Pass the Controller | Latest news, reviews and reviews in video games
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Forum
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Forum
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
>

Assassin's Creed Valhalla review | Xbox One X

19/11/2020

 
Eivor fights a boss with two axes in Assassin's Creed Valhalla

There's nothing like clambering over a snow-capped mountain while exploring the hallowed lands of the Norse. Assassin's Creed Valhalla makes this experience, and many more, nothing short of breathtaking.

Picture
by James Michael Parry

Picture

​@james_parry

Picture
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Xbox X|S, PS5, PC
Players: 1

After your customary introduction to the game's systems (with little emphasis on stealth or assassination), you'll reach your first settlement, Fornburg, where your tribe and adopted family stand outnumbered against the enemy.

From here there's time to explore your surroundings before journeying to England and kickstarting the main adventure, as you search for wealth and solve mysteries to bolster your skills and equipment. Quests don't get too much more involved than sneaking, stabbing and sailing, but the setting feels spaced out enough to avoid the repetition which plagued some earlier Assassin’s Creed titles.

Ever since Origins, the series has had more of an RPG flavor, and, far from the largely cosmetic character development in Syndicate, Valhalla's Eivor will unlock not only abilities but a variety of upgradable gear to help on his or her quest. Exploring will also reward you with fancy new abilities which run on a cool down, helping to bring your clan's enemies to a swift end.

This open-world gameplay direction can initially seem at odds with the core stealth mechanics. In time, however, the freedom of movement in a wider space proves more challenging and exciting as you analyse the best ways to approach each situation.
​

Present day check-ins with the returning Layla provide a few smatterings of context for new players unfamiliar with the overarching Abstergo and Animus storyline, though Valhalla is really Eivor's story. That draws a stark contrast to recent Ubisoft stablemate Watch Dogs Legion and its protagonist-less approach, with this game being much stronger for it.

Even during the prologue it’s easy to care about characters, especially the genuine bond with your adopted brother Sigurd. It’s straight from the pages of Game of Thrones, as is the power struggle around which the main story is built.
Norway in Assassin's Creed Valhalla
There's no compromise on scale, though as you travel around you'll notice the odd bit of texture pop-in. Performance is fairly solid on the whole, though we did get stuck in the environment once or twice while searching for goodies in the wilderness.

The approach to uncovering those goodies is fairly unforgiving, with only a vague spot on the in-game map to shoot for. It's a difficult balance to strike, since players tend to roll their eyes at unnecessary hand-holding, but the odd understated voice line to suggest you’re getting colder or warmer would be beneficial in some of the more complex areas.​
Valhalla can suffer from a lack of direction at times, but its Nordic influence seeps into every pore, leaving plenty to get excited about.
Environments are very much divided into things you can interact with and things you can't. You can pick up health from odd pots of food that the locals seem to have absent-mindedly left simmering, but a pile of fresh apples and other fruit in a barn aren't deemed edible, for example.

​
Elsewhere there are more inconsistencies, with Eivor being able to climb mountains endlessly - no stamina needed, à la Breath of the Wild - yet a few consecutive dodges during combat will quickly tire the protagonist.
Eivor and her raven in Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Fortunately, combat as a whole is reassuringly savage and satisfying. Lower level enemies are entertaining fodder, but more advanced foes require you to keep your wits about you.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla can suffer from a lack of direction at times, but its Nordic influence seeps into every pore, leaving plenty to get excited about. Strong characters, choice of approach and presentation make it a great choice for those breaking in a new next-gen console or sticking with an older platform.

Pros

  • Impressive visuals, even on the old consoles
  • Likeable characters pull you into the story
  • Tried and tested gameplay is more polished than ever before

Cons
​
  • Inconsistent environmental interactions can hamper problem-solving
  • Skill tree can be overwhelming
  • Combat can initially be hard to crack

9/10​
0 Comments

Watch Dogs: Legion | Xbox One X Review

6/11/2020

 
Hacking a drone in Watch Dogs: Legion

While we're not quite living in the dystopian future that Watch Dogs: Legion predicts, Ubisoft Toronto couldn't possibly have imagined the world it was releasing its latest game into. 

James Michael Parry

​by ​James Michael Parry

Picture

@james_parry

Watch Dogs: Legion
Developer: Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Stadia
Players: 1+

Besides the impact on personal freedoms in response to global catastrophe, Ubisoft itself is reeling from substantial accusations of abuse, mistreatment and corruption along with a series of resulting dismissals. Perhaps that explains why coming into Legion's version of London doesn't have quite the same sense of wonder and escapism we might be used to – it's all a little close to home.

Ironically, the game's London setting is one of its most captivating features. Fairly comprehensive, if obviously condensed and altered, the entire map is open from the word go, and, though obscured by a shroud, navigating it is fairly straightforward thanks to plentiful fast travel points. Of course, there’s also a plethora of vehicles to forcibly commandeer and recklessly drive with little consequence.

In fact, the game as a whole feels almost bereft of consequences. Completing borough missions will turn the area defiant, supposedly signaling a public uprising against the government, oppression and surveillance, but the in-game impact is minimal. Tech upgrade points get marked on the map, in true Ubisoft open-world fashion, but NPCs still go about their usual routines and the city feels exactly the same.

Building up a team is a key element of Watch Dogs: Legion, since you'll need certain outfits and occupations to access different areas and complete specific missions. The main conceit we heard about when the game was announced is true – you really can recruit anyone just walking around on the street, or even the guards that oppose you – though characters won't be fans of you and returning hacker outfit, DedSec, if you choose to beat them up beforehand.

Fortunately, the aptitude of average Londoners seems to be exceptional. It’s straightforward to wander into a restricted area, like Buckingham Palace, and take down trained police and security officers as any old amateur.
Big Ben's clock tower in Watch Dogs: Legion
Firearms are sparse, as you'd expect in England, which favours the tech-orientated culture this series is known for. Drones of all shapes and sizes are everywhere and vehicles, as in previous titles, can be diverted with a quick hack. Environments are so interactive, in fact, that it's often difficult to focus on the small keypad in front of you as opposed to items in the surrounding area.

