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The Crew Motorfest Review The Crew Motorfest is the latest from Ubisoft’s street racing franchise that ditches its roots in favor of an open-world facelift reminiscent of Forza Horizon 5. Set in sunny Hawaii, it’s a veritable festival of motor racing as we get the whole range of cars from modded Japanese rockets, American muscle, and even motorboats, motorcycles, and bi-planes. There’s something for everyone! Is there more than meets the eye with The Crew Motorfest or is it just riding Forza’s gilded coattails? Start your engines, racers, it’s time to soak up that sun, beach, and exhaust! https://youtu.be/ugKIELPN8mI?si=5oMIGj3_1HZ-Xo6X Ticket To Ride The Crew Motorfest continues with what previous installments have established, despite the new open-world direction. Don’t let the sunny disposition of the game lull you into thinking it has eschewed its street racing stripes; its DNA still remains strong with this title, you only need to look. While…

Starfield Review Starfield. One of the biggest games of the year and arguably one of the most important releases for Xbox in quite some time. The game carries with it the weight of past generations along with the dreams of a future where the company makes its long-awaited return to the top of the gaming world. Starfield is Bethesda’s first new IP in 25 years after a long line of Elder Scrolls and Fallout titles that players have enjoyed for years, so you can just imagine how much of a build-up this game has going for it. In a time when Xbox is slowly gaining momentum after a good year and some great showcases, the stakes have never been higher. It’s been described as “Skyrim in space,” and if that’s what the game is, then it has very big shoes to fill. But is it just that? Or does it…

When the Gran Turismo Movie was first announced, I was quite certain that I wasn’t the only one who let out an exasperated “what?!” How were Columbia Pictures and PlayStation Productions going to make a full-length film about a racing game that, historically, doesn’t have a story? It turns out they could, and they did. I’ve never been so glad to have been proven wrong, because the Gran Turismo Movie is actually really great and definitely worth a watch, whether you’re a fan of the series or not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5bV3p1Ui4k Before we dive into the movie, what exactly is Gran Turismo? As a brief backgrounder, Gran Turismo is a racing simulation video game series for the PlayStation, with the first game being released on the PlayStation 1 back in 1997. The series was created by Kazunori Yamauchi and was made to simulate or emulate the appearance and performance of real-world vehicles…

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Review The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is an asymmetrical horror game based on the iconic 1974 horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. I’m not a huge horror fan, but I know about it and the terrifying Leatherface, and if you do too, this game should have piqued your interest ever since it was first announced. Instead of going for the more obvious (arguably) third-person survival/action horror game a la Resident Evil, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre goes asymmetric, employing an intriguing 3v4 scenario that’s distinctly different from many similar titles that usually goes with a 1vX with an overpowered villain. It is, then, quite unfortunate because the game has some good bones, but there’s a distinct lack of meat that could have made it shine in a sea of asymmetrical horror games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxbEynEDY7Q If you’re unfamiliar with asymmetrical games, the loop consists of a “weaker”…

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon Review It’s been a while since the last Armored Core title, and fans of the series have been brimming with excitement ever since it was first announced late last year. With previews and a ton of new information going up last month, including our very own, it was almost safe to say that FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment have another banger on their hands with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is the latest installment in the series and one that we would say benefits from the many learnings of FromSoftware over the years. Their more recent titles were Soulslike, but doing so had them almost perfecting the formula that Armored Core VI benefits from in a big way. Friends, we’ve got another good one here, and Armored Core fans should be extremely psyched for it because it’s…

Immortals of Aveum Review Immortals of Aveum is a brand new first-person magic shooter from EA Originals and developer Ascendant Studios, helmed by Brett Robbins, who has worked on titles such as Dead Space and Call of Duty. Their industry goal is to create well-developed games of the highest quality, and with this as their first foray into the scene, they look to be starting on the right foot. Immortals of Aveum tells the story of Jak, a talented former street rat who has been recruited to become part of an elite battlemage force, The Immortals. They are tasked to win the Everwar with their longtime enemies, The Rasharn, led by the fearsome Sandrakk. All the while, the world of Aveum is ravaged by the Wound, an irreversible calamity that threatens to consume the world and all its inhabitants. Will Jak and the Immortals win this neverending war and ultimately…

Blasphemous 2 Review Blasphemous 2 is the new action platformer from Team 17 and The Game Kitchen, and a sequel to the cult classic Blasphemous. In this gothic-themed saga, we witness the return of The Penitent One, who is tasked to prevent the return of the Miracle. Having played the brutally difficult first game, Blasphemous 2 returns with the same brutality but with also a much more defined non-linear Metroidvania world and gameplay. Will it stand up to the original’s cult status? Take up your blade, Penitent One, and complete your Penance! https://youtu.be/9N_wPU58y7o The Weight of Sin Blasphemous 2 doesn’t waste any time onboarding you to the game. After you select from the three main weapons: Veredicto (the war censer), Ruego Al Alba (the scimitar), and Sarmiento & Centella (the rapier and dagger), you’re introduced to an initial boss fight that will basically outline what to expect in at least…

