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Video Game Reviews
LOUD – Turn down that music, yer darn kids!
You’re here to tap buttons in time to some sweet jams, and the mechanics here are solid and enjoyable. The screen is split into left and right sides, with each side having a top, middle, and bottom lane. As in so many games of this style,…
Help this Mom and Son Have the Best Month Ever
Decide the life path of young Mitch and his mother Louise, both struggling to find a better life in 1960s America with racial tension is at an all time high.
Arcade Paradise spin cycles a laundrette into an arcade
Early video arcades, with games like Galaga and Pac-Man, were dead long before most people reading this will have been able to visit them. I only remember these arcades, vicariously, through moments presented in TV shows, books, movies or…
Camp Canyonwood Early Access – Campfire stories
Those Animal Crossing parallels don’t end there though, as the only way to increase the products the vendors have on offer is to complete gathering tasks for them. This is where you need to start being really efficient. Those kids need…
Quintus and the Absent Truth – There’s a mouse in the house
That lack of scares is really what brings Quintus and the Absent Truth down. The occasional jump scare accompanied by a quick violin chord doesn’t cut it when the atmosphere isn’t there due to the repetitive gameplay, simple environments,…
Madison – Blue Knees is behind you…
Yes, there are jump scares, with ghosts appearing in your path to give you that jolt of terror, but its everything around those moments that really work. The jump scares feel earned, as that atmosphere builds constantly.
Broken Mind – Do you mind how broken it is?
Both characters will need to solve puzzles to progress, disarming bear traps, completing circuits, and finding keys to locked doors. None of them are too taxing, and aside from needing to find keys, these types of puzzles are rarely…
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…
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…
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…