Perhaps hoping to piggyback off the promotion of Pacific Rim: Uprising, Marvelous Games brings their PSP, Japanese exclusive game about mech suits to the PS4 and PC with middling results. A lack of captivating gameplay, setting, or story stifles any chance of elevating this interesting concept above a sub-standard shooter.
Assault Gunners HD Edition Review PS4
If it wasn’t already clear from the early 2000s’ graphics, just starting this game immediately signals it’s a port from a previous generation (in this case a handheld) – the menus are navigated with the D-pad. Though scrolling through menus becomes more tedious this way, the variety of menu and customization options is worth it if you’re determined to play the game. Before starting one of the 20 main levels (or additional two DLC packs), the game lets you select a difficulty, set friendly fire, and modify your supporter settings.
Assault Gunners HD Edition Review
In addition, the game allows you to personalize your units and manage your troops. Even seeing this pared-down version of an RPG-system is a welcome addition and a benefit to the game as a whole. However, this feature only became apparent to me after seeking it out and was not explained in-game, which would’ve been nice since the end of each stage listed various bonuses and supplies you collected from the level.
Though some may argue that video games have become too easy and straightforward, this lack of communication is frustrating (and it doesn’t help that all of the voice acting is in Japanese) and a flaw across many of the game’s aspects. There is clearly love, or at the very least effort, put into the story but the narrative never finds a compelling way to explain itself. Beyond slapping quick scrolling text (a la Star Wars) before every mission, there is little else directing the players’ motives. Who are these people? Why should we care? It seems the developer thought about those questions but buried them deep within the aforementioned menus to never be found unless the player is digging for them.
Assault Gunners HD Edition Review
In addition, I often found it hard to determine whether my bullets or missiles were hitting their projected targets. If the attack struck (and the combatant was weak enough) the enemy would poof off the screen. For enemies that couldn’t be one-shotted, they merely absorbed the attack until, like the others, they just disappeared. I didn’t feel as if I was learning. I was just shooting until I cleared the stage. It wasn’t until the timer threatened to countdown and flunk me that I found any bit of fun, challenge, or variety of play. Those moments, however, were too scarce and most of the time I felt as if I was just mashing buttons and walking around the various arenas with no clear objective.
Assault Gunners HD Edition Review
Button mashing can be fun, but the game has to have more diverse environments to explore or ambience to set the mood. It didn’t help that as you marched your mech suits across the mostly flat stages, the music was bland and consistently played a similar tune. At times it was disjointed with the action; other times it faded into the background. It wasn’t fully a failure, but not even close to a success.
Exploring the depths of space is an adventure all on its own, so developers really need to dig deep when adding to the flare that is galactic gaming. The Station (not this one!) is a short but sweet tale that follows the relentless curiosities our species seems to have on the vast void of stars, undiscovered planets and distant galaxies.
With attentive puzzle solving and as about as gripping as any story can get in the span of an hour or so, the indie team behind the first-person space station explorer has created an impressively stout adventure that underlines the mysteries of space.
You’re sent to investigate a three-man team of scientists who have gone missing during a top-secret space mission involving interplanetary studies. Upon discovering another race of sentient beings, the team is determined to study the unknown planet caught in a civil war.
Rather than getting directly involved in the unknown alien species’ conflict, the team thought it vital to observe from a distance as the war rages on. That is until the crew turns up silent over the transmitters which is precisely where you come in, a space station recon specialist.
Welcome to The Station – a hidden space station created to study the nearby alien planet caught in the middle of a civil war.
Discover The Truth Behind The Warring Alien Planet
The Station takes players throughout a story that’s told through audio logs recently left behind from the crew, as well as a series of tasks and objectives that will ever so gradually push you towards the truth behind the foreign species.
In its short amount of completion time, however, players will find themselves amidst an intriguing plot line that is never as straightforward as it seems. While collecting pieces of dialogue content like emails and messages, informative audio logs and crucial pieces of equipment, you will continue to progress further into the station uncovering its many secrets.
The game is an honest balance of healthy discourse and thought-inducing puzzle-solving. Tasks lists frequently pop up to remind players of what they should be working on, but most everything else is left to the imagination of the player.
Repairing a maintenance robot by finding and replacing its components, or unlocking the team’s personal lockers by tracing their specific password, are just a few of the random tasks that will allow you to travel further into the station. The simple objective lists may seem easy enough at first, but nothing is ever as it seems when dealing with a failing space station.
Throughout your missions, you will find objective and task lists that help you explore further into the station.
Throughout your linear quest into the lonely space station, the overall mission never changes once. While the length of the game depends entirely on your ability to solve the tedious puzzles of fixing up everything around you or breaking into personal rooms/storage devices, players shouldn’t expect much out of the brisk space adventure.
The story leaves many interesting perspectives on the table with a truly exhilarating ending, but after one time through, nothing else changes and players can easily blast through in less time than an episode of Star Trek.
Uncover truths about the station through recent messages and audio logs left by the three-man team of scientists.
Worth The Trip?