An option which helps to set Legion apart from the swathe of similar Ubisoft games is permadeath; if operatives die with this setting enabled, they're gone for good. Problem is, recruitable characters lack personality, so rather than hitting on a personal level it’s just annoying to lose whichever special skills or items they had access to.
Connections between characters raise questions like "Why is that construction worker being targeted by a hitman?"
One nice feature, which admittedly has the potential to get out of hand, is a HUD element that displays connections between existing recruits and recruitable characters. It raises questions like "Why is that construction worker being targeted by a hitman?" and encourages you to start to build out a wider team, members of which are connected by emergent stories. When you get into recruitment itself, however, the variety of missions is fairly limited.

​
Characters in general have a few shortcomings. Animation transitions are abrupt and occasionally wonky, while speech seems very skewed towards British stereotypes. That isn't necessarily a surprise, but, since you're hearing the same voice line or two whenever you get into a conversation, it gets old quickly. ​
Watch Dogs: Legion scanning at Tower Bridge
While cosmetic customisation is possible via numerous shops, some of the initial character designs clash with their intended roles. It isn’t a major issue, but it is another thing that highlights the shortcomings of procedural generation in Watch Dogs: Legion. It’s much harder to care about these characters than it would be a lovingly hand-crafted cast.

Watch Dogs: Legion’s core gameplay is good fun for the most part, but its procedural cast of soulless characters don’t lend themselves to helping players be absorbed by alternate London. Still, the sights and sounds of Blighty’s capital are exciting to explore - especially in lieu of being able to amble around the city in person at present!

Pros
  • Satisfactory hacking mechanics still shine
  • Exploring near-future London is great, especially as a local
  • Spiderbot and drone side missions are a nice change of pace

Cons
  • Bugs are fairly commonplace
  • Mission variety is sparse, plus flying around on a delivery drone makes most tasks trivial
  • Characters feel disposable and your actions have little impact

7/10
0 Comments

In Death: Unchained Review | Oculus Quest

23/7/2020

 
In Death Unchained Review Oculus Quest - Pass the Controller

In Death: Unchained brings the VR Rogue-lite to Oculus Quest for an untethered, wireless experience after its debut on PSVR and PC. Clever subtitle aside, the procedurally generated shooter has been expanded with all-new content to ramp-up the difficulty and keep players busy for longer. Packed with religious iconography, is this trip to the afterlife destined for heaven or hell?

Picture






by Sam Sant


Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: Superbright
Publisher: Superbright
Platforms: Oculus Quest
Players: 1
Porting In Death to Quest has been handled by Superbright, in place of original developer Solfar. Though the game might look ever-so-slightly worse without a PC or PS4 powering it, it’s not hard to argue that this is the definitive version. The additional Abyss level takes the game’s total to a healthy three, while its hellish theme makes for a more complete tour of what may lie beyond the mortal realm.

As far as a storyline goes, that’s about the extent of it. You battle through purgatory, heaven and hell - in that order - whilst confronted by challenging enemies and randomised level layouts. You’ll die over and over again until you finally get proficient enough to reach a level’s boss encounter, then probably die again. Each time you’ll head back to the start and face an altered challenge, your choice of longbow or crossbow in hand.

Levels do adapt somewhat to mirror player proficiency, but there’s no getting around the fact that In Death: Unchained is difficult. In a VR market stuffed with lite “experiences” it can be bruising to begin with, though dying does actually facilitate progress. As you play, you’ll unlock a variety of in-game achievements (unfortunately, they don’t appear on a system level in the Oculus Scoreboards app) which grant different buffs.

Landing a certain number of headshots in one run rewards you with a permanent boost to headshot damage, for example. In addition to receiving these tangible benefits, your manual skills should also develop over time; the result is an engaging sense of progression that helps to take the edge off permadeath.
 
Earning some unavoidable achievements can work against you, however. Killing large numbers of specific enemy types will summon their meaner counterparts, which prevents you from just snowballing in, power unchecked. 
Since unlocks aren’t a complete crutch, developing your physical skill is key. Aiming takes genuine finesse without crosshairs or any form of aim assist, and getting a feel for the gradual drop of an arrow or bolt also takes some time. At first you’ll be whiffing shots at close range, before eventually hitting headshots over long distances like it’s nothing.

Solid motion tracking on the Oculus Touch controllers makes things painless, which is handy, as combat requires juggling way more than just archery. There’s a defensive shield (which can also be turned to offence with a close-range shield bash), though it often pays to physically dodge incoming projectiles and melee strikes so as to not obscure your vision. The Quest’s lack of wires can really help out here.

It’s possible to briefly trigger slow motion by bringing up the real-time arrow switching menu, which helps if you’re in a small play area and need to be careful with regards to how you move. If space is at a real premium, you can even opt to play stationary and seated. Firing teleportation arrows is probably the best movement option to match, though there is also a free locomotion setting available at launch.

Regardless of your preferred settings, a short-range teleportation shard also occupies your arsenal for clutch dodges and quickly popping around corners or through doorways. You can best use it to your advantage in attracting enemies’ attention and then retreating slightly to draw them into choke points. The AI is pretty exploitable if you pull enemies gradually, though things get hairy when you mess up and they bombard you all at once.
In Death Unchained Review Oculus Quest - Pass the Controller
Special arrows can save your afterlife in these situations, doing things like freezing enemies in place and sticking them with explosives, channelling the iconic Gears of War Torque Bow. They’re an absolute must during boss encounters as well; bosses annoyingly spawn in waves of minions, so your best bet is to end the fight before it has a chance to really begin using your heaviest artillery.

Emerging victorious will grant you access to the next level, though being able to start a run from that level (i.e. opting to begin from two at the menu instead of clearing one to get back there) requires hitting an arbitrary overall completion percentage first. Gating is probably intended for players’ own good, but when we’d nearly finished the final level and died it was annoying to learn that we’d need to backtrack and earn 7% more in order to spawn there for an immediate second crack of the whip.

Still, returning to the previous level, Paradise Lost, wasn’t all bad. Cathedral architecture is elaborately laid out amongst the clouds and we found that being mobile and aggressive worked best on the armies of flying cherubs and grounded witches. It can be easy to get lost in the lavish labyrinth and cherubs in particular have a nasty habit of appearing right behind you for cheap hits, but it's still a lot of fun to play the role of ordained executioner.
In Death: Unchained features an engaging sense of progression that helps to take the edge off permadeath.
In Death Unchained Review Oculus Quest - Pass the Controller
A major strength of virtual reality gaming is the use of 3D audio, but the implementation here is underwhelming. Enemy sound effects never really cut through the bog standard atmospheric background score, which makes it hard to instinctively pinpoint their locations and can lead to missing enemies standing right by you.
 
