Jamie Russo
Players can move through each area cleaning up Gunk, defeating the Gunk creatures, and exploring to gather resources and discover secrets. Along with traveling across the planet, Rani will also run into a few combat encounters. She can use Pumpkin to grab and throw enemies or damage vulnerable spots on them. Battles are far and few between, but they still help to break up exploration enough that the game doesn't get boring. The Gunk offers players a fun experience with consistently entertaining gameplay.
Playing Lucky's Tale in VR on the Quest 2 is a fun and delightful experience with a story about friendship. The extra activities that unlock after completing the story mode in each level increase the replayability of Lucky's Tale and break up the otherwise repetitive gameplay. With Lucky's Tale, players can enjoy a few hours of platforming and guided exploration as they make their way through each chapter and complete their quest to save Piggy.
Although After the Fall can be repetitive, it shines in its multiplayer capabilities and cross-platform options. Players can connect with their friends in VR to take out hordes of Snowbreed and challenge their skills against enemies like the Smasher, a massive Snowbreed monster with ice armor and a hammer-like arm. After the Fall is reminiscent of Left 4 Dead or Back 4 Blood's gameplay, but with an added level of immersion in VR that makes it a thrilling zombie-fighter experience.
Players that are familiar with the Let's Sing series can expect more of the same from Let's Sing 2022. The game modes, minigames, and avatars are the same as Let's Sing 2021, so there's nothing really unique about Let's Sing 2022 except for its tracklist. Although playing on a smartphone is convenient, there is a lag in the audio that players may need to work around. However, it doesn't affect gameplay much unless players are singing a fast-paced song against a difficult boss. Whether playing solo or with others, players can enjoy the fun variety of songs in Let's Sing 2022.
In Surviving the Aftermath, players need to build a sustainable colony similar to Endzone: A World Apart. The storyline gives players a goal to work towards as they explore the world map and enhance their colony. Aside from the ineffective tutorial and tips section of the game, players can expect a fun city-building survival experience. At its core, Surviving the Aftermath is a high-stakes building game where the biggest challenge is making the right decisions in order to stay alive in a dangerous, apocalyptic world.
My Singing Monsters Playground is fun but short.
Once players complete every milestone in their career, they can continue to update facilities, remodel homes, and offer new designs to visiting clients. This gives players a lot of content to discover and play through. When combined with the 2.0 update, the Happy Home Paradise DLC offers players a variety of new mechanics to unlock and use both at the resort and on their own island. Each new feature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 and Happy Home Paradise adds to the players' overall experience by creating new customization options and different areas to explore.
JARS has similar visuals to Creepy Tale 2, but the puzzles are much more coherent and enjoyable. Through some trial and error, players can beat even the hardest levels in the game within just a few minutes. JARS will keep players' interest with intriguing visuals, a variety of characters in hero mode, and a few challenging levels scattered throughout the main story.
Creepy Tale 2 offers players a challenging adventure that can be frustrating at times. The levels are all designed to test the player's wit, and patience, but the level of difficulty fluctuates which breaks up the flow of the game as a whole. Although it can be difficult to pay attention to, the story is actually somewhat important, as players will get to decide how the game ends. However, the ending is very abrupt and doesn't offer an appropriate reward for the struggle of getting there. Creepy Tale 2 would benefit from something similar to MO: Astray's horror story-telling and puzzle mix, and as it stands now, all but the most dedicated horror and puzzle fans will want to give this one a pass.
Throughout Midnight Protocol there will be tense situations, difficult encounters, and plenty of mysteries to solve. As answers start to come in, more questions arise, and the game has a few major twists rivaling those in Resident Evil Village. Players will have the chance to choose who they will fight alongside and what kind of person Data will be. Reputation and available missions are affected by every decision in the challenging, high-stakes hacking world of Midnight Protocol.
There is a vague story to Song in the Smoke and cutscenes that guide the player through their boss fights. The tips for how to defeat bosses or draw them out are revealed in a creative and immersive way. The environment and music, as well as constant sounds made by other creatures, make Song in the Smoke a truly mesmerizing experience. Players will feel the dread of traversing dangerous areas, and the satisfaction of defeating a powerful boss. Song in the Smoke is an unrivaled VR survival game with horror elements, and it gives players complete freedom to explore, hunt in, and conquer the treacherous wilderness.
Between combat with free-aim and comprehensive exploration through the Geoscape, Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition has a lot of content to offer. Like other strategy games, such as Empire of Sin, players can win multiple ways, and there are plenty of chances to lose. Unfortunately, the console edition has a lot of issues with loading and crashing, but as long as players have the patience, the game is still enjoyable. Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition comes with the base game and four DLC expansions for players to tactfully explore.
Insurgency: Sandstorm is a balanced mix of realism and enjoyable gameplay, with very few downsides. The game is challenging and can take some getting used to, but even with its level of difficulty, it's still a lot fun. Insurgency: Sandstorm offers the option to spend some time with AI teammates to develop strategies and practice. Although there is no campaign mode, players can also train at the range, which spawns in different types of enemy forces. Insurgency: Sandstorm is a realistic and difficult first-person shooter with diverse game modes and hours of unique entertainment.
With over 12 hours of gameplay, and upgrades that streamline the repair process, Rover Mechanic Simulator turns out to be too much of a good thing. The game's job diversity only lasts for the first half, and there's not much challenge after that. Still, the accuracy of the machines, and the satisfaction of completing a complicated repair make Rover Mechanic Simulator an enjoyable game that can help players unwind, as long as they're okay with the limitations at play within its gameplay mechanics and design.
Antonball Deluxe is a fun, addicting, and mildly frustrating arcade-style game with witty writing and great sound effects. The character voices and background music fit in with the iconic soundtracks of classic games. There are 69 unique phases that challenge players with varying levels of difficulty. Even with the minor control issues, the diverse gameplay and nostalgic atmosphere make Antonball Deluxe a fun and addicting retro-style game.