2 Jul 2025
Kiborg Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "lock ‘n load...again, and again, and again" 👊💥 @SobakaStudio #IndieGame #GameDev
24 Jun 2025
PGA TOUR 2k25 PS5 Review 8/10 “Drive For Show, Putt For Dough” 🤑⛳
Well… I say ‘playing it’ but even though I do suck I still love being out on the course. I noticed for the previous instalment in the PGA2K series how many reviewers stated that they ‘tried golf once, sucked at it and would never play it again’ which is fine, you don’t have to do something in real life to review a gamified version of it, I'm neither a professional hitman nor have I ever been trapped in a town overrun by zombies, but I have reviewed games about those things and my knowledge and experience is a big fat zero.
20 Jun 2025
Jerry Anker and The Quest To Get Love Nintendo Switch Review (physical edition) 7/10 “An Extremely Graphic Adventure” 🍒💖 @FunboxMediaLtd #IndieGame #GameDev
⚠️WARNING, EXPLICIT CONTENT ⚠️
As I got older, and pornography (and dalliances with the fairer sex) became more readily available, adult gaming very much faded away, and even the more recent Leisure Suit Larry games – whilst having various positives – felt somewhat watered down when compared to previous counterparts. And so for a long while, the likes of Cobra Mission: Panic in Cobra City, and Knights of Xentar were far from my mind...
..until I caught wind of Ktulu Solutions’ Metropolis: Lux Obscura back in 2018, a game that – whilst flawed in tone – featured some saucy bare skin and reminded me of the seemingly lost adult genre – lost in a mainstream context, at least.
16 Jun 2025
CYBERCORP XBOX SERIES X Review 7/10 "It's the definition of a quick-couple-of-goes blast" 💥 @apcrol #IndieGame #GameDev
In the future, agents like you don't even need to leave the house to engage in corporate espionage - you can just upload your consciousness into a Synth, a tooled-up battle droid that does the hard work for you. Your former employer, the eponymous CyberCorp, has found a rat within their ranks, and has engaged the shadowy Operator as the middleman who sets you the task of rooting them out.
11 Jun 2025
Stunt Flyer Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "A fun title for casual pilots, tally-ho!" ✈️ @TorusGames @ULTGames #IndieGame #GameDev
You’ll find yourself diving into action with very little tutorial, and working out the majority of the buttons for yourself, as you barrel roll and loop-de-loop through various rings and missions, shooting your water guns at hidden gift boxes along the way in a bid to unlock all three islands and a host of aircraft.
9 Jun 2025
Kemono Heroes Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "hectic swipey-swipey action!" 🦊 @MadGearGames @JanduSoft #GameDev #IndieGame
Playable with up to four players in co-op, Kemono Heroes has a mystical Eastern vibe in which the main characters are anthropomorphic animals, each with their own special skills, although the main attack of each is a ‘Strider’-esque swipe of their blade - a little nod to one of its influences.
6 Jun 2025
Survivalist: Invisible Strain Xbox Series X Review 7.5 / 10 "More zombies than you can shake a selfie-stick at!" 🧟♀️🧟♂️🧟 @bob_the_PR_bot #IndieGame #GameDev
Casting the player in the role of a wandering survivor, Survivalist: Invisible Strain is playable in both campaign and sandbox modes, with the sandbox mode especially offering an incredible amount of customisation options to suit your preferred approach, with the ability to pretty much knock the zombie element on the head and focus purely on city-building and the more social aspects, should you so wish.
27 May 2025
Trident’s Tale Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Pirate fun for all the family!" 🏴☠️⛵@3DClouds #IndieGame #GameDev
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The chandler never mentioned the glow in the dark sails at the showroom |
Playing the part of Ocean, a young pirate who yearns to explore the seas, she soon finds herself mourning the loss of her guardian as skeletal pirates hunt her down, seemingly due to her discovering a small trinket that has a lot of otherworldly folks very interested in it!
26 May 2025
The Precinct Xbox Series X Review 8/10 "Pick up that candy wrapper, punk – go ahead, make my day" 👮🏻♀️🚔👮🏻 @fallentreegames @Microids_off @kwalee #IndieGame #GameDev
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Basketball Hoop looked on longingly from the side of the court |
12 May 2025
WWE2K25 PS5 Review 8/10 “Strong and Steady” 🤼♂️ #WWE
The first thing I always talk about when reviewing WWE games is GM mode, probably the best thing in the entirety of human existence...OK, maybe that is a stretch - but it is one of my favourite things, so how does this mode hold up this year?
9 May 2025
Peglin Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Can Peglin best Peggle as the king of the ball game?" 🏐 @rednexusgames @BlitWorks #GameDev #IndieGame
Peglin begins with your initial character – a little goblin (possible the titular ‘Peglin’, thinking about it) – taking a rogue-like path through various stages. It’s all about how the balls fall, you’ll find treasure, upgrades, stores, random encounters, and of course – enemies to thwart.