In Death: Unchained is immensely replayable and, impressively, a grander prospect than its higher powered PC and PlayStation 4 counterparts. It’s challenging and moreish, while also being a great fit for the Oculus Quest platform specifically. Permadeath and towering reliquaries – shrines that serve as in-game shops and save points – make the game easy to play in short bursts, lending itself well to the headset’s portable nature and limited battery life.

Pros

  • Challenging, involved and skill-dependant gameplay
  • Definitive version thanks to new content
  • Progression and procedural generation make for huge replayability 

Cons

  • Bosses are uninspired and rely on spawning in drones
  • Audio is limp, with enemies being especially underwhelming
  • Cherubs can teleport directly behind you and steal cheap hits

7/10
0 Comments

Vitamin Connection | Review | Nintendo Switch

11/3/2020

 
Vitamin-Connection

Created by Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse developer WayForward, Vitamin Connection is a new and exclusive IP for the Nintendo Switch. It tasks players with saving the fictional Sable family (and by extension, the world) from an all-consuming pathogenic outbreak. Far from a sombre reflection of the present-day Coronavirus situation, Vitamin Connection and its cheery, colourful gameplay could very well prove to be the antidote for those seeking shelter.

Picture

by Liam
Andrews

Picture

@liam_andrews5

Picture
Developer: WayForward
Publisher: WayForward
Platform: Switch
Players: 1 - 2

Rather than combating microscopic germs with self-imposed quarantines and better hand washing routines, Vitamin Connection sees players take control of the Joy-Con-esque Capsule Ship. It’s piloted by two silent protagonists, Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl, as they endeavour to navigate maze-like 2D levels.

​The game’s six campaign missions - each of which takes place inside a different member of the Sable family, from the baby to the dog (and even the TV) - include a handful of infected locations that players must clean up. That gameplay loop is bookended by cartoonish cinematics through which snippets of the game’s rather bonkers plot play out.

Forward momentum through levels is handled automatically, with players only needing to move and rotate the Capsule Ship in order to avoid obstacles and battle enemies. The latter is done through a combination of the ship's Vitamin Beam (a directional attack mapped to the right stick) and an extending claw that can pinch and pull apart tougher bacteria, and also grab floating obstacles to use as makeshift shields.

Clearing out the main infected areas of any given host is achieved through the completion of challenges, titled sub-games. These usually only take a few minutes to complete, and, while some can fall a bit flat (like Escaper, which requires getting from A to B without collisions), the Dance Festival, Wire Coaster and Medicine Ball (read: air hockey) games are plenty fun. Even more so in co-op, in fact, with players able to replay favourites at any time once they’ve beaten and unlocked them.
Vitamin Connection definitely feels like it’s best experienced in co-op, and while it’s possible to see and experience all that the game has to offer solo, it’s certainly more enjoyable with a partner along for the ride. It’s a shame, then, that progression between solo and cooperative campaigns isn’t shared and there’s no drop in/drop out support for spontaneous sessions. 

​Rather than simply throwing in another Capsule Ship for a second person, Vitamin Connection’s asymmetrical co-op mode sees players splitting the duties of a single craft. With the left Joy-Con, one player controls ship movement and activation of the Vitamin Beam, while the other, using the right, deals with rotation and aiming.

The added layer of teamwork helps lift the relatively straightforward gameplay and adds a whole new level of humour to proceedings as players endeavour to coordinate attacks and evasions. Sub-games also benefit from the addition of a second player, with WayForward making good use of some of the Joy-Cons’ lesser utilised features, such as motion controls, and even the IR sensor for reflex-based challenges.
Vitamin-Connection
Dance Festival has players pulling off moves in time to a musical beat, and is great fun with a partner in tow.

It’s innovative touches like these, along with a ridiculously catchy J-Pop soundtrack and a bright, cartoony aesthetic, that help Vitamin Connection, at times, feel like it could have come directly from Nintendo themselves. Unfortunately, however, the game also has more than a few frustrating quirks that spoil the fun and stop it from being something really special.

​Levels often feel samey, despite belonging to different hosts, and sub-games are repeated throughout the campaign with only slight variations to colour and design serving to set them apart. It’s also far too easy for your ship to get stuck in narrower sections of levels and end up being left behind, doomed to a slow death, as the screen, cut scenes and action all continue to move on without you.
Vitamin-Connection
Levels are littered with these ribbons, which are incredibly satisfying to break with the corresponding colour.

Away from the actual gameplay, a number of technical issues also dog Vitamin Connection. Controls can become unresponsive after switching from handheld to TV mode, or vice-versa, and the Joy-Cons too easily lose calibration during co-op sessions. The latter is particularly frustrating during the Dance Festival sub-games where precision is key; since you’re unable to recalibrate until the challenge is over, the only choice is to either continue using wonky inputs or reboot the game and start over.
Vitamin-Connection
Vitamin-Connection
Medicine Ball and Wire Coaster were two of the standout sub-games.
Still, when everything’s going well, Vitamin Connection is a fun party game that’s both challenging enough to keep regular gamers hooked and intuitive enough for casuals to keep pace. With around 5 – 10 hours of content as standard and the challenging post-game Pro Campaign to boot, there’s plenty on offer for the £15 price tag. 

While it might not be an entirely sweet remedy, Vitamin Connection is certainly no bitter pill to swallow.

Pros
​
  • Bright, cartoon-like aesthetic
  • Great in co-op
  • Catchy soundtrack
  • Novel use of Joy-Con features

Cons
​
  • Repetitive levels and challenges
  • No drop in/drop out support
  • Joy-Cons often lose calibration

7/10
0 Comments

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Review | Xbox One

27/11/2019

 
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Review | Xbox One - Pass the Controller

Force fever is running high once again with the triple threat of a new Star Wars film - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker - Disney+ series The Mandalorian and video game Jedi: Fallen Order all occupying the zeitgeist at the same time.

Picture

 by James
 Michael
 Parry


Picture

@James_Parry

Picture
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC
Players: 1

Despite feeling a little like overload, if you're at all inclined to visit a galaxy far, far away then Fallen Order will grip you from the get go. The game’s visual design and music in particular immediately succeed in pulling you deeply into George Lucas’ beloved world.

