Recent reviews by thekillerbits

Despite the towering stature of the enemies Extinction is an incredibly shallow game.

The basic setup is you play as Avil, the last of the Sentinels, the only hero able to stop the kingdom being crushed into oblivion beneath the heel of the gigantic Ravenii. And, at first, whipping around the city dispatching trash mobs in a flurry of blades before lopping the limbs and head off a humongous ogre is fun. But this quickly becomes very tired as you soon discover ever subsequent level is rinse-repeat version the last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvMZAZCGmZQ

The game feels like a lazy cash grab (especially given the price of it) with just a few basic map environments, 4 variants of the standard mobs and the only way to telling the ogres apart is by their limited armor types. What's more the movement and map traversal can be incredibly annoying as grapple shots send you flying off in odd directions or the slightest bounce off a tree is more likely to move you away from a fight rather than towards your objective.

This genuinely feels like a modern arcade game (and not in a good way) as it has you playing pretty much the same level over and over again in order to get a slightly better high score. And if it was on a arcade cabinet it would be hoovering up quarters as the lousy camera angle leaves you open get one-shotted by some onseen backhand from an oversized Shrek.

Simply put this feels like someone wanted to make an Attack on Titan or Shadow of the Colossus game (but couldn't get the licence). What's more the team behind it have wildy over estimated it's value. In my opinion this game is not worth getting unless it's on a VERY deep discount on sale.

After playing this for a couple of hours this afternoon all I can really say is I was a little underwhelmed with the single player experience. But if you've ever played Magicka before and you've got friends ready to join you for a spell in the wizarding arts Nine Parchments should be a [fireball] blast.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/206964208

As this game is from the same folks that brought us Trine, a team with a strong pedigree when it comes to delivering fun indie experiences with a strong visual flair, there was probably a certain degree of expectation - at least when it comes to presentation. Thankfully Frozenbyte do deliver on this front creating a lush fantasy world very reminiscent Trine 3 with it's 3D world and attention to little details in the environment.

Unfortunately if you were hoping for brain teasing puzzles or original, innovative gameplay then you maybe a little disappointed. This does just look and feel like another installment of Magicka. Though with this being on console aswell the spellcasting is a lot simpler. You are not typing combinations of letters to cast instead you just cycle through the spells you acquire along your journey.

You do have a nice variety of magic at your disposal. And as you would expect certain elemental types are better suited against certain monsters and this does all give rise to some nice combos. And there is a strong RPG thread running throughout the game allowing to spec your character however you like with certain hats and staves altering you build.

Though there is a definite downside to all this customization in that you only have access to 2 of the 8 characters at the start of the game - even when you're playing in 4 player co-op. To unlock the other wizards and the various skins/outfits available to them you have to play through the game. Whilst this does give the game replayability it would have been nice to have at least half the cast of characters available from the start.

But as you might expect this game wasn't really meant to be played on your own. And it does really start to shine when you are playing in multiplayer. And for the very same reason Magicka was and always will be a riot to play - Friendly Fire. Yes, the biggest risk to your character is not the enemies but your friends as spells go awry missing the monsters competely and hitting your colleagues square in the back.

To sum up if you are looking play this on your own then I'd maybe give it a miss. But if you have friends to play with in local co-op or if you can persuade some people to pick it up now (or maybe on sale) then this should make for a fun few hours of entertainment.

Who doesn't want to dispense diplomacy with a flamethrower or replace those tired, old (and maybe slightly chewed) limbs with some nice new robotic ones. Well in Pixwerk's new twin-stick shooter - Tower 57, you can do just that.

As agents of the I.T.G. (Inter Tower Governance) you are tasked with seeking out the Supervisor and crushing his little rebellion before it can spread to the other overcrowded towers in this grim post-cataclysm dieselpunk world. No matter how many flesh eating mutant dogs get in your way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giIpN3vopqg

Those of us that are (let's just say) of a certain age will recall with some fondness a golden age of gaming in the 16-bit era. Not just on consoles like the Genesis and SNES but home comptuers like the Atari & Amiga. And one of the most celebrated developers of that time were the Bitmap Brothers, creating classics like Speedball, Gods and of course The Chaos Engine.

Tower 57 is a true love letter to games of that generation and feels like almost a spiritual successor to The Chaos Engine not just in its presentation but also its overall feel. It's loud and brash but with some dark undertones and wonderfully weird sense of humor.

The gameplay, at its core, is as back to basics as you can get - enter a level and pretty much shoot everything that moves. But Pixwerk's have done a great job with the actual level design aswell, with branching paths to your objective, hidden secrets and destructible environments that can both help and hinder your progress.

The game sounds great. It's a ton of fun to play (both on you own and with a friend). And even in a market oversaturated with indie pixelart games I have to admit Tower 57 is a feast for the eyes. My only gripe is I'd love to carry more guns than the the 3 it limits you to. (Also having the weapon switch button as "C" on the keyboard seems a little odd and takes a little getting used to.) But that's just a minor gripe.

