Cubed3's Reviews
Combat could have been an improvement to really spice up the package, however the main point of the game comes through the questing and puzzle solving, and in this area Quest of Infamy shines with quests that will definitely get players thinking.
For Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight is one heck of a game to start its new studio with, so here's hoping it can keep up this high level of quality and polish with future titles!
Wooden Sen'SeY is not the sum of its parts. Beautiful and polished looking visuals can only take a game so far until some of the questionable elements begin to niggle away at the core package. Neko's latest on Nintendo Wii U eShop shows promise at the start, but the padding, poor pacing, cheap deaths from lack of invincibility frames, and extended moments of boredom from a submarine level hold this game back. It falls short from being truly recommended, as opposed as a game that only the hardest core player would appreciate. Seeing more of what this development team can achieve would be interesting, seeing as how it clearly does know what it is doing for the most part.
Compared to the prices being asked for so many rehashes and mediocre titles today, £17.99 is nothing, so support New 'n' Tasty and Oddworld Inhabitants, and show them that Abe's Exoddus must be next on the remake list!
For around the same price as a large extra value meal at McDonald's, Armillo provides a much better value and also doesn't pile on the pounds. Great for those who want to keep that beach figure for the summer! Going back on track, this unique title about a fluffy space armadillo is definitely one of the hottest games on the Wii U eShop right now, technical issues aside. For those who love space, puzzles and armadillos, Armillo is the best possible title to match those needs. Although the game currently has frame-rate problems, Fuzzy Wuzzy Games has quickly acknowledged this and is already hard at work creating a fix.
This isn't Super Toy Cars, this is Regular Cars That Drive Surrounded by Giant Teddybear Sculptures Sometimes. Which is fine, of course, if what is being looked for is a mostly generic party racing experience.
[T]he fact that this delightful game is now readily available to even more players through Steam means they can be glossed over by the majority that haven't had the pleasure of playing Risky's Revenge before. If this is a taster of what to expect in Shantae's next two adventures, platform fans are in for a treat.
Once those 100 levels have been conquered and the final Titan humbled, there's very little reason to fire the game up again other than the occasional mindless blast, which can be extended to infinity on account of the fact that the only thing left to spend all that amassed cash on is additional lives. It's also unfortunate that at this particular moment in time near enough every retro flavoured shooter that hits the market will inevitably get compared to Resogun, which has set the bar incredibly high.
If it had much more of that fast-paced action instead of a plethora of tiresome fetch quests, it could have been a great and addictive title, but as it is, it simply falls flat and fails to realise its full potential.
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is a well put together piece of software with a great attention to little details, set in a universe of folklore and culture which is exotic enough in the video game industry to feel highly original, and with a huge deal of humour thrown into the mix for good measure. The tough to master yet easy to understand gameplay, coupled with the many challenges to overcome to fully complete everything do extend the play life into "decent" territory, as it is otherwise a rather short experience for those who will rush through it. Guacamelee! clearly takes a leaf out of a lot of different books in gaming, Metroid being the most obvious, but Castlevania, Megaman, and Zelda are also other clear sources of inspiration, yet it manages to blend it all into what is now its own thing. It sure bases a lot of its appeal on nostalgia for those other franchises and the crowd of references to them thrown all over the place, but this never overshadows its own intrinsic qualities, which are clever design, good production values, great writing and, most of all, a clear love for video games from its creators, which does transpire through their work. Guacamelee! STCE for the Wii U eShop is certainly not a perfect game - it has its couple of minor faults - but never are they detrimental to the overall experience, and this is still a must-have for any fan of the genre.
Gravity Badgers had the potential to be a really fun game; unfortunately it is not. The lacklustre presentation, repetitive levels, and boxy sound make it difficult to enjoy for very long. It may be a fun time-waster at first, but once the player realises that everything there is to be seen has been seen, the game quickly loses any interesting factors it had going for it. If a physics-based puzzle game in the same vein as Gravity Badgers is really sought after, look to mobile and get Angry Birds: Space, which Gravity Badgers draws heavily from.
The beauty of pool is that there is no story to plough through, no defined ending to strive towards - other than winning the current match - and this very essence is captured perfectly in Pure Pool. It's just the tale of a man with a stick and some balls getting down to business on a table...!
All of the underlying wrongness of Infinity Runner can probably be traced back to Wales Interactive overstretching itself. The game was almost definitely envisioned as something more open and complete, until a lack of money or time forced the developer to squeeze its ideas into the shell of an endless runner. The rigidity of the genre ruins almost every promising aspect of the game - it defangs the antagonist, dilutes the plot to the point of irrelevance, and - most damning of all - makes the fact that the protagonist is a werewolf almost inconsequential.
Ice Cream Surfer is a reasonably fun little timewaster, and at a time where shoot 'em ups are fewer and further between, some diehard shooter fans might feel like this is worth a punt. A far cry from the great 2D shooters of the past, though, it offers surprisingly little, it can be frustratingly cheap, it doesn't run without flaws despite it coming nowhere close to challenging the hardware, and unforgivably it lacks any substantial form of recording high scores. It's a budget title, but there's far better things on the eShop to spend that fiver on.
It's actually refreshing to see Zen release a table that isn't affiliated to Marvel or Star Wars for once, and as per usual the team has pulled out all the stops to deliver a product that does Telltale Games' franchise justice. The Walking Dead is an easy recommendation to anybody with more than a passing interest in pinball, and it's certainly one of the nicest tables Zen has released in some time. Picking this up should be a no brainer.
Too many technical anomalies and unintentional randomised factors can make some attempts unplayable. However, it is legitimately satisfying when able to complete a procedure or accomplish a manoeuvre, thanks, of course, to the gratitude felt when the game does not throw-up all over itself.
Rogue Legacy is a unique game that will appeal to a specific set of gamers and probably frustrate the rest. Those who find it fun will enjoy it greatly, with hours of playability, fun aesthetics, and enough variety to ensure no two playthroughs are alike. Rogue Legacy is brutal, punishing even slight mistakes on the player's part, and demanding many, many attempts at getting even one room farther than the previous attempt at conquering the dungeon.
This game is best described as the companion to Metro: Last Light Redux, where users are better off getting the retail compilation. The amount of visual fidelity and craftsmanship displayed in this game is unparalleled considering the lack of budget and absurd working conditions the crew had to endure during its development. It is a testament to the work of 4A Games and visionary Dmitry Glukhovsky.
Metro: Last Light Redux is a certifiable successor and a triumph of the creative human spirit that 4A Games displayed during their deplorable working conditions. A quality game that is on par with the likes of Half-Life 2. Bursting with atmosphere, tight controls and stealth mechanics, the only other comparable titles are Wolfenstein: The New Order and the previous game, Metro: 2033 Redux. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys single-player first person action games, Metro: Last Light Redux should not be missed.
Hyrule Warriors is an outstanding crossover of The Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors with addictive gameplay, a slick presentation, and a lot of content. In fact, the mix of the two series works so well that it has to be wondered why it took this long to materialise. Few franchises boast a legacy that matches The Legend of Zelda and it's a joy to play as characters other than Link after all this time, giving them a well-deserved spot in the limelight. Those familiar with Warriors games (like Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, also on Wii U) will know what to expect, while Zelda fans should definitely consider giving this game a try, as long as they don't go in expecting it to be like a regular Zelda instalment. What Hyrule Warriors is, though, is a highly enjoyable spin-off that's filled with all sorts of fan service, which might just be the best way to ease the wait for the next mainline The Legend of Zelda game coming to the Nintendo Wii U next year.