Cal Kestis, played by Gotham's Cameron Monaghan, is a fairly typical, plucky and sarcastic Star Wars protagonist. He’s joined (just as Battlefront 2's Iden Versio was) by a helpful companion droid, model number BD-1. As you might expect, the pair quickly form a bond and as the game progresses little BD gains helpful new tricks such as the ability to hack (or "splice") locks and robotic enemies alike.

Coming from the developers of Titanfall, and, more recently, Apex Legends, we came into the game expecting to discover that Respawn Entertainment’s trademark hyper-mobile movement was possible out of the gate. Instead, players are eased into utilising Cal's full suite of Jedi powers slowly as he rediscovering them throughout the story.

Set after Order 66 was enacted in Revenge of the Sith, the Jedi Order has largely been eradicated, with Cal's former master amongst those lost. He's been keeping a low profile, working in a starship scrapyard and not tapping into the Force, until the events of the narrative (ahem) force his hand. 

Controlling Cal is a weightier affair than franchise fans might be accustomed to from the comparatively arcade-y Force Unleashed series or the hero sections in the Battlefront series. Not being able to wall run at first seems odd when there are clearly telegraphed locations littering levels, but thankfully this is a skill you quickly remember from your early training as a child (with careful use of a flashback). Still, it's obligatory element like this which appear the most game-y, considering the polished and cinematic presentation as a whole.
Your lightsaber can be a brutal weapon, particularly when it comes to performing finishing manoeuvres, which you'd expect from the samurai sword the concept was originally based on. It feels surprisingly personal too, by the simple notion of letting you heavily customise your saber with collectibles found strewn about the game's various worlds, alongside the existing cosmetic microtransactions and pre-order bonuses. Before long, the offering will almost certainly be expanded to include tantalising new DLC linked to The Rise of Skywalker.

Exploring multiple worlds is the name of the game - and seemingly the flavour of the autumn after The Outer Worlds - thanks to friendly transport ship the Mantis, which you can also customise to an extent. Traversing around is a mix of platforming and climbing which borrows from titles like Tomb Raider and Breath of the Wild, but it's the collective library of FromSoftware that Fallen Order pulls its strongest influences from.

Falling in battle sees you respawn at a designated checkpoint that’s never too far away, with these meditation spots being equivalent to bonfires. You can upgrade skills there, while also replenishing your health and healing items at the cost of reviving lesser enemies. Should one of them kill you, you'll need to return to the perpetrator and land a single hit to retrieve the experience gained since earning your last skillpoint.

You'll know danger is around the corner when grumbling strings start to creep in, helping to build a sense of tension whenever enemies attack – often from blindspots as you move through doorways.
After the initial tutorial level, which is fairly cinematic and exposition heavy in its attempt to introduce a lot of mechanics, you'll find the game opens up and lets you explore. It’s possible to wander into locations where the difficulty spikes or you don’t have the necessary equipment to explore, which is an indication to turn tail and come back later. It can feel odd to do so, since we’ve been conditioned to see gaming Jedi as unstoppable, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with shifting expectations.

Having only been a youngster when the order fell, Cal isn't a master; not to mention it's been a while since he flurried a lightsaber around on a daily basis. You can knock the difficulty down at any time, however, dialling back enemy aggression and damage while giving you a wider window to parry attacks.

Fallen Order challenges you to discover the Force, just as Cal is rediscovering it, and on that front it definitely succeeds. Combat is satisfying and has the bite of challenge a lot of fans will have been looking for, and the setting is a delicious meal of sci-fi Star Wars goodness. Where it hits a few stumbling blocks are mostly technical issues and things which remind you that this is, after all, a game. Texture and enemy pop-in is fairly common, performance can occasionally slow down, and minute-long load times can really kill your momentum after being defeated in battle.

Still, for those who’ve been waiting for EA to do something really special with the Star Wars licence, Jedi: Fallen Order is exactly that.

Pros

  • Gorgeous presentation and world-building
  • Lightsaber feels like a dangerous weapon, rather than a toy sword
  • Has the signature excitement and wonder associated with Star Wars 

Cons

  • Technical stutters stop the game in its tracks, even on Xbox One X
  • No setting to bridge Jedi Knight (Normal) and slightly patronising Story Mode
  • Making the camera play ball, even when locked on in combat, can be tricky

9/10
0 Comments

Gears 5 | Review | Xbox One

12/10/2019

 
Gears 5 | Review | Xbox One - Pass the Controller

Gears 5 continues the story thread that was started in Gears of War 4, dropping Kait into the role of main protagonist supported by Del and an upgraded Jack bot – the latter being playable for the first time in Gears' history – in both the co-op campaign (for up to three players locally or online) and returning Horde mode.

Picture

 by Chris
​ Brand

Picture

@SuperCrisco

Gears 5 | Review | Xbox One
Developer: The Coalition
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
Players: 1-5

Boot Camp is your entry point, with series veteran Damon Baird taking you through the basics one step at a time. The short tutorial is a welcome refresher for veterans and a necessary jaunt for newcomers, explaining the game's cover and movement systems, shooting, melee abilities and active reloads (which reload the entire magazine with higher damage "active" rounds).

Once that's out of the way, the opening Act serves as an extended introduction and there's very little to differentiate it from GoW 4, visually or mechanically. However, as you push forward the game opens up, quite literally, allowing you to explore open world sections. The desolate world of Sera is at times strikingly beautiful and the skiff used for traversal, particularly in the snowy section you'll have seen in the trailer, handles like a dream, effortlessly gliding across the huge, sweeping vistas. 

Throughout the middle Acts, optional side missions allow you to acquire upgrades for Jack to further augment the abilities that are unlocked via progression. Whilst the upgrades themselves aren't mandatory, they can be handy in a pinch, offering up significant boosts to the very useful invisibility and flash abilities, for example. Bear in mind though, your upgrades won't be bestowed on Jack when he's controlled by a human player.

The short firefights to get them not only serve as a welcome, action-filled break from the quieter exploring of the aforementioned open sections, but also serve as a great opportunity to stock up on ammo, change your loadout or grab a heavy weapon to take back to the skiff.

