Previews & Early Access

26Jan

By Mark HudsonNo Comments

Forest Ranger Simulator – PC Preview

Forest Ranger Simulator is a brand new Kickstarter game all about saving nature. Currently under development by FreeMind Games - a Polish development team, release is planned for Q2 2023. So far the title has raised £2,582 of it's £7,550 goal, with 179 backers and 20 days to go. Check it out here; Forest Ranger Simulator Kickstarter. Stats as of 22nd Jan 2023, subject to change Gameplay Forest Ranger Simulator is a first person, exploration sim game about managing a forest. Play as a ranger, manage resources, pick up trash and tend to the environment in this relaxing and thought provoking experience. Played from the first person perspective, players control a pretty basic camera setup. A lack of character body animations means interacting with objects works similar to the old Oblivion...

Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure – PC Early Access Preview

18Jan

By Jordan RookerNo Comments

PC Reviews, Previews & Early Access

Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure – PC Early Access Preview

Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure is a relaxing, top-down casual game full of exploration and adventure. It hit PC Early Access on Steam in mid-August. Snowcastle Games (Earthlock) is responsible for both development and publishing. Though currently only available on PC, Snowcastle is planning to release Ikonei Island for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, and Xbox One/Series X/S at a later date. It will also eventually be multiplayer. Explore, Adventure, Farm, and Decorate to make Ikonei Island your own! There are plenty of farm/life sim games out there. Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are two of my favorites. Though Ikonei Island isn't necessarily a farm sim game, it definitely scratches the same itch as those others seem to. There seem like so many things you can do that there i...

18Nov

By Kevin2 Comments

Previews & Early Access

Flat Eye – PC Preview

Monkey Moon and Raw Fury combine to bring us Flat Eye, an innovative take on resource management in the future with a critical look at the past. How hard can running a store really be? Time to polish my name badge, don a dodgy uniform and find out. Flat Eye, Eye Opening or Falling Flat Gameplay Flat Eye follows the traditional methodology of control. Being a PC game, it's simply point and click, or click and drag to select and move around respectively. For those that have never played a resource management game it's a case of simply using the information and functions available to you to keep customers happy. Information is provided on where the most money is made, which modules need maintenance or refilling and how long the queue times are. Keep these elements under control and th...

3Nov

By Mark HudsonNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Marauders – PC Preview

Under development by Small Impact Games and published by Team17, Marauders is a tactical FPS multiplayer "looter shooter" set in space. Now in early access, Marauders is accessible via Steam. There is no official date yet for when this title will leave early access. Hopefully it doesn't stay in early access for years, which seems to be the latest trend in PC gaming. Small Impact Games? Small Impact Games - aka 'SIG' were unknown to me when I picked up this review, so I did a bit of research... Turns out that SIG have some serious experience in working on AAA titles, though it appears to mainly be third party projects, as I couldn't find an original title. Could Marauders see SIG burst onto the scene? Story Marauders features a pretty unique backstory, which is a welcome addition amongs...

2Nov

By KevinNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Live By The Sword: Tactics – PC Preview

Sometimes I miss the good old days of computing. Flying a line drawn Cobra from Diso to Lave rather than dropping from a bus and staying inside an ever-decreasing storm. Imagine my delight when Live By The Sword: Tactics from Labrador Studios arrived for me to review. It looked like a refreshing reminiscence of when days were simpler and swords were sharper. All this was wrapped up in an 8bit feel, the 80s, here I come. Time to polish my helmet and grip my weapon in both hands, I'm going in. Live By The Sword: Tactics - May Lady Luck Guide You Well Gameplay First Impressions of Live By The Sword: Tactics are good, it's a simple mouse driven game. There are various modes that are available, some need to be unlocked by playing the story mode though, but that's always a good place to sta...