I fully realise this game is definitely not going to be for everyone and I'm aware my thoughts and feelings about this game are definitely colored with those pangs of nostalgia having grown up with games like these in the 90's. But rose tinted glasses aside I highly recommend you check this game out.

Get ready for the least sweary episode of Hell's Kitchen you are ever likely to see as Daylight Studios return with more potato based puns and cute characters in another Holy Potatoes! game in - Holy Potatoes! What the Hell?!

A lot of the elements from the first two Holy Potato games return - The cute characters; The slightly cheesy pop culture references and writing; And the same kind of core "craft items to sell them" gameplay loop we've seen previously. Though, this time, it's the potato people themselves that are the key ingredients as we mash, dice & slice the souls of spud-like sinners in fiery pits of hell to create delicious starchy meals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXbMsbsJrYA

What has changed slightly is the look of the game. Gone are the flat, 2D comic strip visuals only to be replaced with a 3D, almost cel shaded, look that (personally) I'm still not sure if I actually like. It is still very much a Holy Potato game and maintains that overall bright colorful aesthetic but sometimes I find myself a little distracted by the pill shaped character models especially during the cut scenes as we move from one Circle of Hell to the next.

What's more I did find myself hitting that skip button more often than not during these cut scenes as the writing feels a little weaker than its predecessors and jokes aren't as funny. (But I have to admit I did like the Divine Comedy reference with our fellow chefs being called Dantee and Veggil.)

That said the gameplay is pretty fun. Maybe less engaging and diverse than something like We're in Space but certainly on par with Weapon Shop. And I can certainly see myself sinking a few more hours into this as I attempt to escape the underworld for the great restaurant in the sky.

Overall I'd say this isn't a bad little game. A good accompaniment if you've played the previous Potato games or a nice casual introduction to the franchise. But if you are going to pick one out of the three personally I'd choose Holy Potatoes! We're in Space?! over this one.

I hate to put forward the dissenting opinion especially for such a competently made game, from a group of developers that produced one of my favourite games of 2015 (Grow Home) but I can't really recommend this game.

As I said it's a well made game, mixing two genres (first person arena shooter and the numerous dot io games across the web) that do infact work amazingly well together. Also the game looks great, plays smoothly and you don't even have to worry about dealing with Uplay as it's only available on Steam - so you can actually play with your friends.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/175924100

Unfortunately ATOMEGA is just a "one trick pony". With only one arena, a maximum of 8 players and small pool of power-ups the game begins to get tired and repetitive after only about an hour of play. You get very minor cosmetic unlocks as you level up but there is no real sense of progression. And aside from gaining OMEGA status and death-beaming all your opponents into oblivion the game doesn't have anything innovative or new to bring to the FPS table.

What's more, and most damning of all, is Ubisoft aren't really promoting the game which is a death knell for a new online multiplayer game. We saw how the community dwindled for For Honor (which they did heavily back) so you can probably predict how long a shelf life this game is going to have. And despite having a pretty reasonable price tag I wouldn't say its particularly good value for money either as you will only game a few hours enjoyment out of it. And there is zero point waiting to pick this up on a sale as I hghly doubt there will be anyone to play with by then.

It's a real shame I know but I can't recommend this.

A simple yet elegant little puzzler reminiscent of games like Hitman GO and Lara Croft GO in which you must guide your swimmer through the water without crashing into anyone or anything. ...Which is certainly easier said than done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc1_hWyZk1Q

Although Swim Out doesn't share the visual flair & finesse of the SqEnix games and, admittedly, some of the visual assets haven't scaled up very well from mobile (some images look noticeably low res and jagged on a bigger screen) it does have a pleasant, clean look to it. And the top down view and unclutterd display make it easy to plan out your route.

Whilst not particularly difficult the game will get you thinking and does have fair bit of trial & error built in as you attempt to figure out the best way out of the pool. Obviously this is ideally suited as a mobile game to play on the daily commute but even on PC this is a fun little distraction and the perfect way to kill a few mins here or there on your coffee break.

With Tales of the Tiny Planet what you see is exactly what you get - a cute, simple, one button puzzle game in which you must guide adorable little planets to a black hole at the end of each level. Like most mobile-style puzzle games it is incredibly easy to pick up and play but you will keep coming back to certain levels to hone your timing in order to get those coverted 3 stars and a higher spot on the leaderboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmIOrgX9Ig4

Obviously the app store is awash with this kind of game but sometimes its nice to see this sort of thing on PC as a little distraction if you are looking to kill a few minutes on a coffee break or whilst you're waiting for an email or file to download.

The old gods desire faith, ignorance and most of all - BLOOD. And in Kitfox Games new Lovecraftian management sim it's your job as High Priest to tend to those needs in the months leading up to judgement day and Chernobog's awakening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BuXlMD6yzU

The Shrouded Isle plays out a bit like a board game, with a preparation phase (in which you choose who to appoint as advisors); the action phase (where you put your villagers to work building shrines, burning books and generally whipping themselves into a religious frenzy); and then the resolution where you get to pick who is ultimately sacrificed. But more than that the game becomes very tactical very quickly as you attempt to discover the vices and virtues of your advisors and, in turn, figure out who is best leading the the people in their sacramental duties and whose death will benefit you the most.

