Jason, Author at Thumb Culture

Surviving Mars Review – Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying!

22Mar

By JasonNo Comments

Surviving Mars Review – Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying!

Surviving Mars by independent game developer Haemimont Games (Victor Vran, Tropico 3, 4 and 5) and global publisher Paradox Interactive (Cities:Skylines, Hearts of Iron IV) is a real time survival simulation where, you've probably already guessed it from the title, you have to survive on planet Mars! It has been spoken about greatly on the news as to when we will colonize Mars. Elon Musk has set an aspirational goal to launch a cargo mission to Mars in 2022 on a voyage of discovery meanwhile Arnie found out the eyeball popping truth of the planet in the iconic movie "Total Recall" (The original not the dodgy remake!) If you enjoy settlement builder style strategy games and love all things sci-fi then keep reading as you may be in for a treat with Surviving Mars! Gameplay Start b...

Pure Farming 2018 Review – Udderly Fantastic?

16Mar

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Pure Farming 2018 Review – Udderly Fantastic?

Pure Farming 2018 by new developer Ice Flames is their first gaming title release and is published by Techland (Torment: Tides of Numenera). Available on PC, Xbox 1 and PS4, Pure Farming 2018 is unsurprisingly a farming simulator game that boasts playable farms set around the world and game modes that are suitable for newcomers as well as veterans of the genre. With Giant's Farming Simulator in my opinion being the leader in the farming sim field (sorry dad joke) and having played Soedesco's Real Farm last year I was really hoping for something magical in terms of gameplay, graphics and sound. What I found with Pure Farming 2018 was something refreshing and far from...Deja Moo. Gameplay "My First Farm", "Free farming" and "Farming Challenges" are the three game modes that lay in...

12Mar

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Cold Iron Review – Tumbleweed or Triumph?

I always wondered what Jamiroquai were going on about when they sang about the return of the Space Cowboy (I’m showing my age) and now I may finally have my answer! New to PSVR comes Developer’s Catch & Release’s genre bending ‘Cold Iron’ billed as the world’s first puzzle shooter. The game invites you to don your VR headset and channel your inner cowboy to shoot it out against a host of weird and wonderful opponents from the Wild West and beyond. Gameplay The game starts off as a classic western, with even the central game hub being set in an old time saloon. The titular Cold Iron turns out to be your father’s trusty magnum which ends up in your hands when he is gunned down by a posse of outlaws. You start the game looking to avenge your father’s death by duelling his three ki...

5Mar

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

De Blob 2 Review – Unleash The Rainbow

Painting its way onto PS4 and Xbox One, de Blob 2 by THQ Nordic is the second instalment in the de Blob platformer series and brings with it a new action packed colour adventure. The evil Comrade Black has returned once more to wage his war on all things colour! Currently unchallenged, he is hell bent on letting his brainwashed new cult take over Prisma City and remove all colour from the world...that is until de Blob arrives on the scene bringing with him the colour revolution to try and thwart Comrade Black's despicable plans. Gameplay From first impressions on loadup, de Blob 2 opens as a bright and colourful game and its cartoon graphics will certainly appeal to the younger audience as well as to your inner child. My children were quick to ask me if I was watching a Pixar mo...

RiftStar Raiders Review – Loot Your Way To Greatness

26Feb

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

RiftStar Raiders Review – Loot Your Way To Greatness

Space shoot-em ups were pretty much the first style of computer game I ever played as a kid and wow they have certainly come a long way from the days of Asteroids on the Atari ST! RiftStar Raiders by independent developer Climax Studios based in sunny Portsmouth alongside Vision Games Publishing is a top down space shooter that brings the genre to the modern era with 2.5D graphics. Gameplay The story behind RiftStar Raiders is that an alien AI known as Warswarm have waged war on humanity and are attacking the Federation. It is up to you and your team of Raiders to basically shoot all the Warswarm baddies while scavenging and collecting loot to better your weapons, shields and engines. Based on the orbital sin city of Arcadia in the centre of the Far Reachspace, it is down to you ...

