Sam Quirke


29 games reviewed
63.8 average score
60 median score
27.6% of games recommended
- Furi
Dec 3, 2016

Furi is a frantic boss-rush of punishing difficulty and it certainly lives up to its name. I was left trembling with anger and adrenaline on more than one occasion. None of your defeats feel unfair, however, ensuring that you are tempted to come back and try again. A brilliant soundtrack and unique character design make repeated thrashings a little easier to take, while those who are born to dominate this kind of game can still find challenges in a harder mode, achieving S-ranks and beating the developers' own completion times.

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Dec 15, 2016

You'll only occasionally feel like luck is involved and your reward for a skilful shot is some satisfying sound effects and rag-doll physics. Ultimately, it's an average mobile port and an easy completion. It would pass the time adequately enough while downloading the latest patch to your AAA title of choice. Beyond that, it's unlikely to hold your attention for long.

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Dec 17, 2016

It’s an ambitious passion project that I wish I could love, but Steep's reach ultimately exceeds its grasp.

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This poor excuse for a dungeon crawler doesn't even have enough entertainment value to fall into the "so bad it's good" category. It's a masterclass in lazy design, from the abominable graphics and abysmal soundtrack through to the gameplay that is laughably unbalanced in your favour. Bugs and frame-rate drops are the final nails in the coffin. Score hunters will find an easy 1000G here, but it'll be precious hours of your life that you can't get back. Do the decent thing and let this one slither back to the crypt from whence it came.

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Jan 27, 2017

While the game sorely lacks a decent story to match its competitors, METRICO+ is still a decent puzzle platformer at its core. Fans of Braid will feel at home with its complexity and innovation, often requiring a similar level of spatial awareness and movement conservation to get through a stage. It manages to balance on the fine line between being too simple and too difficult, only occasionally driving players to frustration due to a lack of contextual instructions.

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Feb 7, 2017

If you need another retro-inspired battle arena in your life and you have friends on hand to play locally, you'll enjoy your time here. Unfortunately, for single players looking for an engaging experience, Towerfall misses its target by a wide margin.

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Feb 27, 2017

Spheroids is the latest riff in the history of bubble-popping platformers that started with Pang in the late eighties. The central concept is as mindlessly addictive as ever, while the audiovisual update is pleasing to the eyes and ears. Unfortunately the game is let down by being too short and too easy, while some unnecessary platforming gimmicks frustrate more often than they entertain.

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Mar 6, 2017

Ghost Blade HD is exactly what it appears to be: a bullet hell shmup emulating the pinnacle of the genre in the mid-nineties.

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Mar 11, 2017

2Dark is a mildly interesting stealth-horror fusion sadly dragged down by some bizarre narrative and visual decisions. It struggles to find a genre to call home, vacillating between a casual point-and-click adventure, a classic survival horror and a tactical stealth puzzler.

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Mar 17, 2017

Sublevel Zero Redux is one of the standout shooters in the indie scene. Fusing "six degrees of freedom" shooting with permadeath, procedural generation, and crafting makes for a tense and unpredictable adventure each time you play.

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Mar 22, 2017

Death Squared is a decent co-op puzzle game that works best when playing with friends in real life. It manages the perfect mix of simple and intuitive controls with complex and challenging level progression, and it really stands out as a game with which non-gaming friends and family could easily get involved.

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Apr 9, 2017

Thimbleweed Park is a strange ride. It's compelling throughout, with a strange story full of eccentric characters coupled with some very competent and rewarding puzzle construction; arguably the best of its kind, even including the LucasArts classics.

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Oct 10, 2017

Morphite's attempts to capture the adventurous spirit of the final frontier mostly fall flat, but its simplicity of approach may win over the casual gamer — possibly more so in its mobile ports than on home consoles.

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Nov 8, 2017

Super Lucky's Tale succeeds in several ways. For anyone looking for a quick and simple platforming break, or introducing their kids to the world of gaming, this charming, beautiful and largely competently designed world will likely keep you entertained throughout.

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Nov 29, 2017

Only die-hard Sims fans should go anywhere near this and even then you should strongly consider sticking with The Sims 4 on PC — or better yet, The Sims 3.

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Feb 7, 2018

Fans of tricky platformers will find much to love in the game's design, but it's also a perfect starting point for anyone new to the genre — perhaps even those actively averse to it. In short, it's a bit of a masterpiece.

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- Fe
Feb 21, 2018

There are far more brilliant games in this genre to recommend, but Fe will certainly do you no harm over its short play time.

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de Blob 2 is absolutely worth playing if you have any fondness for 3D platformers.

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If you didn't enjoy the base game this DLC will do absolutely nothing to sway you. If you were a fan, though, this is an easy recommendation. Kick back in the tropical sands and have a little fun, and here's hoping Lucky gets a few more little outings in this format in the coming year.

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Die-hard fans of the game will jump at the chance to fine-tune and beautify their creations, but the casual city planner probably won’t find enough here to be worth the investment.

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