Archives October 2021

Aeon Drive Xbox One game review

Aeon Drive

2Awesome Studio brings us a stressful platformer where you race against time and must collect energy capsules to gain more time to explore. This is Aeon Drive!

Welcome to Aeon Drive, a two dimensional platformer from 2Awesome Studio and constant race against time. Each stage gives you 30 seconds and can be completed in that time or less if you are able to speed run it but if you are slower or want to explore there are energy capsules that will extend the time remaining if you collect enough. Hidden through the stages are also collectibles like hot dogs, diamonds, memory sticks and likely more.

Controls on the game are fluid, action is fast paced with a major sense of urgency with the looming clock in the upper right corner adding to the tension. Unlike most platformers, Aeon forces you to start the level over each time you die, means if you were having a perfect run up to your death you will need to do it all again. I found the game to be a mix of engaging, fun and challenging.

CATCHING UP With 20TH CENTURY Studios pt6

20th Century Studios

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios- their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. Part 1 was all about Underwater and Part 2 focused on The New Mutants. Part 3 we talked about The Personal History of David Copperfield. Part 4 discussed The Empty Man. Part 5 talked about Nomadland and Speed 4K Ultra HD. We’ve returned for Part 6 to discuss The Night House and Free Guy!

The Night House

This film follows Beth, a teacher who’s husband recently committed suicide on the lake behind their house. The only thing he left behind is a note telling her nothing is after her. Relating this to a near death experience she feels like this is some sort of closure but as she dwells on the sounds in their house and learns he had secrets. Seeing the trailer I felt like this film would simply try to hard to deliver the scares but this film really delivered. We aren’t talking about your usual jump scare nonsense either, the feelings this film invokes are visceral and the effects are breathtaking.

Free Guy

Guy works as a teller at a local bank but is what is referred to in the gaming community as an NPC (Non Player Character) in a world that looks like a cross between Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto. Expectations were higher than I wanted because of the cast and how funny the trailers already were- a hilarious trailer almost always spells certain doom for the film as a whole. Hollywood has a habit of showing all of the funniest parts in the trailer and then you have less surprising humor in the film itself. Thankfully this is not the case with Free Guy, in fact they barely scratched the surface. The film is full of action, humor and teaches you to disconnect from your virtual worlds and live in the real world again.

Monster Harvest – a game about growing monsters from plants

Monster Harvest

Have you ever applied jelly to your crops to create pet monsters? In Monster Harvest, from Merge Games, you will do just that.

Joining your uncle at his farm you quickly discover this is not your everyday farm in Monster Harvest from Merge Games. The game focuses on building the farm, exploring a dungeon-like cave and growing monsters by applying various jellies to your crops. Once you have your first monster, or any time you have one of yours following you, you can enter the nearby cave to fight other monsters, collect items and understand just a bit more about what is happening in this town.

I feel this is intentional but the game looks and feels like a knock off of the handheld Pokémon games, closer to the GameBoy Color version graphicly. The big difference between the playstyles however is that you can farm, clear a forest, have limited stamina and breed your plants with jelly to create new creatures, instead of just catching them or trading for them. Playing this game feels likes going to visit a friend you haven’t seen in ten years, there are similarities of what you remember but so much has changed you aren’t sure who this person sitting across from you is. Overall the game misses out on the wow factor and feels too much like other games to have a voice of it’s own.

Cardaclysm – a card battle RPG

Cardaclysm

Cardaclysm is linear RPG full of random maps, encounters and a specific order of bosses you will face. Can you make it to the realm of death?

Cardaclysm from Headup Games is an dungeon crawling roleplaying game where every map is randomly generated, enemies are pulled from a limited pool based on which boss tier you are facing and a book magic made to fit any play style. Players take on the role of a wizard where every fight adds a new card to your deck of monsters and spells. You also collect gold and orbs to determine how many and which of your cards you can play in a fight. As each card is played you will either summon a creature, monster or warrior to fight on your behalf or unleash an ability like poison arrows or fireballs. At most you can hold onto only four cards in your hand but with a properly assembled deck that won’t matter.

The game lets you know when it sees you are strong enough to face one of the bosses but does not force you to face them until you decide to, or if you aren’t paying attention. When the last foe is defeated in a map the boss is summoned and will chase you until you get to the exit or if you take a wrong turn and it catches up with you. Because of the way you build your deck, one card earned per battle, the game can be a bit grindy.

