Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fuelled (PS4) Review - Activision does it again, in more ways than one

A clash for the ages... on wheels! [Activision, Beenox ©, Image Source: GamesRadar.com]

Although it comes as a surprise to no one, I’m a big fan of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Hell, half of my arm is covered in tattoos and two of my biggest ones are of the orange marsupial and purple dragon. When Activision and PlayStation announced the N. Sane Trilogy a few years ago I was over the moon excited (even for the Skylanders Crash expansion too cause I actually love that series). Go back to last year and the start of 2018 gave us rumblings of a Spyro remake too but with nothing confirmed I took it all at face value. The Reignited Trilogy was announced, back over the moon I went, even when it was delayed. Then came The Game Awards 2018 and with the very on the nose orange fuzzy dice sent to select journalists, it was no surprise to see Crash Team Racing receive the remake treatment too. It’s been out for about two and a half months and while this review may seem very VERY late, as anyone will tell you the game has gone through some significant changes from launch and that’s why it bares reviewing the game at this stage right as its third Grand Prix event is beginning.

First off we need to look at the base game and the first of my two routes I’m referring to when I said “Activision does it again”. For anyone that missed it, the aforementioned N. Sane Trilogy and Reignited Trilogy are ground up remakes of the classic PS1 titles from Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. CTR Nitro Fuelled is the same thing only with more stuff. Whereas the original only had a handful of racers and tracks, this remake brings all of those back but includes characters and tracks from the pseudo sequel CTR Nitro Kart on the PS2. So characters like Crunch Bandicoot (only introduced in Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex on PS2) and the various Team Oxide characters are playable in Nitro Fuelled… Provided you can save up the required coins to buy them.

They’re recreated the CTR adventure mode too, hub worlds and all. Each boss fight introduction is a full-fledged cut scene as opposed to the TV interview style of the original game. The graphics are very visually pleasing, the worlds are bright and colourful and the details on each kart and character is gorgeous. I’d finally figured out the 4K resolution on our TV at home while playing this game and the change was definitely noticeable! Although tracks will whizz by when racing as max speeds, each has been given sufficient investment and each has their own set of unique details and goings on, making each feel like a real lived in environment. Tigers will be running around the rooftops in Tiger Temple, flying cars go by in Android Alley and all of this still visible when you get blown up by a bowling bomb.

Campaign mode is a lot more difficult then I remember it being. I’m not going to sit here and compare the game to Dark Souls like every other journalist out there does when any game gives even the slightest challenge these days. It’s definitely not easy though (unless you play on easy) and the game practically forces you to get good at its biggest driving mechanic’ the drifting feature. In CTR, you’ll jump using one of the shoulder buttons. When you do, a little bar will begin to fill. When that bar reaches a certain threshold, you can get a boost by pressing the opposite shoulder button which can be chained up to three times. Learning and mastering this mechanic is the key when it comes to winning any races in CTR and especially so if you want to tackle the online side of things.

Speaking of online, this is one of the biggest additions to this remake. Being that I’m not the biggest online player, I don’t have many issues with the online feature in CTR. Notice though I said “many” meaning I still have some. Online matchmaking works on a P2P system instead of dedicated servers. This means that when you want to start an online match, the players involved are connected to one person’s system instead of a purpose built server. So if that persons internet connection isn’t great, you’re gonna have a bad time in that race if you even get to it. The player hosting can cancel out and thus, the whole lobby leaves (usually within the last few seconds annoyingly).

There isn’t any kind of system to match players based on skill levels either. Say you’re a new player who fancied trying your hand at online match making, you could either get really lucky and have a match of players of a similar skill level, or get completely screwed and end up with 7 other racers who’ve already sank hundreds of hours into the game and leave your in 8^th place the entire race. The same can be true in reverse; you’ll be a veteran and want to challenge yourself in an online field but find that you’re going at such a good speed you end up lapping everyone. It needs some kind of tier system implemented, you could use the trophies that you’re rewarded with as those seems entirely useless otherwise (if I’m wrong and they do have a purpose, please let me know).

My final gripe is more based on an online mode that players of the game have been pining after since launch and that’s an item less style race. When you start out, on most tracks, you’ll no doubt find a row of item boxes which will be annihilated in seconds and the players luck enough to get an item will use it straight away. This practice has been dubbed “Weapon Spam” and can make or break any match. It’s especially annoying if you’re having a good match and keep the lead or second/third as racers at the back will be more likely to receive the dreaded blue orb. This item targets whoever is in first place but hits each player along the way and, because a few people can get one at a time, there can be multiple orbs on the track at a time (most I’ve had in one instance was 3!). Now, you could make the argument that it wouldn’t be in the spirit or feel of CTR to have no items on the track during a race, that using the items to gain an advantage in a race is all part of the fun. But I’d argue that the reason players, including myself are getting annoyed, it because you could have been flying through the track using all your skills and abilities to get to where you are, only to lose that because someone back in 8^th place got their hands on an orb and stopped you dead in your tracks leaving second, third or even fourth to come up and take the win. The point here is that online could only be improved by having an online race form that allowed for no item races, not ruined.

To be honest, I do really enjoy this game. I’m one of the aforementioned players that has sunk over 100 hours into the game thus far, platinumed it and completed the story 101%. So I obviously like the game. But where my reviews would usually end here, we not must go on to what Activision has done since the game released. So let’s talk about the Grand Prix’s.

