Steeliosis

As a brief summary, Fez is an amazingly unique game, with great mechanics, cryptic environments, and a slightly surreal atmosphere. As a game, it plays amazingly well. There is a perfect blend of puzzle and platformer, not so much that either necessarily favours itself over the other.With games like Fez, I know that the future of indie games is certainly bright.

This game is a decent game, but it seems it's not for everyone. I found that it has some deeper philosophical connotations, some kind of hidden meaning, but what it is precisely is not specified, nor is it strictly easy to work out. It is incredibly short; you may be able to get through the main "story" within about an hour, perhaps a little longer. The game also has extra collectibles in the form of green flowers, which are hidden within different levels. The game is a short journey throughout a bizarre and twisted world, making use of the motion within the Dualshock 4 controller. It can feel a bit sluggish at times, but overall, it is pretty sleek and once you get used to it, it feels perfect. There is no narrative, there isn't even strictly any instructions. The only hint you really get is a little visual message at the beginning about how to use the controller correctly, but that's about it. This lack of communication makes for a rather cryptic voyage of trial and error, trying to fully understand what it is precisely you hope to achieve. However, the main game is pretty self explanatory, and you shouldn't get too lost trying to work it all out. The reason I have deducted two points is for these two reasons; one, the game is about £6.49, which I feel is a little excessive for a game that happens to be so short. Two, the game can be repetitive, and you'll end up playing the same level numerous times trying to find the little secrets, which can be a pain. The reason I have given it a positive score, however, is that it feels fresh, different, new, and can be incredibly ****. I don't know of many games that make me feel relaxed, and that never make me feel frustrated. so, in closing, if you want a game that is easy to get into, that feels relaxing and different, then this game may be just for you. However, don't expect a complicated interface, a whole load of objectives, and a lot of different options. This game is the bare minimum, but it works.

This game is by no means perfect, but also not necessarily a bad game, either. It would be a lie if I said I didn't enjoy this game, even a little bit, because I got a lot of enjoyment out of it. Being a major Burnout fan, along with being an avid fan of NFS games, I thought that a NFS with similar mechanics to Burnout would be ideal. Of course, this game isn't really NFS at all, more like a weird spin off game. None of the mechanics or themes are similar to the older games of the franchise, and I can safely stand by those that believe this is a dirtying of the Most Wanted name. However, if we disregard the fact that they labelled this with such an absurd title, then we can finally enjoy what the game REALLY is. If Criterion set up their own franchise with an entirely different name, then I believe this game would not have crashed as hard as it did. I can't simply remove points because of a namesake; that's just ridiculous. Nobody was forced to buy this, and nobody was forced to akin this game to the original Most Wanted. People chose to do this because of the title, but simple research shows that this game is NOTHING like the original Most Wanted. So why complain? It was a cheap shot, but anyone with common sense would look beyond it. The game itself is fun; multiple vehicles with varying handling, each with their own set events to complete to unlock new performance modules. Every action is simple and intuitive via easydrive, though the world map is a little confusing, with no labeling of roads or districts, and is not even set in a satellite view to clearly display what lies where. This can get very confusing rather quickly for first time players, but overlooking this, it's not such a major problem. The pursuits aren't strictly riveting, and once you get used to them, they are simply too easy. After a while it gets a little tedious, and is really just a distraction. The races can be interesting, and they're is a host of several different event types; the basic sprint and circuit races, along with ambush events in which you must evade the police in as short a time as possible, and an event type where you must retain an optimal speed to keep your average speed as high as possible to achieve the gold medals. This variation is very welcome, and each event proves to be an interesting challenge. I'll admit that the game isn't a masterpiece, but it's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. If I had the choice, I would rate it 6.5/10. However, since I can't, I'll give it a six just to appease those that feel a little cheated with this installment.

Fuel is a fantastic racing game, unique at it's core and fun for hours on end. It boats a huge map area, many different collectibles and side activities, along with several areas that you will unlock piece by piece as you progress through your racing career. Sometimes, it's fun to just travel around and take a look at the world around you, and other times you may head to a race for a bit of a challenge. There's not much to say, so I'll sum it up as clearly as possible; Unique, interesting, large, fun, varied and beautiful.

