Recent reviews by jimbobslimbob

Space Engine is a space "simulator" that gives you access to the entire universe. Known objects are recreated here in brilliant detail and the game fills in the blanks with procedural objects.

It has two main modes - the Planetarium and the Flight Simulator. Planetarium mode lets you jump around and explore without constraint - to explore new planets, find out how things work or create screenshots of wonderful places. It's great as a learning tool for anyone interested in space and the wonders it contains. Featuring search and filtering tools, control over time and all manor of other things.

Flight Simulator mode is exactly that. You can plonk a space ship down and fly around in the universe to your heart's content. The physics of flying is Newtonian - so it's pretty close at being as "real life" as you can get. Anyone that's played games like Kerbal Space Program will instantly recognise the system and be right at home. It's pure joy to hop onto the workshop, download a ship you like and then zip around the galaxy in it.

Graphically, it's beautiful. Space and all its various wonders has been meticulously created in stunning detail. The procedural planets are so detailed and well made that you'd think they were hand-crafted. Some of the more exotic objects like black holes and neutron stars are a wonder to behold. Saying that, just watching a sunrise on an alien planet with 3 moons will have you in awe. There is a lot to love here. It also features integrated VR (which I admittedly haven't tried yet), for those so inclined.

It's a great game - and very chill. The kind of thing you can get lost in very easily (that's a good thing). Anyone with the slightest interest in space as a hobby, or otherwise should check it out. There is a free version available on their website. This is a bit behind now and they will not be updating it. It's a great way to try before you buy, though - so check it out if you are on the fence before purchasing.

Jimbo Rating: 8/10

That's amazing. What is it?

Let's start with a big clap for the absolutely gorgeous visuals, sound and music - full of nostalgia and genuine respect for the franchise. The game is beautiful. All those involved with developing the assets, world, sound and music should be congratulated. A lot of hard-work went into nailing the atmosphere from the first film and it comes together really well. It runs well in 4K and captures that grimy 70's vision of the future that Alien did so well.

Anybody ever tell you you look dead, man?

Unfortunately that's where the praise ends. The game itself revolves around walking/crouching from point to point, spending 30% of the time hiding, 20% of the time walking, 40% of the time dying (only to repeat the same crap over and over again from the last save point) and 10% pressing buttons. It's a true exercise in frustration - The gameplay just isn't there. Yeah it nails the horror vibe - but rather than being scared, it just gets you annoyed. The save mechanic - while no doubt implemented to add to the sense of loss upon a death - makes things far more annoying than they should be as well. You will die a lot - and in doing so will just be spending your time replaying the same areas over and over again.

What on earth did they do to the Alien as well? Rather than hiding in the shadows for an opportune moment to strike like a stealthy panther waiting to pounce, this one stomps around upright in full view with what sounds like clogs on. It sticks to you like glue, but is seemingly unable to see you behind a chair. I can't help but think they turned the Alien into more of a clanky, loud Terminator than a stealthy predator like it should be.

If we ain't out of here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space

Clearly not the game for me - and I say that with genuine sadness. I wanted to adore it. I avoided this one on launch because I feared it would be like this... and I should have "listened" to myself. I was persuaded by a friend to pick it up on sale, but no amount of adoring the source material can persuade me that this game is anything other than a mess. As much as I want to continue, if only for the story and atmosphere, I just can't - especially since from what I read, the game is long and the last half is a slog. At this point, I would only be playing because of love for the franchise and curiosity for the story - not enjoyment (it pains me to say). Will I continue with it despite all this? Not sure. Time will tell...

Micro changes in air density, my ass.

Lovers of stealth and horror games will probably get more out of it than I have. But when even the stealth mechanic (which is the majority of actual gameplay) is lacklustre, boring and frustrating, I would steer away from it in favour of games that do it better. Loving the Alien franchise is not enough here... sadly.

...we're still collating.

Jimbo Rating: 6/10 (because of the effort put into making the game world as brilliantly as they had).

It's honestly severely overrated. The focus on melee kills via chainsaw, fists and flame-thrower make guns feel almost useless - coupled with the need to NOT kill things with guns - and instead reliance on closing in to finish with one of your hotkeys make the gun-play awful. Add to that some completely unneeded and unwanted platforming make this a real chore. Then you have the fact that the game stifles freedom by forcing you to use certain guns (with certain mods) against some enemies. Gone is the carefree way of giving you the tools and letting you play it your way, because if you don't follow Eternal's strict rules you are going to have trouble.

