Archives 2023

Fatshark Games’ latest game Darktide has finally arrived on Xbox One Series X but was it worth the wait?

Warhammer 40000 Darktide was originally announced for the Xbox One but that was soon changed to the Series X due to computing power. Having played their Vermintide 2 on both versions of the Xbox One I can say this decision made sense. The downside was it delayed the release a bit longer. It received further delays as the team at Fatshark worked to resolve some major server issues to make the game more playable. During this time I sat and watched patiently, hoping for the slightest bit of news regarding the console release. The wait FELT so long that I had given up hope on it until Games Workshop shared the announcement that it was finally coming. Fast forward a couple week and now we have the release downloaded and are ready to play.

Your first time starting the game you pick between four classes, each with their own abilities and unique stats. The includes a member of the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum, a Psyker, an Ogryn and a Priest. At the time of writing I have only tried the member of the Guard. With each class you have the same task, to customize your character. The level of customization options are insane. My character ended up with hair and similar scars as me and even chose to give him some ink that I’d love to have if my day job or wife would allow it on the side of his head.

The story begins with you being moved with other prisoners, destined to be jailed or executed. Chaos troops raid the ship and accidentally free you in the process. You see discover one of your captors in need of help. This is your chance to either run away or prove you are still loyal to the Golden Throne. The game doesn’t give you a choice here but your character had one whether you impacted it or not. Helping her to her feet, you join forces and work to the landing deck where you are picked up and taken to an Inquisitor’s ship. This ship works like the keep in Vermintide 2 or the tavern in the first Vermintide. The difference here is that instead of proceeding through precisely defined level progression you have missions to different parts of Tertium. Each of these missions have their own threats and level of difficulty. They also have varying rewards that can make the fight easier for you.

The game was written by none other than Black Library legend Dan Abnett himself, it was only fitting that I named my character after one of his characters. Add his superb writing to the design skills at Fatshark you get not only a gorgeous world to fight the forces of Chaos on but also a fantastically written story. The controls feel like home, meaning I expected them to feel similar or exactly like Vermintide does and it’s perfect. After the first levels and time aboard the ship I had chills and was beyond excited. I cannot wait for my next play session. In the name of Holy Terra I will do my part to end the scourge on Tertium.

Forgive Me Father is a Lovecraft inspired FPS but does it do the source material Justice?

Byte Barrel and Fulqrum Publishing are the teams behind Forgive Me Father, a game inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and centers around the search for your cousin. Set in the 1920s, you arrive in a small town to find the room you were meant to meet him ransacked. You immediately hear footsteps followed by knocking on the door.

There are two characters to choose from, a priest and a journalist. The levels and overall story are the same. That is, at least as far as I’ve played. The only difference between the two seems to be the dialogue and voice you hear.

The game is a first person shooter that mixes old school three dimensional maps with two dimensional comic styled art for the characters. As you kill the infected/affected foes the game takes things further than expected to comical proportions. They literally explode, leaving behind a red puddle that turns with your movements. It’s quite unnerving the first time you notice it.

Visually the game can be a bit odd but I found the blending on styles worked really well. The controls are simple, allowing for dynamic combat. Two words of advice with the combat, first is to be constantly moving, makes living much easier. The second piece is to use your knife to conserve ammo whenever safe. With the chaos, the art style and the execution of the world make for a great experience that has me very curious for the sequel that had just released as well.

Cosy Computer, the devs behind Kingdom and Islanders, are back with a new game with Pizza Possum. Are you sneaky enough to steal the crown?

In Pizza Possum you play as a possum who really wants some pizza and the annoying dog at the top of the hill has one. The possum decides he would really like that crown wearing dog to share, not a little bit but the whole thing. You must use stealth, cunning and daring to try to get that pizza and each time you do you also take the crown. With each crown you take the game becomes more and more difficult. Do you have what it takes? So far, my count is 2 stolen crowns before getting caught. So what is it that keeps causing me to lose the crowns I’ve collected? It’s simply my own impatience.

The items range across all types like a bandit mask to make seeing you harder or a smoke bomb to allow you to escape. As you travel the map you will find various desserts that are absolutely massive. Each dessert gives you a ton of food, most are enough to earn you a key by clearing the plate. Each key unlocks a new part of the map and eventually get you the chance to get the pizza. My advice is to stock up on the smoke bombs or the dog masks to be used when going for the pizza, they make it so much easier.

