TheScort

It honestly pains me to mark this game the way I have - but here we are at Ride number 4, and Milestone still don't understand how a rear brake operates on a motorcycle!!! Every time, and I mean EVERY, you apply the rear brake - it locks the wheel and sends it flying towards the front of the bike. Even though in reality, that brake makes up (at most) 25% the braking force of the front - and unless you are completely stamping on the thing in real life (and have upgraded pads); it just wouldn't do that. The rear brake ought to be there to complement the front - to aid in stability under heavy braking, and ought to be a tool to tighten your line in a corner; as with real life. But Milestone seem to have created a system that upon using the rear brake, it'll lock up in no time (even with ABS!) and throw the bike into all sorts of shapes. This one thing, destroys any idea that you are riding a motorcycle, it robs you of the game that this should have been - a decent representation of what riding a bike is like. Shame on you Milestone, as you are [unfortunately] the only real company making bike games these days.

A solid 9 out of 10 game - but I have marked it down one, due to the odd bugs (mostly cars disappearing) and the dumbed down interface you can't seem to disable (the driving hints etc). But these are minor issues in the grand scheme and this game is easily worth full AAA price, let alone the £35 it cost me! I was lucky enough to play the original Mafia on release day, and it served well during my PC gaming days, as a decent benchmark for hardware upgrades - from the Voodoo 2000 PCI I originally played it on, through to a Geforce 4 4400 I upgraded to some years after its release. I must have replayed Mafia dozens of times because of the hardware improvements, and it always looked great - even better on a ViewSonic CRT I upgraded to, I digress. This updated release pays a very close homage to the original, and though it doesn't have the exact feel of the old game (the radio music is sorely missed) - it does a near perfect job of bringing the old legend back into the current time. And for that, this game is one you really must play!

The campaign is actually pretty decent - felt a lot like Spiderman, but the game was made for playing with friends; and sadly this is where the game fails massively imo. The campaign is not co-op, there are a select few missions where you can have a friend playing; but mostly you are forced to play it SP - but that fits with the missions I suppose. Still disappointing nonetheless. The game initially shines in MP - the Avengers initiative allows you to buddy up with three other players, AI filling up any free slots (unless you match make) and it works pretty well. SADLY, when you hit level 130 on your character - the game becomes a needless grind-fest, and you will quickly find resources to upgrade are getting scarce and upgrade costs become a joke! Sadly, the game gets stale really really fast - there are only so many times you can attack the same objectives, on the same maps, getting hardly any loot; before you really have to question whether this is a good use of your time! What started as a pretty decent game, is slowly but surly losing replay value for me.

THIS game, is the Swan song of the PS4. Trust player reviews folks, as they are the people who spent £55 on this game, and have invested days of play into it - not rushing to get their review out to be the first; but soaking in how incredible this game is. It's easily 10/10 material for me, but I marked it down 1 point, as my review would probably be marked a spam or something. Oh, and the gameplay is a tad AC, so can feel samey - but honestly, it fades into obscurity when you immerse yourself into the island.

First things first, be really wary of reviews giving the lowest scores - chances are they have done so to tank the ratings! Now onto the review: Firstly, once again ND have set the bar for graphics, sound and acting in a game - these truly are astounding; and really must be applauded - the teams responsible for these aspects have outdone themselves. Sadly though, they have been let down completely by the writers. TLOU2 should not be considered, by any TLOU fan, a sequel. The writers have completely and utterly destroyed everything that you learned to love in the first game. I don't care about character's sexual orientation - that personally isn't something that is on my radar, or something I'd care about; love who you love and all that. But the game is pointless due to its story - rather than create a worthy successor to the first, ND have put forward a nonsensical and boring story - and let's no mention the numerous misleading pieces before released; making it seem that Joel will be in it. I wouldn't be surprised if there will be a huge influx of refund requests to this alone. I tried to laugh off all the comments about the 10/10 reviews being "paid off" - but you really start to wonder if there is some truth to this, the further you get into this game. As a die hard TLOU fan, I cannot recommend this game at all - just keep on walking folks, let the ending of TLOU be the end.