All in all, The Station – as minimal as it is – serves its purpose as a mysterious and involved sci-fi puzzle adventure. The characters thrown into the plotline are interesting enough to keep players intrigued across their short journey, while the puzzles fit nicely into the setting of the lonely and seemingly abandoned space station.
With no outside threats or method of combat, players of all skill ranges can sit back and enjoy the curious and subtle thrills of solving the many mysteries of The Station.
There’s a famous saying that good artists copy and great artists steal. To a large extent, that saying is very true in the games industry with the trends that come and go and the mechanics that are shared across the board. But what happens when, rather than steal one great idea, you copy several good ideas?
Radiation Island Review [Nintendo Switch]
Well, Radiation Island is a result of the former where it picks the pocket of many other existing games and puts them all together. But it almost feels like it’s trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that just don’t quite fit.
Originally launching on the mobile platform, Radiation Island graduates onto Switch and brings itself into the limelight, joining many new games on the eShop. This naturally means it has been adapted for button and stick controls rather than that of touch controls. The screen still serves a purpose, in some respects, but not to the same level of its mobile predecessor.
Radiation Island Review
What is Radiation Island though? Well, it’s hard to say because I don’t think it knows itself. You find yourself washed up on a mysterious island, that has been exposed to some form of radiation, and it’s up to you to discover how and why. After a brief tutorial, you’re set on your way to roam the island and do your thing. But, before you proceed, you choose what mode you wish to play in; which is where some of the confusion begins, I feel. You can just go explore, play the game the way it’s intended, or, play a hardcore mode which is more difficult.
It combines elements of survival, crafting, exploration, hunting, shooting and melee combat. So it’s a bit like Fallout met Far Cry, saw Minecraft on the way and then DayZ tagged along for good measure. In theory that would make for a great result but it doesn’t quite make the grade. Of course, you can forgive some of its shortcomings due to its origins (graphics and general performance bugs) but you’d like to think that they’d be fixed for the launch on Switch.
Radiation Island Review
The all too distant military and conspiracy storyline shows early promise too but doesn’t keep you hooked to necessarily want to find out what went wrong. Radiation Island’s world is a good size and has its secrets to share, including dangerous and deadly zombies, but I’d be surprised if most had the fortitude to play for any great length of time. Which is a shame really as, given its sources of inspiration, Radiation Island could be really something quite good.
Do you sit at home wondering why no one has ever made a game that combines the ingenuity of a train simulator with the all-out fun of blasting away hordes of zombies? I knew you did, which is why I have great news. Do My Best Games has brought their 2016 opus The Final Station and its follow-up DLC The Only Traitor in a combined offering to the Nintendo Switch. I know I sound like I’m being sarcastic, but as random as that pairing may be, it all works exceptionally well to create a rather engrossing post-apocalyptic journey.
The Final Station Review [Nintendo Switch]
It’s been quite a while since the Visitation brought death and destruction to all. Mysterious canisters of no known worldly origin crashed landed on Earth, releasing a viral toxin that turns people into mindless zombies. In The Last Station, you take control of the train operator who travels across a dying world in search of supplies, passengers, and perhaps the salvation of all mankind. As you go from station to station, you must piece together what happened and wonder if another Visitation would or could happen again.
The Final Station Review
The story of The Last Station is told through a narrative environment. Notes, text messages, letters, and books from those no longer alive attempt to fill you in on what exactly happened over a hundred years earlier. This combined with conversations with the living, help to paint a picture of everything that has, is, and will occur. It’s a great way to unveil how the world came to be, but I did at times find it slightly confusing and hard to piece together.
After beating the game in under four hours, I was still a little hazy on what exactly happened, what the Visitation was, and who or what was behind it. You’re led to believe it was an alien attack from countless light-years away using advanced tech to send the poison gas to Earth. By the time the game ended, I wasn’t quite sure if this was the case. Whether it was manmade or extraterrestrial, that’s for you to decide.
As stated above, there are two distinct aspects to this game. On the one hand, you must operate the train as it goes from abandoned station to abandoned station. While travelling, the train operator (you) must make sure the equipment doesn’t break down and the passengers (whom you rescue), don’t die in transport. Various components of the train start to break down in route, and you must act fast to counteract the faulty parts. It’s not difficult, but if you’re tending to sick or dying passengers, you might not realize the train is about to go offline. Ignore the train issues long enough and the whole thing just stops in its tracks. The longer you take to get moving, the higher the odds someone will die.
Speaking of dying passengers, you need to pay attention to their health and hunger meters. Once either meter reaches the bottom, times up and they die. Each passenger you successfully bring back to a shelter will yield money and other necessary items. Furthermore, the more passengers you bring home safely, the more achievements you unlock. This is simply for those who love achievements, but it has no bearing on the actual content of the game.
The Final Station Review
There is a crafting element to the game as well, which you will need to utilize in order to make more medicine and ammunition. You often find food and medkits at the stations, but if you’ve run out while travelling to a new destination, you can craft more while in transit. The medkits can be used on your own wounds or for your sick passengers. When it comes to food, only those seeking refuge on the train will require it, but it’s found sparingly so use food kits wisely.
