🎮 Borderlands 3 | Review | X Box Series X | "My First Next-Gen Experience" 🎮 @Borderlands #XBOXSERIESX

This Borderlands 3 review may seem like a weird one as it’s effectively written for a game that’s well over a year old but the Borderlands series has always been an oddity for me.

🎨🎮 Badly Drawn Video Games Consoles - Cartridges 🎨🎮 #Retrogaming

Well here's more of my bad art as this time I use MS Paint to create an idea I had for an article on Video Games cartridges.

I'll probably use it as inspiration to draw these by hand.

👹🐲 Earth Defence Force 5 | Review | PS4 | "These….these….MONSTERS!!" 👹🐲 @EDF_OFFICIAL #EDF5

I was a real latecomer to the Earth Defence Force series. With almost 10 titles under the EDF belt since the days of the PS2, 2015’s Earth Defence Force 4.1 (The Shadow of New Despair – natch) was my introduction. 

Back in those dark, dark times when local co-op games were rarer than a decent film directed by Albert Pyun, I picked this up for a bargain price in my favourite gaming store (Insane Games, Bridgwater) and settled down with some bourbon to give it a crack with GF cohort Co-Op Chris and we were HOOKED on the B-movie styling, dialogue and arcade action.

🍕🕹️ PAC-MAN: Birth Of An Icon | Gorgeous New Pac Man History Book Available For Pre Order! 🕹️🍕 @cookbeck #PacMan #RetroGaming

Here's some really exciting news for all you PAC fans out there!

The First-Ever Official History Book on PAC-MAN is Now Available For Pre-Order!

Cook and Becker have announced its gorgeous, hardcover retrospective, the first-ever history of PAC-MAN. 

PAC-MAN: Birth of an Icon is made in conjunction with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. and researched and written by Arjan Terpstra and Tim Lapetino. 

⚔️🌳 Ocean’s Heart | Review | PC | "Familiar Ground with Enough Heart to Recommend" ⚔️🌳 @OceansHeartgame #IndieGames #GameDev

A top-down adventure very much in the vein of Zelda’s 1992 Super Nintendo outing, Ocean’s Heart has its flaws but will definitely be one for fans of the genre and hopefully will see a port to Switch, which feels like a natural home for it.

🎨🎮 Badly Drawn Video Games Consoles - 5. SEGA Genesis 🎨🎮 #Retrogaming #SEGA #SegaGenesis

Some days I find myself trying to draw stuff in MS Paint and those are the days when I manage to produce BADLY DRAWN VIDEO GAMES CONSOLES!

My plan is to draw as many badly drawn consoles as I can in 2021.

Let's see how far I get...

Rich

🐲⚔️🏹👹 Monster Hunter Rise | Demo | 20 Minutes Gameplay | Nintendo Switch | No Commentary 🐲⚔️🏹👹 #MonsterHunterRise #MonsterHunter

Monster Hunter Rise is the latest game in the Monster Hunter series! I've never played any of the Monster Hunter Games before but I decide to give the Demo a try on Nintendo Switch for Monster Hunter Rise and I have to say I am really into it!

🎨🎮 Badly Drawn Video Games Consoles - 4. Nintendo Entertainment System 🎨🎮 #Retrogaming #NES

Some days I find myself trying to draw stuff in MS Paint and those are the days when I manage to produce BADLY DRAWN VIDEO GAMES CONSOLES!

My plan is to draw as many badly drawn consoles as I can in 2021.

Let's see how far I get...

Rich

🪔Here's the new trailer that shows off Asha in Monster World as it nears completion! ⚔️ #AshaInMonsterWorld

 

🪔Here's the new trailer that shows off Asha in Monster World as it nears completion! ⚔️

It's looking beautiful 😍#AshaInMonsterWorldhttps://t.co/xwvUrvXuU7 pic.twitter.com/2pKtgooQmY

— ❄️𝕲ames 𝕱reezer❄️💙NHS💙 (@gamesfreezer) January 25, 2021

🎨🎮 Badly Drawn Video Games Consoles - 3. PlayStation 2 🎨🎮 #Retrogaming #PS2

 
Some days I find myself trying to draw stuff in MS Paint and those are the days when I manage to produce BADLY DRAWN VIDEO GAMES CONSOLES!

