Francis DiPersio's Reviews
I mean it when I say I wanted nothing more than to like Outbreak: The New Nightmare. As a massive fan of the games that inspired it, it seemed to me like Dead Drop Studios was poised to deliver something special. Unfortunately, the scariest thing about this game is just how unfinished it feels. From its rampant bugs and performance problems to its uninteresting main story, the game is so bad it borders on parody, making it all but impossible to recommend to even the most scare-starved survival horror fans. If you’re dying for something new to get your heart racing, you’re much better off picking up the recently released The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters or Infliction: Extended Cut.
Gastro Force attempts to play to old-school gamers’ nostalgia with its lo-fi visuals and classic maze shooter gameplay. Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine even the biggest fans of retro FPSs will have the intestinal fortitude to stomach its mercilessly repetitive campaign, especially when there are so many better boomer shooters available.
There was a time when Gorn’s over-the-top melees were pretty amusing. However, six years since it first slugged its way onto headsets, the physics-based brawler genre has seen numerous impressive offerings that vastly improve upon the foundation it laid, making its addition to the PSVR2 library seem mostly unnecessary. Hobbled by a disappointing lack of variety and questionable design choices that feel rooted in the early days of home VR, Gorn’s gladiators fail to entertain.
Hell Road VR is the kind of game you might play in an arcade for a quick laugh and never think about again. While there’s an undeniable novelty that comes from spearing a zombie through the face with a lance at 60 miles per hour from atop your steel steed, the thrill fades fast. With its disappointingly shallow gameplay loop and needlessly frustrating controls, it won’t be long before even the most seasoned zombie hunters grow weary of this road trip. If you’re just dying to bag some ghouls on your favorite HMD, there are simply too many better options available to recommend adding Hell Road VR to your Steam library. So save your neck and your cash for something more deserving. You’ll be glad you did.
While Balan Wonderworld has a few interesting ideas tucked up its costumed sleeves, none of them are executed particularly well, which makes the game feel like a real chore to play. From its dozens of forgettable costumes and frustrating mechanics to its uninspired visuals, it’s hard to recommend adding this one to your PS5 library, especially when there are much better platformers like Astro’s Playroom and Sackboy: A Big Adventure already available.
When it comes to presentation, Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a treat and a real step up from the other versions of the game. It’s just a shame the visual overhaul doesn’t do much to offset the monotonous gameplay and abundant bugs that plague the experience. I really wish Infuse Studio spent a little more time ironing out the kinks because it would make it easier to recommend the game to more casual players who may not mind the game’s lack of challenge and unimaginative puzzles. Sadly, at least in its current state, Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a bit like finding yourself trapped in a public bathroom without any toilet paper: it’s a frustrating and lonely situation that you’ll probably want to avoid.
Missed opportunities combine with terrible optimization and a plethora of bugs to create a game that quickly becomes a frustrating slog. There’s the brutalized skeleton of a good survival horror game buried within Remothered: Broken Porcelain. The story is excellent and will stick with me for years to come. It’s just a shame that for everything the game does right when it comes to its gameplay and storytelling, a severe lack of polish and poor optimization never fail to emerge from the shadows to murder any hopes you had of having a good time.
Connection Haunted is the rare example of a game that’s painfully shallow while being too cryptic for its good. It’s a weird amalgamation of two disparate genres that neither captivates nor confounds. In the end, the game just left me frustrated over the time I’d wasted fumbling in the dark, expecting a narrative payoff that would never come.
Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash makes a good first impression with its nostalgic visuals, funky tunes, and easy to pick up gameplay. It’s just a shame that once you’ve wrapped up its five-minute intro chapter, you’ve already seen a quarter of what it has to offer. With a story that almost any player should be able to finish in less than a half-hour and a dull smattering of throwaway extra modes, I’d have trouble recommending the game to even the most die-hard fans of the series.
As a big fan of the shoot-’em-up genre, I had my hopes up for Galaxy Warfighter. Unfortunately, the game just doesn’t do anything to hold the player’s attention. Truth be told, you can see everything the game has to offer in the time it takes to watch or read this review. For a quick-fix free-to-play mobile game, that might be acceptable. But for a title that’s currently going for $7.00 on the Switch eShop and Steam, that’s just inexcusable.
As someone who tends to get a lot of enjoyment out of rail shooters, Star Horizon is a game I had high hopes for. And while I feel some features, like the storytelling and upgrade system, fall a bit flat, the core shooter experience can be pretty fun in short bursts. Sadly, in its current state, it’s impossible to recommend a game that is, as far as this reviewer can tell, entirely unbeatable at this time due to a game-breaking glitch.
