Weekly Gaming: Sound Shapes (PS4)
There seems to be a theme going recently. First I review a simplistic platformer with amazing music called 6180 The Moon, then I review another simplistic platformer with fantastic music called 140. Whilst Firewatch broke that combo (ccccccc-combo breaker!), here I am yet again writing about a simplistic platformer with amazing music. Where Sound shapes differs is in the fact the music isn’t just awesome, it’s a part of the game’s core mechanics. It all starts off simple enough, and like any normal platformer, the controls are straightforward: move from left to right, making sure to avoid any red items on the screen. You play as a blob of sound which is able to stick to some surfaces that match it’s own colour, or turn black to move faster (without the benefit of sticking to surfaces). As you make your way through levels you’ll notice that everything around contributes to…
Weekly Gaming: Firewatch (PC)
As weird as it sounds as a games writer, I haven’t purchased and played a game so close to it’s release date in quite a while. Maybe it’s because of my backlog of games (I keep buying them faster than I can play them!), or maybe its because it’s been quiet on the release calendar, but either way, I couldn’t stay away from the enticing adventure game that has everyone deep in conversation: Firewatch. So what is Firewatch? Another walking simulator if you want to break it down to its very foundation. Just like Gone Home or Dear Esther, the whole game is about a narrative unfolding, with the exploration of the place you’re in (in this case, a national park) being only a sub-task to the games narrative itself. Unlike the aforementioned titles, Firewatch thankfully takes the exploratory narrative game one step further, and tricks the player into thinking…
Weekly Gaming: Teslagrad
I’m genuinely surprised that in all my years of gaming, I hadn’t played Teslagrad sooner. It’s charming graphics and genuinely fantastic puzzle mechanics are exactly what I look for in indie games, and Teslagrad does not disappoint. And yet, here I am, 3 years after it’s original release date stiill having not played it. So what gives? Well until the game was being re-released on Xbox One and a professional contact offered me a review copy, I jumped at the chance to give the game a go (only just realising that I also own the game on PS3 and PC already). So what does this 3 year old indie game offer that keeps it so intriguing and fantastically charming in the modern age of the indie revolution? to put it simply: everything. The first thing that draws your attention about Teslagrad is its aesthetics. The simple, fantastically animated hand drawn models…
Weekly Gaming: 140 (PC)
I know I know, I seem to be on an abstract indie platforming stint at the moment, what with 6180 the moon last Friday and this week indie hit 140. I mean, who can blame me? These games are short, but both award winners because of how far they push their simplistic mechanics. Having restrictions really is a fantastic thing in the world of games, helping to push creatives to their limits when it comes to original and refreshing games. So what is 140? As with last weeks 6180 The moon, the title really doesn’t tell you anything about the game, and seemingly feels quite random. Again, like 6180, 140 is an abstract (think simple shapes and colours) platformer, where the player must make their way through 3 different levels, making sure to keep their jumping and movements in tune with the music constantly playing in the background. Simple premise…
Weekly Gaming: 6180 the moon (PC)
I’m not sure what brought me round to playing 6180 The Moon. The naming certainly wasn’t a part of it, with the name only being semi-descriptive as to the games purpose and nature. I suppose it was just blind luck that I happened across it, which is indeed lucky considering my Steam library has over 640 games. Regardless, the fact of the matter is I’m glad I happened across it, as 6180 is one of my favourite puzzle games I’ve played in a long while. Simple but hard. That one sentence is one of my favourite game mechanic philosophies of all time, and one that 6180 the moon pushes perfectly. The premise is simple; get to the end of the stage using traditional platforming mechanics but with one huge twist: jumping off the top of the screen or bottom will make you reappear on the opposite side instantly. What seems simple…
Weekly Gaming: Coffin Dodgers (PC)
I’m a bad person. I was given Coffin Dodgers months ago to review, when the game was about to come out to drum up hype. Problem was, I had a lot of other things going on, so I kept putting the game off until I had some downtime so I could properly invest some quality time into the game. With my “52 games in 52 weeks” going again this year, I sat down at my PC, finally downloaded the game, and gave myself a few hours to see what Coffin Dodgers had to offer. When first booting it up, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgia for old PS1 games. The simplicity of the presentation, from the introduction, to the story, all felt so much like games I remember from my childhood. The simple characters, with funny names, and extremely limited tutorial all added to this nostalgia, resulting in my first…
Weekly Gaming: Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
It’s genuinely insane how much adoration and annoyance I have for Nintendo games. On the one hand, they make absolutely charming games that are addictive for days, weeks, years even until you’ve collected everything a game has to offer. I remember doing just that with Super Mario 3D Land, collecting everything (yep, every single stage twice as Mario and Luigi + secret stages) the game had to offer. But my annoyance comes from the fact that they make the same games every generation of consoles, with the aesthetics being one of the only things they mix up with recent iterations (Yoshi’s Woolly World & Paper Mario come to mind). Thankfully, Super Mario 3D World is not one of those games, and as a consequence, is some of the most fun I’ve had on a Nintendo game since 3D land all those years ago. You see, whilst most other nintendo IP’s have…
Weekly Gaming: Pneuma: Breath of Life (Xbox One)
