Kevin, Author at Thumb Culture

14Nov

By KevinNo Comments

My Time at Sandrock – Xbox X Review

Ever feel the need to get away from it all? Well it seems that Pathea have the solution with a great opportunity as a builder in Sandrock. Join a community in need of a little support to survive and help them out. My Time at Sandrock will hopefully allow me to put my generous self to work selflessly helping the locals. Have I really got what it takes to build the things that they need? Time to dig out my hammer, screwdriver and see what happens. My Time at Sandrock - Rocking out or letting the Sandman in? The wild west with a bit of a difference, not sure whether to dig out my stetson and six shooter and have a duel at sundown, or maybe I need to fix my toolbox and become a slave to the system. Either way, I hope to have a lot of fun revitalising Sandrock into a thriving community. Fing...

Truck Driver: The American Dream – Xbox Review

25Oct

By KevinNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Truck Driver: The American Dream – Xbox Review

When Americans dream they dream big. What could be better than the freedom of driving down highway number 19 in an 18 wheeler? Pulling your air-horn every time you see a fellow trucker and chatting to all manner of folks that are hitchhiking. What a life, full of excitement and adventure. Fortunately for those not able to do it for real, Kyodai and Soedesco have teamed up to make Truck Driver: The American Dream a reality. Truck Driver: The American Dream - or the Gamer's Nightmare? Gameplay Truck Driver: The American Dream threw me in at the deep end. I was instantly driving in the worst storm ever with thunder and lightning all around. Explosions in close proximity were very distracting. Fortunately in all this, I was given the basic controls so that I didn't veer straight off the r...

31Aug

By KevinNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Tenebris Pictura – Xbox Review

The world is a weird and wonderful place, and Pentadimensional has taken a slice of the weird and wonderful and captured in Tenebris Pictura. What do I really know about the paranormal, the fifth dimension or out of body experiences? Well not a lot, well I say that there was this one time when me and this girl were..... I think I'll leave that there. So time to strap on my big boy pants and enter the world where all is not as it seems. I'm sure that the padded cell can wait for me a little longer. Tenebris Pictura - What even does it mean? Google Translate Anyone? The look of Tenebris Pictura has definitely got my excitement levels up. It has a certain Lovecraftian feel to it that I really like. Hopefully, the gameplay will live up to my expectations. I have just drawn a huge pentagram a...

31Jul

By KevinNo Comments

PC Reviews

Re-Loaded – PC Review

In December 1996, when the internet was young and Google was less than a year old, the DVD format had just been released and Tom Holland was in nappies, Gremlin Interactive released Re-Loaded less than a year after the moderately successful Loaded. Cut to 2023 and it is the responsibility of Urbanscan to bring the trip down memory lane to the nostalgia driven masses. Time to fashion myself a mohawk and grab the nearest weapon of choice and head off to defeat the enemies and revisit my youth. Re-Loaded - Just another bullet in the chamber? Who doesn't like a little bit of retro action? A visit to the childhood memories that are so sacred in the process of growing up. A chance to force our children to endure the basic lives that we all led before they were even a tingle in our trousers. Ti...

10Jul

By KevinNo Comments

PC Reviews

Bandit Brawler – PC Review

After a hard day at work there is nothing better than a good bar fight, or so I am told. Titanite Games have decided to make that a reality for all with their latest release Bandit Brawler. Obviously, there are a few drawbacks, you have to rob and pillage a lot to be a true bandit, so that's officially now your day job. Time to see if I know the difference between a Haymaker and a Bolo punch in a few fights. Best get my sparkly dressing gown ready and some decent intro music, it's off I go to beat up some people. (please be aware that Thumb Culture does not affiliate itself with actual fights in real bars/clubs/supermarkets/petrol stations) Swing and a Miss or a Knockout Blow? I wonder if this game will take me back to my youth when I used to go out clubbing a lot. Bring it on and don't ...

