I haven’t done a game review in a while, mainly because I don’t play games close to their release dates any more. They’re just too expensive and I’ve had too many disappointments in the past. However, I not only bought XCOM: Chimera Squad soon after it was released, but I also feel qualified to comment on it, given my history with the series.
Category: Game Reviews
Reviews of individual games.
Mass Effect: Andromeda – First Impressions
Bioware’s controversial Mass Effect sequel released a few months ago. They got a serious – and possibly well-deserved – slating from critics and gamers alike for releasing an “unfinished” game, full of bugs and animation problems. I actually cancelled my pre-order as a result of the media sh*t-storm, which is something that I never thought I would do with a Bioware game!
But now, four months on, someone got me the game as a present and have finally decided to give it a chance. So, now they’ve had time to actually finish the game properly, is it any good?
XCOM 2: First Impressions
I can’t remember being as excited for a video game as I’ve been about XCOM 2, the sequel to Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown (one of my favourite games of all time). I’ve been soaking up all the preview videos and developer livestreams and now I’ve finally got my hands on the game.
So, after a dozen-or-so hours, is it living up to all the hype?
XCOM: The Long War – Review
I am a huge fan of XCOM: Enemy Unknown and with XCOM 2 due to launch on February 5th, I wanted to play this modern classic again, but there’s a problem; after multiple playthroughs, the replay value of the game has greatly diminished.
However, there is a popular community mod called “The Long War” which aims to do something about that, so I decided to give it a try.
First Impressions – Grey Goo
I was intrigued when I first heard about Grey Goo. A strategy game that recreates the classic Real-time Strategy (RTS) formula from classic games like Starcraft (one of my favourite games of all time)? Sounds great, I thought, but I decided to wait and see what happened with it. Then, the reviews came out, with many calling it “the best RTS game made by anyone other than Blizzard in the last decade”.
But is it really that good? Can the gameplay, storylines and quality of the game possibly compete with Blizzard? Well, it recently had a free-to-play weekend on Steam, and so I decided to find out…
Review: Space Run
I don’t have any real interest in the new consoles or any of the big titles at the minute, so I’ve decided to take a few more punts on smaller-scale/indie games instead. Hopefully, this will expose me to more genuine creativity and new ideas and, who knows, I may discover a few little gems along the way. It also means that I’m not just throwing my opinions out into the over-populated sea of reviews of triple-A titles…
Anyway, I recently spotted an intriguing game called ‘Space Run’ in the Weekend Deals page on Steam. It seemed like an interesting premise and so I decided to check it out…
Batman: Arkham Origins | Review
Well, I finally got round to playing Batman: Arkham Origins. I loved Arkham Asylum and Arkham City was pretty good to, but I’ve been putting off playing this one because a) it is a prequel, b) it’s been developed by a different studio and c) didn’t feature the original voice cast that helped bring the earlier games to life. It looked to me like a cheap filler game to cash in on the series’ success.
However, now the dust has settled (and I can get the game for a more reasonable price), I finally decided to take the risk. And, I find myself pleasantly surprised… (more…)
In Defence of… Alpha Protocol
I want to talk about a game I’ve been playing recently, but which wasn’t well-received at the time. This allows me to continue my recent ‘In Defence of…’ series and write a game review at the same time. Who ever said men can’t multi-task!
XCOM: Enemy Unknown & Enemy Within
Last year saw the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a sequel to a popular gaming franchise from the creators of Civilisation. I didn’t expect to become a fan of this game, but (as with Civilisation) I ended up getting sucked in. This month sees the release of the game’s expansion: Enemy Within, so I thought now was a good time to take a closer look at this game…
Review: Guild Wars 2
Blizzard’s MMO giant World of Warcraft is now 8 years old and it is finally starting to lose its players, yet it is still the most successful online game out there. A few contenders have come along, but whether they were not as well-made or well-written or just lacked whatever it is that makes WoW great, none of them has been able to take WoW’s crown.
But finally, we may have a contender; a game that I firmly believe certainly should be able to replace WoW at the top; Guild Wars 2. This game has been out for a year now, so I thought I’d take a look at what makes this a potential WoW killer. (more…)
Review – Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
It’s been nearly three years since Starcraft 2 – Wings of Liberty was finally released. It was the sequel to a game that is one of the best-selling and most critically-acclaimed strategy games of all time and a personal favourite of mine. It was also a sequel that, itself, was released a whole 12 years after the original game. Blizzard certainly like to take their sweet time with these things, but it is usually worth the wait. The first part of the Starcraft 2 trilogy more-or-less lived up to the hype for most, but does part 2 do the same?
Review: Tomb Raider
Just to be clear, I’m talking about the 2013 reboot/origin story ‘Tomb Raider’, not the 1996 game! I realise that doing this is something of a trend at the minute, but quite why they couldn’t have called it ‘Tomb Raider: Origins’ or ‘Tomb Raider: The Dragon’s Triangle’ or something is beyond me. Anyway, I have just completed the new game on the Xbox 360 and thought I would offer my opinions…