Gallery: Lobo With Shotguns Looks Like A Total Blast From the Past

Posted on April 13, 2016 by geelw

If any game was a perfect example of “screenshots do NOT do this game justice!” it would be Lobo With Shotguns, coming sometime this year from talented indie developers Fat Panda Games Studio. Based in Yucatán, Mexico, the team has infused their upcoming non-stop action-packed game with a seriously awesome retro look that recalls 60’s and 70’s comic books as well as classic arcade game series such as Final Fight, Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and even bits of Splatterhouse.

Hush, now about that icky grain in this screen. See the trailer below for what’s up with that…

As soon as I saw the screens and spectacular trailer, I think I let out a squeal that sounded like a car skidding on a wet highway then through a guard rail and off a cliff (BOOM!). Memories of the old Marvel Super Heroes cartoons from their 1970’s run on WPIX here in NY punched me in the head until I stopped laughing because I’d forgotten to breathe. I also got a whiff of ancient Mexican horror/hero movies at work here, but it’s not as obvious an influence. That said, if anyone was to do a series of side-scrolling Lucha games featuring the legendary Sancho character, I’d choose this team based on what’s here.

See what I mean?
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PC Review: ADR1FT

Posted on April 12, 2016 by geelw

Platform: PC

Developer: three one zero LLC

Publisher: 505 Games

# of Players: 1

MSRP: $19.99

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A (90%)
If you’re one who normally plays games on a smaller screen laptop or monitor, ADR1FT is most likely going to make you want a bigger screen as soon as possible. Of course, I’m saying this as someone whose first introduction to the experience was back when it was running on another engine and 505 Games premiered an early console and PC VR demo in a movie theater where on the big screen the scope was quite impressive indeed. That scale is far more thrilling with the complete overhaul/upgrade to the Unreal 4 Engine, but it works best on the biggest display you can get even if it means popping over to a friend’s place to show off the finished product.

Forget the “walking simulator” labels the game is getting from the limited vocabulary crowd, throw out your science degrees or overly critical eye for complete accuracy (it’s a videogame, NOT a NASA sim), strap yourself in and prepare for a quietly wild ride. ADR1FT is less of a straight adventure game and more of a deliberately paced and tension filled trip into space where survival is key if only to discover how it all ends. The game works as both a visual treat for the eyes as well as a great example of the promise of virtual reality as a viable entertainment option (provided you currently own or plan to buy one of the VR headsets being hard marketed this year).

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Gallery: DUELYST – It’s In The Cards This One Will Be A Hit

Posted on April 7, 2016 by geelw

While I’m not at all a “competitive” gamer or a huge fan of online-only gaming, every one in a while I’ll get something cool to peruse in my inbox that makes me stop and click away on a few links. Counterplay Games’ DUELYST not only got me to click away on a few links, I actually signed up to check out the beta of this free to play card battle/strategy game and came away pretty impressed. Given that lack of time is a big factor in getting me to even look a most online games, DUELYST grabbed me right away with its gorgeous pixel art style and short matches that take around 5 to 10 minutes to play.

Once you create an account, the game recommends you dive into a three stage tutorial in order to learn the basics. This is great advice to follow as the game takes off the training wheels should you choose to hop into it feet first. As with any good turn-based strategy game with card battles, positioning is crucial as is having the proper cards. Early solo play pits you against each faction and defeating them unlocks them and their cards. This gets you a nice starter deck as well as lets you choose which group to join. That said, the AI is pretty fierce. Expect to have your rear end passed back to you a few times when the AI outplays you or you run out of good cards because you haven’t built up a nicer deck.
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Goliath: Expect Big Things From This Mech-Building ARPG

Posted on April 5, 2016 by geelw

Octopus Tree is a brand new publisher with a couple of really impressive looking upcoming titles. The one that jumped out and bit me the hardest (ouch!) was Whalebox Studio’s Goliath, an action/adventure RPG coming to Steam on May 12 for $19.99 where you build robots and take them out for some quality time in order to meet other like-minded robots and other big beasts with the intention of nicely or not so nicely knocking the stuffing out of them.

But don’t let me let you think I’m pulling your leg here. I don’t know you all THAT well and heck, I’d ASK first before I pulled anything on you even if you wanted me to (but I avoid fingers for obvious reasons). Ahem. Any-way… just watch that trailer above then go click below the jump and peek at part of the press release. Hey, I’m trying to finish up another writing gig here and I’ve a meeting in about ten minutes, so our “me” time today is somewhat limited… Continue reading →

Jalopy Hands-On: Slow Riding a Lemon Is Actually Fun Times

Posted on April 1, 2016 by geelw

Of all the different games from Excalibur Publishing I’ve sampled over the past two months, Jalopy is out and out the best one to date. Created by Minskworks, which is Greg Pryjmachuk, a former game developer who worked on on the legendary Formula 1 franchise, Jalopy is both a visual throwback to the 1990’s and a solid, challenging car simulation for the modern age that’s more fun to play than certain AAA driving games. Set during the fall of Communism in the Eastern Bloc, players are tasked with owning and maintaining a beat up but lovable Laika 601 as they drive it around the GDR’s highways and countryside. Continue reading →

ADR1FT Floats Onto Steam – VR, Consoles to Follow

Posted on March 28, 2016 by geelw

“Here am I floating round my tin can. Far above the Moon. Planet Earth is blue. And there’s nothing I can do…”

While PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and VR-enabled PC and PS4 versions of threeonezero’s ADR1FT are still in the works, PC gamers with Steam accounts and rigs with decent specs can now purchase the game for $19.99. Even without the added virtual reality functionality 505 Games has a hit here that should go along way in convincing even the most ardent skeptic about the viability of VR for certain gaming and entertainment purposes.

