Tag THQ Nordic

Risen game review

Risen

THQ Nordic’s hit Roleplaying Game Risen has returned on the latest consoles and it has been remastered!

A classic RolePlaying Game from THQ Nordic has returned and not only remastered but it has been divided to allow more control over your character’s fate! Risen starts with you stowing away on board a ship of Inquisitors and are shipwrecked on a mysterious island. Recent quakes have pulled ancient temples to the surface world and unleashed monsters on the island’s populace. A hero is needed and you need work. More importantly you need to not become a slave of the Inquisitors. Sounds like a cheerful place.

Graphically the game may be remastered but I feel like the label may not be quite right. Typically remastered games are major improvements on the original but this still looks like it did originally. Porting a game over does not make it “remastered”. Combat feels a little slow and cumbersome and the controller tutorials don’t do much to actually teach you how to play until you’ve already figured out most of the controls. Story is slow paced but feels like it has some deep bones as you continue to play. If you were a fan of the original this may be worth diving into again but for new players to the franchise I’d advise to save your money on this one.

Spongebob Squarepants The Cosmic Shake

The Cosmic Shake

With the purchase of some magical mermaid tears Spongebob and his friends go on a wild ride in THQ Nordic’s The Cosmic Shake!

THQ Nordic has shared their latest Spongebob Squarepants game– The Cosmic Shake with us for the Xbox One Series X. For each game review I play a minimum of one hour, this game got four. Fans of the show will enjoy the fact that it features the ENITRE original cast and you can hear it. The team behind this game not only took the time to get the cast but they crafted a gorgeous game. This is one of the cleanest and highest quality animated games I have seen. Seriously.

The story begins with Spongebob and Patrick on their way to Glove World but visit a traveling merchant along the way where they purchase magical mermaid tears. These tears are used like a bubble solution where Spongebob makes wishes on bubbles he blows shaped like each of his friends. Suddenly the world goes bonkers and Patrick gets turned into a balloon. These mermaids tears very much seem like a monkey’s paw because each of the wishes are twisted.

The game is a 3d platformer full of enemies to slap and jellyfish to catch. Controls are simple to learn and master but on occasion some of the abilities don’t always register with holding the button, specifically this is referring to the glide controls. The good news here though is the game is very forgiving, allowing you to easily replenish your health if you make a mistake because of this. From a control, graphics and gameplay standpoint this is a fantastic game but for me I am simply not a fan of Spongebob. I have never seen an episode I found to be entertaining and most of the characters annoy me. Because of this it was hard to find the game enjoyable over all but when they aren’t talking it is much easier to look past that.

Destroy All Humans 2 Reprobed

Destroy All Humans

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.

Way of the Hunter

Way of the Hunter

Way of the Hunter is the latest first person shooter game centered around hunting the creatures of the forest.

Way of the Hunter is a hunting game where there is a mysterious deer meat virus and its your job to kill all the creatures needed to fund your endeavors. THQ Nordic and Nine Rock Games brings us this FPS game where the ultimate goal seems to be furnishing a hunting lodge. You play as River as he takes over his Grandfather’s ranch and use hunting to fund all of your endeavors.

Your first task after gaining access to the lodge is to visit your friend Echo. Echo is no real friend but a point where your voice echoes easily. After that you take your first steps towards hunting. The first hunting task is at the shooting range. There you practice adjusting your scope, breathing properly and aiming. It is all quite easy to pick up but leads you to a task your grandfather meant to do himself. The hills are filled with badgers and they MUST die. Hunting them was quite tricky at first. The trick is to anticipate where they are about to be and shooting there just before they cross that path. With each kill task you are given unlocks other kill tasks focused on other animals and harder kills.

Overall the game has what I would call mixed graphics, where some aspects are highly details and others not so much. Specifically the scenery is where all the detail is and it is beautiful. I thought it was a cool touch to see real weapons and real gear featured in the game to assist you with your hunts. The story is slow and the hunts even slower but are much more realistic than I anticipated. Walking through tall grass quickly, not worrying about my noise, is bound to scare off the animals I’m hunting and I thought firing the gun or being seen would be the only way to do that. I applaud the designers for their attention to realistic detail there. For a hunting game I liked the realism but was hoping for something more forgiving like hunting in Red Dead Redemption.

Elex has returned with the aptly named Elex II

Elex II

Jax returns to protect Magalan from a new threat in THQ Nordic’s Elex II.

In Elex II you play as Jax, the hero of the first Elex title and the savior of Magalan. A new threat has fallen to the planet and it will take all of the factions working together to survive. Obviously Jax is needed to unite them all but doing so is easier said than done.

