Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve offers 30-odd missions of explosive aerial acrobatics that you won’t soon forget about. Bandai Namco has, over so many years and titles now, achieved something really rare for this particular genre: action that doesn’t feel like it’s condescending towards the players with overly simplistic…
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I’ve given open world survival games a red-hot go in the past. I’ve played Funcom’s own previous effort in the genre, Conan Exiles, and gave it every chance to impress me. I’ve yet to find one that has left me with an impression other than that this is just a…
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My favourite Serious Sam title to date is the PlayStation 2/GameCube spinoff, Next Encounter. As much as I enjoy Croteam’s work with the series proper, Climax Solent’s take on the formula had a better rhythm and energy to the action. Or it might have just been that it was my…
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The Blood of Dawnwalker is the latest proof that Polish RPGs should now be seen as a genre in their own right, like JRPGs are. There’s a distinct approach to the genre that comes out of studios like CD Projekt Red, Questline, Reality Pump and now Rebel Wolves, that have…
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Star Wars Zero Company is an excellent tactics game in the XCOM vein (it’s been a while since we had a high-profile entry in this particular subgenre!). It’s an awful Star Wars game, but I’ll forgive it because the tactics really is that good. That it is such a good…
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Look, the Nippon Professional Baseball league – the NPB – is just better than the MLB. I don’t mind if you disagree, but you’re wrong. From the personality of the teams to the quality of the games, the way the league is organised, and the atmosphere when you’re actually there,…
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To review the Gothic 1 Remake, I played it side-by-side with the original Gothic, as released on the Nintendo Switch. One hour in the remake, one in the original. Then back to the remake. I did that because Gothic is, in its own little way, an enormously influential classic. It…
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I was genuinely concerned that Dead or Alive was, well, dead. On its original launch, Dead or Alive 6 was largely seen as a misfire by just about all camps: Koei Tecmo clearly wanted to elevate it into the rotation for serious fighting games, but on reputation alone it was…
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I am a James Bond nerd. Everyone has their vices, okay? But I am. Watched all the films often enough that I’d give a 007 trivia competition a red hot go. Choreographed ballroom dancing shows to various theme songs. Read all the books. Even went out there in the early…
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I almost forgot about Supermassive Games’ Dark Pictures Anthology. That’s not from a lack of quality – each title in the series to date has been very worthy – but it’s just that things move quickly in video games and the Dark Pictures titles don’t quite have the longevity behind…
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