Really disappointed after buying the game expecting a decent sequel to 2016. It isn't Doom anymore... something I thought I'd never say. RIP.

- Jimbo Rating: 5/10 - being generous due to awesome sound and engine.

An early access game (at the time of writing this) that has a cool concept, but seems lacking any fun.

It's a 4 player co-op "survival" game, where you are sent underground to perform tasks and have to deal with aliens that are alerted to sound and light. Once awoken, they swarm you, so the key tactic in the game is stealth. Stealth, crawling and whacking things with a hammer - that is literally 80% of the game. With 4 people playing, levels are a long drawn out affair with a lot of wandering about and down-time. A very slow-paced game. Tactics are important - to a degree, but it seems more like a place-holder for stuff to come - which would be welcome.

The rest of the game breaks down into fumbling about in terminals to locate routes and items, and some frantic gunplay which normally ends in death or soon-to-be-death if you expended too much ammo. It simply needs more.

The concept here is really cool, but it just lacks "something". They need to improve the gunplay, add more ways of dealing with threats and add more in terms of gameplay than simply crawling around whacking things with a hammer. If and when they do this - the game could be something special. I like the idea of always being on the "back-foot" and struggling to survive, but it needs far more development to be an enjoyable game.

I will keep my eyes on it and see where it develops...as for now, I simply cannot recommend it in the current state.

Early Access Jimbo Rating (provisional): 5/10

Jedi: Fallen Order is a welcome single player Jedi experience that mixes tough tactical, skill-based combat with exploration and simple puzzles. It features a movement mechanic that may remind you of games like Assassins Creed - with wall running, climbing, swinging, shimmying etc.

I grew up with the Dark Forces and Jedi Knight games and have waited years for something similar to come along. We got the Force Unleashed games, but neither of those were particularly great. I am pleased to say that this "fills the gap".

Simple, yet well done. Great characters and acting.
The story premise is fairly simple - involving a Jedi Padawan named Cal that escaped Order 66 and is in hiding. Throughout the game's early tutorial, he becomes hunted by the Empire and must race to find a Jedi Holocron containing the names and locations of force sensitive children - the "next generation" of Jedi.

While the premise is simple, the characters, voice acting and animation are all top-notch and really add flavour to the game. The character-based moments are all great - including the glimpses into back-stories that we see. One character in particular that you meet later on in the story, I wish was around more and had more screen time - since their interactions with the other characters were enjoyable.

Combat, puzzles, exploration and platforming. 15-20 hours play-time.
Gameplay consists of 4 main elements - combat, puzzles, exploration and platforming. The game reminded me very much of games like Soul Reaver - action games that included puzzles and platforming, along with unlockable abilities and upgrades. Combat is not a button-mashing affair - or a force-powered fireworks display. It's a more tactical, slow, reaction-based system that can be brutal. It takes some getting used to, but is a rewarding experience once you get to grips with it. I highly recommend using a joypad for the combat alone - it is immensely more enjoyable (and easier) than a Mouse and Keyboard here.

Force powers add spice to both the combat and the rest of the game - including using them for puzzle solving and environment manipulation. You gain XP to level-up Force, Lightsaber or Survival skills. XP itself is gained from combat, missions and exploration.

General gameplay is varied enough so that you are never doing one thing for too long and the game (for the most part) keeps this loop enjoyable. It does suffer from repetition - due to making you go through the same areas more than once. I would have loved a simple "Return to ship" button once you are done with the area you are in. Some of the save-point locations are frustrating as well and could have done with better positioning to avoid unnecessary repetition.

Playtime was around 20 hours for me, which could have both been shorter or longer depending on the amount of exploration you perform or the amount of battles you have to re-do. The game seemed to end just as it was finally "hitting its stride" for me, which was a real shame. It could have done with being a little longer. Send me to Nar Shaddaa!

All the authentic Star Wars feel is here and it looks and sounds wonderful.
Stunning. All the authentic Star Wars feel is here and it looks and sounds wonderful. Environmental detail is great, I just wish we had a bit more variety to the environments. I would have loved to see Nar Shaddaa or Coruscant, for example. Voice acting is really well done, as-is the music.

