External reviews
295
in total
published by Guardian
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My Time At Portia
A review for Guardian2019-01-16
Comfort would increasingly slip into boredom as I watched the timers on my machines creep down. More than once I left my PC to make a cup of tea, letting the game run and the timers tick by themselves. I could feel the game’s pacing jarring with my own tempo of play, but, despite that, I’m constantly drawn back to Portia. This kind of relaxing escapism is exactly what’s needed when the real world feels like such an endless mess.Read entire review on Guardian -
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
A review for Guardian2019-01-09
The further you delve into New Super Mario Bros U, the more rewarding it becomes. Its final worlds hold some of its best levels, and there are plenty of fun secrets to enliven the second or third attempt at a level. But it’s hard to summon the motivation to devote that much time to it. It’s typically well-made and enjoyable, but next to the best of the Mario series, it’s unmemorable.Read entire review on Guardian -
GRIS
A review for Guardian2018-12-21
Though its narrative could use more teeth, as a sensory experience GRIS is hard to beat and the most striking looking game of 2018.Read entire review on Guardian -
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
A review for Guardian2018-12-12
It’s an absolute joy to play and to experience, stuffed full of content, and – woeful online notwithstanding – comes highly recommended.Read entire review on Guardian -
Battlefield V
A review for Guardian2018-11-28
When everything is in place, this might turn out to be the best first-person shooter around. It’s frustrating that we’ll have to wait until at least March 2019 for that to happen.Read entire review on Guardian -
Fallout 76
A review for Guardian2018-11-19
Previous Fallout games always had something to say about the post-apocalypse and the human factors that led to it; here, it’s reduced to shooting mutants and picking up rubbish. Even if, in the future, it mutates into something more stable, it will still feel eerily soulless.Read entire review on Guardian -
11-11: Memories Retold
A review for Guardian2018-11-07
For those who think they don’t know enough about the war, 11-11: Memories Retold paints a picture of the time. Aardman Animations, development partner DigixArt and publisher Bandai Namco have harnessed the power of video games to create a fitting accompaniment to the centenary of Armistice Day.Read entire review on Guardian -
Red Dead Redemption 2
A review for Guardian2018-10-25
There can be no doubt that this is a landmark game. It is a new high water-mark for lifelike video game worlds, certainly, but that world is also home to a narrative portrait of the wild west that is unexpectedly sombre and not afraid to take its time.Read entire review on Guardian -
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
A review for Guardian2018-10-17
It may not tear anyone completely away from Overwatch or Fortnite, but it offers a tactically rich alternative for players who want something with more grit, naturalism and sweaty peril. It is perhaps strange, perhaps even guilt-inducing, to take such pleasure from a game that wears its gung-ho military fetishism as a badge of honour, but as it stands this is the most enjoyable Call of Duty game for several years.Read entire review on Guardian -
The Gardens Between
A review for Guardian2018-09-24
The diversity and creative ingenuity of these little four-dimensional riddles is truly impressive. I was sad to finish the game after four or so hours, but enriched by the journey.Read entire review on Guardian -
Marvel's Spider-Man
A review for Guardian2018-09-04
This game shows tremendous love for all things Spider-Man, and the ending packs a punch he would be proud of. But Insomniac relies too much on its hero to elevate the world built around him, with the result that the game wears thin some time before its powerful conclusion.Read entire review on Guardian -
Donut County
A review for Guardian2018-08-30
No other game this year will make you an accomplice in a dastardly raccoon plot to take over a town.Read entire review on Guardian -
No Man's Sky
A review for Guardian2018-08-04
The ability to explore space with a party of up to three friends makes it feel much less lonely than before. And where it once was difficult to return to a previously visited planet, establishing bases allows you to make some small corner of the universe feel like home.Read entire review on Guardian -
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
A review for Guardian2018-06-28
Captain Spirit is only clumsy occasionally; as a whole it is affecting, sweet and memorable. It is a free taster of a forthcoming game from the same developer, Life Is Strange 2, but more than just an advert or a demo, it is its own short story about an everyday tragedy.Read entire review on Guardian -
Jurassic World Evolution
A review for Guardian2018-06-24
In spite of a smattering of minor missteps, Evolution is engrossing and clearly created with a deep affection for the source material. Any fan of the films (or the books) who has ever imagined opening a disaster-prone theme park will have a good time with it, despite the repetition.Read entire review on Guardian -
Unravel Two
A review for Guardian2018-06-14
In introducing cooperative multiplayer, it has opened up an entirely new way to experience the adorable conceit of yarn characters making their way through a gigantic human world – but in freeing up movement and removing some of the friction, it has lost a little of the original’s focus and heart.Read entire review on Guardian -
Vampyr
A review for Guardian2018-06-07
After the touching emotional drama of Dontnod’s previous game – the coming-of-age adventure Life Is Strange – Vampyr’s ambitious but awkward chin-stroking is disappointingly inert, while its failure to reconcile its ethical hand-wringing with its gratuitous combat leaves it as conflicted as its undead protagonist.Read entire review on Guardian -
Detroit: Become Human
A review for Guardian2018-05-24
Detroit: Become Human is a spectacularly crafted game that bends and branches out around the player’s choices in an astonishing and unparalleled way. Although hampered by tired central plots and some predictable, occasionally hokey storytelling, the result is a technical feat in video game development and a meticulously detailed cinematic achievement.Read entire review on Guardian -
State of Decay 2
A review for Guardian2018-05-21
State of Decay 2 is brainless, ramshackle fun. Most of its action resembles Benny Hill more closely than The Walking Dead. It doesn’t really deliver what it promises, and in many obvious ways, it’s a mess. Yet lots of messy games are fun, and this is too – especially on those forays when you slaughter zombies by the dozen and rock up home loaded with loot. In scattered moments, there are glimpses of the game State of Decay 2 could have been. Sadly, they are the only times it pulls at your heartstrings.Read entire review on Guardian -
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
A review for Guardian2018-05-08
Deadfire is an entertaining adventure that will keep anyone with a soft spot for this genre hooked. It has a confidently told story and the combat and character progression are as fun as the original but easier to understand. It is also a commitment to finish, taking tens (if not hundreds) of hours to complete.Read entire review on Guardian