Mirrors Edge was a unique experience for all the way back to its' time. Free running was mostly unheard of, and this game was purely that. This is what gripped me about the game; I loved the fluent, intuitive movement, and the flow of the game was so incredibly smooth and flawless that you couldn't really go wrong. After playing the demo, I can't say my opinion changed. In fact, the game seemed even more worthwhile than before. Having finally got the game, I found it to be a new experience, with an interesting story set in a subtly dystopian alternate reality, where the general public disregarded free speech and went about their lives without questioning anything. This is something else Mirror's Edge does well; rather than an in-your-face, dark and dreary setting, the city looks clean and rather pleasant, but is underlined by darker goings on. The tale unravels as you make your way through, running, fighting and shooting your way along rooftops, through office buildings and underground. The game isn't perfect, though; simply free running the entire way, there isn't really much variation, no extra mechanics that games nowadays would make use of to break up the monotony. The story is inspired, and in some ways unpredictable, but feels a little unimaginative. I can't say the game isn't good though, and anyone that has yet to play it is greatly missing out on a genre defining classic.

Doom 3 BFG edition is not strictly a great game, but it at least reaches a level of decency, in my eyes. The game is not merely Doom 3, but also includes the original and Doom 2, which are great games on their own. Doom 3 is not necessarily fantastic, but it's a fun corridor shooter that I recalled playing several years ago on the original Xbox. Wanting to relive the relative nostalgia, I bought this to see if it was as good as I remembered it being. I hate to say that it wasn't as great as I remember, but still rather fun and intriguing. The story is a little cliche and predictable, but the setup itself is interesting and, at some times, slightly disturbing (which is a good thing, considering this is effectively meant to be a horror game). Some enemy designs are a little uninspired; generic, humanoid demons and possessed people will be the earliest encounters you face. However, later on in the game, there are more interesting monsters; floating demon faces, that are horrifying on their own, and cyborg hellhounds will appear later on. Ultimately, it's not fantastic, but for the amount of content (multiple expansion packs and three doom games), you can't really go wrong anyway.

There isn't much to say about Goat Simulator. You play as a goat, perform random actions, and rack up points. This all happens within a tiny map area, which I found slightly disappointing. You can laugh at the game for maybe half an hour or so, but after that it just feels like a bit of a bore. I'll admit, I do regret buying this game, but on a positive note, it's a time waster. If you need a game to fill the void between now and the next big game, then this may be suitable for passing those hours away while you wait. It's not all bad; it can be quite funny, it's ridiculous, and it's an entertaining sandbox. However, don't expect to be playing it for more than two hours at a time, and I'd say maybe five hours overall to finish everything up and mess around a bit. Overall, Goat Simulator is not a game that stands on its' own merits.

This game seems to be getting mixed reviews at the moment, and I can hardly understand why. In most of the reviews, people complain about the graphics and the car handling, along with comparing it to GTAV, which is absurd. Firstly, the game is so incredibly dense, and full of varied missions, challenges, collectibles, stores and other little extra distractions that can keep you away from the main campaign for hours on end. I personally found the way each car handles incredibly varied, and love the way that every vehicle can feel very different to another. It takes getting used to, and this is what I believe people complain about; vehicles can be difficult to drive at first, but you get the hang of it. You can't accelerate to a great velocity and not expect to run off the road when the steering gives out. I've got a feeling the people that complain about the driving have had too much hand holding in terms of ABS and vehicles that handle like they're made of cardboard, rather than metal. I'm sorry, but I found the handling incredibly intuitive, and those that found it difficult probably spent five minutes on the game, and then gave up. It's the only explanation I can come up with. Watch Dogs does not spoon feed you; work things out for yourself, get a feel for the vehicles, and plan out tactics for each mission and challenge, and you'll do well, and no, it won't be easy. This is not, by all means, a hardcore game, but it offers challenges that few, if any, can match. There are many distractions, like I mentioned earlier, and you will continue to find new things to do many hours after you feel you've seen it all. The map may not be huge, but it is dense. There are over seventy vehicles overall, ranging from pickups to motorbikes to performance vehicles, each with it's own stats. New vehicles, music and crafting components can be hacked from civilians, along with discovering them for yourself around the city. The online hacking feature is seamless, allowing you to break into somebody else's game and steal their data, increasing your notoriety, which in turn upgrades various skills such as damage done to vehicles, nitro in online races, etc. Notoriety can decrease if you are caught, or if you yourself are successfully hacked by another player, effectively making your skills fluctuate, by activating and deactivating as it increases and decreases past the threshold. Overall, Watch Dogs is well on it's way to becoming GOTY, and it wouldn't surprise me if it did. The game is dense, varied, fun, original, intriguing, and most of all, it keeps you going for hours. I feel I may still be playing it a week from now, and it still wouldn't have begun to grind on me. Ignore the naysayers, and judge the game for yourself; there are a lot of reviews out there since the embargo lifted. If you are still speculative, borrow it from a friend or rent it out, but I assure you that you will not be disappointed. To me, it's a flawless game, and the negative reviews (especially the zeroes) still perplex me.

