Category Archive

Reviews

Review: Score Rush Extended

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Erika

Score Rush Extended Logo 11 with kanji
Simplicity, thy name is Score Rush Extended. For those not familiar with Xona Games‘ previous Xbox LIVE Indie Games entry, Score Rush, Score Rush Extended is a 2D wide-screen bullet hell shmup that while it’s simplistic, it’s fun as heck to play. A lot of shmups I’ve played over the years usually kept getting more and more things added to them to try to keep them unique with their own flair, like upgradable attacks, defenses, various art styles, and so on. While this can keep players playing the game, or back in my day, feeding arcade machines quarters, bullet hell

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Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

If you grew up in the 90s you probably remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They were spunky comic book turned Saturday morning TV show heroes on the half shell. TURTLE POWER! I still hear that in my head every time I read the name. Now nearly 20 years later, like all things ripe for nostalgic re-makes we are getting a set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, rebranded as TMNT (to sound cooler?) and as with most movies these days we are getting a tie in game. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is that game. Created by developer

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Duskers | Review

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Robyn Robo

Duskers recently released after having spent several months in Early Access, luckily they have gone into a full release in good time and with great polish. This game skillfully blends three core elements: rogue like dungeons, tense claustrophobic space horror and puzzles. The game is split into exploration of individual ships, which function as your levels. Each is procedurally generated with a guessed at number of baddies lurking inside. Your job is to use your scrappy fleet of drones to outwit and outmaneuver those enemies to survive and piece together what catastrophe befell the universe. There are plenty of contenders,

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Total War: Warhammer Review | A Solid Game with a Few Additions to a Solid Formula

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Review by: Rob Logsdon Total War Warhammer is Creative Assemblies newest edition into their long running series of real time strategy games. Warhammer is a solid addition to the Total War catalog, and represents the first non-historical foray by Creative Assembly in their world conquering strategy games. I got am playing this game as a veteran of both Atilla and Rome Total War games, so its safe to expect some bias in the favor of Creative Assembly, that being said, let’s get to the review. I did love this game, but by no means is Total War Warhammer perfect. With

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Steamworld Heist | Review

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Jason Nason

When I learned that there was a sequel planned for the hit 3DS title Steamworld Dig I was in. Image & Form’s last game was great fun I was sold on a sequel when all that was available was a logo. Now that that sequel has been released, even though it is a completely different type of game, I’m having just as much fun as I did with the last one. SteamWorld Heist is a turn-based strategy game at it’s core and it’s great fun. In the game you will join Captain Piper Faraday, smuggler and occasional pirate, as she

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Overwatch – A Refreshingly Stylish Shooter | Review

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

In-universe, when the world needed the heroes of Overwatch they were nowhere to be found but thankfully they’ve come to our consoles & PCs at just the right time to save us from the onslaught of generic grey/brown FPS games. This is not only Blizzard Entertainment’s first original intellectual property in 17 years but also the company’s first foray into team based First Person shooters. Can the folks at Blizzard capture the objective and prove that they can still innovate or is Overwatch a causality of its own hype? It is almost impossible to talk about Overwatch without acknowledging what

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Rigged Up: Steel Series M500 and Sibera 350 Review

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Broken Joysticks

Review by: j.c. campbell The SteelSeries Apex M500 mechanical keyboard is a good mechanical keyboard at an excellent price. $99 buys you a full-size backlit mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX red switches. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options: you can have any keyboard you like as long as you like blue blacklighting and Cherry MX red switches. The Cherry MX reds are mechanical key switches with zero tactile feedback and zero audible feedback, unless you count the feeling and sound of the key hitting the end of its travel, or “bottoming out.” There is zero feedback when the keys actuate or make

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Falling Stars War of Empire | Review

