Category Xbox One X

Lego Bricktales is both an entirely original story as well as supplying entirely unique worlds to explore.

In Lego Bricktales you play as an adventuring minifig without a name who must help their grandfather. The grandfather also doesn’t have a name and is simply referred to as Grandfather. Who would have guessed it? All kidding aside I think this move was brilliant. Leaving the names out allow the players to fill the roles themselves, they can become the character. To further emphasis this, they are able to fully customize their minifig.

The story is centered around going to an abandoned amusement park where your grandfather is working on his inventions. He’s been tasked with restoring the park or lose it forever and his inventions have been distracting him from that role. He you come to save the day, put him back on task and restore the park. Can you do it? Like all Lego games this is not overly complicated but for once forces you to be creative. You get to build objects with Legos! I don’t just mean the classic Lego game builds where you hold a single button. I mean you actually choose the pieces and place them where you want them. There are limitations to the builds but it’s up to you to design and complete.

Controls are simple to learn and graphics are as good or better than most of the recent Lego games we’ve played. Overall the game is a ton of fun and the creative building features make this game so worth getting and playing and the best part is there is no risk of losing or stepping on Legos!

They say the show must go on and at the Circus Electrique that is just as true, whether it is battling robotic police or fighting to recruit a new circus member.

The folks at Zen Studios are mostly known for their Pinball centered game but sometimes branch out and do something new. Circus Electrique is one of those attempts by venturing into the turn based JRPG genre. Players take control of managing the circus and part of that is protecting the Ringmaster’s niece. Starting with only a clown and a strongman you must beat back the two police officers that wish to take her and her lion away.

Visually the game looks great with the old time vibes of the circus mixed with a steampunk aesthetic. Controls are extremely simple to learn and the story is a bit slow, requiring lots of reading. I don’t mind reading a subtitle here and there but the amount of dialogue there is would have been much improved by including some audio to either narrate or voice the characters. The turn based mechanics work well and the give a ton of options for each character. Overall I enjoyed the game but would have enjoyed the story much more had the characters been voiced for their conversations.

The Entropy Centre is a temporal puzzle game designed like a first person shooter by Playstack London on Next Gen consoles.

The Entropy Centre looks and feels like a cross between Faraday Protocol and Superliminal. Both games take you one a puzzle filled adventure where you have been abducted and have no idea where you are. Playstack London deliver a world that is beautifully rendered, seemingly void of life and full of dangers. The danger however seems to be more implied than actually dangerous.

As you navigate the facility you first pick up a temporal gun of sorts that can rewind time up to 30 seconds for any given object. Of course even that isn’t exactly right. One of the first things that you rewind time on is the collapsed ceiling of a hallway you need to take. This ceiling collapsed way more than 30 seconds prior. Based on the rules of this gun rewinding a maximum of 30 seconds should have no effect on the rubble. Ignoring the flaws in this logic though the effects are very well done. I suspect the danger has far from begun though.

Visually the game is simply stunning. The controls are simple enough to master and the puzzles are creative. Some can seem maddening but with a little creativity they aren’t too bad. With the aid of a cheerful robot guiding you the game leaves you wanting to know more.

Humanity has spread to the stars and in Tinykin, from tinyBuild, they make their way back to Earth but humanity has changed drastically.

Tinykin is here with a unique take on what happens after humanity spreads out to the stars. Most games see this expansion as bleak and dangerous but in this game from tinyBuild and Splashteam we get a much more friendly and upbeat title. Curious about humanity’s origins you travel by soap bubble back to earth. This travel method reminds me very much about the bubble travel from Disney’s Meet the Robinsons. Upon your arrival you learn that humanity is much smaller than it once was and team up with little creatures called the Tinykin.

You befriend and work with various creatures, most of them are friendly or just less than friendly insects. I have the suspicion that I am just barely scratching the surface of this world and that something sinister is lurking somewhere but every level I’ve played continues to prove me wrong. Where’s the big, bad, monster to fight to give some sense of fear or suspense? Even if I’m wrong and there isn’t one, the game continues to prove that it is a lot of fun.

Visually the game is stunning. You have a beautifully rendered 3d world where 2d cartoon characters interact. On the surface it is a family friendly title that is absolutely adorable. I hope I’m proven right. If not I won’t be sulking though, I’ll still be having fun and it will further solidify my suggestion for the younger children at home to play the game.

Another classic Atari 2600 hit has returned with the Recharged treatment with Yars: Recharged!

Originally published in 1982 on the Atari 2600, Yars has returned with Yars: Recharged from SneakyBox and Adamvision Studios. The game features an alien bug that resembles a dragonfly that is sent to destroy the alien ships that have come to subjugate the planet. Do you have what it takes to survive this remastered bullet hell? As more bullets fly it is natural to panic and I am prone to panic in these situations.