The main downfall with Fable 2 is, in my opinion, the fact that it is a victim of it's own success. Fable: The Lost Chapters was stunning, but Fable 2 was far less impressive. However, it was, by any stretch of the mind, a worthwhile game for the franchise. The story, I personally found, was slightly deeper and more innovative than the original, with three heroes who must come together to defeat the current ruler of Albion. The game takes place in what appears to be around the 1700's. The regions are far more expansive than it's predecessor, and there is a lot more to collect and do, but the combat is not so great. Every time you get knocked down, you simply get up again like it was nothing, and lose any experience you dropped. This removes any specific challenge within the game, and makes it almost insulting to fans of the previous game. There are still legendary weapons, lots of property to buy, lots of dig spots, gambling, and a new feature to the series; jobs. You will earn money by activating the job at one of the work points, and then playing a minigame, which can get slightly repetitive after a while, but is good to make a little extra on the top. Property can still be purchased, and on occasion, is mandatory for specific quests and items. There isn't much more to say about this game. Just think Fable with less challenge, more collectibles, bigger regions, new characters, new story, new experience system, and you have Fable 2. Not perfect, but not terrible.

(Minor spoilers, but nothing too major) Fable is an old and arguably dated game to be playing currently, but even the old graphics, details and sound effects aren't enough to prevent me from playing what I consider may well be the best RPG of all time. It seems clear that the most prominent feature of the game is it's morality system; good or evil. Every time you perform a good or evil act, your morality will change. This could span from simply damaging someones property to harming or murdering an innocent. I feel Fable may be what defined morality systems from this point forward, and it's integrity and structure works fantastically. Being an old game, it's not quite as deep as you may feel it should be, but it certainly does it's job well. The story itself is pretty decent; your hometown get's raided by bandits, and you are forced to retreat to the Heroes Guild, where you train and hone your skills to become strong enough to seek revenge on those that attacked your family. The story unravels from there, as you travel to different regions (small as they are), and purchase different items, clothing and weapons to aid in your quest. The game is also full of side quests and extra challenges, along with extra "legendary" weapons, which you will find around about the final quarter of the game. There are demon doors, (cryptic challenges that add a little extra depth to the game), an expansive treasure hunt, various competitions, collectibles, and a wide experience system, full of different skills and spells for you to improve and learn. The game, overall, covers quite a lot of time (about 10ish hours for the story, excluding the extra collectibles, side missions and contests), and has you making different decisions along the way to shape your destiny. Villagers and other friendly NPC's will react to your current appearance and nature, whether you look attractive and kindhearted, or hideous and dark. Interaction with NPC's via expressions allows you to potentially marry, to apologise, or to simply antagonise those around you. Overall, it is a very solid game, and some negative features (graphics, small areas, lots of loading screens, weird lip syncing, etc.) must be forgiven in place of it being so old and unique (at least, at the time). This is a must for those that can get over all these negative features, and is what I may well consider one of the best games of all time.

