Adam Smith
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Writing For
Rock Paper ShotgunLatest Reviews
If XCOM and Heroes of Might and Magic meets Star Trek/Farscape appeals to you (it does, doesn't it?), and you're happy to force your way past some initially confusing issues with the interface, you'll almost certainly enjoy Halcyon 6. I have, despite my gripes, but it's less than the sum...
Stellaris
The great experiment of the game was not so much the change of scenery, from history to science fiction, it was the decision to create a Civ-like game of expansion with some complexities and aspects of simulation borrowed from grand strategy. It's in the simulation of a living galaxy that...
Hitman
If the next episode has a stronger architectural design, it might well erase many of my criticisms. I'd thought the piecemeal model might work to IO's advantage, allowing them to refine and reflect between releases, but we won't know for sure until we can see the whole picture.
SuperHot
During the actual playthrough, I'm tense and thoughtful in some moments and chortling in delight during other moments. SUPERHOT is a game in which time is often frozen but it's a game that allows you to cherish every moment. Time stands still but it's never wasted.
Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear is an effective scare 'em up but the sense of dislocation and the lack of character development left me feeling as if I'd enjoyed a thematically messy series of shocks rather than a cohesive horror story. It's a collection of scary things that are tangentially related to...
The buggy, like the rooftops, is a temporary form of safety. All of the enhancements in the latest edition – new loot, new levels, new end-game excess – are icing on the cake. Dying Light is about creating moments of safety, empowerment and comedic triumph in a world that wants...
Football Manager 2016
The lack of improvements in areas that have stagnated, most notably dealings with the media and team talks, is frustrating though. There are seeds of good ideas in the drift toward an RPG-like system of relationships and stats, but they're slim and seem half-conceived in some areas. In fact, where...
When I reviewed the ill-fated PC port of Arkham Knight, I said that the Arkham games were my go-to AAA series. On this form, they've got stiff competition. Here's hoping Syndicate isn't an anomaly and that the future of the series will be something other than history repeating itself.
The Park
For all of my complaints, I'd like to see more. More explorations of the weird places that we scrap, shoot and claw our way through as we play games. More short stories. More horror. If Funcom want to flesh out their Secret World with a few more side projects, I'll...
Broforce
There's so much happening from moment to moment, so many systems at play, that when a stray explosion destroys the struts that are keeping a ceiling in place and the whole thing crashes down on an enemy squad, or a furious mechanised death machine stomps the ground so hard that...
Blood Bowl 2
I wish there were more, particularly relating to team management and the persistency of the world, but this will do. It's not as clean and clever as fellow fictional ball-handler Frozen Cortex, but the messiness and violence really do add something. There's nothing quite like recognising that you're not going...
