Survival

22May

By MikeNo Comments

Oppidum – PS5 Review

Open-world survival crafting games are relatively commonplace in today's gaming market. That said, I'm always excited to try any new ones, especially when they look as intriguing as Oppidum! Created by developer EP Games, Oppidum is a story-driven adventure for one to four players, with a charming art style and simple yet rewarding combat and crafting mechanics. Recently released for PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series X|S, and PC, a Switch version of the game is coming soon. I'll be playing the PlayStation 5 version for this review. Could this be my next gaming obsession? Or will it be just one of many underwhelming titles in the genre? Let's have a look! Cats and Crafting and Co-op, oh my! Oppidum opens with a relatively robust character creator, with more than enough optio...

RuneScape: Dragonwilds – PC Early Access Preview

4May

By Jordan RookerNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

RuneScape: Dragonwilds – PC Early Access Preview

RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a new survival game twist on the classic IP of the same name. It came roaring into Early Access out of nowhere in mid-April, with developing and publishing by Jagex Ltd (RuneScape, Old School RuneScape). It may not be free like the previous games, but is still at a reasonable price point. You can pick it up today on Steam for £24.99. Solid Survival Gameplay with a touch of Dragons I honestly don't recall ever playing RuneScape growing up. The original launched in 2001 and that would have been the same time that I was more into Counter-Strike than anything else on PC. Before I really even knew what MMOs were. I wasn't friends with anyone that was playing it either, so I've only roughly known bits and pieces about it. RuneScape: Dragonwilds caught many by surprise...

25Apr

By StuartNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Darkwater – PC Preview

Recently released in early access on the PC, Darkwater aims to deliver something new to what some may call an overcrowded survival genre. Targon Studios has opted to take some of the best features of a number of similar games, jiggle them all into a nice pie, then bake it for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. With the hope that a nice pudding comes out. Were they successful? To find out I assembled some other members of the Thumb Culture team to hold my hand fill all the crew spots. Watch Out For The Darkness So, are you a fan of this genre? The Steam page lists a number of genres, action, adventure, casual, indie, RPG and strategy all feature. How would you describe Darkwater? Let us know, once you've read the review of course. Gameplay Starting up the game for the first time, you are asked ...

23Apr

By MikeNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Forever Skies – PS5 Review

Originally released in Early Access back in 2023, and after a good amount of updates, version 1.0 of Forever Skies is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. Coming to us from developer Far From Home, this base-building survivor title impressed us back when we previewed it in August 2023. But does the full release leave a positive impression? The Apocalypse Has Never Been So Peaceful As a fan of this genre, I was rather excited to finally get my hands on it after playing the demo. Have you already played Forever Skies on Steam, or have you been eagerly anticipating it as much as me? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the game in the comments below! But for now, let's get into the review and see what this game's all about, shall we? Gameplay Upon booting up...

10Apr

By Tyler DenyerNo Comments

PC Reviews

Crashlands 2 – PC Review

It’s not every day you crash-land into a sequel brewing in the shenanigan-shaped minds of Butterscotch Shenanigans. Crashlands 2 brings back our favourite intergalactic trucker, Flux Dabes; now older, wiser, and more than a bit crispy from corporate burnout. After a morally questionable marketing stint with the Bureau of Shipping, Flux returns to the alien planet Woanope for some R&R. Naturally, that idea lasts all of five seconds before chaos erupts, and you’re nose-deep in alien flora again. Now, before you get flashbacks of freezing in Don’t Starve Together, let me reassure you: Crashlands 2 is like the cosy, weird cousin who shows up with biscuits and chaos. It’s a survival game, sure, but with fewer existential crises and more synthwave glick-glicks. Let’s dive into this surv...

8Apr

By StuartNo Comments

PC Reviews

Atomfall – PC Review

Atomfall has been out for almost two weeks, and I've been playing the game quite a bit. You might have checked out our exclusive preview article previously, but now it's time to do a proper review. So sit back relax as we venture into the North of England and find out just what might have been. Lead The Way As with the preview article, I don't really want to give away too much of the game. I honestly feel that this game is best going in blind, but that's no good for a video game review. So what I'm going to do is try and keep it as vague as possible. Just talk about some of the mechanics involved in the game. If you want to know anything about the story, then check out the preview article. Gameplay Atomfall is a vast game, there are a number of areas that you can explore. Discovery is ...

7Mar

By StuartNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Atomfall Exclusive Preview

Unless you've been living under a large rock you will have heard of Atomfall, the latest game coming soon from Rebellion. The game is set five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster in Northern England. Inspired by the real-life event. You have to explore the quarantine zone, barter with people as well as survive to find out just what is going on. Follow The Leads We were incredibly fortunate to be invited to a special press screening and playtest recently. This is what we experienced. Playtest So, a number of other members of the gaming press were introduced to the game through a short presentation by one of the developers. Once that was all done, we were invited to control a PC running Atomfall remotely. Starting my game a bit further into the game than perhaps I should have....

18Feb

By StuartNo Comments

VR Reviews

Alien: Rogue Incursion – Quest 3 Review

Released last week on the Meta Quest3 and 3S, Alien: Rogue Incursion is a new entry to the iconic franchise. Developed and published by Survios we head into the universe in an immersive, single-player VR journey. Priced at £30.99 on the Meta Store at the time of writing, we check out whether it's worth a purchase. Alien Goes Boo, Stu Goes AHHH! So getting it right out there, I am a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror games. Luckily for me, I'm a big fan of the Alien universe so couldn't pass up this one. Or should that be unluckily for me... Let's find out whether it was all worth it. Gameplay When you first load up the game you get the basic settings to adjust. After this you can head into the game and select which difficulty you want. I went for the Story mode so that I could enjoy...

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel – PC Early Access Preview

6Feb

By Jordan RookerNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel – PC Early Access Preview

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is a roguelite horde survival game by Games Farm (Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms) and ARTillery (Catie in Meowmeowland). It is available now in Early Access with publishing by Grindstone (Preserve, Die by the Blade). You can pick it up for PC on either Steam or Epic for about £8.50. Raise Hell against the Hordes of Hel in Jotunnslayer A driving factor for me these days when looking at games on Steam is "Can I play it on my Steam Deck?" Having a portable library of quality PC games has definitely been a boon. Among those games, Vampire Survivors, Halls of Torment, and Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor reign supreme. Looking at the trailer for Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel it got me thinking that this could be another addition to that set. I will tell you right now that I'm...

4Feb

By Jordan RookerNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Aloft – PC Early Access Preview

Aloft is a new survival crafter co-op game from Astrolabe Interactive Inc. (Sacrifice Your Friends), with publishing by Funcom (Conan Exiles, Secret World),. Explore floating islands alone or with up to seven other friends as you glide between them collecting resources and secrets. Aloft is currently only available as Early Access on PC via Steam. Aloft Brings Gliding Galore Survival games come in varying degrees of complexity and difficulty. Many of them still fall into the same patterns of gameplay. I'm usually looking for something that sets a survival game apart, and the setting for Aloft certainly caught my attention. The simple mechanic of having biomes/areas separated by sky in particular. I think the last survival game I've played that was laid out this way would have been when I...