Once the train reaches a station, it’s your job to go exploring in order to find more equipment, passengers, and most importantly, the code needed to reach the next station. That last part sounds confusing, but I assure you it’s not very difficult. Armed with a handgun and your fists at first, eventually, you find a shotgun and a rifle to aid in your protection.
The Final Station Review
The station designs are rather creepy and add to the dark ambience of a zombie outbreak. You never know what’s behind a door or lurking inside a bathroom stall. Yes, the game is obviously using retro designs, but it effortlessly creates anxiety and apprehension. The graphics aren’t going to sell everyone, but the game isn’t supposed to be Resident Evil. It’s simplistic, but exceptionally well done. By taking away all the modern advances, Do My Best Games is allowed to focus on the story, and that’s what really matters.
The main quest contains four types of zombies. Fast animal-like, slow and traditional, armoured, and explosive. The first two can easily be beaten, but don’t underestimate them. The armoured ones take an extra step, but once you knock off their helmet, a single shot to the head does the trick. The explosive zombies are the ones you really need to watch out for. A single bullet will ignite them, but you better run, or they’ll take you and everything out around them. Using the pyro zombies to your advantage in clearing a room works quite well.
The Final Station Review
In terms of difficulty, I would say it’s on the lower scale of things. Throughout the experience, I typically punched enemies to death eighty-five percent of the time versus using a weapon. Between low amounts of ammo and the fact that they’re taken down without much effort, it just seemed easier that way. I would have liked a little more of a challenge, but I am by no means saying the game was a breeze.
Finding passengers is optional throughout the game. You can easily search for supplies, get the next code and move on, but then you won’t earn any money to buy more supplies down the road (and you won’t get those achievements I spoke about earlier). Plus, it’s fun to explore the stations in their entirety, and you won’t get all the pieces to the apocalyptic puzzle if you don’t.
The Final Station Review
The music in the game adds to the dystopian feel. It’s a planet long in the throes of death, and that’s the exact feeling I got through the music. I don’t feel enough people take the time to really listen to the subtlety of the notes in the background, but for me, it puts me in this world and holds on as I navigate my way. Slap on some good headphones and you’ll have an amazing auditory experience.
Switch owners are lucky enough to have both the main game and the DLC content The Only Traitor. In this, you play a man driving across the wasteland, looking for the last remaining shelter, picking up passengers along the way. You’ll revisit some of the places from before, and learn more about what happened to this world. There are new types of zombies (the acid spitting one was a treat), which I was very happy to see. Seeing as how you drive a sweet muscle car, there is only room for one passenger. As you discover new people, you must decide if you want to take or leave them based on the stats provided. It’s great the devs included this content for free, as it extends what would have been a rather short experience.
The Final Station Review
Storytelling is an art that has spanned ions, and when one comes across a compelling narrative, it’s a breath of fresh air. The Final Station isn’t graphically superior to anything, it’s rather short, and its simplicity is apparent from the get-go, but what it lacks in sophistication, it heavily makes up for with story. To be honest, I’m still not a hundred percent sure what exactly did and will happen, but my curiosity is overwhelming.
Even the best of us have something hidden within ourselves or our past we prefer to keep buried. The monsters of self-pity, jealousy, bitterness, and anger are always battling with our better self. For some, these inner demons can be just as dark as any denizens of Hell. Later On focuses on what it might be like if the murky recesses of the mind found their way out into a reality of their own.
Later On Review [PC]
You play as David, an individual who clearly has a less than lacklustre view of the world and the people in it. David often refers to people as “trash” as he makes his way around the neighbourhood. It is clear from the get-go that something is a little off about the town of Later On, and David seems a little too calm about it. For example, your daily routine involves disappearing into the back of a . . . research facility? Lab? Whatever it is, it has something to do with David’s “job”, and whatever that might involve doesn’t sound good based on the noises coming from the back area. Of course, David shows no sign that any of this is bizarre or out of place.
After “work” David runs into a friend, Nico, an ally complaining he needs David’s help because he just developed a tail. David isn’t quite certain how to assist, so he decides to do nothing and walk away. This decision to abandon his friend in a time of need sets off the game’s events as David attempts to make things right with Nico. But, this is only the beginning of David’s deep dive into his own motives. What kind of person is he? And if the world around is any clue, David has some skeletons in his closet that are going to be something much worse than that time you got drunk at Christmas no one prefers to talk about.
Later On does well in sustaining a sense of unsettling anticipation. In part, this is accomplished by well-placed and well-orchestrated sound effects and music. Another way is through an unpredictable narrative. Whether you are tasked with finding a mermaid or encouraging a sentient towel to allow you to pull it off the wrack, you never know what might come around the corner. When the game takes its darker turns, this unpredictability feels even more disquieting because it appears to be a normal aspect of David’s life. Environments take on a bloody hue at times and monsters present themselves as if they are a natural part of the everyday. Dreamlike conversations with fellow residents who seem totally at home in nightmarish situations only add to the unease.
