Reviewed on PlayStation 4 In Stanley Kubrick’s film rendition of The Shining, Jack Torrance famously said, “You set ‘em up, and I’ll knock ‘em back, Capcom.” Okay, so he didn’t quite direct his comment toward Capcom — it was a ghost bartender named Lloyd — but he very well could have if he was a Resident Evil fan in 2020. […]
Reviewed on PC Not too long ago, an unassuming Zelda-like titled Lenna’s Inception launched on PC. The game came out in January, to be specific, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about just how… magical the whole thing really is. Mechanically, it works really well and is a lot of fun to play. But it’s the un-Zelda-like qualities […]
Reviewed on Xbox One There’s something great about a game that knows exactly what it is. Freedom Finger from Wide Right Games is a 2D arcade shoot ‘em up that takes cues from R-Type and Gradius. That said, it’s more than just a game inspired by classic space shooters. It’s also a funny, irreverent, foul-mouthed adventure that would feel right […]
Reviewed on PC Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be a Goomba in Super Mario? Or a Waddle Dee in Kirby? Those guys are the lowest of the low — the most expendable fodder for our platformer heroes. You see them, and you don’t even sweat it. The threat these enemies pose is minimal, laughable almost. Wunderling, developed […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 Sometimes you’ll see a game that looks like it’ll be your jam. Maybe the aesthetics catch your attention, or you see a gameplay trailer and say to yourself, “Oh yeah, that looks pretty cool.” I thought I was going to get a kick out of Music Racer. The game seemed exactly like the type of thing […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 High-octane mech games have traditionally been third-person experiences. They’re pretty much shooters, but instead of a limber space marine, you play as a massive, hulking robot. Hardcore Mecha is the rare exception to the rule, providing that same kind of action-packed adventure but set on a 2D plane — and it works. The game was developed […]
Reviewed on PC What lengths would you go to if you had to save your kitten from the clutches of an alien invader? Would you travel great distances, take down all of her goons, and even fight giant robots? These are the all-important, real-world, moral questions that Super Crush KO asks. Created by Vertex Pop, who previously released the bright […]
Reviewed on PC The ’80s have seen a resurgence the past few years with TV shows and movies taking place in the iconic decade, and some even creating alternate versions of it. But what about the ’90s? Those were great times, man! Orangeblood from developer Grayfax Software celebrates 1990s hip hop culture while taking you to an alternate reality set […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 One look at Gunlord X and you’d think it was released on Neo Geo in the early ’90s. Well, you’d only be half wrong, as the game was originally released for Neo Geo… back in 2012, though. The game also received an unofficial release on Dreamcast. Created by German developer NG:DEV.TEAM, the original Gunlord was a […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 When you think of the days of the gladiator, you think of big, epic battles. You think of a chiseled warrior covered in battle scars taking down equally chiseled warriors with equally gnarly scars and maybe even a ferocious tiger or two. Story of a Gladiator is based around exactly that: the battles that took place […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 One look at Sparklite from Red Blue Games, and it’s easy to instantly fall for its charm. Don’t let the beautiful pixel art and cute characters fool you, though. Sparklite is a tough little action-adventure game that wears its retro inspiration on its sleeve. It’s a lot of fun, and though the game’s pieces don’t always […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 Faith is a powerful thing. It can move mountains. It can restore dead lands. It can— aw, crap, I’m dead. Dark Devotion from Hibernian Workshop is a bastard-tough 2D action-adventure with some very specific inspirations, but the game carves its own path of death and despair, and it ultimately provides a thrilling experience worthy of its […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 As we get closer and closer to the end of 2019, it’s probably time we start thinking about our favorite games of the year. For me, there are some strong contenders including Apex Legends, My Friend Pedro, Ape Out, Sekiro, Neo Cab, and Heave Ho, just to name a few. Well, I’m adding Trine 4: The […]
Reviewed on PC People go through life and interact with hundreds, no, thousands of people. There’s your family, your group of friends, the people you grow up with, your pals, and then there are the folks you just sort of meet along the way. These are people you cross paths with and have a few words with. Maybe you didn’t […]
10/30/2019 Update from the author: On Sunday, October 27, developer Benjamin Rivers reached out to me to inform me that he had released a worldwide update designed to fix a bug that was causing Worse Than Death to crash on PlayStation 4. After playing through the game a second time following the patch, I can confirm that the update indeed […]
Reviewed on PC I’m fighting the urge to make this a one-sentence review and ask you, politely, to go and round up a group of four friends (yourself included) and just play Heave Ho. That said, it would be a shame if I didn’t sing the praises of Le Cartel Studio and its incredible couch co-op game. I honestly can’t […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 Darksiders 3 was a bit of a departure for the apocalyptic action-adventure franchise that won over audiences back in 2010. When the first game launched nearly a decade ago, it drew comparisons to Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series. The latest entry was more akin to From Software’s Souls games, but it was a winner in its […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 It becomes quite obvious pretty early on while playing The Surge 2 that Deck13 Interactive isn’t out to reinvent the wheel. That’s okay, though, because sometimes games don’t need to revolutionize a genre to create something within that genre that’s absolutely fun and badass in its own right. The Surge 2 isn’t revolutionary or evolutionary, but […]
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 Since the days of arcades, the shoot ’em up has managed to evolve in some really cool ways. Shooters like Galak-Z and Sine Mora implement unique gameplay elements that either change the way you think while playing or present you with different ways to play. Other times, they remain true to the classic shoot ’em up […]
Reviewed on PC At first glance, Fracter conjures up memories of Limbo with its monochromatic visuals, heavy use of silhouettes and shadows, somber tone, and eerie imagery. When you actually get your hands on it, though, Fracter is actually a lot closer to Monument Valley. This is thanks to its intuitive puzzles and ambient design. Even though the game doesn’t […]