Playing the game I have now spent close to fifteen hours grinding and building my deck and points, now I learned from one costly mistake in that process. If you close the game and shut down your system for the night immediately you risk corrupting your save file, which happened to me about twelve hours into my journey. I learned (this was confirmed with my contact at Headup Games) that the game after being closed saves and updates where you were at in the game while on the Xbox home screen. You must wait at least 5 minutes before shutting the system down to avoid this happening to you. Despite this minor setup I have found the game quite enjoyable and am left with only one complaint- the gamer score choices. Nearly every game that has achievements uses a score that is divisible by five. With Cardaclysm there are a few that have odd scores, ending in two, seven, and and four. I know for some it’s just a number but for me I need my final score to still be divisible by five which means even if I didn’t enjoy this game I would need to play it to completion. Thankfully the game is quite a bit of fun and continuing this grind is not a negative thing.

Aeronautica Imperialis: Wrath of Angels

Aeronautica Imperialis

Aeronautica Imperialis returns with Wrath of Angels, the third boxset for the current edition and first to feature Aeldari and Adeptus Astartes.

The previous edition of Aeronautica Imperialis was released about this time last year and unlike other Games Workshop IPs it appears we will only be seeing a single full box release each year. Wrath of Angels focuses on a fight between Aeldari (commonly referred to as Eldar) and Adeptus Astartes (commonly referred to as Space Marines). Like each of the other full starter releases we get two ship types for each faction, this time with the NIghtwing, Phoenix Bomber, Xiphon Interceptor and the Storm Eagle Assault Craft. The folks at Games Workshop sent us an advanced copy for the purpose of this review and as always this guarantees we will share our opinion but not a specific opinion.

For the most part gameplay is the same as before (this rulebook features the latest FAQ items in it over previous releases) but adds a few new abilities that are exclusive to the new factions. One ability is Jink, it allows a ship to defy the laws of physics and move one space in any direction before the targeting phase. In most games you cannot negate a natural max roll on the dice but with the Holo Field you can! With the Techmarine you can heal a ship once per game.

The only complaint I really have about this box is that it is the third (out of three) full release featuring a faction from the Imperium of Man. There seems to already be an oversaturation of these factions. That being said I understand the reasoning, Imperium models sell quite well and as a business I would put the primary focus on the groups that would see the most sales.

Overall this is same amazing ship warfare game we have seen with some minor twists and new ships to build and paint. For fans of the either faction and of AI this box is a must have!

CATCHING UP WITH WARNER BROS PART 8

Warner Bros

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me codes to some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Part 3 talked about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah. Part 4 discussed Tom and Jerry the Movie and Godzilla Vs Kong. Part 5 was all about Wrath of Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Space Jam. Part 6 had discussed Mortal Kombat and Those Who Wish Me Dead. Part 7 discussed In the Heights, The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 20 Years of Movie Magic edition. We are back with Part 8 to discuss A Clockwork Orange, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Shawshank Redemption!

A Clockwork Orange

This is the 4k release of the original Stanley Kubrick film. The story follows a group of thugs where one of their members gets captured and tortured, brainwashing him into having a negative reaction towards violence and sex. The movie can be a bit intense at parts but looks even better in 4k. The first time I watched this (in high school) it seemed a bit out there and didn’t really understand why it was so celebrated at the time. Now (as an adult with my own children) I can respect what the film did at the time but the graphic nature has become overshadowed by modern cinema.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Expectations for this sequel were quite low. Like most sequels I assumed we see a repeat of the same concept with a few new characters. Basically that is what we got but it was surprisingly better. The story follows an algorithm made to maximize profits for the future of Warner Brothers and it’s latest idea is using Lebron James in some new projects with the media corporation. Refusing the project the algorithm tricks him into entering into the WB servers digitally along with his son. It convinces his son to create a game and challenges Lebron to that game, winner would decide the fate of most of the world. I found it to be more of a family story than the first, focusing on building those familial bonds instead of only on saving the world. Visually it was more stunning, the game much more interesting to watch than the original and honestly a far superior film, my only complaint was that we did not see Michael Jordan even as a cameo. We would have loved to see him come and join the match towards the end.

Shawshank Redemption

This is the 4k release of the 90’s film starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The story follows two inmates as the develop a bond through acts of kindness and decency. Both Robbins and Freeman give stellar performances in the film. I have seen the film a couple times over the years so there were no surprises in this release but I still find it to be a well written story that is just a little slow at moments.

SO WHICH WARNER BROS FILMS DID YOU SEE? WHICH DID YOU ENJOY?