August 2020

Crusader Kings 3 – Sway, Marry Or Murder!

31Aug

By Stu N2 Comments

Crusader Kings 3 – Sway, Marry Or Murder!

Ever dreamt of conquering the world or even thought of rewriting history in the country you live in? Maybe expanding the kingdoms to the likes of which have never been done before? Developed by Paradox Development Studio and Published by Paradox Interactive and the sequel to one of the most popular strategy games ever made, Crusader Kings 2; Crusader Kings 3 is finally being released on the 1st of September on Steam and Xbox GamePass for PC. Set in the Middles ages, Crusader Kings 3 continues on with the grand strategy experience with a host of new ways to bring success to your royal house with Experience Knights, Peasants, Pilgrimages such as the Holy Wars and of course Viking Raiders. So what are you waiting for? Let's bring honour to our Family! Gameplay I can write forever o...

28Aug

By Jay ArmstrongNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Battletoads – Toadally Rad!

Every review I seem to write these days leaves me rattling on about nostalgia; and here I am reviewing Battletoads. Rare's IP has been brought back to life by Dlala Studios, acting as both a sequel and a reboot to the series which has been absent since 1994. So here we are 26 years later, a new animation style and a whole range of mechanics crammed into 1 tidy package. Battletoads puts you back in control of one of the titular heroes; Pimple, Rash or Zitz. Harkening back to the 90's series, Battletoads main focus is that of a side-scrolling beat 'em up. Unlike the older games though there is a lot of other modes scattered throughout the campaign. Utilising the self-aware comedy and a modern animated style Dlala Studios has revived the IP with great success. Gameplay Each of the 3 ...

28Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Windbound – Brave The Storm

Windbound, by Devs 5 Lives Studios and published by Deepsilver (Conan Exiles, Metro Series, Dead Island), is a single-player survival RPG where you awaken on a strange island having survived a horrendous fierce storm that saw your boat sunk and your tribe vanish. With an intriguing mystery lying in front of you, let's get adventuring! Gameplay In Windbound you play as Kara, a strong and determined female warrior who must now use her crafting and hunting skills in order to survive and journey onwards from island to island, slowly unravelling the secrets that lie before her. There are a couple of ways to play Windbound. Firstly there is Survivalist whereby if you die you only keep the items you have in your 'held' inventory, return to chapter 1 and face a standard combat difficult...

26Aug

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Mortal Shell – Or Mortal Hell???

Mortal Shell is a single-player action RPG made by new developers Cold Symmetry and published by Playstack. In their own words, it will "test your sanity and resilience in a shattered world". Combat is strategic, deliberate, and unforgiving". Mortal Shell is another game in the long line of "souls-like" games. The difference between this and previous games who try to deliver on the formula is, Mortal Shell IS a "souls-like" game, just smaller. There are enough nuances and unique features to separate it from its demonic brethren. It's like Dark Souls has a little brother, a brutal little brother, and his name is Mortal Shell. Gameplay Set in the world of Fallgrim, it is already apparent how different it is to other games who take on the Souls doctrine. Where others chose to hav...

25Aug

By Mike DifferNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Descenders – Let’s Ride Those Ramps!

Descenders is a third-person cycling game where you complete tracks of different designs and layouts, doing it in style with numerous tricks available. Developed by Ragesquid and published by No More Robots. You hop right into a game which takes inspiration from previous sports games such as the Trials and the Tony Hawk's series. "Descenders is extreme downhill freeriding for the modern era, with procedurally generated worlds, and where mistakes have real consequences. Will you lead your team to glory and become the next legendary Descender?" Descenders is already available on PC and Xbox One and very soon on PS4 with a release date of the 25th of August. Gameplay Descenders puts you in the shoes of a BMX cyclist and after a short tutorial section puts you right into the thick of ...

Carrion – Will There Be Peace When You Are Done?

21Aug

By Jay ArmstrongNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Carrion – Will There Be Peace When You Are Done?

