Author: Richard Armitt

GamingByte Size ReviewiOSPS4Switch Console

New Star Manager, PS4 Review

Richard Armitt 1365 Views ,  , 

There will always be room for more takes on soccer manager genre, at least there is if you’ve ever let one get its hooks into you.

For me the Holy Grail has always been CM97/98, many wasted weekends as nights turned to mornings and you’d catch an hour of sleep while a creaky 386 PC ground out the close season update. There have been all sorts of attempts to capture that lightning, sometimes they have just been too complex for their own good.

New Star Manager brings a fresh take and more importantly for consoles a better user interface than suits the medium. No more snapping to and fro between far too many icons, no more floaty cursors relying on your thumbstick that wished it was a mouse, you have to appreciate the design path going from mobile to Switch before PS4 being one of the core drivers here.

New Star is a relaxed and enjoyable take on the manager sim, the pace is fairly pedestrian which makes it a top-corner chill-out game and the mini games along with the in-match controls have raised more than a few smiles in my dugout.

If you are looking for something different that tickles your soccer fantasies, I’d be giving New Star a run out, new signings, fresh legs and all that.

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Feature ArticleGamingPS4PSNetworkXbox One

Rage 2, a late review, PS4

Richard Armitt 1333 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Bethesda seem to have their fair share of ups and downs, especially if you pay much attention the media, social or otherwise. Rage 2 was an interesting moment on that roller coaster given its lukewarm reception after a full-on and suitably anarchic promotional campaign.

Apart from the usual web, bus, media ads. It was interesting to see the local community team stacking their chips on more than a few expo appearances. Their Rage2 Tattoo drive certainly got people talking with mixed feelings, and being right on top of release without any sign of review code, obviously set a few reviewers off on the wrong foot.

I have been toying with these words for a while, and its fair to say Rage 2 got short changed in the review period after release.

Give it a go, because once you do – you realise that Rage 2 is the first person Crackdown you never knew you needed.

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Byte Size ReviewGamingIndie GameNintendoPC / MacSwitch Console

My Friend Pedro, Switch Review

Richard Armitt 1041 Views ,  ,  , 

My Friend Pedro has been coming for a while and every clip I’d seen surface on Social media from developer Deadtoast only got my appetite wetter. Mainly due to it being an ultra violent 2.5D cutout of a shooter with buckets of slow-motion-bulletime-matrix-backflip-shooting to boot.

Once upon a time Jon Woo and Chow Fun Fat brought their movie magic to games with Stranglehold, this is everything they did not achieve; Hi-Octane destruction with very forgiving systems to make it a fun ride.

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Game ReviewsGamingPS4PSNetworkPSVR

BoxVR Review, PSVR

Richard Armitt 1722 Views ,  ,  , 

Look, I am the first to admit I can’t play rhythm games, my physical structure does not generally move to music in any shape or form without a massive amount of encouragement or threats.

Yet, here I am, really enjoying the music and movement co-ordination with BoxVR.

Overall, BoxVR isn’t going to replace an actual gym or a six mile run, but it does get you off the couch and it does help you to break a sweat. I can’t say it has changed my life, but I will say this, there is a spring in my step that wasn’t there in this tired old body a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to my next session more than the Triple A game I’m supposed to be playing.

Think on that.

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Feature ArticleGamingPreviewPS4PSVR

Blood & Truth PSVR hands-on preview

Richard Armitt 1044 Views ,  ,  ,  , 

We recently had the opportunity to send cheeky chappie Darren Price on an hands on adventure with new PSVR title Blood and Truth, and it turned better than a Bank Holiday in the Queen Vic.

“I recently entered a world of old lags, muppets and geezers for a trip to the East-End London with PlayStation AU and their up-coming PSVR game, Blood & Truth.

Blood & Truth comes to us from SIE London Studio, the same developers that knocked out the VR Worlds anthology title for PSVR. The new game is an extension of their acclaimed The London Heist sequence that was the highlight of VR Worlds.

If you are familiar with Guy Ritchie films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, you are on the right track. This is a game chock-full of violent Cockney villains, so expect loads of tasty-looking, tooled-up geezers, lots of swearing and comedy East-End accents.”

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Game ReviewsGamingPC / MacPS4PSNetworkPSVR

Falcon Age, PSVR Review

Richard Armitt 1229 Views ,  ,  , 

Since launch PSVR has been a platform full of experiences and a lot of them either off the wall or surprisingly original. Falcon Age probably sits in those two camps with a 20/80 split.

