I'll say it, Silent Hill 2: Remake is the best horror game in years. It's terrifying, punishing, and an absolutely nail-biting experience pristinely paced to wring every chill and cry from the player it can. Bloober absolutely excelled in creating a masterpiece from a masterpiece, learning from the wonderful work of Team Silent while coding in their own DNA to create an instant modern classic. From the foreboding fog to the crunchy combat, Silent Hill fans the world over should rejoice because the series is back and back with a voracious vengeance. It's gorgeous and narratively timeless, showing an incredibly raw look at mental health issues that, while not the most hopeful, contain painful lessons with uncomfortable truths that might just leave you with a level of compassion to your fellow man you otherwise wouldn't have experienced. And all from a video game...take that naysayers.
Silent Hill 2 is arguably the best psychological horror game to ever grace the gaming landscape. Harrowing, tense, and dripping in an atmosphere of existential dread and trauma, our second trip to the titular town plays host to a variety of heartbreaking stories that are as honest as they are painful. The series’s signature blend of scrappy, clunky combat and riddle-infused puzzles creates a strange addiction to exploration that is rewarded and punished in equal measure. Overall, Silent Hill 2 is a classic of a bygone era that richly revels in regret and the very human tendency to get ourselves stuck in cycles of self-destruction. It’s terrific, thrilling, and my only real negative note would be over how darn difficult it is for casual gamers to access and experience, especially as a sequel that outshines its predecessor by miles.
Silent Hill is as impactful to the survival horror genre as mainstay Resident Evil, and, in many ways, transcends it entirely. Moving from B-movie schlock to serious psychological torment, dynamic camera work and scrappy combat blend into a terrifyingly tense jaunt through the mysterious and atmospherically unrivalled titular town. Characters need work and some mixed messaging obscures a meatier story that can lead to a confusing finale, but, out of the gate, Team Silent came swinging hard, birthing a style that clashes Japanese and American horror into a satisfying spookfest.
Star Wars: Outlaws is an undeniably passionate and personal jaunt through some beautiful and painstakingly curated locales. Curiosity and exploration are rewarded while an emotionally punchy tale of a lovable rogue in Kay Vess sells an adventure dripping in 80s sci-fi goodness. Marred by some pretty significant technical issues that scream to be left in that development oven just a little longer, some thoughtful design choices help balance the experience out, delivering an overall satisfying open-world action adventure with rudimentary but flexible mechanics.
Still Wakes the Deep is a chilling creature-feature that delivers a powerfully pure narrative bolstered by phenomenally talented performances from a cast that convey visceral emotions. Streamlined gameplay won’t satisfy every player, but developer The Chinese Room, in my opinion, does a fantastic job of balancing ‘walking sim’ with platforming and puzzle engagements that keep things spicy. Overall, Still Wakes the Deep is a lovingly curated journey through a Scotsman’s struggle to survive on an offshore oil rig crumbling to pieces while being relentlessly stalked by mysterious monsters. It’s tense, beautiful, and fantastically priced for the content.
Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga is an absolutely gorgeous jaunt that scintillates the senses and challenges the mind. Sound design and atmosphere are near peerless and a powerfully tragic protagonist anchors the experience in a bloody and brutal reality that begs to be explored…
…only to rob that opportunity from you. Saga prioritises its art too much, stripping back its gameplay and player control while favouring failure to force its animations on you. Basic traversal is a slog, combat is crunchy but painful, and repetitive puzzles aren’t enough to break the short but padded playtime. Saga fails to capture the intensely delicate balance of its predecessor and finds itself in a chaotic struggle with the player to play the game for them, wrestling and clawing control while forgetting that its visual and audio highs aren’t enough to balance the mechanical lows.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is woefully short and stumbles as it starts, but, past those pain points, a tightly tailoured, grounded, and heartfelt origin story revels in its sense of community as Miles fights to shed the imposter syndrome he faces being the 'second' Spider-Man. Gameplay and combat mechanics welcome past players with familiar abilities while slowly electrifying them with distinct and individual flourishes that better suit Miles. Sadly, side content still needs some tender love and care while its cinematic moments aren't well suited when in smaller spaces, but, overall, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an unmissably fun and emotional adventure that provides a nice bridge between the first and second games.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is art first and game second. It has perhaps the best representation of mental health the medium has ever seen and will undoubtedly hit close to home for even those that haven’t faced the psychosis Senua struggles with. Ninja Theory and Melina Juergens bring the titular protagonist to life with wonderful animations and personal experiences, showcasing significant talent in sound design and atmosphere. The latter benefits from dedicated mixing of metaphor and Norse and Celtic mythology, and the heavy story attempts to balance organic combat with repetitive puzzles. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, with a slower approach to pacing that aims to develop plot points and not player interaction, but for those looking for an honest portrayal of suffering, grief, and hope, there is no better game. ‘The hardest battles are fought in the mind…’ Never a truer word was spoken.
