Ben Salter
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StevivorLatest Reviews
Assassin’s Creed Shadows returns to the series’ expansive open-world RPG formula but buries the bloat to deliver a more structured experience without cutting content. This style of Assassin’s Creed launched the new hardware over 4 years ago with Valhalla. Since then, we’ve had a welcome return to the smaller scale assassin-focus of the Ezio era with Mirage. While this is quite different, it’s clearly been influenced by that desire for Assassin’s Creed to reclaim its identity.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is a spectacular return to form, after Modern Warfare 3 fumbled blurring the line between expansion and sequel. We were ready for something different, and that’s exactly what it has delivered with speedy and satisfying multiplayer and a highly engaging and well-paced espionage thriller campaign that’s one of the best in the Call of Duty series. With excellent gunplay across all modes and an addictive combat loop, Black Ops 6 is the best Call of Duty game so far th...
I was among the newcomers who propelled FromSoftware into the mainstream with the cultural revolution that was Elden Ring. I’d dabbled with Soulsbourne games before, but it never clicked. Elden Ring was different; though not immediately, so I’d encourage anyone caught up in the reinvigorated hype to give it a proper chance. Keep playing after the initial deluge of swearing, be patient, and it’ll soon take hold. The overwhelming popularity in 2022 convinced me to push through the first h...
Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door gets a reprint 20 years after the whimsical storybook dazzled on GameCube. It expanded upon what made the Nintendo 64 original such a treat and perfected a turn-based combat formula we’ve missed ever since.
Super Mario Bros Wonder returns to the portly plumber’s traditional 2D side-scrolling, level-based, roots for the first time in a decade; at least properly. We’ve had re-releases and a double dose of choosing our own adventure in Super Mario Maker, but haven’t had a proper New Super Mario game that was actually new since the Wii U’s launch in 2012.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage looks to its origins and takes two steps backs to move… backwards. It intentionally strips away the filler and expanded gameplay to return to a more streamlined and cohesive story with clear structure. After several supersized instalments – and in a year dominated by prolonged adventures – Ubisoft has picked the perfect time to take Assassin’s Creed back to its simpler beginnings.
God of War set a new bar for a reboot, a reimaging, when it launched to critical acclaim in 2018. It took a known, but somewhat niche series compared to Sony’s big hitters, and transformed it into something amazing that appealed to both longtime fans and the mass PlayStation audience. In delivering a second game four years — and one console generation — later with God of War Ragnarok, developer Sony Santa Monica Studio has taken a different approach: more of the same. There’s no need ...
Return to Monkey Island is a delight the likes of which may never been seen again. More than three decades after The Secret of Monkey Island (1990) and Monkey Island 2 LeChuck’s Revenge (1991), series creator Ron Gilbert has returned alongside Dave Grossman to conclude the trilogy – and done it with purpose.
Three decades after floating into a Game Boy Dream Land, Kirby has finally expanded to full 3D with a combat-centric platformer that successfully transitions into an extra dimension. Kirby and the Forgotten Land takes the established swallow-and-fight formula from the traditionally 2D series and follows the Super Mario 3D World structure, with a healthy dose of inspiration from Crash Bandicoot, to create something delectable, as Kirby scoffs up burgers, donuts, ice creams… and cars.
In this, the year of remasters, remakes and re-releases, none tickled my fancy more than the long-awaited return of the most iconic gaming trilogy from my childhood – the reason I spent months cobbling together every cent I could muster to buy a second-hand PlayStation 2 in 2004 – and we didn’t even officially know it existed until a few weeks ago.