What may generally be seen as a potential downfall to the Silent Hill series may also be considered a resurrection and a reprieve from all the previous Silent Hill BS that hardcore fans of the series will argue they have been fed for a long time now. Whilst many may not enjoy Silent Hill Downpour, it is a pretty solid game, and definitely has it's roots in the original games, even if just a little. The transition to the other world has it's charms, and the hellish place itself is well designed and more than a little disturbing. The story itself is relatively strong, with an unexpected (yet, some may argue, cliche) plot twist. The gameplay is a lot more like survival horror than Silent Hill Homecoming, the closest Silent Hill game I can relate this one to. Weapons can at times be overpowered, and medkits are practically thrown at you, but it has a little bit of challenge that doesn't seem to be achieved in survival horror any more. The incredibly counter intuitive concept of having to check your health via the pause screen, however, is simply ridiculous. Overall, this game seems to be what fans of the series deserve, even if it isn't quite what they fully want. Strong story, relatively strong, if a little dull, characters, disturbing atmosphere, though pretty poor enemy design and slightly repetitive mechanics. It works, but it's far from perfect.

Pretty decent game, has a strong opening sequence, and strong characters, each with their own seemingly unique personalities. Not, however, entirely memorable or anything deserving of extremely high scores such as 9's or 10's. The games swap and choose weapon customisation is well thought out and works pretty effectively, although the micro transactions get in the way, and this is a pretty large downfall of the game, despite not making a huge impact on the structure and gameplay itself. The story seems pretty cliche, but they worked with what they had, and in the end I found running around on the frozen planet, not to mention flying around in semi-open space environments, rather satisfying, even when it was, at times, rather difficult. The story ended in a cliffhanger, seemingly a setup for a fourth, which doesn't strictly make sense to me (trilogies are always so neat...), though this could merely be my own speculation. In the end, the gameplay was tricky, but only just fell short of the survival horror label that Dead Space deserves, but never seems to achieve. Yes, the game is riddled with quick time events, but these set pieces are merely to set the scene for the next big event. There are a few new mechanics, including being able to fly the ship through the rubble when landing on Tau Volantis (ignore my spelling, please), a couple new puzzle mechanics, and the simple "get to cover or you'll freeze to death" concept when finally on the planet. The game doesn't really offer the same scares that the originals did (in fact, far from it), but it still puts you in tense positions, dark corridors, and fatal situations. It works for me, but people deserve to point out that this is more of an action shooter than a survival horror, and I must agree; a lot of battling human enemies makes the horror aspect almost non existent, and I wished they'd focused more on genuine scares and panic situations, but there you go, I guess. EA at work. On the plus side, there is still plenty of hunter-hunted action, so people shouldn't get too down in that respect. There are a lot of upgrades, different weapon customisations, and various suits, which keep the game going for a while, and allow for multiple playthroughs, to collect all audio logs, complete all side missions, and upgrade all equipment whilst at the same time testing out a plethora of different weapons. This, at least, was executed perfectly. Overall, DS3 is a pretty solid game, once you get beyond it's deceiving outer shell and title. If they named it something else, I'm sure it would have been a far less bitter pill to swallow for all those die hard DS fans out there, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as it is anyway. Story ended up being actually worth something, horror aspects are not all gone, a lot of collectibles, tensions are still high, dark corridors are still there, creepy atmosphere has not gone at all, and co-op only really extends this experience. I can't disagree with what people are saying, but I still found this game wholly enjoyable, and I feel many others may also do so. Buy at your own discretion, but I personally found this to be a pretty worthwhile game.

Not being a fan of the original games, and frankly, hardly giving them a chance is what may make me seem rather bias throughout this review. However, I still feel I am entitled to what I have to say, so here I go. DMC is, at least in my eyes, a decent game. Is it great? No. Does it have innovative, revolutionary mechanics? Far from it. Is it fun? Definitely. DMC takes you through multiple environments, allowing you to hack, slash and bash your way through using a score based melee system. The game contains multiple collectibles and challenges, the former mostly in the form of keys, and the latter in the form of doors, opened using said keys. Each challenge is effectively a little combat or platforming section, in which you must navigate or battle your way through to an objective. Rather uninspired, but quite a lot of fun. In terms of characters, they seem rather unlikable and not all that unique. Full of cliches and phrases which only seem to be achieved through Western developers, they offer very little to the plot, and only serve as stepping stones (and occasionally, obstacles) in what seems to be the games heart; combat. Don't be expecting A-grade writing on the story, either; just another cliche which feels rather tiresome and dull. The killer feature of the game is it's combat system, which is fluent and almost perfect, making use of multiple weapons and equipment, with a set of upgrades purchasable from the store. The environments also feel unique; leaping through limbo in the style of a news broadcasting station or a dance club is rather entertaining. Overall, the game is lacking quite a bit, but I still feel it isn't deserving of the drastically low scores people seem to be giving it. It's an okay game; not terrible, not great. I can see how it may be insulting to an original DMC fan, but the best cure for that is to not think of it as DMC at all, but a spinoff, an extra, a little sideshow.