My plan is to draw as many badly drawn consoles as I can in 2021.

Let's see how far I get...

Rich

🎨🎮 Badly Drawn Video Games Consoles - 2. Atari 2600 🎨🎮 #Retrogaming #Atari2600

 

Some days I find myself trying to draw stuff in MS Paint and those are the days when I manage to produce BADLY DRAWN VIDEO GAMES CONSOLES!

My plan is to draw as many badly drawn consoles as I can in 2021.

Let's see how far I get...

(The last time I did this was in February 2020, hopefully, I will do more than one per year going forward!)

Rich

☄️🚀 Everspace 2 | PC | Ten Minute Taster | No Commentary | Early Access ☄️🚀 #Everspace2 #IndieGames #GameDev

In Everspace 2 you will...Discover alien species, unveil mysteries, find hidden treasures, and defend your valuables against outlaw gangs. But don’t get cocky: there will be some high-risk/high-reward areas waiting for you where grabbing that ultra-special gear and getting out alive will require some serious piloting skills and all your talent for improvisation.

🚀☄️🛸 Everspace 2 | Early Access | PC | First Impressions | "A Barrel Rolling Shooter Looter In Space" 🚀☄️🛸 @everspace_game @Rockfishgames #IndieGames #GameDev #Everspace2

EVERSPACE 2 pitches itself as a fast-paced single-player spaceship shooter with deep exploration elements, tons of loot, RPG elements, mining, and crafting. 

The devs, Rockfish Games, have tried to create an experience that is story led with plenty of secrets, puzzles, and enemies to face off against.

I’ve always loved the idea of a space exploration game where you tinker with your ship, do some exploring and follow a story but normally bounce off these games because they are too hard to just pick up and play and require hours of time investment just to learn the basics.

BUT I can safely say that Everspace 2 is for everyone!

📖🐙 The Innsmouth Case | Nintendo Switch | Ten Minute Taster | "Open The Book and Join Me On A journey To Innsmouth" 📖🐙 @robot_pumpkin #TheInnsmouthCase #VisualNovels

A desperate mother, a missing girl and a mystical place - a case could hardly be more challenging. To solve the enigmatic disappearance of little Tabitha Marsh, however, the toughest and cleverest detective of all is wanted... but he does not have the time - and so the job goes to you. This mysterious assignment takes you to the remote fishing village of Innsmouth, where nothing is what it seems…

Save the girl, solve the case, survive Innsmouth!

The Innsmouth Case is a detective adventure in the style of an interactive book inspired by the fantastical works of horror legend H.P. Lovecraft. The unique mixture of horror and humour makes The Innsmouth Case the first scary-comedy-text-adventure of its kind. A game in which every decision counts, and there is far more than one way to successfully solve the case ... or fail miserably!

📖📚 Mean Machines Magazines - All The Video Games Reviews - Issue 0-24 "The Video Games Guide You Didn't Realise That You Wanted" 📖📚 @JazRignall @RetroGamerDaz @MaximumPowerUp #MeanMachines #Retrogaming

Well, I've gone and done something with my Mean Machines Magazine collection that I've always wanted to do but have never got round to doing until now.

For some reason, I wanted to catalogue all the reviews from Issue 0 to 24 so that if I ever need to refer to a physical edition of Mean Machines then I know exactly what issue I need to look at.

Yes it's nerdy and yes it is a bit silly but I think that it's something that you probably didn't realise you need but you do now!

⚔️ Immortals Fenyx Rising | Review | PS4 | "I Heart Elias Toufexis’ Voicebox" ⚔️ @FenyxRising #ImmortalsFenyxRising

As I‘ve personally come across multiple statements along the lines of ‘Immortals Fenyx Rising is Ubisoft does Zelda: Breath of the Wild’, I’m going to lay the groundwork for this review by opening with how I wasn’t particularly enamoured with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which I played a few years ago on the Wii U. 

