Drew Sherratt's Reviews
In the end, it’s clear that the Orlandi brothers have put in a lot of time and love into the creation of Killer Chambers, but the limited scope of the premise and the emphasis on difficulty over enjoyment ultimately left me feeling a little underwhelmed. It’s a game for the most dedicated of players, or those particularly keen on testing their patience with a series of punishing memory tests.
I enjoyed Sense in spite of its issues. The visuals are murky and bright enough in the right places, environments are filled with interesting enemies with vibrant histories, and the slow-burn plot line comes to a nice conclusion that leaves you with a sense of satisfaction. Had the developer been less self-indulgent with some of the design choices and added more robust and regular action sequences, I could recommend this to all players, rather than just the die-hard survival horror fans that it will appeal to naturally.
Trying to replicate the adventure book style with a grisly horror twist and reality bending plot line is an admirable undertaking, but I’m afraid there isn’t enough attention to detail to pull it off without a lot of confused eyebrow raising along the way. I certainly applaud the attempt here, but I’d say that Retrace comes off as more ‘pick your poison’ than ‘decide your own fate’ in the end.
Thoroughly enjoyable for players who like a challenge and who have a taste for the occult. Steeped in secrets throughout, nothing comes easy when the attempting to uncover mysteries of the universe – take your time, take notes and show patience, and you’ll be rewarded with a fantastic experience.
While I enjoyed Redout: Space Assault, I can’t proclaim to have loved it; the visuals, soundtrack and voice acting gave me plenty to smile about but there’s a rinse and repeat feel to the levels that make it difficult to describe as ‘must buy’. The game comes across as being a little bipolar, neither fully offering a frantic shoot ‘em up arcade experience or the more fleshed out mechanics of something more substantial. It straddles a strange middle ground that, while enjoyable, sadly does not wholly succeed in either camp.
I can’t remember the last time that a game so thoroughly surprised me. Save me Mr Tako: Definitive Edition is a delightful experience that will appeal to old-school platform and RPG fans alike – drawn in by the promise of-old school platforming and fantastic throwback visuals, it was the wonderful storytelling and characters that truly left their mark.
I can certainly see why the game was lauded over in 2005 but looking at it with fresh eyes, it’s very much a product of its time. With the bulk of the gameplay somewhat repetitive, Republic Commando doesn’t give players too much to rave about outside of the squad mechanics and a good dose of Star Wars references. I’m excited for players who get to play one of their favourite games on a new platform – and with some nicely remastered elements, no less – but I think that newcomers may find that Republic Commando is not the game they’re looking for.
I have to admit that I enjoyed Ty 2 a whole lot more than I expected to. What could have been a trainwreck of mixed play styles actually comes off as a well executed platformer with a smattering of other madness mixed in. Whether you’re behind the wheel of a kart, dropping water bombs on a forest fire or flinging boomerangs at a swathe of goofy lizards, Ty 2 offers fun, laughs and all the animal antics you could ever ask for.
RWBY feels more like a proof of concept than a fully fledged game, and its origins as a fan project are evident. It shows off the raw ingredients needed to make a good game – strong visuals, a great soundtrack, and the basics of a solid combat system, but they’re pulled out of the pan long before they’re cooked into a tasty meal. Given more variation in the level designs, a bigger roster of enemies, and ANY attempt at storytelling, Grimm Eclipse could have been a delicious morsel indeed. Sadly though, I feel that the game doesn’t do the vibrant hit series justice in any way.
I enjoyed Gravity Heroes, but felt it lacked a really great multiplayer experience to flesh out the enjoyable, but short, campaign. The beautifully crafted pixel art and the groovy soundtrack admirably elevates some simple action into a really fun time, but it’s sadly over almost as soon as it’s begun and doesn’t offer nearly enough replay value. One for fans of quirky shooters and pixel art aficionados, Gravity Heroes offers a good time for a couple of hours but isn’t one you’re likely to return to again and again.
Like a plump pixel-art phoenix rising from the ashes of modern Battle Royales, Mighty Goose offers an incredible throwback experience where the gameplay is an absolute blast – in every sense of the word. With a loveable honking hero, chaotic but never frustrating gameplay, and artwork and sound that offer flawless examples of the genre, Mighty Goose is the dictionary definition of a good time.
All-in-all, Resident Evil Village is a fantastic shooter that’s overflowing with grim and grisly visuals that add a flourish of horror to a wonderful repertoire of action. While the move towards a supernatural theme meets with mixed results, it’s impossible to argue with how enjoyable gameplay is, or the effort taken to merge the distant and recent pasts of the franchise into a new monster for the new age.
My time with Hentai vs. Evil was thankfully very short and produced more head shaking and fewer smiles than the average episode of Dragon’s Den. Designed to appeal to an incredibly niche demographic, there’s a feeling that the lack of content or enjoyable gameplay will be quite simply ignored if you allow the players to ‘hur-hur-hur’ at animated breasts.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring the broken landscapes of Glyph and resurrecting the ancient civilisation in the sand, and I’d definitely recommend it to players looking for something they can pick up and put down in small sittings. While it might be a little bit samey, I found it a charming experience that makes for a lovely change of pace in a genre often requiring pixel-perfect precision and outlandish reaction speeds.
More like a firework than an inferno, Fire is pretty and will certainly make you smile, but is sadly over all too soon.
My time with Umurangi Generation Special Edition was a little like discovering an old photo album in the loft and opening it to find pictures that remind you of a painful break up. There’s the spark of excitement at finding something out of the ordinary, and wonderment at what you might stumble upon next, but flicking through the pages of blurry images only leaves you pining for what could have been had things been just a little bit different.
All-in-all, I was thoroughly impressed by everything Axiom Verge 2 offered and would probably have devoured the entire thing in one sitting had adult life not gotten in the way. Yes, the combat could have used more variety and the story was a little head scratching at times, but that’s entirely worth it for the masterclass in retro graphics and sound that you get in return, along with some thoroughly enjoyable world building and exploration too.
Narita Boy delivers in almost every facet and I thoroughly enjoyed my time facing down the Stallion threat. But while it’s positively dripping with 80s nostalgia and style, there’s a lot more to it than just a trip down memory lane – and the fun sword fighting and exploration into a spectacular universe is only the half of it.
Corpse Killer is a decaying relic of its time, with few redeeming features that would encourage anyone to unearth it. The full FMV levels are hilariously bad and the point-and-click shooting is the dictionary definition of rinse and repeat gameplay. B-movie aficionados or former Sega 32X players seeking some nostalgia may be slightly more inclined to resurrect this one, but the cheesy plot, poor production, and miniscule amount of gameplay will not appeal to many modern players at all. It’s an amusing time capsule to my misguided, zombie-enthused youth, but this is one that should absolutely have stayed buried.
I can’t call G-Darius HD anything other than a run-of-the-mill arcade shoot ‘em up. While the capture ball and beam duelling are fun wrinkles to the gameplay, they aren’t enough to make the game stand out against a myriad of other titles in the same genre. The achievements and graphics updates are nice but I struggle to look past its short run time and genesis as an arcade cabinet that’s designed to eat your money. Sadly, this just isn’t an ideal console title. Fans of the genre will be overjoyed to have G-Darius HD available in their games library, but I don’t think it will capture many hearts outside of those players who forever yearn for the glory of the arcade High Scores table.