Countless games overstay their welcome, adding a few extra hours of play by recycling ideas and padding out stories with unnecessary cut-scenes. At around 6 hours long, Snake Pass isn’t one of these games. It uses new ideas and set-pieces sparingly over the course of fifteen short stages, resulting in a game that feels remarkably …
Playtonic’s bat and lizard duo meet many oddball characters during their journey, but none are more loveable than Rextro – a bright orange, low polygon, dinosaur who’s firmly stuck in the past. As well as completely forgetting who Yooka and Laylee are at one point – due to a lack of memory, of course – …
Be anything. Pushing the definition of what we call a game. Narration by a dead philosopher. Playing itself if you let it. Everything about Everything is positively ripe for analysis, aching for discussion, gagging for scrutiny. But I don’t want to. Since playing Everything, I’ve found myself thinking about whether I found it deep, whether …
This opening paragraph was going to detail how Disc Jam borrows elements from Speedball 2, Windjammers and good old everyday tennis, but it suddenly dawned upon us that it’s essentially Discs of Tron, right down to the ill-fittingly skin-tight outfits and quintessentially ‘80s neon hues. Like all compelling sports games, including the ones already mentioned, …
When it comes to dissecting LEGO Worlds’ DNA, the ever-popular Minecraft is the obvious benefactor. Scratch the surface just a little and you’ll find a less obvious influence: 2016’s still frequently discussed No Man’s Sky. Like Hello Games’ space tourist sim, LEGO Worlds has a similar focus on exploration and discovery, complete with a busted …
As a game that entails little more than making and spending money, Clicker Heroes could only ever exist within the realms of free-to-play. The action takes place on a single screen, and it all begins with a single tap of the attack button to kill an enemy. Another then takes its place. An endless loop, …
Like most shmups released in the past twenty years, Ghost Blade has a gimmick. It’s one that’s rather simplistic when compared to Ikaruga’s reversed polarities, or examples of the genre that bestow extra firepower when flying closer to enemies, simply giving the chance to focus the standard spread-shot into a single beam at the cost …
In 1999, MX Nitro would have been published by Midway. It’s that sort of game. A bit brash, a bit dumb, but plenty of fun with it. Think Hydro Thunder. But in futuristic 2017, it’s from Miniclip, purveyors of web and mobile games, and Saber Interactive, who have worked on everything from Halo to casino …
British daytime quiz show Chain Letters never received a video game adaptation before its cancellation in 1997. Things may have been different had the word-based quiz hit our TV screens during Nintendo’s casual market boom ten years ago. Clearly the concept of changing and rearranging four letter words to make new ones was well ahead …
When it comes to balancing seriousness and silliness, Japanese developers have it perfected. The Yakuza series is perhaps the most explementary juggling act out there, featuring cuts-scenes that often involve unpleasant themes, along with sub-quests that push the boundaries of ridiculousness. It makes for a heady mixture of surprise, suspense, and hilarity; this is one …
There’s no getting away from it: virtual reality is a bit of a faff. To get over that, a game needs to be both good and novel – to offer something VR-specific to make it worth the effort. Surprisingly, as a Google Daydream VR exclusive, EarthShape doesn’t. And frustratingly, EarthShape is good. At heart, it’s …
After rattling the cages of retro fans with such inept endeavours as Asteroids: Outpost, Haunted House: Cryptic Graves and Alone in the Dark: Illumination, Atari has finally put their back catalogue to a more sensible use by bundling a bunch of classics together for these two budget ($19.99) complications. Let’s just ignore the fact that …
We should probably tackle the elephant in the room before we start. There’s no denying whatsoever that Toby: The Secret Mine – out now on Xbox One and Wii U – both looks and plays a lot like Playdead’s Limbo. If I’m honest, I feel that there’s nothing wrong with developers borrowing artistic elements from …
Although a fan of anime, I have never watched either Fate Stay: Night or Fate Stay: Zero. Personally, I prefer shows like Hunter X Hunter and Full Metal Alchemist, but in preparation of this review I researched the anime series on which this game is based, and also consulted my wife who has watched the …
Don’t feel self-conscious enough sat flailing around with a VR headset on? Untethered wants you to talk to it too. It’s quite a barrier to entry – as for that matter is the price, and the fact that it’s a Google Daydream exclusive. But it’s worth getting over the ludicrousness of talking to your phone …