A brave new single player experience from Outerloop Games, a Seattle based Indie company with a pretty tight team roster. It shows in the way the game has been crafted, it is deep without being complex and does exactly what it needs to. Built from the ground up as a VR title the game is a sci-fi adventure in the shoes of Ara, a young girl imprisoned by some temperamental robots on a barren planet.

Pretty straightforward then, the first few game days get you into the control scheme nicely by running some prison day-to-day routines and forcing you to converse with one of your captors. Some of the humour, writing and art style here start to feel like a nod toward Portal and that’s okay.

It’s a setting that serves the purpose of the story, but feels light on structure, which isn’t that big a deal when you remember this is a game, in VR where you can fist-bump your Falcon before sending it off to rip up a rabbit.

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Byte Size ReviewGamingPS3PS4PSNetworkPSVRXBLAXbox Onexbox360

Byte Size – Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, PS4

Richard Armitt 1069 Views ,  , 

Borderlands, a franchise and a genre flag bearer.

Now we get to go back to where it all began – with all DLC and shiny new graphics along with a few tweaks here and there.

As a warm up to Borderlands 3 this is the perfect introduction for players that weren’t around ten years ago. Fire up the Hype Train there’s a new ‘Old Loot Shooter’ in town.

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Game ReviewsGamingPC / MacPS4Xbox One

The Division 2 – PS4 Review

Richard Armitt 1298 Views ,  ,  , 

I’m taking my time with The Division 2, partly because of commitments, but mostly because I am enjoying it so much.

Back in the late seventies I grew up on a diet of movies and books, the ones that stuck were the post apocalyptic adventures. There was something about being stranded in an empty world, picking over the ruins left by society that appealed to me deep down, I mean really deep down.

Here we are three years later in 2019, the world we live in is bit more crazy, while the world of The Division has moved on about seven months, which is allegedly enough time for you to have cleaned up New York. Once you get the introduction out of the way and open up your path to the White House the game kicks in proper and boy, it really delivers straight up.

The Division 2 is a rare beast, its a game that arrived fully finished, fully tested and fully delivers on its promises. Me, I’ll still be filling my kleptomaniac pockets as I trawl my way through the incredibly detailed vision of Washington.

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Byte Size ReviewPS4PSNetworkPSVR

Byte Size – The Wizards Enhanced Edition, PSVR Review

Richard Armitt 1030 Views ,  , 

Harry Potter is a shit Wizard, make no mistake.

In my youth, when books were still a big thing I had firm favourites in the Wizarding space, these guys were qualified as Wizards because they actually did proper magic and I loved it, and I wanted to do it too.

The Good – Casting spells! With your hands!

The Bad – Old School level design and AI.

The Ugly – 2006 called, they want their textures back!

Overall it is a fun game, while being a throwback to the nineties in look and level feel it offers plenty of suspended disbelief as you creep around looking for the next encounter and spend a few minutes fervently creating and using spells.

It is a game I will go back to and certainly puts the power in your hands.

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Feature ArticleGamingPC / MacPS4PSNetworkXBLAXbox One

Anthem – Post release considerations, PS4

Richard Armitt 1100 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Anthem, you will have heard of it no doubt. Anybody with the slightest toe dipped in to Gaming, Social Media or having seen the odd Bus drive past will be familiar. Being the latest title from Bioware the stakes were high and it has to be said, Bioware fans can be a fervent pack when they are poked with a stick. Let’s be straight up from the front.

The company has delivered a game that does not stick to their modus operandi, fair enough, but the fans didn’t know and they’re upset.

The company has tried to deliver a game du jour, moderately massively persistently online, bullet sponge enemies and heaps of customisation.

The company has actually delivered a flawed, but fun game that can be enjoyed on different levels if you forgive a few structural issues.

This is probably a good time to say, this isn’t a review in the traditional sense, there are various reasons for that, but the key ones will be the method of Anthem’s launch and popularisation, alongside the pack mentality and vocal rejection of the game by anybody with a phone and some data for Twitter.

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Byte Size ReviewPS4PSNetwork

Byte Size – God Eater 3

Richard Armitt 1067 Views ,  , 

The God Eater series is not something I am familiar with, lets have that out in the open. As a sci-fi soap opera, I’m sure it would be interesting to delve into, but as it stands being a virgin in the God Eater universe I’m a little more dazed and confused than leading the charge.

The Good – There’s a deep sci-fi canon on offer if you can listen to the dialogue, and the unfeasible weapons are impressive. The bullet building feature is the highlight.

The Bad – Angsty teen styled dialogue, overly complex controls and too much to remember.

The Ugly – The graphics need a decent feed. Combat missions are way too short.

The combat is fun to a point, but given some of the controls and the reliance on remembering how or when to use certain combos it never really gets past the hack and slash approach for me.

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