Anthony Taormina's Reviews
There may be a good idea buried somewhere within LocoCycle, but what Twisted Pixel delivered disappoints on practically ever level.
'Toren's artistic approach is marred by finicky controls, a troublesome camera, and gameplay that feels more like small proofs of concept than a cohesive product.
Homefront: The Revolution is a mediocre FPS that squanders an intriguing concept, but worst of all the game is not fun to play and overwrought with repetition.
A game like this, where the mechanics fall extremely short, needed a strong story to carry players through, and that's not the case here. The game is by no means broken, save for one or two bugs, it just isn't very fun to play. Much like its protagonist, Murdered: Soul Suspect is lifeless.
Maneater delivers on the promise of an open world game featuring a revenge-fueled shark but its shortcomings are not to be overlooked.
Oxenfree is a mature look at growing up through the lens of a supernatural mystery, but awkward pacing and simplistic interactivity hold it back from excelling.
Forspoken promises an intriguing world with a deep magic combat system, but it struggles in presentation and execution.
Trials of the Blood Dragon serves both properties well in its design and story, but the gameplay is overall inconsistent as the title tries to expand beyond basic Trials.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst has some exciting and refined free-running mechanics, but the missions and modes that support the gameplay are content-thin and generic.
There is some fun to be had in the combat, and the bosses are so creative that players will want to push forward just to see what's next, but the journey is ultimately an unfulfilling one. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2's lack of focus is its downfall, and plants it firmly in the mediocre pile.
In a way, Goat Simulator calls to mind the other big "Simulator" game, Surgeon Simulator 2013, in that it doesn't try to take players money and run. It acknowledges its silly premise and gets a surprising amount of mileage out of it. Only a very particular type of gamer will give Goat Simulator a try, but those who do will be pleasantly surprised.
So, while the game looks the best Call of Duty ever has, it also carries too many flaws to make it a must-have title for next-gen console owners, or casual Call of Duty fans for that matter. Die-hards will still log countless hours, but long-time detractors will finally have new ground from which to criticize the franchise.
With the difficulty dropped down to easy, Knack might find a place among younger gamers/new PS4 owners, but it's a tough recommendation otherwise.
That being said, there will be die-hard LEGO game fans who enjoy this release, doubly so if they loved the feature film. It's by no means a bad game, it actually runs silky smooth, looks quite nice on next-gen hardware, and the controls are fluid and responsive; it just doesn't evolve the base formula enough to make it stand out. The LEGO Movie Videogame is better than most movie tie-ins, but for a LEGO game it's passable at best.
What might have seemed like a good idea to Kojima Productions at a glance instead comes across as a slight to fans. The limited scope and depth of the title scream cash grab, and the fact that Ground Zeroes' story is so razor thin makes that even more apparent. The game is a great showpiece for the FOX engine and for MGS 5's new stealth mechanics, but we definitely expected something more substantial. Even then, the short length or the price tag are not the issue here, it's the fact that Ground Zeroes feels incomplete, like somebody pulled a single mission out of a full game. That's what makes the game hard to recommend to any one but the most die hard fans.
There's no doubt that Rebellion is on to something with Sniper Elite 3, but their inability to make draw clear gameplay distinctions pulls the overall experience down dramatically. On the one hand, the game smartly incorporates realistic sniping concepts (using sound for cover, adrenaline impacting aim, etc.) into its gunplay, but it undermines those clever ideas with half-baked stealth mechanics. At the end of the day, it leans too far away from the full-blown sniper sim to strike a chord with fans of the genre and its stealth isn't strong enough to hit those marks either. Instead, the game is left floating somewhere in the middle – where each element has its moments, but as a cohesive whole Sniper Elite 3 falls apart more often than it succeeds.
'Alien: Isolation' evokes the atmosphere and tension of the movies, but inconsistent xenomorph AI and antiquated design turn fear into frustration.
'Saints Row: Gat out of Hell' offers more goofy open world antics on the back of some cool design ideas, but is limited in terms of scope and gameplay variety.
'Final Fantasy Type-0 HD' features deep combat mechanics and a mature tone, but some confounding design decisions and awkward storytelling hold it back.
'Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China' features a unique art style and fun level design, but the stealth-focused gameplay starts to wear thin after a while.