There’s a fine line between repetition and redundancy, especially where video games are concerned. But while the time loop conceit of the third-person sci-fi shooter Returnal (PlayStation 5) may have goal-oriented gamers thinking they should take a pass, this game’s lather-rinse-repeat motif actually works to its advantage.
For more than twenty years, the good people at Housemarque have made a career out of top-down, twin-stick shooters. But while they’ve constantly pushed this genre’s conventions, they’ve also kept many of them alive, as evidenced by how their latest gun game, Nex Machina (PlayStation 4, PC), is less like their most recent arcade shooters, and more like the classics that inspired them.