Reviews
Get the most comprehensive info on the latest games in the gaming arena.
Bis.nes – Vostok Inc. – Review
Vostok Inc. is in equal parts a twin-stick shooter and a clicker, which makes it a twin-stick clicker, or a click-stick shooter. Surprisingly enough, it does both aspects of the game really well, resulting in an enjoyable and challenging twin-stick experience bundled with the relaxing rhythm of idle clickers. As the game’s official description puts it – You’re the newly appointed CEO of Vostok Inc. As a greedy, space-capitalist your ultimate goal is to get filthy, stinking, rich! And that’s basically it. You start off with a ship and venture forth into space. Initially you are shooting down enemies in the usual twin stick fashion, along with asteroids in space. Shooting them down gives you ‘Moolah’, which is the game’s currency. And when shooting things ...
The Town Of Light – Review
The Town Of Light is based on real events in Italy and is set during the early 20th century. You play in first person, and relive the life of a 16 year old girl and her time in a mental hospital. At its core the game is a psychological tale, and that is the game’s strongest component. As you explore your surroundings, you can interact with various objects in the world and the story keeps unfolding. The whole place has a very creepy feel to it and it adds a lot to the overall tension. The girl’s narration is also spot-on and does a very good job of relaying a young girl’s fear and confusion, as well as her mental issues. Renee suffers from severe anxiety and blackouts, and later on is a victim of sexual abuse. She is then admitted to the Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra, ...
Leaving Lyndow – Review
Leaving Lyndow is a walking simulator with a bit of exploration, point and click elements, and puzzles thrown in. And I don’t mean that in a reductive way, I like all those things and actually had a great time with the game. The game is quite short (about 45-60 minutes long) and even though it is set in the same universe as Eastshade, the upcoming larger game, it has different gameplay mechanics – Eastshade will be an open-world game with longer conversations, quests and where the player can make their own story; while Leaving Lyndow is more of a glimpse into Clara’s life and her last day before a dangerous expedition, with short puzzles and closed off areas. As mentioned, you play as Clara, who is leaving her home to join the Guild of Maritime Exploration. The game begin...
Real Virtuality – SuperHOT PS4 & PSVR Review
Right from the first moments of SuperHOT one thing is made immediately clear – this game has got style, and presents it boldly. Time moves when you do, and everyone is out to kill you. Presented in a unique fashion, you start by navigating the menus of piOS, and launch Superhot.exe. You’re then playing through small areas where enemies are coming at you with guns, fists and melee weapons. Everything is still when you don’t move and every move you make has to be a calculated decision. Presented in a minimalist way, there are whites everywhere, punctuated by red enemies and bullets. You start of simple by facing just a couple of enemies, but soon enough you are facing down up to ten enemies coming at you from every side. You punch out the first enemy, throw a cue ball at th...
Aven Colony Review (PC & PS4)
As a huge fan of city building simulators, I was really looking forward to Aven Colony. And the fact that it’s also on PS4 was an added draw for me, since that’s where I primarily play. And this is where the game has me a bit divided. On consoles, it’s one of the better city builders you will find. But on PC, there’s a lot that Aven Colony lacks, specially when held against games like Sim City and Cities Skylines. Your main objective in Aven Colony is to colonize Aven Prime – an alien planet with a wide range of habitats ranging from deserts, tundras and tropical regions. The premise itself is fascinating. Building a colony in space sounds like the coolest thing ever. And in the beginning, it really does feel like it. The intro tutorials are easy to understand...
Warden-fall: The Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind Review
Morrowind was an amazing part in The Elder Scrolls series. It only seems natural that Bethesda would want to bring that surreal world to ESO, the MMO version of their RPG series. Since ESO launched back in 2014, it has undergone a number of major changes, including level scaling and completely opening up the world to explorers in the One Tamriel update. Even though ESO offered a ton of content, as an MMORPG it always felt average at best. That is, until Morrowind, the game’s first additional “Chapter” (not expansion, as the devs like to call it). You’re introduced to the city of Vvardenfall, which has been very faithfully recreated after the original game. Maybe a little too faithfully, because it’s likely that old Morrowind fans may not feel the same sense of...
