Jason, Author at Thumb Culture

28Aug

By JasonNo Comments

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...

11Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Willy Morgan & The Curse of Bone Town – Hey You Guuuuyyyyssss!

Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town by Italian devs Imaginarylab and publishers VLG is a point and click adventure game that beautifully blends together a fantasy pirate-themed world with the modernism of today. Initially available on PC today (11th of August), and later coming to all consoles, I was lucky enough to play through the complete version of the game that delves a lot further into the story than the demo. Don't worry there won't be any spoilers me hearties! Gameplay You play as teenager Willy Morgan as he uncovers the story surrounding his famous archaeologist Father's mysterious disappearance ten years ago, all thanks to a well-timed letter dropping through the letterbox. What ensues is a very alluring plotline that takes you to Bone Town, a quaint pirate vil...

Beyond A Steel Sky – 3D Point & Click Greatness

7Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Beyond A Steel Sky – 3D Point & Click Greatness

Beyond A Steel Sky by Revolution Software Ltd (Broken Sword Series), is a 3D point and click adventure game set in a cyberpunk world, written as a sequel to Beneath A Steel Sky which was released back in 1994. Having played the first game back when I was 14 obviously things have massively moved on technology-wise since then. Would Beyond A Steel Sky manage to successfully carry on the legacy? Gameplay Beyond A Steel Sky is a single-player game whereby you take on the role of Robert Foster, perceived as a rogue due to coming from a place called the Gap. The main quest is to infiltrate a utopian Union City to discover where a kidnapped child has been taken. What proceeds is a story-driven exploration around a heavily regulated city littered with challenging puzzles and interactive ...

Ultracore – The 90s Time Capsule of Shoot’em Ups

5Aug

By JasonNo Comments

Uncategorised

Ultracore – The 90s Time Capsule of Shoot’em Ups

Ultracore by devs Strictly Limited Games is a fast-paced 2D side-scrolling arcade shooter that has been resurrected from the depths of an old hard drive from the 90s. With the popularity of retro-looking 16bit style games, what better time to finish previous devs Digital illusions' (DICE) work and allow it to see the light of day in all its glory. Previously titled "Hardcore" and slated for a 1994 release onto Amiga and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Mega-CD. How does it fare on the Switch in 2020? Gameplay If any of you are old enough to remember the 90s it was a great time for many side-scroller run and gun style games. From Turrican to Contra, the game mechanics were a tried and tested favourite. Ultracore is no different and for me, it is the authenticity of it all that seeps out...

6Jul

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Willy Morgan And The Curse Of Bone Town Preview – PnC Goodness!

Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town by Italian devs Imaginarylab and publishers VLG is a point and click adventure game that beautifully blends together a fantasy pirate-themed world with the modernism of today. Initially available on PC hopefully in August, and later coming to all consoles, I was lucky enough to play through the preview version of the game that delves a lot further into the story than the demo. Don't worry there won't be any spoilers me hearties! Gameplay You play as teenager Willy Morgan as he uncovers the story surrounding his famous archaeologist Father's mysterious disappearance ten years ago, all thanks to a well-timed letter dropping through the letterbox. What ensues is a very alluring plotline that takes you to Bone Town, a quaint pirate village se...

24Jun

By JasonNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Night Call Review – Très Mystérieux

Night Call by devs MonkeyMoon SARL and artwork by BlackMuffin Studio is a narrative-driven film noir-style murder mystery thriller set in the city of Paris. The game has dropped onto the Nintendo Switch and Xbox today. In Night Call you play the role of taxi driver, a burly character with a shady past, let's get sleuthing! Gameplay From the outset, you wake up in hospital having suffered some kind of traumatic accident that has left you in a coma for a month. It is revealed to you that you and your passenger were attacked by a murderer. With your passenger dead, but you somehow still alive, you are blackmailed into assisting the police in an attempt to collect information from your fare-paying passengers to help identify the killer, or face prison yourself. Your contact in the Po...

Railway Empire Review – I Choo Choo Choose You

19Jun

By JasonNo Comments

Uncategorised

Railway Empire Review – I Choo Choo Choose You

Toot toot! For the last few weeks, I have been testing my haulage skills on Gaming Minds Studios and Independent Arts' strategy tycoon game Railway Empire, out on the Nintendo Switch today! With great memories of Transport Tycoon flooding back to me, how was this railway escapade going to play out, especially without a mouse in sight! Gameplay Set in 1830's United States you enter the playing field at one of the most exciting times in Railway history. If you want to earn big then you need to think fast, build intuitively and get those trains on the rails before a rival does. On the face of it, a train tycoon sim may not float your boat as it were but I was pleasantly surprised with how energetic the intro scenes were and also how well the tutorials guided you at the very start....

Tour de France 2020 Review – On The Road Again

8Jun

By JasonNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Tour de France 2020 Review – On The Road Again

Jason welcomes cycling enthusiast Si Woodhams to take on the Tour de France 2020! Over to Si! So usually about this time, cyclists across the world are getting ready for the greatest stage race on the Calendar of the Tour de France. However, due to the current situation that we are all too aware of, things have changed. The game of Tour de France 2020 is currently all we have on offer and it is the latest release from devs Cyanide S.A. and published by Nacom. I had the fun of reviewing the 2019 edition and I must say it failed to impress on so many levels, let’s dive into the 2020 version to see if it can readdress my thoughts. Gameplay Tour de France 2020 is a cycling sim and as you can imagine features you, on a bike, racing across the Tour de France route against a host of ...

Gigantosaurus: The Game Review – Roarsome Fun!

13May

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Gigantosaurus: The Game Review – Roarsome Fun!

Gigantosaurus: The Game developed by Wildsphere and published by OutRight Games is a fun, family-friendly game set in the prehistoric world of the Gigantosaurus cartoon found over on the Disney channel. The dino tale is a mixture of part saving the world and part super race and features four playable dinos; Rocky, Tiny, Mazu and Bill who each have their own special ability. Gameplay Before I go on I must say this. Gigantosaurus is for young children. From the opening animated scene, you will able to tell from the slow rhyming narrative that what lies before you will not be the hardest of challenges for you, but for younger people, you may need to offer some assistance on occasion. Gigantosaurus feels and plays a little like Spyro as you run around the cartoony map littered with...

Soundblaster G3 Hardware Review – Unlock A New World Of Console Gaming!

21Apr

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech

Soundblaster G3 Hardware Review – Unlock A New World Of Console Gaming!

For the last couple of weeks, I have had the honour of testing out the Soundblaster G3 portable gaming USB DAC amp. What is one of those I hear? Well, basically it is a small device that you can plug into a Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC or Mac via the USB port and from it, you will get a far superior sound quality. DAC, for those that want to know, stands for Digital to Analogue Converter and is famed for enhancing what you hear. At £54.99 does it make a massive difference to what I can hear? Well, I put it to the test! What do you get? In the box, you will find the USB powered Soundblaster G3 DAC amp, a 1m mini-Toslink cable (optical lead) and a USB-C to USB-A converter along with a pamphlet entitled "Audio Survival Guide". How easy is it to setup? Very easy! If you follow...