I’m the type of person who enjoys solid gameplay over story in video games, so when this game came out and looked incredibly pretentious with its narrative, while also seemingly being about a man walking from place to place while delivering parcels, I decided I would wait for a deep sale. This was against my better judgement as a Kojima fan.

However, having now played the game, I can confirm that I loved almost everything about this experience. I will admit that as the game went on, I skipped cutscenes and dialogue, simply because I didn’t care. I was in for the satisfying loop of delivering packages across tricky terrain and seeing my reputation grow. I loved the music, I loved the visuals, I loved the performances (mostly).

In conclusion, I should not have waited for this game, but it’s better late than never anytime something special comes around. This is a near masterpiece in my opinion.

Played on PlayStation 5

I got this for free on the PS5 and there’s not much to say about it. It’s lacking polish, it’s simplistic with very repetitive gameplay. However, it’s just a laid-back fun time, and just the thing after Death Stranding.
Maneater is not at all challenging and it’s neat to see your shark growing from a tiny thing that struggles to chew a Barracuda to eventually taking down Great Whites, Orcas and Sperm Whales with relative ease.

To sum up my thoughts, I’ll say this game feels like it belongs in a different time, a simple and mid-range game that would come out on the PS2.

It scratched a small itch I’ve had since Jaws Unleashed and I appreciated it for what it was.

After playing two games on my PS5, I decided I needed to take a step back in time and play something I haven’t touched since high school, which is Dead Space, the sci-fi survival horror classic. In general, horror games are not my bag, so it’s an odd pick for me.

I’m happy to report that this game holds up, it’s just great. I love the atmosphere, I love the sound and music, I love a good old silent protagonist. The combat has some weight to it and I enjoy the statis mechanic combined with dismemberment, it just works really well and feels satisfying to play. It was also a lot of fun to go back and experience it again after such a long period of time, because (aside from a few moments) I hadn’t remembered every detail.

Big thumbs up for how the story is told almost entirely without cutscenes, I appreciate that.

‘Metal Gear Solid’ is a legendary title, where every element of this experience comes together for a game that shows it's age in many respects while also showing how far ahead of its time it really was with regards to presentation, technology and storytelling. For every frustration I had with the aiming and combat, I was equal part enthralled by other elements and I was always disappointed to run out of time to play and excited when I had the chance to jump back in.

I feel that to review this game in 2020 and give it a good score of 7/10 may appear to be a bit harsh based on my comments above. However, for a game release in the 90s, a 7/10 might as well be 10/10, as most of this stuff has aged horribly.

Overall, the best word to describe this game is essential. It’s iconic in a way that very few games are, where almost every moment is memorable and where this game kickstarted a cornerstone of video game entertainment.

Metal Gear Solid 2 improves upon its predecessor in almost every single respect. From the cramped spaces that accentuate the stealth gameplay, to the atmosphere that adds further believability to the world and the controls, which, while still flawed, are massively better than in the previous title. Everything comes together to create a memorable experience that’s a joy to go back and have again.

I never had the chance to play this game or MGS1 on release and so many parts of both games were spoiled for me. I can’t imagine how I would have felt back in the day about playing as Raiden. However, from my first time playing this and my most recent playthrough, I think changing your overnight iconic protagonist for the sequel is an incredibly bold move and I commend the team for making this choice. Too often, games (and other media) pander to fans and I appreciate it when we can be challenged instead.

Overall, aside from a few tedious moments, I had such a blast with this game that I finished it in two sittings. A true classic that anybody who is interested in the genre should play.

This is going to be a really tough review to write just because of the amount to unpack from this game, both the excellent elements and the bad. The first thing I want to draw attention to, is the quality and refinement of the gameplay systems and camera as opposed to the prior games in the series. The stripped-down weapon/item management is also very refreshing, there’s no longer the awkwardness of having to equip a card to get through a door, or a menu where you heal Snake’s wounds mid battle. It’s just a much better experience in every way in that regard.

I also feel this is the best stealth gameplay in the series so far and the elements I mentioned before play a big part in that, especially in Chapters 1 and 2. I also love the OctoCamo, it’s one of my favourite items in any game since my 1st playthrough upon release and I still love it now.

Visually this was a stunning game back in the day and it still holds up well. It suffers a little bit at times from the same muddiness as MGS3, but due to the graphical quality, the enemies don’t blend into the backgrounds like they do in that game. I also want to draw attention to the variety of locations compared to the previous games.

