Russell Davison

Such a beautiful game ruined by the actual gameplay. The lazily designed menus crafted by developers that clearly didn’t play test their own work coupled with the fact that ‘Button bash’ mode is an absolute joke, just about removes what little fun there is. This game is definitely one for the ‘bottle flippers’ as you will spend hours upon hours doing the exact same thing over and over again for little or no reward, destroying your hands in the process. I really hope these guys never touch a FF8 remake. I’d be dead of old age before I got a chance to play it and they would end up ruining that just like they ruined this.

This game is so badly coded, I can’t help but laugh in disbelief. This has to be the worst iteration, yet . It’s unplayable, in my opinion

Probably a generous 3/5. Lets's get the positives out of the way, it looks AMAZING. Every character, town, action and special effect has been lovingly crafted and gorgeously rendered, honestly, you would struggle to find another game out there that looks as good for what it is and you'll be crying out for a photo mode that isn't there. The soundtrack has been given an overhaul as well with original tracks recreated with an orchestra and punchier tracks have a much richer production to them. The combat has also had a face lift ditching the random spawn battle screens for seamless live action interaction. There's even an option for those that don't want full on action and lets you select options like the original turn based strategy game which I found more fun and relaxing. This is where the high praise ends... Whichever way you look at it, this is a 40 hour game when most games of this calibur, as repetetive as they are, are offering 60-70+ and unlike this, are not interactive movies and give you 50 hours+ of gameplay where as this, maybe 20. The script is horrendous with, maybe, 15% of it utter cringeworthy which the artificial voice cast do no favours of bringing to life. The Anime is very intense in places which means even though it's entertaining to the eye, it's somewhat insulting the brain. With all the posing, pantomine performances and unnecessary grunts, groans, moans, sighs, gasps and tuts I had to switch mine off during cut scenes and lengthy exchanges of dialogue. Not much of the plot makes sense even to an ardent fan of the original like me and the ending is mindblowlingly baffling. It's difficult to discuss plot points without revealing spoilers and taking into account the story has not concluded yet. It makes sense that there would be additions and most have been welcomed. They seem to have kept all the best and most remeberable bits in that made FF7 well..FF7. As well as the disappointments listed above, there are bits I flat out didn't like. The 'Motorbike' mini game handled just as irritatingly as the original and was difficult to apply any skill to (not to mention the most annoying character in the game making his debut). The pull up mini game for the pro league is ridiculously over demanding which turns a fun mini game into a stressful button basher and ruins the experience completely. The volume of Sephiroth's appearence is frustratingly high. Upto leaving Midgar in the original, Sephiroth was barely a whisper on peoples lips making just a fleeting appearance at Shinra HQ making him a mysterious and terrifying entity. He's ever present through this remake and frankly comes accross as annoying. End game content is relatively non existant save for replaying entire chapters just to select a different answer to a particular question in order to collect cut scenes and dresses and maybe top your level off to 50. On top of all that, there's the overwhelming feeling you're being ripped off in every sense of the word. They've took 10% of the original and sold it to you as a full game. If they carry on at this rate, we might be waiting for the conclusion to all this on PS7 or PS8. God knows how many more games they could milk from it. What if they included events from Crisis Core and added Advent Children? It worries me. I won't be buying part 2, I'll wait until it's concluded and offered at a resonable price for the lot. If I'm still alive that is

Wow. After the pointlessness that was Rogue, the "neket iadet" that was Unity and the mediocrity that was Syndicate, we finally get this, which is, in terms of an Assassin's creed game, the closest thing we could get to a masterpiece. Now, don't get me wrong, this game still carries a lot of faults including the new combat system, which despite offering a refreshing approach of freedom can be infuriatingly inconsistent at times (I advise anyone to begin this game on the easy setting to start with. You can change the difficulty at any point you feel you need more of a challenge from the combat) but this game gave me everything I ever realistically expected as an AC fan and the game delivers so much choice and option to tailor your preferred experience of it. The series is finally given the overhaul it desperately needed and this flourishes all the better for it and it's difficult to pick an aspect of it that fails to entertain. I've loved every minute of it. I'm a little biased with the setting, I admit, due to my love for ancient Egypt but it felt a perfect location to kick start the creed and in many ways I see this game as a reimagining or even a reboot of the series as much as a prequel. It's root influence is Black Flag providing plenty of stalking zones for stealth. Chuck in some HZD, a pinch of the Witcher and an overall feel of the original Tomb Raider (In my personal top 5 of all time) and you essentially have the components that make this game what it is. Bayek, the lead character, is briliantly portrayed and a massive improvement on the cardboard cutouts from previous installments and his altruism propels you through a gargantuan story which is nothing short of epic in scope charting the power struggle in Egypt for thier independance from Romans, Greeks and thier own Phaorohs. The more I played, the more I liked and the further up the AC ladder it got. In fact, I think I have a new favourite. Thank you, Ubisoft (Never thought i'd say that...)

A once fine horror franchise is reduced to a cheap B-movie slasher where motives make as little sense as the action and character is made up on the spot. Bye bye Resident Evil

Unfortunately not a full title with the extra tracks but this is a great racing game nevertheless. The only thing that really bothers me is the way the other cars are programmed at maybe 70% until you pass them and then they tune up, ridiculously. You can close close down 10-15 seconds within the first couple of laps and despite having the same car as you (which you might have finely tuned to be faster than stock with TCS lowered) they will overtake you without effort even if you’re posting your fastest lap times. It feels really cheap and artificial and ruins the experience completely. Hope it’s not like that for the next release

The hit boxes are ridiculous and the mechanics are very rough and a little backwards at times but for all it’s flaws it’s a lot of fun. Especially if you’ve got three buddies to regularly play with. Some monsters are geared towards it meaning playing with randoms and it comes down to sheer luck if all four of you know what you’re doing. It’s updated every few months including seasonal events with tons of monsters and their variants all with weapons and armour of their own and with 16 (I think) different weapon types you’ll struggle to find another player with the exact same gear as you and I doubt you will get bored with it. With some more work on the hit boxes and mechanics, this could be a really great game. As it is, most will find it Marmite (love it or hate it)

Argue wether it’s a true AC game or not you might but it is a great game and the best after Ezio’s trilogy. Edward Kenway (you) ends up being the best developed character since Ezio as well considering his personal gains are thrown into conflict with a questionable altruistic nature. Glitchy, baffling and unnecessarily overwhelming at times (what AC game isn’t?) but it is fun. The combat is very accessible and enjoyable, the stealth gets a whole new priority with the amount of stalking zones that were included and there’s an engaging storyline/plot. AC3 was a huge disappointment for me but this game somehow managed to make me go back and finish it after completing this one. The naval side of the game was very accessible as well and I loved sailing round taking out every ship I could find. With an improved AI and a little more variety here and there I think this game could have challenged our friend from Firenze for the crown... On second thoughts, no, I take that back. Ezio is the King