Ken Barnes
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Playstation Lifestyle Latest Reviews
Check our AO International Tennis review to see if Big Ant's simulation wins a grand slam on PS4 or whether it should be relegated to the amateur tour.
With NHL 17 being the second version of EA's hockey sim to be released since the shameful PlayStation 4 debut that was NHL 15, fans of puck-based sports were rightfully expecting the good work done in last year's edition to carry on through and be improved upon even further to really bring the franchise into the current generation. There were warning signs suggesting that wouldn't be the case, but though the changes listed in the various pre-launch press releases all sound like standard EA Sports annual update fare, those fans will find that they've been rewarded for their patience.
Dead Island: Definitive Collection is great value if you're a fan of the games, given that it's the only way you can play them on Xbox One. Players that fit that description shouldn't be expecting any major gameplay changes though since they're very thin on the ground, outside of an unlockable "one punch" mode which was available on PC as a mod for the first game. Even at a budget price, players new to the franchise can safely avoid the set as there's much better gameplay to be found elsewhere, such as in the likes of the Metro: Last Light or even Techland's own Dying Light, both of which outshine Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide in almost every area.
There are many words that could be used to describe SUPERHOT. Cool, addictive, stylish, fun, enjoyable…take your pick. What the development team have done is take a game mechanic that sounds like an excellent idea on paper and turned it into something special by fleshing out a game around it that does it justice and then layering on different ways of playing in the post-game. It flat out tells you to say this but we'd be saying it anyway: SUPERHOT is one of the most innovative shooters that we've played in years. Absolutely essential.
With DiRT Rally, Codemasters have thrown the conventional way of looking at the sport of rallying in videogames out of the window and done it with such aplomb that the end product is all but irresistible. It could be said that the learning curve could do with being flattened just a little. We say that the harder the climb is, the greater the feeling of success is when you finally put in that perfect run, but it's understandable that not all players will feel that way in an age where going into a menu is considered to be achievement-worthy. For our money, this is easily the best rally game ever released. Not only that, it's transcended the scope of that admittedly small genre and is surprisingly close to the top of the general racing game category, too.