Reviews

Latest Reviews

  • Review Mega Man Legacy Collection (Xbox One)

    Cheap Man

    When Capcom first announced that they'd be bringing a collection of Mega Man games to modern consoles, everyone was a little bit light-headed at the prospect of the sheer number of titles that the package would contain. Given that the core series debuted with the original Mega Man on the NES in 1987 and saw its last release in 2010 with...

  • Review Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Xbox One)

    Seeing double

    Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a journey. One that explores mature themes of family and loss while retaining it's ability to be utterly endearing. If you are one of the many people who experienced and thoroughly adored the story when it was released on Xbox 360 in 2013, you may well understand how excited we were to be able to play...

  • Review Adventures of Pip (Xbox One)

    Hip to be square

    Another day, another retro-styled platformer hits the Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program. That's not necessarily a bad thing when the idea behind the game is as compelling as the one that features in Adventures of Pip, though. The evil Queen DeRezzia has kidnapped the Pixel Kingdom's princess and is hell bent on destroying the entire...

  • Review Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings (Xbox One)

    LittleBigLeague

    It feels like ages since an Xbox console has received a great baseball game. The MLB 2K series was mediocre for years before retiring its number, and the mobile-quality R.B.I. Baseball games aren't exactly doing anything to impress on home consoles that are capable of much more. If you think back to The Bigs 2 on Xbox 360 and EA's...

  • Review ZOMBI (Xbox One)

    Scratching the glitch

    When it was confirmed a while ago that the sequel to 2012's Wii U exclusive ZombiU had been canned, most thought that the series was a goner. That would be a shame, given that the survival-horror title brought with it more innovation than people give it credit for. It wasn't just a straight-up gorefest that required you to scan...

  • Review Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians (Xbox One)

    Get down

    In a period of time where pretty much any relatively average indie game ports are practically falling from the skies and on into the Xbox Store, it's nice to see that some of the more ingenious titles of the last few years haven't been neglected. Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is very much one of those ingenious romps, blending puzzles...

  • Review Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut (Xbox One)

    Much more than your average puzzler

    On the surface, Q.U.B.E - or Quick Understanding of Block Extrusion, if you want to get technical - is a physics-based 3D puzzler. The player, with the aid of a rather nifty pair of high-tech gloves, manipulates a variety of coloured blocks in order to solve puzzles and escape from the mysterious, sterile white...

  • Review Rare Replay (Xbox One)

    From Rare with love

    To celebrate its 30th year as a developer, Rare has crammed 30 of its games into a single package for just $30. Not only does that make for a brilliantly-coordinated promotion, it also makes for a value almost unheard of for a new release. Instead of breaking down each individual game in this collection, which would push us well...

  • Review Beyond Eyes (Xbox One)

    A case of perspective

    Here at Pure Xbox we pretty much always write articles from the third person perspective. It allows us to present a more professional tone, we feel. From time to time, the Editor (hey there!) will pen an Editor's Opinion piece from his own point of view but other than that, the third person perspective is the order of the day...

  • Review Squid Hero for Kinect (Xbox One)

    Less than ink-redible

    While developers seem to be moving ever farther away from Kinect in general, one developer seems to be most definitely leaning toward it, creating Kinect-specific digital experiences to keep fans of the device amused. That developer is Virtual Air Guitar Company - the team behind Boom Ball for Kinect – and they're back again...

  • Review Tachyon Project (Xbox One)

    Quickfire

    Another month, another neon-infused twin-stick shooter for Xbox One. It can get tiresome with the same old gameplay being trotted out time and again with just a minor twist here or there to differentiate the current title from the others, but to write Tachyon Project off due to the sins of the games that have come before it would be wrong...

  • Review Tembo the Badass Elephant (Xbox One)

    Here comes the boom

    Tembo the Badass Elephant is a 2.5D side-scrolling action game with a hand-drawn comic book art style that somewhat resembles Regular Show and other Cartoon Network cartoons. When the evil Phantom Commander and his loyal army take over Shell City, the military calls on the aid of Tembo the elephant, drawing him out of retirement...

  • Review Spectra (Xbox One)

    Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat.

    When it comes to retro racers on Xbox One, there's something of a shortage. Sure, there are a few arcade racers kicking about, but nothing that could really be described as harking back to days of old. Spectra: 8-bit Racing promised to fill that gap, providing a chiptune-powered and neon-cloaked experience...

  • Review F1 2015 (Xbox One)

    Burnt out

    Finally, it's time for a little Formula One action in the current generation. If you put aside the cameo appearances of F1-style cars in other titles, we've yet to get our F1 fix on Xbox One. That was due to Codemasters deciding that they were going to release F1 2014 for last-gen machines back in September, whilst creating a "new...

  • Review Sparkle Unleashed (Xbox One)

    The sincerest form of flattery

    Back in the very early days of the Xbox 360, one of the first titles to help shape the idea of what Microsoft's then-innovative Xbox Live Arcade service could be was PopCap's Zuma. The game was a rightfully popular puzzler which tasked players with firing coloured marbles into a rapidly-advancing line of similar...

