Xbox Series X|S Game Reviews
Review Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake (Xbox) - Square Enix's Beloved Classic Gets A Makeover
Square Enix's HD-2D boom continues
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is a full remake of "one of the greatest RPGs of all time" according to Square Enix. Originally released as
Exclusivity-Endedman
Death Stranding seemed to cause way more division that we thought it would when it released back in 2019. Some folk found it boring and bland, others were confused by the (confusing) plot, nonplussed by the lack of action, whilst more still just sorta thought it was way too long and ponderous. Make no mistake, it still reviewed...
Review Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Xbox) - Game Pass Gets A Cracking New COD
Calling all Game Pass recruits
It's that time of year once again - a brand-new Call of Duty game is upon us, as the nights start drawing in and the sound of teenagers raging at their pals online becomes ever-present around the world. This year though, things are a little different - Microsoft now owns the franchise and has delivered Black Ops 6 to...
Review Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Xbox) - Bioware Is Back On Form With An Inquisition-Besting Banger
Blight here, blight now
Dragon Age is finally back, and, let's just get it out of the way in the first sentence - BioWare has officially ended its recent poor run of form in spectacular fashion! We feel like we have to say it straight away, after the waiting we've all done. It's been a full decade since the glory of Dragon Age: Inquisition,...
Review Sonic X Shadow Generations (Xbox) - Shadow's New Chapter Shines Bright
A history of the 'Ultimate Lifeform'
In case you somehow missed it, 2024 is the year of 'Shadow the Hedgehog' - with his live-action movie debut scheduled for December, and a new game chapter now available as part of Sonic X Shadow Generations. To reiterate, you’re not only getting a remaster of 2011's Sonic Generations, but also included is an...
Review Alan Wake 2: The Lake House (Xbox) - Connecting The Dots To Control
Remedy doing Remedy things
It was a long old wait for Alan Wake 2 to finally launch on Xbox late last year, and now Remedy is wrapping up the game's DLC plan with The Lake House expansion. Yep, it's finally time to say goodbye to the second instalment of Alan Wake - and the team has spent its final few moments here building out the Remedy universe...
Review A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (Xbox) - An Immersive Adventure That Demands Caution
Take it nice and slow
The A Quiet Place films have burst onto the scene in recent times to form a new horror franchise - with three entries spanning the last six years or so in the movie world. As the name suggests, this series centres around humans having to stay deadly quiet to survive, as an alien species threatens to wipe them out at even the...
Review Aaero 2 - A Top-Tier Xbox Console Exclusive For Fans Of Rhythm Games
Crank your speakers up to 11 for this one
Back in 2021, Xbox fans were treated to a new Games with Gold addition in the form of Aaero. It had actually been available on the platform since 2017, but its GwG inclusion quickly opened it up to a much larger audience. At the time, we told Pure Xbox readers that Aaero was "well worth a download" via the...
Review Starship Troopers: Extermination (Xbox) - A Schlocky Good Time That Needs TLC ASAP
How'd ya like some bugs with your bugs, trooper?
There's been a lot of interest from console-exclusive gamers in the past 12 months-or-so in seeing Offworld's janky-but-fun Starship Troopers: Extermination make the leap from PC - where it's been in early access since mid-2023. Now, with a full 1.0 release finally in the wild, we've got a chance to...
Review Metaphor: ReFantazio - Atlus Proves It's Still The King of JRPG-Land
School's Out
It seems odd now, looking back, that we hadn't really been particularly excited for Metaphor: ReFantazio over the past couple of months. Maybe it's the fact we've played so many Persona revamps and remakes lately, but something or other has had us feeling as though a return to similar JRPG ground was gonna take a lot of digging in,...
Review Undisputed (Xbox) - Finally, The Wait For A New Boxing Game Is Over
Update: Our final score is in!
Update: This review was originally "in-progress" while we tested out the multiplayer side of things, and has now been updated with an new paragraph about the online experience along with a final "Good" score of 7/10. What happened to all the boxing games on Xbox? That's a question we've been asking for the past...
Review Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (Xbox) - A Super Take On Budokai Tenkaichi
Your wish has been granted
Dragon Ball fighting games have a rich history, but one series that has arguably ascended above the rest is Budokai Tenkaichi. Since the original title was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2005, these games (known as the ‘Sparking!’ series in Japan) have been expanded upon – recreating the legendary battles and...
Review The Patrick Star Game (Xbox) - SpongeBob's Best Character Deserved Better
Bikini bottom of the barrel
Are ya ready, kids? To be honest, probably not. Following on from last year's The Cosmic Shake, the SpongeBob IP is back again for another Xbox outing - this time starring everyone's favourite cartoon starfish, Patrick Star. However, this SpongeBob spin-off really does feel like cutting room floor leftovers after the last...
Starship Poopers
Well, this is a bit unexpected. As big fans of Starfield, who had plenty good to say about the base game upon release, we were pretty sure that Shattered Space was going to be a slice of DLC that was right up our intergalactic street. Sure, there were plenty of reasons to be irked with this hugely-anticipated sci-fi universe when...
Review Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns (Xbox) - A Pricey Expansion That Doesn't Last Long
Is it worth your hard earned koins?
A year after the release of Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm Studios has now delivered Khaos Reigns - a story expansion for Liu Kang’s new era. Titan Havik is craving even more "kombat" after the finale of the main game and is now out to plunge the realms into chaos by merging the timelines. And so, the story begins...
Anyone for tennis?
Let's be honest, none of us were expecting much from Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports. We've been burned too many times with collections like these in the past, and even though the studio behind it created the fun Nickelodeon Kart Racers games, we've not really seen anything to suggest Wacky World of Sports could be an unlikely...