Puzzles are usually simple and equally as surreal, requiring you to think about objects around you in a way that is contrary to their natural use. For example, you might have to utilize a painting as if it were a certain appliance, or figure out how to awaken a sleeping manhole cover so you can move it. In these instances, some trial and error along with just a little ingenuity are enough to find the solution. But, there are also instances where the game sends you on a hunt for an object without any clue where to locate it. In one case, I needed to find something to cut down some bushes that were blocking my progress. I wandered around town until I found it in a location that felt random rather than a natural place to seek them out. These situations made the puzzles feel a bit inconsistent.
There are only a couple of what might be called “boss battles” in Later On, and though these were clearly meant to serve as emotional epiphanies for David, I found them the least enjoyable interactions in the game. You are confronted by a monster that represents an aspect of David’s past or character that he wishes not to face. You are challenged with accusations to which David must respond accordingly by choosing from a set of replies.
For example, you will run into a monster of self-pity who can only be defeated if David responds in ways contrary to that emotion. However, there were times when the exact meaning of a sentence is not quite clear, so I had to guess which one would cause a blow to my enemy. If you guess wrong, you still have to complete the interaction only to fail and go through the whole thing once more. It also felt lacklustre as a tool for making me empathize with David. From the world around him and some of the later story elements, I began to understand just how disturbed David was, but I never felt close to David. This made having to try to answer questions as him a rote effort, particularly at the very beginning.
The characters around David feel charming and full of life. In fact, it is everything around David that gives the world both its vibrancy and horror. David himself is simply a vessel often removed and unaffected, which is fine and fitting, except when we are asked to get into his head and pretend to be him. It is for this reason that Later On doesn’t quite hit its mark as an emotional narrative that wants the player to connect with David in a rather visceral fashion. The horror is conveyed just the same, and perhaps natural empathy can help bridge the disconnect between David’s story and the player, but I left without ever feeling a strong sense of attachment when it seems clear the game intended that I should.
David’s story isn’t quite original. A number of indie horror titles have dealt with taking on the role of a protagonist whose mind has seriously affected their perceptions of the world around them. Home does this quite well and far more subtly.
“All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.”
Are you a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P Lovecraft? Then listen closely. THQ Nordic have resurrected the old classic Black Mirror for a new and improved version. Admittedly, I have not played the original, so this remake was my first experience with Black Mirror. Let me just clarify this right away for those who might visit the thought; this game is unrelated to the Netflix series!
The story takes place in Scotland, year 1926. Following the death of his father, our protagonist David Gordon visits the home of his ancestors for the first time. But upon taking our first steps onto the property, we quickly discover that the Black Mirror mansion is filled with dark secrets that play with the sanity of those who wish to learn the truth.
David believes that his father killed himself. However, that theory is quickly debunked when you discover that it’s never that simple. The family has a history of deaths at a young age, and as you get deeper into the Gordon family history, one unwillingly ventures into the more supernatural elements that dwell inside the walls of the gigantic mansion. The more we learn about the history of the Black Mirror house, the more we delve deeper into David’s sanity.
“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” – Edgar Allan Poe.
Storywise, you are immediately thrown into a mystery that feels like one Agatha Christie would enjoy. Having clear inspirational sources from the legendary gothic horror writers Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, the universe include elements of the gothic, romanticism, and the uncanny. As Gordon explores the many rooms of the Black Mirror house, he often quotes the previously mentioned authors. As a big fan of this genre, this alone made the game seem worth playing. What helps fulfill the gothic horror fantasy, even more, is the fact that there are not only living human beings you can interact with and receive help from; you also have to interact and talk to spectral apparitions of the people who died there a long time ago.
On our arrival to the Black Mirror house, one doesn’t have to have watched several horror movies to understand that the tingling coming from your spine means that there is definitely something weird going on. The staff immediately put up a cold front, obviously not telling you everything about the history of the house. The residents of Black Mirror mansion are quick to establish that their relationship with Gordon (our protagonist) is one to be had at arm’s length. Why? Some of the first advice I get is to not leave my room in the late hours, because “ticking clocks are not the worst things I may encounter in the house at night.” You feel that it’s them against you. That you’re the invader. I feel like I entered a very hostile environment.
“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” – Edgar Allan Poe.
The artstyle and the graphics clearly show that the game originates from an older generation. The camera is locked in a traditional style, forcing our protagonist to move in a given way; which is fairly understandable, considering it’s a point-and-click adventure game. Gordon is a little bit hard to navigate, most likely because of the locked camera. I encountered some glitches here and there, that frankly, should not exist in a remastered game. While the cutscenes are beautiful, I can’t help but still feel annoyed at the bugs I encountered, requiring me to restart the game several times. I was also forced to Google some of the puzzles because I thought I couldn’t solve them on my own – but it turns out that the puzzles were bugged!
With that said, the puzzles are initially fairly complicated and well thought out. You have to search the environment closely and find clues to solve the mystery. The game is pretty fast-paced, depending on how quickly you can solve the puzzles (and if you manage to stay clear of the mentioned bugs). Considering the puzzle and narrative heavy game that Black Mirror is, what was unpredictable was the fact that, if you failed some of the puzzles, the results could prove fatal.
