🎧 HyperX Cloud Alpha | Headset Review | "Music (and Sound Effects) to my Ears" 🎧 @HyperX #HyperXFamily

I’m not an audiophile. I don’t have a bespoke stereo system that costs more than a small family car. But I am an avid gamer and have been since the 1980s.

Now, back then, the sound effects and music in games was a tad basic, to say the least. Polyphonic it was not. The surround sound back then wasn’t 7.1 or even 5.1. It was barely 1.1. 

But as sound quality in games improved and games spread online, there developed the need to be able to hear and be heard in high fidelity. But, Luddite and lazy as I am, I’d not really embraced what this meant for headsets. My TV has decent speakers, but nothing special, and my old Turtle Beach headset was fine. Wasn’t it?

After an hour or two with a HyperX Cloud Alpha headset, I can say emphatically, NO.

⏩ Babble Royale | PC | Ten Minute Taster | "Let Scrabble Commence!" ⏩ #GameDev #IndieGames

Babble Royale is an intense multiplayer free-for-all that combines word-making skills with fast-paced tactical and strategic action.

Earn money and collect loot to upgrade your abilities, outrun the deadly hot zone, and outwit or outlast all your opponents to have the Last Word!

🌆Beyond a Steel Sky | Xbox Series X | Review | 8/10 | “A few technical problems don't dampen the wonderful story and charming characters” 🌆 @RevSoftGames #IndieGames #GameDev

To talk about Beyond a Steel Sky, I have to talk about its prequel - Beneath a Steel Sky - and how important it is to me. One of my earliest gaming memories was sitting next to my big brother, watching him play this strange but quirky point and click game. 

It looked like nothing I had ever seen before, I was 5 years old - so pretty much everything looked new to me - but this game was so visually different from the games that we usually played, as an adult; I now know this was my first experience of cyberpunk - a genre and style I would come to love. 

Beneath a Steel Sky was a game I had never revisited, the childlike wonder was still my only impression, that was until I got this to review; and after 26 years, I finally replayed it and boy did it stand up to my first impression, it’s simply amazing. So now after so many years, a sequel has arrived, could it capture the wonder of my youth or should it have stayed in the ‘90s?

💺 AndaSeat Launches the Gorgeous Looking Phantom 3 Gaming Chair 💺 @andaseatchair

World-leading gaming chair brand, AndaSeat, who previously manufactured race car seats today announces the launch of its latest gaming chair -The Phantom 3

🍔🐮 Happy's Humble Burger Farm | Xbox Series X Review | 8/10 | "Well, burger me!" 🍔🐮 @HappysHumble #IndieGames #GameDev

Well, burger me! I rarely miss a deadline and suddenly I find myself chased for this review, which is fine. It is the threat of being ground down, seasoned and grilled to perfection that concerns me.

Oh, wait, that’s the premise to this game from the Scythe Dev Team

Is this game as delicious as it sounds?

Let us find out.

🪙 The Forgotten City | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9/10 | "8-10 Hours of Adventure Mystery Romp" 🪙 @ModnStoryteller #IndieGames #GameDev

I’ll be honest, in the first few minutes I was worried that I really wasn’t going to like this game. And I was wrong, so gloriously and happily wrong. 

A little history: The Forgotten City started out life as one of Skyrim’s many mods, and it was successful. So successful in fact that the developers took the idea, built upon it, and fleshed it out into the standalone game I’m reviewing today, creating a gloriously designed Greco-Roman city, replete with fantastically written characters, period-accurate architecture, and a central gameplay mechanic that is simultaneously clever, fun, and educational (yeah, I know – they don’t go together often). 

I went into The Forgotten City completely blind, and I would recommend that you do the same. It’s hard to review a game like this one without some kind of spoilers, so if you’d like to get the absolute most out of it, stop reading after this statement: The Forgotten City is 8-10 hours of adventure mystery romp, driven by fantastically written and acted dialogue. Play it. 

🏌️‍♀️⛳️ Smoots Golf | Xbox Series X | Review | 6/10 | "Not Quite Up To Par" 🏌️‍♀️⛳️@JanduSoft #IndieGames #GameDev

The last title I reviewed from Jandusoft was Cards of the Dead, a clever and simple zombie survival deck game that was released just before Halloween and provided a few hours of tense, pixelated fun.