Review Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (Xbox) - Nintendo Wii Classic Gets A Modern Makeover
A lovingly-crafted remake
Hopefully you'll forgive us for not having that much experience with the original Disney Epic Mickey for Nintendo Wii, as although the sequel arrived on Xbox 360 in 2012, Xbox fans have never been treated to the first entry in this series until now. It's been a long wait, but the good news is that developer Purple Lamp has...
A bit Lionel Messy, innit
It's EA FC's second season filling a FIFA-shaped hole in our hearts wallets and, after a strong debut that we scored 8/10 last year, we've been feeling pretty optimistic about how this new series could look to cement itself in 2025. As it turns out, it's a new tactical depth, in the form of FC IQ, that EA FC 25 is choosing...
Review Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (Xbox) - Capcom Classic Gets No-Frills Upgrade
We wanted more deluxe
Dead Rising is back. Yep, a solid eight years on from 2016's Dead Rising 4, Capcom returns to its whacky zombie-slaying series with what's now a second re-do of the Xbox 360 original. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is certainly a more comprehensive overhaul than the game's Xbox One release, with vastly improved visuals, steadier...
Review Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP (Xbox) - The Cheerleader Zombie Hunter Juliet Returns
A remaster of an Xbox 360 cult classic
Lollipop Chainsaw started out as a light-hearted collab between No More Heroes designer ‘Suda51’ and the eventual Guardians of the Galaxy movie director James Gunn when it originally debuted on the Xbox 360 in 2012. Since then, the legendary zombie hunter Juliet has become a bit of a cult hit, with her...
Review NBA 2K25 (Xbox) - The Best NBA 2K To Date Is Marred Somewhat By Microtransactions
Hoop dreams, and microtransaction nightmares
We didn't get a chance to review 2K's NBA offering in 2024, but after playing the game in our own free time, we found ourselves hanging up our Air Jordans in pretty short order, as the whole thing just felt way too familiar to 2023's effort - which we'd already pumped hundreds of hours (and an...
Review Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (Xbox) - An Open World Racer That Needed More Time To Shine
This crown needs polishing up
Disclaimer: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown has been suffering from some major server issues since its early access launch on September 5th, and given that the game is always-online, we've deducted an extra point off the score as a result. Without these issues, we'd be looking at one point higher than what the game has...
Review Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions (Xbox) - An Enjoyable And Surprisingly In-Depth Sports Game
Oliver Wood be proud
You know, if there's one thing that Hogwarts Legacy didn't do very well a couple of years ago, it was the total lack of playable Quidditch. The reason behind that was seemingly because Warner Bros. and developer Unbroken Studios were working on Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions in the background, and although it appears to have...
Review Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 (Xbox) - Swarm Tech Shines In A Superbly Brutal Co-Op Shooter
A swarm feeling inside
Know that bit in a big action movie where two beefy bruisers spot each other from a distance and then square off in the midst of an enormous battle? Lesser enemies unceremoniously brushed aside as these behemoths charge at each other for a proper beatdown? Well, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 gives you that. It lets you do...
Review The Casting Of Frank Stone (Xbox) - Supermassive Delivers Engaging Small Town Horror
Popcorn at the ready
Creepy abandoned sawmills, labyrinth-like basements, imposing stately homes in the English countryside, small-town teens trying to keep their hormones in check. Aye, The Casting of Frank Stone isn't exactly original, but Supermassive Games has delivered yet another popcorn horror experience that we can't say we didn't enjoy...
Review Age Of Mythology: Retold (Xbox) - Microsoft's Godly RTS Classic Revitalised
Go beyond history
Age of Mythology might not be a major numbered entry, but it's still played a significant role in the Age timeline – transitioning the series from 2D to 3D following the success of Ensemble's real-time strategy king, Age of Empires II. Mythology wasn’t just there to fill the void when it landed on PC in 2002 and is still...
Review Star Wars Outlaws (Xbox) - Robust Stealth & Immaculate Vibes Make For A Super Star War
Hokey Religions And Ancient Weapons Are No Match For A Good Blaster At Your Side, Kid
Alright. Let's not beat about the space bush here. We genuinely thought that Star Wars Outlaws could have turned out pretty bad. A mediocre-at-very-best sort of affair. Just reskin any old Ubisoft-style open world game with Star Wars stuff and be done with it...
Review Kena: Bridge Of Spirits (Xbox) - Slick Combat & Cute Companions Smooth Over Some Rough Spots
Spirited Away?
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was well-received by the majority of critics when it first released as a PlayStation exclusive back in 2021. A slick and incredibly good-looking action RPG - as well as an extremely impressive first effort from Ember Lab - it may lack the polish and fancy final touches of some of Sony’s other big tentpole...
Review Star Wars: Bounty Hunter - After 22 Years, Jango Fett's Adventure Comes To Xbox
Is this the way?
Jango Fett isn’t quite as famous as his son (or even Dinn Djarin from The Mandalorian) but during the height of the movie prequel trilogy, he was lucky enough to get his very own game - known as Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. This title never actually got released on the original Xbox, but now, after more than 20 years, Force-sensitive...
Review F1 Manager 2024 (Xbox): The Best And Most Affordable Version Yet
A place on the podium
When F1 Manager first arrived on Xbox a few years ago as a brand-new franchise from the simulation geniuses at Frontier Developments, we were genuinely surprised at how well they'd managed to combine the thrill of EA's F1 series with the addictive strategy elements of Motorsport Manager. Then, F1 Manager 2023 ended up being a...
