platforming

Robin Hood’s had plenty of adaptations over the years but I’ve never found the fiction to be especially broad or interesting. It’s prime for a game plot with such simple things as a tyrant needing to be overthrown. Gangs of Sherwood is the latest take on Howard Pyle’s prince of […]

Gangs of Sherwood – PS5 Review

December 21, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged appeal games / friar tuck / gangs of sherwood / little john / maid marian / melee combat / nottingham / online co-op / platforming / robin hood by Mike

Diorama Dungeoncrawl is a retro hack and slasher from Alec S, otherwise known as Renegade Sector Games. Released on Steam in 2019, the game has now made its way over to PSN courtesy of prolific publishers eastasiasoft. Promising a low-poly 16-bit style adventure, the idea here is that you get the […]

Diorama Dungeoncrawl – PS5 Review

October 6, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged diorama dungeoncrawl / eastasiasoft / hack and slash / low poly / platforming by Richie

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

One look at Strayed Lights had me interested. With a fairly minimal approach to storytelling and a parry-based combat system, I was anticipating something unique. Whilst it does try to plough it’s own furrow, Embers’ effort has me a little underwhelmed. Visually appealing, the sparse narrative and forgiving fights have […]

Strayed Lights – PS5 Review

May 9, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged coming of age / embers / exploration / minimalist storytelling / parry / platforming / rite of passage / strayed lights by Mike

I do enjoy some side-scrolling platforming and a dystopian future of science gone amok is fantastic trope to mine. Combining the two is Titanium Hound from Red Spot Sylphina. With a visual style very much within the 16-bit era, this indie effort starts to stumble with controls and pacing. There […]

Titanium Hound – PS4 Review

March 21, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d sidescroller / cops / crafting / dystopia / future bacteria / mech plot / platforming / red spot sylphina / shooter / titanium hound by Mike

I’m never really sure what to do with kids games. I can’t review them from a child’s perspective and it’s not like I can fetch some kids to play it for me. Even so, I wouldn’t trust a kid’s opinion on anything. Kids have no sense of taste, no sense […]

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake – PS4 Review

January 30, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged bubbles / cartoon / combat / jellyfish / nickelodeon / platforming / purple lamp / seahorses / spongebob squarepants the cosmic shake by Mike

I’ve often wondered how to view games that don’t carry a lot of challenge. I can feel like a passenger throughout but some of my most memorable experiences have also felt very trivial to complete. It’s a quandary I’ve had to keep in mind whilst playing Wavetale, an adventure platformer […]

Wavetale – PS5 Review

December 27, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / apocalypse / exploration / narratively-driven / platforming / thunderful / waterworld / wavetale by Mike

I think few games have left a mark on open-world design than The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Elden Ring has taken the lessons to heart but, prior to that, Sable took a shot at keeping the world fairly quiet and letting players do the map marking. Originally […]

Sable – PS5 Review

December 11, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / climbing / coming of age / masks / open world / platforming / puzzles / rite of passage / sable / shedworks by Mike

With the democratising of games development, it’s nice to see more solo developers get off the ground. Wreck Tangle Games is a one-person studio that’s looking to mix bedtime stories with horror. The result is Quintus and the Absent Truth, a visually appealing title that does somewhat suffer from a […]

Quintus and the Absent Truth – PS5 Review

July 23, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / horror / mouse / musician / narratively-driven / platforming / quintus and the absent truth / wreck tangle games by Mike

Puzzle games might be the only genre these days that gets my brain in full gear. Not to say that other games don’t have puzzle elements but I do like sitting in front of something that is entirely focused around testing your mental fortitude. System of Souls comes from Spanish […]

System of Souls – PS4 Review

June 28, 2022 in PS4 / Reviews tagged boxes / chaotic lab / first person / platforming / portal / puzzle / robots / Spain / switches / system of souls / test chamber by Mike

Outbuddies DX is an old-school Metroidvania-esque explorer/platformer/shooter from one-man developer Julian Laufer that tells the story of Nikolay Bernstein, a maritime archaeologist who unwittingly becomes trapped in Bahlam, an underwater fortress (not the South London town on the Northern Line) that was home to the Old Gods, but now harbours […]

Outbuddies DX – PS4 Review

April 8, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d / 8 bit / indie / metroidvania / outbuddies dx / platforming / retro by Richie

As my last review involved dreaming, I might as well keep this existential train rolling. Coming from FFT Games, Into A Dream is a narratively-driven puzzle-platformer about a man’s depression. With some obvious cues from games like Limbo, this game manages to keep the gameplay fairly light whilst delivering some […]

Into a Dream – PS4 Review

March 16, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged depression / fft games / into a dream / narratively-driven / platforming / puzzles by Mike