Nick Horth
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GameWatcher Latest Reviews
Vermintide is fast, furious fun, and its supporting systems do a great job of dragging you back in for just one more go. The melee combat is the most rewarding and enjoyable I’ve ever seen in a first-person game, and the distinct hero characters and post-game loot system give it plenty of extra depth and variety. Jump into an online game and you’ll have a great time, but with one or two friends at your side, Vermintide is a serious contender for the best multiplayer experience of the year...
You can avoid fighting them at all, of course, but that leaves the game feeling a bit lacking. The diplomacy is well done, but without a robust battle system and satisfying nation-building to back it up, the game feels like it’s missing something – it’s all build-up with no pay-off. It’s a shame, because Sphere of Influence does some interesting things with the standard grand strategy formula. The way it mixes historical storytelling with freeform play is commendable, as is its focus ...
Trine 3 is another very enjoyable entry in a reliably solid series. The addition of full 3D environments, though it can occasionally cause a few issues with perspective, for the most part adds a sense of depth and weight to the series’ trademark beautiful, colourful backdrops. Though they demand the occasional spot of physics engine fudging to progress, puzzles are generally fun and challenging without being frustrating. It may not quite master its new perspective, but Trine 3 is still a ch...
Fortunately, that’s an enjoyable tale to play out. Sorcerer King’s fatalistic themes are tied cleverly in to its mechanics, resulting in the first game in the Elemental series that really feels like it has a distinct identity. Smart, funny writing and some efficient world-building help avoid the self-important pomposity common to the fantasy genre. Some may miss the scale and strategic variety of other games in the same field, but if you’re bored of the familiar fantasy 4X template and ...
Magicka 2 offers a smoother, more comfortable experience than its predecessor, but that doesn’t mean the series has lost its signature charm. It’s still insane, madcap fun, that somehow manages to make an absolutely unintuitive control system into a strength rather than a weakness. Played as a drop-in multiplayer game, it’s an entertaining, amusing hack and slash. With a group of friends, it’s an absolute riot.
Even without the frequent sever issues, Shadowrun Chronicles : Boston Lockdown would be hard to recommended to anyone but the most rabid fans of the setting. Even they would be better served seeking out superior adaptations. Which do exist, so it’s not like this is your only option. Lockdown commits the worst crime of all; not being terrible, but being boring. Given free reign to go wild in such a ridiculous, lively setting, it’s desperately disappointing to see such a lack of character a...
Maybe Dungeons 2 plays a little safe by ditching some of the more intriguing aspects of the previous game (I still think the idea of using overconfident adventurers as a form of drainable resource is a fantastically twisted conceit that could have been fleshed out further) in favour of going back to the roots of the dungeon management genre, but it’s hard to criticise Realmforge too much for that when the game is this enjoyable. While it is fairly simplistic, the overland RTS game provides ...
All you really need to know though, is this; Pillars of Eternity is a triumph. If you’re a backer and a fan of those classic Infinity Engine games, you’re in for a real treat, a smart and complex adventure that will keep you entertained and absorbed for possibly the rest of your life, and certainly until the already announced expansion pack comes out. Even those who never got on with those classic games should give it a go, because there’s a tonne of smart design choices in here that sm...
Look, I understand if you’re reticent after Rome 2. After that game’s frankly unacceptable launch it felt like Creative Assembly would never learn the lesson that jaw-dropping cinematic spectacle and scale is no good if your game is undermined at its very foundations. With Total War: Attila, they have got those foundations right. It’s an excellent game, and an excellent Total War game. It’s not without flaws, but this time those imperfections are forgiveable next to the wealth of qual...
Inquisition is an excellent return to form after the claustrophobic, rushed Dragon Age 2, an exciting and sprawling colossus of a game that rewards the player at every turn. The first act is a little slow to get going, but once the story has its hooks in you and the true scale of the world opens up before your eyes, it’s easy to forgive early problems with pacing and a slightly lacklustre combat system. It says something that after around forty-five hours of gameplay I was disappointed that...