  • Review Payday 2: Crimewave Edition (Xbox One)

    A Complete Bust

    Last year, several notable releases found themselves under scrutiny for releasing in a broken state. Sadly, this trend has continued into 2015 as yet another broken game is available for purchase. This time around it is publisher 505 Games who have put a horrendous version of Overkill Software's popular cooperative shooter Payday 2...

  • Review Quantum Rush: Champions (Xbox One)

    A bit too rushed

    There are a lot of people out there clamouring for F-Zero and Wipeout to make a proper return on current hardware. Unfortunately, neither of these classic series have plans to stage a comeback any time soon (not that we know of, at least). It's not all bad news, though, because games like FAST Racing NEO and Quantum Rush Champions...

  • Review Shooting Love 200X (Xbox 360)

    Bad romance

    It isn't every day that a Japanese-made title is released worldwide for either of the currently-available Xbox platforms. Shooting Love 200X came out of absolutely nowhere when it was released back in April for Xbox 360 and was very much a surprise release, especially when you consider that it was first published in Japan back in...

  • Review Batman: Arkham Knight (Xbox One)

    Tanks for the memories

    When it was announced that the Batmobile would be making its début in Arkham Knight, there was much skepticism amongst fans of the Arkham series. While the promise of commanding such a capable vehicle and battling an army of tanks sounded like a blast on its own, the concern resided with how this method of transportation...

  • Review Le Tour De France 2015 (Xbox One)

    Pedal pusher

    As a rule, the phrase "fans of the series/sport/show will love it" is one that reviewers should try to avoid. The reason is simply because the statement is pretty much redundant. If you're a fan of watching paint dry, then you'll probably be far more forgiving about the shortcomings of Paint Drying Simulator 2015 than you would be about...

  • Review Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition (Xbox One)

    From Nero to hero!

    If anyone has spent time browsing comment sections on news articles or internet forum threads, they have surely noticed that people like to complain about remakes and remasters – specifically Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games that were already in high definition. But this backlash hasn't stopped Capcom from remastering both...

  • Review SteamWorld Dig (Xbox One)

    Dig and You Might Strike Oil

    Swedish developer Image & Form has been bringing SteamWorld Dig to every available system. This means that one system is going to receive the game last and in this case it's Microsoft's home console. If you're counting, the Xbox One version of SteamWorld Dig is the sixth time players have had a chance to purchase...

  • Review Beach Buggy Racing (Xbox One)

    Lacking engine-uity

    Ever since the legendary Super Mario Kart made its first appearance on the SNES back in 1992, it really does feel as if every publisher has tried to emulate its success. Shrek, Looney Tunes, Sonic, Bomberman, Digimon, LittleBigPlanet, Crazy Frog, Crash Bandicoot, Madagascar, The Muppets, South Park and more have been cynically...

  • Review BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition (Xbox One)

    Flight of the clones

    It feels wrong to mention Flappy Bird and BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition in the same sentence, but there's no way around it: BADLAND plays a lot like Flappy Bird. Pressing the A-button to ascend, and simply releasing to let gravity do its job, this physics-based sidescroller is all about avoiding a gamut of hazards and...

  • Review Spy Chameleon (Xbox One)

    Changing Colour

    Stealth has been a long-standing staple in video games since the early '80s, when games like Castle Wolfenstein popularized the genre. Since then, stealth games have evolved into very complicated, system-heavy genre in their current form. It can be quite daunting for new players to jump in, which is why Unfinished Pixel's Spy...

  • Review The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Xbox One)

    Absolutely magical

    The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an intimidating game. It's one of the largest open world games we've ever played, with a plethora of endless side content and explorative tasks. It can often feel very overwhelming, and for those of you that like to clear every icon on your map, well, you're going to have your work cut out for you. The...

  • Review The Swapper (Xbox One)

    Who Knows?

    In 1885, German biologist Hans Driesch demonstrated that you could produce two sea urchins from a single embryo cell. Ever since then, society has been intrigued by cloning and the controversial practice has continued to this day. It's a tricky subject to discuss due to the many moral issues surrounding cloning. Should man play God? How...

  • Review Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark (Xbox One)

    Dead and Alive

    Even for the most open-minded gamers, it is easy to roll your eyes at the thought of playing through yet another puzzle-platform game. It seems like a new one releases every week that promises a unique hook that will turn the genre on its head. This is rarely the case though, as not every game can be as brilliant as Braid or Fez. The...

  • Review Farming Simulator 15 (Xbox One)

    The amber waves of groan

    It almost goes without saying that Farming Simulator 15 will be a divisive game. On a platform filled to the brim with shooters, racers and sports simulations, the simple fact is that a very large portion of the market will just simply not understand the attraction of planting crops and harvesting them for money. On the...

  • Review Mega Coin Squad (Xbox One)

    Money.

    Couch-based multiplayer has been falling away in recent years but, with the rise of indie developers who are keen to see it make a comeback, more and more titles seem to be remembering that pretty much every console ever made supports more than one controller being in use at a time. This resurgence is most definitely occurring on the Xbox One...