13Feb

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Dynasty Warriors 9 Review – Big Trouble in Little China

Fancy playing a massive open-world hack n slash game set in China? Well you're in luck as publisher Koei Tecmo along with developer Omega Force has produced Dynasty Warriors 9, the latest instalment, and largest, of the Dynasty Warriors series. Available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Pc, I have been fortunate enough to don my best samurai outfit and wield the largest sword I can find to bring you my findings young Daniel Son. What are Dynasty Warriors I hear you ask? Well, the award-winning gaming series is a spin-off from the 1985 turn-based strategy "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Koei and is loosely settled around the Chinese historical text "Records of the Three Kingdoms" depicting the events of the late Eastern Han dynasty 184-220AD and the Three Kingdoms period 220-280AD. ...

Sociable Soccer Review – The Beautiful Game?

12Feb

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Sociable Soccer Review – The Beautiful Game?

For gamers of a certain age there will be fond memories of playing a simple but awesome football game called Sensible Soccer back in the 90s. For me it was THE number one game to play with my friends on our Atari ST. Fast forward to now and Jon Hare who was the designer behind my favourite game back then has reappeared on the gaming scene with Sociable Soccer. Made by Tower Studios and Combo-Breaker, Sociable Soccer is currently available on Steam Early Access for £14.99. With my misspent youth seemingly like a distant past I was more than happy to get my boots back on and take to the pitch! Was Sociable Soccer going to win a trophy or go for an early bath? Gameplay Sociable Soccer has a simple, easy to navigate menu currently displaying as "Boss mode", "Trophies", "Options" an...

Star Wars Battlefront II Review – Is The Force Still Strong?

16Jan

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Star Wars Battlefront II Review – Is The Force Still Strong?

Much anticipated Star Wars Battlefront II by EA DICE, Motive Studios and Criterion Software has blasted onto our consoles and boy has it generated some mixed responses from the gaming world, unfortunately mainly negative. I have had the erm... pleasure to play through the latest offering in the Star Wars world and have temporarily cast the negativity aside to try and give you my honest verdict, Red 5 standing by! Gameplay Star Wars Battlefront II's newest feature is the single player campaign that sees you play predominantly as a female Imperial Special Forces Officer named Iden Versio. Jumping into her storm trooper boots just as the second Death Star is destroyed in Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, you are sent on a mission of retaliation by your father Admiral Garrick Versio called...

We Sing Pop! Review – My My, How Can I Resist You?

8Dec

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

We Sing Pop! Review – My My, How Can I Resist You?

We Sing Pop! by THQ Nordic and Le Cortex is the latest karaoke game in the We Sing series to come to PS4 and Xbox One and features "the hottest sounds from the world's biggest artists", so long as you are in agreement with the track listing. Available as either a stand alone game singing into your smart phone or as a bundle with 2 gold topped microphones, let the drunken sing offs commence! (I don't condone drinking however it helps when it comes to singing!). Gameplay Boasting 8 game modes, 30 original song recordings and videos that span across the last 5 decades, We Sing Pop! certainly has something for everyone here. The first hurdle that I came across was connecting the USB wired microphones. Unfortunately for me, an issue with the front usb ports of my Playstation Pro made t...

Demon Gaze II Review – Friends Become Enemies, Enemies Become Friends

6Dec

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Demon Gaze II Review – Friends Become Enemies, Enemies Become Friends

Demon Gaze II by Kadokawa games and Experience is a Japanese role play game (JRPG)/dungeon crawler that is available exclusively on Playstation 4 and PS vita. Demon Gaze II is unsurprisingly the second instalment of the series that has been produced due to popular demand as a follow on to the original Demon Gaze that came out 4 years ago. So what's it all about? Lets find out! Gameplay Diving straight in, character creation is the first port of call. Choosing a portrait from between a dozen anime looking people then leads to selecting your temper, skill, name and voice. Temper is a choice between good, neutral and evil, something that ultimately is connected to the skills that you can then choose between. I went for a neutral temper and then had the choice of either a defensive ...