​During our initial playthrough, we did happen to fall victim to an unfortunate bug that forced us to restart Act 2 (a hangover from the game’s rocky launch, perhaps) losing around an hour of progression, but we claimed it back in half of that time and the setback was less of an annoyance than Del's stubborn reluctance to revive us when playing solo, which resulted in many avoidable deaths throughout the campaign.

Gears 5 | Review | Xbox One - Pass the Controller
Jumping into Versus mode, the game’s multiplayer offering, for the first time can be daunting. Arcade is casual, class-based fun with loadouts unique to each character, which in no way prepares you for the competitive scene. At the other end of the scale, there's the Ranked playlist. Even with cross-play disabled, and those pesky mouse and keyboarders kept at bay, you'll occasionally run into God-like players who are capable of carrying their (and hopefully your) team single-handedly, especially in King of the Hill and Escalation. The non-ranked versus is more accessible and co-op against AI is a good way of learning map layouts and weapon spawns, while providing a safe environment in which to practice with the Gnasher, though the difficulty can be ramped up to suit all skill levels.

Horde and Escape, though very different, complement each other. The former, a mainstay of the franchise, tasks five players with surviving 50 waves of increasingly difficult enemies, whilst the latter offers a more bite-sized co-op experience. Your three-person team, having infiltrated a Swarm hive and planted a Venom bomb to destroy it from within, must escape before the deadly gas kills you, too. Beginning only with a sidearm and limited rounds, you'll want to be conservative with ammo until your party has tooled up.
In both modes, duplicate characters are forbidden, which can cause problems when matchmaking. Levelling up and completing matches will award Skill Cards to further raise your damage dealing and survivability. These Skill Cards will allow you to hold your own on higher difficulties but if someone has already bagsied your main, you're left with the choice of using an under-levelled character or re-queuing. Regardless, there's no barrier of entry and all of our encounters through matchmaking have been positive, though not always successful. 

Despite a few minor issues, the new Gears recipe is the best yet. The story has enough presence without overstaying its welcome, open world areas are a nice addition and there's adequate co-op activities outside of the campaign to complete the package for anyone averse to PvP.

Pros

  • A thoroughly satisfying campaign
  • New enemy types and weapons are designed so well that they feel familiar
  • That same Gears brand of fast-paced multiplayer

Cons

  • Horde and Escape are a little too restricted
  • The Snub pistol is more effective as a melee weapon than a firearm

9/10
0 Comments

Borderlands 3 review | Xbox One

27/9/2019

 
Borderlands 3 review at Pass the Controller - shooting

Looting and shooting may be all the rage, but with the latest iteration of Borderlands boasting billions of guns, the series that popularised the genre is back. Does it have anything new to say?
James Michael Parry

by James
Michael
Parry

@james_parry on Twitter

​@james_parry

Picture
Developer: Gearbox Software
​Publisher: 2K Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
​Players:
1-4

At first glance, Pandora is much as we left it, with Marcus' familiar voiceover giving us the story context we need - though not confusing new players with talk of Handsome Jack's exploits, as he and Hyperion are long gone - and setting us on our journey across the wastelands.

There are four new vault hunters to choose from, as usual, and each of them have three skill trees, as usual, but now there's an action skill for each as well, which gives the characters more bespoke styles. As Zane the Operative, for example, you can use either a drone, a shield barrier or a doppelganger decoy. Each can be upgraded with passive buffs, such as one which makes your barrier a Halo-esque bubble shield.

In a chuckle-worthy move, which builds on the approach from the Pre-Sequel, your character now has a voice of their own and will quip back to NPCs and quest givers on occasion, as well as the odd holler in combat, which happens just enough without outstaying its welcome. The characterisation helps you to feel involved with the story but listening carefully it's clear the dialogue is designed in a way so that, whichever character responds, what they say is ultimately interchangeable.

You won't just be traversing the sandy wastes of Pandora this time around, with quests taking you to different planets as you go head-to-head with the Children of the Vault. The obnoxious streamer twins (like, subscribe and obey…) have united the bandit clans and are racing against you to harness the power hidden away in huge underground caverns adorned with the franchise's trademark inverted V symbol.
Borderlands 3 review at Pass the Controller - Zane
The plot sees you try to nab vault key parts before the Children of the Vault (or COV) do. Sister of the intergender twins, Tyreen Calypso, keeps gaining power as a siren - a class made famous by Lillith, Maya and newcomer Amara - and you'll be picking up plenty of familiar faces on your journey to help you take them down. In particular, Tales from the Borderlands' Rhys is back (though no longer voiced by the prolific Troy Baker) and brings the same endearing quirks with him, though unfortunately many of the other NPCs aren't as compelling without having had a game to set them up.
It's definitely the game to scratch that looter-shooter itch you might've been looking to satisfy.
Which leads us to an important fact – Handsome Jack is missed. He was always the pinnacle of the brand of amusement the series peddles in, none of the enemies, or the on-the-nose streamer pastiches the Calypsos themselves, have the same endearing quality. Even CL4PTR4P (or Claptrap) feels like the soul of the character has been lost from the change in voice actor, though not as noticeably as we'd feared from the trailers.
Borderlands 3 review at Pass the Controller - Lillith
A final, and unfortunate, point to make is the technical issues we came up against. Though there is local split-screen co-op, which is notable for its rarity alone these days, the performance suffers pretty consistently, especially jumping in and out of menus - which happens a lot with the loot management element. Elsewhere we ran into a bug which forced our Xbox to turn off at a certain point in a cutscene multiple times, insisting it was going to overheat, as well as other crashes and freezing.

While it's definitely more Borderlands, the game is a sequel which more than earns its right to exist, but generally plays it safe and falls back on its established rules and systems. It's definitely the game to scratch that looter-shooter itch you might've been looking to satisfy, especially for fans of the series, but, despite being a good entry point, ultimately falls short of its potential.

Pros

  • Explore strange (but familiar) new worlds
  • Gunplay is smoother and character playstyle is varied
  • Does the loot part well, with a constant sense of progression

Cons
​
  • Marred by technical issues, even on Xbox One X
  • Humour doesn't feel as fresh as in the past and Jack is sorely missed
  • Balance in co-op doesn't work as well as it should and so mismatched levels are noticeable

8/10
0 Comments

The Surge 2 | PS4 | Review

27/9/2019

 
The Surge 2 PS4 review

Ever since 2014’s Lords of the Fallen, which was a Souls-like game of questionable quality, German development studio Deck13 has been honing its craft within the genre. Pioneered by FromSoftware’s trademark flair for dark fantasy, unlike Lords, The Surge did very well to distance itself from a similar setting by looking to the future instead of the past. As such, it became a surprise hit and secured itself a sequel, which more than two years later is now in players' hands. 