Closers is an action-packed hack ‘n’ slash title that takes the repetitive excitement of side-scrolling action games and sprinkles in a few RPG elements to add to the flavour. As a free-to-play title on Steam, Closers is a perfect start-up for any newbie gamer, but also has enough depth and action-oriented skill sets to draw in the most dedicated of gaming enthusiasts. With the striking anime-style visuals, simple controls paired exceptionally well with the addictive beat ’em up gameplay, Closers is only held back by its somewhat unreliable game servers.
In the not-too-distant future, a powerful alien race known as Dimensionals have taken over in a worldwide invasion. City by city the globe began to suffer, but not everything in it was destroyed. Upon the Dimensionals pouring through the gates leading to another dimension, a psychic type of power known as Phase began to emerge. Affecting a small number of humans, they soon harnessed the power of the Phase energy, acting as the only means to deal with the invading species.
Using Phase Energy At Your Disposal
You take control of the Phase-power-inducing, alien-eliminating teenage group simply known as Closers. Each one of the elaborate characters comes prepared with their own set of skills, equipment and personality. While the story of Closers stays the same with each character, how it unfolds depends on which character you choose to play with. Slashing and phasing your way through hordes of menacing Dimensionals through the deep combat and character customization gameplay, players will discover a truly captivating experience with the heart of an ass-kicking anime.
Each of the teenage Closers team members have their own set of unique skills and abilities using the powerful Phase energy.
Closers is more than a mere solo hack ‘n’ slash title, as it’s held up by a solid MMO foundation with a thrilling co-op experience. Missions are given out in the central hub of the game, allowing players to team up, or go it alone across the constantly evolving story. Closers must always be connected to the online servers when playing, making it a simple task for players to easily hop into co-op missions, but losing connection happened occasionally – causing the entire game to crash out. This takes away from the immersive experience making it difficult to continue forth in the alien exterminating endeavour.
While my time with Closers found a few unreliable spots in the online servers, I was still able to thoroughly enjoy the episodic MMO inspired action RPG. In its semi 2D form, the side-scrolling view made the game feel as approachable as any other button mashing title. Though, the combat tactics dabble a bit further past your traditional beat ’em up strategy, as numerous skills and combos help push the battle further into a well-rounded combat experience. Each character has a set of three unique skills, finishers and a focus mode which adds to the damage dealt. Combining skills and turning them into combos works as the backbone to the battle system in Closers, pushing players to level up their characters and discover the vast amount of abilities, weapons and equipment hidden throughout the campaign.
Laying out combos is important to wipe out the many hordes of Dimensionals invading the New Seoul.
A Rewarding And Expansive Inventory System
As you make your way through Closers, the depth of the inventory system makes itself much more apparent. The many different pieces of stat-buffing equipment, weapons – both melee and ranged – and unique Phase abilities are vital in enhancing if you plan on tackling those hard to beat Dimensionals. Aside from co-oping online or brawling it out with the hostile aliens solo, players are also able to raise a pet within their inventory. Like beloved digital Tamagotchi pets, players will raise these creatures from an egg, into newborn through their adult life. When grown, they will aid you in battle but players must be sure to feed and maintain a healthy environment during their growing stages.
The Dimensionals come in many different forms, growing much stronger as the story progresses.
The 2.5D stylings of the side-scrolling hack ‘n’ slash MMORPG, Closers, is a gratifying experience too readily available to pass up. The free-to-play access and simple combat structure is as easily attainable as any fierce RPG infused beat ’em up can come, and doesn’t seem to be greatly hindered by extra costs and microtransaction packages. The episodic timeline shines in the realm of anime-inspired video games, fueled by the adrenaline-inducing action brought forth by cut-throat battles and an expansive character development system.
The skewed action in Swaps and Traps brings a delightful new approach to creating something modern and original to the typical standards we see in today’s platforming releases. While the same deadly obstacles and long jumps that help construct some of the best aspects from platformers today still exist in TeamTrap‘s debut release, a new kind of trap lies atop the head of the evil Divider’s head. His magical hat is capable of completely disorienting the screen, giving our hero Mike quite the methodical platforming adventure.
The blonde haired, muscle-bound protagonist is as carefree as they come, but when Mike hears of the theft of the enchanted hat by none other than his nemesis, ‘Divider’, things become a little more personal for our hero. You see, this mystical hat has the powers to change perception right before your eyes, and it’s up to Mike to retrieve the special keys, in turn, capturing the Divider – and his vile, disorienting ways. The story may be completely bonkers and provide very little depth of intrigue yes, but the gameplay does its job to keep you entertained.
Forgettable Plot With Memorable Gameplay
While the plot line isn’t anything to rave about, and the extremely awkward voice-overs strip any sort of justice away from the otherwise slick visuals, the concept behind Swaps and Traps is a doozy. Each stage consists of numerous platforms and treacherous obstacles that the player must evade to reach our dreadful villain, Divider. However, before Divider can be reached – which promptly clears the level allowing access to the next area – players must collect the cursed key(s) in each stage.
Finding yourself upside down completely changes the way you need to approach each obstacle.
