Games Review - Avowed

Avowed is a return to that traditional action RPG comfort food we know and love. 

Set in the fantasy universe of Pillars of Eternity, this is a game that’s filled with all out favourite RPG cliches.

Author - Amy W

It's like standing around a campfire with my party members to exchange dark backstories and unresolved traumas, and looting every single slain enemy before their corpse has even begun to cool. 

The writing, world-building, and open-world maps are all quite good, and running around lobbing deadly spells at reanimated skeletons and violent lizardfolk to claim shiny new gear is as entertaining as you might expect, if not exactly breaking new ground. That’s a bit of a trend, actually: Avowed draws so much from the Skyrims and Dragon Ages of the past that it ends up an overall unsurprising adventure that has few distinctive ideas to call its own.

Microsoft's impact on the gaming industry

Games Review - Sniper Elite: Resistance

As both a chosen Godlike infused with magical powers and the Emperor’s Envoy, your character is handed an almost reckless amount of authority to do as you please. Sent to the untamed continent of the Living Lands, your mission is to put a stop to a mysterious plague of madness—while also somehow finding time to help every random stranger with their personal troubles.

Your days will be spent exploring ancient, crumbling caves, sewers, and long-forgotten ruins in search of loot and XP, all while hacking away at monsters and wrongdoers with swords, bows, and spells. Yes, it’s the same tried-and-tested formula that’s defined Western RPGs for decades—but there’s a reason it’s stuck around. And to its credit, Avowed delivers on almost every aspect of it.

What's good about the game?

• Enjoyable exploration across a vibrant, eye-catching world
• A wide variety of powers to unlock and freely reset whenever you like
• Choices that genuinely shape the world around you

What needs improving

• Far too much bland, unnecessary dialogue in an all-too-generic fantasy setting
• Combat and progression systems are functional but uninspired—much like the game itself.

Final verdict

This is an ambitious action role-player, that’s very good at making you feel you have an impact on the world. There are clearly a lot of things that could be better but it's still an enjoyable game. If you have Xbox Game Pass, it's definitely worth playing. We are giving this game 7 out of 10.