While this game will definitely not appeal to everyone (especially as the main gameplay mechanic is watching bar graphs move up and down) I do think it will strike a cord with a lot of people. Indie game fans who have enjoyed titles like The Yawhg or Reigns will appreciate its approach to both storytelling and resource management. Masochistics fans of games like Darkest Dungeon will revel in it's dark and macabre tone aswell as the chance of turning negative traits to your own advantage. Art fans will relish in its look and soundtrack. And I can even see it appealing strongly to streamers given its relatively short play time, replayablility and the simple fact you can rename all your villagers ...especially the ones heading under the knife.

As much as I enjoyed Kitfox's previous game, Moon Hunters, I can fully admit for as good as the game looked and sounded it did have a few flaws and may have been a little too shallow an experience for most people. In contrast it feels like the developers took what they learnt there and focused on making the replayability in The Shrouded Isle much more engaging and, I have to admit, at the moment I really am hooked.

I highly recommend embracing the ignorance, engaging in a little self flaggilation and giving The Shrouded lsle a go whilst we wait for the end of days and the return of the Old Ones.

From what I've played which is, admittedly, fairly limited (I was sent a press preview demo, which only features the first 2 chapters of the game) I am both pleasantly intrigued and a little disappointed. A great looking point and click adventure with some neat little puzzles and some pretty decent writing & performances is let down in a big way by some definite quality of life issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L7zd6_osIU

For a PC title there are no options or settings available except for the standard Unity graphics launcher outside of the game and a choice of one of two languages on the main menu (English or French). There are no graphics options within the game or keyboard prompts. And there are definitely no audio settings, which leads me on to my next point.

Though the voice performances for the most part are pretty good some of the audio editing and sound design is a little questionable. One of the first puzzles you face features a phone conversation in which you must extract information, unfortunately the person on the other end of the line is a lot quieter than everyone else you speak to. And one of the other agents in the office, it sounds like their entire audio has been recorded through a tin can. This may sound like I'm nit-picking but when a significant portion of the game is based on having conversations with people this can be a little distracting.

Also from a user interface point of view, I really like the look and style the developers have gone for unfortunately the difference between the standard cursor and the "oh look I can click on this" mouse pointer is very subtle. In other words you may well walk past an interactable object several times without ever spotting it.

Also I can't speak to length of the full game but I can say the first couple of chapters will only take you an hour or so to complete, and feature 6 of the "15+ first person puzzle sequences" mentioned in the game’s description. This definitely feels like a reasonably short game that could well be completed in a single sitting. (Although, as I said, this is just based on press preview version I was sent.)

From what I've played it's not a bad game and is certainly worth checking out if you are an adventure game fan. But it's definitely not for everyone, some of the writing is a little annoying (namely the poetry) and it is definitely let down by a few of its limitations and technical issues. As such I'm giving it a hesitant thumbs up as Steam doesn’t allow for “completely average” scores and it’s style & presentation probably outweighs its flaws as a game. But I would say this is one to maybe wait and pick up during a sale.

Ticket to Earth is a mix of match 3 and tactics gameplay, presented in a colourful comic book style. What's more it leans on that comic book nature a little with the developers planning to release the game in 4 episodes. But is there enough to keep you hooked and awaiting the next installment? Well - yes and no.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4mkbvrCcLE

While this is just a PC port of a mobile title it has made the transition to a larger screen pretty well. Admittedly some of the graphic novel style cutscenes don't scale up to higher resolutions too well. But the actual gameplay elements do and the bright, colorful presentation does help boost the gameplay experience.

Whilst the gameplay itself is not particularly difficult it is reasonably engaging with a good emphasis on tactical planning and a certain degree of RNG as the tiles (that form your path) are laid out differently every time. That said the gameplay does get a little repetitive, revisiting the same areas multiple times and the enemies patterns become fairly predictable. (But this does help a little with the tactical element.)

I wasn't partciularly bothered by the story elements of the game and did find some of the writing a little tedious. But once again it does all fit in with the comic book tone of the game. And it is nice to have something linking the incredibly samey puzzles together in some way.

I was surprised by the number of hours gameplay there were in this first chapter. Initially I thought each installment was going to be nothing more than a couple of hours long but if the subsequent episodes are more or less the same length as this first outing then the entire game may well clock in at about 20 or so hours.

Overall I'd say this is not a bad game but not a spectacular one either. For most people I say wait until all four episodes are released but if you are eager for a casual bit of tactical fun this will definitely keep you going for a few hours, And I have to admit I will be checking out the later episodes myself as I am intrigued to see what the other two playable characters play like and if we get to see some different and maybe tougher enemies.