The Grand Prix

The first Grand Prix to come up was Nitro Tour. The premise behind the grand prix was simple enough; monthly events that added one new track and a ton of new items including characters, skins, karts and kart accessories. These items could be earned by completing challenges and earning nitro points or through the Pit Stop (the in-game shop where you’d spend Wumpa coins, the in-game currency). Nitro Tour was pretty well received, it added a fair few new characters including Tawna Bandicoot and the Nitro girls from original CTR, each had their own legendary skin to buy or earn. If you managed to make it into the top 5% of the online leader boards, you were awarded with the Champion kart and a decal to celebrate you’re achievement. Honestly, the only complaints I saw through the first grand prix (besides a few noticeable bugs and glitches) was that the use of certain characters, karts etc. would give a multiplier and only ended up having lobby’s full of the same characters, karts and skins etc. Other than that some of the challenges felt very repetitive and boring.

We then move onto the last grand prix that’s just wrapped up; the Back N. Time Grand Prix. Mechanically it’s the same as Nitro Tour; there were new characters added, a new track and new karts etc. The number of new characters went down to 3 but they were well made characters and became the choice of many top racers. The new track was well received and is considered the best new track so far, despite the almost impossible shortcut jump right near the start and the crates and super pads making the first minutes a nightmare. But it was what came outside the racing that has many fans annoyed. Again referring back to “Activision does it again”, as of the commencement of the second Grand Prix they implemented micro transactions into the pit stop. Now, had this just been put there and left to players discretion as to wither they used it would have been okay, however the prices of bundles in the pit stop went up horrendously (A kart, skin, decal and sticker pack went up to around 11,000 coins but with a “discount” putting it at around 9,900). Not only that but once this last grand prix finished, an option became available to use Wumpa coins to fill up your nitro bar in order to get the prizes in each tier. While this wouldn’t affect your place on the leader board, it does mean that those who spend time and grinded out the nitro to earn those rewards feel cheated as anyone can simply come along when it finished to buy them all. Put simply it isn’t fair!

And a big argument that you’ll hear is that “If It doesn’t affect you then why does it bother you?” which is a fair statement; I’m never going to pay extra money for an item that can be earned through hard work and determination. But that doesn’t mean that these things should be here as there are likely younger players with access to parent’s bank accounts that could spend willy-nilly without realizing. And as I mentioned, those with the disposable income to buy everything only make those who have to work to get everything feel worthless. Going into a lobby and seeing the other players have items from higher tiers or expensive kart sets used to give a sense of “Wow, that person must have spent a lot of time to earn those rewards”, whereas now I just look and think “They’ve probably bought all of that” and the experience is lessened.

I don’t want to harp too much on the Grand Prix’s or the game as a whole because at face value, it’s a brilliant game! It’s a lovingly remade classic that definitely deserves to be in people’s library of games, but when you get into the deeper side of things is when the cracks begin to form. The adventure mode and the local arcade features are practically faultless, the online has a few issues but is functional for the most part, the Grand Prix’s are fun and keep players coming back for a good amount of time. The predatory nature of Activision has come to the forefront though since the game’s launch and this needs to be addressed. The Grand Prix that’s just started is all to do with Spyro so that’s definitely worth being excited for. Pick this game up when you have the chance, just prepare to invest some hours into it but at least they’ll be enjoyable hours.

PS Plus free games for September revealed! What a month!

[A beautiful sight to see! Sony ©, Image Source: Gematsu.com]

The date is the 28th of August 2019. For most, an unrecognizable date in history. But for gamers and PlayStation Plus subscribers, we know it as the last Wednesday of the month. That can only mean one thing of course; the free games for next month will be revealed. And revealed they have! For those with a PS Plus membership on PS4, September gives us Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) and Darksiders III (2018)! Even better still is that the wait isn't long, they'll be available to download and play on the first Tuesday of the month September 3rd.


For anyone who doesn't know; when you are a subscribed member of either PlayStation Plus or Xbox Games with Gold, each month you will be given free games as part of your membership. If you cancel, those games go away but if you keep it up then you can download and delete as many times as you want. Up until March this year, PlayStation subscribers would get two games for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita but Sony stopped this in order to focus on PS4 titles alone.


Users of the service will know that it can be quite a love/hate relationship as one month the games can be fantastic but the next they'll be poor or one great and one poor etc. Here's a quick run down of the games we've received free (for PS4) this year so far;

• January: Steep and Portal Knights
• February: For Honor and Hitman: The Complete First Season
• March: The Witness and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
• April: The Surge and Conan Exiles
• May: What Remains of Edith Finch and Overcooked
• June: Borderlands: The Handsome Collection and Sonic Mania
• July: Detroit Become Human (which included Heavy Rain) and Horizon Chase Turbo
• August: Wipeout Omega Collection and Sniper Elite 4

So as you can see, a very up and down service in my opinion, however this month they have pulled it back and the offerings are two big triple A games! It's worth mentioning before we go look into these games that, if you have a PS Plus account or are looking to buy one before these new games come forward, you can still claim this months games right now. They'll be available until the new ones go up on September 3rd.


Batman Arkham Knight (2015)
The fourth (or third entry in the Arkham games, depending who you ask), Arkham Knight is the so far final entry in the franchise that propelled Batman to the forefront of superhero games (until Marvel's Spider-Man came along). While not the most highly regarded of the series, Arkham Knight is the series premier on current gen with gorgeous graphics, a rich huge open world and, If you have the extra change, a plethora of add on content that adds even more options to the already packed game.


