Callum Bowen


10 games reviewed
78.0 average score
80 median score
100.0% of games recommended
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6 / 10.0 - Disco Elysium
Nov 6, 2019

I fairly enjoyed Disco Elysium. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very impressive game in its deep approach to role-playing but I found it extremely text-heavy and with no combat, was for me at times quite mundane. Disco Elysium is a very well written RPG, with deep conversations and an intriguing city that will make you want to make sure you are constantly on top of all things regarding your investigation. Whether that be talking and then re-talking to characters to see if you’ve unlocked some new dialogue to extend the investigation, or whether you’re constantly roaming around Revachol making sure you haven’t missed out on any new areas to look into, I just felt it was a lot of slow grinding and to bridge that with a bit of an un-motivating story, it didn’t keep me wanting to play all the time. Politics play a huge part in the story and I kind of got the feeling that as we have enough politics in the world right now what with BREXIT, that having it within Disco Elysium it’s got on my nerves a little. I am making Disco Elysium sound like a chore of a game, but I was, for the most part, enjoying it. Disco Elysium is currently £34.99 on Steam. I am awarding Disco Elysium a Thumb Culture Silver Award!

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Aug 26, 2019

All in all, I did enjoy my 5-6 hours of playing the game but like a lot of other games these days there doesn’t seem that much content to spend hours and hours on it. You could play all the missions multiple times, upgrade your character etc in one 5-6 hour sitting. The game desperately needs more maps, and I didn’t think the stealth aspect of the game was that great, so that would need to be enhanced. I encountered a couple of bugs where sometimes the sleepwalker would be stuck on a door so I could go around unnoticed but as it just come out I will let them off. When I re-look back at the screenshots I took during the game I do think its looks really cool. I think they have really captured the eerie strange neighbourhood feeling to a T, I just wish the missions were more interesting, maybe make the maps bigger so you have more to achieve to not caught. I will be keeping my eye on the release updates as I do want to jump back into this, but ONLY if the updates are worthwhile. I will be giving The Blackout Club a Thumb Culture Silver Award.

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Aug 6, 2019

All in all, I quite enjoyed playing Wolfenstein Youngblood. I thought the two character’s relationship was fascinating and their journey was captivating to see how far they would go in order to find out what happened to their dad. Yes it was a little samey at times, and I couldn’t care about what the side missions had to offer, apart from levelling up of my character, but I enjoyed using the different weapons in deciding the best ways to kill the “Zitadelles”, “Zerstorers” and “Ubersoldats” as well as the many, many soldiers standing in my way. This isn’t a great game compared the previous Wolfenstein games, but this is more of a bridge in the gap to fill whilst waiting for the mighty Wolfenstein 3. Therefore I gave this a sexy Thumb Culture Silver Award.

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Nov 15, 2019

I really enjoyed playing Terminator: Resistance. I am a huge fan of the Terminator series and I was extremely keen on playing this. I must admit, there isn’t much to say in terms of things that were difficult or that annoyed me during my time in Terminator: Resistance. There was one thing the fact you couldn’t jump over fences, or climb up walls which did irritate me, but that’s it. I particular liked one mission where your in a hospital, where you had to stealthily sneak around all the t800s without getting caught, and there were quite a few of them. It was hard, and it felt I was trying not to breath just to try and be that extra quiet, because getting caught resulted in pure annihilation. I wish the first half of the game had MORE of a Terminator feel though, because if you take away the machines you see, then you wouldn’t know what game your playing. The 2nd half of the game was really good, the closer you got to the ending the better it got. I was kind of sad when I did complete it mind. I really loved the interaction with John Connor, I felt it was great having a distant relationship with the iconic character that all us fans love, I just wish Arnie was in Terminator: Resistance too (ha wishful thinking). This is a must play for all Terminator fans!!! Terminator: Resistance receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award

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8 / 10.0 - Moons of Madness
Nov 12, 2019

