Jason, Author at Thumb Culture

17Oct

By JasonNo Comments

NHL 18 Review – Newbies Start Here

We are at that part of the year once more when EA Sports release the latest versions of their sports series. With Fifa 18, NBA Live and Madden NFL out on the market. I was pleased to have the opportunity to play EA's NHL 18 to see how it had been improved from last years offering, and also to let me do my bit to raise awareness for a sport that over in the UK isn't really well followed. In the sporting charts you wouldn't be surprised to learn that Fifa 17 on the PS4 sold 1,250,586 (VGChartz) within the first few months of its release in 2016 making it most likely to adorn the shelves of gamers up and down the country. Lets face it, football is massive over here. Ice hockey on the other hand is not so popular, and in contrast the UK sales for NHL 17 were a mere 3745 (VGChartz) copies...

3Oct

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Plague Road Review – Fear The Reaper?

Plague Road, by game development studio Arcade Distillery, is the result of what happens when a kickstarter campaign successfully reaches out for backers, well 1119 backers to be accurate. Requiring a $30,000 goal, the support shown for the project almost doubled the target with $55,734 raised. So what is Plague Road all about I here you cry? With a name like that it sure isn't going to be about fluffy bunnies and happy times. Plague Road is a combination of a sideways adventure scroller with turn based tactical battles that sees you playing a lone doctor who is travelling through a land that has been ravished by a plague. The quest? to search for survivors following the outbreak across a series of regions having left the relative safety of your farm. As the story unfolds you learn ...

Mantis Burn Racing – Review – New BattleCars DLC!

25Sep

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Mantis Burn Racing – Review – New BattleCars DLC!

I've played a fair few racing games in my lifetime and thankfully have seen the evolution from the days of Super Sprint and Outrun to the latest offerings like F1 2018 and Project Cars. Car games are fun be they realistic or arcade-style. For me, there's nothing better than being rewarded by a win for your efforts to race a car around a course. Indie Developer Voofoo games' Mantis Burn Racing has graced the Xbox One, PS4 and Steam store since the middle of 2016 and was announced at the recent EGX in Birmingham, UK that a Nintendo Switch version is in the pipeline. In a moment I will talk about the new BattleCars DLC, however its worth quickly mentioning a little about Mantis Burn Racing incase you've never played it before! Gameplay So as I previously mentioned the game is a to...

The Incredible Adventures Of Van Helsing II Review – Blood Suckers Beware!

8Sep

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

The Incredible Adventures Of Van Helsing II Review – Blood Suckers Beware!

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II by Neocore Games is the second instalment in a trilogy of hack 'n slash Van Helsing games to come to console. Already available on PC since 2014, Van Helsing II boasts "PS4 Pro Enhanced" support and can also be played as a standalone game with no prior knowledge of the first adventure. For those of you that have never heard of Van Helsing, well he is the son of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing found in Bram Stoker's awesome novel "Dracula". If you love all things gothic and creatures such as zombies, ogres, vampires and other occult beings then this is for you! The first instalment of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, which hit the Playstation store back in March this year received mixed reviews however generally it wa...

Surf World Series Review – Radical or Wipeout?

30Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Surf World Series Review – Radical or Wipeout?

Surf World Series by independent games developer Climax Studios is a daring plunge into the extreme sport of, you've guessed it! surfing. With my surfing expertise comprising of a few hours playing Sega's Soul Surfer down the arcade and an attempt at the sport while on a stag do down in Newquay I was excited to have the opportunity to don my long banned Hawaiian holiday shorts and start yelling "Cowabunga" and "Radical" around the room. Gameplay Surf World Series begins with a lovely fullscreen video intro featuring professional surfer Tom Lowe explaining how surfing makes him feel set to stimulating visuals of crashing waves and surfing moments. It reminded me a little of how the Tony Hawks games used to begin however in this instance the soundtrack is more calming as opposed to the p...