Scarecrow has Gotham city on lockdown and Batman must find and stop him before his beloved city is lost forever. He'll have to go even deeper into who Batman is and even face his inner demons and consequences from his past. He's not alone however, as the trusty Batmobile plays a huge part in the traversal and combat in Arkham Knight. While many saw the involvement of the Batmobile as a hindrance, I enjoyed the variety of missions and creativity that the mechanic gives us as players. While I personally don't use Metacritic, the game currently sits at a 87 score on the website.


Darksiders III (2018)
Fans of the first and second games in the series will be excited to play this third instalment from Gunfire Games and what is considered the revival of the series. While it too didn't receive the highest of praise upon launch, those who did play it found enjoyment in their own ways. Further updates have made the game feel more like the previous entries in terms of gameplay, with many comparing the original build to something like Dark Souls with how its reliance on dodging and attacking.


Players take control of the third of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (or in this case horsewoman) Fury while she must traverse the war torn Earth and defeat the Seven Deadly Sins. As a fan of the series, the only reason I haven't gotten around to playing this title was purely down to lack of funding to purchase it. I was looking to get it soon but it seems PlayStation got to it first! Currently the game has a score of 64 on Metacritic; a series low but I doubt many will complain now the game has been made free.


Of the two games available, I'm most excited for Darksiders III purely because I have already played and beaten Batman: Arkham Knight and actually already own the game on my PSN account. What game are you most looking forward to and are you happy with this months PS Plus offerings?

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth (3DS) Review - The team-up we've been waiting for

An All-out Attack never looked so stylish! [SEGA, Atlus ©, Image Source:  Amazon.com]

Straight off the bat I have to state that I am a huge fan of the Persona series from Persona 3 onwards; the series came into my life at a bad point and I enjoyed it so much that I’ve played every game since and loved them all. To some, that statement would likely insight some questions as to my bias towards the series. However, Persona Q is a spin-off series as it combines the mechanics and style of the Etrian Odyssey series with the characters, settings and combat from the Persona series. The first game, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth released back in 2014 for 3Ds and I played that too except I hated it, didn’t even finish it once. It seemed like an ideal game for me since I came into the series with Persona 3 and sank countless hours into Persona 4, combining the two into one game was supposed to be a dream but it really wasn’t. So when I came to play Persona Q2, I had my reservations but I’m glad to say that they were unnecessary. Had the first game been as good as its sequel then I likely would have loved it in its entirety.

The story premise is largely the same considering what I played of the first game; different Persona teams (this time from Personas 3, 4 and 5) are brought together by some unknown force and have to make their way through labyrinths in order to escape. There are 5 labyrinths in total, each within a demented movie the team need to change and each film will get progressively bigger and have floors that go down even deeper. I liked how each labyrinth had a different genre of film that it was based around, giving a real sense of variety to how you would be moving around. Although the enemies are largely the same shadows copied and pasted with a new coat of paint, they still presented enough variety and their designs memorable enough that I remembered what best move to use in order to win.

As part of the story, the player character (the main protagonist from Persona 5) will receive a notebook to help keep a track of the labyrinths layout. Using the bottom screen on the 3Ds, you’ll be able to draw out and place icons to help you navigate each labyrinth. Perhaps it’s just me but I really enjoyed this mechanic, even from the first game, and I found myself getting creative in the later maps with different colours to help navigate. Sometimes I’d just look at my map and run in the direction I was aiming for instead of looking at the top screen. It’s a simple mechanic but effective, depending on how much you invest into it.

When it comes to combat, this is taken from the Persona games for the most part. Shadows have weaknesses that, when you hit them, will cripple the enemy and give the character a “Boost” for the next turn provided they go undamaged. This boost will make all your skills cost nothing and will give a power boost to select physical attacks. The baton pass feature from Persona 5 has been added too so you can give a “Boost” to another character for that turn. And if that wasn’t enough, when you complete certain side quests you can receive an item called “Power of Bonds” for two or more characters. This item unlocks a special super move that can trigger randomly when one of the characters involved lands a critical hit. There’s no real way to know when one will trigger and, if you use a character with multiple Unison skills, it’s a coin toss as to which one will be used. I never found any one to be more powerful than the others though so at least they’re balanced enough.

Fans of the Persona games may be glad to hear that not only do the cast of Personas 3, 4 and 5 appear in the game, but the much loved “Fem-C” from Persona 3 Portable (P3P) is also here and has the best character arc of the whole cast in my opinion. Without wishing to spoil things, if you’re wondering how having two main protagonists from Persona 3 will work in a story context, then this game has you covered. But again, no spoilers from me. Anyone who is a fan of the series will really appreciate the story on offer here.

Persona Q2 is by far a better game than Persona Q. Although I’ve said it a lot, I’d actually hesitate to call it a sequel as the events of the first game don’t link up here. The P3 and P4 teams don’t recognize one another and the illusive attendants of the Velvet Room don’t recall the events either. The only things the games share is a name and a premise. It practically acts as a reboot for the series which it needed if they plan to make another after Persona 6. Honestly, if Persona Q didn’t grip you then play Persona Q2 because it’s a vast improvement. If you did like the first, then it’s possible it may have already been on your radar. Take it from me though, it’s a great time to be had for all JRPG fans.