Being a major fan of the original Lords of Shadow game, I naturally felt compelled to buy this game on the grounds that it was the continuation of a story which was kind of left hanging. The one thing that had me coming back, however, was wondering how this game would work, after the ending of the first. I will mention spoilers from the first game in this review, but not from this game itself. So if you haven't yet played the first, give it a go; it's beyond worth it. The first point that springs to mind is that you are now playing as Dracor, the dragon, or more commonly known as Dracula. This seems like a bit of twist, considering in the first you were fighting against evil, and now you are against **** at least, in the beginning. The story starts with you, Dracula, within your vastly spaced castle, when the Brotherhood, those that you fought with in the first game, begin an all out assault against you. This beginning siege acts as an effective tutorial, allowing you to come to grips with a more fluent climbing system, and a decent, yet slightly perplexing, combat system. After this battle faces it's epic conclusion, the story of Dracula is detailed, of his family and his offspring. This is the beginning setup to an epic battle against both good and evil. The game will have you weaving in and out between modern day Castlevania City and a strange, ethereal world, in which you face a strange underworld like environment, multiple complex castle environments with varying features and sections, battling different foes, some from the previous game, others new and currently unbeknownst to the player. Whilst the characters are well detailed and rather imaginative, this is where Castlevania faces it's first flaw; uninspired environments feel slightly repetitive, and give that cookie cutter feel that makes you feel you've been here before, when you haven't. This goes forgotten, however, when you take in the detail and fantastic Gothic feel of each area, beautifully designed and almost unforgettable....almost... What about the characters? Well, each has a very distinct aura about them, and all feel perfectly crafted, from the mysterious Toy Maker to the dark yet sophisticated Zobek, they never disappoint. Perfect voice acting by the legend Patrick Stewart, along with multiple other distinct characterisations, bring the world to life. What I felt was one of the games biggest downfalls was the story; it feels slightly hollow and empty, not much more than a mere cliche ("the devil is coming, we must destroy his accomplices and stop him in his tracks" just feels cheap and gimmicky). However, it does still serve, and the game does more than just throw simple challenges your way, with you instead having to battle demons which can be at times very difficult, and a welcome challenge. You will also battle smaller minions, brotherhood soldiers, and corrupt, steam-punk-esque riot police. Enemies feel varied, but can also occasionally feel quite samey. Finally, the combat; it feels almost like that of DMC (the modern version), only with a pretty decent skill tree, allowing you to expand and learn new combat skills and upgrade old ones. However, some of these go to waste as you will end up using practically the same combos every time, and the upgrades tree feels almost like wasted potential. Overall, the game is definitely worth buying and playing if you enjoyed the previous LoS. If not, however, this may not be for you, as you will feel disoriented and not so much invested in the story. As for comparison, I feel that LoS was far greater, and when having to choose between the two, the original, at least for me, is the clear winner.

