Death Crown has style and originality pumping through its disgusting veins, and it’s not often that you get to say that about a real-time strategy game. Often the most clinical and militaristic of genres, Death Crown is ghoulish and characterful. Hell, the world-building is probably worth a recommendation on its own.
Flowing Lights is a game that demands planning in advance; these aren’t simply run and gun levels, they are puzzles that need to be solved. And it is having to adapt this mentality that makes Flowing Lights such a unique and fun experience.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is going to be the perfect game for some people and the most tedious of ones for others. Presenting a more directed take on the classic Minecraft structure, this succeeds at retaining that creativity while actively giving players something to work for and something tangible to do. But, more impressively, Builders 2 never feels like a pale imitation.
Rising Hell is a fun, challenging roguelite that is perfect for those with a full schedule. It’s not as expansive as some of the other roguelites available, but it’s still a great bit of fun and well worth a buy if you are looking for something new to try.
Cosmic Top Secret is a unique and novel way to use video games to create an experience that no book or documentary format could even come close to achieve. There’s a great deal to learn and discover in this adventure, and above all it presents a very raw and honest look into the very human lives of those who worked tirelessly and confidentially during a very unique period in history.
Karma. Incarnation 1 is a point-and-click as a petri-dish: full of bizarre organisms interacting with each other, and wiggling away or bursting as you prod at them. It’s fascinating to watch, and even better to listen to. But it’s when you try to play with it that it falters.
The charm and originality means that Buildings Have Feelings Too! is infectious to begin with, however it doesn’t take long for things to go awry. The control system fast becomes clunky and it’s certainly not a game that is as intuitive as it should be.
Glitchangels might not dazzle with its looks or soundtrack. It might occasionally feel like you’re trying to navigate a fireworks display. But for a penny less than a tenner, you are getting an extremely effective twin-stick shooter and two thumbs up. It’s a joy to control, incredibly more-ish, and it keeps tempting you with more ways to progress. If you’re hungry to play a new Geometry Wars, but are willing to take a hit on the presentation, then Glitchangels is manna from heaven.
Retro Machina is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It’s hard not to get invested in the eerily beautiful but ultimately bleak world which has an engrossing story to tell.
If you hate multitasking, or get panicked when given a time limit, then Boris the Rocket on the Xbox isn’t for you. It’s a brutal test of time management and steady nerves, as you construct and configure missiles in a desperate bid to stay alive. For our tastes, the pressure was too unrelenting, and Boris the Rocket could have approached ‘enjoyable’ if it offered some calm moments to go with the not-so-calm.
Cymatically Muffed looks rubbish, there’s no two ways about it. But it plays so much better than it looks. It’s fast, smooth and interesting, and is like a twin-stick shooter for the modern age. I would even go so far as to mention it in the same breath as Smash TV from back in the day, it is that much fun to play.
NeiR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... is an improved remake of an okay game. The changes that have been actioned are impressive and they in turn make the experience all so much better. Just be aware that many of the basic elements that held back the original are still present. However this is still a fine RPG experience and worth playing, especially if you loved Automata.
Kursk could have been excellent, even though the premise itself is a little unsettling. The exploration and detail of the sub itself is great and feels very original, and there are some nice little gameplay elements found throughout. The movement between the different sub-compartments and the animation it brings does however become very annoying, very quickly, and it is this which destroys the impact of the game in regards to pacing.
It can’t be an easy gig changing things as fundamental as the type of game you develop without losing your identity, but Immortals Fenyx Rising: The Lost Gods on Xbox manages this so well. It feels like a piece of DLC that attempts a lot of ideas that didn’t quite make the cut in the main game, yet it is easily the best DLC of the three post-release offerings.
For short term hits, and for those with a desire to show their skating skills on a new forum, Skate City flicks and tricks its way to glory. It’s just that the greater grind and increase in trick difficulty may eventually become too much to bear.