Luigi's Mansion 2 (3DS) Review - A revival worth a visit



Looks completely safe! [Nintendo ©, Image Source: MarioPartyLegacy.com]

Almost immediately after finishing the Luigi’s Mansion rerelease for the 3DS, I wanted to get the second game Luigi’s Mansion 2 (Or Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for our American readers) which speaks to how much of an impact the first game had on me. Unlike the first game though, this isn’t a rerelease and was intended to be played on a 3DS system. As such the controls are ideal and, to be frank, so much better than the port of Luigi’s Mansion. Had they copied over the control system from this title to the first, then it would have been a perfect port in my opinion. But getting back on topic, Luigi is back at it again, hunting ghosts with Professor E. Gadd in a more structured level based game that lasted much longer than the first. Oh and there’s a ghost dog, so that’s reason enough to play this game!

The game is set in Evershade Valley which features the titular dark moon, a big crystal looking creation that has a pacifying effect on the ghosts in the valley. Many of these ghost were helping Professor E. Gadd with his research when the moon is shattered and all the ghosts go nuts. So, E. Gadd calls upon Luigi to venture into the various settings of Evershade Valley and find the pieces to restore the dark moon. Straight off the bat, the story has more structure that the first game did as you’re aren’t simply playing clean up in a haunted mansion but are instead trying to restore order in the valley. You’ll travel to the different locations of the valley, each with a large open ended map full of secrets to find and ghosts to capture. Each area has around 5 levels each, ending in a big boss fight and retrieving a piece of the dark moon. Similar to the first game, money and cash can be found throughout the map, however unlike the first game the money actually serves a purpose. You aren’t graded at the end of the game based on how much money you gathered, instead the money you saved goes into upgrading the Poltergust, so I actually felt some incentive to gather up as much as I could.

Going back to the topic of controls, I so much prefer the control scheme for this game then the first. Obviously the option is here for motion controls to be used, however Luigi’s Mansion 2 also allows for aiming using the X and B buttons for up and down respectively. This makes the game far easier to control over trying to use the little nubbin stick or moving the system around wildly. Luigi can run too which is very handy when you get surrounded. The Poltergust even has a new feature by way of a power meter, so after pulling at a ghost for long enough you’ll build up power to give one big pull and suck the ghost up. The aforementioned money upgrades go into increasing the power and size of the bar and, once you’ve reached the max upgrade the normal sucking power of the Poltergust is noticeably faster making catching ghosts that much easier. It’s a welcomed upgrade that really gives the player incentive to scouring the area to find as much cash as possible.

Besides the new controls and level structure, Luigi’s Mansion 2 plays almost identical with the first game. You’ll still have to hunt down as many ghosts as you can find in each level and find the hidden Boo ghost just like in the first game. What is different though is the addition of a new type of flashlight called the Dark Light Device. This new toy reveals hidden objects in the environment and revives paintings that feature coins and Toad assistants throughout the game. These hidden items will be secret collectable gems or where you’ll find the hidden Boos. There is also a multiplayer function in the game, but I never went anywhere near it so I can’t comment on how well it runs or doesn’t run (One thing I rarely touch on a game is multiplayer).

There really isn’t much more I can say about this game. I like it though, it’s a very good game and a good sequel. To paraphrase Zero Punctuation’s Yahtzee Crowshaw, “A good sequel uses the original concept as a jumping off point to explore new horizons, but a bad sequel just wallows in the first games filth going nowhere”. Luigi’s Mansion 2 does, in my opinion, make a good sequel and if anyone had even a remote passing interest in the series then I’d highly recommend this game be played. I’d even go as far as to say that you could pay full price and still be satisfied. Depending on how invested you need to be in a series, you could probably start playing this game without playing the first game as the only things to carry over are Luigi, E. Gadd and the Poltergust.

Luigi's Mansion (3DS) Review - A Spooky Good Time That Shows its Age



Luigi, there's something behind you... [Nintendo ©, Image Source: Polygon]

Luigi’s Mansion as a series is one that stretches back to the GameCube days. Owners of the system undoubtedly had a copy or knew a friend who had a copy. It was something of a departure from a traditional Super Mario game (besides the fact that you played as Luigi) as it had a well-structured plot, a unique set of game mechanics and a metroidvania semi-open world (Metroidvania is a term that refers to a game with sections that are inaccessible until you retrieve an item or upgrade later in the game). Ours wasn’t a GameCube household, we stuck to Sony and PlayStation for my childhood, so I only got the opportunity to play Luigi’s Mansion when it was rereleased for the Nintendo 3DS. While I did enjoy playing through this classic with an updated set of visuals, I’m afraid that was all that was updated for the rerelease.

I don’t want to show this game in a bad light so I’ll get my biggest gripe out of the way first, but fans may be happy to know that it’s my only gripe. Now, I played this version on a New 2DSXL (the versions with that little nubbin they claim is an analogue stick) so I can only speculate based on my experience how the game plays on a different system. If it weren’t for my systems second analogue stick, I would have likely given up on finishing the game because the developers relied too heavily on the 3DS motion controls when they put the game together. The original GameCube controller had two analogue sticks so I imagine aiming was a touch easier than having to aim by tilting the system all over the place. Using the New 2DS stick wasn’t as difficult but not as easy as it would have been to have a proper analogue stick. It virtually doesn’t move so it’s difficult to register if you’re actions are being carried out. Not to mention how uncomfortable the things is to manoeuvre. This is starting to sound more like a hardware complaint but as mentioned above, I can’t speak to how normal 3DS users would have managed using motion controls effectively. Really, they might have been better to alter the controls to incorporate the bottom screen or ported the game to the Nintendo Switch instead (although that might not be too far off with the third entry out this year).

