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PowerSlave returns to current Gen consoles with PowerSlave Exhumed from Nightdive Studios.

PowerSlave Exhumed has made it’s way to the current generation of consoles from Nightdive Studios and combines all of the content from both the Playstation and Dreamcast versions of the original release. Players take on the role of a covert specialist sent to investigate a recently sealed Egyptian city. While being trained for any manner of event you are still somehow not prepared for what awaits you within the sealed city of Karnak.

Graphically it is on par with the original Doom game with similar mechanics. Controls are reminiscent or the classic title as well. Compared to the original version of the game though I can’t say how it compares as I never played either edition on the older consoles. Where Doom sucked you into the world with it’s dynamic sounds and music, PowerSlave failed to keep my attention in the same way.

The story felt a little forced, like it was included as necessity and not part of the actual experience. The game felt more like it was made just to check the boxes that Doom created in order to capitalize on that market. If you are looking for a game that looks and feels like it was intended to be a Doom clone without the ambiance or story then look no further.

Who doesn’t love a good “who done it” story? Lacuna brings that to a retro 2D platform and is the first release from DigiTales Interactive.

DigiTales Interactive is an indie developer that first released Lacuna directly to Steam and later to consoles and we had a chance to try it out. A few acts of terror threaten this dystopian world where things aren’t as perfect as they first appear. These acts sow the seeds of chaos and risk setting the universe in flames. This slippery slope begins with the death of a diplomat who was actively working to broker peace with your own nation and it is YOUR job to investigate the who, what, where, when (not so much this one) and why.

The game itself feels similar to those “Choose your own adventure” books where your actions and choices determine the outcome of the story. Graphically it looks and feels like some of the old 16 bit games from my youth and the gameplay very much solidifies this feeling. This was one of those titles that checks a lot of the boxes I look for in an entirely new experience but failed to hold my attention even with the promise of more action to come, many of the puzzles and investigation elements just felt tedious.

Our friends at Iceberg Interactive shared their remastered Eldritch horror title Transient for the Xbox One.

Iceberg Interactive updated their classic title, Transient, for the current generation of consoles with the Extended Edition. The game begins in the distant future, the world was nearly ended and a scientific effort strives to carry the world through the fallout. You wake up in a facility with a weird skull mask on your head and start on your adventure. With the music and the overall ambiance the game is very much meant to be a horror title but as you explore the world this adventure honestly feels mores like the game was more of a game of exploration.

The game is extremely linear but is full of puzzles to keep things interesting. Best part of these puzzles is that they feel organic, none that I have experienced so far felt forced. Any game that brings in inspiration from HP Lovecraft is worth a try in my book but when you add in a gorgeous world and engaging story and you have a game that is worth playing until the end.

Gravitar is the latest Atari title to receive the Recharged treatment for the current generation of consoles.

The last time I had even heard of Gravitar was in the days when Atari gaming was in its prime. Playing it then I never got very far but my dad had the patience and skill to pilot the ship to victory. Fast forward a couple decades and not much has changed on my end with this Next Gen release.

In both iterations of the game you play a lone pilot trying to get home. While the controller themselves are entirely different the experience feels very much the same. A little too much acceleration when pointing the wrong direction can spell certain doom for this pilot. Each map is a new solar system where you must complete various challenges before being able to move on to the next solar system via a massive black hole. The question remains, will I ever bring this pilot home? For the now the answer is easy, its not going to happen. I al simply too heavy handed when it comes to a game that requires so much finesse and because of that I have yet to complete the first system. Despite my many, many failures I found the game to be challenging but enjoyable.

Mushroom Wars 2 has finally arrived on consoles, over three years after it’s initial release!

The mushroom kingdoms are at war and this time it isn’t between Mario and Bowser/Koopa. No, it’s not between Luigi and a bunch of ghosts either. This is a true war. Thousands of mushroom soldiers marching to battle. Lead by a mushroom themed general, these soldiers fight for their homes and for the sake of glory. Zillion Whales brings us Mushroom Wars 2 which has a unique take on the traditional RTS gameplay that was made famous by games like Warcraft and Starcraft. Your armies pour across the battlefield and each body ticks a point off of each structure it takes until the building becomes yours.

The pace of the game gets hectic quite fast as wave after wave of green mushrooms move across the screen you must think and react quickly. The tutorial takes it’s time with you to teach new tactics but they don’t pull their punches as soon as you learn new ways to kill the green mushrooms. I found the game to be simple but very enjoyable and looks even better on consoles than it did on computer.

TinyBuild brings another unique title to the gaming community, this time with Undungeon styled like RPGs from the 90’s.

In Undungeon you play as a Herald, a keeper of an artifact called the core. There are multiple Heralds, each with their own unique core. These cores keep you from dying. Any time your Herald dies the core activates and transports you to a specific location. This world you Heralds find themselves in is the result of a cataclysmic event that brought several unique versions of the world into one amalgamation of them all. There are seven Heralds and presumably seven unique worlds that were combined.

The game looks and feels like the one of the classic roleplaying games I would have played in the 90’s on either the Sega Genesis or the Super Nintendo. Beyond the nostalgic art style the controls are fluid and the combat is dynamic. The game looks simple at first but there is a large amount of options to fine tune your experience and a well fleshed out story makes this a must for old school roleplaying games.

Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is a restaurant management simulator with a horrific twist. Will you survive?

Going into the new year TinyBuild brought us several new games and now that the new year is here we should see a few more based on their announcements in 2021. Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is one such game. Throughout the game you play a fast food worker that spends every day going to the Burger Farm, punching the clock, making and serving food. Once finished you return home to sleep and go to bed. Pretty straight, right? Not even close. In the real world the longer you take to make an order the more upset your customers will get. At the Farm it’s not clear if it’s the customers or something much more sinister. As you bumble your way through filling orders the longer you take first the lights start malfunctioning. This is the first sign to pick up the pace. Take even longer then you may see neon messages warning you to save yourself on the floor, a charred man will try to grab you or even one of the mascots will come and try to kill you. Sounds like any other day at a fast food establishment.

Graphically the game is subpar with today’s gaming standards as are the effects. Controls are overly simplistic and yet if your pointer is even slightly off target they won’t work. Spending a couple hours in this game I firmly believe this is intentional. It’s meant to be cheesy and the controls seem to give you a false sense of security because of how simple they are. Having completed several shifts making meals I noticed the game wants you to make mistakes, it even gives you achievements to entice you to screw up on purpose. I found the game to be oddly compelling despite it’s low budget, simplistic and cheesy feel. I was surprised at how much I wanted to keep going to see if I could learn more about the world and why these creatures keep appearing and trying to kill me.

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.

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 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.