I had only ever heard of the original game but never played. It was one of those that my friends steered my away from due to its difficulty in grade school. It’s THAT old! Playing this one is a ton of fun. If I had known this is what the game was like I would have likely played it when I was much younger. Graphically it reminds me of the Dead Space arcade game that was on the 360 but it is pure chaos. Some levels require pure luck to survive. If you like a game that is sleek and an absolute challenge you will love this game.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader is the quiz show turned video game that uses children as trivia support.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader is a quiz show centered around topics found in grade school education and proving how useless some of it is. The American Education system is nowhere near where it should be and I suspect this is secretly what the show’s creation was meant to highlight. Of course there are questions that everyone should know like how to convert tablespoons to teaspoons or millimeters in a centimeter but there are some truly useless answers there as well.

Each player answers the questions as best as they can, get it wrong and the show/game is over. You start with two questions for each grade and a final eleventh question that covers sixth grade topics. Answering the sixth grade question means you are truly smarter than a fifth grader. For a trivia quiz show it’s not bad. The actual show gave time to meet the students who would help you answer your questions and the game does as well. The problem here is these are fake kids so I’m not interested in their written commentary about their lives or schooling. Perhaps if they allowed the spot to be filled by an actual player instead of an NPS then I would care more about them.

Graphically the game is crisp, free of glitches and some solid rendering. It definitely fits in the current generation of graphics engines. Controls are very simple, only requiring the letter based buttons once in the game. Overall I had a good time with the game, pushing myself to answer without the “cheats” made it more challenging too. If you like trivia you will enjoy this one.

Crypto is back and this time he vows to Destroy All Humans, again!

Crypto is back and this time he vows to Destroy All Humans, again, in this remastered sequel to the remastered cult classic from THQ Nordic. The first game I had heard of but had no idea this sequel was released prior to being remastered, or reprobed as the name of the title suggests. I did some research on it while trying to recall the name of our grey alien bringer of chaos and came across the original release photos. Continuing off the story of the original game the mothership has crashed and it is up to Crypto to kill everyone and save the day. The story centers around tracking down the KGB as they further infiltrate the city and are responsible for shooting down the mothership.

Gameplay is just as chaotic and hilarious as the original. Hijacking the bodies of citizens is just as hilarious as before and the ragdoll physics makes for a great time with the levitation ability. The dancing mode makes for a great escape that is hilarious to watch- you force enemies, civilians and even cars to dance under the dance lights that appear on the ground around them. Watching the cars dance along with them is hilarious. If you played the original or are looking for a game where mayhem and abductions are the frequent play type then this is a must purchase for you. We had a ton of fun on this title in both single player and co-op modes- fyi it’s even better if you make a drinking game out of it.

Jim is climbing the corporate ladder in The Company Man and it is up to you to get him to the top!

The Company Man is an action platformer from Leoful and Forust Studio that centers around Jim as he climbs the corporate ladder. This game is not just full, it is overflowing, with workplace and corporate based puns. Jokes about the accounting department being so boring it’s like time freezes are translated into an ice themed level where you have to fight the accountants and their manager. Each enemy you defeat essentially explodes and is fired from the company. After each boss fight you earn a new ability and return to the building’s lobby where you can purchase coffee or speak to the receptionist.

The stages themselves are quite easy to navigate, all the while commenting about normal corporate activities with a more literal meaning that can be attributed to combat. The boss fights however have a steep learning curve but a little patience and you will be able to spot their tells and defeat them in no time. Having worked in Corporate America for nearly a decade it makes this game even funnier. On top of the corporate humor game play is engaging and enjoyable with easy to master controls. This game is a gem I suggest you don’t sleep on.

Peter must survive the Cold War but in the extreme colds of Antarctica in South of the Circle from State of Play Games.

In South of the Circle you play a Cambridge professor as he navigates love and the Cold War itself. Ultimately he ends up in Antarctica and must survive there after his plane crashes and he starts his trek through the frozen land to find help for himself and the pilot.

The controls are easy to pick up and the mechanics seemed odd to me. Specifically the dialogue mechanics. You have a limited time to select one of two options where you are given an emoji to identify the type of response you are giving. The options don’t really appear to make a difference in the dialogue trees and you have no idea what the responses will be other than the good or bad implications of those emojis.

Graphically the game fits with indie titles, using what appears to be a limited color pallet with cell shading. Overall the story was slow paced and failed to drive home the urgency of your quest as you wander aimlessly trying to figure out how to rescue yourself and the pilot. With no real control over the story or the conversations it feels like you would be better off playing a FMV title instead or something with a faster pace as I fell asleep twice while playing this title.