But that’s the negative out of the way. I probably don’t need to spend time here telling people how good a nearly 18 year old game is at this point, but Luigi’s Mansion is definitely a good game. The story isn’t massively complex but Mario games rarely feature a deep narrative and this is no exception. Luigi has won a mansion in a contest that he didn’t enter (which should have thrown up a bunch of red flags but oh well) so he and Mario agreed to meet up there. He arrives to find it looking nothing like how it was supposed to (again, immediate red flags) but still ventures in regardless. He doesn’t find Mario, instead finding ghosts and meeting Professor E. Gadd who saves him with the games primary mechanic, the Poltergust 3000. Luigi helps E. Gadd to fight the ghosts and eventually find his brother Mario. Like I said, not majorly complex but sufficient enough to carry the game.

You capture ghosts with the Poltergust by first stunning them with your flashlight, only then can you suck them up. There are numerous of the standard level ghosts (blue, gold etc.) but each different section has a number of special ghosts that range from physics and weightlifters to babies and creepy twin children. They’ll throw a different challenge at you in order to capture them, some of which will act as boss fights for that particular chapter like the aforementioned baby ghost. The more you capture, the further you get into the mansion and the story. I couldn’t say how long my playtime ran up to, but Luigi’s Mansion has something in the way of replay value and that’s its ending.

Now I’m not referring to the ending where you find Mario and get the F out of dodge, but the after credits moment were the game grades you on how much money you found. In every room and throughout the entire mansion, you will interact with objects and creatures that will drop money. While the currency earned doesn’t seem to serve a purpose at first, it is all tallied together for the end of the game to buy Luigi a real mansion but the quality and size of that mansion depends on the money saved. It isn’t the biggest drive to replay the game unless you did thoroughly enjoy it, I’m pretty sure my score was on the lower end of the chart and afforded me a simple house instead of a mansion. While it is possible to save money into the millions, I didn’t find any drive to do so as the money didn’t go into any kind of upgrades, only the end game grade.

If you’ve played Luigi’s Mansion back when it first released, you likely already have an opinion on the game and nothing I can say will sway you. A series doesn’t get three entries across 3 different systems and generations having no fan base, so it’s definitely a game worth looking at. If you have a 3DS/2DS then I’d definitely suggest getting this game in order to experience a slice of gaming history, however my money is still that this game and the sequel, Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon, will probably be ported to the Nintendo Switch. If and when that happens, then definitely buy them for that platform. Otherwise, keep this game firmly under the sale category if you want it for 3DS.

Blood & Truth (PSVR) Review – A bloody great time! (Pun intended)



Artwork worthy of an action movie poster [Sony London Studio ©, Image source: BunnyGaming.com]

Blood & Truth is bloody brilliant and that’s the truth. All jokes aside though, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten so excited to play a full PSVR titles since Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (review for that coming soon) and back when I first played Resident Evil 7 in VR. Developed by the studio who made the PlayStation VR World launch title for the headset, Sony’s London Studio have really made a great game that I hope gets a sequel or even DLC. For those among you who have a PSVR headset and played PSVR Worlds, this game is by all account a full length version of The London Heist; the shooting mini game from that collection. Blood & Truth even has little collectable statues that call back to PSVR Worlds with the player character making funny remarks whenever you pick one up.


The game isn’t a big collect-a-thon however, if it wasn’t obvious by the title it’s an action adventure title with shooting. It plays exactly like a spy thriller with a story of similar style to boot. You play Ryan Marks, a special ops soldier who’s deployed somewhere (not specified) to rescue a fellow officer. If you were curious about this game and played the demo, then you’ve already played the tutorial and opening section of the main game. Ryan is also from a very wealthy crime family back in London, he’s called home from duty due to the passing of his father. When he comes back, everything goes wrong as some rival mobster comes in wanting to take over the entire operation. Obviously the Marks family aren’t keen on the idea and thus you go about destroying the opposing mobster’s entire operation in the best way possible; big explosions and gun fights. I won’t go into anymore story details, while the story isn’t the most innovative out there, it’s still one that I feel players will be invested in and should experience first-hand. I personally thought it to be a well put together and well executed story; some twists you see coming and other not so much.


Story isn’t the main selling point of this game however, it’s the gameplay. As mentioned it’s a first person affair in VR with controller options for a standard controller and the move motion controllers. During my play through, I only used the motion controllers so, at time of writing, I can’t comment on how the game plays using the PS4 controller. I can say though that this is the kind of game where the motion controls are probably the better option as Blood & Truth not only has a large number of shooting sections, but numerous climbing sections and several lock picking moments. All in all, it’s definitely the kind of immersive VR experience that PSVR players need and, if there was every an excuse to invest in a set of move controllers, this game qualifies as one of many. The gun play if very satisfying from a VR perspective, aiming down the sights for a more precise shot is very rewarding but it’s isn’t always the best tracked due to the hardware involved.


--A quick run-down for those that don’t know; the PSVR headset and accompanying peripherals all need the PlayStation camera as they’re tracked using the lights on the controllers and headset. If they move outside the cameras view, they become unresponsive to the game and float off into the distance. Even the headset will lose tracking if it’s not in view of the camera.--

This tracking presents an issue when you’re aiming down the barrel of a gun, as the mixture of lights in the close proximity will get Lost and confuse the camera tracking system. It’s not the biggest issue however as readjusting is straightforward enough and Blood & Truth does tend to realign pretty quickly when the camera figures out what’s what. As I say, it’s more of a hardware issue that a software issue.


