Category ps4

In Endling Extinction is Forever you play a lone fox that must do everything she can to not only survive but also keep her kits alive along with her.

Produced by HandyGames and Herobeat Studios, Endling Extinction is Forever is a game that centers the story around keeping a mother fox and her kits alive in the diminishing wilderness. The first day of survival is escaping from a burning forest to then give birth in your den. On day two you must hunt to keep your strength up, either killing rodents or fish and taking them back to the den.

As the baby foxes get older and start to venture outside the den one is taken by a trapper and it is up to you and the fluffballs to retrieve it. Time is of the essence because the trail grows cold quickly. Additionally the surroundings change as time goes on, streams that were once traversable become polluted and no longer have fish to feed the family. It’s up to you to keep the four of you alive.

Graphically the game is on par with other indie titles and could have been much improved with a bit more details on the foxes themselves. Without knowing they are kits the baby foxes don’t really have any distinguishing features that make it obvious they are foxes. The controls are simplistic but fluid. Overall gameplay was good but added stress as you continued to play by forcing you to pay attention to the babies and keep their health up as a priority. The subtle changes to the environment really show the effects of humans on the environment is a sobering realization as I played will make you think about your foot print on the world. I suspect this was their intention. Overall it is a solid game with an important message that more people need to hear.

Put your singing voice to the test in a game that is NOT a rhythm game, like Rock Band, with One Hand Clapping.

Have you ever played a platformer where you used your voice to play and not just your hands? One Hand Clapping is the game that tests your voice to the limits. HandyGames brings us this adorable platformer where your voice brings the light and allows you to soar to new heights. As you move your character around the levels you must sing into an attached microphone to activate lights, levers and even helps you fly higher (when carried by an owl).

The game description hints that you will not be penalized for making mistakes. It says this and yet has these imposing shadow people that give you the feeling that you are going to die if they touch you. This team has done a fantastic job on the ambiance because I was so tense around these creatures and I did not want to put the claim to the test. The game could easily be win for players of all ages but I feel the requirement to make noise almost nonstop detracts from the game as a whole. The intention is for players to explore their own creativity and musical talent while playing. If you are like me and most of your game time is after the kids are asleep this is a bit more difficult to do without waking them up. However I do see an opportunity here that I just might explore. My youngest loves to sing and dance. I can give her the mic and do the platforming myself. Sounds like a great chance for some game related bonding.

Chunkybox and Daedalic Games bring us Wildcat Gun Machine, an isometric bullet hell full of extra lives and mutated flesh monsters.

Who here likes body horror themed monsters trying to kill you? If real life the answer would hopefully be no one, but in a game I know a few people at least. What about cats? Who here likes cats? My family loves them, the internet loves them which likely means most people at least like them. What would you say if you could play a game that featured both? If you asked me these same questions I’d have thought it was a weird basis for a game. Wildcat Gun Machine somehow does it and does it WELL!

Players take control of a gun wielding, badass that respawns on death thanks to her ghostly kitties. Collecting bones from your foes can be redeemed for even MORE kitties! Spectral kittens are not the only prize you can purchase using this grisly currency, you can buy guns too! As you explore you find other guns and even keycards that unlock further paths. Each level has a single monster boss comprising of some sort of bastardization of technology, biology and a crap load of projectiles.

Regular readers will know about my one hour minimum rule being played before I write about my experience. Last I checked I have easily spent six or seven hours in the game. With its fluid controls, high speed action, gorgeous yet revolting visuals and addicting gameplay, you won’t realize how much time you’ve spent in game telling yourself “just one more room to clear and I’ll go to sleep”. This game is hard as hell but when you defeat that boss it makes it all the more satisfying. I plan on playing this one to the end and am looking forward to it. I suggest you jump on for the ride.

Noel The Mortal Fate, an episodic adventure centered around a corrupt mayor, deals with devils and a young pianist caught in the middle.

Vaka Game Magazine brings us Noel The Mortal Fate, an episodic adventure centered around a corrupt mayors, deals with devils and a young pianist caught in the middle. The game starts with the night where the best pianist is chosen and will play a piece of music to protect the city. Players will take of Noel, Caron and sometimes BOTH. The story starts with the decision of the winner, Noel who everyone though should win lost and her sometimes friend took the win home.

