Matt Gander 
While we’re grateful for Obsidian’s Pentiment, it has ended up being the only first-party Xbox exclusive for the holiday season. In place of a new Halo, Gears, Forza, Fable or a Rare IP revival, High On Life steps in as a replacement. This comical first-person shooter – set in a world where weapons can talk …
We’ve seen half a dozen simulators arrive on consoles this past month. Because it’s hard to tell who the majority are aimed at, it seems that publishers are simply hedging bets on their titles becoming the next surprise success. PowerWash Simulator cleared 3 million sales recently, so you can see why developers are keen to …
If variety is the spice of life, then this week is a Boxing Day turkey curry – with cranberry sauce and a few pigs in blankets thrown in. Delicious. Big name releases hitting the eShop include stealth horror game Hello Neighbor 2 – which promises advanced AI that learns from your behaviour – and Square-Enix’s …
Looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for Space Giraffe 2. Atari has revealed that Jeff Minter’s latest project is an Akka Arrh revival. Unfamiliar with Akka Arrh? That’s understandable. Released in 1982, this arcade shoot’em up never entered full production, only receiving a market test. Players found it too difficult, so Atari …
This combat-free third-person adventure introduces us to Mia Lorenson, a young female researcher employed by a science facility. After waking in a hospital, with only a hazy recollection of events prior, Mia begins to explore the empty wards and labs while slowly piecing together recent events. Her colleagues are nowhere to be found. In fact, …
I had an infatuation with Rampage growing up, first discovering it on the ZX Spectrum at a friend’s house before renting out the surprisingly slick Master System version, and then later discovering the excellent Lynx iteration – which added a new character. The focus on destroying a city instead of protecting it was novel for …
Three big-name titles launched last week, and you may be surprised by their UK retail chart placings. The Callisto Protocol was the highest charting, debuting at #6 in the all formats top 40. It made a bigger dent in the individual format charts, arriving at #2 in both the PS5 and Xbox Series top tens. …
Contrary to popular belief, the gaming calendar isn’t over just yet – the next two weeks are looking rather busy. The week leading us into Christmas? Not such much, although that could change. A last-minute rush to secure premium digital storefront placement period often occurs. Square-Enix is back, once again, with Dragon Quest Treasures on …
Rogue-lites are in abundance at the moment, so it can only be good news to see the upcoming Flame Keeper attempting to do things differently. Playing as a piece of burning coal named Ignis, it’s a case of choosing to stay alive or make progress. Calling the main character ‘Cole’ was clearly too on …
Our last review was of Evil West – a game that felt trapped in 2010, evocative of Xbox 360/PS3 era third-person shooters. Gungrave G.O.R.E takes us back even further, being a sequel to a 2004 PS2 shooter that achieved cult status. It’s so true to that era that we even had to double check that …
The Switch may miss out on this week’s trio of big-name releases – The Callisto Protocol, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and Need for Speed Unbound – but rest assured that the Switch eShop is lively as ever. From Forever Entertainment – best known for their recent The House of the Dead and Panzer Dragoon remakes – …
The third-person shooting genre was one of the most popular during the PS3/Xbox 360 era, yet it seems to have fallen out of favour recently with developers and publishers turning their attention to newer trends. Even the last Gears of War seems like a distant memory. Enter Evil West, a potential stand-in. We wouldn’t be …
World Cup fever has propelled FIFA 23 back to the UK retail chart top spot, meaning Pokémon Violet is no longer no.1. With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II climbing to #2, Nintendo’s creature capturer is down to #3. Pokémon Scarlet, meanwhile, falls from #2 to #6 during its second week on sale. Black Friday …
While there are a few more big-name games to come this year, including High On Life, Dragon Quest Treasures, and Core Crisis: FFVII, this may possibly be the last truly busy week of 2022 when it comes to new releases. The release lists are looking rather sporadic from the middle of December onwards. This week …
Claiming that gameplay will always be more important than graphics isn’t a particularly bold statement. Many will agree that this has been the case for video games ever since their conception back in the late ‘70s. Pong wasn’t much to look at, but it sold the concept of gaming to the masses. Tetris, meanwhile, sold …