There really isn’t much more I can say at this point that isn’t just me gushing over the game. I will say however that the only thing that stands out to me as being odd is how the game encourages you to be sat down when playing. Granted this is likely to keep players who aren’t used to VR yet from getting motion sickness, but it broke a bit of the immersion for me when Ryan is running full speed and jumping out of a window but in reality, I’m just sat on my couch. Perhaps I’ll play through the game again whilst stood up because I will most definitely be playing this game again and going for 100% competition. As always, I tell you if a game is worth investing into at full price or not. I didn’t pay full price for Blood & Truth because I bought it on sale. However, if I had paid full price for this game, I don’t think I’d have been very disappointed. Take that how you will.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst (PS4) Review - The sequel/prequel no one asked for and even less played



Protagonist Faith on the run from Krugersec [Image source: IGN]

So out of sheer curiosity and a sale price that was like practically giving it away, I played through Mirror’s Edge Catalyst; the sequel/prequel to 2008 original that I’m honestly not sure who asked for it. That isn’t meaning to sound as harsh as it does, but the original game was met with mixed reviews, many of which slammed the game for being repetitive and bland with terrible combat. Having played the original myself many years ago, I thought I’d give the new game (new to me at least) a go since practically every sale on the PS Store has the game at a remarkably low price. I finished it in… I don’t know how many hours to be honest because the moment the credits had finished rolling, I quit out of the game onto my home screen and deleted it. Through nought but sheer force of will did I commit to finishing the game and I will likely never go back to it again.


I feel the need to keep emphasising the whole prequel thing because to be honest, I couldn’t tell throughout the majority of my play through. If I had recently played the first game, this may have been more obvious but the game doesn’t exactly have a big piece of text anywhere to say “This is set before the first game”. While I’m on the topic of story, this is by far the weakest point of the game because frankly I couldn’t care less about Faith or the people around her. Faith herself got on my nerves frequently with how whiny and downright abrasive she is towards everyone around her, she shows little interest in doing things properly or listening to other when they tell her what she’s about to do is a bad idea, then gets upset when everything goes wrong. There’s this whole subplot where she’s in debt to some kind of gangster who at one point threatens to break her legs and my first thought was “Do it, might teach her to be less of a dick”. And another thing, I may be misremembering slightly but wasn’t Faith’s sister a police officer in the first game? In this game, Faith thinks she’s dead until they capture the “daughter” of the bad guy and the player immediately goes “There she is” even though Faith still doesn’t get it. By games end, she runs the bad company so how does she go from CEO to police officer exactly.


I need to talk about something else so let’s look at gameplay. The free running is the main drive behind this series as that’s what garnered the most attention for the original title. This side of things I can’t really fault because despite the hard sell of a first-person free running game, the flow of movement is really smooth and the navigation is clear enough that I only got stuck a few times when the navigation is turned off for story missions. I found myself using the fast travel options very sparingly because I did enjoy the running between missions. If you’re confused by what I’m saying, this game is an open world game now which was probably the next logical step for the series. As far as open worlds go, it feels rather large with a variety of collectibles to be found and some side activities, but they all revolve around getting from one location to another as quickly as possible. Most that I played were currier missions where you couldn’t take too much damage or you’d break the package. I only played a couple however because the time constraints on some because nigh on impossible and I could only stand the smug, condescending voices of the clients when I failed so many times.


Right let’s go back to what doesn’t work; combat. It was a mess and hard to work with in the first game that much I do remember. To give them their dues mind, it is vastly improved for the sequel with some good dodge mechanics and needing to put some thought into how you approach the enemy variety. It is though, for lack of a better term, like trying to polish a turd because it’s still poorly executed combat in a free-running game. At least in Dying Light, you had weapons and a variety of skills to unlock that would make combat easier as you go along, but Faith isn’t exactly going to be wandering around the city with a spiked baseball bat on her back. I’m ashamed to admit but I rage quitted at one point in the first half of the game when I kept getting stuck in a story mission REQUIREING me to win in a combat encounter. The game introduces the ‘heavy’ character who kept kicking my ass to no end until I quit out and deleted the game out of frustration. After a few days, I looked at myself and said “This shit will not beat me” and carried on. Cheesed (took an easy exploitable way through) the hell out of the fight but got through regardless. The jist of what I’m saying here is that combat is bad, but not as bad as its predecessor.


Honestly I’d difficult to sum up my thoughts on Mirror’s Edge Catalyst in brief. If you loved the original game then you can’t go wrong with playing this game. If you only marginally liked the first game, maybe replay it to make sure you do as well as refresh yourself then give the sequel a go. If you didn’t like it, this instalment isn’t going to sway you. But, as mentioned earlier, this game is on sale all the time. Even base price (I think) is around the £20 mark and I bought it for less than £5 so I can’t really moan about wasting money on it.

The unfortunate state of video game retail in the UK



An example of a typical GAME store here in the UK [Image Source: Gizmodo UK]

Being a fan and consumer of video games in the UK has been getting increasingly difficult over the last decade or so. It used to be simple; go buy the game you wanted from Game Station or GAME (which I only learned recently that GAME owned Game Station but still). Of course other retailers and the larger supermarkets had an entertainment section, but for shops dedicated to gaming, those were your best options. Then sometime in the mid-2000s, Game Station shut down and we were left with GAME until Cex came along. But, as a store, Cex is akin to a "Jack of all trades" when it comes to entertainment products. Around the early 2010s, a new competitor to GAME showed up called Grainger Games with new and pre-owned games at reasonable prices and a good amount given when you wanted to trade in. For the largest part of buying my games I'd instinctively go to Grainger Games, until March 2018 when all their stores were closed seemingly out of nowhere. Fast forward to 2019 and your options for gaming dedicated stores are down to independent stores found on nearly every high street or GAME, but even that is on thin ice.