Upset with the loss, Noel is approached by the mayor who suggests she meet him on the roof of an abandoned building to learn the truth of why she lost. Intrigued and believing she was the true winner Noel goes. She is convinced to summon a demon in order to kill the man she was told was behind her loss. As payment the demon takes her arms and legs and she is thrown out to sea. Learning he was tricked, the demon Caron accepts a deal to help her and the story is really underway.

Graphically the game has an art style that reminds me of older manga and simplistic controls. So far after two hours into the game I have found it very easy to play and learn but the dialogue is problematic. It reads like something a kid in junior high wrote but I suspect that has more to do with a poor translation of the original Japanese the game was written in. Despite this issue the game leaves me curious as to what the future will hold for a pianist with no limbs and whether or not the evil mayor will truly be defeated in the end. Is there hope for the demon as well? Only time will tell.

11 Bit Studios returns to publish the Final Cut of This War of Mine and it includes every previous piece of content the game had to offer!

11 Bit Studios reminds players that in war not everyone is a soldier or warrior. This reminder is the basis of This War of Mine. You take as one of several civilians having to carve out a living and more importantly to survive. Each day you can send your survivor(s) on missions for supplies. Likewise other survivors can be sent to your base of operations and steal your hard earned items. When I played it was so frustrating to have things stolen. Of course I had no issues doing it to characters in game, so what goes around comes around.

The game play is not meant to allow you to win using brute force like many titles. Instead you have to carefully plan your outings and don’t let yourself get greedy. That killed more characters of mine than I care to admit. While the crafting and leveling systems can be tedious I found the game enjoyable. This is a take on war that more games should explore and simply don’t. Visually the game isn’t the most detailed but the story and experience are well worth it.

Herocraft bring us the latest pirate themed adventure with Under the Jolly Rodger.

Herocraft bring us the latest pirate themed adventure with Under the Jolly Rodger where you can murder and pillage to your heart’s content. While sailing around the Caribbean you collect quests or can just look for ships to sink and steal from. As the game progresses you can hunt the bigger targets including forts themselves. Cautious players will want to avoid this option for as long as possible because the stronger ships are not that forgiving. You and your crew slowly gain experience and can eventually become a force to be reckoned with. Will you survive long enough to rule the seas or will you be swallowed up by the kraken? That’s right, there’s a kraken and it has sunk me more than the British fleet has.

Growing up on classics like Sid Meir’s Pirates and graduating to Assassin Creed’s Black Flag there are lots of game styles that this game could have pulled from that would have made me happy. Herocraft went the hybrid route and created an amalgamation of Sid Meir’s Pirates and a combat system that felt like the ship combat for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Over all I found it to be a little tedious with the resource management system and the combat was a little less than polished but I enjoyed the overall freedom to explore where I wanted in whatever order I wanted. For a pirate game this wasn’t all that bad, sure there is lots of room for improvement but it is still worth playing through and getting your pillage on.

Century: Age of Ashes, a game of dragon combat, collecting gold and killing other players.

The folks at Playwing brought us the latest in MOBA gaming with Century: Age of Ashes. When we first started playing the game there were three classes to play and at the time we sat to write this a fourth was added. Each class gives a different list of dragons to collect and eventually use. Additionally you can unlock different cosmetics for each and choose between two abilities for their dragons. Game modes cycle daily but two are a constant- Spoils of War and Carnage. These two modes are chosen at random when you choose to play them. Spoils is my personal favorite where teams shoot down each other as well as dragons carrying gold around the map. This gold is then collected and placed in your safe. Carnage is a team based PVP battle where the quickest reflexes and most aggressive teams are the winners.

When I first started playing I played every day as completing daily challenges gave you chances to unlock dragons. Now though, the team at Playwing have decided to require you to get a BattlePass in order to continue unlocking dragons and cosmetics. All of the dragons, at least for the current season appear to require the paid BattlePass to have a chance to earn, or spending actual money to purchase them from the shop. I understand the company needs to make a profit but when the game had six months of daily play working towards earning more dragons to then require spending money in order for players to continue getting what they were getting for free prior makes it feel more like a bait and switch. The gameplay is great but gets quite tedious after a little while.

Controls are smooth and visuals are stunning but the way they handled the changes between season 0 and 1 took a lot of the fun out of the game. For those that don’t mind spending a little money will enjoy the game but Free to Play players like myself will get bored and quit before long, unless you have a ton of patience.

Formerly a “Games With Gold” title, is Mulaka worth your time and effort?

Mulaka is loosely based on the Tarahumara, an indigenous people found in New Mexico and a portion of the proceeds for the game go to help fund preservation projects to safeguard this legacy. Lienzo developed this game specifically to showcase the culture and locales of these people. You play a shaman that must defeat evil monsters pulled from the area’s mythology. As the game progresses you pull on powers of demigods pulled from the same mythology to make your shaman stronger in order to rid the world of evil.

The combat is surprisingly fluid as you mimic this race of extremely agile people. Visually the game looks like a neon skinned Prince of Persia from the Xbox 360. The story is a fresh change of pace in that it is mostly told visually without an overabundance of text. Controls are easy to learn without feeling simplistic. Overall I found the game to be surprisingly good. Most games that were offered from Games with Gold are ones I would consider throwaway titles that I would not play more than once but Mulaka pulled me back in on multiple counts.

Music Racer Ultimate is a racing game about music and enjoying the drive, despite the random obstacles and some absurd vehicles.

Sometimes You has ported over another title for the current generation of consoles and this time they set their sights on Music Racer Ultimate. The focus of the game is to enjoy the drive while enjoying the music you’ve selected. Each map is modified based on the choices you’ve selected between song, gameplay style and the course theme itself. As you drive you need to collect little white bricks, they look like frets on a guitar, and doing so earns you points. These points are then spent on new vehicles and tracks and each of those unlocks nets you an achievement (on Xbox).

With most rhythm games I have a tendency to panic and hit the wrong button as notes appear but with Music Racer Ultimate it is much easier. Unlike other rhythm titles where you are penalized for missing notes in MRU you are only penalized if you crash into an obstacle. For achievement hunters this game is quite easy but time consuming to achieve the perfect Gamerscore. The easiest way to grind this out is to choose the vehicle of your choice, the track of your choice and set the mode to Zen. Doing this removes all obstacles which means double points at the end of the map and you can literally just leave your car in a single lane to collect points and do something else at the same time!

My biggest complaint about the game is the music options. You are limited only to the titles that came with the game and none of them I have heard prior to playing the game. The first song in the list seems to consistently get the most points without having to move the vehicle at all. If you are after the three star achievement I suggest doing what I suggested but on the Retro map as it is the easiest to see where the notes are ahead to capture more of them in a single turn without much effort. Overall I found the game to be enjoyable but a bit tedious with having to grind what feels like close to a million points to unlock everything.

35mm is a survival horror game centered around two travelers and taking photographs in a Post-Apocalyptic Russia.

Sometimes You has ported over Sergey Noskov’s game 35mm to the current generation of consoles. The world has been ravaged by an epidemic that crippled most of the infrastructure throughout and the timing of this rerelease feels almost prophetic considering we are still coping with our own global pandemic these days. As you and your partner navigate the new landscape you will find abandoned settlements, homes, cities and will need to escape the dangers of this new world, the first of which is a massive bear.

At nearly any point you can pause time and use your trusty 35mm camera and the mechanics of which feel incredibly accurate. You can adjust the focal length, depth of field and exposure, all to make sure you capture the perfect vision of your target. The story is mostly delivered through discussion with your companion and he walks incredibly slow. The plus side is you can still hear the conversation as the companion continues the defined path while you explore the surrounding area. The ambiance in the woods can be a bit off-putting as everything is a bit muted and some parts seem completely void of life.

Going into the game I had no idea this was a survival horror title but when I stumbled on an abandoned cabin I learned quickly. There weren’t grotesque scenes of butchered bodies or anything like that but something about it was extremely eerie. Overall pacing of the game is quite slow but it left me with feelings of anxiety and trepidation as I explored, realizing quickly that the wrong turn or the wrong step could be my last. Once you outrun the bear, or fail to a couple times like I did, you learn to be more cautious pretty early. For survival horror fans I can honestly say this game is worth picking up even though the graphics have not been updated for newer consoles.