12Jun

By KevinNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Havendock – PC Preview

There was a time once when the oceans were full of only fish and whales. Beautiful mermaids would swim freely without the fear of banging into driftwood or having a plane crash on them. Times have changed, and YYZ has brought us Havendock to reflect on the different times that the world is in today. Do you have the skills to not only survive a wreck but thrive from it and let others thrive with you? Well, I guess it's time to find out for me. Pretty sure I'll need some supplies, so it's a packed lunch and a waterproof coat ready, and time to wash myself up on a little piece of land. Havendock - for those whose favourite colour is maroon. Havendock has its work cut out if it's going to make an impact on the masses of settlement building games. The pressure certainly is on in this cate...

25Apr

By KevinNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Defend The Rook – Xbox Series X Review

Chess. A traditional game as old as time (well 9th century Russia). Some traditions are made to last, King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook and Pawn. But wait! What if the rule book was thrown out of the window and suddenly the rook was the most important character? So what if the others were now a Rogue, a Fighter and a Sorceress? What if the enemy were goblins, orcs, wolves, or giant mushrooms? Is this even chess any more? Well, One Up Plus has stomped all over tradition to make this happen in the form of Defend the Rook. Time to pack a bag full of tactics, skill, logic and mortar and see where this adventure takes me. Defend the Rook - It's a Castle, not a Bird! Can the few outwit, outgun and outplay the many? Time to bring it on and see what I am up against. My hopes are quite high as I ...

Alterity Experience – Xbox Series X Review

3Apr

By KevinNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

Alterity Experience – Xbox Series X Review

In a world where the truth is out there, Onitron Studios brings us Alterity Experience. This is a chance to experience what it will be like in the middle of an alien invasion. Time to find those crop circles and take this title for a spin. Best move the laptop to the basement and fashion myself a tinfoil hat. Alterity Experience - Purple Haze, or Purple Ama(i)ze? Gameplay I start my adventure in Alterity Experience in an office looking at computer screen and a purple corn on the cob. I must admit that it is a pretty strange beginning, but I get the feeling that nothing about my experience is going to be not strange. It turns out that the missus and the kids have gone to watch a film leaving me on my own to investigate the purple glow. After a brief tutorial about how the buttons and ...

13Mar

By KevinNo Comments

VR Reviews

Maskmaker – Meta Quest 2 Review

A couple of years ago InnerspaceVR released Maskmaker on Steam for the VR audience. Well, last December they made it available to the Oculus community. Do I have what it takes to carve and paint my own masks to complete this intriguing puzzle based adventure? Best raid the man drawer for the necessary tools for the task and I'll see you on the other side. Maskmaker - Stanley Ipkiss vs Rocky Dennis, seconds away, round 1. Gameplay Maskmaker sticks to the tried and tested formula for controls. I chose to mainly teleport as it's quicker, but I found myself using normal movement for the more close environments. Every time an object was highlighted I would pick it up and look all around it for clues. This is a puzzle game after all. There is a tutorial to make sure that I know how to do ever...

27Jan

By KevinNo Comments

PC Reviews

Necroboy: Path to Evilship – PC Review

Chillin' Wolf bring us the slightly odd adventure of a certain NecroBoy on his Path to Evilship in the cunningly titled NecroBoy: Path to Evilship. Whilst newly arrived on my desk, it has indeed been out since October 2022, in fact it was released rather aptly for Halloween. Kudos to Gravity Game Arise Co for a little creative marketing. Not entirely sure how to prepare for my upcoming journey, but I do have my pentagram and Mary Shelley reference book. Time to raise the dead and a little bit of hell as well. NecroBoy: Path to Evilship - Hellishly Good, or just plain Hellish? Gameplay NecroBoy: Path to Evilship is a brain game, thinking is the way forward. You get to control NecroBoy throughout the many crypts as he delves deeper into the journey to take the title of NecroMan. Movemen...