I must say I enjoyed Moons of Madness quite a bit and I thought the length time of 6-8 hours was decent for the price. It wasn’t that scary to be honest, and there were times where the game would try and scare you with something, but I didn’t have my view on whatever it was, so would often miss these things. I only realised this when I watched someone else play through the game. The interactions between characters on the radio is really well done, keeps the story interesting and progressive throughout. Moons of Madness was very easy to play, with no real combat and with just the puzzles that really took a little time to complete, but I liked it a lot. My favourite part was the eerie atmosphere of Mars, always fascinates me what could be out their beyond our planet, and to have a little experience of what that could be in game form, it scares me more. As your character Shane at one point during the game says, “Mars sucks”….yes, yes it does Shane. I am awarding Moons of Madness the Thumb Culture Gold Award!

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8 / 10.0 - WHAT THE GOLF?
Oct 29, 2019

I really enjoyed playing this quirky, parody golf game wherefrom level to level you don’t know what the hell you’re going to be golfing. From swinging toasters to tv’s, to controlling missiles across the crazy courses to seeing games like Portal, Guitar Hero & Mario being incorporated into the game is a very very brilliant touch. Massive thumbs up to Triband for this. You don’t have to be a golf fanatic or someone into sports to enjoy this game. If you have a good sense of humour and like a laugh, then this is a MUST buy. There were many times I was shocked (in a good way) with what I was having to fling across the course, and this made me all that more excited for what was coming around the corner. I couldn’t recommend What the Golf anymore!!! I am awarding What the Golf a Thumb Culture Gold Award!

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8 / 10.0 - Call of Cthulhu
Oct 21, 2019

I really enjoyed Call of Cthulhu. Like I said at the beginning, I am a lover of horror/psychological thriller games and this suited me to the ground. I thought the length time of 12-15 hours for the game was perfect and the graphics, especially in handheld mode, looked nice, apart from a couple of issues that I mentioned. With these types of games, the story is pretty important to me and I thought Cyanide did a good job, especially with the plot twists, as it kept me intrigued and wanting to find out what was happening right through until the very end. This is why I am awarding Call of Cthulhu a Thumb Culture Gold Award!

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Sep 19, 2019

It was a strange decision for me to finally move on from Fifa over to PES as I said previously, I have been playing the Fifa series since 1994. But I know a 100% I have made the right decision. Fifa has in my opinion been a reskin of the same game for a number of years and quite frankly, there is nothing exciting about it anymore. If it wasn’t for “The Journey” mode, I would have moved over to PES a few years earlier. I am not the only one either. Reading a lot of the buzz on the internet & comments in forums, there’s a hell of a lot of people switching over too. All in all, I am extremely extremely impressed with eFootball PES 2020. Yes there are some irregularities in the game but Konami are already on top of these issues. The future for eFootball PES 2020 looks very exciting & I am glad to finally be a part of it. I am awarding eFootball PES 2020 a Thumb Culture Gold Award.

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Nov 15, 2019

I am hugely enjoying & extremely addicted to Football Manager 2020 this year. I am not sure why in particular as I get every years release. I think its because I didn’t rack up a lot of hours on FM19 so I am now back with a vengeance with excitement more than ever. The new features make the game far better with the detailed information more at your finger tips, and with the matchday games becoming more and more realistic, its just another very solid playthrough. Football fans that enjoy management sims and that are dedicated to the series will continue to enjoy what Miles Jacobson & Sports Interactive have released this year. Are you ready to take the reins of one of Europe’s elite teams? Or are you willing to manage a lower league club in an attempt to bring them to the promised land? The decision is entirely yours. I am giving Football Manager 2020 ….drum roll please….. the Thumb Culture Platinum Award!

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Sep 9, 2019

So what did you think of the Hotline Miami Collection on the Switch Callum? I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Hotline Miami Collection, I can now say I am a big fan and will easily be replaying this for some time. I think the Hotline Miami Collection really suits being on the switch and am a bit surprised it hasn’t come out sooner. I am already looking forward to playing it this weekend and to re-step back into the shoes of “Jacket”…wish me luck. All that said I will be easily giving the Hotline Miami Collection a Thumb Culture Platinum Award.

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