Mike

About Mike

Mike gets all the racing games because he understands that stuff even though he doesn't drive.

I’ll be honest, the Trine series has largely passed me by. I knew of it but never really had the curiosity to give the games a look. That’s changed with Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy arriving on the Playstation 5. Frozenbyte have spent well over a decade polishing the cooperative […]

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy – PS5 Review

September 14, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2.5d / Fantasy / frozenbyte / knight / physics-based / platformer / puzzles / thief / trine 5 a clockwork conspiracy / wizard by Mike

Digital Eclipse have always had interesting approaches to collections. Certainly keen on preserving the past, they’ve been good at providing documentary footage to give players a peek behind the curtain. Last year’s Atari 50 : The Anniversary Collection seems to have provided a good blueprint and now, The Making of […]

The Making of Karateka – PS5 Review

September 12, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged apple ii / asteroids / atari / broderbund / c64 / deathbounce / digital eclipse / documentary / fighting / francis mechner / game development / jordan mechner / mike mika / prince of persia / prototype / the making of karateka / tom hall by Mike

The sheer scale of space is absurd. Plenty of games have aimed to capture a fraction of it but I’ve tended to give them a miss. Maybe they’re too big for comfort but I’m now in a position to have them thrust upon me. Everspace 2 is the new effort […]

Everspace 2 – PS5 Review

August 23, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged clone pilot / combat / courier / dogfighting / everspace 2 / Gear / lasers / loot / racing / rockfish games / space shooter by Mike

It’s not a genre I get into often but tactical, turn-based RPGs can certainly engage me. With some obvious homages to Heroes of Might and Magic, Crazy Goat Games has decided to take a stab at the genre with The Dragoness: Command of the Flame. Whilst the influences heavily dictate […]

The Dragoness: Command of the Flame – PS5 Review

August 13, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged city-building / crazy goat games / dragons / heroes of might and magic / resource collecting / roguelite / the dragoness command of the flame / turn-based tactical rpg by Mike

The beat ’em up renaissance has been interesting to see. Whilst it does play on people’s nostalgia, the higher profile efforts have been of a pretty good quality. Next to return to the fray is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of The Dragons. The series itself hasn’t always hit the right […]

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons – PS5 Review

July 27, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2D brawler / Beat em up / crime / double dragon gaiden rise of the new dragons / jimmy and bimmy lee / kingpin / local co-op / melee combat / secret base / trash pyramid by Mike

Real time strategy is a genre I’ve spent a long time away from. Being mostly a console gamer, I just don’t tend to cross paths with what tactical offerings they can bring. With a fresh set of controller bindings, The Valiant looks to transition onto the Playstation 5. Kite Games […]

The Valiant – PS5 Review

July 19, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged crusader knights / horde mode / kite games / real time strategy / siege warfare / skirmish / the tree of life / the valiant by Mike

I clearly wasn’t the only one puzzled to see Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed appear only on the Playstation 5 last year. After a tiny bit of uproar, the last generation version has finally got over the line. Limited to only the single player campaign, this cut-price Playstation 4 version […]

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed – PS4 Review

July 9, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 3rd person action adventure / alien invasion / black forest games / cold war b movie / destroy all humans! 2 reprobed / jack nicholson / open world by Mike

WWE have ruled the wrestling roost for a long while but that hasn’t stopped companies looking to mildly threaten the sports entertainment behemoth. Nobody has really come close but All Elite Wrestling are the latest to, at the very least, gain a foothold in the industry. What follows is AEW: […]

AEW: Fight Forever – PS5 Review

June 30, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged aew fight forever / barbed wire exploding death match / branching narrative / cm punk / fighting / i'm old tired and i work with children / kenny omega / online multiplayer / the young bucks / wrasslin / yuke's by Mike

Frictional Games have been at the forefront of the indie horror genre and their Amnesia series has been, for the most part, very well received. I’ve yet to play the earlier games but I always considered their restrictive nature to be off-putting. Sneaking around an environment with little to arm […]

Amnesia: The Bunker – PS4 Review

June 22, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged amnesia the bunker / claustrophobia / frictional games / immersive sim / isolation / Monster / psychological / puzzle solving / supernatural / survival horror / world war i by Mike

MotoGP might still be the greatest sport I never watch. Since it was bumped off free-to-air TV, I’ve barely stayed current with it, although it’s been intriguing to keep an eye on it since Valentino Rossi moved towards team ownership and Mark Marquez injures himself into a sad decline. I […]

MotoGP 23 – PS5 Review

June 15, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged championship / milestone / moto2 / moto3 / motogp 23 / motorcycles / motorsport / online multiplayer / time trial by Mike

Farming simulators seem to get of traction these days. Maybe it’s a question of escapism or the fact they trivialise the back-breaking labour of farm work but people seem to love them. I can see the appeal but there’s always a sense the repetition might wear me down. In comes […]

Everdream Valley – PS5 Review

June 11, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged child labour / cosy / ducks / everdream valley / Farming simulator / fishing / herding / livestock / moon eaters / sheep by Mike

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a chip off a very familiar block. I’m not sure how I feel about the term ‘boomer shooter’ but it is accurate in conveying a very specific first-person experience. I’m not a fan of the fiction but the setting certainly lends itself perfectly to a no-nonsense, […]

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun – PS5 Review

May 29, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged auroch digital / boomer shooter / first-person shooter / Games workshop / heresy / platforming / space marine / warhammer 40k boltgun by Mike