However, there’s the small matter of the plot, the pacing and the Disney’s Star Wars level of pandering and fan service, which is frankly embarrassing at times. I also feel that the boss battles are sadly lacking in quality here (aside from the epic spectacle that is the Liquid fight).

To start with my complaints, I feel that the plot of this game is so reliant on cutscene storytelling that goes on too long mixed with fan service, which can be such a detriment to the experience. On the one hand, call backs and references can be positive, but MGS4 relies on these far too heavily at times to the point where my eyes were rolling, especially during chapter 3 with EVA.

My next major complaint isn’t only the derivative nature of the bosses, but also the presentation of these fights and the over sexualisation of the beauties after you defeat the beasts. The series has always had this perverted quality, which has been played for comedy and also seriously. However, in this case, it feels so over the top and comes off as a teenage boy fantasy. Anybody who has played the game will know exactly what I mean, and I don’t need to expand on this immaturity on character design and cutscene direction/editing any further in this review.

Another complaint I have is that after these boss battles, the horribly boring character of Drebin appears to tell you some back story of these characters and I just didn’t care. They weren’t well established as characters; they offered no challenge or originality, and I didn’t care when I killed them.

I know this review sounds extraordinarily negative and my score may not feel genuine, but I actually really love this game and that’s why I feel so passionately about the negative elements. I also feel that this game is probably better if you skip the cutscenes and get to the gameplay, because, aside from chapter 3 (where there might as well not be gameplay) it’s excellent stuff. I just wish there were more of it…

I don't think this is something that's fair to rate alongside fully fledged games.

This is an exceptional demo to (what I remember to be) an exceptional game. I don't think it's something that can be rated, although I would probably be very annoyed if I had paid for it on release.

Excited to play The Phantom Pain next and I hope it holds up.

Played on PlayStation5 via backwards compatibility.

For me to play a game twice is uncommon and three times is extraordinarily rare, but this is what I’ve done with 'The Phantom Pain'.

This is peak 'Metal Gear Solid' from a gameplay perspective. Every approach feels great, whether you’re into full stealth or don’t mind getting a terrible mission score by blasting your way through an encounter. It’s all just such high quality, so polished and clean. Overall, it’s a stellar experience in every technical aspect, as well as almost every facet of its gameplay.

I love the loop of extracting enemies and converting them to your side. It developed into a fun risk/reward system for me, where I was in the middle of missions where I had perfect stealth so far, but in the distance, I spot an enemy that has some fantastic stats and all of sudden, I’m taking a risk to get this guy on my side, even at a detriment to the mission. It’s a lot of fun and although I know it’s in other MGS titles, this is the first one I’ve fully played with this system and it’s very well done.

My biggest complaint is something that plagues a lot of modern games, which is having a large open world that can feel empty at times. I don’t think the solution to this problem in modern games is to clutter up the maps with crap (like Ubisoft does), but rather to scale back the size. Bigger isn’t always better, a more concise and satisfying experience is often the better one. For example, Ground Zeroes is extraordinarily small, but the map it does have feels jam packed compared to any of the enemy bases in this game and it’s such a shame. I feel that the world could have definitely been trimmed with more density added to the areas (especially those bases). Small areas have however plagued this series for a long time, so I must praise a different approach, even if it doesn't hit the mark.

I also like that when you go back to earlier missions later in the game to try and get the S rank, that the level/equipment of the enemies has changed based on how far you’ve gotten in the game. It’s a nice touch to maintain a difficulty level and to ensure you have the chance of getting great recruits. It makes replaying missions more fun for me. I actually love the lack of traditional difficulty options in general. You can decide to make it easier by equipping the chicken hat or using air support or active camo, but this reduces your rank on any mission. It's much better than the standard "easy, normal, hard, very hard".

The story is pretty spotty, but frankly I don’t care too much. A better story would only catapult this above 'Sons of Liberty' in my ranking. For this game to be below only that game in a series of such high quality is a testament to the fun that the gameplay provided for me over my three playthroughs.

Played on PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility

'The Binding of Isaac' is one of my favourite games ever and it's something that I am continuously playing. I may take a few weeks or months off, but I always come back and it's been that way for a couple of years now.

