Byte Size Review

When 900 words is too much and about 250 will do.

Byte Size ReviewGame ReviewsGamingPS4Xbox One

Byte Size – ESO Elsweyr Review (Xbox One X)

Barrie Clarke 1866 Views ,  ,  , 

OK, so firstly I must apologise for the delay in getting this review done. I have only just been able to consistently log in to the ESO servers in this last week. Now every time a new DLC is released for ESO there is a spike in users and some problems are expected but typically you get in within a few attempts. Not this time.

Welcome to the land of the Khajiiti, cat-like desert dwellers, famed for their prowess in the mercantile arts. Elsweyr is a diverse land of grasslands and canyons. Unfortunately the growing of Moon Sugar has been rudely interrupted by the return of dragons to the area.

Can you save the land from the dragons?

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Byte Size ReviewGamingIndie GameNintendoPC / MacSwitch Console

My Friend Pedro, Switch Review

Richard Armitt 1096 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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Byte Size ReviewGamingPS4PSNetworkPSVR

Blood & Truth, PSVR Review

Guy 1130 Views ,  ,  , 

Every now and then I play a game and it floors me. It’s not often mind you, I’m talking once or twice in a console generation. Anyone who reads my stuff or follows me online, knows I am a PSVR fan and I love it, warts and all. But ‘Blood & Truth’ is something special, it’s a leap forward in mainstream big budget VR experiences and I am going to break from the traditional idea of a “Review” for this one.

So here we go….

“Do you and your PSVR a favour……….Go and BUY Blood & Truth”!

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Byte Size ReviewGamingPS VitaPS4Switch ConsoleXbox One

Shakedown Hawaii: A dinosaur making his way in the modern world, PS4 and Vita

Gerard Campbell 1355 Views ,  ,  , 

Shakedown Hawaii is a cynical statement about today’s modern age told through the eyes of a dinosaur who is stuck in his ways & is unprepared to change.

Shakedown Hawaii is an open-world game with a mix of driving, shooting and wandering around where missions can be as simple as stealing a speed boat for some misadventure to renaming an unpopular energy drink so it appeals to gamer culture.

You can also literally buy every single building in the game. From shoe shops to clothing outlets to automative dealers that repossess cars, the world is literally yours for the taking. Shakedown Hawaii doesn’t take itself too seriously, either.

Shakedown Hawaii is just the ticket to scratch that 16-bit itch.

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Byte Size ReviewGamingPC / MacPS4Switch ConsoleXbox One

Byte Size – Mortal Kombat 11, PS4 Review

Guy 1708 Views

We thought it was time to send Guy into a Mortal Kombat to prove his worth, and surprisingly it didn’t FINISH HIM!

I will be the first to put my hand up and say, I can at times be a bit stuck in my ways when it comes to the types of video games I play. Shooters, RPGs and short-form Indie experiences tend to be my ‘jam’ these days.

That said, in recent months I dove back into a genre I hadn’t touched for almost 10 years, Fighting Games, and I have really bloody enjoyed it.

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Byte Size ReviewGamingPS3PS4PSNetworkPSVRXBLAXbox Onexbox360

Byte Size – Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, PS4

Richard Armitt 1129 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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Byte Size ReviewPS4PSNetworkXBLAXbox One

Byte Size – Dead Or Alive 6 Review (Xbox One X)

Barrie Clarke 928 Views

The latest in the titillating fighting franchise is here and packs everything you would expect into a nicely rounded package.  Team Ninja have continued with the plethora of scantily clad girls who can kick butt. And thanks to the latest generation of gaming equipment you get to witness all the bouncing and jiggling that goes with the high intensity combat. And just for full disclosure, I am terrible at fighting games and resort to full on button mashing 99% of the time.

The Good – Underneath all the eye candy is a solid and smooth fighting game. There are tons of moves and combos to learn for those who are inclined to do so, but for mashers like me there is still plenty of fun to be had.

The Bad – This is easy, unfortunately. Well for Xbox anyway. The online side of things is almost completely devoid of players. And considering the type of competitive game we have here this is a real problem.

The Unlocks! – So at release there are 27 fighters each with different costumes, hair styles, glasses, and god knows what else to unlock. Now for me this is a nightmare. I like to have everything in a game, call me a completionist if you will. But the time needed to unlock everything here would be huge.

Anyway, if you want a fighting game DOA6 is still one of the breast, umm, best.

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Byte Size ReviewPS4PSNetworkPSVR

Byte Size – The Wizards Enhanced Edition, PSVR Review

Richard Armitt 1094 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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Byte Size ReviewGamingIndie GameiOSPC / Mac

Byte Size – Objects in Space Review (PC)

Barrie Clarke 1171 Views ,  ,  , 

Objects in Space from the self proclaimed smallest of the small game developers, Flat Earth Games, is so strangely familiar to me and any gamers who played through the 1990’s will no doubt feel pangs of good old retro revival.

The Good – Upgrades to not only your ship but also pretty much every subsystem, along with trading, bounties, exploration, and combat makes for a really full on experience. And because of the gameplay, I found Objects in Space to be quite relaxing to play.

The Bad – For me the biggest hurdle was the font used for communications. When dealing with traders and the likes I found myself having to give my eyes a rest after each paragraph or so.

The Overwhelming – As mentioned, there is a fair amount to take on in Objects in Space, you can just stay in safe systems and trade your way to riches or head out to the new worlds, a much more dangerous affair. Then you have upgrades, trade prices, navigation, repairs, the list is endless in the life of a solo space captain.

Closing Comments – As we say down here in New Zealand and Australia, bit of a Marmite game this one. You will either love it or hate it.

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Byte Size ReviewGamingPS4PSVR

Byte Size – Guns ‘n’ Stories: Bulletproof, PSVR Review

Guy 1167 Views ,  , 

Waveshooters have unfortunately been the staple diet of the Playstation VR for over 2 years, Guns’n’Stories: Bulletproof is no different.

The Good – The variety of weapons and the changing game-world was entertaining, as it kept me on my toes over the roughly 90min romp.

The Bad – It’s a wave shooter that does little to revolutionise the genre and frankly there are better titles on PSVR that should be played first.

The Ugly – The missions are just too long and overstay their welcome.

This is far from a ‘must buy’, but it actually looks quiet good and is mechanically sound to play. Simply put, it was a fun way for me and the kids to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. It has to be given credit for doing what it says on the box and doing it well. There are GUNS, and they are fun. There are STORIES, and they are (at times) quite funny.

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Byte Size ReviewGamingPS4Xbox One

Byte Size – Far Cry New Dawn Review (Xbox One X)

Barrie Clarke 1601 Views ,  ,  ,  , 

Returning to Hope County 17 years and a nuclear war after the events of Far Cry 5 finds the county some what brighter than one would expect.

The Good – It is the Far Cry 5 we all know and love, but with and excellent splash of colour and some RPG-lite elements thrown in.

The Bad – Like Far Cry 5 you can have an ally along side to help out. Just don’t rely on them to get the job done.

The New – Since the map is effectively the same as Far Cry 5 the addition of Expeditions has been made to create a bit of variety. The Expedition maps themselves are a good mix and some pretty cool locations too.

Overall I found Far Cry New Dawn more engaging that Far Cry 5, considering this is just a re-skin, and what some would argue should have been just a DLC, it shows it has something special.

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