Well, here we are, the last 3 Up, 3 Down of 2015. The holiday rush of games has continued, as there has been no shortage of games for us here at COGconnected to review. We managed to add another 35 reviews to the repertoire of product that we’ve already reviewed and there were some great games…and there were some stinkers. As December hits we hope to come up for a little air and take a short but well deserved break, or at least slow down to enjoy those games that are already on store shelves. So with that in mind, here are the best, and the worst, games of the past month.
The Best
Blackhole (PC)
Click HERE for our full review.
This “indie gem” came out of nowhere to hit the top of our review charts. A game with a concept based on, you guessed it, a blackhole. This 2D sci-fi puzzle platformer seems directed towards the hardcore, but a recent update that includes an “easy” mode does take some of the pain away. With a total of six acts, Blackhole has “…excellent gameplay, well tuned controls and puzzles, and intriguing story”. Of course gameplay is also backed up by some great looking visuals. Although the game can be short if you rush through and do the minimal needed to progress, there is a lot of replay value for those looking to stretch their gaming dollar. In the end fans of puzzle platformers will really enjoy this game, and for those looking for something different, they will most likely enjoy it too.
Fallout 4 (PC, PS4 & Xbox One)
Click HERE for our full review.
With a lot of hype, and a lot of expectations, Fallout 4 manages to satisfy those gamer’s cravings for a game that is deep, has a good story, and has a heck of a lot to do. This is a game many people were dying to play, and in the end the release of Bethesda’s next chapter in the Fallout series “hit the mark with precision”. Your adventure takes place in a post-apocalyptic Boston where you spend hours upon hours exploring, talking to NPCs, building houses, tinkering with your weapons, searching and collecting stuff to craft various items, questing with AI companions, and of course killing a lot of enemies and levelling your character’s skills up. All this wouldn’t be enjoyable without a meaningful plot, or any interesting sidequests; Fallout 4 has you covered here too. That’s not to say there are a few hiccups along the way. There are some visual issues and many gamers, including our reviewer, came across various bugs during gameplay, but you know what, with such a big and encompassing game like Fallout, you may just want give Bethesda a pass for the issues you may run into. In the end Fallout 4 is a deep, engrossing, and even somewhat too complex of a game, that fans will love. And hey, who doesn’t love exploring a wasteland with the canine companion called “dogmeat”.
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition (PC, PS4 & Xbox One)
Click HERE for our full review.
This once PC only game hit consoles this November, and the end result was a refined game with a host of improvements and tweaks that numbered in the…get ready for it…thousands. Yep, we said thousands, 13,000 to be exact. So how does one cover a game that has that many improvements? Well, we look at the basics. The control is one big area, and Divinity manages to take a hardcore RPG and port the control over to console quite well. And did we mention the voice work, and all the 69,000 lines of dialog that was recorded? It makes the game on console very accessible and targets the console audience to a tee. Developer Larian Studios even made the game look good too, with a smooth framerate and 1080p resolution. In the end, although many changes/additions were made to make this a console friendly game, and it is, the content itself is very hardcore, with a deep story, combat, skills and abilities, as well a lengthy gameplay experience as a whole. Overall we found it to be a great introduction for console gamers to the work of a hardcode PC RPG, and something that will no doubt eat up a lot of one’s time.
Click on thru to Page 2 for the worst of the worst