29 Apr 2025
Is This Game Trying To Kill Me? X Box Series X Review 8.5/10 "a glorious blend of horror, intrigue, and puzzles." ☠️🗡️ @StatelySnail #IndieGame #GameDev
22 Apr 2025
Rendering Ranger R² [Rewind] Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "SH'MUP & RUN ANYONE?" 🔥🏃♀️➡️🛸 @playziggurat @LimitedRunGames #IndieGame #GameDev #Retrogaming
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"George wasn't a fan of the new stand up tanning booths" |
While most people point to Contra as their fave retro run and gun from their childhood, mine was always Midnight Resistance. Specifically Midnight Resistance on the Commodore 64. There was a demo tape on the front of a C64 magazine back in the early '90s that I couldn't get enough of and me and my mate Johnny would endlessly play this demo tape in awe of the run n gun gameplay and the beautiful looking Commodore 64 graphics.
Eventually I actually located a Midnight Resistance Arcade cabinet in the local Kebab House (which also had a pool table) and once again I fell in love with the run and gunnery of Midnight Resistance.
15 Apr 2025
Moving Houses Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "Time to Get a Move On" 🏠 @gordlittle #IndieGame #GameDev
11 Apr 2025
Life On Earth: Reimagined SEGA Mega Drive Review 8/10 "Boobs, bullets and a bloody serious challenge" 🌎 @Kai_MSX #Retrogaming #IndieGame #GameDev
So, there’s a lot to love about Life On Earth: Reimagined, with solid mechanics, tasty gameplay, incredible audio….but it’s also worth mentioning the difficulty, as this is a game that is not shy. In the tougher stages, enemy respawns can be problematic and pretty consistent, alongside a chase stage in which Zhira is pegging it away from an encroaching explosion that will really test your patience and get your MD controller creaking. That said, if you like a challenge in your games, that will very much be of appeal, as – although you can lower the difficulty, completing the game on easy mode doesn’t show you the full game, so you’ll need to up the challenge to see the true end of Zhira’s adventure.
10 Apr 2025
The Cursed Legacy SEGA Mega Drive Review 8/10 "Run n’ Gun? Metroidvania? Mini-games? The Cursed Legacy has you covered!" 💥 @Goodgamestudios @Broke_Studio #IndieGame #GameDev
3 Apr 2025
Desktop Golf Nintendo Switch Review (also available on Steam) 8.5/10 "A Hole-in-One!" ⛳ @SAT_BOX_EN #IndieGame #GameDev
18 Mar 2025
X-Out: Re-Surfaced Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "a little different from the other horizontal shooters of yore" ❌ @ININ_Games #Retrogaming #IndieGame #GameDev
Originally released in 1989 on the Commodore 64 before being ported to the Amiga and others in 1990, X-Out differentiates itself from other shooters of the time by being set underwater. It also allows you to spend credits on customising your craft before each run – and there will be many – which adds a layer of personalisation when deciding if you want something nippy, or more robust, as well as choosing your weapon load out, limited only by your cash flow.
The original game was well-received, and it is a bit of a lost title when it comes to other shooters from the era, so it’s great that it’s been remastered for modern audiences, but how does it stand up over thirty years on from its original release?
Quite well, it turns out. The simple, but effective customisation options ensure that you have a sense of personalising each crack at the game to suit your play style, and the visuals have received a tasteful overhaul that makes things pop and run more smoothly, but don’t lose the identity of the original design and style, which can really be a deal-breaker in instances such as this - this is still very much chunky pixel action. Good.
The audio has also been re-vamped, and I quite enjoyed the soundtrack which is energetic and engaging without being ostentatious or over-bearing. There’s also a neat option in the menu to switch between the original soundtracks on the 8/16-bit systems or the modern take on it, which was the one I went for.
X-Out is not an easy game. Whilst your ship has a health meter and can take a decent kicking from enemy fire before giving up the ghost, if you even touch the environmental obstacles or even a boss, you die in one hit, with no continues. It’s straight back tot the ship selection screen for you. It’s very clear that this is a game that will appeal to those that enjoy a serious challenge. There’s also a two-player mode for local co-op, which is a nice inclusion.
It’s a very bare-bones remaster in terms of historical content, such as design docs, artwork and interviews with the original / new developers etc. which is something I do like to see included with these remasters, but it appears that in this case these aspects are only included with the limited and special editions of the game, available from ININ.
SUMMARY
All in all, X-Out: Re-surfaced is a little different from the other horizontal shooters of yore, and this does give it its own identity. I would have liked some more content on the history of the game, but the more tasteful aspects of this remaster give it appeal, just be prepared for a serious challenge!
7/10
🆒COOL🆒
(also available on PS5, Switch, PC)