GameSpew's Reviews
With a fantastic art style that immediately charms you, and engaging gameplay that will keep you coming back time and time again, we love Wildfrost. It’s a very welcome entry into the roguelike card battler genre, offering challenging but fulfilling combat that we can’t get enough of. If you’re a fan of games like Slay the Spire, we urge you to try Wildfrost. You won’t be disappointed.
Dredge is one of those rare treasures: a game unlike anything else that completely captures your attention with its intriguing world and simple yet captivating gameplay. We could keep hunting for rare fish forever, and we only wish there were more secrets for us to uncover; new parts of the world for us to explore. But when our only complaint is “we want more of it”, it’s clear we have something rather special on our hands.
Is Peppa Pig: World Adventures better than Peppa’s first game? Yes and no. Its young fan base will undoubtedly lap up another opportunity to star alongside Peppa in their very own episode, and its character creator is better than ever by letting kids create their own families this time, too. There’s also way more content, and the worldwide locations are bound to delight and inspire. If your little one is a Peppa Pig fan, they will love it. But as adults, we simply wish there was more educational value here.
While this review may sound very negative, you can have some fun with The Dark Pictures Anthology: Switchback VR. The problem is, we just expected it to be better. While we didn’t find it scary at all, some might. We at least appreciated that a number of its scenarios put us under pressure. It’s perhaps apt that it puts you on a rollercoaster, as like a real rollercoaster ride it’s full of highs and lows, both technically and mechanically. At the end of the day, there are better on-rails shooters available on PSVR 2 already. And the unique elements on offer here just aren’t accomplished enough to draw us away from them.
For most players though, it’s the main meat of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe – the platforming adventure – that will draw them in. It might not be the most revolutionary game – after all, the original is 12 years old – but it’s a charming platformer that’s as joyous as it always has been. And with the addition of Merry Magoland, this is a sizeable package with essentially endless replayability.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty shares some elements with Team Ninja’s Nioh games, such as randomised loot and challenging combat, but ultimately it feels very much like its own game. It’s faster-paced, has a unique morale system, and pushes players to deflect enemy attacks in order to succeed. What lets it down ever so slightly is that some of these new features often feel poorly explained and a little underdeveloped. Otherwise, this is fresh take on the Soulslike formula.
Playing Company of Heroes 3 is a great experience if you like dynamic, tough, tactical RTS games that revolve around utilising the terrain to your advantage. But if you’re expecting a major evolution from the previous games in the series, you’ll likely come away disappointed. If you’re a fan of WWII strategy and somehow haven’t dived into the series yet, you’ll have a great time. But otherwise, you may as well stick with the original Company of Heroes.
Atomic Heart leaves a lot to be desired, but its unique setting, varied gameplay and often inventive enemies go a long way to keep you interested in your traipse through its ruined utopia. Just bear in mind that while it may look like a AAA game, it’s not; Mundfish has achieved a great deal here, but there are signs of corners being cut and a considerable lack of polish. And so, you might want to wait for a patch or two to sort out some of its unfortunate bugs and other blemishes, but you could do a lot worse than venture into the hostile world that Atomic Heart offers.
Was it really necessary to remake Like a Dragon: Ishin!? It’s questionable, but we’re glad it’s finally available in the west in some form. It’s not the best Like a Dragon game – in fact, it might come quite low in the pile – but a good time can be had with it nonetheless. Its world might not be all that attractive, and its story a slow-burner, but it has the usual charm and a bucketload of interesting activities to carry it.
If you’re not put off by its grave challenge that all too often feels unfair and its general rough-around-the-edges nature, you might have a good time with Wanted: Dead. Most, though, are likely to become disheartened and infuriated by it. It tries to do something new with the genre and we applaud it for that, but the execution isn’t quite there. We love its characters and its quirkiness, and even its mechanics, but they’re in a game that at the moment only sporadically feels fun to play. Hopefully Soleil can make some post-launch changes that point it further in the right direction.
Avalanche Software and Portkey Games have done an impressive job of creating something original within a much-loved franchise. Hogwarts Legacy is the closest any of us are ever going to get to actually attending Hogwarts, and what a magical experience it is. It’s clear that it’s been created with love, and the attention to detail here is phenomenal. It’s not without its issues, of course, but there’s few that get in the way of the overall experience. It looks gorgeous, it’s a joy to play, and being a wizard is just about as fun as we’d always hoped it would be.
If you’re a fan of rhythm games or simply love quirky adventures, consider Rhythm Sprout an essential purchase. This is a game that has snuck up on us from nowhere but has thoroughly rocked our worlds. Combining comedy with rhythm-based gameplay, it’s tickled our funny bones and tested our timing while also making us tap our feet and bob our heads. And we’ll certainly be revisiting it for a long time to come.
Dead Space is an accomplished remake that not only brings new life to a classic, but hopefully paves the path for more entries in the series in the future. While much of the game will be familiar to those who have played the original, the meaningful updates and additions go a long way to keep the experience feeling fresh, modern and unpredictable. So, whether you’re already a Dead Space fan or new to the series, this is well worth your time and money – as long as you have the nerves for it. For some, it’s even likely to be an early game of the year contender.
There’s something special about the power that Season: A Letter to the Future gives to the player; the freedom you have to explore, to document, to see and do exactly as you wish. Free of threat and any real time pressure, you’ll simply become absorbed, seeing everything for the first time just as your protagonist is. For the action-oriented amongst you, that might sound a little dull. But we can’t overstate just how wonderful it feels to play something like this, a game that really doesn’t mind what you do or how you do it, as long as you’re doing… something. It’s freeing, wholesome, relaxing but evocative. And we wish it didn’t have to end. Let us explore more corners of this enchanting, mysterious world, please.
Still, whatever flaws you can find with Dread Templar, one thing counters them all: it’s hellishly fun to play. The speed of the action, your impressive arsenal, the pounding soundtrack – it all combines to create a thrilling first-person experience that you can’t help but lose yourself in. As far as retro-inspired shooters go, Dread Templar is up there with the best of them.
Does Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale fulfil all our piracy-based fantasies? Not really – we’d kill for some sort of additional on-land adventuring. For those who’d like to focus on sailing the seas, however, it’s sure to tick many boxes. Especially so if they gel with its unique turn based battles that really reward thoughtful movement and positioning.
If starting all over again drives you up the wall, then Lone Ruin probably isn’t for you. For everyone else, it’s a frenetic, fun and highly replayable outing that’ll have you coming back for more. But if you do find a strange meteor in your backyard, do the sensible thing and toss it in next door’s wheelie bin.
Dwarf Fortress is, initially, a little daunting. Not because it’s inaccessible, but because you just know that it’s going to turn into a real time-sink. Is it the prettiest game around? No, but it’s wonderfully, ridiculously deep and a sheer joy to play. If you’re prepared to put the time in, Dwarf Fortress will drag you into its depths and you won’t regret it for one second.
Edengate: The Edge of Life is a well-presented title, with decent visuals, a nice soundtrack and solid voice acting. It’s just a shame that as a game driven by its narrative, the tale being told here doesn’t quite hit the mark. And with the gameplay also being extremely basic, there’s little here to truly warrant a recommendation. Still, if you’re after something easy to play with an unoriginal but interesting premise, you can do worse for its budget price.
It’s safe to say that if you were a fan of River City Girls, you’re going to love River City Girls 2. But with that, there’s nothing here that is likely to draw in new fans. It’s very much an incremental improvement and expansion of the first. There are more characters, more moves, more locations, more… everything. And with the series’ typically strong presentation, those who get absorbed in the adventure on offer here will have an absolute blast whether they play alone or in co-op.