Great Star Wars single player action-adventure. Lacks length or significant depth and held back by small silly details, but will be sure to entertain.

Jimbo Rating: 8/10

A surprisingly fun and charming game. Streets of Rogue is a "rogue-lite" game that shares most of its DNA with "rogue" games and RPG games, mixed with an old-school pixel art vibe and a soundtrack that at times seems ripped from Streets of Rage altogether (it's good).

The basic premise of the game is that you must make your way through progressively more difficult "floors" to reach the top of the city, where you must take down the mayor and end his reign of terror - which is making chicken nuggets illegal, by the way.

The gameplay is left very open ended in that you have a multitude of different character classes to choose from, each with unique abilities and ways to deal with missions. Run and gun? Pick the Soldier. Stealth? Pick the Thief or Assassin. Don't want to hurt anyone? Pick the Doctor. There are also some weird and wonderful ones like Vampire, Zombie, Gorilla, Scientist, Cop, Firefighter, Barman, Investment Banker and lots more. You can even mix-and-match abilities, stats and traits to create your own class.

You soon realise that Streets of Rogue allows many different approaches to how you deal with missions and threats. It allows great freedom and encourages experimentation. There are tons of abilities and items that switch up your game and it's great fun to try them all out to find new ways of completing objectives.

Each level/floor exists in a certain area, including the Slums, Industrial Zone, The Park, Downtown and Uptown. Each of these contain 3 levels on each, with the third being a randomly generated "disaster" of some sort, making it harder than the previous levels to complete. Some of the disasters include a zombie apocalypse, periodic radiation blasts, a killer robot on the hunt for you and much more. The addition of this third zone means sometimes your well laid out plans fly right out of the window - to hilarious consequences. There is a final level after this, which only has one act. Each level and mission is also randomly generated - meaning no two games are ever the same (unless you make note of the seed to use again). Couple this with an insta-death mechanic means you will die a lot - and hopefully learn from your mistakes and correct them on the next run. Alternatively, perhaps the ♥♥♥♥ will just hit the fan and you will walk into a hole in the ground.

Some of the best moments this game has to offer are when the random insanity meter goes into overdrive. Think fast in these situations, or die. One tiny mistake can sometimes lead to an all-out war on a level if you are not careful. Alternatively, you can swing the tide to your advantage just as easily with a well placed item or a tactic which becomes more and more useful as the game goes on - starting a turf war.

The game also contains up to 4 player multiplayer. Split-screen or online. I have yet to try this, but envisage it to be a lot of fun.

In summary, the game is a fun, addictive rogue-lite with strong RPG elements. Random levels and objectives, tons of ways of dealing with things, tons of choice and wacky-ness.

Jimbo Rating: 8/10

Overhyped, grindy, boring/repetitive survival game with massive time-gates and very poor optimisation. Yeah, I didn't like it at all.

"You are cold. You are hot. You are thirsty. You are hungry. Plaaaaaaap - you have just taken a dump." - sums up my time in the game.

Ark is a survival game similar to games like Rust, 7DTD, Grav - but with dinosaurs. That's pretty much it really. Graphically it looks pretty enough, but the game is so poorly optimised it's laughable. Couple this with the fact it doesn't even have VSYNC, G-SYNC or a frame rate limiter means your GPU will be constantly running maxed out. It suffers from bugs like clipping errors a lot. At one point I got stuck standing on an unconscious dino and the only way off was for another player to kill me.

Gameplay is also plagued with issues. Firstly, "Busywork". Repetitive, boring busywork. The game is chock-full of it. A technique a lot of games these days employ to extend play time - even some of the AAA ones. It's lazy and is a trend I wish we could get rid of. You will spend the majority of your time in Ark collecting, mining and chopping down trees. This is coupled with the grind. Even with our server set at 4x for XP, taming, resources and the like, it's a very long and painful grind. The game stops you from building things until you have reached a certain level, things like taming taking an age and the general "artificial wall" this game applies to slow down your progress is dreadful. This is worsened when you factor in level discrepancies with other players. The game punishes the players that don't play as much and creates a rift - like many other games of similar ilk. Given the amount of time required to get anywhere in this game, it's a mechanic that punishes people who do not play every day.

