05/10/2021
🚒🔥 EMBR | PC | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "Come On Baby Light My Fire!" 🧯👨🚒 @EmbrGame #GameDev #IndieGames
04/10/2021
🌕 Jettomero: Hero of the Universe | Nintendo Switch | Review | 6.5/10 | "I’m stompin’ around, move out of my way" 🌕 @GhostTimeGames #IndieGames #GameDev
Having so recently been completely enamoured with the GOTY contender Tux and Fanny, I delved into Jettomero, the previous title from Ghost Time Games. Whilst it didn’t grab me in the same way that Tux and Fanny did, there are some real highs here but they are unfortunately offset by some points that ultimately heavily detract from the experience.
03/10/2021
💿 Video Game Vinyl Fantasies | #2 | Britt Recommends 💿 #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
My previous Vinyl Fantasies article on VGM vinyl back in May (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/05/video-game-vinyl-britt-recommends.html) resulted in some absolutely wonderful conversations, feedback and comments.
The article appeared to really resonate with a lot of people (thank you to all!) and so it made perfect sense to get hips deep again and talk about other albums that really stand out for me – as well as some recent additions to the GF collection.
Once again, there is so much solid gold out there that I keep coming across music that quite frankly makes my trousers fly off my legs and turn into butterflies that scatter across the universe…so here are more records that soundtrack my days.
02/10/2021
💿 Dead by Daylight Vinyl | Review | "Michel .F April’s brooding, atmospheric score" 💿 @MichelFApril #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl
This is the first release I’ve covered from Return to Analog - a label based in Canada - and the contact, support, shipping and packaging were excellent, so it was off to a great start!
Being unfamiliar with the Dead by Daylight game, I went into this album with no prior expectations...but, upon seeing some of the track titles (Being Watched, Suffering, Enduring Torment, Threatening Gloom…) I did wonder if I’d have to listen from behind a tear-absorbent pillow.
01/10/2021
♞♚♛♜♝ Chessplosion | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Bomberman Chess" ♞♚♛♜♝ @CTMatthews #IndieGames #GameDev
30/09/2021
💿💿The Angry Video Game Nerd 1&2 Deluxe Vinyl | Review | "An Expansive Triple Vinyl" 💿💿 @blackscreenrec #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl
Having been a fan of The Angry Video Game Nerd for a good few years (I think the first video I ever saw was The Silver Surfer), I can remember when the games based on the series were first released - in 2013 and 2016 respectively – and their addictive ‘dive in and out’ qualities combined with laser-focused platforming challenge and shining 8-bit audio work made such an impression on me that I leapt to cover the deluxe versions when they were released last year (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/search/label/AVGN%201%262%20Deluxe).
29/09/2021
🎮 NACON MG-X | "Designed for Xbox" Mobile Controller |Review | 9/10 | "OMG-X!" 🎮 @Nacon
It was a sad, sad day when I relinquished my Switch Lite. Having been a fan of the Gameboy and Atari Lynx in my misspent youth, I enjoyed getting hips deep into Mario (oo-er) on bus and train journeys. But, having bought an Xbox when the latest generation came out, I couldn’t justify the expense of running two prime consoles and the double game costs associated with it (I realise this is Games Freezer heresy as Britt has every console available, including TWO Magnavox Odysseys. Probably).
28/09/2021
🔥 Dustwind | PS4 | Ten minute Taster | Gameplay | "Eat My Dust!" 🔥 @dustwind_game #GameDev #IndieGames
27/09/2021
🏁🏎️💨 Cruis’n Blast | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7.5/10 | "I Have Very Fond Memories of The Cruis’n Series" 🏁🏎️💨 @rawthrills
I have very fond memories of the Cruis’n series, both in terms of the original arcade versions and homeports – well, some of them.
Originally released in 1994, the first game in the series – Cruis’n USA – was a fixture in a lot of arcades I visited in my teens and I was instantly drawn to the twitchy handling, energetic music and pure arcade gameplay.