Dead Space 2 is that rare kind of sequel that not only embodies what made the first game an impactful horror but refines for a faster, smoother experience. Every area has been tastefully expanded with already great gameplay being strengthened and old tactics freshened to keep the player on their toes. Even then, just as the player settles into a rhythm, sound design will creep up behind you to remind you that you're never, ever, safe. Dead Space perfected what a survival horror game should be, but Dead Space 2 inscribed the series in gaming history. It showed the world a winning formula that I've rarely seen since and its absence is sorely missed.
The Last of Us is a gaming phenomenon that went for the world's jugular when it was first released back in 2013 (damn, a decade, now that makes me feel old). I've yet to see anything since capture its potent emotion and pace, to break and mend my heart over and over again. It's pure lightning in a bottle, from its heartfelt plotting, its unbelievably real characters, to its weighty, punchy gameplay. That was all in a game released ten years ago, so how does Naughty Dog's remake stack up, and, more importantly, is it worth its full-price release? Outstandingly beautiful and engaging, The Last of Us: Part 1 is the definitive way to enjoy one of the best and must-play experiences ever released. However, the original holds up just as well, and if you can't justify the expensive price tag for the remake, don't. Wait for it to come down or pick up the original for much, much cheaper.
Remedy Entertainment and the illustrious Sam Lake are unparalleled when it comes to crafting mind-bending stories dotted with easter eggs. Quantum Break is a surprising little gem that confuses as much as it delights. Beautiful and gripping, it struggles to truly feel like a game. Quantum Break is fun, thrilling, and a gorgeous experience that plays with hit-or-miss mixes of gameplay and live-action sections. Its fun combat mechanics will keep you entertained but its short length and abrupt, ambiguous ending will leave you a little dissatisfied. As far as I know, Quantum Break isn't a part of the Remedy Connected Universe (yet, anyway), and with Microsoft owning the property, we may never get answers to the many questions left after the credits roll.
Marvel's Spider-Man is pretty darn near perfect. An admittedly slow start builds powerful relationships that crescendo when Insomniac really ups the ante in Acts 2 and 3. Characters shine and gameplay is king as the developer crafts one of the best traversal mechanics in gaming period, allowing the player to truly experience the web-zipping adventures of a beloved superhero with style and substance. Combat is slick with enough complexity to carry it through to the endgame and, as long as you don't mind the repetitive side content, New York is jam-packed with things to do outside the main story. Marvel's Spider-Man is, in my opinion, the best game of the character yet to be created and one of the best superhero games you can currently pick up.
Dead Space: Ignition should not exist. The first misstep in the series, this ‘game’ (it barely qualifies) is a comic-style puzzler with unnecessary branching story paths intended to pad an otherwise short experience. A lazy story crashes into a lazy cast and ends up in a heap of lazy gameplay and graphics. If I could attribute any positives, the mind-numbing puzzles passed the time for a bit, but the entire experience highlights how rarely going outside the box for an established series works. Do yourself a favour and just skip.
Hogwarts Legacy starts and finishes strong, with its middling middle part carried by truly tremendous aesthetics and inspired music. It’s the love letter to fans of the franchise and a world that’s a joy to explore. Do much more than that, however, and you’re in for a repetitive and bland slog through identical dungeons and fetch quests. Clever puzzles do go a way to breaking that up and satisfying combat benefits from a varied but tame collection of spells, but with bugs and glitches preventing some areas of progress, Hogwarts Legacy brought the timeless atmosphere of the Wizarding World to life at the expense of its own identity.
Immortals of Aveum is a fun if inconsistent first-person shooter that, arguably, was thrown out against bigger titles and, predictably, lost. An uninspired story can't sell the epic vistas the game delivers with its beautiful graphics, and characters only survive the poor balance of snark and emotion thanks to competent world-building. Thankfully, the game does nail what any game should: it feels great to play. A fantastic array of magic powers are expertly utilised and paced, tying combat, platforming, and puzzles into a tight landscape the player will return to over and over to try and find new hidey-holes to explore.