Mr. Shifty – Review
Your aim in Mr. Shifty is to make your way gradually up the world’s most secure facility. You are quite literally making your way up, several floors at a time, taking down enemies and avoiding to take any damage at all. Played from a top down perspective, you have two basic abilities – you can dash/shift really quickly to avoid attacks or get behind enemies, you can beat up enemies using your fists or some melee items in the environments. Enemies can come at you with guns or melee weapons or straight up in hand to hand combat. You die in one hit and have to restart the area. But the shifting ability is executed really well and also allows you to move across walls and smaller obstacles. The gameplay feels really tight and fluid, and later stages can become a careful dance of avoiding ...
Black The Fall – Review
Black The Fall is set in a Communist dystopia, and you play as Black who is trying to escape from a facility that seems hellbent on seeing him trapped here forever. At first glance, Black The Fall looks a lot like Playdead’s Inside, and it does have tones similar to it. However, Black The Fall has a lot more to the gameplay than both of Playdead’s previous games, and does enough interesting things to warrant a place of its own. After years of suffering, Black decides to escape the Communist regime, and makes his way through an industrial complex outfitted with various mechanical contraptions and puzzles. You get a laser pointer of sorts that can control others in the complex, and help you solve some of the earlier puzzles. Soon after you befriend a robot dog that helps you along the way. T...
Dance Of The Dead – Diablo III: Rise Of The Necromancer Review
Necromancers are pretty fascinating. And, Diablo III’s take on the class is absolutely fantastic. Rise of the Necromancer comes as a DLC that adds a whole new class, the Necromancer (duh), which was one of the most popular characters in Diablo II. The only problem? That’s all there is to it. It doesn’t add any story content. That doesn’t stop it from being awesome, though. The Necromancer is probably one of the most powerful classes in the game, not to mention the most badass. From raising corpses to blowing them up in geysers of bile and blood, you can do just about anything. And my, is it fun. There’s a horde of abilities in your arsenal that you can use to suit your play style. The Necromancer excels at both melee and ranged combat. You can play defensively...
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age – Review
Back when it first released on the Playstation 2, Final Fantasy XII was an excellent RPG that did a lot of things differently for the series. However, it never recieved the mass acclaim as it did critically. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a HD remaster of the PS2 game, and adds some key elements apart from visual changes to make it a compelling game for the Playstation 4. Set in the world of Ivalice, the story follows the adventures of Vaan, Princess Ashe and their companions as they set about to free their homeland after it’s conquered by the Archadian Empire. Unlike the previous Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy XII is filled with political intrigue and personal tales than a bigger apocalyptic threat. This is a refreshing change from most RPG tropes and as the story progresses, mo...
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles Review
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles wears its inspirations proudly on its sleeves. What it’s even prouder of is how it stands apart from those inspirations and creates a world of it’s own for the player to explore at their leisure and do things as they see fit. Visually the game looks a lot like the new Zelda, with mere minutes into the game a cinematic intro sweeping the camera across a stunning landscape similar to the opening moments of Breath of the Wild. The game starts with a very simple and basic character creator, and that same simplicity is carried forth for the majority of the game. After a quick premise, you land on the island of Gemea, a beautiful and fantastical land filled with friendly folks and creatures, who are endangered by an evil force called Murk. And you...
Hollowed Be Thy Name: Hollow Knight Review
In wilds beyond they speak your name with reverence and regret, For none could tame our savage souls, yet you the challenge met, Under palest watch, you taught, we changed, base instincts were redeemed, A world you gave to bug and beast as they had never dreamed. With these, and only these words, you’re thrown into the awe-inspiring and highly unforgiving world of Hollow Knight, with no clue whatsoever as to what you’re supposed to do. You make your to a now largely deserted town of Dirtmouth, where an Elderbug tells you that the place once teemed with life, but drawn to the mysteries of the forgotten kingdom that lies beneath the surface, they’re all gone. It’s up to you to discover the ancient secrets and rid the town of the curse. Hence begins your journey into t...