Squirm
Developer: Alex Carpenter
Publisher: Alex Carpenter
RRP: £1.69 (Steam)
Released: 22nd March 2018
This is such a strange little game. At its core its a basic platformer
that occasionally will briefly venture into other genres for a boss
battle.
By the time I finished the game I had died over eight hundred times, thing is not once did I get angry or frustrated. I just tried again and again because each time I could see what I was doing wrong. This was in probably because when you died you instantly respawned with no penalties other than starting from the start of the level.
I should mention that this isn’t a game that would be safe for kids to play, it might look child like but there is quite a lot of swearing that occurs… which for some reason surprised me.
Tacoma
Developer: Fullbright
Publisher: Fullbright
RRP: £14.99 (Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 2nd August 2017
The creators of Gone Home are back at it again, this time though we’re in SPACE! The entire game takes place upon the space station Tacoma, in the year 2088, with you wandering the halls trying to piece together exactly what happened.
So what’s changed in the future? Well now you can watch actual recordings of people, not just read letters that have been left behind etc. Not only that you can pause, fast forward and rewind the recording just in case you missed out a crucial detail, you can even access their computer desktops to glean extra information. On the whole a pretty interesting concept, unfortunately it’s a concept that only really managed to create a mediocre game.
The thing it’s very hard not to compare the game to Gone Home and I have to say that when compared to that game Tacoma just feels a bit lacking. Oh. Sure Tacoma is certain better looking and even technically more competent, I would never argue otherwise. Where this game fails is the characters and story. In Gone Home the store was very small and personal, due to that it all felt more meaningful, but in this I have six characters to keep track of and none of them feel even half as fleshed out, not even by the end.
Metropolis Lux Obscura
Developer: Ktulhu Solutions
Publisher: Ktulhu Solutions
RRP: £5.59 (Steam)
Released: 11th October 2017
It’s not often that match three game mechanics and adult content mix, the last game to tick those particular boxes that I can think of was Huniepop. In Metropolis Lux Obscura you play as a newly released convict named Jon Lockhart. He was imprisoned falsely for the murder of an old friend and now that he’s free he plans to find out the truth. It has to be reiterated this game features sex, nudity and violence VERY heavily. If that’s not something you’re prepared to deal with perhaps look elsewhere.
The story is told through a series of cutscenes between which you’ll play a match three game to simulate combat. As far as match three games go this one isn’t too bad with upgradable powers becoming available to you with each fight you beat. The problem is that because of the match three mechanic the combat is pretty randomised. That’s fine, however the problem I have is that what abilities you’re offered after each fight are also random. So if your offered up abilities that aren’t all that useful early in the game you can really struggle to progress, especially in the multi-staged fights.
This is one of those games where I’m a bit torn, I enjoyed it… right up until I got a bad run and had to restart because I just couldn’t win. For the price though this game isn’t half bad and at the very least it does something interesting with the match three mechanic.
Rise & Shine
Developer: Super Mega Team
Publisher: Adult Swim Games
RRP: £10.99 (Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 13th January 2017
Some games have something to say, some have nothing to say and some shouldn’t say anything at all. Sadly Rise & Shine falls into that final category for me. Let me show you what I mean; The forces of Nexgen have launched a devastating surprise attack against the peaceful world of Gamearth. You play a child by the name of Rise and with legendary weapon Shine it’s now your destiny to bring peace back.‘Nexgen’? Really? Would you care to be more direct, I don’t think everyone got the metaphor.
The thing is that once you get past the abysmal metaphor the game itself is actually pretty good. It’s definitely a game that is built to frustrate with nearly everything killing you in one or two hits while they all generally take multiple themselves. However thanks to some generous checkpoints and the infinite respawns Shine grants you can take the time to work out how to defeat what’s in front of you.
Old Man’s Journey
Developer: Broken Rules
Publisher: Broken Rules
RRP: £5.59 (Steam) £6.20 (Humblebundle)
Released: 18th May 2017
I have to admit I’m a bit of a sucker for a game that uses mixed media in its art direction. I’m afraid that there’s just no way to really capture the way chalk and pastel look, or if there is I’ve yet to witness it. Anyway enough blithering about art. Old Man’s Journey is a game about exactly that… an old man’s journey.
Of course it isn’t as simple as all that, this isn’t just a game about guiding an old man from point A to point B. Oh no this is also anexploration of the old man’s memories, his choices, mistakes, regrets and hopes. And I have to say that the developers pulled it off successfully, extremely successfully actually since the story not only sucked in myself but also my fiance.
