Antarctica 88 does a lot of things right, then shoots itself in the foot with some dodgy control decisions and design choices. The snowmobile controls are hilariously bad, the combat is lumpy and the jumping is broken, but weighing against that is the story and the atmosphere that the game creates.
There is a fun game trying to get out of The Walking Zombie 2, but it is drowning under the constant push of microtransactions. The end result just feels like a mess.Â
It must be said, as a whole, Space Elite Force 2 in 1 certainly has some of that X Factor that will keep you playing. With generous achievements up for grabs as well, it's hard to find too much to grumble about.
We rarely see an Artifex Mundi game reach the dizzy heights of a 4 out of 5. They’re too set in their ways, too janky to justify the loftier scores. But by toying with their payment model, Artifex have given us one of their best hidden object games in Queen's Quest 5: Symphony of Death, effectively for free.
Creepy Tale is effective, there is no doubting that. It is as insidious as they come, and that comes from its art, world and characters. We’re eager to play its sequel, in the hope that it expands on them more. But Creepy Tale fumbles whenever it asks you to do anything. Too often, it resorts to puzzles that are clumsy and illogical, with a parade of deaths as the punishment.Â
For the low price and promise of a full Gamerscore haul coming your way within a matter of a few minutes, Ball laB could possibly find a place within your gaming sessions. Unless you have controller throwing tendencies - in which case you should stay well away.
Aspire: Ina’s Tale will deliver some mixed feelings. The world-building, the scenes of identity and magic it manifests while travelling through the world are all to be loved, as is the main character of Ina and the creatures/characters she meets along the way. Some of the platforming and puzzle-solving is also decent but the movement of Ina becomes a bit frustrating at times, especially in terms of gameplay accuracy.
This is an astonishingly immersive and good-natured fable, and we relished returning to it whenever we were away. It may not be long, it may not do anything groundbreaking, but The Gunk radiated good feelings whenever we picked up the pad.
Platformer games are two a penny these days, often using ideas that were popular in the genre’s heyday - for better or worse. But what if I told you a developer had come up with a concept that involves your vocal chords being the key to success? Well, Bad Dream Games have attempted to do exactly that in the vocal 2D platformer One Hand Clapping. The question is, will One Hand Clapping hit all the right notes and be hailed a masterpiece, or could this novel idea just be full of bum notes?
Undoubtedly, there is a very fun party game here that takes the Monopoly framework and applies it to a multiplayer game not unlike Overcooked or Moving Out. And it really works at capturing the essence of both formats into an enjoyable fusion. But the real madness in Monopoly Madness is the asking price. Be like Rich Uncle Pennybags and wait for this one to go on sale.
This is a video game experiment: what would happen if you stripped absolutely everything from an endless runner? Some questions weren’t meant to be answered, but Ninja Dash 3D answers it anyway, then charges the price of a Starbucks espresso to observe its findings. Step back, put the wallet back in the pocket, and drop a smoke bomb to make a speedy exit.
Even as a free-to-play game, Magic Nations would have stunk. It has a Scrooge-like approach to rewarding you: it’s a thin trail of breadcrumbs to some slightly larger breadcrumbs. But Magic Nations is £12.49, which gets you a mediocre card game strapped to a microtransaction system that EA would have dismissed.
Since 2016, a steady stream of tie-in comics has been released that act as a companion piece to the hugely successful trilogy of Dark Souls videogames. In amongst the various four-issue miniseries and anthology comics, there have been many tales that expand this dark and mysterious universe. Now, Titan Comics have released a hefty compendium of everything so far, just in time for Christmas.
As you may or may not be aware, Pac-Man turned 40 years old in 2020. Well, it appears that the Pac-Party had only just got started, as now a new book has appeared on the market to celebrate the life and times of that most unlikely of video game hero - Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon.
Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards is quite enjoyable. It isn’t good enough to sit at the top table of the ARPG world, but can quite comfortably be found on the second tier. With better balancing through the game it would have been a contender, but the extreme difficulty spikes spoil the experience somewhat.Â
