Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle Gets Some Fun, Free Updates

Posted on October 31, 2019 by geelw

Get this… OR ELSE.

Well, eight episodes of the game have been FREE for a while now on STEAM, but having a subscription to developer Blue Wizard Games’ email newsletter was pretty rewarding today, as there’s some nice content they’ve added to the game as well as a couple of fun freebies for email subscribers.

In addition to getting Episode 9 and the Baghead Jason DLC skin for free, the email also included a package of neat HD Blue Wizard Digital desktop wallpapers, Slayaway Camp toy paper-craft templates, and the official theme songs (MP3) for both Slayaway Camp and Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle (woo-hoo!). Very cool, Blue Wizard, very cool, indeed.

Here’s a little teaser for the game. It’s kind of cute, really hilarious and yes, you can choose to play without the blood (but why would you?):

Even better, if you have a STEAM account, there’s a sale on the developer’s other titles, so yes, you can try a few of their games for a lot mess money. Sounds like a deal to me.

-GW

November’s PS Plus Duo is Scary Good Stuff

Posted on October 31, 2019 by geelw

Nice. I actually haven’t played either of these other than a demo of one a while back, so this will be a good pair of bonuses to have added to thee library. Now, all I need to do is find the time and clear out my external HDD, as it’s about filled with a ton of old games and videos. Eh, I’ll probably get a larger drive at some point, but I’ve always thought the the PS4 could have used more USB ports.

-GW

FAITH: The Unholy Trinity – A Reflex Test For The Senses

Posted on October 31, 2019 by geelw

Creepy is coming a third time (and to consoles at some point, too).

I was jumping under the furniture a while back when I first played indie developer Airdorf Games’ Faith, a very frightening game that blended old-school visuals and the sheer shock of horror and jump scares plus some clever use of synthesized voices, all in the service of terrifying the player. Let’s just say it worked, as I’ve had the second game here for a while on my laptop, but haven’t touched it since I downloaded it. My excuse of having too many games to play in my backlog keeps me hiding from that sequel, but it’s now the case where there’s a third game in the series coming soon that’s probably goijg to get me to play all three in one shot.

Or, say hell-o to FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, coming to PC and eventually, consoles:

As you can see, it’s pretty unsettling stuff when you get hit with the blending of old and new here. There’s a nice layer of crazy here when the game comes at you and you don’t know what to expect next, but this is good in a game that’s a mix of horror, adventure and a few abstract elements that will have you hooked in and trying to run away simultaneously. Go wishlist this this one if you’re into the horror stuff – it should run on most Windows 7 and up (64-bit) PC’s with zero issues. I’m going to hold my breath until I turn blue that this is coming to consoles sooner than later (starts holding breath).

Appropriately Halloween color scheme? CHECK.

-GW

Games I Need to Play 3: The Beast Inside

Posted on October 23, 2019 by geelw

I’ll admit at first I thought it was a game about the wonderfully awful movie The Beast Within until I saw screenshots.

Well, what have we here? A photo-realistic horror themed mystery/adventure game that’s got a strange, sort of time travel thing going for it along with some amazing visuals and a lot of falling off stuff, for good measure. Oh, and it’s coming to PS4 and Xbox One at some point, which is good, as I hate upgrading my PC so frequently to play these games. Here’s a gallery and one of many trailers. You can see more on the Steam page where yes, you can buy the game and/or try the demo out.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Developer Illusion Ray Studio and publisher Movie Games have quite the pair of fitting names, no? I’ve downloaded the demo, but haven’t gotten to try it yet thanks to a review backlog I’m sifting through, but this one will get some playtime soon, as it certainly had my attention as soon as I heard of it and looked it up. Here’s a look at a trailer (it’s all gameplay footage, too):

Alright, then. I guess I’ll get to that demo sooner or later (well, before the game hits consoles, at least).

-GW

Werewolves and Vampires on Most Everything Incoming from Bigben Games

Posted on October 22, 2019 by geelw

Well, this is a fine thing indeed. It’s soon to be raining werewolves, vampires and other creatures of the night thanks to Bigben Games and a few developers hard at work on a few titles. On the werewolf (there, wolf!) front, you’re getting this:

“You better stay away from him – he’ll rip your lungs out, Jim!”

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is in development with Cyanide Studio at the helm, and while only this art below and the animated image on the official website have been shown, both it and that teaser trailer give off a nice vibe of what to expect. The developer has been pretty good at delivering solid gameplay that’s gotten better with each game they make, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye peeled for screenshots and actual gamepay as this moves closer to completion, This one’s coming in Summer 2020 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As for those other creatures of the night…

Continue reading →

Review: Into the Dead 2 (Switch)

Posted on October 20, 2019 by geelw

Well, it’s a good thing that forklift isn’t a zombie. Uh, that’s a Killdozer reference, sort of.

Confession time (again!): I’d never heard of the mobile game or its sequel here until I fired up the review code I got for Into the Dead 2 ($34.99 digitally, base game), but that really made a difference when it came to my overall enjoyment of what’s here. Developer PikPok and publisher Versus Evil’s game is a pretty good one overall, with simple to grasp mechanics, great looks, plenty of levels and a few modes to kick back with for endless zombie-killing fun. The removal of the F2P elements is also a big key here because despite the cost, it’s actually a case where one is getting a better value on the Switch once you whip out a calculator and tally things up.

