Whatever side of the line you land on, the constant will be that Ultra Age is a lot of fun to play. While its systems might not be deep; the enjoyment of juggling combos/blades and enemies is worth the 7 hour length.
If you aren’t a huge fan of the films but can get past the egregious decision to only include a sparse amount of playable modes and endure the grind to unlock the other fighters; then Big Rumble Boxing can be a solid and fun fighting game to play.
Boring missions aside I feel that #BLUD successfully captures the essence of classic animated cartoons from the early aughts with its simply stunning graphics and animations to its zany characters and situations. #BLUD stands out as a must-play indie game that delivers on both style and substance. #BLUD developer Exit 73 Games earns high marks for its captivating art style, nostalgic appeal, and well-crafted gameplay but the repetitive nature of various quests types keeps this one from true greatness.
I know I have been critical of the developer in the past, and while I, myself didn’t really vibe with their marketing techniques; at the end of the day developer Digital Cybercherries’ freshman offering is a joy to play with others. It can be rather difficult alone due to having to defend multiple towers, but with others, online or split-screen I cannot deny this is a fun game. Its not going to set the world on fire, but for a group of buddies on a weekend; this one will definitely make you smile.
I enjoyed my time with Sand Land, the adventures of Beelzebub and team was often times funny but really had a great story to tell. I loved the banter between them, and even helping to build up Spino City, which opens up new venders. I wish the team had put in more interesting side quests and enemy types but even though it felt kind of repetitive, as I said I had fun in Sand Land and that’s what it really is all about anyway.
Having never played the original, I can say that I enjoyed Freedom Planet 2 even if the combat annoyed me at times. The Sonic like speedy traversal of each level was a joy to complete, the real issues only crept up when combat was needed. While it was nice to have some advanced moves, given how fast FP2 plays; the combat kind of felt out of place. Floaty combat with the high speed makes the boss battles frustrating; If people can get around that, they will find that Freedom Planet 2 is a peek into Sega’s heyday, with a cheesy story and heroes that ‘gotta go fast’ if you are in the need for some Genesis vibes, take a trip to Freedom Planet 2.
If this review reads odd, I apologize; I always try to be real with y’all so I want to be upfront about the state of things with Helldivers 2. Yep, it sucks we can’t play right now due to stressed servers, the good thing is that the game is obviously hot but the bad is that it could lose the player base if this isn’t fixed quickly. Y’all know me, I am an optimist, I have high hopes for Skull & Bones and I am sure that Sony will step in and get this resolved and we can all get back to fighting for freedom and democracy together. But in the meantime, if you don’t mind maybe not being able to play when you want, or having random crashes and missing rewards then dive into Helldivers 2. These are all growing pains and can be resolved, at the end of the day this game is blast, made more so when you are playing with friends which is evident if you watch any of our gameplay videos. If you all pick this up and happen to be teamed with ZeroTolerance, just watch ya back because he is all about completing the mission, teammates be damned. LOL.
With a full explorable River City, a story with multiple endings and the surprise Double Dragon fighting game; there is a lot on offer in Rivals Showdown. Unfortunately, it’s held back by an overly repetitive soundtrack which will start to grate on one’s nerves, and some very uneven combat until the late game. These games are usually good for some fun beat-em up action but it takes so long for this entry to hit its stride with the combat that by the end I was just running on auto pilot. I think there is a lot here for fans to discover but this isn’t going to bring in any new fans, especially when the last two entries in the River City Saga were much better.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a fantastic game even if it leans heavily on its Far Cry roots. Graphically, Pandora is simply stunning to behold, whether running on the land and jumping from vines or soaring through the flying mountains; the visuals are just breathtaking at almost every angle. And while it has solid combat gameplay when it comes to the native weapons, I still can’t tell if the awkwardness of the human weapons is on purpose or not. Not to mention the awful objective markers, hunter vision and hunger system. Oh, I didn’t even tell you that you have to keep your Ikran feed as well. It’s all rather frustrating because I enjoy my time with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and it would be a fantastic game but for those issues above. It all adds up and just amounts to being frustrated with the game which is devastating because there is a fantastic game buried under all these mechanics.
I enjoyed Adore for the things that it did differently with its creature collecting and real-time combat, I could have done without the roguelike systems. But even with that going against it I still had a great time playing Adore, collecting creatures, theory crafting for that perfect team and the combat system still has its hooks in me, despite the overused roguelike system.