The home ports were decent and got better with each iteration, meaning that Cruis’n Exotica was the highlight for me, despite the pop-in, smoothness always wins the day!
26/09/2021
👻 Tormented Souls | PS5 | Review | 8/10 | "Like Early Resident Evil" 👻 @PQubeGames #IndieGames #GameDev
Before Tormented Souls, I had played two games this year where the developers’ goal has been to emulate early survival horror games such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. One was bad, the other is my least favourite game of all time and contained design choices that still make me angry to this day.
I was very sceptical going into Tormented Souls, thinking that maybe this type of game should be left in the past, so I don’t have to watch my love and nostalgia being quickly eroded by games trying to recapture their spirit.
Luckily, I love Tormented Souls, it did exactly what it was supposed to do - first and foremost, allow me to enjoy the experience but also fired up my nostalgia and transported me back to the early days of survival horror.
25/09/2021
🏠 No Longer Home | PC | Review | 7/10 | 🏠 @PixelHunted #GameDev #IndieGames
There’s a thin line between homage and plagiarism. No Longer Home lifts a lot from Kentucky Route Zero, with the flat-shaded graphics, magical realist elements, font-choice, animation, controls, and general vibe suspiciously familiar to anyone who’s played Cardboard Computer’s indie classic.
As a big-time fan of Kentucky Route Zero this isn’t exactly unwelcome, but when you’re a tiny indie developer with the freedom to make whatever you want cribbing heavily from someone else’s aesthetic feels like a creative lapse. Then, late in the game, you walk into a room to find a computer with Kentucky Route Zero on it and you’re asked if you want to name your dog Blue or Homer.
Well, fair enough then. At least they aren’t being subtle about it.
24/09/2021
☢️ Sheltered 2 | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Going Deeper Underground" ☢️ @Sheltered_Game #GameDev #IndieGames
23/09/2021
👹🌴 A Monster's Expedition | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | Nintendo Switch | "Smarter Than Your Average Monster" 👹🌴 @ChickadeeGames #GameDev #IndieGames
22/09/2021
💥 RICO | Nintendo Switch | Review | 3/10 | "I wouldn't call myself an expert in police procedures" 💥 #IndieGames #GameDev
21/09/2021
🌳 Backworlds | Nintendo Switch | Ten minute Taster | Gameplay | "A Real Head Scratcher!" 🌳 @BackworldsGame #IndieGames #GameDev
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
20/09/2021
🕹️ PLAY RETRO VIDEO GAMES ON LINUX WITH THIS OPEN-SOURCE PROJECT 🕹️ #Unity #RetroGaming
Is there a certain age that a game has to be considered retro?
It’s actually a little bit more complicated than that and there’s no real definitive answer or age the game has to be considered retro.
🐈⬛ Heart Chain Kitty | Nintendo Switch | Ten minute Taster | "This Game Is A Fever Dream!" 🐈⬛ #IndieGames #GameDev
19/09/2021
📚 A Profound Waste of Time 📚 @APWOTmag
Described on the website (www.apwot.com) as:
‘an award-winning independent magazine that celebrates games as an art form. Each issue plays host to a rich variety of voices from inside and outside the videogame industry, interwoven with stunning bespoke imagery from leading illustrators and artists. Editorially discerning and beautifully designed, the magazine serves to celebrate gaming culture and discussion.’
18/09/2021
📮 Lake | Xbox Series X | Review | 6.5/10 | "A Break From The City That’s Maybe Too Mellow" 📮 @Lake_The_Game #IndieGames #GameDev
Lake was a game that really stood out to me when I watched a showcase from the publisher last year. The trailer depicts a woman (Meredith Weiss) taking a two-week break from her busy computing job in a city - the game is set in 1986, so there’s some cool, old tech kicking around - to cover her postman father’s job back in her hometown of Providence Oaks.