Visually the game is absolutely adorable and the graphics are crisp. Controls are quite simple, using movement sticks almost exclusively on the Xbox. The Cosy Computer team may be more known for their Kingdom franchise but they absolutely nailed it with Pizza Possum. The chaos while taking every bite of food you can while also avoiding the dogs can be quite difficult to survive but if your patient you can wait them out and escape when the coast is clear. This game is truly addicting and beyond fun to play with enough challenge to make coming back worth it.

Fossil Games have released the prequel to their hit Camp Sunshine with Sunshine Manor but is it all sunshine?

Fossil Games have returned to the world of Camp Sunshine with the prequel Sunshine Manor. Before you play as a young kid that is trick-or-treating, you are treated to the story of our antagonist and how he came to murder so many people. Not believing the tales you and two friends go to the abandoned manor and find the door opens easily. As the group explores they quickly learn they are not alone as you see a cloaked figured abduct your friends for a ritual. As the figure attempts to steal you away he is scared away and injured by a power you didn’t know you had.

Visually you are treated to some old school goodness with 8-bit graphics that look and feel more like it was made for the 16-bit classic system Sega Genesis when it was at its best. Mechanics are quite simple, allowing you to execute your powers with a single button tap. The story is captivating but at the start does feel a little too familiar as well with the celebrity selling their soul and doing everything they can to keep their power. Overall we found the game to be engaging and quite suspenseful despite its simplicity.

Who remembers Bud Spencer or Terence Hill? The iconic duo have returned to voice their characters for Slaps and Beans 2 from Strictly Limited Games!

The iconic duo of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill have returned with their characters of Slaps and Beans for the second game of the same name. It is styled after arcade classics like Double Dragon or Streets of Rage while poking fun at themselves and the genre. You start the game adrift on a makeshift raft and arrive in Africa. Hilarity, slapping and chaos ensues as they embark on their next adventure from Strictly Limited Games.

I have always had a place in my heart for classic brawling arcade games, Streets of Rage especially. You have the ability to play solo or with a partner. Playing solo allows you to alternate between Slaps and Beans at will. I have never played a brawler that did that, closest I can remember would be one of the Lego games. This allows you to strategize based on the needs of the fight.

Graphically the game is on par with those same classics with a similar quality to Streets of Rage. What really sets this game apart is not that they use Bud and Terence’s likenesses but that they voiced it too. Controls are quite simple and intuitive, especially the ease of swapping characters. The writing for the dialogue is cheesy at best and is hilarious. Even with the sound off I was still laughing. There are even some minigames that add more character and hilarity to the gameplay. Overall I was surprised by how enjoyable I found the game considering I’ve never heard of Bud Spencer or Terence Hill. If you’re looking for a laugh and a fresh perspective on the arcade brawlers then you won’t want to miss this one.

Fans of Gangbeasts rejoice! Party Animals is a brawler that takes what works in GB and adds even more ways to play!

Recreate Games are the masterminds behind yet another version of gang beasts with Party Animals. Gang Beasts, for those of you that are unaware, is a game where players control semi-ragdoll characters and pummel the crap out of each other. The goal of most games is to simply remove the other players from the playing field. The matches are chaotic and I have cramped from laughing in more games than I have watching the late George Carlin. Recreate have taken almost identical mechanics, added play modes AND actual weapons.

There is something satisfying about smashing a partially chewed lollypop across the face of your foes. The other weapons are enjoyable to use like the shovel or the taser but the lollypop just feels best. There isn’t a story overall, you simply play an adorable animal with ragdoll physics in various game modes. Modes include fueling a train, keeping warm by the fire or fighting on the roof of a stealth fighter jet. That’s just to start! Visually the game is absolutely stunning with one of the cleanest physics engines I’ve ever seen! The controls are more advanced with additional abilities like a single button for climbing where in Gang Beasts it required both triggers working together (for Xbox).

For my son, the game puts too much emphasis on the minigames but does the brawling perfectly. Personally I loved the minigames AND the brawling. Party Animals is the new GOLD STANDARD.

Iron Danger is a fantasy based JRPG that features the ability to manipulate time by dying!

