We’re in danger of making Strike Force 2 - Terrorist Hunt on Xbox sound so bad that you might want to buy it. There’s some truth in that, but the laughs are all in the first level. The rest of Strike Force’s routine is re-tellings of the same joke, and for £15 you could get more from buying a whoopee cushion and burning the remaining tenner. Undoubtedly, there are people who have completed the COD campaign and are looking around for the next shot of military head-shottage, but you need Strike Force 2 like a hole in your own.
60 Parsecs! on Xbox is a game that is easy to pick up and easy to come back to. The mechanics are great, comedy is woven into all of the writing, and each playthrough feels different enough where the experience doesn’t just feel like a repeat of the last. If you want a space-themed survival comedy that can easily pass the time, then do yourself a favor and get 60 Parsecs!
60 Seconds! Reatomized on Xbox is a fun, challenging game, but it lacks the refinement it needs to make it a great game. If you like the post-apocalyptic aesthetic though and are in the mood for a dark comedy survival game, then this isn’t the worst choice in the world.
If you’re in the market for a new horror title, and just so happen to love a puzzle or two, I’d highly recommend you spend some time with DARQ: Complete Edition on Xbox. The main game with added DLC brings together a decent chunk of gameplay for the price, and whilst it’s not a huge game the Complete Edition seems to deliver exactly what is required.
The famed point-and-click adventure genre can stir up many different emotions and feelings, depending on the game. Having played a fair few of this ilk over the years, I can attest to that; the puzzling Deponia series is so clever that it bamboozled me, Lair of the Clockwork God caused laughter in abundance, and My Brother Rabbit tugged on the heartstrings. Mojiken Studio have created a point-and-clicker that falls into the latter kind of adventures, with When The Past Was Around telling a tale of love and loss. Will it deliver something so lovely that it leaves you reaching for the tissues, or instead looking for the off button?
Autumn’s Journey on Xbox isn’t long, bombastic or even particularly interactive, but it is a well-crafted visual novel that endears you to its characters. Expect nothing more than a fantastical short story with a hint of romance, and you’ll be on track for a couple of hours of swooning entertainment.
Click. Click. Click. That’s the sound of a button being mindlessly pressed in order to make progress in a clicker game. It’s one of those genres purely responsible for passive gaming that needs little to no thought on your part. You can usually just sit back and decimate cute looking creatures (Clicker Heroes) or vicious orcs (Lord of the Click) with a simplistic, button-pressing, repetition. The latest of its kind to arrive on Xbox is Car Demolition Clicker, which implores you to destroy cars. Will it be a hell of an explosive ride, or does it need sending to the garage for urgent repairs?
Panzer Dragoon: Remake on Xbox is very much a product of its time, but give it a chance and it will grow on you. The challenge of keeping your dragon alive and kicking to the end of the level is a tricky one, and the desire is always there to go back and do better on the level than you have before, especially on hard mode.
Roundout by POWGI on Xbox by Lightwood Games is another successful and unique word puzzle game, and this time provides a decent challenge in comparison with others. It is still a little light on features – a problem across all three titles – but due to the nature of it, having a crossword-type puzzle up on the main screen of the house can offer interaction between family members.
The world and atmosphere of Goetia on Xbox is something to love. It's a very cerebral, clever, and originally designed point and click adventure. The story and writing are excellent throughout and the puzzles are both interesting and unique. I do however think that it can all become needlessly complicated at times and you really do have to think outside the box in order to find some of the solutions.
On Xbox, Oniria Crimes’ greatest successes are in the rich world it’s created, and the uniqueness of interrogating the crime scene to come to a conclusion. But neither are enough: the experience tumbles into a nightmare, as poor controls, bemusing design decisions and bugs overwhelm everything.
10tons have managed to recreate that feeling of running out of time, surrounded on all sides, and even sometimes fares better than many games in recent memory. While Tesla Force on Xbox is lacking in variety, especially upon repeat playthroughs, what it does have to offer has continuously dragged me back in for more.
Empire of Sin has a lot going for it: a jazzy soundtrack, a lovely idea and a nice map. But at present, it is far less than the sum of its ambitious parts and falls short in a highly frustrating fashion. Paradox have a long history of supporting their games with multiple patches and DLCs, so I’d be shocked if this doesn’t improve post-patch. But as it stands, it falls badly short.
Habroxia on Xbox is an average game which is reasonably priced. It winds up being a pedestrian affair which, whilst offering some thrills in its couple of hours of gameplay, never quite manages to live up to those which inspired it.
While Shady Part of Me doesn’t quite reach the heights of a Limbo, Inside or Little Nightmares, it more than belongs in that illustrious group of puzzle platformers. For a game that arrived with little hype or fanfare, it’s a welcome and unexpected light at the end of a dark 2020.