When I saw that Jandusoft were releasing Smoots Golf, I leapt at the chance to cover it without even looking at the trailer, as I’d had such a good time with Cards of the Dead – and I love to golf!

☔️ Kathy Rain: Directors Cut | Nintendo Switch | Review | 8.5/10 | "A Gripping Point & Click Adventure" ☔️ @ClifftopGames #GameDev #IndieGames

This is my sleeper hit of 2021, I'm very enamoured with Kathy Rain. 

Point and click adventures always bring a smile to my face, they bring back strong memories of my youth, sitting next to my big bro and going through games like Monkey Island or Beneath a Steel Sky, it’s a genre that - when done well - really can create some wonderful and interesting games. 

Whilst I didn’t have my big bro next to me this time, even flying solo this game really struck a chord with me.

📸 Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water | XBOX Series X | Review | 7/10 | "Yes, This Game is D.A.R.K." 📸 @project_zero_kt @ShowMeMagic #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGames

At the time of writing this, it’s Halloween season, a time to immerse yourself in anything scary; watch a few horrors, play a couple of spooky games - and this year is no different as I’ve been asked to review this Japanese supernatural game which is either a blessing or a curse, only time will tell.  I have always had a thing for Asian horror movies. They are so atmospheric and the separation from the Western world just takes it to another level. This game is no exception.

🕹️Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide | Written by Darren Doyle | Greyfox Books | Review🕹️@greyfoxbooks #Retrogaming #Arcade

Available from - https://www.greyfoxbooks.com/product/coin-op-the-arcade-guide/

The world of arcade machines seems vast and full of undiscovered gold. I’ll regularly be reading books or articles on the subject and come across a handful of games that I didn’t even know existed. Often, they are variations on a theme, but I’m always keen to find out every last morsel of information available – especially if they are side-scrolling brawlers, a genre which I am particularly drawn to for its visceral, button-hammering thrills.

Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide is clearly a book made with a real passion for the subject matter, and whilst there are some rough edges in terms of clunky sentences, typographical errors and a very busy visual design – there’s a compulsive thirst to the way that the author presents the work, this is best captured in the introductory text to each section of the book; a real desire for the reader to share the joy and reverence that Darren Doyle has for these releases and the memories tied to discovering and playing them.

👶DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT Arrives on PC Spring 2022 | Enhanced by New Intel Technology 👶

This news makes me want to play Death Stranding on my PC...

505 Games, global publisher of the PC version of Hideo Kojima’s genre-defying DEATH STRANDING in partnership with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, unveiled at CES 2022 it will publish the DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT on PC, launching simultaneously on both the Epic Games Store and Steam in spring 2022.

Embark on an emotional trek across a fractured world with this definitive version of DEATH STRANDING, now amplified with the power of Intel’s new Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) graphics technology. XeSS’s machine learning further enriches DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT’s already-stunning graphical fidelity as well as elevating gameplay and cutscene performance. This improved edition also features higher frame rates, a new photo mode and ultra-wide monitor support to fully take in the sights of Sam Bridges’ journey. 

 

Kojima Productions’ debut title was one of the most-anticipated games of the last decade. Led by a star-studded cast including Norman Reedus as Sam Bridges, DEATH STRANDING takes Sam on a perilous journey across ravaged remains of America to reunite the country.

 

🕹️ Taito Arcade Selection | Egret II | mini 🕹️#Arcade #RetroGaming

United Games Entertainment has announced that they have exclusive rights for distribution and sales of Taito’s EGRET II mini in the West. 

Set for release in 2022, this cool looking piece of gaming hardware is creating great excitement in Japan.

🛹🐦 Skatebird | Nintendo Switch | Review | 4/10 | "Tony Squawks" 🐦🛹@glassbottommeg #GameDev #IndieGames

I'm a curmudgeonly old sod. I remember seasons living up to their descriptions, and turning up when they should. I remember having to memorise phone numbers if I wanted to call someone. I remember penny sweets being a penny. And I remember the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater coming out. 

And there lies the rub. In reviewing Skatebird, I find myself constantly wondering whether Tony ruined me for other men. Birds. Games. OK, it isn't a great analogy but, we are where we are.