Yes, on mobile, it’s a free to play experience… at least if you want to play wthin the limits imposed on you and buy in for more weapons and content with cash. From a few spins with the mobile version this week thanks to a friend who’s got it on his phone, that mobile game jumps on your face with ads and offers for new content (as mobile games do to get you to spend more than that “free” you didn’t spend). Argh, but so goes some mobile gaming on devices.

“Hold up a sec, pal! I’m NOT a zombie – I just spilled my coffee before I could even take a sip!”

The Switch port drops this in favor of unlocking content as you go with no payment needed (outside the 2 DLC packs) and you can play all 60 story missions and 36 side missions as as the previous areas are cleared, In Arcade mode, 21 levels await getting a set number of kills per mission to proceed. The two spends for digital users are the optional Night of the Living Dead and Ghostbusters-themed missions ($4.99 each), but those come in the physical version as part of the package for $39.99. You can actually save $5 by not buying the extra content separately and buy the $39.99 Bundle that has both the game and extra DLC as a digital or physical version, if you like.

Continue reading →

Stuff I Need to Play 1: Mary Skelter 2

Posted on October 15, 2019 by geelw

It’s allllmost here…

Oh, it’s a long list, but let’s discuss what I’m thinking of at the moment. Yes, this will come in a few parts over the month, so bear with me as I go through my overstuffed inbox. I loved the first Mary Skelter enough to play both the PS4 and PC versions. so the inclusion of the first game for free in the Switch-only sequel has me wanting to play it all over again. Well, after the sequel, of course.

From the just released gameplay trailer, the game looks great and the oddball beautiful ugliness of the creatures your party will encounter as friend and foe look great (with the assorted Nightmares shown so far being especially Yeesh-worthy, Yes, the gals are cute here too, but that’s expected in a game like this. I’m moe (ha, I left a typo in because it fits!) thrilled by the dungeon crawling, what’s probably going to be a tougher game and any endgame content that this has. But I fully expect my poor Switch getting a workout from the main story alone.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Continue reading →

Moons of Madness: It’s Not Made From Cheese, That’s for Sure

Posted on October 15, 2019 by geelw

Funcom’s scary looking treat, Moons of Madness is out on PC for Halloween time (well, October 22nd, a week or so early), and there even a neat contest you can enter here with some frights to be had and awesome prizes to be won. But as good as it looks (and man, it looks really good), my poor backlog is telling me to wait for the console release in February 2020. It’s not that I don’t want to review it, mind you. In an effort to reduce my workload (and yep, stress level), I’ve decided to shift a few games to next year and while it’s a tough choice here, it’s also a good one at the end of the day, I think. I feel that a fresh review down the road gives a game like this a a nice boost if it’s one some console owners may have avoided because they haven’t a computer that can run it and might be keen on how it runs on their system of choice.

There’s also the chance that further optimization and any patches that a game needs will come to consoles that game a good-looking game such as this one even better (in terms of gameplay) as an overall experience. For the record, yes, I know the game might look less “perfect” as a console release. That said, the modern emphasis of graphics over gameplay with some makes no sense when a game manages to run fine and play well as a port (despite what one thinks about things like “perfect” resolution and the need to frequently tweak a PC to run things at optimum settings). “Blame the player AND the game”, as I heard an acquaintance say a few years back when a new PC game he’s bought was giving him grief when his driver-updated 3D card wasn’t capable to run a it without some figuring and fiddling.

Continue reading →

Puppet Combo Has A Few Scares To Share

Posted on October 13, 2019 by geelw

This PC games set from Puppet Combo will set you back a mere $6.66 total (you can pay more if you like), but the scares here are worth a million bones, especially it you have a yen for intentionally crafted PlayStation 1-era visuals, grainy VHS filters for that extra layer of authenticity, like crazy and relentless to slow-burning horror games and can get used to the controls being so old school. Take a look at the game page (some imagery is a bit jarring, but you’re expecting it to be, right?) here. Or, you can go all out and get the bundle that includes this collection and much more here.

I want to see Puppet Combo a console dev kit of some sort, as these intentionally low-poly fright-filled short games would be perfect on whichever system they choose to port them over to. Hey, PC and Mac users shouldn’t have ALL the fun, I say.

Yeah, I’d watch this if it were a film, Horror Blanket and all.

-GW

The Executioner: Grim Tidings Await in This Dark Text-Driven RPG

Posted on September 27, 2019 by geelw

In the “Ooh, this looks wonderfully depressing” front, this weeks release of The Executioner on STEAM sprung me to life even though the current Russian to English translation is a bit iffy in it’s current form. Still, I do like the dark ideas found in this one, so I can at least pull the string for a patch that addresses the translation issues and also hope that a console port is in the works somewhere. Fingers crossed that the translation is fixed and, wait for it… well executed (ba-dum-bum, says the head, rolling to the floor).

Here’s a trailer to pore over that shows off a bit of the gameplay: