Life is Strange
Full of amateur writing, hand-holding and some of the most unlikeable characters to ever grace the medium, Life is Strange was a huge mess. For a game that prides itself on choice, there was almost nothing of note to do here. Games like TellTale’s The Walking Dead or QuanticDream’s Heavy Rain have consequences for your actions, but the ability to rewind removes any sense of urgency. This is made worse with the lack of severity of the proceedings – teenage drama just doesn’t live up to kidnappings and zombies. Hopefully the folks at DONTNOD will hire more competent writers and developers should it receive a sequel.
Read our review here.
Mad Max
Mad Max: Fury Road was a great movie, but that quality did not carry over to the video game adaptation. Packed with repetitive time sinking mechanics, missions and environments, your journey through the wasteland is an absolute slog. Just collecting something as simple as scrap can take ages, making an already repetitive task that much more difficult. For those looking for a post-apocalyptic adventure worth its salt this year, give Fallout 4 a try.
Read our review here.
Rodea the Sky Soldier
One would think a game spearheaded by Sonic creator Yuji Naka would be the next big thing, but nothing could be further from the truth. Forget the fact that Rodea the Sky Soldier’s washed-out low poly environments belong on the PS2 – the unresponsive controls and wonky camera angles will make you rage quit in no time flat. It’s a shame too – the Wii version packs better controls, stylings and even graphics. Now if only the Wii U version was given the same treatment…
Read our review here.
Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma Volume One
Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma Volume 1 is full of bugs, boring gameplay, and bland stylings. It’s a shame too, because the soundtrack from RZA is surprisingly solid. From the look of things, it looks like there won’t be a volume two – Afro Samurai 2 was so bad that that the publishers retroactively removed it from Steam and store shelves.
The Order: 1886
The Order: 1886 is quite the looker, there’s no denying that. However, it’s linearity is its undoing – the whole thing plays out like a bad movie that is over in a few hours. The QTEs make the game even worse, taking what little control the player had out of their hands. Here’s hoping the inevitable sequel learns from this game’s missteps and grants the player more freedom.
