Brian, Author at Thumb Culture

8Mar

By BrianNo Comments

King of Fighters XV Review

As you may have guessed by the title. We have reached the 15th main game in SNK's long-running King of Fighters franchise. The series started way back in 1994. Releasing into the arcades, and felt like a natural progression following the games Fatal Fury and The Art of Fighting, featuring characters from each title. King of Fighters XV - Is it the King of Fighters though? Both developed and published by SNK, King of Fighters XV was set to release in 2020, and was being developed alongside its previous instalment. King of Fighters XV was eventually released worldwide on February 17th, 2021 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. For the purposes of the review, I played it on the PS5. Now, Round 1 - fight! Gameplay As with most fighting games, bar the Mortal Kombat and more recently...

23Dec

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Beyond A Steel Sky Review

The 1990s were awash with point-and-click adventure games, they felt like a virtual choose-your-own-adventure giving you boundless freedom away from the onslaught of platformers and fighting games. At the summit of this mountainous genre were games like The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Lure of the Temptress, and Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. But somewhere lurking in the back was the lesser know but equally brilliant Beneath a Steel Sky. So here we are, 27 years later with the much-belated, long-awaited, and highly-anticipated Beyond a Steel Sky. What Secrets Lie Beyond A Steel Sky? Initially, Beyond a Steel Sky was released on to Apple products in June 2020 via the Apple Arcade subscription service. This was proceeded by a PC release the fo...

The A500 Mini – Release Date And All Games Confirmed + Trailer

18Dec

By BrianNo Comments

News & Updates, Retrogaming Corner

The A500 Mini – Release Date And All Games Confirmed + Trailer

You may have heard that there was a mini version of the much-beloved 16-bit home computer in production, the Amiga 500. Retro Games Ltd has now announced in a press release that the A500 Mini is scheduled to release on March 25th, 2022 and we here at Thumb Culture HQ could not be more excited! The A500 Mini will release with a suggested retail price of £119.99. Very reasonable for a nostalgic trip don't you think? In the box, you will get the system itself, a USB classic mouse, and an 8-button joypad. The unit will be powered by USB-C and will also come with a 6ft HDMI cable. Features include various display options such as CRT filters and 50Hz/60Hz refresh rates. In addition, if you own other original Amiga games, these can be played via USB stick utilising the WHDLoad functionality. I...

29Nov

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Call of Duty: Vanguard Review

Another year, another Call of Duty game, and Call of Duty: Vanguard marks its eighteenth main entry into the franchise. This iteration sees the series return to its roots, that of a World War II setting. I do prefer the exploration of this era as opposed to the highly fictionalised games set in the modern-day, as they let you play out events that actually happened. Call of Duty: Vanguard - "If You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going", Winston Churchill This year's game has been developed by Sledgehammer Games with Treyarch handling the Zombies portion of the game, and once again, Activision is publishing. This is the third title developed by Sledgehammer, with the other two being Advanced Warfare and WWII. They did a great job with WWII so I was really excited about getting stuck into this...

Horizon Chase Turbo: Senna Forever DLC Review

28Oct

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Horizon Chase Turbo: Senna Forever DLC Review

Ayrton Senna, a name synonymous with Formula 1. You can't even mention the sport without someone bringing his name up. This Brazilian driver, although no longer with us will live on eternally in the minds of fans all over the world. Senna was a driver who was a class act on and off the track but wasn't without his dramas behind the wheel. He knew his limits, and when he beat those limits, he wanted to establish new ones. He had a level of concentration so high that nobody understood how he could achieve such feats. From his first podium in Monaco in his first season in 1984 where it was hammering down with rain, in a car the spent its previous years either retired or not even qualifying, to his first maiden win at his home Grand Prix of São Paulo in 1991 with a car that had gearbox issu...

Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water Review

27Oct

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water Review

Do you love photography? Great. How about visiting infamous suicide spots in rural Japan? Amazing! Boy have I got the game for you! Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water marries these together in a very unconventional way that will genuinely keep you awake at night. Long after you turn the console off, every noise in the house will make you tick as the eerie moans of lost spirits linger in your mind. This is survival horror unlike any other you have ever played. There are no guns or grenades. Just you, your torch, and your Camera Obscura. The Project Zero games, otherwise known as Fatal Frame in Japan started out in 2001 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. After three games, the focus was shifted to the Nintendo market, presumably because motion controls are good for snapping creepy ghost pict...

25Oct

By Brian3 Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Crysis Remastered Trilogy Review

We are swimming in a sea of remasters at the minute. Everywhere you look there is something getting the treatment. Are we just pining to stay in the past? We are also spoilt for choice with first-person shooters, with Call of Duty and Battlefield leading the charge. So we have to ask ourselves, do we need another remastered first-person shooter? Well in terms of Crysis, yes, I believe we do. Crysis: Remastered was available on its own last year, but now we have all three games in the Crysis Remastered Trilogy. Crysis Remastered Trilogy - But Can It Run Crys... Oh, Forget It! When Crysis first came out in 2007, a lot of people didn't get to play it for fear of their PCs bursting into flames and melting into a miserable pile of circuit boards. This may be the opportunity that people never ...

24Oct

By BrianNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

31 Days of Halloween – The Medium

Day 24 of our 31 Days of Halloween and we have a game so good that we reviewed it twice so no ghosties come to haunt us! It was reviewed on PC here and again on PlayStation 5 when it was later released this year here. We are of course talking about The Medium. Bloober Team has become a force to be reckoned with in recent years within the horror genre. With games like Blair Witch, Layers of Fear 1&2, and Observer, they are showing that they are pushing boundaries and exploring new territory to send chills down our spines. Today's game, The Medium is a perfect example of those things raising the bar in the process. Have you ever wondered what the spirit realm might look like? Do you believe it even exists? This third-person psychological horror game may have you questioning your ow...

22Oct

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Far Cry 6 Review

By now you've seen the comments on social media. "If you've played one Far Cry game, you've played them all". "It's just the same game in a different location, sometimes with the same topography". "It's just Assassin's Creed but with a different skin". But do you know why Far Cry 6 is going to do so well? Because it is a winning formula. Much like Grand Theft Auto and The Elder Scrolls series, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Far Cry 6 - "Rule #1 - A Good Guerrilla is a Hidden Guerrilla" Far Cry 6 is an ahem...far cry (I'm sorry) from its first game released in 2004 which was developed by Crytek who is more known for the Crysis series. Look out for the Crysis Trilogy Remastered review coming soon. The first game is the only one Ubisoft had nothing to do with. In total there have been six...

18Oct

By BrianNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Diablo II Resurrected Review

If you were playing any looter game in the early 2000s, it was probably Diablo II. This game, back in the day, was considered a masterpiece and now it has a fresh coat of paint, and boy does it look good! I was studying in music college at the time and discovering new and old metal bands. These bands were my soundtrack to Diablo II, and they still are for Diablo II Resurrected. Many of my acquaintances had sunk thousands of hours into this genre-defining game, right up until the release of Diablo III. Diablo II Resurrected - "Not Even Death Can Save You From Me" As you probably know, Diablo II Resurrected is a role-playing ARPG developed and published by Blizzard. Vicarious Visions also had a hand in its development regarding the 3D implementation. Its original iteration was released in ...