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Video Games
Oddworld: Strangers Wrath HD is as unique today as it ever was
It’s hard for me to believe that Oddworld: Strangers Wrath was first released almost twenty years ago. It’s just another painful reminder that many, many years have now passed since those halcyon days of my youth. However, just as my…
Oxide: Room 104 – Oxi-dies
Unlike most horror games, dying due to the many threats in the motel won’t reset you back to the checkpoint. Instead, you’ll awaken, chained to another bathtub whilst the man in the orange jumpsuit tells you that you need to do better…
Janitor Bleeds – They should probably see a doctor about that
Before long though, you may start to notice that the layout of the levels mirrors that of the arcade, and that there may well be something else in there with you. Stranger still, that arcade cabinet seems to pop up all over the building and…
The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe is a wonderful trip
I don’t know how, but somehow the original Stanley Parable game completely passed me by back in 2013, despite receiving rave reviews from critics both within the video game industry and beyond. That might not be such terrible news though,…
Starship Troopers: Terran Command – Rasczak’s Roughnecks!
You have to love Slitherine. They’re one of the only publishers that still releases old fashioned RTS games. Base, resource, and troop management as you try to conquer your opponent from an isometric perspective. Giving orders,…
Forgive Me Father — All win, no sin
Combat is fast paced and thrilling, as you’ll have a lot of targets to deal with at any one time. Your movement speed is high enough to keep you out of trouble if you’re careful, but you’ll need to manage threats effectively. Those enemies…
Norco — Everything That Rises Must Converge
Stepping away from Norco the game, here’s the slug line: “A sci-fi southern gothic adventure…” I stopped reading here. They had me within 5 words. It delivers on this basic sentiment with enthusiasm and then some; creating a swirl of decay,…
Arkham Horror: Mothers Embrace is trapped between two worlds
As regular readers will know, I am at least as big of a board game fan as I am a fan of video games. In fact, whilst I probably spend more hours actually playing video games, I cherish the time sitting around my table with friends as more…
Project Warlock 2 (Early Access) – (War)Lock and Load for Some Retro Shooter Carnage
Project Warlock 2 aims to take players back to the shooters of yesteryear. With its blend of retro shooter gameplay and a few clever twists, developers Buckshot Software aim to capture the same blood, bullets and badassery from the classic…
Birth is a calming puzzler about building a new friend
Have you ever found yourself in a strange place, alone and lonely? Even though you know that the world is just as weird and strange as anybody might find you, you just can't seem to connect with others. In Birth the solution is simple, to…
Winter Ember burns too cool
If you asked me to take the mythos and style of the legendary Thief games (excluding the crap 200X remake) and build an isometric Desperados style stealth game out of it, I’d bite your hand off at the chance to see the outcome. And so here…
The House in Fata Morgana – Timeless Gothic Romance
By Christ, this is a good one. I was more or less raised by Gothic literature, as a precocious/pretentious kid, from Poe to Shelley, to later works by Stephen King and Shirley Jackson. The haunted house story is practically engraved in my…
Ozymandias is a classy, condensed, classic 4x experience
Sometimes a game comes along and boils down familiar tropes into something so simple that it almost seems brand new, only for you to blink and realise that this is actually a journey back to the very origin of the trope. Ozymandias does…
The Hand of Merlin says Multiverse-Schmultiverse
Imagine if anyone actually knew much more about the legend of King Arthur besides something about knights and a round table? Imagine if the legendary wizard Merlin were the original Doctor Strange? Well friends, imagine no more — because in…
Citizen Sleeper — Relax into the story of a lost artificial construct and a decrepit station on the…
Citizen Sleeper, from Jump over the Age games, is a mixture of science fiction visual novel and dice management game that will draw you in with its rich atmosphere and excellent writing.
5 Minute Read – Realpolitiks on Xbox One
Having recently reviewed Crusader Kings III on Xbox One via GamePass, my appetite for console-based grand strategy simply cannot be sated. With the modern political landscape as tumultuous as it is, I’ve been seeking something a little more…
Cosmic Top Secret — The Many Folds of History
Sometimes you get to play a game so ostensibly intriguing, so fully singular in it’s identity and style you just have to sit back a bit and go “games really are amazing.” Cosmic Top Secret, a highly personal, autobiographical game where you…
SChIM is all about a shadow frog just trying to go about its day
Jump from shadow to shadow as a Schim, a shadow-surfing frog, in the cool 3D puzzle game of the same name. I don't know about you, but with me there are games that simply keep cropping up. You spot them early in development and then they…
Per Aspera is a sprawling, scientific tour-de-force
I both love and hate games like Per Aspera. I love the deep, complex simulation that comes with such games, and in this case, I love the rich and interesting story about an increasingly sentient AI called AMI. But, I hate how hundreds of…
Endzone is a proper, grown-up management sim, but is it too much for console?
I’ve said before that the days of half-baked real-time strategy and management sim conversions to console are long gone — perhaps with the exception of some of the more grand features in mega-games like Stellaris or Civilization VI.…