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: Deck13
Interactive

Publisher: Focus
Home Interactive

Platforms: PS4, Xbox
One, PC

Players: 1
With the release of Code Vein just around the corner, it’s easy to argue that the Souls-like craze is still as prevalent now as it was when the original first saw the light of day back in 2017. Yet still, none are doing it quite like The Surge 2, which by leaning into its sci-fi setting more than ever comes to offer a unique experience in a crowded space.

This time around you’ll create your own character, rather than being cast as a set protagonist, then embark to explore Jericho City (named in a not-so-subtle nod to its encasing quarantine walls) after awakening from a coma. So far so cliché, and honestly, you shouldn’t expect that to change.

Narrative is a much bigger focus in The Surge 2 and for the most part that design shift feels misguided. In this instance, more closely aping Dark Souls in the first game lent its story and quests an intriguing air of mystery, but here poor characters deliver hammy dialogue in unconvincing ways and mediocre quests are laid out plainly for the player. The game fares much better when you’re left to your own devices and a spattering of optional audio logs and environmental storytelling do the heavy lifting.

​Damning as that may sound, it’s all passable enough to muddle through and absolutely worth doing so to get to the excellent gameplay. The simple act of exploration in The Surge 2 is immensely rewarding; materially owing to the swathes of items you’ll find hidden away in out-of-sight places, and even mentally as you unravel vast and interconnected networks of pathways and looping shortcuts. Without a map to call up everything has to be kept in your noggin and, as such, the primal burst of endorphins that accompanies simply opening a locked door to find that you’re right back where you started (which is a good thing) cements that internal wherewithal.
​
As much as we enjoyed scouring Jericho City, its walled isolation has conversely driven many inhabitants to cultism and general hostility. Luckily, your surgically affixed Exo-Rig is just the ticket when it comes to self defence, allowing you to (in the immortal words of the late Rip Torn) dodge, duck, dip, dive and… directionally deflect. As is often the case, a good offence can make for an even better defence and so the ability to wield otherwise impossibly heavy weapons will also comes in handy.
The Surge 2 PS4 review
The simple act of exploration in The Surge 2 is immensely rewarding...
Equipped for battle, players can target individual limbs on an enemy’s person and then utilise a mix of horizontal and vertical attacks as required in order to land blows. Targeting unarmoured parts (highlighted in blue) will result in an easier kill, whereas armoured sections (highlighted in orange) will take longer to whittle down though ultimately pay out bigger rewards. Through connecting with attacks you’ll build the power meter and charge your Exo-Rig’s batteries, one of which can then be traded for a limb-severing finisher that’ll grant you the weapon or a schematic to craft the armour that’s relevant to the limb in question.

Subsequent chops of those limbs on the same enemies will instead grant crafting and upgrade materials, as was the case in the original. When we reviewed that game we likened the upgrade and gear acquisition system to “a morbid shopping spree” and the same definitely applies here. It’s no less unique and engaging, serving as a perfect complement to the hefty, stamina-based combat mechanics that are already a joy in themselves. 
​

If you’ve played a Souls-like before then you know what to expect from the moment-to-moment gameplay during combat, though some unique melee weapons help to mix things up and so too does the companion drone with its variety of ranged attacks. Equipping different injectables can have a similar effect, be they passive or active (the latter at the cost of a battery) in their inference of benefits like healing, increased defence, or even temporarily slowing enemies down. You’re limited in how many can be equipped, however, so choose wisely.

Without designated classes you’re free to experiment to your heart's content, though by trading in Tech Scrap - the game’s combined form of currency and experience points, earned through defeating enemies - you can opt to favour the health, stamina, or power attributes. For a small fee you can respec your points allocation, though most builds can be made to work in multiple ways regardless or counter-weighted one way or another over time, provided you don’t make a habit of losing scrap.
The Surge 2 PS4 review
In signature fashion, when you die in The Surge 2 you'll drop all of your earnings and need to retrieve them from the position of your death. Dying again whilst en route or failing to do so in good time means that they’re gone for good, but you can securely bank scrap at Medbay safe havens to avoid this. The practice isn’t entirely encouraged, mind, as carrying large scrap quantities applies a multiplier that means the rich get richer at great personal risk. 

New for the sequel, dropped scrap can also be used tactically as a sort of gradual healing totem when stood in close proximity and also to offer a full heal when picked up. This further plays into the exciting risk vs. reward mechanics already surrounding scrap and can be the cause of nail-biting moments during the game’s more challenging boss encounters, resulting from holding off on retrieval until the last possible moment.

A lot of the big bads are fought over multi-stage battles that don’t feel quite as gruelling as those seen in the likes of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, mostly thanks to the ability to generate healing items on the fly through being aggressive in order to accrue battery charges. That said, don’t think that this translates to bosses not being a threat.


With plenty of long-haul skirmishes on the cards, opting for the game's performance mode on PS4 Pro or Xbox One X comes recommended. The jump to a smooth 60 FPS provides a tangible advantage over the choppier 30 FPS found in quality mode, which otherwise puts the focus on improving the game’s weak graphics and bumps the resolution up from 1080p to 4K. Here it definitely isn’t worth the trade-off, even for those that generally favour looks, as the overall experience definitely suffers. 
Gathering upgrades is unique and engaging, serving as a perfect complement to the hefty, stamina-based combat mechanics that are already a joy in themselves. 
The Surge 2 PS4 review
Playing pre-launch we quite frequently encountered crashes and some lesser technical issues like texture pop-in and missing NPC dialogue, but with the day one patch installed they appear to be less common if not completely absent. With launch also came the opportunity to better interact with the asynchronous online elements, which include sharing graffiti tags to help or hinder players, hiding player banners in hard-to-reach places in the hopes that nobody will find them, and getting revenge for fallen players (like we did for YouTuber and outspoken game critic Jim Sterling) by killing enemies that bested them in their versions of the game. It’s all harmless stuff that helps to garner a sense of community between those sharing in the struggle of getting through what can be a difficult game, but without contributing anything more tangible than that.