It wouldn't be an understatement to say that digital games have been on the rise since the 7th generation (PS3 and Xbox 360) and have only gone up since some games don't even see a physical release. I myself can attest to the fact that a large portion of my game library is now digital with a large portion of those being free with PS Plus. I mean, if a game is cheaper online than it is on disc then why not. It'll only take up the same install on a hard drive either way, one way just requires me to move a bit first.


Now, there's a chain of sports shops here in the UK called Sports Direct and up until two weeks ago, I didn't know that the owner had a fair sized share in GAME as a stakeholder. But the new development here is the share has increased and according to business sites (who know a damn sight more than me) once a shareholders stake reaches a certain percentage, they are entitled to an offer of a buyout. As of writing this, no word has come out yet if Sports Direct plan to go through with it but if they did and were successful, it's likely that a majority of stores or all GAME stores across the country will close. As mentioned at the start, this would leave only independent retailers specializing in video games left for us Brits to buy our games in an actual store. Sure, you can go down to a Cex shop and grab a game, but they’re all pre-owned products and they don’t have any real options to buy games or films brand new. Our other options go down to bigger stores and supermarkets that have entertainment sections or relying upon online retailers like Amazon for new games.


Why did I feel the need to write this up then? Well, while I’ve never had the best of relationships with GAME as a retailer, I’d rather not see it go the way of the western. Surely Amazon would be a good substitute but my experiences with Amazon when trying to pre-order or buy new games has been less than successful in the past. I distinctly remember pre-ordering a Fan Edition copy of Pokémon: Sun which never showed up on the day of release, prompting me to travel to the next town over to buy a copy in a toy shop. Pre-ordering troubles aside, I can’t have been the only one to notice that prices for new copies of a game fluctuate like crazy on Amazon where a new release can be the average price (somewhere within the £40-£60 mark depending on the game) then skyrocket the next. While it’s okay as a general place to buy physical copies of games, Amazon certainly isn’t my main choice for getting new games day one.


To sum up, the entertainment market in the UK needs a serious boost in revenue or at the very least, maintain its current revenue but have no fear of takeover or closure. Independent retailers do the best they can with what they have and I in no way want to say they don’t deserve to exist, but they’re not best when you play games regularly and keep up to date with the medium. Supermarkets have entertainment sections that only sell new copies of games, but these are simply chart games with only a handful of new releases depending on console (still haven’t found Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 in any supermarket). The rise of the digital games market cannot be ignored nor should it be stopped, but gamers everywhere will always have a fondness for physical media and actually having a game in our hands and on disc.

Rage 2 (PS4) Review - Not much to rage about really



Rage 2 artwork, showing off it's new vibrant colours of Neon Pink [Bethesda ©, Image source: Microsoft Store]

I’ll be the first to confess that I’ve never been an FPS (First Person Shooter) fan. A shooting game has to have some kind of gimmick or be funny for me to want to play it. So when Rage 2 was announced and with the subsequent trailers, I must admit I was drawn into the neon pink wasteland and high-octane action. I might not be alone in saying that Rage 1 never gripped me enough to finish it so I was going in half cocked. But after finishing Rage 2 I found it to be an enjoyable experience, just not a very long one.


When I first began playing it, I got a DOOM meets Just Cause vibe, fitting as it’s made by both ID Software and Avalanche Studios developers of those series respectively. It’s the same run-and-gun style of combat in first person with near superhuman abilities like a double jump, ground slam and super blast ala DOOM. A skilled player will combo all these abilities and use the variety of weapons to get some stylish and gory kills. But the more novice shooter player like myself rarely used anything other than the shotgun, assault rifle and rocket launcher. Even the BFG from DOOM is a weapon in this game (when you buy the deluxe edition that is) and is just as overpowered as you’d expect, but ammunition can only be bought from one shop in the entire game and it’s definitely not cheap. In my run, it rarely saw the light of day except for the occasional Crusher fight when I didn’t fancy sinking all my ammunition into its face. The gist of my point here is that the gun play is very satisfying, even to the basic shooter player like me.


The open world is a different kettle of fish though. It’s a huge open sandbox that you’re free to explore from the word go with a plethora of locations to visit and destroy ala Just Cause. You can go kill all the bandits at their camps, clear out mutant nests, open up road blocks by killing the bandits, liberate power stations by killing the shrouded… Okay so it’s just a lot of killing really, the side objective variety is sparse. But as I said above, the gun play is satisfying enough that I didn’t wholly mind going everywhere and killing everything. There’s enough enemy variety that I had to put some thought into how I went about completing objectives rather than go nuts with the shotgun. My issue with the open world is that outside of the missions and side missions, there isn’t anything there. Getting around is a drag and the best vehicle in the game is the first one you get. You can unlock motorbikes and tanks, but the tanks are slow (obviously) and the bikes are an utter mess to handle. Seriously, I think I’ve been spoilt now for motorbike physics with Days Gone because that game handled them like a dream, but Rage 2 is a nightmare. I wouldn’t have touched the motorbikes if it weren’t for a trophy. Oh and there’s a flying vehicle too, but I used it once when I needed to be on the other side of a big ravine to reach the next objective.


Because it’s such a big game, it’s not unusual to find a few bugs here and there but, similar to Days Gone, there weren’t any that really stood out apart from one instance of a game crash. I do take issue however with how slow the menu system ran. There wasn’t that much going on in the pause menu and the layout is similar to other open world games releasing of late, however this one took longer than it should to switch between tabs. This might not matter to some but it really took me out of the experience, especially when the game itself has a very smooth frame rate.