Starting off the game with only one key per stage, Mike leaps and dodges his way around the small screen-sized obstacle course to grab the golden key. Once the key is grabbed, however, is when the levels begin to get interesting. Snatching the key may be the means for clearing the stage, but it also is the “key” element in completely rearranging portions of the screen. Just when you think Swaps and Traps will be your everyday modern platformer, things take a twisted turn and the game really starts to shine.
Taking one portion of the screen and swapping it with a portion on the other side can cause some very confusing, but highly entertaining reactions throughout the game. As you progress, the portions become smaller and more keys begin to appear in the stage, which adds more disorientation to the already bewildering stages. Collecting multiple keys in one stage can add an extra portion to be swapped, or even more puzzle inducing mayhem by rotating an already swapped portion. It’s common to find yourself re-configuring the controls mid-stage to adapt to an upside down platformer.
Different themes take you through the story – from wild jungles to dark and eerie castles.
A Disorienting Adventure
As you begin making your way through the stages things become not only more difficult from a platformer standpoint, but upon collecting numerous keys in one stage the utter confusion will begin to set in. Luckily, the developers realize how swapping out sections of the stage, as well as flipping them 180 degrees, can turn a rather straightforward level into an altered mess. Players thus have the option to reference back to the original layout in still photo form. With the press of the button, players can view an image of a particular stage’s original layout, even after sections have been swapped and flipped. As players begin to experiment they will soon discover that blindly leaping into a swapped section can often lead to death.
What really makes Swaps and Traps unique is that the entire stages aren’t completely flipped, but merely particular sections. While most of the stage might stay put after collecting a cursed key, the difficulty lies in the swapped sections that completely skew the player’s perception. Flipping and swapping out sections slows down the game as players try to figure out just how to land in a desired area, but that’s exactly what makes Swaps and Traps so approachable. Like most difficult platformers, our protagonist perishes after only one hit, giving a huge emphasis on trial and error, but the quick retry accessibility makes things much more attainable. The stages are extremely short, sometimes only taking a few seconds to complete, but it may take a few dozen tries to overcome some of the more challenging obstacles.
Gathering keys will continue to disorient the player’s perception of each stage, making for a wildly puzzling platformer.
Tons Of Swapping Fun To Be Had
With up to 30 stages in each of the three chapters and a handful of off-the-wall bonus stages, Swaps and Traps never seems to come short of throwing thought-provoking challenges at the player. The platforming itself is a joy to control making for easy-to-learn gameplay, but the swapped portions of stages add just enough to keep the game thoroughly absorbing. While the story itself is forgettable, and the atrocious voice-over work does more damage than good, Swaps and Traps totally makes up for it with original and over-the-top platforming action.
I tend to harp on the overly simplistic ports that have inundated the Switch since its release. The one to ten-year-old ports that have crowded the eShop can be annoying, and it’s that over crowdedness which can bury a great indie game under all the clutter. If you can manage to wade through all of the nonsense, you might just be lucky enough to find The Darkside Detective, from Spooky Doorway and Isometric Dreams. I simply adore everything about this title, with the story, humor, music, and overall premise of this game overjoying me. What could easily be dismissed as yet another title from a bygone era, is actually one of the more fun and entertaining titles in the Switch library.
The Darkside Detective Review [Nintendo Switch]
The Darkside Detective is a cross between the The X-Files, Kolchak, and Twin Peaks, and follows around Detective Francis McQueen as he attempts to solve mysteries of the supernatural. Following the Detective on his cases is officer Dooley, a dim-witted, but hilarious beat cop who adds little help to the case, but a whole lot of entertainment to the player. As the pair work on cases involving members of the occult, ghosts, monsters, and the paranormal, the detective must put all the pieces together to uncover the mysteries of the Darkside.
The Darkside Detective
The game is rather simple at its core, and is mostly a point/drag and click adventure. There’s no free movement, but rather you click on the direction or room you want to go and the slide changes. Each room and environment (which are all beautifully animated), can be interacted with and searched for clues. As you hover the pointer over objects and people, you’re given the option to either talk, examine, or take. It’s very important to listen to everyone, as clues to the case could, and most likely would, be blurted out.
From haunted police stations, spooky libraries, and eerie subway tunnels, the town of Twin Lakes where this is all set is unique and filled with mysteries. McQueen must make his way throughout each location in order to solve the case, and the objects you find can be combined in order to help. A missed clue or object could mean endless searching for what you’re supposed to do next. The game is about being a detective, so go and detect!
The Darkside Detective
Making the overall experience even more enjoyable is a laugh-out-loud tongue in cheek humor. From the names/puns of the missions and characters to the witty banter, I found myself bursting out into laughter on more than one occasion. I don’t want to ruin any of the funny lines, but in one instance, McQueen and Dooley are standing in a room with a giant marble statue of an angel. Click on the statue, and Dooley simply blurts out “Don’t Blink.” For any Doctor Who super-fan such as myself, that little reference is just about as close to perfection as a nerd can get. These pop culture references and humorous one-liners pop up throughout the game and help to set the adventure apart from similar titles.