Previous Thoughts The Callisto Protocol is undoubtedly the spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, but it sadly won't set the genre on fire in the same way. Solid if bland plots and characters are buoyed by an immersive atmosphere, and a brutally unforgiving focus on melee feels tactful and crunchy, making The Callisto Protocol a fresh IP and an incredibly visceral game (sorry). Updated Thoughts So, after multiple replays, several increasing difficulties, and various DLC (one of which kills any potential future for the property), I felt compelled to do something I rarely do but think reviewers should: change my rating and update a review... The Callisto Protocol has its potential, but, the more I play, the more frustrated I get. There are moments where just as I feel like I'm enjoying myself, the game reminds me that it doesn't actually want me to play it. In fact, its biggest issue is just that: so much control is taken from the player. If you're not shimmying through a tight space, you're crawling through yet another vent; if the combat isn't glitching, you're forced into a 'cinematic' grab; and, until recently, if you weren't doing any of the above, you were in an unskippable cutscene. Too much playtime consists of, well, very little actual playtime. In my original review, I focused on how, from the atmosphere, setting, and aesthetics, The Callisto Protocol is undoubtedly the spiritual successor to Dead Space, but it's almost as if the game realises this and tries to pivot violently the other way, leaving a confused and messy horror that tries too hard to force an experience only to, sadly, avoid one entirely.
Final Fantasy 16 is a fun, flashy fantasy RPG that's a little lighter on the RPG than its predecessors. With a seamless balance of player engagement and cinematic clashes, the world of Valisthea is vividly realised in all its Game of Thrones inspired glory. Not to be bogged down by all those grey tones, 16 showcases some of the best visuals yet, with stunning vistas and soaring soundtracks to hit the player right in the heart. For some, sadly, its hack 'n' slash gameplay is a long way from the turn-based action of old and might disappoint the latter's more hardcore fans while the more streamlined nature of the game sacrifices substance for style.
Forspoken shines as a fun and frenetic action-adventure, tailouring its fast load times to fit its superb magical parkour. Combat is flexible and rich with magic, but, despite some strategy, doesn't scale much. The story works but lacks inspiration and its characters solid performances can't quite hold it up. That said, the negative social media reaction I saw for the game is, for me, completely overblown. It might not be Game of the Year, but Forspoken is an enjoyable fantasy experience with sparks of real potential.
Motive has taken on the momentous task of bringing a classic back to life and they utterly nail it, crafting a faithful game that tweaks just enough to unsettle returning and new players alike. The atmosphere is thick, the sound and creature designs are on point, and its graphical update sets the bloody and visceral standard for survival horror in 2023. EA made a massive mistake ending this series, one of many massive mistakes it made after getting the single-player formula right so many times, but, hopefully, Dead Space: Remake shows them the passion and creativity that gamers lust for, and, hopefully, Dead Space has returned from the dead space EA left it in.
Phantom Liberty is how you do DLC. It compliments but never erases the base game’s experience. In fact, for me, Phantom Liberty’s shorter, more concentrated length, themes, lighting, sound design, story, and just about every aspect completely eclipses the base game. Phantom Liberty ditches the petty grudges of mega corps and rebellions and ups the ante to the big leagues with assassination attempts on the President of the New United States of America (NUSA) and undercover operations against the tyrant of Dogtown. I cannot praise CD Projekt Red enough for just how deftly they weave espionage, thriller, and, surprisingly, horror so effortlessly that other developers should look on and take notes. Stealth, psychology, battles of sheer will, Phantom Liberty showcases newcomers Idris Elba (as Solomon Reed) and Minji Chang (as Songbird) in such spectacularly heartbreaking stories that will have you by the balls (or ovaries, and, ew, I’ve made myself uncomfortable). Twists, turns, you’ll be exposed to it all, and, just when your nose is pressed right to the screen, CD flips from spy thriller to techno-horror and your expectations for both will never quite be the same (for this, I recommend siding with Reed when it comes, you will not be sorry). Update 2.0 for Cyberpunk 2077 was an apology for the broken state it released in, but Phantom Liberty is a promise to try and avoid those mistakes in the future. If it weren’t DLC and 2023 weren’t so packed with fantastic gaming experiences, Phantom Liberty would be a serious contender for Game of the Year. Heck, in some places, it still might grab that title.