Vampire Survivors Switch Review Vampire Survivors took the gaming world by storm when it was first (officially) released back in October 2022. Owing to its absurdly simple yet addictive gameplay sprinkled with roguelite elements that keep players coming back for more, the game even took home the best game award during the BAFTA Game Awards earlier this year. The game was a perfect fit for the portable Steam Deck, and it would have been nice if it were more widely available on another handheld… Well, good news! Starting today, the game is finally available on the Nintendo Switch! The Switch release brings with it all post-launch updates, along with the latest feature in 4-player local couch co-op, so players are getting the latest and greatest version of the game. Safe to say, one of the best games of 2022 just got better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j2budq0Qpo For the uninitiated, the aim is to…

Remnant II Review Not having played the first game, I was looking forward to Remnant II due to two reasons – strong word of mouth from friends who played the original back in 2019 and my having played a 30-minute preview of it last month at Summer Game Fest. It indeed lived up to its “Dark Souls with guns” reputation, which immediately sold me on the prospect of the game. Playing it fully this time around, I think it says a lot about a game when it makes you want to check out its predecessor altogether because Remnant II is both fantastic and exhilarating for solo players, but even more so with a group of friends. It can get frustrating, but the feeling of progressing through the game far outweighs the frustration by a mile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU6_2QnhP3U&pp=ygUZcmVtbmFudCBpaSBsYXVuY2ggdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D Remnant II is a third-person shooter that offers procedural generation as the centerpiece of…

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC Review First released back in June of 2021, the dynamic duo of Ratchet & Clank have now jumped into another dimension, landing on Steam for this interdimensional PC port. Rift Apart was touted as a title that took full advantage of the blazing-fast SSD of the PS5 and something that could not have been possible in the previous console generation. It looked and played like a dream, with Ratchet, Clank, and the rest of the crew enjoying the fruits of the latest hardware that offered players a silky smooth experience and a charm that only the duo could provide. Fast forward to 2023, and now we see Rift Apart available on various PC configurations, with even the lowest spec not needing an SSD at all. Was the SSD a marketing ploy all along? How will our duo fare in this new and uncharted PC…

Around this time last month, we were neck-deep in using the 7th Generation Legion 5i Pro, a laptop that our sister site, Gadget Pilipinas, called the “Gaming Laptop to Beat” back in 2022. We took it for more than a spin, and despite its weight being an issue that prevented us from bringing it around wherever we would have liked, it was simply a powerful and capable laptop that met our needs and more. Lenovo Legion has recently unveiled its flagship products for the year and among them are the 8th Generation Legion Pro 7i and the Legion Pro 5i. Being the smaller brother, you’d expect the latter to be less capable, but equipped with a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700HX 2.1GHz and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX4060, this little beast packs a heavy punch in its equally heavy frame. Since we’ve gotten to try out the 7th Generation Legion Pro…

Exoprimal Review Exoprimal is the latest multiplayer third-person action shooter from Capcom after coming off an amazing run with successive hits including Resident Evil 4 Remake and Street Fighter 6. This brand-new IP involves a fast-paced competitive PvE experience that pits a team of 5 players versus a horde of dinosaurs. Is Dino Crisis making a comeback? Players take the role of Ace, a new recruit in the Aibius corporation. After an accident with his squad over Bikitoa Island, Ace finds themselves trapped in the Wargames set by its rogue AI, Leviathan. Transported three years into the past, Ace must work together with other variants to participate in Leviathan’s forced survival game. Will Ace succeed in each battle, find the truth about Leviathan, and ultimately escape Bikitoa Island? And what’s the deal with the dinosaur swarm? Strap on that Exosuit and let’s get primal! Exosuit and primal, get it? Like…

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Review Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a unique puzzle game that I assume many will not know of if it weren’t for this 2023 remaster. First released in the Nintendo DS in 2010 in Japan and in 2011 in the West, this quirky title may have slipped under the radar of most gamers, including myself. I’ll admit that while I’ve heard of it, I haven’t played the original, so my partner definitely hyped up this one for me enough to make a review. After playing it, I’d have to say that I’m glad that I discovered one of Capcom’s hidden gems. The gameplay may be familiar to players of the Ace Attorney games as the development and writing were spearheaded by Shu Takumi, the creator of the said franchise. Talk about a potent combination that really makes the game shine and is easily one title that…

Viewfinder Review Coming from Summer Game Fest last month, I was fortunate enough to try out a lot of the upcoming games that are going to be released in the next few months. Out of the many titles I’ve tried during the course of the event, there was one indie title that really left a mark on me and that was Viewfinder from Sad Owl Studios and Thunderful Games. It was the intriguing and innovative concept that got me, and while it’s something like what we’ve seen from Maquette and Superliminal, the execution side of it is rather brilliant. Over the 8 or so hours I poured into this game since the weekend, I was introduced to many mechanics that often impressed me and made me nod in amazement, something that persisted throughout the whole game. Fun fact, a portion of the development team that worked on the game is…

In case you haven’t watched Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in theaters yet, we have one question – why? Tom Cruise has been at it since 1996, and this time around, it seems like he hasn’t aged a day. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (we’ll just refer to it as Dead Reckoning Part One) is the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible movie series, which is based on the 1966 TV series of the same name. Dead Reckoning Part One continues the storyline of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout as we see Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) leading what is left of his IMF team – Luther (Ving Rhames), and Benji (Simon Pegg) – as they face off with an all-powerful villain called “The Entity,” which is seemingly Ethan Hunts’ most fearsome adversary yet. And when I say face off I do mean a lot of faces…