Have you ever fallen to your death and had some goddess grant you the ability to manipulate time? In Iron Danger from Action Squad Studios and Daedelic Entertainment, you do exactly that. You play as Kipuna, a teen girl who’s home is attacked by the Northern Empire. As she tries to escape she runs across what appears to be a stone altar of sorts to have the ground fall out from underneath her, causing her to fall to her death, impaled on the rocks below. A goddess points out that this is not the time of her death, rewinds time and passes the ability to Kipuna. With this power and the memory of the fall you now know to move around the marked area and are able to continue your escape. Through each encounter if you time your attacks incorrectly (like I did most of the time) you can rewind time, adjust the ability or skill you’re using and try again. With no obvious limit to how often you can manipulate time.

The world is highly detailed and the level of detail can be a little distracting at time when you need to focus more on the combat. In new areas I liked to hold time to look around, see if anything stands out as an important item before allowing time to resume. The controls are a combination of intuitive (when manipulating time and combat) and downright frustrating. The frustration comes most when there are multiple items within reach to interact with because it becomes difficult at times to interact with the item you want to most. The tutorial doesn’t do much to explain how to do this adequately either. The story is engaging and coupled with the combat mechanics make for a very well designed game. This is a must play for anyone that enjoys JRPGs or have any interest in time manipulation and the greatness of it far exceed the frustrations with the already mentioned controls.

Ratalaika Games have restored two iterations of Cyber Citizen Shockman and brought them to consoles but do they capture the essence?

Cyber Citizen Shockman has returned, with the second game in the series having not seen since 1992 and both given a new lease on life by Ratalaika games. Both games follow Tasuke and Kyapiko, two teens that have the ability to transform into Shockman. They are beset by evil robots and monsters that appear as a cross between organic creature and machine. The first boss in the sequel is a prime example of this.

The saving is a save state system that can be forced at any time. You had a couple lucky hits and dodged the attacks? Save. Know the next fight kicked your ass one too many times? Save often to make it easier and guarantee success. Doing this on the fly makes these difficult games extremely easy.

Both games look and feel like playing classic Mega-Man titles but without the ready to swap out weapons in the early game. Graphically it takes me right back, another win for the nostalgia masters at Ratalaika. The controls on the other hand are where this game falls short. To be clear I never played the original versions of the game so this could be carried over from that and may not be a failing in the games. Now with that disclaimer out of the way I felt the controls were clunky and at times downright sticky. Multiple moves required hitting the stick a couple times or holding it for a second or two before Shockman would move. This made for sloppy combat that made it more difficult to enjoy and play long term.

Rockfish Games returns to the galaxy of Everspace with the direct sequel but does it hold up to the predecessor?

The first Everspace game created one of the best space flight simulators I have ever experienced, better even than the recent Star War Squadrons. Was Rockfish Games able to do it again? With both games you play a clone of Adam Roslin who is a skilled pilot himself. The end of the first game resolved issues with the clone DNA sequence and allowed them to continue on to live their own lives. Playing one of these clones you are hired to protect a mining crew as they strip raw materials from the mine location. As expected you are beset by pirates and must eliminate them before they kill the miners. This is very similar to the introduction to the first game, I sense a formula at work.

With the predecessor it was the most detailed game based in space so my expectations were high. The level of detail far exceeded those expectations. For most of the game it even exceeds that of the latest AAA title, Starfield. Rockfish proves once again that independents can do better with less and that’s all due to the talent and passion they bring. Controls are fluid and gameplay is engaging. They took their first game, which was fantastic and evolved it into this diamond that I did not see coming.

Gastro Force is a retro first person shooter from Ratalaika Games that focuses on eliminating aliens from the inside out.

The masters of rereleases and retro style gaming at Ratalaika Games are back with another port for consoles with Gastro Force. The game was originally released on PC in 2022 and again on consoles in September of 2023. The game focuses on the last soldier set to defend the galaxy again aliens from an eldritch nebula. Basically this means that you will be facing monsters full of tentacles and some that are very bug-like.

The game looks and feels like I’m playing my memories of the original Blake Stone from the PC. Both games you run around killing a ton of aliens but with one big difference- GF gives you a map. The map makes traversing the similar hallways much easier because it not only shows the layout but shows the areas you’ve walked. That means if you get turned around it’s easy to orientate yourself again. Graphics are on par with the 90s shooters I grew up with. Controls are smooth and take little effort to master. I had a lot of fun with this one, kept telling myself I’d put it down after just one more level and eventually realized hours had passed before closing the game.