December 2019 - Page 3 of 3

Ultra Off-Road 2019: Alaska Review – Left In The Cold

5Dec

By CraigNo Comments

Uncategorised

Ultra Off-Road 2019: Alaska Review – Left In The Cold

Introduction In the faraway frozen lands of Alaska, the air is still and quiet. The rumble of big trucks can be heard echoing through the canyons. Ultra Off-Road 2019: Alaska developed and published by IceTorch Interactive, sets out to capture the feeling of driving through the tundra. IceTorch Interactive is an indie Steam developer, with a short history of published games. Without blithering on, let's just jump into the review and see how the game is, shall we? Gameplay Ultra Off-Road 2019: Alaska is an off-road driving game. The whole point of the game is to get from point A to point B, navigating through trees and over rocks along the way. On your trek through the tundras of Alaska, you collect food, repair kits and fuel to help you get to where you're going. There are a handful of ...

Star Ocean First Departure R Review – Set Course for Adventure, Engage!

4Dec

By CraigNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Star Ocean First Departure R Review – Set Course for Adventure, Engage!

In July of 1996, Enix published a JRPG on the Super Famicom called Star Ocean. Star Ocean was pretty revolutionary, as it used the Super Famicom sound chip to give voices to some of the characters. This hadn't been done before on home consoles, and certainly not in a JRPG. Fast forward to 2007, and Star Ocean: First Departure launches on the Playstation Portable, developed by TOSE and published by Square Enix. The game's producer, Yoshinori Yamagishi, wanted the remake to feel like a whole new game. It pretty much was, as it was the first time the original Star Ocean game was available outside Japan. Now, as 2019 draws to a close, Star Ocean First Departure R is being released on the Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch. On December 5th, we will get to experience the game that launched a fra...

Simulacra – Another “Another Lost Phone Game” Game

4Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

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Simulacra – Another “Another Lost Phone Game” Game

Simulacra is the latest "lost/found phone" game to come to the Nintendo Switch. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, these games centre around the player being asked to dig through some unfortunate's phone to discover how they came to be parted from it in the first place. Simulacra was developed and published by Kaigan Games and released on Switch on December 3rd 2019 for £9.99. Like "Sara is Missing" from the same developer, Simulacra attempts to find horror in the mundanity of social media platforms, this time around placing a heavy emphasis on the dismal world of online dating. The phone this time around belongs to Anna, a pretty 20-something who was undergoing a number of personal crises before disappearing altogether. Gameplay If you have used a smartphone in the last 10 ...

4Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Uncategorised

Construction Simulator 2 – A Jack Of All Trades

Simulator games have risen in popularity for a number of years now. No longer do you need to pick up a technical manual alongside your new game - low impact job sims let you dive straight into a new life. Construction Simulator 2 US – Console Edition (catchy name), is brought to us by Astragon Entertainment and Weltenbauer. SE, and is the first of their popular Construction Simulator series to be ported across to consoles. Last year saw a Playstation 4 and Xbox One release, which Thumb Culture awarded a Silver medal (click here for that review). So now the games finally ported to the Nintendo Switch, how’s the build? Gameplay Construction Simulator 2 is very much what it says on the box. You start-up a company, and after completing a quick tutorial, it’s your goal to become a t...

Arise: A Simple Story – Beautiful, Breathtaking and Brilliant

3Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Arise: A Simple Story – Beautiful, Breathtaking and Brilliant

There is a long running debate about games being art. This conversation peaks when pinnacle games are released and then squashed when monetising trash plagues our systems. However, Arise: A Simple Story, a puzzle adventure developed by Piccolo, is the newest and one of the strongest arguments for the medium being a true art form. Gameplay Arise: A Simple Story tells a beautiful yet emotional story that follows the life of the protagonist. Each chapter is a prominent point in the old man's life and this help build a connection with the character. Due to this, you find yourself immersed in the cleverly told and relatable narrative. The game's chapter designs acts as a visual metaphor to tell the narrative, which is refreshing to see and experience. Piccolo clearly treats the gamer with...

Qpad DX-80 Gaming Mouse – Sunglasses At The Ready!

3Dec

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech, PC Reviews

Qpad DX-80 Gaming Mouse – Sunglasses At The Ready!

The Qpad DX-80 gaming mouse, manufactured in the Czech Republic is the latest piece of hardware to be kindly received at TC HQ. Costing €49.90 direct from the Qpad website plus another €15 p&p to the UK, how does this multi-coloured mouse do? Starting with the packaging you can straight away see from the front what the RGB LED lit DX-80 is packing. We have an optical sensor, 7 buttons, upto 8000 dpi, a gold plated USB plug, 4000 frames per second and an onboard ARM processor. On the back of the box the spec is crammed 11 times in various languages, therefore, utilising a "one box for everywhere" design. Although this can be seen as a cost-saving, let's hope that this does not also reflect on the product itself. Sliding the ambidextrous DX-80 out from the box you are greet...

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Bzngggg Vwoaaarrrww Psshhrkk

2Dec

By Stuart1 Comment

PC Reviews

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Bzngggg Vwoaaarrrww Psshhrkk

Oh a new Star Wars game from EA, what could go wrong...right? Well, this time around it's developed by Respawn, yes those that brought you the brilliant Titanfall 2 are handling the beloved Star Wars franchise. How has Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order turned out? Well quite frankly, brilliantly. Let's see why! Gameplay If you have been following the development of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order then you will know that its an all-new story in the Star Wars universe and introduces new characters for you to endear. You play through the game as Cal Kestis, a young padawan who; quite quickly you find out survived the Order 66 in Attack of the Clones. On his journey on the run from the Empire, you encounter several old and new characters that you might remember from different Star Wars films. ...