puzzles at the same time as telling an intimate story. Of course, there is still the VR version of the game to come, and while there will presumably be some positive changes, especially when it comes to camera angles and the slowness of movement, it's also hard to expect that Tin Hearts may become the next VR must-play.
Redfall tries to bite far more than it can chew and delivers a package with a middling presentation, a lack of interesting mechanics, and some pretty woeful performance. Despite its issues, and perhaps like its cultists, I want to love it - it just won't love me back.
CJ’s return to Grove Street in the opening sequences of San Andreas feels like a metaphorical foretelling. You’re returning home, much like he is, but things feel different. There’s an uncanniness to it all. You know the places and the faces, but they’re not the same. Rockstar Games has swooped in like Officer Tenpenny and taken your money from you, too, so you’re bitter about it all. To make matters worse, you’re stuck with what you’ve got. The Definitive Edition of these games is all we have now. Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas are worth playing if you can - but we’d find it hard to recommend the Definitive Edition versions over hunting down an old PlayStation 2 and booting up the originals. The improvements just aren’t worth the price.
The sweet heart of Toriyama beats here, but it alone can’t help to make Sand Land compelling for most.
The game certainly gets better as time goes on, and the story is well-told enough that it's worth experiencing for survival horror fans. However, it comes with the caveats that the overall gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, and its survival horror contemporaries just do a better job on nearly every front.
There’s a lot to like about Foamstars, but there’s unfortunately a lot to dislike, too. I appreciate that it goes all-in on the candy-coloured visuals and embraces its silliness, and there’s something to be said for the adrenaline rush it provides in standard 4v4 matches. But with a poor story mode offering, wildly expensive microtransactions, and visibility issues that really hamper gameplay, I can't see Foamstars making waves in the sea of multiplayer shooters that already exist.
There’s something here for fans of classic Sonic fans to enjoy. Playing through each level feels varied, and there’s always the option to retread your footsteps in a fresh pair of shoes. However, Sonic Superstars ultimately gets bogged down in how it regularly sidetracks the player, tripping them up at almost every conceivable opportunity. There are glimmers of brilliance that occasionally shine through, but the overall experience was a tiresome one to play through.
Madden NFL 24 feels like it needs a team talk that'll ruffle some feathers, but without it, the franchise feels like it'll be doomed to repeat the same season again, and again. It's time for EA to break the cycle, but if history is anything to go by, we could be approaching a redemption story.
Ultimately, The Sims 4 Horse Ranch feels more like a Game Pack than an Expansion. If you're mad about horses, then you'll get immeasurable joy from the DLC, and it will be well worth your time just to see your foals take their first steps on your ranch. However, if you're expecting a full-fledged Expansion with everything that comes with that, full neighbourhoods, activities, storylines and more, you may feel disappointed.
There are things to love here, and there is visible potential within reach. A lot of the major problems with this game could be fixed. That said, with combat as poor and as prevalent as this, Stray Blade is very difficult to recommend to anyone.
Dead Island 2 could have been the Return of the Living Dead of zombie video games, making for an irreverent, B-movie romp through an undead-filled LA, but it just ends up marginally better than the original game without ever approaching its full potential. The improved combat is the game's main saving grace, but it isn't enough to redeem the shallow progression mechanics, inconsistent tone, and unfocused story.
I'd be hard-pressed to say Atomic Heart is an outright bad game, and despite featuring some awful elements, there's clear quality in its gameplay mechanics, art direction, and encounters that highlight Mundfish's talent. Stories from before release painted the development as largely directionless, causing them to have to fashion it into something playable and structured near the end, and this seems evident in the final product. Mundfish bit off more than it could chew, leading to a lot of half-baked ideas that should have been scrapped and reigned in. It makes the game's greatest moments ultimately bittersweet, as deep down there is potential for something excellent.
If you're wanting something that is easy and quick to play, and you're a big fan of sci-fi-oriented narratives, then Somerville's short two and a half hour runtime could work for you. However, frustrating puzzles, clunky controls, and an all-round unstable performance unfortunately left a sour taste in the mouth - even for such a short game.
Steelrising had all the potential to be a strong entry into the souls-like canon, but it never manages to exit mediocrity.