Mike

About Mike

Mike gets all the racing games because he understands that stuff even though he doesn't drive.
1
I do love a good souls-like but there is a sense that taking them into the second dimension can limit combat and exploration. There’s no shortage of triers and Third Sphere Game Studios are the latest to give the stripped down experience a shot. Released on steam in January, a […]

Watcher Chronicles – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged 2d platforming / catacombs / crypts / exploration / magic / melee combat / ranged attacks / soulslike / third sphere game studios / watcher chronicles by
It’s been a long while since I reviewed Dakar 18. I found that game to be ambitious but really difficult to breach with some clumsy navigational tools and a game that didn’t look all that hot. Time has passed and now Saber Interactive Porto have delivered a follow-up. It’s a […]

Dakar Desert Rally – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged dakar desert rally / motorsport / navigation / online multiplayer / orienteering / rallying / saber interactive porto / saudi arabia / time trial by
2
It must be train simulator season. No sooner have I finished reviewing Train Sim World 3, another one pulls up to the station. Train Life: A Railway Simulator is an effort more concerned with management and a wider world than authenticity and accuracy. With a lenient attitude, Simteract are looking […]

Train Life: A Railway Simulator – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged cargo / european tourism / job / management / passenger trains / postage / simteract / train life a railway simulator by
Attempts to make World War I’s trench warfare compelling have been made before but I’ve never really seen them as great successes. At best, they recreated the meat grinder nature of an attritional conflict and, at worst, they become a lesson in frustration. Taking a more vertical approach with less […]

Isonzo – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged astro-hungarians / blackmill games / class warfare / first-person shooter / isonzo / italians / mustard gas / online multiplayer / trench warfare / verdun / world war i by
2
I think annual sports games run a perpetual tightrope of trying to freshen up a familiar series on a limited development cycle. Visual Concepts have certainly rose and stumbled over the duration of their seminal basketball series. NBA 2K23 enters the court with a lot of historical content and a […]

NBA 2K23 – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged basketball / historical content / larry bird / magic johnson / michael jordan / nba 2k23 / sport / sports management / visual concepts by
Okay, I don’t think when I started this job, dating sims, with the incorporation of toys like those strong rabbit vibrators, would be on the menu. Least of all, Kaichu: The Kaiju Dating Sim. Coming from Squiddershins, this wholesome effort may be light on gameplay but delivers some cute, charming […]

Kaichu: The Kaiju Dating Sim – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged giant robot / kaichu the kaiju dating sim / kaiju battle / love / personality test / romance / squiddershins by
1
I missed the boat on the Destroy All Humans! series. I always wondered how much vocal support there was when Black Forest Games announced they were remaking the old games. I know the Playstation 2 era has a lot of undiscovered gems but the time has finally come for me […]

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged aliens / anal probe / black forest games / cold war / destroy all humans! 2 reprobed / flying saucer / hippies / jack nicholson / kgb / russians / telekinesis / third-person shooter by
Management titles feel like a niche that’s been squeezed even tighter over the years. The major developers have either been scattered to the wind and it leads to the older games seeing community-led support. From the remnants of Bullfrog, Two Point Studios have attempted to pick up where they left […]

Two Point Campus – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged academia / cheeky british humour / clowns / college / knights / management sim / school / two point campus / two point studios by