The Surge 2 can feel a little bit “budget” in places, especially for those that played the first game and, as a result, will likely notice the recycled weapons, armour, animations and enemies. Despite these cut corners being coupled with a weak story and uninteresting quests, there’s no getting around the fact that even then Deck13’s exquisite world and combat design are enough reason to forgive it. With an expanded NG+ mode and a second ending to see (regardless of how disinterested we might be in its actual narrative contents), those gameplay elements are proving strong enough to tempt us back for round two even as we enter the busy release season.

Pros

  • Marvellous interconnected world design
  • Hard-hitting combat that’ll have you squeezing your controller on impact
  • Severing limbs is still a hugely satisfying means of gear and upgrade acquisition
  • Great weapon and general loadout variety
  • NG+ and multiple endings make for good longevity

Cons

  • Weak story, characters and dialogue
  • More defined quest structure evaporates the original’s intriguing air of mystery
  • Several technical issues
  • Underwhelming visuals
  • Recycles assets from the original

8/10
0 Comments

Control | Xbox One | Review

8/9/2019

 
Picture

Remedy Entertainment has a particular brand of storytelling in its games. Since Alan Wake, and even Max Payne (whose voice actor James McCaffrey returns here in a supporting role), they have done things a bit differently, holding live-action scenes in high regard and treating the experience more like a film rather than a game with some story bits thrown in.

Picture

 by James
 Michael
​ Parry

Picture

@James_Parry

Picture
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC
Players: 1
The balance feels more finely tuned in Control than in Remedy's last venture, Quantum Break, where gameplay was broken up by extended live-action sections. Instead, Control’s live-action parts are limited to videos playing on screens around the world, or found in multimedia or messages that are used to drip feed obscure morsels of lore to the player.

You are Jesse Faden, a fairly plain protagonist looking for her brother who disappeared 17 years ago in mysterious and supernatural circumstances. Her story begins at the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), which resides in an X-Files-themed mystery box called The Oldest House. The establishment collects seemingly mundane objects that are imbued with otherworldly powers, for example causing people standing near them to freeze in place.

After a ritual that saw Faden named the new director of the FBC by The Board, an extradimensional power, she’s transported back into the agency’s building to find it has been decimated by an otherworldly and hostile force known as the Hiss, which has corrupted all but a handful of the building’s employees. With The Oldest House on lockdown until the Hiss are eradicated, it’s up to Faden, along with the few survivors and a tenuous connection to former FBC director Trench (voiced by McCaffrey), to rid the building of its unwelcome guests and track down her brother.

​Gameplay features a blend of third-person shooter mechanics (you’re armed with a morphing multi-use gun known as the Service Weapon) and a range of telekinetic abilities that you’ll put to good use against an increasing number of zombie-like enemies. While combat only becomes bigger and more frantic, rather than more elaborate or encouraging you to use your powers in any special way, the simple joy of picking up a bit of floor with your mind and flinging it at enemies can't be overstated.
There are downsides to the more bombastic action sequences, however. The initial visual impression of former office workers floating lifelessly in the air, repeating the odd phrase to themselves, is extremely effective at building a creeping sense of dread, but the moment combat begins you're quickly pulled back into the fact this is a game, which lessens the impact of the otherwise excellent and foreboding atmosphere at times.

Exploration in Control is non-linear, with new areas of The Oldest House opening up to players in a Metroidvania-style fashion as they progress through the story and gain new abilities. Disappointingly, the structural changes repeatedly referred to in the lore dumps strewn throughout the building aren’t as extreme or as frequent as hinted, with the player only really getting to read about them rather than experience them.

Besides the usual gating off of sections using doors of ever increasing clearance levels, there are environmental puzzles which call on you to put your telekinetic abilities to the test to activate switches or navigate certain areas. One particular brain-teaser called The Astray Maze requires some out-of-the-box thinking, while frequent trips to the Oceanview Motel allow you to pass through the astral plane and access otherwise out-of-reach areas.
The game’s setting is deliberately bland, its harsh, brutalist architecture contrasted by the bizarre happenings taking place within its walls. As the story reveals itself, some of the initial opening intrigue dulls a little, and the vague perspective of the internal monologue from Jesse begins to grate as she's consistently nonplussed by the weirdness of the situation unfolding around her, while a few of the more interesting elements of the game seem to suffer from happening off-screen rather in front of the player.

From a technical perspective Control often struggles, even when running on Xbox One X, with substantial slowdown any time you hop in and out of menus - a frequent occurrence given the lore heavy nature of the game and the number of upgrades available to the player - and even more so when battles get hectic. While performance may suffer, Control is still a very visually impressive game, especially on PC thanks to newfangled ray tracing support.

In all, even with the performance issues, the journey is ultimately very satisfying, and a definite step up from Quantum Break, but if you weren't sold on Remedy's style beforehand then Control is unlikely to do much change your mind. Still, in these days of games as a service and battle royale bandwagoning, a strong, narrative-driven single-player experience is a rare thing, particularly if you’re a fan of Xbox, and it's one which is unlike anything else out there right now.

Pros

  • A concept that feels fresh, executed well
  • Well-paced Metroidvania with high production values
  • Throwing stuff about with your mind is so satisfying

Cons

  • Performance stutters frequently, even on Xbox One X
  • Story and gameplay feel tonally divided
  • Map isn't very useful

9/10
0 Comments

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Xbox One | Review

2/7/2019

 
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Xbox One | Review - Pass the Controller

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a triumph. Crowdfunded to the tune of more than $5.5 million at the height of the Kickstarter craze, many of its peers released to lukewarm critical and commercial reception, but Koji Igarashi and company took the extra time to produce something truly special.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: ArtPlay
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Xbox
​One, PS4, Switch, PC
​(Steam)

Players: 1
After Konami made it transparent they weren’t interested in reviving the legendary Castlevania franchise, series pioneer Igarashi took the proverbial ball and ran with it. Having secured his funding goal more than eleven times over, he assembled a team and began work on the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night spiritual successor that the people wanted and Konami refused to make. Seemingly very little changed in the transition, as Bloodstained is essentially a Castlevania game in all but name.