There is apparently an endgame where you have to kill endgame bosses. However, it's not something that inspires me to continue at all. The majority of the game is the journey - and when that isn't fun then I have no desire to see how it ends. It gives me zero incentive to spend potentially hundreds of hours farting about just so I can kill a big dinosaur and call it quits.

So, what's to like? The ability to tame and ride dinosaurs is cool (although ruined due to the time gating and grind). You get the feeling this game could have been something really special, had the developers cared as much for gameplay as they did grind. The combat is okay. Nothing good or bad there.

Crafting is okay. The terrain is unfortunately not alterable, but the structures and things you can build is pretty decent - so there is definitely something there for those that like making things. It lacks depth, but is serviceable.

That's it, really. Summary: below average survival game with dinosaurs, severe grind and boring busywork, consisting of 90% of your time.

Jimbo Rating: 4/10

I have never been a fan of rhythm games like Guitar Hero and the like. I am still not a fan of those types of games... except Beat Saber - which completely blew me away.

Backtrack to a drunken night playing VR and my wife suggests trying out this "Beat Saber game" for a laugh. I thought "why not"? After-all, I have the 2 hour refund window in Steam so she can get some VR dance fun and then I can get my money back. Oh boy was I in for a shock...

Beat Saber is a VR rhythm game where you attempt to hit oncoming blocks at varying angles and directions, to the beat of music. It also features walls to duck and doge, along with bombs to avoid like the plague. Sounds simple? Well, it is - in theory. It's a game that is instantly accessible by pretty much anyone but that also takes a lot of skill and practice to master. It's an immense amount of fun. There are a number of difficulty options to allow even those with absolutely no sense of rhythm to have fun with game. It rewards practice and is highly addictive. I can honestly say this is one VR game you must try, even if you are like me and don't usually like these kind of games.

Although the game lacks a decent number of tracks, you can quickly and easily mod the game and gain access to thousands of user-made content for endless re-playability. The tracks included in the game are pretty good, for the most part and I found a few in particular that were nothing short of excellent. On top of this, the developers have said they are going to be releasing content patches with new songs.

The only other "con" I can think of with the game is that the jump from Expert to Expert+ difficulty is complete insanity. Where-as on Expert you can do pretty well and get a good feel for the song, Expert+ mode ramps the difficulty up drastically - forcing you to memorize tracks in order to complete them. This difficulty is seen by adding lots more blocks to hit - and this is where you realise that with so many blocks so close together, you just can't see some of them. Some of the fun also gets lost on the way to Expert and Expert+, where smaller, quicker movements are necessary, instead of the enjoyment you get out of performing flashy dance moves with Expert mode.

Other than the lack of tracks and the difficulty issue mentioned above, the game is absolutely a must play and I would recommend it to every single VR user. Get yourself the song downloader mod and half of this problem is solved already.

Jimbo Rating: 9/10

Prey is a first person "shooter", in the vein of Bioshock and Deus-Ex. That is, it's more than just a Doom clone. It also shares nothing in common with the previous "Prey" game.

The story is one of the main attractions here. There is a lot to it and the way the game doesn't force story-line down your throat is a nice change - you are free to explore (or not) as much of it as you want. The basic premise (without giving too much away) is that you are stuck on a spacestation, known as Talos 1 when an outbreak of nasty alien-things occurs. From here, it's up to you to find a way to stop them. The aliens - Typhon - are an interesting bunch. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from small "Mimicks", which can shapeshift into nearby objects and jump out to give you a fright, to "Phantoms" (the basic soldiers), "Poltergeists" - invisible telekinesis-wielding ghosts and a whole lot more. Most enemies in this game are also challenging to face head-on (especially earlier on in the game when resources are scarce). Combining tactics, equipment, the environment and weapons is the way to go here - and a lot of fun when you get to grips with how all the systems interact with each-other.

Gameplay is great fun. It's a fairly slow-paced game that gives you the opportunity to explore your surroundings and experiment with different tactics. There is a wealth of secrets to uncover and treasures to find. You are given the opportunity to upgrade various skills throughout the game via "Neuromods" (think Plasmids from Bioshock). These include things such as hacking computers, repairing devices, increasing weapon effectiveness and stealth. You are also able to use certain Typhon abilities later in game, which drastically shakes up both combat and the way in which you deal with the environment. Supernatural abilities like transforming into a tea-cup, energy blasts, shields and all other manor of weird and wonderful powers are open to you.

