26/04/2024
GEOMETRY SURVIVOR Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Geometry Wars + Vampire Survivors" πΉ️ @brainseal #IndieGame #GameDev
Flash forward to today, where devs happily mine old and new concepts for inspiration. Geometry Survivor, at its most basic, is a mash-up of Geometry Wars and modern single-stick auto shooters. If you’ve played the excellent Brotato, or the quirky-yet-great Vampire Survivors then you know what I’m talking about. In fact, Geometry Wars plus Vampire Survivors gets you, well…you can see where I’m going with this.
16/04/2024
West Hunt Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 π€ @SnailGamesUSA #IndieGame #GameDev
08/04/2024
Unstoppable PC Review 5/10 "You play a bicycle courier, tasked with delivering a mysterious package to a skyscraper" π©Έπ¨ @unstoppable_go #IndieGame #GameDev
When I saw the trailer for Unstoppable, I thought “smacking things with hammers and crowbars until they die – right up my alley!” and eagerly volunteered to review the game.
But we all make mistakes.
05/04/2024
Welcome to ParadiZe Xbox Series X Review 6/10 "More PontinZ than ParadiZe" π #IndieGame #GameDev #PvE #Zombies
I first caught wind of Welcome to Paradize a couple of months ago, and having been on a bit of an isometric / action run recently I was quite keen to start smashing and blasting some zombie heads, whilst the survival and crafting elements seemed accessible enough to have fun with, without getting bogged down in menus etc.
04/04/2024
Bio, Inc Review By Dr Congo Fighting "It’s Kill or Cure" π¦ @DryGinStudios #IndieGame #GameDev
Let’s just address the elephant in the room. About a decade ago, a game called Plague, Inc came out. It was published by Ndemic Creations, and it was a smash hit. In it, you played the part of a disease, with your aim being to wipe out humanity by evolving various symptoms, and trying to beat to the punch a global effort to create a cure.
Bio, Inc is not that game, and nor is it a sequel. Neither is it made by Ndemic Creations, instead coming out of software house DryGin Studios. However, it is (to me, at least) a spiritual successor to Plague, Inc and shares a lot of its mechanics (and both have shared origins as mobile games), but with a few significant differences. It’s hard not to make comparisons between the two games, but I’ll do my best. Because I love you. Anyway, elephant done.
20/03/2024
Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil Review 6/10 πΏ ✝️ @MrSkullGameStu @FernandoTittz @ElderDefensor #IndieGame #GameDev
To stop this, he uses his abilities as a medium to exercise the evil that lives inside, but after 30 years he is drawn back to the original house to find that the same curse still lives…
15/02/2024
Rising Lords Review 6/10 "Medieval Mediocrity" ⚔️π‘️ #IndieGame #GameDev @argonwood
Life in medieval times was tough. The local lord or royal type wouldn’t think twice about forcing peasants to work for 28 hours a day in the fields, before sticking a spear in their hand and making them go and stab a peasant from a neighbouring village. All in the name of expanding the fiefdom and extending the empire of their glorious leader.
And Rising Lords lets you be that ‘benevolent’ ruler. This game has been loitering on PC for a few years, going through lengthy development stages before launching on consoles in its current form. A form honed and perfected to be a sleek mix of Risk-style battles and Civilisation-esque resource management, right? Right?
Wrong. Sadly.
30/01/2024
Best Month Ever Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest?" π€° @Klabater #IndieGame #GameDev
26/01/2024
Arizona Sunshine 2 Meta Quest 2 Review 6/10 π @pixelhunted #IndieGame #GameDev #VRGames
The VR dream isn’t dead, but it’s starting to look a bit wonky. The Metaverse is a joke, PSVR2 is dying on the vine and, almost four years after the release of Half-Life: Alyx, there hasn’t been a title that comes close to its production values and ingenuity.
Enter Arizona Sunshine 2. The first game released in 2016 across multiple VR platforms and, while an utterly boilerplate zombie shooter, at least delivered on its promise of letting you mow down hordes of the undead with a variety of high-powered weaponry.
We’re now eight years on and the sequel has finally arrived. So, what’s changed?
16/01/2024
The Kindeman Remedy PC 6/10 “Shock and awe, or shock and bore?” π @_Troglobytes_ #IndieGame #GameDev
“The most blasphemous, diabolical and insane management game ever created!” – a quote taken directly from the trailer of The Kindeman Remedy, and the main reason I wanted to play this game, now granted I’m not sure how blasphemous or diabolical other management games are, so I was just going to have to take their word for it. That said, it’s an interesting hook, and I was dying to see just how insane this game was.
06/12/2023
Dreamworks All-Star Racing Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "As someone who grew up playing Mario Kart, I was excited to try this game" πΌ @BamtangGames #IndieGame #GameDev
Dreamworks All-Star Racing is a sequel to the 2011 title DreamWorks Super Star Kartz, and
features many of the same characters along with some new ones from the Trolls franchise.