I’m not going to lie; I only happened across Pneuma: Breath of Life because I was worried I wouldn’t finish a game this week and needed a quick and easy game to complete. Checking through game times on HowLongToBeat.com whilst also using my xbox One, I finally happened across Pneuma, and being as I needed to complete a game desperately, I decided to give it a go. The first thing that grabbed my attention (for the worst may I add) was the annoying voiceover that seemed, if anything, detrimental to the game and experience I was having as a whole. I understood why it was there (to give a familiar voice and person to attach to whilst exploring a desolate world), but otherwise, his voice was annoying and his questions were far too philosophical for my liking. Move past the annoying voice in your head and you soon experience a…
Weekly Gaming: That Dragon, Cancer (PC)
Hi all, So for this week I managed to finally play the game I backed over a year ago on Kickstarter: That Dragon, Cancer. It was a fantastic experience, one I’m glad I played, and whilst I wouldn’t necessarily call it a game, it still was worth playing and experiencing. You can read my full impressions below: http://www.vgchartz.com/article/262877/that-dragon-cancer-pc/ Also, I made a video review of this game too! You can find it below: Hope you’re all well, and thank you for visiting! -Dan
Weekly Gaming: Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)
Weirdly enough, in all my years of owning Nintendo consoles; from the very first 3DS that I saved up my own money to buy at the age of 13, to the Gamecube I bought a few years later, I’ve never owned or played a Paper Mario game. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always admired them from a distance; their fantastically stunning presentation always had me attracted to them, and from what I always heard, their RPG mechanics also tempted me time and time again. Alas, years later and at the grand old age of 28, I decided to pop my Paper Mario cherry. Suffice to say, I’m glad I did. There’s more to the game then just the visuals; Paper Mario Sticker Stars takes place in a book/land where the world is not only made of paper, but knows about stickers and their incredible abilities they hold. Once a year…
Weekly Gaming: A Story About My Uncle (PC)
A Story About My Uncle managed to go under my radar for quite a while, having not really heard anything about the game both in reading games websites, and in talking to friends. Eventually, my brother showed me the game whilst I was visiting family one weekend, saying it looked fantastic, and shouting about how much it needs to be played. I bought it on steam, and ignored it for a good long while. Being the start of a new year I decided it was time to actually give the game a go and put it through its paces to see if it deserved as much hype my brother was lauding it with. So to set up the premise of A Story About My Uncle, you play as a child looking for his estranged uncle, all the while this is being narrated to a little girl as a bedtime story.…
Weekly Gaming: Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX (3DS)
Having recently purchased a NEW 3DS Xl, I decided I needed a few more digital games on the system to entertain me during my downtime between writing and programming, so jumped onto the Nintendo store to find what was on offer. Lo and behold, quite a lot actually, with Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX actually peeking my interest the most, I proceeded to download it ASAP and set about completing it. Let me start by saying: Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX is not a simple game. The controls are simple, but my god is the game difficult. It’s a arcade shooting affair where your character stands at the back of the stage and shoots wherever you put your stylus on the bottom screen. Whilst it starts off easy, it soon becomes nigh on impossible when every enemy is shooting projectiles whilst being so far away that you can’t accurately hit…
Weekly Gaming: Super Smash Bros for 3DS
I’ve always loved Super Smash Bros, ever since me and my brothers got it one christmas as children and played it non-stop, it’s always had a special place in my heart. The game took a while to get used to, but being a kid didn’t stop me and my siblings, as we soldiered on until we smashed the hell out of each other. It wasn’t until many years later, when Smash Bros Brawl came out on the gamecube that I realised how fond I was of the series, with myself playing it with friends and family during my teenage years, and easily into university with some of my best friends on their Wii. It’s a fantastic series, one that brings people together, no matter what their skill range may be. So with all this in mind, what do I think of Nintendo’s latest brawler? It’s bloody fantastic. The first thing…
Weekly Gaming: Mario Party: Island Tour (3DS)
I have fond memories of Mario Party; me and my family would play it loads as a child. I remember the painful blisters we would all get after stupid mini games forced us to out-do each other on the N64, and I also remember finding that an electric toothbrush was the best way to press A as fast as possible on the controllers. So with Nintendo doing a Nintendo Classics line on the 3DS, I thought, what better way to spend the last of the year then renewing this love for the game with my partner? Well, my presumptions were far from true, which was annoying considering I had mistakenly purchased two copies in the hopes we could play together. So first things first, why was I mistaken? Well Mario Party’s of yesteryear was a board game affair. Players would take turns rolling a dice, landing on special places, and…
Weekly Gaming: Super Toy Cars (Xbox One)
Please note that whilst I know the developers of Super Toys Cars (Eclipse Games) I will try my best to provide a review as unbiased as possible. Super Toy Cars has been out for a long time, but with its recent release on the Xbox One, Eclipse Games sent me a review copy to have a bash at. Over the course of 6 hours I bumped and bashed my way through all 48 levels, getting 575 gamerscore in the process, so I’m pretty qualified to give my opinion on the game. If you wanted an example of what Super Toy Cars resembles it’s Micro Machines grown up. You play as a tiny car racing against 7 other cars (of varying makes and models) and proceed to race around tracks that are made of all the small things a child would have access to (cereal boxes, sweets, games etc). There’s many…