Like Bioshock and Deus-Ex, there are always more than one way to progress. The game gives you the tools and lets you come up with a playstyle that suits you. You can run through the entire game without killing a single Typhon if you so desired. Door locked and insufficient hacking skill? There is always another way - how about transforming into a cup and sliding through a hole in the window?

Graphically it looks pretty good and runs surprisingly well, although load times between areas is a little annoying sometimes - especially if you are running from place to place. Music and sound are worth merit also. The sounds of certain enemies (The Nightmare and Poltergeist spring to mind) are really well done.

To summarise, if you like Bioshock or Deus-Ex, you will probably like this. It's a great FPS-RPG hybrid that offers more than you may think at first glance.

Jimbo Rating: 8/10

Starbound is a side-scrolling exploration game with crafting, survival elements, varied environments and missions. It is a game that truly does live up to the "freeform gameplay" tag that a lot of these kind of games claim. The universe is a huge, randomly generated place full of varied planets, moons, anomalies and other friendly (or not so friendly) other ships. It is playable in single-player and also via drop-in-out multiplayer and dedicated servers.

Progression is a really well done mechanic in the game. There is no "XP" for tasks at all. You simply get better at doing the things you do by doing them - via better materials, tech and experience. This then allows you to take on greater challenges. The early game consists of "survival", where your ship is stranded, orbiting a planet. From here you must gather by mining, looting, exploring and dungeon crawling on the planet to make yourself better gear and establish a foothold. Once you have a base and a way of generating food you can then plan out your next big excursion. This area of the game gives you a good opportunity to explore the systems in place and mess around, without too much hassle. When you feel you are ready to experience the rest of the game you fix your ship and suddenly the game opens up into a much more massive and more complex being, which had me in awe. After that you are free to do whatever you want - you can go for the main quests or choose something else entirely. There is a main storyline, which centers around finding the infinity stones artefacts of 5 different races. This can be tackled at your own pace. The game also offers side quests from planet inhabitants and also the many different species on the "Outpost" (an intergalactic shopping mall in space).

Your character can be equipped with a variety of different "tech", enhancing their abilities. How about the ability to wall-run, double-jump, dash or even turn into a sticky "ball" that can climb up walls and onto ceilings? Your character is further customised with an extensive armour and clothing system, which adds to certain abilities and allows you to enhance the aspect of your character that you want. Melee, ranged, duel-wielding guns, shotguns, rocket launchers, flame-throwers, magical staffs - you name it it has it. Find a play-style that works for you and go nuts with it. The variety here is great.

Fairly early on in the game you are also given a Mech - which can be deployed on planets or in space. The mech is particularly useful when mining for ship fuel on moons where there is no atmosphere or boarding other ships and stations to loot, trade or attack. This, like with everything in the game can be upgraded and customised to your liking. Quests also give you access to hiring crew members, which in turn upgrade your ship and give you companions to help you on your travels.

The crafting and building systems are actually quite detailed. You are given a "Matter Manipulator" at the start of the game, which can be upgraded as you play. This is the basic tool you use for terraforming. Later on it can also be used to collect liquids, paint and lay wires to connect objects that interact with each-other. Planets can be changed to your liking - you can create bases, houses, farms or anything else your imagination comes up with. You can even make a business out of it: for example, you can turn your farm into a food business and ship off the food you make for profit or even create housing for the local inhabitants of the planets and become landlord to receive rent. You can even make a zoo, with the intent on harvesting rare materials. There really is so much you can do here that it's mind-boggling to come to terms with the scope. Thankfully, the intuitive building system makes it quick and easy to make things. As you learn additional blueprints and mine more advanced materials you can craft better and better things. Not just buildings either, but armour, weapons, bombs, tools, furniture and technology.

So, in summary: the game is great. There is an enormous amount of content that will keep you playing for hundreds of hours. Thanks to the addictive and intuitive mechanics in play, it will also keep you coming back for more. Build, craft, loot, explore, hunt, dungeon crawl, run a business empire - it has it all.

Jimbo Rating: 9/10