Britt Roberts's Reviews
Crime Simulator is so, so close to being a unique game with a great premise that can result in genuine hilarity, but all too quickly devolves into repetition and frustration at the design. If CookieDev can solve these concerns in their next release, I would certainly be recommending it as a great title to play with friends, but as it stands, it’s merely a few hours of fun before the issues take over.
Dead Format is a unique and entertaining game that does a good job at standing out from its contemporaries in the survival horror genre, which is hard to do with the proliferation of Resident Evil-likes. Conversely, while the atmosphere is great, in my view, the enemy AI and a repetitive gameplay loop have kept this game from its true potential. If you’re on the lookout for an inexpensive 3-8 hour horror-action experience with character, then I’d say it’s worth a punt.
I’d recommend this if you are after a very simple, plain digital version of a game akin to Hero Quest, and it is priced accordingly. Still, I think that, even then, the slight fudging of the basics, such as character selection and traversal, will sting a tad. That said, I’m just as keen as I always am for Dark Quest 5, Blow It Up 2, or whatever comes next from Brain Seal!
A decent enough story and great visuals with solid combat unfortunately isn't enough to overcome the myriad bland systems and mechanics that make up the rest of the action. If this was the first ARPG that someone gets into, I can imagine they’d have a blast for a few hours, but when you’ve played a fair few in the genre, you may end up feeling like there are too many facets of the game that lack charisma and subtlety to make this a recommended purchase, and in a game such as this, that can really be make or break.
As it stands, the Rayman 30th Anniversary Collection feels a bit slight, and a missed opportunity. If there are licensing issues with the other games in the franchise - and the original soundtrack - there could have instead been a lean into behind-the-scenes details and snippets for those that love the character and worlds, as Rayman is certainly a world worth returning to!
There’s so much to love in Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor, but the game design means you’ll be sitting through the same sequences over and over, because of the slightest infractions, and the camera-freezing bug is a little too constant to be ignored. Honestly, if the game just had a slightly looser vibe in terms of mechanics, the cut scenes were skippable, and that pesky camera freeze bug was gone... this would be a full-throated recommendation. To be honest, I can imagine if I had covered this game three months down the line when some patches have been added, it would be a very different experience. But as it stands, this is a flawed gem for fans of the cheery engine.
Winter Burrow is a great little cosy title that doesn’t outstay its welcome and manages to introduce a handful of memorable characters in a way that feels like you are making your way through the warm, inviting pages of a story book. A lovely little game that’s great for all the family and perfect with a cup of hot chocolate under a warm blanket as the wind whips around outside.
An almost perfect little horror game that is tightly designed, based on a fantastic premise that is realised almost to its fullest and runs well with great audio and visuals. Good!
I really hope that Roadwarden on other platforms doesn’t have the issues that plague these Switch ports, and if they don’t – this is a cracking game that I would highly recommend. As it stands through, I have to review my experience, and Roadwarden on the Switch or Switch 2 is a janky mess, sadly.
Disco Simulator is very neat little game that runs extremely well with without flashiness. It doesn’t bog you down in the more tedious aspects of managing a night club, but for some – that balance may swing the wrong way. If you are a personal that likes to get your head in micromanaging individual spreadsheet breakdown in forensic detail Disco Simulator won’t be for you, but if you want an approachable simulator with fun – instead of a calculator – at its heart, then dive in and get jiving!
As it stands, Gear Club Unlimited 3 is a fun, if slightly bland racing game that lacks character but has great fundamentals. Eden Games have almost twenty racing games under their belt released over the almost thirty year period of their existence and it would have been really cool for Gear Club Unlimited 3 to have a little something to make it stand out from the crowd with all of this studio experience. Again, I applaud that it’s a pretty straight racer available for all ages of gamer, but as much as I enjoyed the racing, I was constantly hoping for a little more from the game for it to really, fully engage me.
As it is, Lets Journey is a basic title that’s fun for up to an hour, but anything beyond that feels almost like grinding work, sadly.
As much as I enjoyed my time with Carmageddon Rogue Shift and I applaud the decision to streamline the formula – the lack of any sort of multiplayer is a real shame, and also, whilst Max Damage’s iconic car is a main feature, the lack of a goofy parade of the previous characters and cars in this new, more grim-faced iteration does strip the game of a lot of its historical identity, feeling a little generic ‘blood ‘n metal’ with a lack of humour in the game. That said, it all boils down to a very playable single player experience, with all the heft and weight you’d expect from a racing game in this genre, which I’m completely on board with.
Taxi Chaos 2 is a solid game that has shaken off a lot of the issues that plagued the first game, but some still hang on. Great visuals, controls, and perfectly fine for quick blasts of arcade action, it’s a recommendation for fans – and I know there are many – of Crazy Taxi-esque games. That said, as much of a pleasure it is to see the strides this sequel has taken, in a couple of years I’d love to be covering Taxi Chaos 3 and awarding it a 9/10 as there really is some magic under the bonnet of this franchise and plenty of gas left in the tank!
Wreckreation is a game with huge ideas that didn’t just not quite have the budget to realise them, it pulls itself in too many directions from the off, and that results in a title that feels empty and desolate and as harsh as it is to say, I think this is beyond patching up, I think it’s too far gone in the wrong directions to save at all.
Mafia 4 is a game that excels in its presentation, atmosphere, and narrative, whilst having some solid combat, but you spend far too much of the game working your way through stealth and vehicular sections that feel archaic in their execution, tied to out-of-action segments that are crushingly pedestrian. This may be a beautiful wine for some, but it’s not the vintage for me. 🍷
The definitive way to enjoy Monolith Software’s classic, hopefully this will get a lot of folks into a game that I spent a lot of my teenage years enjoying. I can’t imagine that Blood 2: The Chosen will get the same treatment and quite frankly, that’s absolutely fine, because it is – as the Aztecs used to say, “Not very good”.
Neon Inferno is a title that brings back a niche genre that very much appeals to me, and the beautiful blend of pixel art with more modern graphic sensibilities, and a truly pulse-pounding soundtrack means that it’s a game that pops off the screen. Mid-level bonuses and weapon drops would have a been cool to see, but the personality of each stage and the sheer pace of everything will keep you glued to the screen throughout as you learn patterns and fend off hundreds of foes. A very cool title that deserves to be inhaled by the classic action lovers out there.
All in all, if you are a fan of the basics of the series, this is very much more of the same with a few tweaks. The music may click with a lot of folks, and perhaps there are some that will relish the sheer amount of items and loadouts that you can wangle, but whilst there are thousand of weapons and a huge open world to explore, I can’t help but feel that this is quantity over quality in some areas.
I think that this game will be one that fans of the original will adore – it’s always fantastic to see POV-only games from the ‘90s/00’s available on console, and Nightdive are the best at what they do – but the sheer design philosophies that run through the game from the original development will be a tough sell to modern audiences that aren’t familiar with the game, and I can imagine that it’s a bit of a hard sell. Whilst there’s online multiplayer, it would have been cool to see local multiplayer included here but overall, I’m just over the moon that Outlaws is finally available to play on console, as it’s a bit of a forgotten title that has a very unique personality that still shines through today, there’s nothing quite like it out there.