The Darkside Detective
The only true negative I can think of is that it’s all too easy. There are only six cases to get through, and I was already on case four by day two. The only time I felt challenged was when I failed to find an important object or didn’t talk to someone and missed a vital clue. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but as someone who is in love with the game, I really wanted the journey to last longer. It’s my hope that the developers release some new cases in a future DLC pack.
When I say I am in love with this game, I mean everything about it, including the music. As I was playing in handheld mode, the music sounded amazing. I slapped on some Bose headphones, and the experience magnified. From composer Ben Prunty, the man behind games such as FTL and Gravity Ghost, the music in Darkside Detective is just beautifully done. Befitting the supernatural tone of the game, Prunty’s score is some of the best music in recent gaming memory. Just remember, this is a simplistic game, so the fact that they put this much effort into the music really shows the passion surrounding the project.
If anyone needed an example of how to make light of a difficult situation, then they may well look the way of Her Majesty’s SPIFFING (HMS). The Brexit vote split the country almost precisely in half, so what better subject matter to cover in a satirical video game format?
Her Majesty’s SPIFFING Review – Nintendo Switch
With the outcome of the vote the same in this fictional universe, the Queen has decided to exercise her power to dissolve parliament and rule the country by herself. And what would any self-respected queen do upon her first day in office? That’s right; launch a space exploration program. More specifically the SPIFFING initiative, standing for Special Planetary Investigative Force For Inhabiting New Galaxies.
In charge of this brave exploratory mission into space is Captain Frank Lee English and at his side is his Welsh counterpart Aled. As the name suggests, Frank is the epitome of British-ness and loves a good cup of tea and living up to as many stereotypes as possible in a short space of time. HMS is a puzzler set in the ship on which Frank and Aled travel in their attempt to find pastures new for Britain to expand its Empire once more.
This plays out much like other puzzlers that have come before it, not too dissimilar to the games by Telltale and harking back to puzzle games of old such as Monkey Island. Completing puzzles keeps you on course to reach your destination and sees you fishing a metal detector out of a litter tray, sending frogs to sleep and tipping hot tea over Aled. It’s a fun game that takes a tried and tested mechanic and gives it a light-hearted twist, not taking itself too seriously.
The stereotypes it relies on to incite humour can sometimes border on cringy, but I think it just about gets away with it. The puzzles can often be obscure, leaving you scratching your head and traipsing around the ship trying to find a solution. If there was one thing I had to say about HMS is that it is over far too quickly. I know it is only one episode of what will hopefully be a succession of outings for the team at Billy Goat Entertainment, but I finished it in super quick time. If the game had multiple outcomes, which it doesn’t, then it would have a bit more longevity. Without that replay value is very limited, but the humour it gives you just about carries it through.
The immeasurable list of old-school inspired RPG titles seems too dauntless to rifle through, even for some of the most dedicated RPG gamers around. Dragon Sinker follows in line with the rest of the 8-bit moulded titles released from publisher KEMCO, but still manages to provide a few subtle twists to the waterlogged RPG genre. However, I’m just not sold it’s enough to separate itself from the enormous heap of other traditional turn-based RPG titles that consistently overflow the industry.
As any enthralling attempt at a fantasy story begins, players are thrust into an epic battle with a mighty dragon foe known as Wyrmvarg. In a vast world where the three distinct races – Humans, Elves and Dwarves – are all divided by racial tension, players will need to find a way to unite the land and take out the dreaded dragon threat, (LOTR, to some degree). Throughout the lengthy adventure, players will find themselves amidst a journey that feels similar to the other nostalgic experiences available. Taking on the many monsters that lurk through the overworld map and its many dungeons in search of the coveted weapons capable of slaying the beastly dragon is nothing close to original, but that doesn’t mean Dragon Sinker isn’t an enjoyable experience nonetheless.
Yet Another Dragon/Fantasy Adventure
The 8-bit pixellated visuals scream nostalgia and take players back to what can only be described as the golden age of RPGs. As you wake from your deadly fight with the dragon enemy – Wyrmvarg – players take control of the human warrior, Abram. As you progress through the story you’ll soon discover your hometown is only a small village in a very vast world. Each of the three races has their own regions throughout the lands, as it comes down to our team of heroes to unite them and take out the looming threat.
In standard RPG form, Dragon Sinker has players exploring an overhead map in search of villages and dungeons. As you travel from dungeon to dungeon or village to village, random enemy encounters occur bringing up the turn-based battle system. The combat is as traditional as most other turn-based RPGs, as players choose from a variety of physical and elemental attacks for each one of their party members. After each character – up to four in a party – has selected either offensive, defensive, or support tactics, it’s the enemies turn to react. It’s yet another take on one of the most common and simple battle systems found in traditional RPGs and done so in an easy-to-learn fashion.
As you meet new warriors your party will expand and grow with a diverse cast of characters.
A Unique Team-Based Party System
Where Dragon Sinker takes a different path from the cookie cutter RPG formula is the unique team system. As distinguished earlier, the game’s world is populated by three separate races. As you continue your journey as a noble human warrior, you will meet characters from both the dwarf and elf tribes. As the legend has it, the dreaded Wyrmvarg was once defeated by a trio of warriors containing one warrior of each race. As you may have guessed, this is precisely what players must accomplish, among other tactics, to take down the fearful beast.