♟️🎲 🎮 The 10 Best Indoor Games To play With Your Kids At Home ♟️🎲 🎮 #lockdowngames

If you have been living with kids during lockdown then the weekends have been a challenge to find things to do that don’t always involve a walk in the local park or field so I have been keeping a track of all the Board Games and Video Games that I have been playing with my kids during lockdown to give you some insight on what games worked best for me and my family.

Here are 10 Games along with a few BONUS games for you to take a look at:

🚗💨 Absolute Drift: Zen Edition | Review | Nintendo Switch | Britt's Brief Bulletin | 6/10 - Melting | "Absolute Drift: Zen Edition makes a solid first impression" 🚗💨 @funselektor @AbsoluteDrift #IndieGames #GameDev

Absolute Drift: Zen Edition – 6/10

Nintendo Switch

A top-down drift racer with simple presentation and smooth visual style, Absolute Drift: Zen Edition makes a solid first impression.

🐙 The Innsmouth Case | Nintendo Switch | Britt's Brief Bulletin | 7/10 - Melting | 🐙 @robot_pumpkin #IndieGames #GameDev

Britt’s Brief Bulletin

The Innsmouth Case – 7/10

Nintendo Switch

A visual novel based on the world of HP Lovecraft presented with tongue firmly in cheek, The Innsmouth Case is a relatively fresh take on the miserable ones’ cosmic horror. That said, if the tone of humour doesn’t tickle your funny bone – as in my case – it can turn a quirky and breezily-written tale into a bit of a slog.

🧢 💥🤛Fatal Fury First Contact | Review | Nintendo Switch | "Pocket Sized Fighter That Packs A Massive Haymaker!" 🤜💥🧢 @SNKPofficial #FatalFury #NeoGeoPocket

Just before Christmas, it was announced that Fatal Fury First Contact from SNK was available to download on the Nintendo Switch.

I’d never come across this Fatal Fury game before and that would add up as this game only ever came out on the Neo Geo Pocket Colour in 1999.

When I heard about this I was excited to play a fighting game that I hadn't managed to get to from over 21 years ago.

🐶🐰 Sam & Max Save The World | Review | Nintendo Switch | Review By Dr Congo Fighting | "The World’s Best-Loved Anthropomorphic Dog and Rabbit Crime-Fighting Duo" 🐶🐰 @skunkape #IndieGames #GameDev

1993. The Midlands - a landlocked region of the UK, the historic home to heavy industry, heavy metal, and heavy accents resembling a large and very vocal cat in the throes of regret, having attempted to eat a toffee.

Zoom in to the window of a bungalow in a village on the edge of a green belt. Further, the camera in the room now as a thirteen-year-old Dr Fighting settles in front of his friend's PC.

A 486, DX2 66MHz, no less. The monitor lights his face, hair plentiful on the scalp, sparse on the chin. Time later decided that this was completely the wrong way around, and changed things accordingly.

The floppy disc is inserted. The mouse steadied. A command or two at the DOS prompt and Sam and Max Hit The Road boots up, brilliant colours filling the screen. The odyssey begins...I am in love with this game.

🎄🎅 B.R.U.C.E Saves Christmas | Review | Online Escape Room Game | "Whilst the festive period may be over, I heartily recommend recapturing some Winter magic" 🎄🎅 @bewilderbox #IndieGames #EscapeRoom

Something a bit different from GF today, as we talk about B.R.U.C.E Saves Christmas, an on-line escape room available from Bewilderbox.

🎃 Pumpkin Jack | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A treat for Halloween, Christmas and beyond" 🎃 @thepumpkinjack #GameDev #IndieGames

Pumpkin Jack is a game that’s been on my radar for a while, a 3D platformer in the vein of MediEvil – with whom it also shares a graphical style – I sadly missed the opportunity to play it around Halloween but was delighted to find, upon receiving it for review in the run-up to Christmas, that a Santa costume has been implemented for Jack to sport throughout his quest, making things festive as well as fiendish!

💙🎮💙 Gaming Your Blues Away? How It Can Help 💙🎮💙

Image source - pixabay - cco license

There is no denying that some people agree that gaming can be a form of escapism. Many people enjoy playing games, clearing their minds from stress and worries of the day and just concentrating on something else for a while.