It seems like I’m zoning in on the smallest things to complain about but I do want people to know that I did enjoy my time with Rage 2; the gun play is very satisfying and varied enough to keep me invested to finish the game. But if you’ll recall, I mention that it isn’t a long experience and this is my biggest problem with the game. The main campaign runs in at around 12 hours with about 8 campaign missions in total. There is practically no story other than the typical revenge plot; “Bad guy killed someone I love, gonna go kill bad guy”. The characters don’t really have any kind of arc and the story doesn’t have any twists or surprises. I understand that this isn’t the kind of story centric game, but when you’re charging full price for a game that can be completed in 1 or 2 sittings then something is definitely wrong. In order to get the most out of my money, I went for the platinum trophy which proved challenging only because the stats screen was glitched and didn’t keep a clear track of my actions.


If you consider yourself a big shooter fan than Rage 2 should be on your radar, eve
n if you aren’t it still a good enough game as it is. But I definitely do not suggest anyone get the deluxe edition as the length of time to complete it isn’t worth that extra £20 or so just for a strong gun that you may only use twice. Go for the standard edition or better still, wait for a sale.

Days Gone (PS4) Review - A slightly bumpy ride along the broken road




Protagonist Deacon St John and your customizable bike [Sony Bend Studio ©, Image source: Daily Express]

Releasing as a PlayStation exclusive holds high expectations in this console generation. After we were given God of War and Marvel's Spider-Man in 2018, expectations were high for the latest PS4 exclusive to release Days Gone. It saddens me to say however, that Days Gone doesn't quite live up to the level of interest set by the aforementioned titles. However, while I consider those two examples as exceptional games, Days Gone is a very solid experience that is well worth the price of admission wither you value time spend or a satisfying game play loop.

We are introduced to our protagonist, Deacon St. John and his wife Sarah by way of an intro cut scene that give us a glimpse of how the world fell to pieces around them. She is injured and Deacon gets her a ride out on a military helicopter headed somewhere intended to be safe. Rather than join her, Deacon stays behind to help his best friend and biker brother, Boozer who has been injured. So far things are very simple. Time jumps forward a few years, Deacon and Boozer are "drifters" which equates to handymen and bounty hunters in the open world of Oregon. The story is very long, even without the side content, there are essentially three large regions in the whole game to explore. I enjoyed the games story, I wasn’t totally invested but it was enjoyable. There were moments where the story took turns I fully expected, those I didn't and then for added measure, turns I expected it to take that it did but then flipped it on its head. The characters are well written and well performed, even though Deacon's nattering to himself can get tiresome at times.


Being an open world game, this is where you will be spending the majority of your time in Days Gone and as far as open worlds go, this is up on the list for "best open worlds in a video game". Traversal on your bike, which in itself is a primary game mechanic, is tricky at first but when you get a hang of the steering and utilizing the drift mechanics, you'll be roaming the land like a pro. You'll find the remnants of the old world everywhere, full of supplies and materials to craft with. Although if you're anything like me, you won't use a lot of the crafted traps and bombs until very late in the game, using a Molotov at most for nests.


There are a decent variety of locations and side objectives on the map that you'll want to go to and complete as doing these in certain sections of the map will grant you favour and "camp credits" which is the games primary currency. For better bike parts and stronger guns, you'll need to increase trust and trade in meat and bounties (Freaker ears) to get a bit of extra pocket money. Raising trust isn't too difficult either, by the end game I'd maxed out all but one camp's trust level but aside from a cut scene that brings all the camps together, I don't think there's much else you get from that (besides a trophy probably).


It's worth investing time into roaming the open world and completely jobs as they come up as you want the better upgrades for your bike. In the early stages, you'll seemingly run out of fuel straight away, giving a layer of strategy to getting around and surviving. Petrol stations are at select locations, but you can use petrol cans to refuel (they're infinite and always re-spawn in the same place, pro tip). The bike mechanics are very well designed, trying to ride a motorbike in any other game is ruined for me now! I played Rage 2 almost straight after this game and those bike controls were shocking, tried Watch Dogs 2 more recently and while speed was good handling was none existent. The only difference between the bike in Days Gone and other games is that you only get one bike; if you leave it somewhere miles away, it's not going to be able to be brought to you while you are out in "the shit" and if it takes damage you need scrap to repair it. It can be summoned back to you and fixed up at camps, for a price.


Something that needs addressing from its release is how many critics wrote off the game as being riddled with bugs which affected its end score. In my play through that lasted somewhere around the 60-hour mark, I didn't encounter any big bugs or glitches. The only things of note were a sound effect for a trip wire snapping going off whenever I passed the same point on the map in the very late game. The other was the constant frame rate dips whenever I started to really get some speed in my bike (and I was playing on a PS4 Pro too). Other than that, I honestly couldn't recall any other bugs or glitches in my time with Days Gone. Not to say that there aren't any there, I just hardly noticed any.


With all that said, it really comes down to what you want out of a game. The missions can feel a little repetitive (go to location and kill humans or Freakers) but the investment for doing that meant getting better bike parts and guns. It's very lengthy so if you desire game length in relation to money spent, you'll easily be pleased with how much time you'll spend in Days Gone. The developers have stated they plan for DLC at some point so I know when that drops, I'll be more than happy to jump back into the world of Days Gone. I don't really have a scoring system for my reviews as I never really thought it was necessary but to sum my opinions on this game, get it!