What a throw back, remember demo discs?

I got 1 with the original xbox and there were actually quite a few games included. This was one of the games I always came back to. I thought this was a pretty solid fun game to play, and the soundtrack as I remember is reminiscent of an early 00's comedy film/tv show soundtrack.

Overall pretty enjoyable. Young me had a great time playing all sorts of different games. Not to mention that at this point of time I would of played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater/Underground as well, so a game like this was right up my alley.

I had actually gotten Homefront: The Revolution for free, and I didn't have any expectations with it.

This game for me is in the 'I didn't hate it but I didn't love it' category. I still thought it was an alright game with a fairly ok story to get through. It was still decent enough to play, and I thought there were a few ideas here and there that could of been expanded on. I also ended up playing Time Splitters II for a bit which is cool because I had never had the chance to play it. Cool little playable Easter egg.

Overall for me personally it'll likely remain in that category of just 'Yeah, it was alright. Didn't hate it, didn't love it but still played it start to finish'

I played Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures on PlayStation 2 originally, until the game was on Xbox GWG, so I thought it would be fun to jump back into this game. From memory the first time I played it on PS2 was 2008-ish?

This game was just fun and one of those games for me where it's just there almost as a 'Relaxation' game. I don't normally play a heap of Lego games as it is, but I'm glad I played it again.

Snakes. Why did it have to be Snakes

Battlefield Hardline delivers yet another first person shooter, but rather than being in a war setting this time around, it's in a police setting in Miami. With a focus of narcotics and crime, the story is presented in an episodic structure with 10 episodes playing as Detective Nick Mendoza.

With a decent story and ensemble of characters, it was very surface level characterisation and plot, with predictable twists. This isn't to say it wasn't enjoyable, because I still did have fun guns blazing every chance I got, and I did like playing in a different setting.

For me it wasn't until episode 5 where things started to ramp up and I started to enjoy it a lot more. I do like how they tried to shake up the formula in the franchise with this setting and structure, but it just needed a bit more time in the oven to flesh out characters a bit more.

i liked the environmental storytelling elements and finding clues for cases with the scanner. The soundtrack didn't stand out too much to me personally but it was still good and fit in well with the tone of the game.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty decent game that could have had a lot more going for it, but I also do appreciate shaking up the formula and breaking up the structure to experiment with something a little bit different.

Life is Strange 2 once again provides another gripping emotional narrative in the series, and this mainline sequel follows brothers, Sean and Daniel, and their journey to reach Mexico after an incident takes place in their home town. With yet another powerful ability that they must learn to control throughout their journey.

Gameplay was pretty solid with lots of environmental storytelling of course. Lots of areas to explore and interesting people to interact with, as well as a branch of options and choices to pick from that impacts the narrative in your story.

The soundtrack as always presents a very Life is Strange style with the use of indie and post rock songs.

Overall an interesting story that develops the bond between two brothers trying to escape a traumatic time in their life. While I wish it had a bit more time with before the incident, still a solid game that I'm glad I got around to playing.

Moving Out is an enjoyable indie strategy game about, well, moving out! You play as a mover, in either solo or co-op mode, and your task is to move a variety of objects from places to the moving truck within a certain time limit.

With fun exaggerated physics alongside humorous dialogue and a snappy 80's inspired soundtrack, this is a game is worth playing. Whether you're looking for something fun to jump into or if you want to boost up your achievements/trophies score, this is the next game for you.

I was lucky enough to get this through xbox games with gold, and I honestly wasn't even expecting to enjoy this as much as I did.

Happy moving, throwing and breaking! Slap some ghosts n' mailboxes.

Call of Duty has been around since the 6th generation of consoles, and since that time the franchise has spanned a variation of sub series. Since being around in the early 2000's, the franchise has now reached a reboot era. Modern Warfare is set in a more modernised realistic setting, playing as three different characters throughout the story.

For me personally I mainly play Call of Duty for the single player campaigns, but I used to play multiplayer back in Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops I and Black Ops II days.

Modern Warfare follows CIA Officer Alex, British SAS Sergeant Kyle Garrick and Rebel Farah Karim from the fictional country Urzikstan. While these are the three playable characters, you also get teamed up with SAS Captain John Price as you hunt down terrorists with dangerous chemical gas that could lead to WW3.

With variation of gameplay including using plane drones to blow up enemies/vehicles in a particular area, using a laser pointer to mark an air hit and stealth sections to sneak past were implemented well to break up the formula of only guns and grenades.

Level designs were adequate, and especially good with the design of Piccadilly, London. The sound design was immaculate, and the soundtrack was exceptionally great with another fantastic soundtrack from Sarah Schachner featuring Mike Dean on some tracks.

The story itself from the get go was boots on the ground and oh-crap-where-the-bloody-hell-is-that-shooting-coming-from! moments. With an emphasis on a more realistic setting with intense shoot outs, torture scenes and house raids using night vision goggles, it can quickly become overwhelming. For me personally what stood out to me was exploring Farah's backstory, using the laser pointer to demolish enemies and any time I had to use night vision goggles.

