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It’ll be interesting to see what other beat ’em ups get the modern retro treatment, maybe ‘Golden Axe’ or ‘Final Fight’? For now though, it’s time for the Dragons to rise from the ashes and beat down the streets once again, with hours upon hours of old-school couch co-op fun and soon, online as well. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is the long overdue modern classic that fans have been waiting for.
Listening to the old sound of Pac-Man tied in with the beautiful soundtrack on this game kept you wanting more. It was that happy music that made you want to keep playing, yet the tone would change if you encountered enemies along the way. I love turning big and hearing the old Pac-Man music and sound effects we used to hear on the arcade classic. Anyone that grew up playing Pac-Man, or even younger generations getting into Pac-Man, will find that the Re-Pac is an awesome gateway. It’s full of subtle easter eggs from the original games and features some beautifully recrafted scenery. Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a title for everyone.
Rollerdrome is the love child of chaos and style, fast-paced action with a bright and vibrant comic book art style that never felt so good. Depending on how fast you adapt to the madness, you could be in the endgame building montage-worthy gameplay and competing for ultimate bragging rights within the first day. If you wanted to take it a bit slower, the list of challenges to revisit and the assist menu let you tackle the game at your own pace. Either way, Rollerdrome is an incredibly exciting experience and a fine addition to the PlayStation library.
Graphically this game is stunning, the environment you’ll spend your time hunting in has been done with such high detail and makes it feel like you are there in that moment. Though, the details in the animal’s fur could have been fine-tuned a little to make them look a little more real. I was having issues with the rendering distance where the grass was just randomly appearing or the trees got their high detail when I got closer which took away from the experience a little.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes delivers on the promise of an all-out war with the added bonus of making you care about those around you. With options to make the game as streamlined, easy, or as punishing as you like, multiple House storylines to go back and revisit, and even potential romance options to explore, I could find myself coming back week after week to see what else I could discover.
Arcadegeddon was a really fun and enjoyable experience, solo or with friends, or even matching up with random other players and making new friends. A nice variety of weapons and biomes, with a great and upbeat soundtrack, really makes the game feel alive. With a few occasional crashes, I still had a blast playing the game and will definitely be playing more. I strongly recommend this game for a great co-op experience with friends.
As cliche and tropey as these types of revengeful samurai stories are and it is quite that in the beginning, once you peel the initial layer off it is actually quite a different story. In saying that, don’t we just love a traditional samurai story, especially with a mythological twist when presented in a classic Japanese arthouse style? You can’t help but eat it up over and over again as you bathe in these Japanese cultural elements all married together.
We played Dying Light 2: Stay Human on an Xbox Series X and it’s a gorgeous-looking game and does offer a few graphical options from the menu. Three to be exact: “Performance”, “Quality” and “Resolution”. Performance mode runs at 1080p while offering a smooth 60fps, the Quality mode offers 1080p but adds ray-traced lighting support, while Resolution is all about hitting 4K, with both Quality and Resolution aiming for 30fps. With a game like Dying Light, I personally found the game and parkour more enjoyable to play running at a smooth 60fps, as long as you don’t mind the visuals taking a bit of a hit.
The Graphics in Outpost: Infinity Siege are impressive. Graphics are on a level with many AAA games being realistic, with distant terrain being rendered to a lower quality to give the effect of distance, giving it perfect realism. This also adds an excellent balance to performance with the game having quite good overall performance, with in-depth settings to fine-tune your experience. Animations from robots and defences are very smooth and look absolutely flawless.
The graphics in the rhythm minigame are of the same style, but the look of the guitar you’re playing depends on which one you select to play before going into the gig. The sound design is really cool as well; the songs are original and pretty catchy, but the sound is also good at exhibiting a sense of danger when something is going horribly wrong, such as when a system fails and everything starts beeping.
There are roughly 64 enemy types, unique attacks and appearances, all as grotesque as each other. One of the spookiest things I came across was a headcrab-type scenario involving a parasitic Naytiba and any corpse it could find lying around. With a vast arsenal of skills, including Beta skills, sweeping combos, ranged attacks and an ultimate that can turn the tides of battle, combat is immensely satisfying.
SAND LAND follows the story of Beelzebub, the prince of demons and son of Lucifer. He, along with his companions, Thief, Rao and Ann, seek the legendary spring. Set in a barren desert wasteland where the only source of water is controlled by a greedy king backed by a menacing Supreme Commander., you must fight monsters, bandit gangs and the King’s Army. You must search for the spring to bring hope and much-needed water to the poor people of SAND LAND.
You play as a young nun, Indika, who appears like a normal young girl from the outside but is in a constant battle with demons in her head that continue to grow stronger over time as she delves further into catholicism. In this third-person perspective adventure, the world pulses with life as NPCs engage in their own conversations offering glimpses of wisdom and experience.
The soundtrack and overall effects in Mullet Mad Jack are also a very notable mention. The gunshots and slashing from the swords are very precise and arcade-like, providing nothing but satisfaction when kicking a robot into a fan and watching it disintegrate with a crunch.
I have had a blast during my time in The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road and I always find the community to be welcoming and eager to help new players. The amount of content and lore you can uncover keeps me hooked and wanting to sink more hours into the experience. A massive plus is that no matter the player’s level and experience, all of the story chapters can be played at any level, so it is always an exciting experience for new and returning players to the series.
Hi-Fi Rush may not have been successful the first time, but now it’s available to even more players on PlayStation 5. First, it was only accessible via the Xbox Game Pass, but now it’s available to purchase on its own and a physical version will also finally be available thanks to Limited Run Games. The bright and colourful characters, environments, enemies, bosses and more, all playing along to the beat, make this a must-buy for any console it’s available on. Hi-Fi Rush is the perfect game for anyone ready to rock!
The developers did a fantastic job with this reimagination of ‘Alone in the Dark’. It was the perfect mixture of puzzles, mystery and a great storyline to keep you enthralled in the title for hours. If you love a great eerie story where you need to think outside of the box then this is a perfect skin-crawling experience for you.
Stilt is a fantastic nod to the classic platformers that have come before. It’s bright, bouncy, fluid, fun, and presents a hefty challenge. I’ve loved my time with this incredible offering and it has certainly bounced its way into my heart. I look forward to seeing you in the PVP arena of Stilt when it springs onto PSVR2 on March 8th 2024.
Rise Of The Ronin is a deep insight into the history of Japan from the perspectives of many individuals while also carrying its own parallel narrative of your character. A massive feat in itself. The open world is full of things to do and the combat is strategically paced but also refreshing as you upgrade it with your stances, equipment and skill trees. Any issues I had with this title were very surface-level and didn’t ruin my time at all. Rise Of The Ronin was an intriguing horse in the race of games so far this year, and I lapped up everything it had to give. It might be more subtle from Team Ninja but it’s just as impressive.
Bears In Space is a fantastic game. With only three developers working on the game, and with so much attention to detail, there’s no wonder why it took them roughly seven years to release it, and everyone will enjoy this game. Besides the obstructed shooting angles, which I hope they can address, Bears In Space is a very polished game, and I have enjoyed my time playing.