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Review by: Rob Logsdon Falling Stars: War of Empire is a space sim developed by Riveted Games and published by Lock’n Load Publishing. It is a turn based space simulation in line with Civilization. Just like in Civilization you start with your single home planet and some ships and you send forces out to explore. When you find a neutral planet you have the choice to either barter with it and gain some immediate benefits like getting some free troops or transports, or you can conquer it. Conquering a planet allows you to build an Orbital Construction facility which allows

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Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson | Review

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Jason Nason

Let’s be honest. It was the girls that first drew me to this game. Just like other video games where “giggle physics” has become a thing, I liked the look of the girls in the game. What can I say. But beyond the look of the girls themselves, Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is a fun game to play. Parallel to the look of the girls in the game is the fact that the game has a look and feel of anime. I’ve long enjoyed anime and the culture of Japan itself. I’m a regular watcher of anime on Crunchyroll

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Mini Mario & Friends amiibo Challenge | Review

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Jason Nason

While Mini Mario & Friends amiibo Challenge is not the answer to the killer ap question for giving amiibos a solid use, it is a great start and a positive sign for what Nintendo can and should do with the figures. Much like Skylanders, you’ll need at least one amiibo to play the game, but you can unlock a whole lot more the more figures you have. Mini Mario & Friends amiibo Challenge is a great game and finally does what I’ve been crying for Nintendo to do. Sure it’s neat to tap an amiibo in a game to unlock

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I Want to be Human has a lot of potential but falls short

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Robyn Robo

I Want to be Human is a new game from the indie developer Sinclair Strange, over in the UK. It is a run’n’gun 2D platformer with tight jumping puzzles and Super Meat Boy like wall climbing. The game also features a soundtrack from Jimmy Urine, a member of Mindless Self Indulgence and a very unique visual aesthetic with a comic book style and featuring only white, black and red coloring. Out on Windows via Steam at the moment, with major console releases expected as well. Let’s start with the positives for this game, the joypad controls and movement are tight

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Langrisser Re:Incarnation -TENSEI- | Review

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Jason Nason

I don’t know where to begin with Langrisser Re:Incarnation -TENSEI-, which for the rest of this review I will simply refer to as Langrisser. The game is a strategic RPG for the Nintendo 3DS and is very similar to the Fire Emblem series of games. Though while latest Fire Emblem game has a lot of style and polish, Langrisser feels somewhat dull. That’s not to say that the game isn’t enjoyable. It does have an engaging story and has great character design, but some of the battles feel very drawn out and some of the in game elements are clumsy

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20XX: A Rougelike take on Mega Man X

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Erika

20XX header
What happens when you take the ideas and feel of a Mega Man X game, add in random levels and powerups, a bit of permanent death, and a season it with multiplayer? You get 20XX, by Batterystaple Games. Bad cooking comparison aside, This game was designed by someone who absolutely loves the Mega Man X series, and it really shows. Even though it’s in Early Access on Steam, the version I’ve played (0.951b) is very solid in terms of gameplay and feel. From what it looks like, the development team is quite receptive on supporting and developing their game. It’s

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Speed runners is endless fun for a tiny price

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Speed Runners is an endless runner with a twist. You have probably played endless runners before, perhaps on your phone? The objective is to run (forever) collect some things, dodge some obstacles, and eventually die. Speed Runners is a new take on this genre from TinyBuild games, it adds because it adds competitive multiplayer. You will still be running, in fact it’s the main point of the game, but you will also be competing against three other runners all on the same screen. You will traverse a variety of obstacles, and use a items to hinder your fellow runners.  All

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Root Double -Before Crime * After Days-. Review! VN GO!

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

A  VN Review by: Szko Trapped in an underground facility with no exit, in a race against time as radiation levels threaten to kill you, and far too many people to save. This is the premise of Root Double -Before Crime * After Days-. Root Double is a Visual Novel created by Regista and Yeti and released in Japan back in 2012. Thanks to Sekai Project the Xtend Edition of the game received a worldwide re-release in 2016. For those that don’t know a Visual Novel or VN is basically a book with pictures. Text appears on the screen and you

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