Lego 2k Drive Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "Is it as good as Mario Kart?" 🏎️ @LEGO_2K_HUB @2K #LEGO2KDrive

Every time a new kart racer comes to market, be it badged as Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, or, somewhat oddly, Garfield, the first question everyone asks is, "Is it as good as Mario Kart?" and the answer, invariably, is no. Lego 2k Drive is the latest to come at the King, and while it does miss, it's a good game in its own right.

Kill It With Fire VR Review 7/10 "Lots and Lots Of SPIDERS!!!" 🕷️🔥 @KIWF_Game #IndieGames #GameDev

SPIDERS!

Still here? Well, they make some people run a mile so now they've all gone, let's talk about Kill It With Fire. Because this game features spiders. Lots and lots of spiders. 

Waaay back in the beforetime (1990), there was a movie called Arachnophobia, which also featured lots of spiders. If you haven't seen it, watch it, it's great. Anyway, the reason that comes to mind is one particular scene in which Jeff Daniels makes a flamethrower from a lighter and an aerosol can. This prompted a spate of arson-lite events at my school which resulted in a lot of kids nearly blowing their hands off with cans of Lynx Africa (which, by the way, smells even worse when it's lit), and general flame-based mayhem. 

Some 30-odd years later and Kill It With Fire comes to VR, giving you the opportunity to relive the excitement of the homemade flamethrower, but with none of the danger. 

But that isn't all. 

Pirates Outlaws XBOX Review 7/10 🏴‍☠️🦜 @FabledGame #IndieGames #GameDev

Like Willem Dafoe with Madonna’s hot candle wax, I really need to get something off my chest. Before I get into this review. Before I finish the delightful pain au chocolat sat next to me. It isn’t a comment on the game itself, merely the title. But oh, it grates. The game is called “Pirates Outlaws”. It’s tautologous nonsense. Though still a bit rubbish, I’d accept Pirate Outlaws or Pirates: Outlaws, at a push, but not that.

Sunrise GP Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "Weighty, Cel-Shaded, Synthwave Racing" 🏎️ @GamedustTT #IndieGames #GameDev

There have been some great arcade-style racing games released on Switch over the last couple of years, and Sunrise GP manages to create its own identity through mellow vibes and a surprising sense of weight in its mechanics.

Omen of Sorrow Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "The Horror! The Horror!" 👊 @eastasiasoft #IndieGame #GameDev

When one thinks of horror icons pugilistically going at it hammer and tongs in a video game environment, the Darkstalkers series springs to mind.

Bright, cartoonish and 2D, Capcom’s ‘90s one-on-one fighter stood apart from others in the genre by having instantly recognisable archetypes from the pantheon of horror for players to choose from and rain down violent misery upon their opponents.

The gothic horror lover in me always enjoyed the games and especially the characters within.

Eastasiasoft’s Omen of Sorrow takes the same idea in a different direction and the 3D visuals and gloomier, darker, more gothic take on things result in a solid fighting game, but one that perhaps doesn’t quite bring the personality that makes a game a classic.

Speedonauts PC Review 7/10 "Speedonauty, Very Nauty…" 🎿 @WorldAwayGames #IndieGames #GameDev

Alto, the lonely goatherd and toadly gnarly snowboarder have a lot to answer for. Fire up one of his adventures on your phone and time has a tendency to disappear. This sideways scrolling endless runner game had a beautiful simplicity to it and a series of increasingly difficult challenges that draws you back in. And draw me in they did.

So, when presented with the opportunity to take a closer look at World Away’s Speedonauts, I was excited, but also concerned about developing another snowsport addiction.

Catan Console Edition Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "I’m a pretty keen board gamer" 🧩 @DTGBoardgames #IndieGame #GameDev

I’ll preface this review by saying I’m a pretty keen board gamer. I’ve got a semi-regular gaming group, involving some other Games Freezer contributors, and we enjoy the odd weekend away getting stuck into tabletop delights, with Yellow Pages-esque rulebooks and hundreds of miniatures that end up all over the shop (looking at you, Endure the Stars).

Curiously though, before getting this for review I’d never played Settlers of Catan (or Catan, as it’s now officially called). It’s one of the board games that’s credited with bringing the hobby into the mainstream, with simple rules and fairly deep gameplay (at least, if you compare it to Scrabble).

Loretta Review 7/10 "A Nice-Looking Tense Horror Title" 🔪 @yabutuzoff @PixelHunted #IndieGame #GameDev

It’s 1947. You’ve just killed your useless writer husband and dumped him the well. Time to get out of town and start a new life… if only you could get into the safe where he’s locked away his final manuscript so you can make a decent payday from his publishers.

This is the setup for the tense and atmospheric Loretta, from developer Yakov Butuzoff. The game wears its influences on its sleeve, attempting to capture the paranoid vibes of Hitchcock movies like Vertigo, Dial M for Murder and a smidge of the desolate Psycho. Less a game and more of a visual novel, Loretta lets you guide the titular housewife through one of the worst weeks of her life while her sanity gradually crumbles under the weight of her past and her murderous inclinations.

Meg's Monster Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "If she cries, the whole world dies!" 👹 @OdencatGames #IndieGames #GameDev

Meg’s Monster on the Nintendo Switch is a Turn Based RPG that could also be classed as a pixel art visual novel-style video game.

In Meg’s Monster, you Take control of Roy the grumpy monster and you will be trying to help a lost little girl find her way home. 

Early on in the adventure you realise that if she cries, the whole world dies!

