Reviews

Mighty Mage is the latest top-down, (sort of) auto-shooting Survivors-like to hit PSN and it comes from Brazilian-based coders Afil Games (essentially the home of solo dev Antonio Filipe). It hit Steam a year ago but has now been ported to PSN and the Switch. There are quite a few of these […]

Mighty Mage – PS4 Review

April 2, 2024 in PS4 / Reviews tagged afil games / brotato / mighty mage / too easy / vampire survivors by Richie

Otxo, stylised as the rather shouty OTXO, comes from Idaho-based solo dev Lateralis Heavy Industries aka Nathan Haddock and publisher Super Rare Originals. Cited as inspired by the likes of 2012’s Hotline Miami and the likes of the interminable John Wick film series, ‘Otxo’ is the Basque word for wolf, […]

OTXO – PS4 Review

March 31, 2024 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged gore / guns guns guns / JJ Otxoa / john wicky wicky wah / roguelite / tonz 'o' gunz by Ian

Manic Mechanics is a co-op action party game from Scottish devs 4J Studios and it follows the tradition of other ‘work’ based games doing for car maintenance what Overcooked did for catering and what Moving Out did for furniture removals. This game sees you working in a series of garages where cars come in […]

Manic Mechanics – PS4 Review

March 31, 2024 in PS4 / Reviews tagged co-op / manic mechanics / moving out / Overcooked / party game by Richie

It’s been a long whilst since a South Park game really missed the mark. It’s been ages since I gave the TV series a glance but the last two RPGs have produced something more fitting of the show’s humour. There is a care and attention with those that South Park: […]

South Park: Snow Day – PS5 Review

March 30, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged blizzard / Fantasy / kids at play / matt stone / melee combat / online co-op / question / roguelite / snow day / south park / trey parker by Mike

I hope you’re keeping count because Alone in the Dark is the second time the seminal survival horror has hit the reset button. 2008’s first attempt didn’t seem to leave any long-lasting impression. In the shadow of more high-profile remakes, 2024’s edition appears to walk back to the series’ roots. […]

Alone in the Dark – PS5 Review

March 25, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / alone in the dark / david harbour / jodie comer / Louisiana / lovecraft / pieces interactive / puzzle solving / spooky mansion / survival horror / third-person combat by Mike

Match Village is a minimalist puzzle game that combines a sort of chilled-out city building set up but with a match three element and it comes to us from Brazil-based solo dev Moraes Game Studio. It’s currently on PSN for a penny under four quid and it has been published […]

Match Village – PS4 Review

March 22, 2024 in PS4 / Reviews tagged islanders / match village / match-three / puzzle by Richie

For once we’re relieved that our review code for Balatro by solo dev LocalThunk was PS5 only. We started playing this time last week and have put in multiple sessions into the early hours since. Our PS5 reckons we’ve played twenty-one hours already. That’s with a break from Friday to […]

Balatro – PS5 Review

March 22, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged balatro / goty candidate / poker / roguelike deckbuilder / sleep is for the weak by Ian

Abriss, or to give it’s full title ABRISS – build to destroy, is a physics-based puzzle game from Berlin-based studio Randwerk and it’s really quite something. As it’s annoyingly uncapitalised subtitle suggests, this game is about building and destruction but it’s done in a way that’s wholly original and just technically so […]

Abriss – PS5 Review

March 21, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged abriss / destruction / physics / puzzle game / randwerk by Richie

Digital Eclipse are showing themselves to be masterful at collating and preserving the games and stories from our industry. The second in the Gold Master Series, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story focuses on the hairy visionary and mostly focuses on his prolific output during the 1980s. As a lad that […]

Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story – PS5 Review

March 20, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged attack / c64 / camels / defender / documentary / game development / ivan zorzin / llama / llamasoft the jeff minter story / llamatron / mutant / revenge / sheep / tempest / tube shooters / vic-20 / yak / ZX80 / ZX81 by Mike

Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator from Krakow-based developer Simteract and publisher Nacon is pretty much exactly what you might expect from the title. You’re a taxi driver in a city, in this case an approximation of downtown Barcelona. In a revelation that won’t shock you, you have to pick […]

Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator – PS5 Review

March 19, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged midtown mundanity / nacon / sedate taxi / simteract / taxi life by Ian

The Outlast Trials is a co-op focused survival horror game from Montreal studio Red Barrels who, despite some pedigree working in the industry previously, have a softography that, so far, only includes this game and the two previous Outlast titles. Set in a Cold War-era experimental facility, The Outlast Trials, exists in the same […]

The Outlast Trials – PS5 Review

March 15, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged co-op / horror / outlast / saw / survival / the outlast trials by Richie

Highwater by Demagog Studio is a prequel to both 2021’s Golf Club: Wasteland and The Cub from earlier this year. This writer reviewed The Cub and found it intriguing but ultimately a little frustrating. So, it was with an initial sense of ‘here we go again’ when we first started […]

Highwater – PS5 Review

March 14, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged alphaville / demagog / golf club wasteland / great ecological disaster / the cub by Ian