As you begin to build your party, players will become aware of Dragon Sinker’s unique team system. As you acquire new allies they will be paired with one of the three different parties. The player will control all three parties with the ability to swap between them in battle. Each team resembles the Humans, Elves and Dwarves – giving a bit more strategy during the tactical battles. Keeping each of the parties – and party members – distinct with multiple effective skills and abilities, the unique party swapping system helps players switch between weaknesses and other affinities while in the heat of battle.
The turn-based combat system is a staple in the retro RPG era and one that’s not forgone in Dragon Sinker.
A Simple Experience
While the overall tone of Dragon Sinker doesn’t actually add anything new to the retro RPG category, the game still provides a sound and simple experience. Whether you’re a gamer who maybe missed the boat on the 8/16 bit RPG era, or perhaps an RPG enthusiast looking for the next sentimental experience – Dragon Sinker hits a few of those feelings, and rather sharply. Just don’t expect any game-changing moments throughout the brunt of the journey.
Four years after its initial release on Steam, Mercenary Kings from Tribute Games Inc. has made its way to the Switch. With two parts Metal Slug, one part Contra, one part Metal Gear, and a tiny dash of Fall Out, this Kickstarter led 2D action game is not without flaws but does manage to entertain and be a great addition to the Switch’s portable lineup.
The premise of Mercenary Kings is straight out of a 1980’s action fest. As part of the Mercenary Kings, you are a member of the greatest gun-for-hire groups on the planet. Without warning, the majority of your team is wiped out in quite the gruesome fashion by the sinister group known as CLAW (I guess someone loved inspector gadget as a kid). With only two survivors, you must rebuild the group and go after CLAW, who have just taken over a secret island laboratory base and the dangerous weapons contained within.
Mercenary Kings
Players get to chose from different characters to play as, each with different sayings, attributes, and a few unique weapons. I don’t feel the game plays any different based on your choice of avatar, but I’m sure players will have their preference. The first few missions of the game have you rescuing more team members to add to the ranks. Each of these individuals are experts in a specific field, such as weaponry, knife making, piloting, medicine, etc. After you rescue each teammate, they are able to help you on your missions.
As you run-and-gun through each of the over one-hundred missions, you’re able to pick up various items to aid in the crafting of better weapons and necessities. Once you’ve gathered enough of the required material, simply visit one of the aforementioned genius teammates who will upgrade your weapons, body armor, and overall equipment. When it comes to crafting, I typically think of big open world games like Fallout, but having the option to do it in what’s especially a 16-bit game that I could have played on my Neo Geo, is actually quite fun.
Mercenary Kings
The jungle setting does get a tad repetitive after a while, as there is only so much you can do and change to make things look different or unique, but the varied nature of enemies to blast away does tend to make up for it. From normal grunts that are easily killed with one shot, to giant behemoths and mechanized warriors, players will enjoy the challenge. This is not to say the game is extremely difficult, but it certainly isn’t a breeze either. I found I had to restart a mission more than once because I either ran through my limited lives or wasn’t able to complete the mission in the time allotted. Once the timer runs out, the mission is lost, and you’re sent immediately back to base (the same happens if you lose all your lives).
Each mission comes with a monetary reward for completing it in its entirety. The more things you miss or fail to pick-up/achieve, the less money you get in the end. Throughout the mission, you’re able to use a transceiver to call in favors from your crew. Need some health, a different weapon, and mission advice? Just dial up the right person in a similar fashion to the old Metal Gear codec. These requests cost you, so keep that in mind before going crazy. You’ll need to save up as much of the bounty you receive from missions in order to craft/buy better weapons and equipment. As nice as the standard gun is, you’re really going to want to upgrade to something better as the levels increase in difficulty.
Mercenary Kings
Gamers can most definitely go at it solo, or they can play both online and offline 4-player co-op. Like the original Contra, this is one of those games that is exceptionally fun with two or more players. There can be a lot going on in these missions with enemies flying at you from all directions. I can attest to the fact that having an extra gun or two on your side would greatly relieve some of the pressure. It’s another instance where the Joy-Cons and the overall portability of the system really shine, and we had a ton of fun playing co-op with this one.
As an added treat, the character animations in Mercenary Kinds have been designed by Paul Robertson, best known for his work on Scott Pilgrim and Pixel. Robertson’s designs fit the game perfectly, using a great balance of 80’s camp and pure machismo to give each character a unique look and feel. It’s the little touches when a developer goes out of its way to bring in someone like Robertson that I really appreciate. To me, this makes the game stand out from the clutter.
Mercenary Kings
Overall, I really enjoyed blasting my way through Mercenary Kings. It’s nothing entirely new, but the little things like crafting and calling in for supplies really adds to its enjoyment. I do enjoy a good run-and-gun game, especially ones that remind me of stuff from back in the day, but even I have to admit it got a little repetitive. I know this is a common complaint of mine, but I call it like I see it. I also felt the difficulty was a bit erratic, with some levels being exceptionally easy, while others unnecessary difficult.