Alan Wake 2 is undeniable narrative art wrapped in a gorgeous and atmospheric wrapper, delighting players with meta moments and a twisty adventure through a detective story turned supernatural horror. Remedy's style is front and centre, and, arguably, no developer comes close to their blend of self-aware storytelling. It's tantalising and thoughtful while building a larger universe the likes gaming hasn't quite got right yet. That all could change thanks to Remedy as long as they keep moderation in mind. Alan Wake 2 soars and suffers under the weight of its borderline pretentious writing. It focuses a little too hard on the idea that horror excels by leaving doubts in the consumer and comes scarily close to rendering its entire experience moot with an anticlimactic finale that leaves us where we started. Gameplay is fun but never develops past what you're initially taught, adding another sacrifice to the altar that is the story, with many aspects of the game having, on the surface, interesting mechanics that hide stagnating simplicity. On the other hand, Alan Wake 2 will be talked about and debated for years to come. There are some ridiculously smart threads throughout hinting at certain revelations that are devilishly delicious. I, for one, eagerly anticipate their next entry into the Remedy Connected Universe while also holding out hope that they don't forget that answers don't negate mystery but reward it.
Control is a beast of game that effortlessly builds a world and history of such richness that that alone would carry it to success. Luckily, Remedy didn't stop there and, giving major kudos to writer Sam Lake, we're treated to a personal and epic story of peeling back the layers of reality, of facing the mundane and not allowing it to constrain us. Gameplay boasts a chaotic collection of paranormal abilities that showcase the destructive physics that the developers undoubtedly pushed the technical limits on, and the haunting atmosphere promises many a mystery to come, cementing Control as one of the best games I've played in the last decade.
It's almost time folks! Alan Wake 2 releases in a few days and you might think, 'this review is pretty average, how can you be so excited?'
Simply: Control.
Alan Wake’s imagination is constrained by the technology of the time, but its strong story has ensured that, while previously abandoned, it’s never been forgotten. Thankfully, with this remaster and the utter perfect blend of narration and gameplay within sister series Control, Alan Wake 2 will be a reality, and it’s a game a decade might just be able to bring to life.
Dead Space is the quintessential survival horror experience. The level of care and passion in this project is unrivalled, and, in the 14 years since its release, no game has ever come close to touching the sheer terror that is Visceral Games’ (RIP) terrifying masterpiece.
Previous Thoughts: Cyberpunk 2077 needs less is more. It's brimming with potential, beauty, and a City of layered moral philosophy and cybernetic deliciousness, but there's too little control. For a game announced almost a decade ago, it comes fairly close to unforgivable in just how short it comes up in comparison to promises made. Still, with patience, there's a thrilling and thoughtful experience that lays decent foundations for future stories. Updated Thoughts: Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 update is a much-appreciated apology from CD Projekt Red and, hopefully, a lesson with real ramifications on future expectations and processes. It doesn't mean forgiveness given 2077 on release was near unplayable, but it does inspire some goodwill for future entries.
That said, 2.0 is a whopper of an update that streamlines the experience and clears the majority of the buggy detritus so the player can focus on the multitudes of fun Cyberpunk has to offer. Clear upgrade paths allow for insane levels of customisation that can be retooled at will for whatever the player fancies whenever the feeling strikes. Night City is as delicious as it is deadly and, with a smoother adventure in place, allows the game's fantastic narrative to truly shine.
I ran through the game again before beginning Phantom Liberty and seriously enjoyed myself. There are still bugs and glitches, but the final product now is so polished that the developer deserves props for not taking the easy way out and running with the initial sales money. Red dedicated themselves to bringing Cyberpunk as close to their original vision as possible and, costs aside, did a great justice for their players.
Starfield is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. It desperately needs an editor to cut through all the idealistic but useless features to remind the developers that quality always trumps quantity. A rich world and fantastic side quests clash with an uninspired main quest and a plethora of performance issues that render the game's push for exploration anything but. It's a mix of the studio's Skyrim with the genre-defining Mass Effect series, but never quite satisfies those itches and leaves the player thinking of stronger experiences. I ran into a plethora of issues from glitches to outright crashes, spent an inordinate amount of time troubleshooting issues I shouldn't be worried about on console, and doing my best to accept that Bethesda doesn't seem to care to learn from lessons that have hurt them for decades. While Starfield seems stuck between generations and intentions, it's still fun (frustrating fun, sure, but fun nonetheless). Its side quests shine and its crisp combat only gets better the more skills you unlock. Character creation and crafting your journey are both solid in design and execution, and the game does reward your investment. With all my criticism, I am excited for the universe's future and the undoubted refinements to come, but the developer's ego needs some serious attention and quality control needs a firmer, more moderate hand.