Visually the game looks like it is on par with the previous generation of consoles for the gameplay, however the trailer and some of the cinematics have some stunning effects. Controls felt rather intuitive, even when adding jump jets that allow you to reach greater heights when jumping. The game’s story felt slow and failed to engage me early on, even when forcing myself to push further I couldn’t find a reason to get interested in it. The early foes are more or less feral creatures you will have to face but don’t get cocky. That’s what I did and found myself surrounded by them and killed easily.

Overall gameplay felt uninspired and failed to keep my interest beyond the minimum time I had allotted to play the game prior to writing my review. A big reason for that is behind the stamina mechanics, simply they are broken. Recharging the stamina is slow to the point of frustration and your attacks simply use too much of it. This leads to a combat system that makes you want to shut the game off early into your journey.

Biomutant from THQ Nordic review

Biomutant

Biomutant as an RPG set in the distant future where corporations have made the planet unlivable for human and the mutations inherit it all!

Published by Experiment 101, Biomutant is an RPG that follow a mutant ronin that has returned to the land of his upbringing in search of revenge. Of course if you choose a lighter path your revenge takes the form of helping to restore the Tree of Life. You start the game with some amazing cinematics that gave me a lot of hope for this title.

As your character escapes the monster who killed your family, you go into a character creation screen. The level of customization is much higher than I expect but this is your first taste of the real visuals to expect through the game, and it’s not as stellar as the opening cinematic that’s for certain. You then pick up with your created character just before the fight you watched and must escape a bunker. Following the tutorial you will make it topside pretty quickly where the fight begins and you must play out the scene you watched.

Controls are easy to master and visuals are about on par with most titles you’d see on the previous generations of systems. Not the visuals may be a product of the fact that I’m playing this on the original Xbox One and it might be more dynamic on the new Xbox but I don’t have one myself to test that theory. The story is typical of an “all ages” role playing game that relies too heavily on slow dialogue trees and wandering through the world than with cut scenes.

Overall I found this game to be wanting and before picking up a copy yourself I would wait until you found it in the bargain bin or on a massive price reduction.

Chronos: Before the Ashes from THQ Nordic

Chronos: Before the Ashes

Chronos: Before the Ashes is the latest Role Playing Game from Gunfire Games.

Chronos: Before the Ashes follows a young hero as they navigate the labyrinth to destroy the dragon that guides the monsters bent on destroying humanity.

The game begins with an old woman telling a story about why you are chosen and what it is you were chosen to do. She tells the assembled group that the people were once plentiful and then one day the beasts came. A chosen hero will travel through a portal, the source of the beasts, find their way to the dragon and either kill the dragon or die trying. Having never seen the game’s trailers and after seeing this intro I made the assumption that based on the name it would follow some of the ancient Greek myths. That was before I realized the spelling was wrong for it to be. The Titan of Greek mythology was Kronos so clearly it was not the story I thought it would be.

You finally get to play as the hero and enter a series of elevators that take you to a massive floating rock and with the help of a couple computers you activate a smaller stone that transports you to the labyrinth. The intro and ambiance of the level made me want to play more, it felt like Dark Souls meets World War 2 with Vikings. Controls were a bit clunky. The game has two different leveling mechanics, the first is your standard RPG leveling that gives you points to improve skills and the second is your age. Every time you die you age a year and starting at the age of twenty you unlock a new ability every ten years.

Between the innovative mechanics and the dark world this game is worth a serious look but don’t expect to fare well right away, between mechanics and the classic gaming tropes (find a locked door, follow a long linear path to key, return to door, rinse and repeat) this game will leave you frustrated and only wanting to play in small doses.

Neighbours Back From Hell game review

Neighbours Back From Hell

Woody is back to make Mr Rottweiler’s life miserable in the remake Neighbours Back From Hell!

Mr Rottweiler has been a thorn in Woody’s side for as long as they have been neighbors. Woody has finally had enough and has even dedicated a television show to returning the favor in Neighbours Back From Hell from THQ Nordic and Epic Games. This game is what you get when you take Kevin McCallister and put him in charge of Jackass but instead of willing friends the gags are on his asshole neighbor.

The game is spread across 25 levels, half of which are focused on specific rooms in Rottweiler’s house and make up the first two seasons. Seasons three and four focus on Rottweiler’s trips abroad. No way Woody was going to let him relax on his vacation. Just be careful because if the Neighbor catches Woody then you are in for a beating and you only get two beatings per stage before you end up losing.

The pranks themselves range from simple nuisances to deadly feats that should leave Rottweiler dead but somehow he keeps coming back for more. To use some items they require specific setups in a specific order to get the chance to use and the level gives your very little information on how to prepare for these. Thankfully for those levels there are several guides out there that will walk you through the exact process to get each coin for the level. With enough patience the game is quite easy and some of the pranks are hilarious when they work. The game makes for an easy 1000 Gamerscore and was surprisingly fun.