Rapid Reviews UK
HomepageRapid Reviews UK's Reviews
Though some of you may recognise our orange heroes Score-chan and Gig, this was actually my first time delving into the Piczle universe. The Piczle series focuses on nonogram logic-puzzles, in which you have to fill a certain number of squares within a grid to create an image. Similar to Sudoku though, you need to make sure there are no clashes and that the numbers correspond both horizontally and vertically.
I’ve never been much of a glutton for punishment. And I’ve never really had the time or patience for try, die and repeat gameplay. I’ll admit, I barely got out of central Yharnam during my time playing Bloodbourne. When I saw Mortal Shell I thought, it’s time to “git gud” and see what this game has to offer.
Down the Rabbit Hole is a familiar retelling of Alice in Wonderland’s tale of fantasy and intrigue, though this time in VR where you interact with the world in ‘third person god-mode’. The story starts off moving Alice through a house and searching for a key to open up a hatch in the floorboards. After you fall through the floor and down the rabbit hole, you are quickly greeted by the white rabbit. He tasks you with finding your way through to the party for the red queen and acquiring invitations along the way.
When the first instalment of Naughty Dog’s gripping juggernaut The Last Of Us hit the shelves in 2013, people didn’t expect it to flourish into a historic title, an opus worthy of the highest acclaim. It became a game-changer, and railed against the grain, toppling any other game that appeared that year. From its beginning to its hard-hitting conclusion, it took players through the emotions and connected them to its dark-tinged underbelly. This was because of its cathartic story-line, a masterminded plot, brimming in brightly lit anecdotes.
2020 has undeniably been the year of the remake. The year where game developers and publishers across the world have said, if you grew up in the ’90s, we are going to take your fondest gaming memories and rebuild them.. in 4K. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 makes zero apologies, it is a true rebirth of a game loved by millions and follows a tried and tested formula. Playing with the nostalgic feelings of so many is a brave move from the partnership of Vicarious Visions and Activision themselves.
What do you get if you take the framework for XCOM, sprinkle it with gothic horror and fold in a few roguelike elements? Well, what you get is Othercide, which is a strange concoction of genres indeed but it’s a peculiar mixture that on the whole, actually works. With its unique art style and a diverse mix of gameplay elements, I think most players can find something in Othercide to enjoy. I certainly did.
When we think of post-apocalyptic games, the Fallout series is the one that most people think of. With its (now) first-person gameplay, hunting down Ghouls and Mutants, to collecting loot and doing quests for its quite often bizarre cast of characters. However Fallout owes a lot of its gameplay to a franchise that’s been quietly hiding in the background waiting for its time to re-emerge from its slumber.
I’ve always had an interest in the strange and surreal. Who cares about the ordinary when the world offers so many wonderfully weird things to enjoy? From the title alone, I knew Ultra Hat Dimension was going to be a slice of interesting oddness.
Heroes of Hammerwatch is set within the same universe as 2017’s Hammerwatch. With the original release of Hammerwatch developer Crackshell delivered a game with satisfying combat and progression with a great pick-up and play style, whilst also catering to those of us who strive for a greater challenge.
It’s tiiiiiiime, to take a look at UFC 4 from EA Sports. As a longtime fan of sports games, it was an honour to be able to review of copy of UFC 4. I put a lot of hours into UFC 4, and sadly never got a chance to play the third instalment but was all too eager to dive in again. I understand that sports games are not for everybody, possibly more so than any other genre out there. Yet, they do have a depth and a pull, but it is unlike many other titles.
Set on the small island of Tsushima just off the coast of mainland Japan in 1274, the game starts with the army of Tsushima charging the beaches to battle the 30,000 strong Mongolian invaders that have come to conquer their land. As you may have guessed this does not go to plan as the army of Tsushima is defeated with ease, and the Japanese ruler Lord Shimura is captured by Khotun Khan, a successful general and descendent of the legendary Genghis Khan.
With just a single trailer, Windbound captivated the minds of many gamers. As more news came out about this indie title, anticipation grew larger and larger. Developed by 5 Lives Studios and published by the illustrious Deep Silver, the journey known as Windbound has finally seen its release on today’s consoles.
I like to think of myself as an open minded and non-judgemental kinda guy. But I’m forced to admit that I make assumptions based on first impressions and visuals all the time. Be it reading the blurb on the back of a book or while selecting which sandwich to buy for lunch. I won’t deny that when Zero Zero Zero Zero first fell into my review pile, I unfairly judged it and was in no rush to play it. However, first impressions are often wrong, qualities are sometimes well hidden.
Let me start by saying, there are not nearly enough monster-catching games around, and it’s no real surprise with the likes of the Pokemon series, I guess it can be a little intimidating. That’s why I was so glad to hear about Nexomon: Extinction. But does it stand up against the best? Let’s see. Nexomon: Extinction is an adventure RPG game that almost mimics Pokemon exactly. The gameplay, battle system, creature types – it’s almost uncanny. But, there are areas that Nexomon takes and then excels on such as its storyline. It has some depth to it, you’re not just wanting to be the best tamer (Nexomons version of a trainer), this is a story of destruction.
Playing CARRION on the Nintendo switch reminded me so much of one of my favourite science fiction horror films from the ’80s by John carpenter: The Thing. Crawling about and feeding on the human population in a military facility, all while searching for bio-capsules to gain new abilities which allow you to gain access to new areas and lay siege to them is engaging and fun, albeit with a frustrating omission of the map screen which makes navigation difficult at times. Let’ take a trip into the twisted world of CARRION to see if this is a title worth owning.
I have played and reviewed a couple of visual novel games now, and I was then and still am entirely undecided on what I think of them. Then I saw Collar X Malice on the review list. Was I ready for another visual novel? I didn’t know, but I’d played a few hectic games, and the idea of something chilled out certainly appealed to me. Plus, I love reading and story-driven games, and what could be more story-driven than a game that is essentially a novel. So, I ventured into this title, recently launched on the switch after a run on other systems earlier in its life. I did not know anything about the game going into it, but what did I make of my time in the world of Adonis? Was it a real page-turner of a game, or was it one of those stories that weren’t ever as strong as its blurb?
Some games you can talk about for a long time but other games you may find little to talk about. Grimvalor, originally a mobile game, is one of those games. Not because it is bad but because there isn’t much to talk about. Despite that, what did I think of Grimvalor? Was it good or bad? Let’s find out.
Blind Men did not seem like the typical type of game I would enjoy at first glance. However, you don’t find new things by sticking inside your comfort zone. So, in the interest of broadening my gaming horizons, I took the plunge and tried something out of my usual taste range.
The granddaddy of the real-time strategy genre returns with the original two games straight from the ‘90s. Armed with cheesy FMV sequences and a doggedly faithful recreation of every nook, cranny and wart, all wrapped up nicely with a textural coat of military-grade paint (up to 4K resolution), classic Command & Conquer is back.
Picture an old woman with a love of gardening followed around by cute, chubby mushrooms as her loyal army. Sounds pretty cute, right? Well, in Terrorarium, this granny uses those adorable mushroom creatures, Moogu, as her expendable pawns in alien gardens filled with murderous plants and hazards. Not so cute.