I did exactly what EA told me to do with this one - I didn't like it, so I didn't buy it! Launching for £45-50 here in the UK, I avoided it like the plague, and even in the months following release, where PSN had it for £30 quite a bit - I still refused to dip in. I'll not go over the reasons for giving Battlefield 5 (sorry Trevor Noah - I meant "Vee") a wide berth, as all fans of the series know exactly what turned most people off - I voted with my wallet this time! Then EA Access came along for £20. First game to download with my new 'EA slave pass' - BFV, a whopping 70 gigs, which subsequently needed to be deleted an re-downloaded, when half the menus failed to load, and I was greeted with just black screens most of the time! Eventually I jumped into my first few MP games - initial impressions were 'wow', this game looks and sounds amazing! Top marks on that front. Then I realise that owing to me joining the party late, pretty much everyone has much better kit - there were arty strikes, V2 bombs, and all sorts going on!! I grind away for match after match, unlocking pointless customizations for my chosen tool of death - wow, I now have a slightly green sight and handle.... erm, woop woop? I get a new pair of GI trousers; I get point to unlock specializations - that appear to have utterly no impact to the weapon whatsoever. My player rank over a couple of days in now in double digits, I have unlocked two or three weapons for certain classes, and used in-game currency (that I didn't pay for) to unlock some new support guns - feeling hard done by, as with the exception of one having a bigger belt of ammo - are exactly the same in in-game performance. When I finally take stock of the game, I realize, just how little there is too it - 9 MONTHS after release, there are still menus stating "Coming soon" - there's 3 or 4 sights per weapon, no grips, or stock customisations - in a word "limited". I appreciate this isn't BF3 or 4 with all the different points on a weapon to modify - but if Dice/EA are going to spin their narratives on WW2, they could have surly worked more weapon customisations in. And the GRIND! I know that these days, EA/Activision/Whoever are making their games in such a way, that purchasing their premium currency becomes the dangling carrot - the rationale they use is that you either spend your free time, or heard earned cash to advance. It just kicks you when you're down, if you're short on time and cannot commit to the grind to unlock the next thing. There seems to have been a huge jump in points needed between player/class/weapon ranks now I'm in double digits on player score. The game just feels completely unfinished to me, or at best, an expansion pass to Battlefield 1 - as combining these two titles would probably make one decent game - it's a bit like Hardline. As for one of the controversial bits - hearing women screaming in a WW2 battle, just dents what little immersion this game has; it gets to sounding like a drunken hen doo out on the town, and if anything is quite disrespectful to those who fought in the War. Battlefield 5 is the Star Wars version of a Battlefield game - if you are a true fan of the predecessors, avoid this game. OR if your curious, get it second hand for less than £20 or via the EA Access. It's a solid 3/10 game for this old BF fan. Some credentials out the way: Firstly, I'm a huge fan of the Battlefield games - the second (or third) PC game I purchased, was Battlefield 1942 - which I played online via 56k dial up (some BT gaming service iirc) or at LAN parties. For 1942, I purchased all the expansion passes, and when the epic fan-made Desert Combat came along, I spent many hours gaming with a slightly improved 1MB/s NTL 'broadband' connection. When Battlefield 2 came along - it was (and probably still is) the pinnacle of the series for me, and I spent a huge amount of time on it - but never once earned a Purple Heart, which I was quite proud of - considering my play style is to get right into the action (forget that K/D ratio rubbish!). I purchased the expansions, and played a great deal of fan made conversions - even running a server with a clan for a while. I skipped 2142, as I was firmly in the camp that the futuristic setting, had no place in Battlefield :-P I then jumped ship to consoles, and although I missed the first iteration of Battlefield on the 360 - I picked the series up again with Bad Company; whilst a bit of a deviation to what I had been used to - it was a welcome return. Bad Company 2 was another pinnacle for me - and to this day, hotly contests the fond memories I have of Battlefield 2 on the PC. Battlefield 3 was also a great addition to the series, and had some utterly stunning single player experienced. Battlefield 4 - pretty meh, nothing worth remembering, and Battlefield 1 just felt incomplete - though the SP tank missions were ace!