For the fans who are invested in the series there is a lot to find in Necrom, it even works if players have taken a break and want to jump back in. I fall on the latter side of things but as much as I enjoyed my time with the new class and in the new expansion, I don’t think I will be a full-time resident. It’s not that the game is bad at all, I just think the mission structure and all the ‘fetch quests’ to gain levels were a bit tedious for me. Necrom may be my ‘arrow in the knee’ as it stands for ESO. But that’s solely a me thing, I can say with some surety that long time fans of ESO are going to enjoy everything Necrom is bringing, and they can spend the next year thinking about the bombshell that is revealed during the story until the next expansion update.
I said this above, but I feel like it bears repeating; Ravenlok feels like the culmination of all the work this team has done using voxel tech. It is a beautiful game, one that evokes images of various Disney/Pixer type worlds and just as vivid. Each of the worlds offer side quests and various characters to interact with that was all enjoyable. Aside from the easy combat I enjoyed my time with Ravenlok and if you are looking for a quick fantasy adventure, I can’t recommend it enough.
The base game mechanics in Starship Troopers: Extermination is a blast to play, and the game loop itself is satisfying. Sure, I’m a sucker for the ‘horde shooter’ type games and mashing it with one of my favorite science fiction B movies was a sure-fire way to get me hyped. But more than that, Extermination is a great game, the models for the bugs look exactly like they did back in 97. Overall, the graphics in this early access game are quite good. In fact, my biggest issue with this game is that it IS an early access game. So many video games are releasing this way and I understand the invaluable contribution to the games overall success that having real players interact with it in this early stage. But the issue is the game is not feature complete, sure its fun for now but with the promise of that complete game later, I will just wait for the 1.0 release instead of playing the EA version in the run up to it. Starship Troopers: Extermination is an enjoyable game, but unless you plan on truly playing to follow its progress, id wait for the full release which hopefully also includes consoles.
Even though I enjoyed the actual racing and especially the story campaign in Lego 2K Drive, but for me a player who loves to play online this game gives me pause. I don’t get a lot of time to spend on games between reviewing them, my kids and just life overall. So, sitting down to play and seeing my opponents all have super tricked out rides; I just know I am in for a loss. I don’t have an issue with microtransactions in games, but I do have an issue when players can just purchase power making it unfair for those who can’t or just won’t. If you plan on strictly playing Lego 2K Drive single player, there is a lot to enjoy here…. Even with the wonky drifting system.
It just makes no sense that Microsoft promotes this game as this grand co-op experience but then put in place every system known to man to hinder that process or make it harder than necessary; no quick match in a multiplayer game in 2023 is ridiculous. Sadly, Redfall is a prime example of what current day Xbox has become, the potential for greatness is there but they can’t get out of their own way to reach it.
Cannon Dancer-Osman surprised me with how much fun I had, and I know it’s because I loved Strider so much. This game basically feels like Strider 2; but due to the creator leaving Capcom it obviously couldn’t be called that. It’s not the longest game and while its nice they included the cheats and things $29.99 is way too much for a game that last less than an hour. I loved this game but at that price I would honestly wait for a sale for this one if you are interested.
Despite having some of the best combat I have seen in a 2D game and loving the dark and dreary art style I just couldn’t vibe with Have a Nice Death the same way I have with other games in the genre like Hades. While there are a few weapons to try and some combos to create with curses, It just never reached the same heights as the latter did for me. I will say that the writing here is top notch, and the commentary on display whether on purpose or not was genuinely funny. While I may not have loved this game personally, I do think there is a lot here for others to love not the least of which is the jingle that plays when Death spawns back in his office after having to RIP (Rest In Paperwork).
Road 96: Mile 0 wasn’t a very long game at all but I mostly enjoyed what I played. As I said it’s a prequel so I know there are things that I would have appreciated more had I played the original; that being said those fans looking forward to this will find a decently developed game. No real bugs are issues other than the juggling of the tone of the game, the rollercoaster ride of emotions wasn’t necessary in my opinion.
Pretty early in the game players will get a bird companion who will also help with puzzles. She can be instructed to pick up and place items and will use other things in tandem with The Hunters bow to open new routes and solve puzzles. The Pathless is a very solid action-adventure game, one that arguably is something that Xbox lacks. While a two-year-old game won’t set the world on fire in sales; I can recommend this to those folks who may have been waiting for this release on Xbox, the bright colors and almost anime-like graphics and exceptionally well-done soundtrack make for a chill and mostly rewarding experience.
While this is dubbed as the Definitive Edition, I just don’t see how it can be called such when it’s still missing a lot of what made Shadow Warrior 1 and 2 so good. It being a free update for current players is certainly amazing and lowering the price of the game for newcomers is always welcome, but it still doesn’t make this a great game. Shadow Warrior 3 ends up being just ‘ok’ in the grand scheme of things and especially in comparison to the games around it. Lo Wang deserves better and if the fates will it we will get to hang out with our pal Wang again soon.