Philip Neyman
With dated yet distinctive visuals, Observer is sure to suck people into the Dystopian world that Bloober Team created, but it won’t be for everyone.
HackyZack is a challenging retro-ish affair that will speak to fans from the 16-bit era or so. If you enjoy challenging platformers, this game is for you.
Unless you are truly passionate about the genre you’ll probably get frustrated early on and find that the game gets stale after a few playthroughs.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever played through a game before where my opinion changed so drastically or as often as it did while I was playing Beholder.
The added value of uncovering the levels with ink makes the game equally fun for casually players and speed-runners alike, but regardless of where your skill level falls expect a pretty good challenge if you hope to complete the game.
Olija is a game that, when it works, is a really fun time. But when you can’t figure out where to go next due to a lack of direction or, even worse, just struggle to string together the right combo with the harpoon it can be incredibly frustrating. Swinging around and teleporting from place to place is incredibly rewarding and you’ll feel like the monarch of video games when you get it exactly right, but the frustrating elements of the combat will definitely test your patience at times. However, it’s worth the frustrations in order to play one of the more original titles we’ll see this year... which is a cool thing for a game that really tried to remind us of games we’ve come to love from our past.
Some repetition, clunky controls, and navigation issues keep it from being a great game, but it’s a breath of fresh air to play a game with such an original concept.
There probably isn't enough here to bring new fans over that haven't played the series in the past due to outdated graphics and some features missing from prior releases. That really is a shame because if you'd take the time to sit down and play it there really is a plenty of fun to be had here.
Shikhondo Soul Eater may not change the way you look at Bullet Hell experiences, but does it really have to?
With plenty of replayability, fans of both twin stick and top down shooters should give Blacksea Odyssey a shot.
It captures all the joys in multiplayer that we felt back in 2008 without completely losing everything that makes a modern COD so great.
The world building in Unexplored is extraordinary. While there can be an occasional moment of lag while the game basically builds the world around you, most of the time it is seamless.
Fans of walking simulators and story driven games will find a lot to love here. While some of the systems in the game are rather intricate they tend to be unnecessary and even tedious at times, making the gameplay and puzzles overall drab and boring. With such a mixed bag of elements it’s hard to recommend We Happy Few to anyone that isn’t up for a long game that is story based.
Skully is the complete package for fans of inventive platform games. It takes concepts from traditional platform games and Marble Madness to create an evolution of both that will bring you hours of fun while you try and save the island from impending doom.
There’s not much more to say about Demon Pit, it’s a horde mode that looks and feels like a classic FPS, if that’s not enough to make you excited to play it….nothing will.
Sin Slayers will appeal to fans of modern and classic JRPGs alike. With a simple battle system, yet complex sin mechanic, mixed with procedurally generated levels and seven distinct regions to explore, Sin Slayers never feels repetitive. Created by a small team of five in Russia, this game is a breath of fresh air in a crowded year for games. One negative is the translation of the narrator in that sometimes what he says doesn’t match what is written in the subtitles. But that’s a small complaint that never really takes away from the experience.
Draugen tells a beautiful story that fans of the genre won’t want to miss. A runtime of only two or three hours, depending on how much extra exploring you do, should allow for the game to be completed in just a couple of sessions.
Transpose is an innovative take on the puzzle game. The fact that it is in VR only enhances the innovation.
Metro has come a long way since the series' humble beginnings last generation. Each sequel builds on the foundation that its predecessors built yet can't quite shake some of the flaws that have always held them back a bit. Many of the issues found in 2033 and Last Light have been addressed. However, Metro Exodus still finds a way, especially as the game hits the third act, to remind us of many of the problems we've always had with this franchise.
Blind has some technical hiccups that keep it from being a perfect game, but it’s still an incredibly original experience that could only be possible in VR.