🏰 6Souls | XBOX | Review | 8/10 | "She Sells 6Souls on the Seashore" 🏰 #GameDev #IndieGame

“My soul is prepared… How’s yours?”

A question put to Indiana Jones by a member of the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword while facing a boat propeller-induced nose job, and a pertinent question to ask yourself before launching 6Souls, a new pixel art action platformer thrust onto the gaming scene in December 2021.

🏆 🎮 Games Freezer - Games Of the Year - Part IV - "Rich" 🎮 #GOTY21 #GOTY2021 #GameOfTheYear2021

Oh, my word I have played a LOT of video games this year and it has been an absolute pleasure to bring you my thoughts via the juggernaut that is Games Freezer.

I have worked with Britt and the gang tirelessly in 2021 to make Games Freezer a place that you can all call home as we attempt to deliver you great video games stuff directly from our frozen cavern of video gaming goodness into your noggins for consumption.

My love for everyone involved is strong and it's this time of year when we get to reflect on exactly what happened in the preceding 365 days. I love how many moments you get that are like "Oh my word I remember that game! I forgot how great it was!"

When it comes to end of year lists and Game Of the Year contenders I always use those lists as a method to pick out the games that I have maybe missed from that year so as I can pick them up in the following year.

With that in mind, I decided that I would pull together initially a TOP 10 List of the games that I have loved in 2021 and then give you an even longer list of the games that deserve their moment in the limelight.

So here goes nothing as I give you my top ten video games of 2021 according to how much I loved playing them.

🏆 🎮 Games Freezer - Games Of the Year - Part III - "@PixelHunted" 🎮 #GOTY21 #GOTY2021 #GameOfTheYear2021

Pixel Hunted steps up to the plate to fire off 3 amazing games from his 2021...

🏆 🎮 Games Freezer - Games Of the Year - Part II - "Britt" 🎮 #GOTY21 #GOTY2021 #GameOfTheYear2021

Britt’s Games (and other things) of The Year

Much love to all the GF readers and my colleagues, all of whom have been awesome, as always.

The biggest hug, however, goes to Rich, the evil puppeteer that keeps all of our strings from getting tangled, as he laughs maniacally down at the twisted landscape that he has created in his own icy image.

I’m taking a slightly different approach to my games of the year this time around, throwing in a few mentions for things that aren’t strictly ‘games’ as such, but nonetheless were highlights of 2021 for me.

Whilst the list is in no particular order, it’s fair to say that if it were ‘best to worst – at the top would still be:

🎮 WAVE Game Studio Interview 🎮 @WaveGameStudios #IndieGames #GameDev

WAVE Game Studios are the publishers behind Senile Team’s Intrepid Izzy, a brand new Dreamcast game that was very well received at GF HQ (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/07/intrepid-izzy-dreamcast-review-910-im.html?m=1) and they recently - and impressively - travelled the width and breadth of the UK in a bid to spread the word of Intrepid Izzy far and wide. 

Taking time out of their mile-crushing schedule to talk to us at Games Freezer, we took the opportunity to get to the heart of this extremely hands-on and quite frankly, impressively gruelling mission.

💺 GT Player Music Series Gaming Chair (GT890MF) | GF APPROVED 💺

https://uk.gtracing.com/collections/music-series/products/music-series-gt890mf?variant=40993041383588

GF APPROVED!

With a wide array of gaming chairs, the GT Racing / GT Player brand has been making an impact on their customers over the last couple of years; with prominent YouTubers and Esports teams using and promoting them (in November, GT Racing announced a partnership with the Manchester City Esports team).

When they came onto my radar, the look, design, and capabilities of the chairs seemed like they were perhaps overstated somewhat in comparison to their price bracket, which is extremely reasonable. I’m pleased to say, however – after using the GT890MF for at least ten hours a day for well over a week, they really do deliver the goods.

🎮 Games Freezer - Games Of the Year - Part I - "Transvaal" 🎮 #GOTY21 #GOTY2021 #GameOfTheYear2021

Here we go it's Games Freezer Game Of The Year Time and first up with his GOTY List is Transvaal!

Behold his flaming pen of truth!