Tomb Raider lets us into the store of Lara Crofts origins, and her evolution from a mere adventurer to a true survivor, and of course, the tomb raider. I must be honest here; when I first saw this game, I thought it was going to be dull and pretentious, another release of abhorrent mainstream trash that is constantly spewed our way by these so-called "developers". I was so wrong about that, and feel I must never judge a game by mere snippets of gameplay ever again. You see, Tomb Raider is a big game. I'm saying this, and I haven't even touched the multiplayer yet. The story is expansive and rather detailed, certainly very captivating. There are many different collectibles to find, tombs to raid, and weapons to upgrade (oh yes; LOTS of upgrades). Let's start with the story. Having washed up on the shores of Yamatai, an island infamous for it's tendency to swallow adventures whole, Lara is soon knocked down, and woken inside a dark, dreary cave. She must get out, and it's here that the game instantly gets to show off it's physics engine; ropes swing the way they should, fire burns the way it should, and Lara...well, Lara falls the way she should. Right into a jutting metal pole, in fact. This the beginning setup to a fantastic adventure throughout the island, to save her friends, and escape Yamatai, discovering secrets along the way. As I just mentioned, the game features a fantastic physics engine, which is used to solve puzzles throughout the game, as well as bypass obstacles and eliminate foes. The game feels almost free, although you are enclosed in specific areas. Each area, however, has a good deal of things to collect and areas to explore, including tombs, which are effectively Tomb Raiders' little side puzzles, rewarding you with salvage (used to upgrade weapons) upon completion. And with that, I will move onto the upgrade system. Each weapon in Tomb Raider has it's own set of upgrades, which not only enhance performance, but also change visually. Collecting weapon parts allow you to transfer your current weapon into something far more powerful, unlocking more upgrades along the way. You will start off with an old, flimsy bow, and end up with a deadly sports bow; an old Thompson can be transferred into a fully fledged assault rifle, and so on. It's not only the weapons with upgrades, but Lara herself can be upgraded, giving you new abilities, enhanced senses, and deathly new tactics to use in a firefight, this upgrades are more than just window shopping. The combat is brutal, and the game is full of set pieces in which you must escape from falling bridges, collapsing planes, burning villages, and more. It also makes use of an uncharted-style climbing system, giving you a little break between gunning down foes and puzzling over challenges. This adds a vital diversity to the game, and it works. Ultimately, Tomb Raider is the game you HAVE to buy if you have the money, and considering it's currently free on PS+, there has never been a more opportune time to give your survival reflexes a run. Flawless game.

Need for Speed Rivals delivers both in terms of the visuals and in terms of the gameplay. Well worth a buy, but I first must mention the ups and downs of the game; To start with, the choice between cop and racer is something which has existed for a while now, but is executed perfectly in this game. Playing as the police, you will have to patrol Redview County to hunt down racers, take on challenges, and perform multiple tasks that are predetermined in the base before setting out into the world. Each task is varied, and stretch from completing a certain challenge to driving at a specific speed by a police camera. Completing these tasks will progress you through the game, and with that, through the story (the story being something which, in my opinion, felt rather cheap and lacking). The same goes for the racer career, although in that, you must race one another and evade the police, racking up speed points and climbing leaderboards. Probably the games biggest feature is the seamless integration between both single and multiplayer. Whilst driving along, you will occasionally meet with other players, who may either be with or against you on the driving grounds. With this, you can either take them down, team up, or leave them be. Although I found this rather evolutionary and clever, it seems to get in the way quite a bit, and may leave you slightly disoriented from time to time. Something which people seem to cling onto with dear life in the Need for Speed franchise is the cusomisation options. With this, you can change the colours of your cars, upgrade performance (in the racing career) and pursuit tech, and add and swap out vinyls. It's certainly no Most Wanted, Carbon, or Underground, but for what it's worth, it serves well and feels merely like an addition to the bigger picture that is the games true core; racing and chasing. I mentioned earlier, but will bring it up again; the game looks beautiful, like a true next gen game. I really felt like I was playing on PS4. The water details, weather, and environmental textures are all fantastic, and all add to the immersion. The handling on the vehicles seems fair, but not strictly realistic. However, this is no simulator, and you wouldn't expect something such as this to be realistic. In terms of content, the game has multiple challenges and tasks, along with a good collection of cars, side tasks (cameras, jumps, etc.) and of course, the multiple environments (fields, mountains, beaches, small towns), the game really does seem to deliver. The ultimate downside to the content is the map size; it feels incredibly small, and thus, the transitions between environments feels hollow and cheap (jumping straight from a lush valley to a freezing temperate is rather disorienting). This also makes you feel a large sense of deja vu, and rightly so, as you will constantly return to the same spots over and over again. However, the races and chases feel truly tense and deliver as they should, so some flaws can be forgiven. Overall, the game is great, but is not without it's flaws; small map and lacking cusomisation for cars are the first that spring to mind. I can't give this game a perfect score, even if it does look and feel like a perfect game, but I can certainly recommend it.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Burnout has come a long way since the good ol' era of "racing around a track with little else to do other than avoid totaling yourself". Burnout 3 was the turning point, and the true evolution between what Burnout used to be, and what it would become for years onward. Burnout 3 introduces new mechanics, the main being the new "takedown" feature, in which you may smash opponents to pieces in order to score a takedown. This also spurred up the new and interesting way of steering your car once you have crashed, through a slow motion view. Known as aftertouch, these allow you to score "aftertouch takedowns", effectively steering your wreck into other racers to batter them up. The involvement of aftertouch also seeped it's way into the new and improved crash mode, where you must damage as much traffic as possible. This game mode makes it's way from Burnout 2, where it originated, and manages to add upon it, with pickups and, of course, aftertouch being the main improvements. Whether this game mode is better than it's predecessor is down to opinion, but I found that the original crash mode was more raw, and felt more devastating when you hit down upon the traffic. Also, having no control made it feel like a true crash, rather than one that seems as though it was just designed to be as arcade style as possible. In terms of collectibles, the game is plentiful; lots of postcards, signature takedowns and vehicles to be earned. This game has a lot to do, and the crash mode is just as expansive as the race mode. Ultimately, this game is legendary; it seems to have been widely considered as the best Burnout game, and has earned itself a large following. I, however, still prefer the raw feel of burning along the road, dodging traffic, and hoping to stay as far ahead as possible. Some of the new features just take this full adrenaline rush away from me, and unfortunately, I can't give this game a perfect score. Very respectable, but far from perfect.