This game is a solid 10/10 title - so rare these days, but if you are a fan of the first two films (the rest got a tad silly) then this will certainly resonate with you. Creative Assembly have managed to create a game that pays so much homage to the first film, you could easily be forgiven, to think they had a hand in that film - the ship recreates the old 70s feeling of scifi perfectly - you'll sometimes just stand in corridors in awe of how great they look. As for the gameplay, it strikes a perfect balance of fear, exploration, problem solving and occasionally combat - you never actually feel safe when the Alien is around; and maintain the perfect grounding in reality - you truly feel like a fledgling human trying to survive. It's such a shame to think that there won't be a follow-on from this game, as it truly is a masterpiece and will forever be a shining gem of this generation.

To sum this game up in one word - WOW! Honestly, this game has blown me away - it has the same quality of dialogue, and character representation, as The Last of Us! You would have to be a fool not to care for their plight. Graphically, this game looks pretty stunning. The gameplay is solid, even if you are basically forced down set paths - but there is a little exploration allowed, so it never feels like you're hemmed in. The 'shooting' mechanics are fine, as is the crafting system - very similar to TLOU in fact. Sound is also great and very immersive. I hadn't heard of this game until seeing it for sale on PSN, and though I'm now ashamed to admit I purchased it second hand - I would have happily paid full price for it. Highly recommended - an easy 9/10.

Oh my - what can I say? Firstly - I LOVE post-apocalyptic games, and Zombies add even more love to that mix for me - so Days Gone ought to be right up my alley... It's not. Purchased digital on release day, only because someone had a code going for £35 - so I decided to take a punt; else I would have waited. Prior to this purchase, I had loosely followed the release, and watched a few videos; what I saw was a little bit of a let-down, but I held out hope that this would be a decent survival game. How wrong I was. Firstly, I hate Deacon St John - that might be a tad strong I know, but I don't care whether he lives or dies, whether his wife is alive or dead, or anything he has to say really. He's a completely dislikeable character, soulless in fact, and has a VERY ANNOYING habit of mumbling to himself incessantly! So with this dislike of the main character, the game is already off on a back foot for me - but I hold out hope that having a motorcycle to tool around on, might add a bit to the game - erm, it does and doesn't. It's kindof nice having something to get around on quickly, even if it is a Hardley Davidson wannabe bike, but with the fuel economy of a Spitfire, it soon becomes a chore to keep topping it up. The 'freakers' (don't call them zombies!!!) are dumb, they often follow a couple of patrol routes, and even on hard, they aren't a challenge in smaller groups - that changes when you have a horde mind you - but even then, it's just a battle of home many resources you have mainly. The enemy AI on the other hand - not only are they almost as dumb as the freakers, but they also have x-ray vision, night vision, and assault rifles that are as accurate as a sniper rifle! Unless they have patched this, then they have created some kind of super soldiers, maybe the devs were fans of Universal Soldier or something? The game does look pretty though, I'll give it that, and a lot of what you'll be doing is just riding through this lovely looking landscape - conducting rinse and repeat tasks and chores. I'm struggling to actually write anything else about this game really - considering it's a flagship title, occupying the same shelf as Uncharted and Last of Us, it is way off the mark in terms of quality and enjoy ability. 4/10 at best for me - I'd urge people to grab this second hand, or for £15-20.

Having played the first two in the series - I was fully prepared for the usual foibles of the game/engine: slightly clunky movement, and a 'boggy' feeling aim. The game so far has been quite brilliant, and enjoyable - a definite play for anyone familiar with the series. Unfortunately, there are a couple of points, that really do knock the game down: Surround sound problems, and horrendous AI enemies. Let me expand: Regarding the surround sound - the game seems to have some real issues with sound sent to the front speaker. For example, if you hear a gun fight in front of you - you head that way, only to discover that the sound was actually coming from behind! As turning around (after finding no such fight) results in the sound still coming out of the front speaker! Same goes for enemy voices and footsteps at times - I'm not sure if it's intermittent or not, but it's certainly not my setup (works fine on all other games!). The enemy AI.... they are either completely stupid, or pinpoint deadly accurate. They also appear to have a sixth sense or something, as you could be hiding in complete darkness, picking their friends off silently; for them to all know exactly where you are! It really destroys immersion when the game does this, and there's no logic to it - I'm in the dark, NV goggles on, no laser pointer, silenced gun, and not seen by their torches - yet, they know exactly were I am!! The open world side is welcome, I feel it adds a fair bit more to the game, being able to explorer and find resources, on that front, I miss the different bullet types; that added an nice little touch to the whole 'end of the world' thing - using poor metro-made ammo, vs lovely pre-bombs ammo.