Despite its solid upgrade system and the introduction of a few interesting ideas, like the Frost Grip and enemies that can be resurrected or supercharged by the anomaly, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle’s severe lack of polish and unbelievably frustrating combat execution hold it back from ever realizing its full potential. And, more often than not, make for a game that feels like it’s constantly working against the player’s enjoyment. With a few patches to iron out some of its more glaring kinks, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle could have been a solid survival horror title to snag at a discount. However, at least in its current state, this one’s impossible to recommend to all but the most desperate fans of the genre
As far as rail shooters go, Operation Wolf: First Mission VR is fun but forgettable. Developer VIRTUALLYZ Gaming undoubtedly deserves credit for capturing the feel and flow of the classic shooter series, but tedious boss battles, occasionally cumbersome controls, and an overall lack of polish keep it from ever reaching its full potential. If you’re a die-hard veteran of the series looking to scratch your itchy trigger finger, you’ll probably find a few hours’ worth of enjoyment here, but new recruits will likely want to wait for a sale before enlisting.
With its interesting premise that blends time-looping mechanics and extensive relationship-building into Persona’s familiar formula, I went into Loop8: Summer of Gods expecting a summer to remember. It’s just a shame that none of these elements come together as cohesively as they could have, making for an uneven experience. With repetitive dialogue choices that feel mostly weightless, a quirky combat system, dungeon-crawling that comes across as tacked-on, and a severe lack of variety, don’t go canceling your summer plans for this one.
As a massive fan of the original game, I had high hopes for The House of the Dead Remake. Unfortunately, this one mostly misses the mark as far as updates go due to its constant performance issues and control schemes that range from merely unsatisfying to downright frustrating. While extras like the Horde mode and in-game achievements are welcome, it’s hard to imagine many players will want to trudge through the experience all over again after wrapping up the main story once or twice. If you’re dying for an arcade-style shooter to plow through with a friend, The House of the Dead Remake might keep you busy for an evening. Anyone else would be better off letting the dead rest.
Gal*Gun Double Peace makes the jump to the Nintendo Switch fully intact and slightly undressed. Whether flinging pheromones at frisky schoolgirls on your TV or in handheld mode, the game runs well and its vibrant visuals, while not particularly detailed, still manage to pop off the screen the same way they did when it was first released in 2015. Solid performance aside, however, just how much enjoyment you’ll get out of this risque rail shooter depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re already a fan of the franchise and itching for more fanservice-filled firefights, you’ll undoubtedly find those here. However, if you’re looking for a satisfying shooter that will test your reflexes with thrilling boss battles and exciting locales to blast your way through, I’d probably wait for The House of the Dead: Remake to shuffle its way onto the Switch instead.
While this remaster has its share of Kodak moments, unfortunately, the negatives are simply too much to ignore. With Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water’s disposable cast of characters and underdeveloped episodes that start to blur together like like an old Polaroid, survival horror fans are better off turning their focus elsewhere to get their fix this Halloween.
No, it’s not perfect. With its clumsy dialog, touchy controls, and occasionally broken U.I., Within The Blade sometimes feels like a game that’s designed to work against the player. However, if you can overlook its faults, there’s an exciting and surprisingly deep experience beneath its many bumps and bruises. You just have to be willing to sift through the grime to uncover its finer parts. As for whether or not it’s worth doing so, that’s for you to decide. A patch or two could go a long way towards addressing many of these problems. And if Ametist Studio can do so, Within The Blade could be a must-play title for ninja action fans who cut their teeth on Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, and other classics of the 80s. Sadly, at least in its current state, this one’s hard to recommend.
The idea of a Medieval take on the Grand Theft Auto formula is undoubtedly intriguing. That’s why it’s such a shame that Rustler falls short of realizing its full potential. From its unsatisfying combat to the rinse-and-repeat missions, it doesn’t take long before the game starts to wear out its welcome. Add to that near game-breaking technical issues, and you have a title that’s pretty hard to recommend to all but the most desperate fans of the genre. Still, if you’re looking for an unapologetically old-school throwback to the GTA games of old, you might just find some fun to be had with Rustler.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood isn’t a terrible game, but it’s most likely not one that’s going to stick with you long after the credits roll. It’s mindless and repetitive, but if you’re a fan of World of Darkness and feel like channeling your inner wolfman for the weekend, it just might scratch that primal itch. However, if you’re on the hunt for an action-RPG with some meat on its bones, you’re much better off sinking your claws into something else.