Probably one of the most imaginative and well designed games I have ever played, seemingly designed for children, but more than just a little fitting for anyone more mature. This game offers fantastic platforming segments, as well as interesting level design and a touching story on the side. The main story is, of course, rather more of the same; princess gets kidnapped, Mario goes to rescue her. But what sets this game apart from the others lies in the game mechanics; it sees you jumping from planet to planet, gathering star bits (seemingly the currency in the game) and navigating elaborate obstacles and challenges. This game is more than just jumping and dodging; some involve clever tactics, others require you to search the environment for clues. This game is also far from small; you must gather around 200 stars to fully accomplish the game, and not all of those will come easy to you, as is obvious in Mario galaxy's almost punishing bonus challenges, which appear in the form of "prankster comets". These offer special challenges to levels you have previously completed, such as only being able to take one hit of damage, or racing against time. Difficult, but certainly a welcome challenge. Overall, fantastic, very nearly flawless game. It is well deserving of a perfect score, and of all the great scores it seems to have attained from official critics. Nintendo does it again.

Lords of Shadow is the most beautifully realised and designed game I have ever played, hands down. The artistic nature is enough to draw you in, but the story and the emotions you feel throughout the game just pile on to the positives. Mechanics can feel clunky, but this is hardly a drawback. It also transitions neatly between platforming and climbing, a la Uncharted, and grueling combat, which can at times be more than just a little tricky. The boss fights are tremendous, some reminiscent of shadow of the colossus, where you must climb all over the monster to find it's weak spots, and then strike. The game, like most others these days, does have it's QTE's, but these aren't strictly a problem. As a matter of fact, some even feel as though they are adding to the experience, making cutscenes feel more involving to the player. I could go on and on about positives, so how about the downsides? Well I mentioned one earlier; the clunkiness of the combat and the climbing can be rather disorientating, but nothing strictly problematic. Besides that, I genuinely cannot think of anything to complain about this game. It's very almost perfection, which is insanely rare in games these days. The one thing I must say about this game; playing on the highest difficulty in boss fights is hard. I mean, it's HARD. I attempted the final boss fight on this difficulty, and was dropped in with minimum health, making for a frantic battle to recover my health before I was obliterated. This is by no means a bad thing; a game SHOULD challenge the player, only unlike Dark Souls, such a challenge should be left an option for the player, rather than being mandatory. Because if you wish, the game can be a breeze, with amazing puzzles, beautiful backdrops, fantastic art style, unique story uniting many different myths and legends from around the globe and across the span of time (probably my favourite feature of all), and an emotional ending leaving us wanting ****, far more. Good thing the second is just around the corner, huh? So, if you have not already, buy this game...I mean, do it now. You do not want to miss out.

