The Cube's Reviews
The one good thing I got out of my couple hours with Orc Slayer is the weapon ideas the game provides, but even that was screwed up by how simple and dull the game makes these seem. This is a more than common trait of the game itself really. The lack of variation is so in your face that every simple task feels like a chore.
Rising Islands may be appropriate for the small audience craving reflex driven platformers, but it barely fits in this respect. The game is just littered with too many flaws, and players have to dig out the fun. Add this with some marred graphical issues, and you have a playable, but far from fun color adventure.
Robot Arena 3 is a special kind of poor game, mostly because it’s premise is so outstanding. It could easily be the next Rocket League with enough polishing and balancing, but playing the game in practice wipes statements like that from my head. While some of it is salvageable in it’s current form, I hope things can be done better next time.
After having to commit myself to going through the unfortunate things 7 Days to Die offers, I looked up more to see why it was in this seemingly unfinished state. Turns out, the developers who ported this also worked on the PC version of Arkham Knight. If this really is the case, I’m surprised there isn’t more controversial traction about refunds or store removals. 7 Days to Die simply does everything wrong in nearly every way.
After playing a handful of badly designed stages, VEV: Viva Ex Vevo is the type of game I’d expect at a cheapo tech show. Among the vaporware and broken reveals, it’s shown as a barely functioning tech demo. In fact, watching something as poor as that, would be far more lively than sitting through this interactive sludge.
Cast of The Seven Godsends is one of the weaker titles I've played this year, which is even sadder considering it's also a remaster. The few redeeming qualities are buried by poor design, resoundingly clunky mechanics, and rough controls. Retro games always had some rough spots, but this is inexcusable.
If you were eyeing Soul Axiom, I'd say buy Master Reboot or stay clearly away. Wales Interactive has done much greater things in the past, which makes this all the more jarring. Now, I just hope their critical and commercial pinnacle isn't faded away due to a failure like this.
Energy Hook is a mess, but not the type of one that’s fun to play around with for a couple of hours. More or less, it’s the type of game that is depressingly bare. So much could have been done with the concept, but so little was done in the end.
Lost Sea is a game that could have been better with a bigger workforce or a better focus. While there was some passion poured in, so much feels cheap and or forceful. It’s a real shame, because you only get a game with a great premise like this so often.
I’ll give Trials of the Blood Dragon props for being creative, but most of the time, that’s all it can manage. Mechanics are disjointed, and gameplay is a general slog, with spiking points of interest. In summary, it’s like the previously released Awesome Level Max on spiked hallucinogenics.
For some hardcore stealth fans, Shadwen’s gameplay might be the kick they need to enjoy the genre’s true constraints once again. But to anyone else, it’s losses weigh more than the high points. There’s substance, but no flavor, scope, but no size. To everyone else, the game will likely feel like a case of lost ambition.
It is most grievous for me to label my first 3DS review with such a low score, but it is imperative that players understand: I don’t even think most fans of the series will like this game, and if fans won’t like it, newcomers will definitely not.
Adam’s Venture Origins is a game that fails to have restraint with it's constant puzzles. Although, a fair amount of these puzzles are actually decent and engages the player fairly well. Adam also has a humorous personality at times, but the overwhelming amount of poorly written dialogue and forgettable voice acting makes an annoying combination. At the point in time where decent graphics for a game like this is imperative it fails on that goal with ease. This is a game that is boring and forgettable, that is annoying and really has many problems that need to addressed if there is going to be another addition to this series.
Coming off of Ziggurat, it seemed like Milkstone Studios could rule the world, but with every studio, there’s some missteps along the way to the next lauded achievement. Pharaonic is unexciting as it is uninspired, and doesn’t give a good future to the space it’s so willingly trying to occupy. In other words, Egypt fell.
Headlander isn’t a lost cause, yet Double Fine should have done a couple more reinventions on the drawing board before they let this one loose. The main idea is intriguing and might convince some dedicated players to go all the way through, but to anyone else it will be a drag with some laughter, but mostly tedium.
Fallout 4: Contraptions Workshop could have been an acceptable DLC if the work wasn’t so strenuous. It’s great to see everything in motion, but simply not worth the effort. I understand that Bethesda can’t crack out great story DLC every second and have to cater to every players needs, but this is an insignificant step in making settlements great again.
Hitman’s third episode would have been barely acceptable in non-episodic fashion, but the value both in replay-ability and price starts to diminish when placed elsewhere. I still appreciate the detail in all the locales, but it’s clear the game needs to mature beyond another point.
Dead Island barely faded away from it’s initial reveal in 2011 with good marketing and a clear-cut emphasis on zombie killing, but all Definitive Edition does is stall the franchise from becoming infected into obscurity. It’s a game that’s partly pleasant with a companion, but not attentively tenacious alone, leading to a strong disconnect if you’re buddies are away. An added game Retro Revenge could have helped matters, but it’s just as half-baked and soulless as what’s come before it.
I can feel Siralim striving to find its own identity in the old school RPG realm. Siralim puts you into a world where your father died, and as new king you must grow to fill his shoes. In the time I played there didn't seem to be much more to the story line, but new mechanics like Construction Rituals that allow me to expand my castle led me to believe more was out there. Even though game play was a grind, the game allows you to design realms to challenge yourself. With mystery mechanics like Nether Eggs and gem creation, and cool in game items like Arena Invitations, Exalted Emblems, Tickets, and Pandemonium tokens still awaiting my discovery, Siralim is a game I'll continue to play.
The Sun and The Moon isn't a bad game, but it's far from spectacular. It's an example of how one design aspect can simply not carry a game to new heights, as imaginative or entertaining it might be. Other problems will always arise, and without a proper panacea, everything can quickly seem shortsighted.