While each of the World Tour DLC adds a different flavour to your city, I felt that the Financial Districts DLC was the best out of the bunch. The main reason being that the implementation of the financial mechanics really added to your overall experience of running a city.
Having been a VR port to Nintendo Switch, I found Jurassic World Aftermath Collection to play ok. The were times whereby I could see how the VR experience would have made the gameplay probably feel a lot smoother and less clunky. That said the puzzles were achievable. For me, it was more the quick pressing of buttons as you try and hide inside a locker and shut the door again where it sometimes went wrong! Probably my age. I have played some VR ports to console before and you can tell that something is off with the way it feels. Aftermath did not leave me with that feeling thankfully. If you want to play a challenging game that combines puzzles, stealth and the lore of Jurassic World then this is for you. I award Jurassic World Aftermath Collection the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
While some of the background graphics didn’t appear to be top-notch at times, the overall gameplay and welcomeness of PGA Tour 2K23 was an amazing experience.
I must say that I enjoyed my time playing Train Life – A Railway Simulator. Despite the initial simplicity of what I was required to do, I still managed to pick the wrong tracks and slam into buffers countless times causing no end of problems for myself. If you fancy playing a sim game that is chilled at times but can be a little more practical than the usual run-of-the-mill management games, then I would say this is for you. Train Life – A Railway Simulator scores a Thumb Culture Gold Award!
GT7 is a must-have for anyone who loves racing games. It looks amazing and plays beautifully well. You can make it as easy or challenging as you would like it to make it enjoyable. Yes, I have brake zones and corner points showing but I haven’t learned the tracks very well yet!
Model Builder is an amazing game. For a small indie gaming company, this game makes something enjoyable that I really thought wouldn’t be. With a whole host of free DLC and very good support, Model Builder still receives a Thumb Culture Gold Award from me.
For a free-to-play game, Century: Age of Ashes is actually really fun and quite innovative really. It could be likened perhaps to Star Wars: Squadrons in its dogfight style however this is fire-breathing dragons battling it out across a variety of beautifully drawn arenas!
Farming Simulator 19 Platinum Edition is immense, tricky and certainly not a walk in the farm! There is a handy tutorial to set you on your way but be warned, you will lose many days if not months of your life to this game in order to perfect your farm. As a father of 4 boys I would personally struggle to sit down every day for a few hours to carry on what I was doing from the day before. That said this is the perfect form of escapism if you just need to go chill and take time out from your life, which let’s face it, we should all do from time to time. The attention to detail within the game as well as the amazing CLAAS vehicles that have been included in this edition really bring something to the table if you love your farming and engineering. I award Farming Simulator 19 Platinum Edition the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Ghostbusters made me feel all tingly in a good way. Many remasters do not stand the test of time however I felt that with the way the game was initially written and developed as well as the use of most of the amazing original cast from the movies it is the talent that has held it all together. If you ain’t afraid of no ghost, wanna relive that nostalgic ghostbusting atmosphere and also celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original movie you will not be disappointed. I award Ghostbuster: The Video Game Remastered the prestigious Thumb Culture Gold Award.
American Fugitive is a fantastic top-down game if you want to play something fun, doesn’t take that much thought and allows you to cause lots of death and destruction. With a strong nod to GTA, this is not simply a clone of a game from yesteryear, this is a homage to an amazing game with added elements of their own thrown in for good measure. Retailing at around £17.99, come and join in the chaos and find your father’s killer! I award American Fugitive the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Overall I enjoyed my experience although I found I needed to be in a very tactical frame of mind to take on World of Warships Legends as there is a lot to take on board and a lot of careful decisions to make when out on the water! Happy hunting! I award World of Warships Legends a Thumb Culture Gold award.
For all you wrestling fans out there I would seriously consider having WWE 2K19 on your Christmas list as it is great for both solo and multiplayer gaming, just what you need in the festive period.
Pode is a wonderful and at times tricky puzzle game which really gets you thinking. My wife and I loved playing through all of the chambers however it only took us around 6 hours to complete. Ok, there are collectables along the way in the form of fireflies that require one of the characters to use their ability to explode a plant pod or rock in order to release them, however as far as the main story goes, it is quite short.
8-Bit Armies developed by Petroglyph and published by Soedesco is a fast paced real-time strategy game that has a strong similarity to the Command & Conquer franchise and is depicted in a voxel manner, i.e the graphics are made up of blocky pixels.
Perfect Universe by Indie Developer Will Sykes Games is this weeks deployment onto my Ps4. From the title I was not sure what to expect; a universe where Arsenal FC play consistently enough to win the Premier League? A day where Donald Trump's latest antics aren't plastered across my news feed? Unfortunately only one of these can probably happen (Arsenal winning the Premiership) however Perfect Universe is actually a cool collection of 9 mini games that are based around physics and gravity.
Jason has a whole pile of fun delivering monochromatic death.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II by Neocore Games is the second instalment in a trilogy of hack 'n slash Van Helsing games to come to console. Already available on PC since 2014, Van Helsing II boasts "PS4 Pro Enhanced" support and can also be played as a standalone game with no prior knowledge of the first adventure. For those of you that have never heard of Van Helsing, well he is the son of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing found in Bram Stoker's awesome novel "Dracula". If you love all things gothic and creatures such as zombies, ogres, vampires and other occult beings then this is for you!
Nex Machina, a collaboration between Housemarque (Resogun and Alienation) and legendary game developer Eugene Jarvis (massively famous for Defender, Robotron & NARC), is an explosive arcade experience that gives a strong nod towards the fun coin-op games I used to play down the arcades in the 80s/90s.
Wow, just wow! From the moment that family friendly Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy was delivered through my door last Friday we as a household have been hooked. As soon as the familiar voice-over begins on the intro screen it is as if I have been transported back to when I was 16 years old when the original first edition came out on the the Playstation 1
I must say that I have massively enjoyed New Tales from the Borderlands. The comedic dialogues, graphics, interactions, and of course storyline, are each fantastic! It will certainly capture not only the hearts of Borderlands fans around the world, but also appeal to new players far and wide.