Game Reviews

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Need for Speed : Hot Pursuit Remastered, XBOX

I first discovered Need for Speed : Hot Pursuit around ten years ago.

It came in an unmarked padded bag and was a surprise review.

Knowing nothing about the game I went in blind, it was early in my ButtonmasherNZ days and I was keen.

Out of that came an overlong and excitable review, the game was good and had its turbo boosted hooks in me.

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Doom: Eternal – The Ancient Gods Pt1 – Review (PS4)

Doom: Eternal – The Ancient Gods

I was not a fan of Doom 2016. However, whilst reviewing Doom: Eternal I succumbed to the dark-arts of ID Softwares game design.

Doom: Eternal became my favorite First Person Shooter of 2020, hands down! So, obviously I jumped at the chance to go back into hell and play the new DLC.

If you haven’t played Doom: Eternal, them shame on you, go play it now! Then  play its DLC, The Ancient Gods.

I will happily receive your thanks in written and gift form.

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Sackboy and Demon’s Souls Remake – Combo Review (Playstation 5)

A new Playstation generation has arrived.

With that, the obligatory ‘Launch Games’ also rear their heads to show off the power of the new machine.

I have been lucky enough to get my hands on both Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Demon’s Souls Remake.

It is fitting in a way to have both a new Sackboy and Demon’s Souls come to christen the new console, as they have been stalwarts of the Playstation brand for over 10yr years.

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The Survivalists Review (Xbox One X)

Team 17 ventures into well known territory with The Survivalists.

And not a worm or Holy Hand Grenade in sight. The Survivalists has you in a familiar situation of being shipwrecked on an unknown island and having to plan your escape, and survival. 

Thankfully you don’t have to go it alone on this island. The local monkeys are willing to help you out for the price of some food or their freedom from caged life.

So if you have ever wanted to raise a monkey army then here is your chance.

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Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, XBOX Review

Crash Bandicoot 4 is a difficult game. Negotiating this platform-hopping, crate jumping, dimension-swapping, time-slowing, enemy-infested gauntlet feels like you are learning a blistering guitar solo one note at a time, until you can almost play through it without stumbling. Almost.

It’s a journey conquered inch by inch, checkpoint by checkpoint, until you stand at the end, panting, spent.

Every level takes the form of attempt, die, repeat, die, repeat again. Usually, this is enough to make me bounce right off a game, but there’s something about Crash Bandicoot 4.

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GamingGame ReviewsPS4Video ContentXbox One

PES 2021, Online Edition, PS4 Review

PES 21 or more accurately Pro Evolution Soccer 2021 has arrived in an unusual year.

Historically 2020 is going down in flames and across the world sport is no stranger to lockdowns, delays and cancellations. What better way to get the rush of live soccer when you can’t, than to fire up a crisp new game and kick a virtual ball?

This year’s Season Update to last years very good PES is the answer.

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GamingGame ReviewsPS4PSVRXbox One

Star Wars: Squadrons (Playstation 4 + PSVR)

Star Wars Squadrons, you say?

The close of 2020 is fast approaching, not to mention the end of the current generation of consoles. I for one did not expect this late in the piece to be blindsided by a wee budget priced title made by EA!? of all publishers, to come out of nowhere and insert itself squarely in my 2020 game of the year considerations.

Finally someone at EA has seen fit to make a game worthy of the juggernaut IP that is Star Wars. And to boot, they have drawn heavily from one of the all-time great video games of the past Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Back in 1998 it was THE flight/space combat game to play. It has baffled many a gamer pundit why it has been over 20 years since we could strap on an X-Wing at shoot stuff.

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GamingGame ReviewsPC / MacPS4Xbox One

Mafia Definitive Edition, PC Review

With the release of Mafia Definitive Edition last month, 2K’s Mafia trilogy is now complete. 

When I reviewed Mafia 2 in August this year, I ended my review (based on the lacklustre Mafia 2 remaster) by saying: “I can’t recommend this package right now, especially given it’s incomplete until Mafia is released in August.”

Well, now that I have finished Mafia Definitive Edition, my verdict is easy: It’s definitely worth your time. Especially with the love that has been lavished in updating the original Mafia for today’s modern gamer.

A game that tells the rise [then fall] of Lost Heaven (New York) taxi driver Tommy Angelo through the ranks of a feared crime family during the 1930s.

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Ride 4 Review (Xbox One X)

Here in New Zealand Spring is in full swing and the weather is warming up. Cue all the fair weather motorcycle riders dusting off their leathers. I prefer to take to two wheels in a safer manner, from the comfort of the couch. And the Ride Series has been cruising along since 2015 for just that purpose.

And here in 2020 is Ride 4.

So the time is here to dress in tight leather and stick some high powered machinery between my legs. Lets ride!

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GamingGame ReviewsPC / MacPS4Xbox One

Serious Sam 4 (PC review)

The Serious Sam games have always been about staying on the move, especially when the going gets tough and the odds are stacked against you – and in Serious Sam  games the odds are always stacked against you.

The first Serious Same game graced PCs way back in 2001, and in the intervening years there have been a few games bearing the Serious Same moniker.

The series’ core gameplay has always remained the same: throwing countless numbers of enemies against the player, forcing them to keep moving. Circle strafing and running backwards so as to avoid the enemy onslaught and their attacks.

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GamingGame ReviewsIndie GamePC / MacPS4Xbox One

No Straight Roads – Byte Size Review (PC)

In No Straight Roads self confessed hard core rockers Mayday and Zuke are out to take down the powers of Vinyl City and their music of choice, EDM!

As a big rock fan myself it is easy to side with our rocking duo and take the fight to the evil EDM empire.

There is only one small problem with the pair who are collectively known as the Indie rock band Bunk Bed Junction. That is that their music, in my opinion, is not even remotely rock.

Ignoring that small point, lets rock on and take down that nasty EDM!

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