Risen Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "Risen Has Risen Again" 🏹 @Piranha_Bytes #GameDev #IndieGames

I originally played Risen back in 2010 on Xbox 360, it was a port that wasn’t particularly well-received at the time, but it came from a period of my life where I was hips deep into janky RPGs such as Boiling Point, Hard Truck Apocalypse, White Gold: War in Paradise and Precursors – so some dodgy controls, graphical glitches and ropey AI were par for the course for me at the time, and as such I had a lot of fun with Risen.

This re-release isn’t a re-master or remake – as the upcoming Gothic will be – but instead is a sort of lightly ‘touched-up’ version that adds full controller support, reduces – but doesn’t fully remove – loading times and has an improved UI. It does run at a mostly solid 60fps, which is a huge leap over the aforementioned Xbox 360 port, although probably level with the original PC version. 

Jitsu Squad Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 🔥 @Tanuki_Creative #IndieGame #GameDev

Jitsu Squad started out on Kickstarter a while back. After a successful campaign, it got a full Steam release, and now we welcome it to Switch. And welcome it we do, because this is one of those side-scrolling beat 'em ups that 

a) is the best genre ever 

and 

b) it could have come out in the 90s, with the (hand-drawn!) graphics, music and little touches we get.

Evil West PS5 Review 7/10 “A Fun, Old-School Shooter” 👹 @PlayEvilWest @transvaalgf #IndieGame #GameDev

I’ve had my eye on Evil West for some time, it had made a lot of lists in regard to ‘the best upcoming games of 2022’, I had seen gameplay and thought ‘this looks fun’ - which is pretty much how I would sum up the game, it’s really fun. It does not take itself very seriously and wears its heart completely on its sleeve, ‘this is absolute nonsense… but let’s have some fun on the way!’.

SAVE ROOM PS4 Review 7/10 "Rotate Your Eggs & Ammo" 🥚 @RatalaikaGames #IndieGames #GameDev

 
Watch Rich's Video Review for SAVE ROOM on the PS4. It's an inventory management puzzler that is strangely enjoyable and Zen. If you enjoyed Resident Evil 4 then you'll love this!

"When you enter a save room you know you are safe, no danger can come to you, you can relax. Take advantage of this short period of time to organize your inventory, heal your wounds and reload your weapons. Can you make all the items fit in your inventory?"

Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "Waaagh" 🔫 @RoguesideGames #GameDev #IndieGames

I’ve dabbled in several Warhammer games throughout my gaming career, but as far as I’m aware, I’ve never played a game in the 2D run ‘n gun genre – which is a genre that lends itself to co-op fun, which is lucky, as Shootas, Blood and Teef supports up to four players, good!

🐒🏝️ Return To Monkey Island Review 7/10 "The 90’s. If you’re too young to remember them, they were great." 🐒🏝️ @grumpygamer @terribletoybox #ReturnToMonkeyIsland

The 90’s. If you’re too young to remember them, they were great. Bands were cheap to go and see, you didn’t need to mortgage a kidney to heat your house or feed yourself, and beer was reasonably priced.

But none of that mattered to me back then because we had point-and-click adventures. Which were ace. 

🃏 Foretales Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "Sometimes You Want to Just Smash Some Heads" 🃏 @DearVillagers @foretales_game #GameDev #IndieGames

Card battlers have really become a thing in recent times. Series like Final Fantasy has had them as minigames for years, and then there's Witcher 3's Gwent, as well as standalone offerings like Slay the Spire and Monster Train.

Foretales sort of comes from this tradition, although here, the big focus is on the plot rather than battling. In this game, you progress the story by playing cards from your deck.

Depending on which character you use and your playstyle, you can mostly avoid enemies, instead moving through scenes with clever use of card effects.

👪 Family Man XSX Review 7/10 "Are you a family guy?" 👪 @brokenbears #IndieGames #GameDev

Family Man is a voxel-based, first-person adventure that puts you in the shoes of a man who must provide for his family in dire circumstances…and against the clock.

🏌️‍♂️⛳️ Cursed To Golf PS5 Review 7/10 “A Charming 2D Arcade Golf Game, That Might Make You snap a few clubs” 🏌️‍♂️⛳️ @ChuhaiLabs #IndieGames #GameDev

Seeing the term ‘roguelike golf adventure’ when I read a preview for this game had me very intrigued, it’s not a combination of words I thought I would ever see, it also combines two things that cause grown adults to curse, break the objects use to play it and utter the words “that’s it, it’s a stupid game, why the hell did I ever start playing this?

Where the hell are my blood pressure tablets… OK, just one more try”

😼 Astro Aqua Kitty Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "Mike, do you want to review Astro Aqua Kitty or Human Fall Flat?" "Oooh the cat one please!" 🙀 @TIKIPODltd #IndieGames #GameDev

Ever since Crash Bandicoot, I have had a rough relationship with games that look cute and friendly but are actually alarmingly difficult (cheers for the PTSD flashbacks Cuphead).

Astro Aqua Kitty is significantly less traumatising than those two but still offers a pretty hefty challenge and a surprisingly deep RPG system for a game about adorable cats in their adorable submarines.

💥 Bright Memory: Infinite Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 “The Little Console That Could” 💥 @FYQD_Studio #GameDev #IndieGames

The Switch will always have a place in my heart as “the little console that could”. 

Many unlikely games have made their way to Nintendo’s smash dual-function console, with the ports of DOOM, DOOM: Eternity and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus all delivering intense first-person action in the palm of your hand (albeit with many technical cutbacks).