Craig, Author at Thumb Culture

10Dec

By CraigNo Comments

Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries Review – All Systems Nominal

Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries is a game that I have been waiting for since about 2005. The Mechwarrior series has been all but dead since the last iteration released in 2002, aside from the online multiplayer-only Mechwarrior: Online. There hasn't been a single-player entry in the series since Mechwarrior 4 launched on PC in 2002. Now, finally, Piranha Games is bringing us giant stompy robots in a single-player game. Originally slated for release in December 2018, Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries was met with a slew of delays, pushing it back to December 10th 2019. Now the time is here to hop in our BattleMechs and take on the review. Reactor: Online. Sensors: Online. Weapons: Online. All Systems Nominal. Let's do this, Pilots. Gameplay Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries is a first-person BattleMech...

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...

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends – Fun 4 The Whole Family

20Nov

By CraigNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends – Fun 4 The Whole Family

Way back in 1986 there was a little game that existed in the darkened corners of arcades. That game was Bubble Bobble. A cute game about bubble blowing dinosaurs and fruit, made by Taito. It was later ported to home systems like the NES by Toei Company. Fast forward to 2019, and Taito is still developing Bubble Bobble games. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is releasing in Europe on the Nintendo Switch on November 19th 2019. There will also be a special edition following in December. It will be releasing in North America sometime in 2020. For me, it's been a while since I've laid eyes on a Bubble Bobble game. So, when Bubble Bobble 4 Friends came across my desk, I was interested to see how the franchise had progressed. Let's dive into this European exclusive game and see how it is, shall we? Ready?...

Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Review – Mission Improbable

4Nov

By CraigNo Comments

Uncategorised

Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Review – Mission Improbable

Let's take a minute to talk about Playtonic Games. Made up of some of the key creative talents that brought us Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, Playtonic Games was founded in 2014. Straight out of the gate, they set out to make a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64. Dubbed "Project Ukelele" the team launched a Kickstarter and reached their stretch goal within 24 hours. While I loved what finally came out as Yooka-Laylee, it was met with mixed critical reviews. , Playtonic Games released a trailer for their next game Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair and what I saw was precisely what I wanted to see in a platformer. Needless to say, I was incredibly excited to give this a shot, so let's jump in and see just how impossible this lair is. Gameplay Yooka-Laylee and the...

25Oct

By CraigNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Community Inc Review – Community is Key

Developed by T4 Interactive and published by tinyBuild Games, Community Inc. is a cute game about building villages and crafting items to trade to other villages. It is available on Steam and the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch. This isn't the type of game I usually seek out to play, so when it came across my desk to take a look at, I had no idea what I was in for. tinyBuild Games has published some very nice titles in the past, so we should get off our butts and see what T4 Interactive has made with Community Inc. Gameplay In Community Inc., you play as the manager of a small community of beings called Lings. As a manager, your job is to hire Lings and give them jobs. As you build up your village, you'll receive jobs from the various other races of creatures to build items. Giving t...

Fight’N Rage Review – Button Bashin’ Face Smashin’

3Oct

By CraigNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Fight’N Rage Review – Button Bashin’ Face Smashin’

When I was growing up, I was a huge fan of Beat 'em ups. I still am, there are just fewer outstanding ones coming out. Games like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Altered Beast and ever Spiderman & Venom: Maximum Carnage got rented from the local video store week after week. So when I first discovered Fight'N Rage, I had to have it. Fight'N Rage is developed by only one man, Sebastian Garcia of Sebas Game Dev in Uruguay. Fight'N Rage dropped onto PC Via steam on September 19th, 2017 and I immediately picked it up. Two years later, almost to the day, It was released on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo Switch ported by Blitworks. Naturally, I had to have it again. I was thrilled when an opportunity to review Fight'N Rage on the Nintendo Switch came up. So without further delay, I need...

The Church In The Darkness Review – Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

25Sep

By CraigNo Comments

PC Reviews

The Church In The Darkness Review – Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

The Church in The Darkness is a game developed by Paranoid Productions and published by Fellow Traveller for the Playstation 4, PC, macOS, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Designed by Richard Rouse III, who previously had designed games such as The Suffering, the premise of The Church in the Darkness is based on Rouse's fascination with cults and also his desire to make an open narrative game in a world where many titles have a fixed narrative structure. Let's jump in and see what's what Gameplay The Church in the Darkness is an action-infiltration game with a top-down camera angle set within a religious cult in the mid-1970s. Immediately upon starting, you're presented with the option to choose a male or female character. The character you pick doesn't seem to make any difference overall. ...

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey – PC Review – Serious Monkey Business

2Sep

By CraigNo Comments

Gaming, PC Reviews

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey – PC Review – Serious Monkey Business

When first I laid eyes on Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey I was incredibly excited. I saw the survival game I've always wanted to play, and it was coming from a Canadian developer as a bonus. Developed by Panache Digital Games in Montreal, and published by Private Division, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey was released on August 27th, 2019 for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC via the Epic Games store. I will be playing on PC using an Xbox One controller for this review. The lead designer of the game, Patrice Désilets, created the hugely successful Assassin's Creed franchise. It's time to swing on in and see if the first game from Panache Digital Games can survive the jungle of the game industry. Gameplay Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a fairly complicated game. It is a single-...

Biotope PC Preview – Experience the thrill of owning a virtual fish tank!

14Aug

By CraigNo Comments

PC Reviews, Previews & Early Access

Biotope PC Preview – Experience the thrill of owning a virtual fish tank!

Have you ever wanted all of the excitement that comes from owning fish, without actually having to go to the pet store? If so, then it is time for you to breathe a sigh of relief. The Developers at MBL Development have you covered. Published for PC on Steam by 2tainment GmbH, Biotope is available on Steam Early Access for $19.99USD. With the goal of making the most realistic aquarium simulator on the market, let's dive in and get wet with Biotope. Gameplay Biotope offers all of the thrills of owning and managing an aquarium, with none of the slippery floors that come with it. Once you begin, there is a choice between four different aquariums. Each one has its individual starting parameters. The tutorial tank is purely for learning the basics. Then, if you wish to start from scratch and b...