Dungeons Of Dreadrock revives the Spirit of 1980's home computer RPGs for contemporary audiences and platforms. Fight and puzzle your way through 100 hand-crafted levels into the ancient depths of Dreadrock Mountain. Relive memories of old-school dungeon crawlers from a new perspective.
29/03/2022
28/03/2022
🎙️ ROCCAT Torch | USB Microphone | Review | "GF Recommended!" 🎙️ @ROCCAT
Having covered – and been impressed by - the ROCCAT Magma keyboard last week, I was keen to check out the Torch - ROCCAT’s USB microphone, which comes with a mixer base.
Details:
- Sample/Bit Rate: 48kHz,
- 24-bit with optional selection for 44.1kHz
- Capsules: 2 × ROCCAT Proprietary ∅14 × 6.5mm condenser capsules
- Pickup Patterns: Cardioid, Stereo, Whisper (ROCCAT Proprietary)
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
- Max SPL: 110dB
- Zero-latency 3.5mm, 4-Pole headphone socket
27/03/2022
🗝️☢️ Dead Man's Diary | PC | Gameplay | "Lock Pick Simulator 2022" ☢️🗝️@TMLStudios #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
26/03/2022
💿📀 The Songs of Time (Vinyl) | “A Melancholy Tribute to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” | Composer: Daniel Collins (TPR) 💿📀@TheMangoMage
Record Label: Mango Mage Records & Respawned Records (a collaborative release)
“A Melancholy Tribute to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”
Being as loved as the Zelda franchise is, there are several takes on the music from the series out there, of which I’m most familiar with Mikel’s Zelda & Chill. Mango Mage’s The Songs of Time, composed by TPR actually acts as a fantastic companion piece to Zelda & Chill in that the groovy, night-time trip-hop of the latter leads beautifully into the hazy morning mellowness of the former. I found myself really letting the music of The Songs of Time wash over me in the mornings, sipping a coffee in the early sunshine, it perfectly matches that ‘dawn of the day’ mood with its tinkling, relaxing melodies.
25/03/2022
🎮 Great Deals Currently Live on the GameSir Range of Mobile Game Controllers 🎮
GameSir is currently running a promotion across Amazon.
In the UK, they have 15% off the T4 Mini game controller between March 21 to March 27 (ideal for travelling gamers or those with smaller hands!).
In the US, Amazon has 15% off the X2 series of mobile gaming controllers from March 28th to April 3rd – available in Bluetooth and Type-C.
📲📱 What Are The Kids Apps That Collect The MOST and LEAST Data? 📲📱
In this day and age, it's not uncommon for kids to have access to digital devices.
And there's no arguing that there are lots of gaming apps for kids to choose from.
But which apps collect the most personal data?
24/03/2022
💿 Across The Worlds – Chrono Cross Wayo Piano Collection | Wayo Records 💿 @WayoRecords #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl @WayRecordsJP
“Created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Chrono Cross in November 1999 (Japan) and August 2000 (USA), Across the Worlds is an arrangement album licensed by the Japanese music right-holders Septima Ley and Procyon Studio (Yasunori Mitsuda’s company). This album is the concretization of a long time dream to create a high-class piano solo album featuring the music from the legendary game, arranged, designed and produced with veteran Japanese video game artists.
23/03/2022
🎎 Shadow Warrior 3 | XSX | Review | 7.5/10 | "More Wang Than You Can Shake a Shotgun At" 🎎 @ShadowWarrior #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
I’ve had a pretty good time with the Shadow Warrior games since their reboot in 2013 and, upon finishing the second title, I remember being completely in the zone, pumped up for the third entry in the series.
Now that it’s here…I enjoyed my time with the game, but the changes to design and focus – whilst I can clearly appreciate their appeal to some – removed some of the joy for me.
🖱️ Trust Gaming Launches The Redex Low Latency, Wireless Gaming Mouse in The UK 🖱️ @TrustGaming
Redex features a built-in rechargeable battery that provides up to 50 hours of continuous playtime and durable Kailh mechanical switches that last up to 80 million clicks.
Trust Electronics has announced the GXT 908 Redex low latency wireless gaming mouse with durable Kailh mechanical switches.
The Trust GXT 908 Redex low latency wireless gaming mouse is available for £34.99 from Amazon.
22/03/2022
🥚Egglia : Rebirth | Nintendo Switch Review | 6/10 | "You Gotta Break Some eggs To Make An Omelette" 🥚 #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
I picked up Egglia Rebirth and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. It's actually a redesigned mobile game that has had the trappings of mobile microtransactions removed and has been remade/remastered/rebirthed over onto the trusty Nintendo Switch where every single game that ever existed must now reside.
So does Egglia's move from mobile to Switch land sunny side up or are we left with egg on our faces?
21/03/2022
⚔️ Dark Deity | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9/10 | "A Shining Example of The Genre" ⚔️ @DarkDeityGame #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
A Kickstarter funded title from developers Sword and Axe LLC, released through Freedom Games - Dark Deity was brought to my attention through an innocuous press release.
Initially, upon seeing a few screenshots – and thus the anime-styled character portraits, combined with blocks of dialogue– I foolishly assumed that it was a visual novel and my expectations dropped accordingly…until I watched the trailer.
20/03/2022
⌨️ ROCCAT | Magma Keyboard | Review | "GF Approved!" ⌨️ @ROCCAT #GamingKeyboard
Product Link - https://uk.roccat.com/products/magma
“The ROCCAT® Magma™ Membrane RGB Gaming Keyboard is ideal for RGBA enthusiasts seeking a competitive gaming keyboard. Its top plate is fully illuminated in 16.8 million RGB colours and AIMO compatible, making it ready for stunning lighting showcases. Featuring silent membrane keys, ROCCAT Easy-Shift[+] technology, a detachable palm rest and a low maintenance design.”