5Oct

By Mark HudsonNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Tin Hearts – PC Preview

Tin Hearts has been lovingly created by Rogue Sun, published by Wired Productions and will release soon on Steam for PC. In this 3D puzzler, players "Guide a troop of tin soldiers through a magical toy-filled world, in this immersive puzzle adventure game from members of the team that brought you Fable." Lionhead Studios?! Yes, you did read that right. Rogue Sun is comprised of ex Lionhead Studios developers - the team who brought us the legendary Fable franchise. When Microsoft chose to shutdown Lionhead in 2016, it was a blow felt by all gamers, sparking controversy still talked about today. Seeing the developers back in action is fantastic, but this certainly adds a level of expectation to the title. Will Tin Hearts meet those expectations? Well, if Gamescom 2022 is anything to go by ...

22Sep

By Rowen CameronNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Batora: Lost Haven – PC Press Preview

Team 17 and Stormind Games team up for a quest of interplanetary proportions releasing on October 20th. Batora: Lost Haven is an isometric action RPG that combines fast-paced, skill-swapping combat with a choice-driven story spanning a vast cosmos. After a cataclysmic event, Earth was driven to the brink of complete destruction. The remaining inhabitants are forced to carve out a way to survive as best they can. You play as Avril, a thrill-seeking teenager with a troubled past, chosen to be the vessel of the deities Sun and Moon and wielder of their supernatural powers. With these new abilities and the support of best friend Mila, Avril must journey across alien planets to save her home. Duality Shaping Destiny Isometric action RPGs are a sizeable (and ever-growing) section of my gaming ...

11Sep

By Mark HudsonNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Tiny Troopers: Global Ops – PC Preview

Tiny Troopers: Global Ops is a fast-paced arcade twin-stick shooter which is due to be launched on Steam, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation. Starting out life on mobile, how will the game translate to console and PC? Well, lets take a look at this early access PC edition! This title was developed by Epiphany Games, Kukouri Mobile Entertainment and published by Wired Productions. Fire At Will... Which one's Will?! Tiny Troopers: Global Ops is full to the brim with some of the best humour I've seen in a video game. Listen out for the enemy's jokes and let me know below which one's your favourite. Welcome to TALON. That's short for; Tactical, Armour, Logistics, Operations and Negotiations. Apparently we're some kind of mercenary team, up for hire to any government with a mess to clean up a...

Camp Canyonwood – PC Early Access Preview

8Sep

By Jordan RookerNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Camp Canyonwood – PC Early Access Preview

Camp Canyonwood is a life sim and management game that places you as the head counsellor of summer camp. It is in development by Deli Interactive LLC (We Need To Go Deeper) with publishing by Graffiti Games (Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, Blue Fire). It is only available on PC and became available via Early Access on Steam on August 4, 2022 with a full release pending for 2023. Take the Lead as Counsellor of Camp Canyonwood Summer camp was never really something I personally took part in much growing up. I'm pretty sure my experiences were limited to some day camps sponsored by the YMCA. I suppose I did attend a week-long camp a summer or two for Boy Scouts as well, but don't particularly remember really enjoying it as I mostly just got homesick. Camp Canyonwood is interesting because i...

Ultimate Fishing Simulator 2 – PC Early Access Preview

6Sep

By MikeNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Ultimate Fishing Simulator 2 – PC Early Access Preview

Ultimate Fishing Simulator 2 is a simulation game of the beloved leisure activity/sport just as the title suggests. And it is the follow-up to 2018's Ultimate Fishing Simulator. I felt from the get-go it was a faithful version of fishing perhaps to a fault. I have only experienced fishing once in real life once when I was a kid with my poor uncle and as a minor part of video games. Using fishing as the sole gameplay activity hooked my attention from the start and the experience didn't disappoint. Ultimate Fishing Simulator 2 comes from developer MasterCode (Fishing Adventure) and Publisher Ultimate Games (Ultimate Fishing Simulator). The game is available now in early access on Switch, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Xbox S/X and Windows. Will Ultimate Fishing Simul...