Reviews - Critical Chicken

Nintendo's key art for the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct stream

It’s easy to get swept up in how imaginative Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks. But is it really, or has New Super Mario Bros. just set the bar really low?

ReviewWednesday, 30th August 2023 by Matthew A Dungeon Master’s take on Baldur’s Gate 3

Our community loves a spot of D&D, so our resident DM Matthew investigates how Baldur’s Gate 3’s relative lack of freedom compares to real-life TTRPGs.

The player character looks out over the Paldea region from the top of a lighthouse

Review First impressionsFriday, 18th November 2022 by Mike Pretty, but patchy: were Pokémon Scarlet and Violet even designed for the current Nintendo Switch?

Sure, Game Freak aren’t known for well-optimised, performant code. But we’ve got other ideas about what’s caused the new Pokémon games’ issues.

An animated GIF showing Matthew's MetaHuman creation

Review PreviewsWednesday, 16th June 2021 by Matthew I accidentally created Zac Efron and Will Poulter’s lovechild in MetaHuman Creator

Sims 4-style people creation comes to Unreal Engine thanks to MetaHuman Creator. Matthew puts it through its paces with… uncanny results.

The Hungarian Empire's dour-looking ruler in Civ VI, Matthias Corvinus

ReviewSaturday, 9th March 2019 by Matthew Civilization VI is finally worth playing

As long as you’re willing to spend £109.97 on the base game and two DLCs, Civilization VI might finally have caught up with its predecessor.

Mass Effect's Kaiden Alenko, surrounded by cute pink love hearts

Review Second lookSunday, 2nd April 2017 by Matthew Mass Effect

Matthew takes a trip down memory lane, to the time of Red Rings of Death and teenage crushes on Kaiden Alenko. But does Mass Effect 1 still hold up?

An extreme close-up of Noodle from Snake Pass's face; he appears to be... sweating? Leaking? It's very distressing.

Best of ReviewSaturday, 1st April 2017 by Mike Snake Pass

How did a game with so much going for it, wriggle into so much trouble? Snake Pass is a slippery customer, and left Mike feeling conflicted and weird.

My first Splatoon 2 Turf War! My three teammates and I are posing at the spawn point.

Review PreviewsFriday, 24th March 2017 by Mike The Splatoon 2 Global Testfire is off to an amazingly fun start

Mike hesitantly dipped his toe into the Splatoon 2 ink and — despite some connection issues and a cluttered UI — was surprised to find he loved it.

Hitman's Agent 47 posing menacingly with a gun

ReviewSaturday, 11th June 2016 by Matthew Hitman

Alas, Hitman has jumped on the “episodic release” bandwagon. But are its developers justified, or is this just an excuse to hoard their players’ money?