While the innovations Super Destronaut DX bring to the Space Invaders formula are welcome, they don’t go far enough to really bring depth to the package. If you’re looking for a quick boost to your PS4/Vita trophy count, there’s a 30 minute Platinum trophy waiting for you here, otherwise, I’d just stick with the original and best Space Invaders.
A beautiful, mystifying adventure, Planet Alpha does a massive amount with very little.
Treadnauts is a fun couch multiplayer game that’s (I’m going to say it) easy to play but difficult to master. It’s an excellent session game that’d feel at home sandwiched between Nidhogg and Worms during a night of competitive gaming. It’s not a visual powerhouse but the art style is suited to the game play so who needs millions of polygons when you’ve got back flipping tanks that shoot ricocheting lasers?
Vroom Kaboom occasionally shows glimpses of an enjoyable, strategic game and an ingenious twist on the tower defence genre. Unfortunately, these glimpses are buried beneath a near impenetrable learning curve, an over powering AI and some poor design choices. I can only really recommend this game to those with a huge amount of time and patience, those that have a masochistic desire for hours of trial and error and those willing to forgive a lack of polish.
Despite the few bugs here and there, Phantom Doctrine represents an ingenious use of the XCOM formula in an enticing setting with a plot that’s as deep as you want it to be. With an excellent soundtrack, an intentionally drab yet appealing art style and a charismatic charm to it, it’s certainly a better-than-average turn based game. If you’re a fan of XCOM and are up for the hefty challenge this game presents, even on its easiest settings, this game will appeal to you. If your patience runs short and you want your fun to be more immediate, leave this game skulking in the shadows.
TT Games once again show care and attention for a set of beloved movie characters, bringing them to digital plastic life with a level of authenticity that’s a rarity these days. Adding some small additions to a formula that has worked for them for a decade, LEGO The Incredibles is a family friendly game that’s great for fans of the films and just as enjoyable for those that aren’t.
Despite some obtuse solutions, regular backtracking and inconsistency, Candle – The Power of the Flame has a tight weave of puzzles which are reminiscent of those found in gaming classics like Flashback and Monkey Island. It’ll pay dividends to those with the patience and mental fortitude to stick it out, push through the frustrations (and resist finding a guide online) with an abundance of rewarding “Ah, THAT’s how you do it” moments.
It’s such a shame a few technical issues exist because when Blacksea Odyssey is doing what it does best, pitting you against giant space beasties armed with nothing more than a toothpick, and you’re not caught in a mess of vines, this game is a tough but enjoyable title. It’s not as readily gratifying as other games in the genre and if you like a long tailed reward, it certainly has that whiff of Dark Souls inspiration in the finer points of its design.
The art style is charming, the music is excellent and despite telegraphing itself from early on, the plot to the campaign is enjoyable. It’s the game play mechanics which really shine here though so if you’re looking for something easy to play while being deceptively deep, Insane Robots should be your next port of call.
For fans of the original Lumines, this will be a wonderful toe tap down memory lane. It’s everything that original game had with a few extra game modes in a neat package. A block dropping puzzle game with obvious quality and ingenious mechanics, this remaster has been created with respect for the original. It’ll be your personal taste and tolerance for the music you don’t like which will ultimately decide how much fun you have with Lumines Remastered.
Expertly created puzzles, a setting which is as equally enticing as it is unsettling, a thought provoking narrative, excellent music and top draw voice work combine to form a truly enjoyable puzzle game that’ll have me leaving a very positive Trip Advisor review.
It’s when you’re not in control of things – like in the snippet that I opened this review with – that the Jurassic World feeling really kicks in during this game. When your T-Rex is fighting Velocirators and your guests are running scared from rampaging Triceratops’ and you’re trying desperately against the odds to put everything back the way it was. It’s sublime.
Rainbow Skies is a behemoth of an adventure that could last you hundreds of hours should it get its hooks into you. It’s a vast improvement over its predecessor with a more focused plot and a myriad systems which overlay to provide a deep, tactical adventure. It’s not without flaws but if you’re looking for something light-hearted and accessible while offering a challenge when you want it, you can do a lot, lot worse than Rainbow Skies.
Devious Dungeon is a weird combination of classical Roguelike mechanical elements and attempts to make the genre more accessible. Unfortunately, it’s a mix that results in a shallow, monotonous procedural platformer that might as well not be a roguelite at all. Visually pleasant but uninspired with fast paced combat that gets boring very quickly, Devious Dungeon is a game that I can only recommend to trophy hunters thanks to the easy Platinum on offer.
InkSplosion is fast fun but due to the lack of content and simplistic design, gets boring within an hour. The only positive selling points are a decent soundtrack and the fact that, for trophy hunters, it’s a quick and easy Platinum to unlock (much like many other titles from Ratalaika Games) but these are not enough to drag InkSplosion out of mediocrity.
A number of glitches and the occasional obtuse plot point stop Vampyr from truly exceeding expectations but it’s a well crafted, expertly designed game that’ll likely be talked about for many months to come.
Shift Quantum might not feature the most original aesthetic and feels only half committed to its narrative elements but those are only small drawbacks to an otherwise brilliant game. This is a puzzle game that's full of moments that'll make you feel like a genius, will make you say "Of course! Why didn't I see it before" and manages to curb the difficulty throughout just before it becomes frustrating. If you like a good headscratcher, I highly recommend Shift Quantum.
If you were to compare Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition to many other modern day first person shooters at face value, it’d come up short in almost every regard. It’s clunky, slow paced, stereotypical and corny in the extreme but for those gamers who also have a love for 28-millimetre tall Space Marines and the world in which they wage war, this game offers something more. Space Hulk: Deathwing makes very little effort to be accessible to those who don’t know a foam sword from a power sword, instead opting to attempt to be the most authentic recreation of Space Marine Terminator combat to date.
A combination of roguelike repetition and a shallow plot line might have been enough to derail EverSpace had it not been for the enticing game play cycle, slick space combat and a balanced progression system which keeps you coming back for more. There’s a solid 20 hours of content here (at a leisurely pace, I hasten to add) but the game fills those hours with clutch moments of survival that tell their own story set among some stunning celestial vistas. EverSpace is far more accessible than Elite: Dangerous, is more enjoyable than Dreadnought and is among the most visually arresting space based games on Sony’s 8th generation console.
Deep Ones is one of the most unintuitive games I’ve ever played that’s constantly undermining itself whenever it starts to become enjoyable.