Whenever a homage to a retro classic is released on modern consoles, it’s usually easy to tell which time-tested title they’re paying respect to. In the case of Roar of Revenge, it’s Tecmo’s arcade classic Rygar – a side-scrolling hack ‘n slash starring a beefcake barbarian. Whether it’s trying to mimic the look of the …
Twin-stick shooter NeverAwake has debuted on PC ahead of its January 2023 console release. The concept is more ingenious than most shooters, entailing a girl’s fears and horrors. This allows for a wide and varied cast of hand-drawn enemies, ranging from mutant vegetables to rabid chihuahuas. Collecting souls from bosses boosts Rem’s weaponry. A remarkable …
We’re still playing catch-up with games released a week or two ago – which seems to be also the case for other gaming sites – and yet another onslaught of new releases is upon us. A ballpark figure of 12 reasonably ‘big’ titles, plus another dozen smaller games that deserve attention. Ho boy. The lavish …
With games such as Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley both being classic life sims, it will be difficult for current and future developers to hold a torch to their legacies. Hokko Life gives it a good try, clearly drawing strong influence from both. We fall asleep on a train and alight at an unmanned station …
With the lukewarm 2011 flick Cowboys & Aliens tying up the concept of wild west heroes and extra-terrestrials, the developers behind this strategic battler fall back on undead adversaries. A single quote from Toy Story’s Woody describes the backstory: “Somebody’s poisoned the water hole!” Gunslingers & Zombies sees cowboys and daring damsels square off in …
Despite launching months after the digital version, the belated retail release of Stray has proven to be a surprise hit. It enters the UK chart at #3 this week, putting it above Nintendo Switch Sports at #4. It also managed to claim no.1 in the PS5 top ten. This means it outsold The Last of …
Here it is. The last ever FIFA – something we thought we’d never see. From next year the series defaults to EA Sports FC, ending EA’s 30-year partnership. What can we expect from FIFA 23? It doesn’t appear to be a milestone year, considering cross-play and double the amount of motion capture work are the …
Nihon Falcom Corporation celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, making the Japanese developer one of the longest-running in the business to date. Unlike its peers, Falcom has avoided many recent industry trends: It has retained its independence from mergers and acquisitions, it has staunchly decided to develop its own game engine rather than adopt a …
It seems Return to Monkey Island’s Monday launch was supposed to tie in with ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’ but due to obvious reasons, that ended up being downplayed somewhat. Nevertheless, the eagerly awaited swashbuckling adventure is available now on Switch and PC, and all signs point to a triumphant return – a game …
On first glance, SpiderHeck was seemingly designed by throwing darts at a board. It’s an arena battler starring spiders with laser swords and other sci-fi weaponry – how else could such a thing be conceived? Play it for just a few minutes though, and it becomes apparent that the premise is more logical than it …
Narrative-driven adventure 1000xRESIST is very much a case of new beginnings, being the debut title from the Vancouver-based Sunset Visitor. For what appears to be quite an abstract experience, it isn’t too tricky to explain the premise: taking place in the future, where the air has become unbreathable, all that exists is a sisterhood of …
Five minutes into this 2D side-scrolling brawler, half of the achievements had already unlocked. It was at this point we started to worry that it was one of those games – the kind that seemingly only exists to provide an easy 1000G/Platinum service. But then the first boss gave us a pasting, inadvertently revealing that …
The top three positions in the UK chart remain unchanged, meaning Splatoon 3 is no.1 for a second week running. We had an inkling this may be the case. It’s followed by PS5 pack-in Horizon Forbidden West at #2, and the evergreen Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at #3. Splatoon 3 is proving to be a …
The DioField Chronicle – so-called due to its diorama-style battle scenes – brings the total of Square-Enix JRPGs released this year up to 127. Joking aside, if you’re thinking barely a week has passed since the last one, you’re right – Various Daylife launched just days ago. We only have a week to wait until …
Back in 2019, indie publisher Sometimes You launched Blood Waves – a gory tower defence shooter, starring a brazen Lara Croft (circa 2013) clone, that for some reason was more expensive than the publisher’s past titles. And this was despite a shameful lack of content. While the genre holds appeal, playing and reviewing Blood Waves …