Overall a pretty decent game with an emphasis on more realistic settings with different perspectives of each character's position. While the game from the start wasn't slow so to speak, for me it wasn't until towards the end of the game it started to build up more, but by the time it does it ends. I personally can't wait for the sequel and where the franchise will go from here.

A fun rhythm action rail game that does a spectacular job with lobbing obstacles at you while you grind the railing to the music blasting at you. Aaero throws you in each level with a short time to see what's ahead.

I managed to get through a few songs and I enjoyed my time with it, but this is a game you really have to put all your time and energy into if you want to hear every song in the game. Kudos to you achievement hunters!

Overall Aaero is a creative, innovative rhythm game with pulsating songs, and clever unique ways to deliver the songs in a visual form that works well.

Gets jumped scared once....Well that's one way to get the heart racing bloody hell!

Welcome to the Game is a puzzle game where you navigate the deep web using an anonymous browser to search websites you couldn't find with a regular search. So, you can probably imagine what kind of disturbing things pop up when you click each link. Your goal is to find a code to find and access the disturbing red room.

Going into this game I kind of knew what to expect (but waaay more disturbing than I thought). It was on sale on steam a few weeks ago for $2.70 or something like that? So I figured eh, why not! What's the worst that could happen?

That first jump scare alone got me good. If only I was recording myself with a mic and camera, that legit would have been hilarious to post.

The entire time I was playing it was of course already intense, but the slow build up of anticipation of being snuck up on - and I cannot stress this enough - was so damn creepy I wanted to stop playing. I pushed though, and usually I'm good with horror games, but this game was just another level of being freaked out. With most games I play I like to play through the entire campaign, even if I'm not enjoying it as much. However, in this rare instance ... I think... I've seen enough. I've experienced it, I can add it to my list but yeah.. not sure if I will come back to it right away.

Considering I haven't completed the entire game, for now I am just going to give my impression rating based on 89 minutes of play time (though i'm sure it counts when you pause the game because I did that a bit lol)

Sports games for the most part are usually an enjoyable, fun experience alongside having a popping memorable soundtrack. I’ve played a few different sport games including various Basketball games, but this was my first time playing an actual 2K NBA game. As it was free with my newly fresh Xbox Series X, I was happy to get a free game even if it’s not one I would usually play. The NBA series has been around for a few console generations now, releasing year after year so it usually gets a mention, especially with the last few years with controversies such as the battle of microtransactions and glitchy games just to name a few. So, despite all this how many hoops did I shoot?

A few. I shot quite a few hoops;
There is a variation of game modes to play; including MyCareer which is essentially a main campaign, Park which is a casual street match, MyLeague, MyTeam, PlayNow Online, Blacktop and a quick play mode. You can also create your own NBA character and choose from Men and Women’s leagues which is cool to see.
I stuck to playing a few quick play matches, and logged a few hours in MyCareer which I thought was fine, nothing groundbreaking you just play matches and use social media to see fan feedback, things you can post to share to your social media which can boost your team’s popularity and text your team.

The gameplay itself felt fine to me, however it was sometimes a bit overwhelming with remembering what button does what; so I stuck to the basics (run n shoot). It took me a while to train myself to not use the a or b button to take a shot.

As mentioned before, sports games, at least to me, usually have a kick-ass soundtrack with a variation of genre and artists and NBA 2K21 was no exception, ranging from Hip-Hop, R&B and Rap just to name a few.

Pros: The Soundtrack and freedom to customise your character’s backstory/position on the court.
Cons: I believe this may have just been my TV as well, and I’m normally not one to nit pick with graphics but this game didn’t feel up to what the graphics should be in contemporary time.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to play the campaign again, maybe on the occasion I’ll boot it back up for a few quick game matches but other than that I don’t see any replay value.

I was a bit unimpressed with how it looked for an Xbox Series X game; although I feel my TV may have contributed to that as well.

I only stuck to MyCareer and quick game matches, so I can't speak on behalf of any other game mode.

I managed to get a few achievements but I wont go out of my way to get more or invest time. With some of these achievements or trophies, it requires a bit of time and effort.

Overall the game was fine, I had some fun, shot some hoops and found a few songs from the soundtrack to add to my spotify playlist.

2.5/5

Introduction
Picture it. It’s E3 2018, you’re watching the first announcement trailer for Halo Infinite, but at the time you didn’t know it was for Halo Infinite. 2 minutes later, you hear the iconic Halo chime and Master Chief’s helmet. HALO INFINITE shows on screen; Halo is back!

Serving as the sixth main game in the Halo franchise, Halo Infinite takes place in the year 2560, six months after the Master Chief is hurled off the UNSC Infinity by Banished leader, Atriox. A pilot named ECHO 216 eventually finds Chief floating in space, and thus begins your journey into the new generation of Halo, and the Chief’s fight against the Banished which takes place on a Forerunner ring known as Zeta Halo (or also known as Installation 07). Infinite is the first game in the franchise to include an open world environment filled with side missions, new gadgets and gameplay elements; so, how does it hold up?

