Roguelikes are tricky beasts. They take a certain amount of resilience to take on. With highly randomised elements they can be fun after obtaining items that synergise well, or your YouTube-worthy controller smashing moment as you take that disastrous final hit which ends the run far too soon. You die – a lot, essentially with …
Islanders looks like a city sim, it plays like a puzzle game, and might just be a comment on class politics and land use in the modern world. What’s not to like? You start with a procedurally generated island, a beautiful little thing, to survey, to see how things might play out. Pick one of …
Alveole is intriguing. It drops you in a giant hamster wheel, gives you the absolute minimum of instruction, then leaves you to get on with it. And ‘it’ is pretty limited: all you can do is start running, and once you’ve started running, all you can do is jump. From there it’s about working out …
2021 seems like a strange time to release a game based on the career of Pop Idol bronze medallist Darius Danesh. Whilst he’s had great success in musicals, he hasn’t been a mainstream concern since 2002’s Colourblind… [Actually, Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX+ the latest in Taito’s long-running Darius series of horizontal shooters. – Ed] *Cough* …
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Saber Interactive should consider itself flattered. Aliens: Fireteam Elite builds upon the groundwork laid by Saber for their belated World War Z tie-in, adapting it to fit the confines of the Aliens franchise. Like a facehugger wrapped around your windpipe, it’s a snug fit. That’s the good …
Shortly after the original Xbox launched, it came to light that many first-person shooters sold better on Microsoft’s platform. Most journos at the time, ourselves included, chalked this up to Halo being the Xbox’s killer app – it seemed logical that many would be keen to try something similar. Twenty years on, this influence is …
The first thing you’ll notice about Out of Line is that it looks beautiful. It has a hand-painted look that absolutely astounds, and it looks great in motion. The soundtrack, too, is eerie and subtle, picking its moments to swell without being intrusive or overbearing. What do you actually do, though? Well, In Out of …
A video game, at its very core, serves up a set of rules that ultimately determine how we play and behave within its virtual world. Load up a game of, say, Sonic the Hedgehog, and this quickly becomes apparent: run straight up to the first loop-de-loop and the resulting outcome communicates all you need to …
Haven Park’s developer – one man, Fabien Weibel – is very honest about its inspirations: A Short Hike and Animal Crossing. There’s nothing wrong with that: there’s plenty of room in the world for more games about having a nice time doing nice things in a nice place. And that pretty much sums up Haven …
There are a plethora of reasons why a video game may be considered frustrating. Difficulty spikes and glitches are some of the more common offenders. The presence of peculiar design choices is less common, which is perhaps why they can aggravate more so than something like dim-witted AI. The Ascent has more of its fair …
Portals have become somewhat ruined in recent years, being the literal butt of jokes for media like Rick and Morty, where the handy dimension dipping device often opens doorways into a land of giant farting butts. Thankfully the juvenile nature of portals is waning, and while we can put parping posteriors to the back of …
Even though Monstrum Nox is the latest entry in Falcom’s long-running Ys series, there’s no need to worry if you haven’t played previous entries. Monstrum Nox happens to be an ideal point to jump in, with a (mostly) self-contained story and mechanics that are introduced slowly and sensibly. Monstrum Nox once again puts you in …
Throughout this relaxed adventure – soon revealed as a pilgrimage – our silent lead discovers the power of light. Light not only leads the path to freedom; it’s also an invaluable power source. The magical staff they possess can harness said power, duly used to energise glowing runes and other ancient devices. This ties in …
In a small woodland copse, a protective grandfather and his granddaughter Anna live out their days safely ensconced from the villainy of the Outside World. Anna, like most children would be, is curious about what lies beyond their farm perimeter, but Grandfather warns her off with tales of robbers and witches. One day he becomes …
“The cult hit from Japan!â€, Cotton Reboot’s box art boldly exclaims, in a statement that’s likely to garner a few winces from enthusiasts already familiar with Success’ marquee shooting game series. And yet perhaps the marketers at publisher ININ Games have a point here – if Cotton’s finally coming back to Europe for the first …