Yearly Archives: 2025

Irem Collection Volume 3 is a collection of three arcade shoot ’em ups from Irem, the classic coin-op company. And this one offers up three arcade-perfect ports, as well as a Turbografix/PC Engine one, and they’re all shoot ’em ups, which is a running theme for these collections so far. As […]

Irem Collection Volume 3 – PS5 Review

July 9, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / compilation / irem collection volume 3 / shoot em up by Richie

Exo-Calibre is a vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up from London-based one-man studio, Vampixel Games. It’s also published by eastasiasoft, one of many shoot ’em ups they’ve put out. And this one is pretty typical of the genre and gives you pretty much exactly what you’d expect at this price point. Set across […]

Exo-Calibre – PS5 Review

July 8, 2025 in PS5 tagged eastasiasoft / exo-calibre / vampixel / vertically-scrolling shoot em up by Richie

Crime Boss: Rockay City originally came out in 2023 and was a co-op heist-based stealthy shooter and it was put together by a group of Czech coders known as Ingame Studios. And when it came out we basically ignored it because of a few reasons. It had a middling reception (it […]

Crime Boss: Rockay City (Update 16 and DLCs) – PS5 ...

July 7, 2025 in PS5 tagged bank / crime / crime boss / heist / payday / rockay city / stealth by Richie

It’s always dangerous for developers to take direct inspiration from something so distinctive. Star Overdrive is an open-world adventure from Caracal games. With a bright an airy location, it looks to evoke The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild quite directly but it falls short with on-foot traversal and […]

Star Overdrive – PS5 Review

July 5, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged action adventure / caracal games / crafting / hoverboarding / keytar / melee combat / open world / platforming / star overdrive / trick system by Mike

ANTRO comes to us from Barcelona-based developer Gatera Studio, the studio itself being founded in 2022 specifically to develop and release ANTRO. Depending on context, antro can mean cave, den or dive. In this case it’s a mix of the first two. Self-described by Gatera as a rhythmic video game […]

ANTRO – PS5 Review

July 4, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged antro / barcelona / gatera studio / post apocalyptic by Ian

I’ve been on a couple of aircraft carriers in my time. They’re surprisingly intricate spaces with lots of metal corridors, ladders and lifts to bring you up from the lower decks. I’ve never concerned myself with how one is run, though. Every Single Soldier have been prolific with their military […]

Carrier Deck – PS5 Review

June 28, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged aircraft / carrier deck / every single soldier / F18 / fighter jets / helicopters / management / military simulation / submarines / warfare by Mike

Keeper’s Toll is this week’s stab at the old Vampire Survivors-esque roguelike style game and it comes to us by Stingbot Games who, like most of your favourite 1980s thrash metal bands, hail from the Bay Area in California. And as we always seem to say, when this genre is done […]

Keeper’s Toll – PS5 Review

June 26, 2025 in PS5 tagged auto-shooter / eastasiasoft / keeper's toll / roguelite / survivors by Richie

I suspect there will be a point where Microsoft games coming to us will no longer feel novel. They’ve had a busy few months with a slew of exclusive games now making their way to the blue brand. Later this summer sees Gears of War: Reloaded finally landing on a […]

Gears of War: Reloaded PS5 Multiplayer Preview

June 24, 2025 in Preview / PS5 tagged cover shooter / gears of war reloaded / king of the hill / microsoft / mutliplayer / point control / team deathmatch / the coalition / third-person shooter by Mike

I’m sure we all remember stories of fairy tales from our childhood. Or local folklore. Whilst some of them become referential in games, I don’t think it’s that common for them to become a focus of an entire interactive experience. Vasilisa and Baba Yaga comes Russian developer Baba Yaga Games. […]

Vasilisa and Baba Yaga – PS5 Review

June 22, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged baba yaga games / bedtime story / demons / Fairy tale / horror-ish / housework / melee combat / narrively driven / russian folklore / vasilisa and baba yaga by Mike

Soulstone Survivors is, as you can probably guess, an auto-shooter, rogue-lite game in the same vein as Vampire Survivors and Brotato and it comes to us by way of Brighton-based studio Game Smithing, an oddly drab and functional studio name that might make you think this is just another cheap attempt to cash-in on […]

Soulstone Survivors – PS5 Review

June 18, 2025 in PS5 tagged auto-shooter / roguelite / soulstone survivors by Richie

The original Submersed left a sour taste in my mouth. As one of those ultra-cheap survival horror efforts, it felt basic and rigid in its execution. Main Loop have returned with Submersed 2: The Hive as a more comprehensive attempt that does improve on the first game’s offerings. It is […]

Submersed 2: The Hive – Playstation 5 Review

June 15, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged attwater / distraction / main loop / parasites / puzzle solving / sharks / stealth / submersed 2 the hive / survival horror / underwater terror by Mike

From yer man Keita Takahashi’s studio uvula and publisher Annapurna, we have to a T. The uvula being the fleshy bit at the back of the throat. You play as a thirteen-year-old boy, who’s shaped like a T, across eight episodes of steadily increasing whimsy. Bearing in mind Takahashi’s previous […]

to a T – PS5 Review

June 12, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged keita takahashi / T / uvula by Ian