The gameplay involves collecting keynotes that give you bonus items to use against other players, as well as collecting items from boxes. There are also various challenges you can complete to upgrade your vehicle and unlock new characters. One of my favourite features are the secret paths on each map that lead to a rainbow road, where you can come across high notes and other collectables.
14/11/2023
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Quest For Balance Nintendo Switch Review 5/10 π¨ @BamtangGames #IndieGames #GameDev
Before we dive into things, I wanted to point out that this content is geared towards younger audiences. The game is designed to be easy to progress through, and the fighting mechanics are very accessible and straightforward, so you might find this slightly less enjoyable if you want to revisit the beloved story in real depth or were perhaps expecting advanced combat mechanics.
22/10/2023
Wartales Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 "A GOTY Contender Crippled by Technical Issues" π‘️ @Wartales_Game @shirogames #GameDev #IndieGame
It pains me to write this review of Wartales, as I so desperately wanted it to be a better experience, I was clutching my ageing Switch and willing it to somehow have a burst of strength and run Wartales more smoothly and less clunkily, but alas, I was getting the exact same vibes I did when I played Dragon Age: Inquisition on my PS3 over a decade ago – either the Switch is showing its age, or Shiro games really needs to patch the game up ASAP, as what could be one of the best gaming experiences of the year is at present a mere shadow of what it could be.
02/10/2023
Daymare: 1994 - Sandcastle PS5 Review 6.5/10 "Backtracking to the ‘90s" π§ @transvaalgf @InvaderDevs #IndieGame #GameDev
19/09/2023
Rainbow Skies Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 “One For The Die Hard Fans” π @RainbowSkiesRPG #GameDev #IndieGame
I was a bit sad that I wasn't picking up my dusty old Vita and bringing it out of retirement, but instead, I picked up the Nintendo Switch and set out to see what I had been missing out on for a number of years.
23/08/2023
Those Games (or, YEAH! YOU WANT “THOSE GAMES,” RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET’S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM!) Review 6/10 "A great send-up of fake game ads that lacks the key fun factor" π€³ @D3_PUBLISHER #IndieGames #GameDev
Designed as a series of actually accurate versions of games glimpsed in fake mobile gaming adverts in the days of yore, Those Games does a good job of representing the games that people who click on those ads assumed that they would play, but it’s a premise that – to me at least – is more fun in concept than in action.
17/08/2023
Classic Racers Elite Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "A Very Simple Racing Game To Drop in and Play" π️π @_VisionReelle_ #IndieGames #GameDev
I have always enjoyed racing games – whether it’s circuit, street, or rally racing – I am there! Classic Racers Elite is a time-trial-centric racing game, and that's pretty much it! featuring 12 championships and various takes on iconic cars from the 1960s, it could have been a keeper, however, it doesn't quite get there.
09/08/2023
Layers of Fear Xbox Series X Review 6/10 “Constant corridors and predictable scares” π± @Layers_Of_Fears #IndieGames #GameDev
Layers of Fear is an enhanced remake of - you guessed it - Layers of Fear, but it’s not just an enhanced remake of the first game, it also includes a remade version of the sequel as well as ‘The Inheritance’ DLC, and two new additional stories – ‘The Writer’, and ‘Final Note’.
I have never played any of the original series, although I have heard of them, and had an idea of what they were about - but I never went ahead and gave them a go, so with this release, it seemed a perfect chance to jump in and experience them in all their new Unreal Engine 5 glory.
08/08/2023
AEW: Fight Forever Xbox Series X Review 6/10 “Great in-ring action, but certain areas need more depth” π€Ό♂️ #AEW
AEW Fight Forever is the new wrestling offering from developer Yukes, upon its first announcement it was made clear that this game was going down a different path, it would not concern itself with the more simulation style of gameplay, instead opting for a more arcade-orientated approach. For me this was music to my ears, as I’ve complained for years that arcade was the way to go, opting for fun over realism.
I’m happy to say that the gameplay is the game’s biggest strength; it’s fun, brutal, and packs a punch. Matches are about building momentum and damaging your opponent, you use a combination of strikes and grapples - strikes are a combination of punches and kicks, which can be chained together for maximum effect; grapples can be done in a variety of positions and take many forms, they are easy to execute and have a nice variety. There is a nice fluidity to all of the combat giving a fast pace to matches.
07/07/2023
Last Labyrinth – Lucidity Lost XSX Review 5/10 "A Puzzle Missing a Key Piece" 𧩠@AmataTokyo #IndieGames #GameDev
Originally released for VR platforms in 2019, Last Labyrinth – Lucidity Lost casts the player in the role of a mute, wheelchair-bound person that can only communicate by using a laser pointer attached to their head.
Assisting them through the labyrinth of deadly traps and tricks is a young girl who can be guided by the aforementioned laser pointer. Working together, both must solve puzzles and make their way through the labyrinth, in a bid to survive the deadly trials laid out before them.