It's just Destiny 2.1 - it feels like a slight rehash of that franchise to me, just as soulless and boring too. The much touted 'verticle movement' is a bit ****, that wore off far to soon for me - the suits just lack any decent customization; outside of the stuff that will cost real world money that is! Gunplay is alright, the weapon sounds are good, and explosions dazzle - but even this isn't enough to save the game. It just feels so lifeless and unfinished - no way up to Bioware's usual standards (not looking at you Andromeda!).

Very late to the party, with this 'review' - but that's because I can't stand to play this game for more than an hour or so at a time - even then, it takes weeks to go back to it. One word to sum up Far Cry 5 - dull. It is dull as dishwater, but I know it shouldn't be. Firstly, the world - yes it looks amazing, but there's so much expanse, when it needn't be that large. I think this kind of adds to my boredom. The enemies, thick as ****, and they appear to be clones - so busting into a base with the M60 chugging away, or hiding on a billboard silently sniping - it just feels like shooting fish in a barrel. The AI give no challenge whatsoever and are simply dull targets to practice on. I don't care for the story or characters - I feel no connection to anyone in the game, and care not if they live or die; same goes for the much applauded 'companions' you can take with you - though the sniper woman can be handy. Hunting, fishing, whatever - bore bore bore, I just cannot bring myself to do any of it. I appreciate that is personal, but I can't help but feel it is just padding. Far Cry (the original on PC) was great in its day - a real tech demo for putting your newly built machine through its paces, the game went a bit awry with the monsters, but was fun to play. Far Cry 2 felt like a gritty return of the king, but everything since has just been a copy and past retread of mush.

My first experience of 'pay to win' - sadly! Well, what can I say? Having purchase Ride (then it's season pass), then Ride 2 (and that season pass) - Ride 3 was something that was on my radar since it being announced; and the initial videos made it look gorgeous - and inline 4's actually sounded really good now! Owing to having a bit of a backlog, I let Ride 3 wait for a while, and never read any reviews - but it popped up on a PSN offer, so I nabbed it! First race - a Panigale V4 (oof!), but it became clear that this was much like past Ride games, and had a bit of a steep learning curve; fair enough, it's just an into - I don't care where I come. I then start working my way through the first tier of racing (ignoring the riding school) - all was going well. Unfortunately, I hit a series where the top two bikes were a naked Triumph, and some other bike, which came with one of the chargeable packs. Fair enough I thought, and I duly purchased the Triumph and upgraded it to the max; little did I know, the AI had the premium bike, and it was impossible to catch! Race after race after race, the bike from the chargeable pack was always in the top positions, and regardless just how much I perfected my lines, I would never get the gold or silver in races against this bike! What else was I left to think, other than "this is pay to win"!! In the end, all I could do was lower the difficulty. I then got hit with exactly the same issue in another race - a section of the Nurburgring, old style naked bikes, and yet again - the AI leaders were furnished with a chargeable bike from the Customs pack!!!! And again, regardless of reaching the maximum PP for my bike, I could never catch these chargeable bikes, without lowering the difficulty. I've only just unlocked the second tier of racing, but the above experiences have clearly shown me that Milestone have structured races in such a way, that you either pay to win, or lower the difficulty, which is something you really shouldn't have to do. Aside from this, the game is enjoyable enough, though the power of front brakes are laughable - a set of Brembo M50 calipers will bring a bike down from silly speeds, to near enough nothing, in a very very short distance; in Ride 3 it feels like you are braking using sponges rather than sintered pads! The bike lineup is also disappointing too - far too many 2017/2018 models are missing, which makes the lineup feel stale. And I'm relativity sure that the model details (when zoomed in on photos) have taken a fair dive from Ride 2. I'll persevere with the game, but the pay to win elements have certainly left a bad taste in my mouth over this game.