Like all good roguelites, there's a false simplicity in this game. You start it up for the first time and you're thinking 'oh, this is basic' and the more you play the more you realise how jam packed it is with content. Somebody could easily get 100, 200 or more hours from this if they like it as much as I do.

There are times when you have some really shitty luck with items, but that's when the difficulty spikes up and that's something else I love about it. Most playthroughs are not similar, so it has a level of replayability that most games don't have.

I also want to give a shout out to the weight that's added to the game through it's religious themes and general presentation. It would be easy to say this game looks ugly at times, but the more I've played the more I have appreciated it's visual style, there's just a simplicity in every environment, enemy and item. Overall, it's just clean.

Price does play a part in a review of a game for me and this is priced at an absolute bargain at retail and a steal whenever it's on sale.

‘DOOM’ is a title I’ve played on many occasions, but never as an adult. It was one of the couple of games installed on a PC that my Cousin had, and I enjoyed it every time, even though I sucked terribly at it and never got to the end.

To go back to this game as an adult, having played the 2016 reboot and many other FPS games that owe a debt to this game, I’m surprised that it holds up so well. Of course, it’s dated mechanically and graphically, but not many FPS games made today have a comparable atmosphere, it’s just dripping with it, from the music to the labyrinth level designs. It all comes together to create the feeling that the game gives you. Not to mention the sound design for many weapons, that have such a weight and kick to them that they feel extremely satisfying to use. I imagine playing this back in 1993 and having my mind blown by the level of quality on display for the time.

On a less enthusiastic note, there were periods when I was playing where I felt that there was a lot of repetition, particularly with the abundance of the same enemy types and the copy/paste quality of some of the textures and areas. Additionally, it’s pretty short, but you could argue that if it were longer then the repetition would be even more detrimental.

Furthermore, the jump in difficulty from the first 3 episodes to the 4th titled ‘Thy Flesh Consumed’ is really stark. This could be seen as a benefit for the gamers who have mastered the previous 3 episodes, but in my opinion, the best games gradually take steps towards being more difficult. If each episode felt incrementally more challenging and then ‘Thy Flesh Consumed’ was exactly as it is now, it would not stand out so much as a negative of the game for me.

‘DOOM’ is often credited with creating the FPS genre, and although that is debatable, the impact that this game has had on the entire industry is not up for debate. This game is as important as Pong, Tetris and Super Mario Bros.

As you'll all know, this game was huge on release. Literally everybody I knew with a PS2 was playing this and raving about it and I felt pretty left out. My experience was playing it a few times at my friend's place and pretty strongly disliking it. I'm sure I've played the 2nd and 3rd games at some point, but I couldn't pinpoint when or how I felt about them.

In fact, aside from 'God of War' and 'Ninja Gaiden' I've not really enjoyed any hack and slash titles, although you could make an argument that those two aren't hack and slash in the same way 'Devil May Cry' is.

Regardless, this is not a genre I enjoy and I was really hoping that going back to this game might be a turning point, or some sort of discovery. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

‘DOOM Eternal’ is laser focused, everything about this game is a massive power fantasy where you play possibly the most badass killing machine in any video game. Where killing 1 demon is no different than killing 1000. It’s all in a day’s work for The Slayer.

What impressed me most about this game is the way it ramps up; it starts off quite modestly. Kill some fodder demons, have a couple of weapons and gradually get to grips with the game. But before you know it, you’re introduced to more weapons, more modifications, more equipment, more enemy types and more mechanics. At first it can be a bit overwhelming, where you’re trying to remember which enemies are weak to which weapons, or which type of kill replenishes what in your inventory. It’s really intense and I felt that the difficulty ramped up appropriately also.

But once you get into the swing of things, it slides into this addictive gameplay loop where almost every encounter is life or death, where you’re constantly on the move and have to make micro decisions every few seconds, where to jump, how to kill, what do I need? Ammo? Health? It’s extremely rewarding when you spend 5 minutes on one encounter where you’re constantly moving, constantly shooting and killing with
this amazing heavy metal score playing in the background.

I played the previous title in this series and loved it, but this takes it to a whole new level with new mechanics, new enemy types and larger more diverse locations. Frankly, it’s a stellar game and makes the 2016 title seem slow by comparison. Even the stuff it doesn’t do well (shoe-horned platforming) can’t detract from the overall experience.

As a side note… load times are extremely long and anytime you lose internet connection it pauses the game… Sadly these are the two biggest barriers to the speed and flow of the game.