Keep Driving is the kind of game that sounds deceptively simple when described on paper. Buy a first car, pick a destination, and make your way across the country to a music festival. In practice, however, YCJY Games turns that road trip into an unusual mixture of RPG, resource management, procedural exploration and slice-of-life storytelling, where a flat tire can be just as troublesome as any traditional videogame enemy. Originally released on PC, Keep Driving has now made its way to PlayStation 5, bringing its deliberately low-key road trip to a new audience. The result is a game that is much less about reaching the festival than it is about everything that happens between leaving home and getting there. Continue reading “Keep Driving review (PS5)”
Nekome: Nazi Hunter preview (Gamescom)
Revenge is at the heart of Nekome: Nazi Hunter, and ProbablyMonsters is taking that concept in an unapologetically violent direction. Playing as Vano Nastasu, a young Romani man whose family was murdered by Nazi soldiers, players are given a very personal reason to hunt down the people responsible. During our hands-on time with the PC version, it became clear that this is a game built around turning that anger into brutal close-quarters combat, stealth and carefully planned attacks, all wrapped in a strikingly stylized presentation. Continue reading “Nekome: Nazi Hunter preview (Gamescom)”
Marvel’s Wolverine review (PS5)
Insomniac Games has already spent several years proving that it knows how to translate Marvel superheroes into compelling interactive adventures, but Marvel’s Wolverine gives the studio a very different challenge. Logan may have superhuman strength, a healing factor and a skeleton made from adamantium, yet simply making the character powerful is not enough to create an interesting game around him. Instead of turning Wolverine into another version of Spider-Man, Insomniac has built a more focused and violent action adventure that puts Logan, his troubled past and his relationships with other mutants at the centre of the experience. The result is an entertaining and technically impressive PlayStation 5 adventure that gets many of the fundamentals right, even if its relatively linear structure and repetition prevent it from becoming quite as ambitious as its pedigree might suggest. Continue reading “Marvel’s Wolverine review (PS5)”
Stranger Than Heaven preview (Gamescom)
There is a certain expectation that comes with a new game from RGG Studio. The developer has spent years refining its particular blend of crime drama, eccentric side stories and satisfying street brawls, making it easy to assume that each new project will simply put another coat of paint on a familiar formula. Stranger Than Heaven, however, appears determined to challenge that assumption. Its sprawling story moves across five different eras of Japan, while its combat completely rethinks how Makoto Daito interacts with his opponents. After getting hands-on time with the PC version during Gamescom, it is the fighting in particular that leaves the strongest impression, although the limited nature of the demo means there is still plenty about the wider adventure that remains a mystery. Continue reading “Stranger Than Heaven preview (Gamescom)”
Razer Prio review
The Razer Prio is an unusual mobile gaming controller because its biggest selling point is something that most competitors tend to overlook: actually being small enough to carry everywhere. Rather than offering another telescopic controller that effectively turns a smartphone into a larger handheld, Razer has designed the Prio to fold in on itself, creating a remarkably compact package that can disappear into a pocket or small bag. At just 101 grams, it is considerably lighter than many conventional mobile controllers, while still retaining the sticks, D-pad, face buttons, bumpers, triggers and system controls expected from a full gamepad. That makes the Prio an interesting proposition for anyone who wants proper controls for mobile gaming, cloud streaming or remote play without having to plan around carrying a controller. The catch, however, is that almost every decision made to achieve that portability has consequences elsewhere. Continue reading “Razer Prio review”