Frank Streva
Its not the best game in the genre I’ve ever played, but it does enough right to get a recommendation from me if you are in the market for a challenging new twin stick shooter. Luckily, the game has a free demo on its Steam page, so go give it a try.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find a decent amount of things to like in The Outer Worlds, but at the same time I can’t help but feel like it has the potential to be so much better.
For now, it’s still a recommendation, albeit a recommendation that comes with some caveats.
The game’s setting, presentation, and themes are also all pretty engaging. It’s just a shame that the poor English translation will often pull you out of the experience.
There is a lot to like in Bright Memory, and I can’t help but wonder how fantastic it could be as an eight or ten hour experience with a coherent storyline and some extra polish. Hopefully the next game will deliver a more complete package, whenever that might be.
If you want to turn your brain off, terrorize some beachgoers, and become a massive prehistoric predator capable of crushing a great white shark between your jaws, then Maneater is a fine way to spend a weekend. It’s a game that doesn’t try to be anything more than just stupid, ridiculous fun.
It’s just a shame that the game is undeniably clunky. The PC port is pretty poor in terms of controls, and there really isn’t any reason why it should be. With some improvements here and there, West of Dead could become a really good entry to the roguelite genre. I still had enough fun to recommend it, just be prepared for some janky controls and mechanics here and there.
Nodding Head Games clearly have a lot of passion for the subject material, and you can see that they definitely put a lot of heart and soul into Raji. With more experience and a better budget, they could probably make a game that is every bit as fun to actually play as it is to immerse yourself in. The abrupt ending teases at a potential sequel, so hopefully they’ll have another chance to improve upon what they have created thus far.
The shooting mechanics might not be as refined or satisfying as other FPS games on the market, but they get the job done. If you don’t mind the short length and minor technical issues, INDUSTRIA is a fairly enjoyable experience that you can complete in a single session.
If you like the idea of building your own dinosaur theme park and are a big fan of the franchise, then Jurassic World Evolution is still a decent buy during a sale. Just be prepared to battle with some wonky mechanics and disappointingly simple management options.
I think there’s a pretty good ARPG here somewhere, and after a few post-launch updates and tweaks, it might end up being something genuinely really good. As it stands now though, Warhammer: Chaosbane just has too many flaws for me to give it a full recommendation just yet.
As the campaign drags on, the tedium and repetition starts to become increasingly apparent. If you are desperate for a new dungeon crawler, then Conglomerate 451 isn’t exactly a horrible deal.
I don’t think Serious Sam 4 is necessarily a bad game, I just think that its disappointing in a lot of ways. It has been almost a decade since the last game, so I was expecting something that was a little more polished, refined, and well-thought out, even if it was “just another Serious Sam game.”
While my complaints are numerous, I still enjoyed Jurassic World Evolution 2 more than I was frustrated by it. It’s already better than the original in many ways, and with a few more patches and DLC, it will probably be a great theme park management game. For now, I’d personally recommend holding off to see how the game is improved in the coming months.
There’s still fun to be had in solving Etherborn‘s puzzles, but given how insanely short the game is, I’d probably recommend giving it a pass until you can find it on sale.
Even if you like the character designs or core gameplay, there just isn’t enough in the game to keep most people playing long term. You can already see this from the Steam numbers. I suspect that Bleeding Edge will soon become 2020’s LawBreakers, Gigantic, or Battleborn at this rate.
If you like the premise, then you’ll probably still find some things to enjoy about the game. Just know that Creature in the Well is short and runs out of content and mechanics fairly early on.
Saibot Studios clearly has a fair amount of talent and passion, they just need more experience and a greater budget to expand upon what Hellbound offers. Hopefully, the developers are able to keep at it and deliver a truly unforgettable game sometime later on.
Still, there is no denying that Aquanox Deep Descent is a very flawed game that doesn’t live up to its pedigree. The modest budget and troubled development cycle are glaringly obvious in many places throughout the game, and there are a lot of janky mechanics and bizarre design decisions.
Even if you are absolutely desperate for a new action RPG experience, you are probably better off rolling up another character in Torchlight II or Grim Dawn over buying Torchlight III in its current form.