Story
Continuing after the events of Halo 5, Infinite was a long-awaited game (6 years!), and fans, old and new alike, were eager to know what direction the franchise was going to take. Right off the bat, Infinite’s story is good- for the most part- however, some aspects weren’t developed enough or didn’t flow as well into the story as I hoped. Without dipping into spoiler territory, there are a few things you see/encounter that can be a little confusing and even feels missing. Even as someone who has played since Combat Evolved, remembering everything about the Halo universe can sometimes be a little tricky to remember. The ending of Infinite raises more questions than answers, and players are left wondering. While I’m still excited for the sequel and where this direction will go, some answers and clarity would be good.
After being rescued by ECHO 216, Master Chief immediately wants to stop the banished once and for all (of course). While the unnamed pilot is reluctant to at first, eventually they travel to Zeta Halo which has been damaged. While searching on the ring, Master Chief finds an A.I named “Weapon” and retrieves it. Throughout the story, the new A.I is your companion that helps you navigate the open world and discover Zeta Halo’s secrets, while your other companion, Echo 216, delivers you vehicles at captured FOB’s to assist your journey along the way. Both new characters brought a significant presence into the story, which intertwined well with both side missions and main missions. While I liked the interaction with all three characters, it left me wanting a little bit more character development, and with more interaction with Master Chief. We know that Master Chief, John, is the ultimate super solider human that is capable of taking down an entire swarm of enemies, I would have personally liked to have seen a bit more of his humanity through his interactions with ECHO 216 (Fernando).

Gameplay
Speaking of taking down an entire swarm of enemies, Infinite’s new gameplay mechanics allows you to do more than just jumping and sprinting. You can upgrade these gadgets by looking for Spartan Cores that are scattered throughout Zeta Halo. You can now; and I cannot emphasize how much I loved using this gadget; a grappleshot that you not only zip around and climb cliffs with, but you can zip and throw explosive coils at enemies, and it is so much fun and satisfying. You also get access to upgrading your shield core, using a threat sensor that highlights where enemies are in red, a drop wall and a boost thruster. Each of these gadgets were perfectly crafted for this experience, though it can take a while to get used to using the D pad to switch between. Fighting enemies is still the same as previous instalments, just with more gadgets to use.
The open world aspect: Oh I’m just gonna say it; is very, very good. Though I felt the flow of the main story can throw you off a bit with this aspect, once you get back to the linear main missions it shifts back into gear. There are plenty of open world side missions for you do to (and achievement hunting!). You can help secure the UNSC’s presence on the ring by capturing FOB’s, helping squads in distress, taking down banished groups/areas, shooting down propaganda towers, collecting Spartan Cores to upgrade your gadgets, exploring new structures, and searching for Mjolnir cosmetics for multiplayer. Included is also environmental storytelling elements with UNSC and Banished audio logs that are dispersed on Zeta Halo. Though they are not all in the open world area, some are located in linear mission areas. So, if you’re looking to get all the achievements for finding audio logs, you’ll have to get them in one go as the game, as of writing this review, does not currently have any replay options like previous Halo instalments. For me I didn’t mind the audio logs as it did provide an interesting insight into what had to other Spartans, however I was hoping to hear more about previous characters such as the Arbiter.

Graphics
Incredibly smooth, even from my current TV that is so old, it has a 720p option (don’t worry I’ll be getting a new TV soon)

Soundtrack
Digging into what you hear, Infinite’s soundtrack is composed by Gareth Coker, Curtis Schweitzer and Joel Corelitz. They beautifully crafted the hopeful sound, while also capturing atmospheric tones of previous Halo games, while blending it flawlessly into Infinite’s own distinguishing soundtrack.

Level Design
However it doesn’t stop there, as soundtrack isn’t the only thing that that blends a homage into Infinite’s world, as the open world and building designs are very reminiscent of Combat Evolved levels, including levels such as Halo and The Library.

Replay value
Infinite has enough replay value to draw you back in if you’re wanting to go back to start mopping up or picking up the rest of the achievements. Story wise, replay value is up to you and whether you liked it. Personally, I know I’ll be jumping into it again at some point (and mop up the rest of the achievements because I missed a few audio logs)

Conclusion
Overall, what stood out as strengths for me was 343’s ability to pull off a marvelously, well-crafted open world aspect to a Halo game. I honestly applaud them, because it really could have been a hit or a miss-but I’m so glad they knocked that out of the ring. While I am also incredibly impressed with the fun, stylistic variation of gameplay mechanics (throwing explosive coils at enemies anyone?) the story itself was the only thing I found most issue with. As I mentioned it is still a good game and there were a lot of genuine fantastic story moments, however I wish some story elements flowed just a little bit better. A fine addition to the collection of the Halo franchise, and a welcome to old and new players experiencing the new generation of Halo.