Puzzle Showdown 4K Review – Pass Me My Pipe & Slippers?

17Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Puzzle Showdown 4K Review – Pass Me My Pipe & Slippers?

Puzzle Showdown 4K developed by Kingdom Games (the devs behind the "Five" series on Steam) and published by 70 Times 7 LLC is a jigsaw based puzzle game that is available both on the Playstation store and Steam. I must admit that when I was asked to review a jigsaw game I really thought it was going to be some horror/survival type featuring the well known doll from the Saw series. How wrong was I!! Instead of blood and all manners of fiendish traps I was faced with a family friendly jigsaw puzzle based game in which I am to try and piece together aesthetically pleasing 4K wallpapers on my screen. Gameplay Ok, so my first reaction as I sit infront of the PS4 Pro is "really?" I remember playing similar games in the past on a Nintendo DS and that was only when I was really bored. C...

Dead Purge: Outbreak Review – Head Shot or Head Flop?

7Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Dead Purge: Outbreak Review – Head Shot or Head Flop?

Dead Purge: Outbreak by Microlith Games is a first person zombie shooter set in a post-apocalyptic era that is available for the PC. With the zombie shooter genre constantly being pushed upon me via the daily shared videos on social media of Days Gone and my friend's showing off their latest gameplay from Call of Duty Zombies my appetite is constantly whetted. Boasting of "beautiful locations & dozens of weapons" along with a "realistic combat system & multiple game modes" I sat down at my PC and looked forward to what was going to unfold. Gameplay Ok, so lights down nice and low, headset on and most importantly; nothing around my feet incase there are a few jump scares! Hitting "Play" on the opening screen I proceed to choose game mode. Hang on, there is only "Horde" an...

4Aug

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Perfect Universe Review – When Love & Gravity Collide

Perfect Universe by Indie Developer Will Sykes Games is this weeks deployment onto my Ps4. From the title I was not sure what to expect; a universe where Arsenal FC play consistently enough to win the Premier League? A day where Donald Trump's latest antics aren't plastered across my news feed? Unfortunately only one of these can probably happen (Arsenal winning the Premiership) however Perfect Universe is actually a cool collection of 9 mini games that are based around physics and gravity. Gameplay With a hand-drawn concept to the monochrome comic book graphics all rendered on a parchment style background, Perfect Universe may not sound like a stand out game however it is surprisingly addictive and fun to play. There are 9 mini games, of which 3 are single player and the other 6 ...

Unbox Newbie’s Adventure Review – Keep or Recycle?

24Jul

By JasonNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Unbox Newbie’s Adventure Review – Keep or Recycle?

Unbox - Newbie's Adventure by indie developer Prospect Games is a 3D platformer set in a colourful large world. Taking control of a cardboard box, yes you heard me right, it is down to you to single handedly raise the reputation of the Global Postal Service (GPS) that is currently in a down hill spiral thanks to parcels going missing and failed delivery times. Proving yourself "as a sentient, self delivering package", this game sounds so riveting, the enemy is introduced as someone called "Boss Wild" and the little evil minions, "Wild Cards". Gameplay Having sat through the intro that builds up to your dramatic arrival into the GPS I was under the impression that I was about to be unleashed into a fun, action packed world and couldn't wait to begin. Through the tutorial it is expl...

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy – Yes it is that good!

10Jul

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy – Yes it is that good!

Wow, just wow! From the moment that family friendly Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy was delivered through my door last Friday we as a household have been hooked. As soon as the familiar voice-over begins on the intro screen it is as if I have been transported back to when I was 16 years old when the original first edition came out on the the Playstation 1. I must confess that at this point I wasn't a huge console gamer, the PS1 infact belonged to my 8 year old sister who had parted with her birthday money earlier that year at Woolworth's. I was still pretty much hooked on the Atari ST however changes were beginning to happen as many of my friends began to go down the console route. So does Crash Bandicoot live up to the hype that it has generated since its release? Well quiet si...