Features:
5-zone, 10-LED 16.8m colour RGBA backlighting
Semi-transparent top plate
Solid and responsive typing with silent membrane keys
Advanced anti-ghosting technology
AIMO lighting engine
Detachable palm rest
ROCCAT Easy-Shift[+]® button duplicator
2-year manufacturer warranty
A key part of any working or gaming day is the trusty keyboard. I’ve used dozens in my time, and a keyboard that isn’t up to scratch can affect everything, from constant typos to missed opportunities in myriad games – plus, using a keyboard that doesn’t feel right just removes the fun and flow from whatever it is that you are doing.
19/03/2022
🧟 Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7/10 | "Lots of fun is pinball. And zombies!" 🧟 @ZingGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
Pinball. Who doesn’t like pinball? The clanking, the bumpers, the desire to be on that top score leaderboard, the dreaded tilt. Lots of fun is pinball. And zombies! Who doesn’t like zombies? Well, obviously I’d rather they weren’t in my house or attempting to eat what little brains I have left, but as a cultural concept, zombies are great!
So naturally, when I heard that there was a zombie pinball game, I wanted in. Then I looked a bit closer... zombie pinball roguelike with tower defence elements, kinda?! WTF?! (Note to parents and younger readers – by this I mean Wow, That’s Fun?!).
Naturally, I was fascinated and needed to know more. If you’re fascinated and need to know more, well, read on.
That’s kind of the point of me sitting here.
18/03/2022
🐕 Samorost 2 | Soundtrack (Vinyl) | Tomas Dvorak (Floex) | "Dvorak’s singularly idiosyncratic approach can be felt in full force here" 🐕 @Amanita_Design #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
https://merch.amanita-design.net/products/samorost-2-soundtrack-by-floex-double-vinyl
The work of Amanita Design often features somewhere in my end-of-year lists, such is the quality of their releases, and this soundtrack from Samorost 2 is no different in terms of the quality and talent that it brings to the (turn)table.
17/03/2022
🎶 Yann Latour Interview 🎶 @_YannLatour #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl #VideoGameMusic
Following my recent coverage of Yann Latour’s -very good - ENCODYA soundtrack, I was keen to know more about him, as I’d not previously been aware of his work.
He kindly responded and our subsequent chat is below, enjoy!
16/03/2022
🤼 WWE 2K22 | XSX | Review | 7/10 | “Bad Times Don’t Last, But Bad Guys Do” 🤼 #WWE2K22 @WWEgames
I've always said that WWE games’ motto could be, ‘one step forward, two steps back’, every year they would add something new… while removing other modes, matches or making other aspects worse.
Now, it's almost impossible to make a game worse than WWE 2K20, it was a completely broken and buggy mess, so, like many - after a two-year hiatus I was excited to see if they could rejuvenate the franchise and clean up the mess that had plagued the previous entry.
I'm going to go through the modes in the order of how I played them, as I think it gives a good insight into the game and what makes it good, as well as what needs some more attention in the next entry.
🐔🥔 No Place Like Home | PC | Gameplay | Early Access | "A Relaxing Sim With A Hoover" 🐔🥔 #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
15/03/2022
⚔️ Edge of Eternity | PS5 | Review | 7/10 | “A Love Letter to Final Fantasy” ⚔️ @EoeGame @MidgarStudio #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
Edge of Eternity started life as a Kickstarter project, the small French developer ‘Midgar Studios’ clearly took inspiration from Final Fantasies of old - I mean, the clue is in the name of the studio. Now, I have talked in a few reviews of how ‘love letters’ can go one of two ways, they can wonderfully create a new but familiar experience, or they can just be a carbon copy with little identity of their own.
Edge of Eternity has flaws that are revealed very early on. Technical issues were clearly visible, you can see that Edge of Eternity is made on a small budget, character animations are awkward, draw distances and texture pop-in occurs, but despite all the technical flaws, I found the game quite charming with a lot of interesting ideas. I will say that not all of them land, but on the whole, it was an experience I enjoyed, and I feel that the game captured the magic of older JRPGS, whilst still feeling fresh.
14/03/2022
🤠 Unavowed | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9.5/10 | "Taking The Crown" 🤠 @WadjetEyeGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
I was asked, “do you want to review a game called Primordia?” -which I did, and it was a great game – and then I had a message that read, “I got excited and grabbed an Unavowed code for you as well.” - so this game was a complete surprise for me, I knew it was one of my brother's favourite adventure games, which meant it had lofty expectations.
Having huge expectations is always a double-edged sword, it’s great that a game is held in such high esteem, but if you don’t enjoy it as others have, there is a huge let-down and that sometimes creates a bigger negative feeling towards the game - anyone who is on Twitter can attest to this.
Luckily, Unavowed is an absolutely amazing game, and now holds the crown of being my favourite graphic adventure game of all time, sorry The Secret of Monkey Island, it has been a good 31-year streak.
13/03/2022
🪱 Tapeworm: Disco Puzzle | Dreamcast | Review | 8/10 "A game that will worm its way into your heart" 🪱 @LowtekGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #RetroGaming
Lowtek’s previous title, Flea! Was very much loved in the GF towers, especially by me. With addictive gameplay, crisp visuals, smooth animation and music that was of Bubble Bobble-level catchiness, it was very much a winner.
I’ve been following the development of Tapeworm for some time, and even picked up the t-shirt from Lowtek Games’ website as I loved the image and yes, the pun.
Of course, the proof is in the pudding….can the finished game stand up to the high quality of the pun-title, premise… and developer Alistair Low’s Tik-Tok videos?
Yes, yes it can.