I have played little of this game, but from what I've seen it has it's ups and downs. Something which could be considered somewhat in the middle is some weird spiraling transition between being cutesy and adorable, a tale about a young girl and her seemingly cross dimensional friend. It then transitions into a darker half, about divorce and abuse and shady gentleman who, from what I could gather, seem to be some kind of loan sharks. It does this well, but I am still deciding whether or not I like it. You play as the shadowy friend who seems to only be able to see the remnants of people through the shadows they cast. The only person you see clearly is the young girl, who seems to kind of have one foot in one dimension, and then the other in the opposite, hence being able to see both you and everyone else. This is just an assumption, however; the game is far too surreal to pinpoint exactly what is happening,and I guess I must complete it to fully appreciate it. Overall, the game makes good use of puzzling situations and some rather emotional story telling. The game has already lost me, so I guess I need to complete it to understand it. The gameplay itself is unique, but can feel a bit dull and plastic, just wandering around a city which has been designed with a fantastic art style in mind, but seems somehow cheap and thrown together in a rush. I do like this game, but I do not strictly love it as such. Perhaps I'm just maturing to a state at which I am incredibly picky with which games I play and wholly enjoy. My final verdict; a good game with great mechanics and fantastic story telling, not to mention the stunning art style and surreal world design, but seems to lack flow and full player involvement.

I have played this game for some time, and it is insanely addictive. So much so, I always play it at least once when I head to my PS4 to play some CoD or Battlefield. The game is beautiful, feels quite unique, yet reminiscent of retro shooters from fifteen or so years ago. So many particle physics to make your head spin, and environments that gradually crumble around you. It is certainly a stress test for the PS4, yet it suffers NO LAG WHATSOEVER. The only downside to this game is that it can get repetitive rather quickly, and has nothing to really follow on to; no real story, not even really any background information, besides some explanation for some of the levels. A stunning game, and quite a lot of replayability, but repetition feels like it is eating away at the enjoyment in the game, and it would be great to see some variety. But for what it is, a retro style shooter, and what it seems to be, a PS4 tech demo, it plays it's part beautifully. Well worth a buy.

Battlefield 4 seems incredibly advanced, even for these days; mutliplayer is large and complex, singleplayer feels almost believable, and looks beautiful. There isn't much else to say in terms of positives, I feel I have bundled them all up nice and tight in those couple terms. And I would so love to say this game is **** it really isn't. I'm sorry Battlefield fans, but it seems the franchise is on a slow decline. Admittedly, the game has come some way since Battlefield 3; levolution is a rather interesting concept, but here comes my first complaint; the trailers and game devs made it seem dynamic, but it's so scripted, I was more than just disappointed. OK, it's cool to wander around a street, just to notice it is slowly filling with water several minutes later, up to the point it becomes a river worthy of riding boats along. But how many times can this happen, before you feel like you've seen it before? Not many, I imagine. The same goes for the dam collapse, the building falling, and every other supposedly innovative alteration. Besides these, the game is just Battlefield 3, with shinier lens flare and elevators. So, the campaign? It feels fantastic, characters are lifelike, and graphics are blindingly beautiful. I feel I have nearly no complaints about the campaign, besides the fact it lacks a very detailed story. I have one final point to make at the moment. I have covered the single player, the multiplayer, and had you been keeping up with other reviews, you probably know what's coming ****, the bugs. They are few and far between, and rather minor, but things like sound taking a while to pop in on the multiplayer, and crashes in the singleplayer, not to mention one specific bug in the campaign where there was absolutely nothing to do, and some guy kept making it clear that he was ready for targets when there were none. These few bugs I have found so far are not game breaking, but they do feel incredibly damaging to the experience, especially when you have to back out and reenter the campaign, which makes you feel detached somewhat, and interrupts immersion. The game is great, and may well be almost perfect, but it just feels gimmicky, and slightly damaged at the moment. Hopefully fixes will come, but it feels incomplete as it stands, so I say now to wait for price drops if you want this game, because it is certainly not worth £40 at the moment, but may well be sometime in the near future.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]