Carrion is deemed as an important food source for scavengers and stems from the Latin caro; which directly translates to meat. Meat is quite an accurate description seeing as the protagonist is a gristly, fleshy tentacle monster. In Carrion, you start as this mysterious creature who is escaping from a lab and lost in a Metroidvaniaesque labyrinth as you try and seek out your freedom. Carrion is the sophomore game from Phobia Game Studio and is described as a reverse-horror game. Whilst their debut game, Butcher, flew under the radar back in 2016 Carrion has been thrust into the spotlight with a multi-platform release and even launching as part of Xbox Game Pass. Gameplay Carrion starts off in an eerie and dark lab but as soon as you break free from containment you immediately gain...

PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X? Apples vs Oranges? What Does The Next Gen Bring…

19Aug

By Jay Armstrong2 Comments

Features

PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X? Apples vs Oranges? What Does The Next Gen Bring…

We're now pretty deep into 2020 and with that we've had some news on the next generation of console gaming, however we still don't actually know much about the launches themselves. What we do know however is that both Microsoft and Sony are adopting very different approaches to the next generation and as a multi-platform owner I find that exciting. Often during these times it's interesting following the hype and the build up of the new machines and that's something I personally follow quite closely. What I aim to do here is summarising some key facts that differentiate the 2 companies and speculate about what this could mean moving forward; but by no means is this meant to be a comprehensive list. With events expected in August from both Sony and Microsoft as part of GamesCom it's in...

19Aug

By DanNo Comments

PC Reviews

Golftopia – Where To Putt It?

MiniMax Games Ltd released an anticipated title into early access via Steam in July this year. That game is in fact Golftopia. The futuristic golf course simulator game that gets you off the green and gives you an arsenal of tools to create and run your own course. I have to be honest here, personally I am not a fan of golf, but I am a fan of a good simulator game! Keep reading to find out how I got on designing and running my own sci-fi themed course. Gameplay Having played the older SIM Golf game and really enjoying it I was keen to put Golftopia to the test. The thing with SIM games is ultimately they all have the same storyline of a sort. You are a creator/manager of whatever theme the simulator game is related to. This sounds easy, however, so many developers have got this wrong in ...

Pacer – A Refreshing Hit Of Nostalgia That Won’t Leave You Feeling Wiped Out…

17Aug

By Jay ArmstrongNo Comments

PC Reviews, Previews & Early Access

Pacer – A Refreshing Hit Of Nostalgia That Won’t Leave You Feeling Wiped Out…

As if 2020 wasn't already chock-full of nostalgia, with the likes of Half-Life: Alyx and Final Fantasy VII launching, we now have a new Wipeout. Well that's not strictly true, Pacer is actually a spiritual successor to Wipeout and also the re-imaging of Formula Fusion. Formula Fusion was the debut game from R8 Games launching back in 2015 as an early access game on Steam. It would seem that things didn't quite go to plan for R8 Games with them needing to explore Kickstarter as a funding option back in 2019. With a successful Kickstarter campaign behind them, and a rebranding of the game to Pacer it would seem the team at R8 Games has cracked the formula and is ready to unleash the game on the world. Coming from a team who worked at Psygnosis Leeds and actively contributed to Wipeout...

14Aug

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Cuphead – Don’t Deal with the Devil

Cuphead is the first and only game developed and published by the Canadian indie developers StudioMDHR. Founders and brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer tried to make a game like Cuphead in 2000 but lacked the tools to do so. Following the success of indie game Super Meat Boy in 2010, the brothers decided to give it another go and so development on Cuphead had begun. It was first announced in 2014 and gained instant fandom and admiration for its difficulty and art style. Cuphead was released 3 years later on Xbox One and PC. It later appeared on Switch, and now it's on PS4, despite StudioMDHR saying "there will be no PS4 version". Cuphead is certainly a novel looking game, does it feel as old as its 1930s aesthetic? Gameplay The story, in a nutshell, is that two happy little cu...