Reviews

Mafia III is a game that is a great in some departments, good in most departments but also bad in other departments.

First the positives, 'Mafia III' has to me the greatest soundtrack of any video game I've ever played, and this is epitomised in the radio, I often found myself enjoying playing the game the most just driving and listening to the radio. The game has a good story and a great story telling technique (doing it through a documentary), the gameplay was also good and I found all the characters tolerable and some I genuinely liked (Lincoln and John Donovan).

Now for the negatives, 'Mafia III' biggest problem is it's repetitive nature, often when playing the game you have to figure out ways to keep yourself engaged in the story, and towards the end almost force yourself to take over the last couple territories. However I feel another problem I have with this game is the ending, I don't like the choice aspect of the ending as I think a lack of a definitive ending diminishes the story.

In conclusion, 'Mafia III' is a fun game at times, with a good story, decent characters and amazing music, and in its best moments is a genuine great game but at its worst moments it becomes a bit of a chore.

Rating [7/10]

God of War is an unbelievable game in so many ways, from its insanely fun gameplay to its deep and emotional story this game almost never disappoints.

First the positives, this game is visually stunning, it's gameplay is enthralling, it's story is captivating beyond measure and it's musical themes are perfect. However the aspect of this game that I admire the most is hands down the complete restructuring of Norse mythology to suit the story which was a huge gamble but it very much paid off. Other things I loved from this game were obviously Kratos and Atreus but the side characters also but most specifically memir, he's hilarious in this game but also helps develop the story with his storytelling, the character development of Kratos in this film is staggering and leaves me liking him as much as any other video game ever (outside of Arthur Morgan from RDR2) and one extremely vital aspect to this game was the way the game was shot, because it was all 1 shot it makes you not miss anything and forces you to know everything these characters go through.

Now the negatives, I don't have any major issues with this game only small things that could've been improved, that being I thought the boss fights slightly didn't hold up to the predecessors and the same goes for the puzzles, but apart from that I had no issues with this game.

To conclude God of War is a gaming masterpiece that leaves you appreciative of the journey you've been on but wanting the next just to be around the corner, this game came very close to me giving out only my second perfect 10 ever, but nevertheless this game is an astonishing achievement and is in my Top 3 Story mode games of all time.

Uncharted 4: A Thieves End is the best of the franchise and is the perfect way to cap off Nathan Drake's character and story.

Firstly the things I like about this game, I absolutely love the combat but that's no surprise as it is Naughty Dog, and the character animations and graphics were the best of the franchise. The common but correct opinion on the Uncharted franchise was the games lacked good storylines with depth and was often pushed aside for better gameplay and graphics, however that cannot be said for this game, this was Naughty Dogs 2nd best story they've ever produced and made me liking Nathan Drake even more than I already did and the same can be said for the rest of the characters. I absolutely loved the addition of Sam, I though his character added the depth to the story that has been so desperately needed throughout this franchise.

Although I don't have any major issues with this game I did feel like the game dragged in the third act and felt far to long, but apart from that I have no other issues with this game that are any worth mentioning.

In conclusion Uncharted 4: A Thieves End is in my opinion the best of the franchise and is Naughty Dogs second best ever game only behind 'The Last Of Us' and although this game wasn't particularly breathtaking in any department it was good to great in nearly everything.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an extremely fun game with great gameplay, audio, voice acting and when played on the PS5 is as beautiful a game that I've played, however there's a glaring problem and that problem is the games lack of an truly engaging villain.

Firstly the positives, this game is extremely fun with amazing combat and the swinging is levels above the original. Miles Morales is an engaging character who shows good character progression throughout the game and I found myself preferring him to Peter Parker in Insomniacs Spider-Man. The soundtrack and audio in this game is amazing, and is a beautiful game on performance mode but when played on fidelity mode it's truly breathtaking and shows the true capabilities of the PS5 and makes me extremely exited for strictly next-gen releases in a couple years.

Now onto my problems with the game. I found the villain nowhere near as engaging as the villain is Insomniacs Spider-Man, and quite frankly I found the villains reveal to be extremely predictable, although I thought most of the missions were engaging and extremely fun I also found some absolute duds in there which simply seemed like fillers to extend the games play length.

In conclusion Spider-Man: Miles Morales does some things better than the original and does some things at a breathtaking level, however this game also provides us with an extremely weak and non-engaging villain and also squeezes every last drop out of the story it's providing, and leaves us with some missions that we could have done without and I feel if this game had been longer the game would have been worse so I'm thankful in that respect.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is to me the greatest video game of all time, from the attention to detail, to constant available interactions and the unbelievable story the world feels alive.

Going into this game I had very high expectations due to the greatness of the original, but I had some scepticism as Rockstars previous game release (GTA V) to me fell short in the story aspect and I knew that's what was going to be the main feature of this game and thankfully the story didn't fall short, in fact it did the opposite it left me jaw dropped.

Before I get into the story I must talk about the technicalities in this game, the visuals were absolutely stunning and the graphics were mind blowing, the gameplay was amazing the gunfights felt as real as any game I've played however I did find the covering dated, fist fights are so unbelievably fun, the attention to detail in interactions with strangers is staggering and every conversation feels real, I absolutely love the little things you can do (drinking coffee, eating the stew, playing poker, sitting around the campfire, etc) as it makes you slow down and truly appreciate and take in the visuals and world around you and forces you not rush through the game.

Now the story, I have never been more emotional invested in a video games story than in RDR2 and I have never been more emotionally attached to the characters inside a video game and that attachment got no greater than Arthur Morgan. To me Arthur Morgan is the greatest character Rockstar has ever created and by some way, the depth of this character is staggering and constant character development makes him feel real. From the moment the game starts you are forced to have interactions with these characters and learn about the gang and the people within the gang, the start of this game laid great foundations for the rest of the game as you're already building attachment to the character. After you get through the start you are given extremely fun missions mixed with more tame missions that continues the constant character development and story progression. Throughout the game you really start to see how the characters have changed (both positively and negatively) and you also get to see the characters motives for why they're doing what they're doing, the end of this game left me with so many emotions but it also left me feeling so fulfilled and proud of the journey that I had been on with all these characters.

In conclusion Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstars crowning achievement and is there finest piece of work, Red Dead Redemption 2 is also the new bar story driven video games will be trying to reach for years to come, but to be honest I'm not sure this bar will ever be reached again and if does get reached again I have a funny feeling everybody knows what developers would top it.