Of course, getting past the new breed of hard-core internet skeptics who dub these sort of first-person experiences “walking simulators” (Bleh. There’s no “walking” here, as you play an astronaut stranded on a partially destroyed space station who needs to figure out what happened) will be the game’s biggest hurdle with the second issue for some being the estimated 4-6 hours it takes to complete the game. Length really isn’t something to whine about here as the game has enough elements to make it replayable as well as a conversation piece to show off for the outstanding Unreal 4-powered visuals.

And if you really want to show off something even more physical, you can boogie on over to iam8bit.com to check out their cool online shop and snag one of those cool ADR1FT Collector’s Edition boxes for $54.95. That price nets you two digital codes for the game (PC and Oculus Rift VR versions), one of two different 756 piece jigsaw puzzles, a nice embroidered HAN-1V patch and a pack of “tasty” astronaut ice cream, all in a big box for safekeeping (but probably not guaranteed to survive being sent into actual space).

Nintendo 3DS Review: Sadame

Posted on March 25, 2016 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Developer: Mebius

Publisher: Rising Star Games

# of Players: 1

MSRP: $14.99

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B 80%

It’s somewhat surprising that with so many RPGs available on the Nintendo 3DS, the old-school dirt simple hack & slash sub-genre is somewhat underrepresented. Granted, you’re probably not going to get a fancy looking Diablo or Torchlight-style game up and running on the 3DS hardware without some miracle coding skill and Nintendo completely missed the boat on localizing the fantastic DS game Soma Bringer to the west some years back. Thankfully, Rising Star Games has taken up the chase ‘n chop mantle with Ishi-Sengoku-Den “Sadame” (heretofore shortened to Sadame for the remainder of this review).

The game takes the basic formula found in Blizzard’s classic franchise and adds a feudal Japanese setting, simplified gameplay and multiple routes through four acts that feature multiple routes which add replay value if you want to explore every inch of the maps. While the results aren’t flawless, gamers with more open minds and a willingness to deal with a few quirks will get a lot more out of what’s here than those who come in with a load of expectations.
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Road to Ballhalla Hands-On: More-Ball Madness

Posted on March 21, 2016 by geelw

If you make it this far without losing a ball, you sir (or madam) are officially some sort of deity to be bowed down to.

tinyBuild Games decided to unleash a little surprise last week and allow some 3000 random Steam account holders to play a six stage Alpha version of Torched Hill‘s upcoming Road to Ballhalla, a game that’s a tiny bit hard to categorize. While it has a few similarities to Marble Madness and the 1998 PlayStation game Kula World (or Roll Away here in the states), Road to Ballhalla is more of a wall-less maze game where reaching the end of each level requires players changing their gameplay focus on a dime often within the same level. I guess you could all it a “puzzle” game if you like based on the simple visual style and rather cool music in that trailer below.

In case you didn’t watch the trailer and that previous sentence connotes “casual” to some of you core gamers who’d normally ignore something like this, you’re in for a big surprise. You can consider Road to Ballhalla the Dark Souls of indie puzzle games (or something *sexy* like that).
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Sword Coast Legends: Drop A d20 On This DM-Ready D&D Adventure Headed to Consoles Soon

Posted on February 20, 2016 by geelw

Okay, I had no idea Sword Coast Legends had come out on PC last fall (oops!). Thankfully, the new Dungeons & Dragons game is also headed to PS4 and Xbox One this spring as a digital download at the must-have price point of $19.99. This includes all the content from the PC version and additions such as the Drow as a new playable sub-race, additional character skill trees, hundreds of new placeable objects for DMs, new areas, new visual effects, hardcore gameplay options, and much more. While it can be played solo, SCL seems tailor made for co-op play and Dungeon Master (DM) created custom adventures that extend the game’s life cycle even more.

Speaking of more… Continue reading →

PC Review: Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders

Posted on February 20, 2016 by geelw

Platform: PC (also on PS4, Xbox One)
Developer: Artefacts Studios
Publisher: Microids
#of Players: 1
MSRP: $29.99
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Official Site
Score: B+ 85%

In Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders, you play Hercule Poirot, the dapper detective with the well-trimmed mustache whose “little grey cells” got him through plenty of crime solving tales made famous by the author and represented in books, on stage, screen and yes, videogames. Developer Artefacts’ decision to make their Poirot so close to the source leaves exactly no room for intentional player error or many non-Poirot like affectations to mess with the formula. While this results in a game that’s impossible to “lose” because you’ve made a serious error in judgment or otherwise, it does deliver the proper feeling of the man at work as a series of not so random alphabet-related murders unfold.

Part of what makes the story and game so intriguing is the killer’s choice of Poirot as the person to mail clues to each crime to before he commits them. The killer’s confidence in taunting and tasking Poirot to track him (or her) down means there’s a certain sort of methodical insanity at work that’s somewhat fascinating. In this modern information age where under some circumstances, electronically sending death threats like that would (or should) lead to a suspect most likely being caught before they got too far into the alphabet, the 1935 setting means those mailed letters give the killer time to plot and Poirot time to think. The unfortunate side effect is a new crime scene and recently killed body to pore over for evidence, but as they say, nothing is indeed perfect, mes amis… Continue reading →