andihero
A better game than anything in the Uncharted series in every conceivable way. This game is what I consider an '8/10 gatekeeper', something that doesn't reinvent the wheel or do anything truly groundbreaking but everything that it DOES do it does to a really good standard. If you want to be a 9 or a 10 out of 10, then you've got to be better than Tomb Raider first.
The controls have been slightly more refined since the original game but there's fewer abilities to play with and a greater focus on combat over hardcore platforming sequences due to the short run time, but what is here is absolutely brilliant.
2020
A flawless action game that transplants all of the things I love about Hotline Miami into three dimensions. Relentless, challenging fun.
After what appears to be a substantial amount of patching and tweaking, Wildlands is a very enjoyable open-world shooter with a surprising amount of flexibility in how you approach it. Over the course of a single mission, you can go from Wildlands feeling like a tactical Mil-Sim to an arcade run-and-gun and for the most part it all kinda works together, despite occasionally feeling a bit messy.
Taking the Predator mission out of the game was a criminal act, however.
Taking the Predator mission out of the game was a criminal act, however.
2018
I like Spider-Man. I don't like this game. There's a decent five or so hour campaign in here carried by the extremely high production values and the swinging around the city but neither of those things are good enough to justify all of the repetitive, tedious busywork. I thought being a superhero would be more interesting than tidying my flat at the weekend but it turns out its almost exactly the fucking same.
Some solid stealth mechanics and Naughty Dog's characteristic triple-A spectacle and piss poor shooting are just enough of a base to carry this largely by-the-numbers bit of zombie apocalypse fiction. The puzzle sections are uninspiring and the encounter design fluctuates wildly from actually fantastic to boring as hell, often within the same chapter.
Very strong character performances cover some of the weaker writing and overall - especially the two leads - manage to elevate a couple of zombie movie clichés into something fairly memorable. There's a LOT of walking and talking sections, so it is a bloody good job the people who are doing the talking are doing it extremely well for the most part.
I don't hate this game. I just hate that it has become the poster child for the very best the medium of videogames has to offer, when it seems almost embarrassed by the fact it is one for most of the time you're playing it. I'm halfway through the TV series right now and that seems like a logical end point for what Naughty Dog set out to achieve here.
Very strong character performances cover some of the weaker writing and overall - especially the two leads - manage to elevate a couple of zombie movie clichés into something fairly memorable. There's a LOT of walking and talking sections, so it is a bloody good job the people who are doing the talking are doing it extremely well for the most part.
I don't hate this game. I just hate that it has become the poster child for the very best the medium of videogames has to offer, when it seems almost embarrassed by the fact it is one for most of the time you're playing it. I'm halfway through the TV series right now and that seems like a logical end point for what Naughty Dog set out to achieve here.
2023
A serviceable Monster Hunter clone with what appears to be an interesting combat system that never gets the chance to truly flourish because its buried under a myriad of technical issues, a general lack of polish and some strangely tedious monster battles.
1996
Whenever people ask "should I play the original Resident Evil or the REmake?" most people say the REmake is the one.
Fuck those people. Play both.
Fuck those people. Play both.
2012
A bloated mess that massively outstays its welcome but is undeniably fun at times. This avoids the award of 'worst Resident Evil game' simply down to the fact that this just isn't a Resident Evil game at all, but instead a fairly solid action game. It's big, dumb and often moving way too fast for its own good, meaning that the already daft plot ends up being riddle with holes and difficult to actually care about but in the handful of moments it does land, it's an effective thrill ride.
I hated this on my original playthrough and although I think Resident Evil 6's lasting legacy is that it is a jack of all trades but a master of none, I think I'd rather play this again over Resident Evil 5, which fails at being not only a good Resident Evil game but a good co-op action game too.
At least this gets the second part right.
I hated this on my original playthrough and although I think Resident Evil 6's lasting legacy is that it is a jack of all trades but a master of none, I think I'd rather play this again over Resident Evil 5, which fails at being not only a good Resident Evil game but a good co-op action game too.
At least this gets the second part right.
2009
The poor man's Army Of Two.
2023
Now two of my favourite games are called Resident Evil 4.
I think it is pretty cool that it took its own remake to get anywhere near that masterpiece.
I think it is pretty cool that it took its own remake to get anywhere near that masterpiece.
2005
A game that manages to perfectly blend the survival horror formula that Resident Evil popularised with something resembling what was - at the time - the future of the third-person genre. Every aspect of it is designed to ramp up the tension and keep you in this sweet spot of just about surviving the horrors by the skin of your arse. There's a reason the controls are like that, the guns feel like that, the enemies react like that, the music sounds like that... EVERYTHING is geared towards making you feel like the game is constantly turning the screw, and, thanks to the adaptive dificulty, it usually fucking is.
A masterpiece, no doubt about it.
A masterpiece, no doubt about it.
2020
Short and sweet. Prefer the more scripted use of Nemesis over the tedious Mr. X kiting that plagues the RE2R. Perhaps I'm less harsh on this one because I don't hold as much nostalgia for Resi 3 as I do for Resi 2?
The only real issue with this one is that it is impossible to shake the feeling that this is very much a b-team effort, a clear asset flip made alongside RE2R, which is a shame because for my money - despite AGAIN not really being a remake in the strictest sense - its a more immediate hit of modern Resident Evil, takes you on a whirlwind tour of the plot of RE3 and doesn't outstay its welcome.
The only real issue with this one is that it is impossible to shake the feeling that this is very much a b-team effort, a clear asset flip made alongside RE2R, which is a shame because for my money - despite AGAIN not really being a remake in the strictest sense - its a more immediate hit of modern Resident Evil, takes you on a whirlwind tour of the plot of RE3 and doesn't outstay its welcome.
2019
Capcom have basically made a fairly good modern action horror game and stuck Resident Evil 2's plot, characters and locations on top of it. A good game but far, far from what I want from a remake of this, one of my all-time favourite survival horror titles.
Also, Mr X is supposed to be terrifying, not painfully annoying.
Also, Mr X is supposed to be terrifying, not painfully annoying.
2014
The best remake of any game ever. Don't even mention the Resi 2 remake around me.