As you might expect, Ritual of the Night is a traditional metroidvania - also dubbed an ‘Igavania’ in honour of Igarashi - which builds on last year’s more linear retro prequel, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. You play as Miriam, one of that game’s optionally recruitable protagonists, now intricately realised in 3D as she sets out to rid the world of demons summoned by a dark ritual.

Miriam is a Shardbinder, one of the last two remaining humans capable of harnessing demonic power; these powers manifest in-game as a wide variety of active and passive abilities, now capable of being turned against the denizens of Hell. By building up an arsenal, you’ll be able to deeper infiltrate the gothic castle at the core of Bloodstained and ultimately defeat the other, vampiric Shardbinder that uses his powers for evil. Sounds kinda familiar, huh?

It boils down very simply, but there’s a surprising level of focus placed on the narrative here, which is fleshed out with plenty of cutscenes and hammy dialogue exchanges (in your choice of English or Japanese) between the main cast. Throw in some text-based lore and the story manages to reach the realms of mild intrigue, which is actually somewhat of a compliment, considering the genre.
Igavania? More like egovania, amirite? ... Seriously though, Igarashi (above) is one of the greats!
​Gameplay has always been the bread and butter of metroidvania games, and Ritual of the Night certainly doesn’t disappoint on that front. Largely it’s very familiar in that you travel an enormous, satisfyingly interconnected map collecting new abilities - such as the power to fire yourself through narrow gaps like a ricocheting bullet - which in turn grant access to new areas. The well-established gameplay loop is incredibly moreish when executed in exacting fashion, as it is here, almost defying you to leave any small segment of the map unexplored.

From torchlit castle halls to moonlit cathedral towers, to dank sewers and myriad exotic locales beyond, a wide range of seemingly disparate areas are convincingly tied together by a unified aesthetic and intelligent, looping shortcuts. You’ll get to know the world of Bloodstained quite intimately as you backtrack to solve puzzles you’ve since discovered the answers to, or to reach designated save and fast travel rooms, which never becomes a chore.

That’s thanks not just to the exquisite 2.5D level design, but the tight platforming and deep combat systems you’ll engage with along the way. Miriam can acquire and equip outfits and weapons throughout her journey, the former of which offer various stat boosts and aesthetic changes when items are worn on the head, while the latter can completely change how the game plays.

Depending on preference you might opt for the greater range of a whip or a spear, the close-quarters finesse of a dagger, the balance of a one-handed sword, or the brute force of a laboured greataxe swing. That’s not to mention firearms and their different ammo types. Every harebrained enemy - be it a frog, a dragon, or a scissor-handed marionette straight outta Devil May Cry - has their share of quantifiable strengths and weaknesses, so it makes sense to switch things up on the regular. If you can master enemy attack patterns and Miriam’s graceful backstep dodge, as well as the necessary timing and spacing for your favourite weapons, hostile encounters become akin to dance.
An undisputed retro classic made modern, without sacrificing an ounce of appeal or introducing current industry ailments.
Combat has incredible nuance for those who seek to discover it, be that in hidden techniques for specific weapons, attack hit boxes that extend behind and/or directly above your person dependant on the animation, or the realisation that a weapon might be doubly efficient when used while crouched. A small complaint would be that once you do grow proficient, due to normal difficulty being the only option available on an initial playthrough, bosses especially go from an engaging challenge to a complete cakewalk. That and the game's technical performance can take a big hit when your screen-filling, death-dealing prowess matches theirs.

​
If you’re all about preserving the challenge, limiting your selection of Shards would be a good start. These crystallised forms of demon power randomly drop from enemies and tend to either grant access to one of their abilities or allow you to summon the relevant beast to fight alongside you temporarily. You can equip quite a few at once and they’re more often than not very potent, theoretically balanced out by limiting their use with a mana resource, but, unlike health, mana automatically regenerates over time so there’s little reason not to make liberal use of them. 

​Familiars are ever-present AI helpers that don’t consume mana, even auto-levelling alongside the leading lady, whilst elsewhere upgrades are carried out via a vendor at a peaceful hub location. Here you can buy/sell and cook/craft using materials most often discovered in chests, dropped by defeated enemies, or gifted as rewards for completing optional side quests.
With Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding also releasing in 2019, we wonder if Konami are feeling ashamed of their words and deeds...
Somewhat uncharacteristically, we’ve been loving the grind to gather ingredients, cook and consume all of the game’s recipes in order to claim their permanent stat increases, perhaps because it’s a simple pleasure to spend time in the Bloodstained universe. Another uncharacteristic find, at least for me personally, is the appreciation of quite an anime visual style; I’m coming around to the character models, but the colourful backdrops evoking the game’s stained glass motif I universally adore! More predictable is our love of the orchestral soundtrack, looping and grandiose in its modern interpretation of catchy retro classics.

In fact, that sums Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night up pretty well - an undisputed retro classic made modern, without sacrificing an ounce of appeal or introducing current industry ailments in the process. There’s a lot of game here, and it’s so compelling in its mechanics and audiovisuals that you’ll want to drain every last drop from the experience like a vampire affixed to its succulent neck.

Pros

  • Castlevania is (basically) back
  • Lavishly interconnected environments to discover and explore
  • Vast array of tools and enemies imbue combat with a similar sense of discovery
  • Beautiful overall presentation
  • Crowdfunded project that took the time to give backers exactly what they pledged towards 

Cons

  • Frame drops during busier moments, even on Xbox One X
  • First playthrough is limited to normal difficulty
  • Characters and story are just half decent for the screen time they’re given

9/10
0 Comments
<<Previous


    READ MORE

    News
    Features
    Videos

    Comment Here


    Categories

    All
    Action Adventure
    Adventure
    Air Combat
    Arcade
    Family
    Fighter
    Hardware
    Horror
    Indie
    Open World
    Platformer
    Puzzler
    Racing
    Role Playing
    Shmup
    Shooter
    Sim
    Sports
    Stealth
    Strategy
    Survival
    Virtual Reality


    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015


    RSS Feed

Pass the Controller

News
Reviews
Features
​
Videos
Forum
About

The Forums

Gaming Discussion
Xbox
PlayStation
PC Gaming
Nintendo
Off Topic
​Achievements and Trophies

What is PTC

About Us
​Meet the Team
​
Contact Us
OpenCritic
Find our reviews on OpenCritic
vrgamecritic
Find our reviews on vrgamecritic
© COPYRIGHT 2014-2019 PTC / JMP.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.