Right now with everything that is going on in the world, gaming can be a great way to help you combat feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.

But how can it help?

Here are some of the ways gaming could help you enjoy some escapism for a while.

🐺🌳 Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A Punchy Visual Novel With Bite" 🐺🌳 @differenttales #GameDev #IndieGames

My history with visual novels is somewhat patchy and mostly linked to stories of high school anime girls bickering in glacial stories that roll on for dozens of hours.

To be honest, my interest in them was renewed only last year with Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York which, whilst flawed, told an interesting tale in a breezy manner that was rich in lore without being bogged down by it.

👍🕹️ Sore Thumb Retro Games Subscription Box | @SoreThumbRetro | "Which box would you sign up for? Me?…I’m thinking Master System" 👍🕹️ #RetroGaming #LootBox

Having followed them for a while on Twitter via my @kingdomofcarts account, I was really intrigued when I caught a sniff of their monthly subscription idea and, after receiving samples through the post recently, it’s definitely a service that would benefit a lot of people, especially those starting off a collection or perhaps fancy dipping into gaming of a more retro nature.

🌵🤠🐍 Boot Hill Heroes | Review | Nintendo Switch | "There's A Snake In My Boots!" 🌵🤠🐍 @ExpGamerStudios #GameDev #IndieGames

Let it be said that I’m a sucker for pixel art retro aesthetic graphics.

Let it also be said that I love the thought of a Wild West Fantasy RPG.

Let it be known that I think that I love Boot hill Heroes for its charm and simplicity (and it’s pixel art retro aesthetic graphics)

This is the second Boot Hill game to be released on the Nintendo Switch but in fact, it is the first game in the Boot Hill series… 

Last year my dear friend and fellow inhabitant of the Freezer took a close look at Boot hill Bounties which is, in fact, the second in the Boot hill series but appeared on the Switch before Boot Hill Heroes… STAY WITH ME…

Anyway, I’m sure you will agree that my explanation of the Switch specific order of these games has nothing to do with the game and how it plays so lets cut to the chase, shall we?

🐷🐴 Animal Farm | Review | PC | "Your worst-case scenario is mass death" 🐷🐴 @AnimalFarmGame @PixelHunted #IndieGames #GameDev

At first glance, George Orwell’s classic 1945 allegorical novel Animal Farm doesn’t seem like a great candidate for a video game. 

The tale of rebellious animals seizing control of their farm, banishing humans and attempting to carve out a new society is an excellent satire but contains few action sequences, no hordes of monsters to blast your way through and, as far as I can remember from studying it in school, not a single high-octane car chase.

That’s where developer Nerial comes in. 

🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ Unturned | Review | PS4 | "a tough sell" 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ @SDGNelson #IndieGames #GameDev

A free-to-play title on the PC gets a port to PS4 at a price tag of £19.99. I don’t usually tend to focus on price and when I do, it’s usually to point out that a mobile game has had a lazy Switch port and the paywall removed which massively unbalances the game (yaaaaaay) so in the case of Unturned, things are slightly different but that knowledge of it being free on a different platform does sting, especially when the game behind it feels so empty and in-progress.

⌚️🐶 Watch Dogs: Legion | Review | PS4 | "Nothing to get too hacked off about" ⌚️🐶

My history with Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs series is one of highs and lows, whilst the first game didn’t set my trousers alight and cause me to ingest it so that it remained a physical part of me forever, I enjoyed the hacking mechanics and remember the driving feeling weighty and substantial, this, combined with the functional narrative ended up being a pretty fun jaunt, overall.

The second game was a different beast, however. I really struggled to get any enjoyment out of it as it was not only riddled with busywork but I found every character unbelievably irritating. I played the game for a few hours but my patience wore thin and I moved onto other games, games in which dialogue wasn’t as infuriating as a Hermes parcel delivery.

This, the third game in the series was really, really hyped. It seemed to be everywhere in the months leading up to release and, coming off the back of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – which made my end of the year list – it was not only on my radar but also a title I was looking forward to, brushing off my experiences with the second game and instead fondly remembering the good times I spent with Aiden Pearce all those years ago. 

Alas, I just couldn’t click with this one.

🌾🍚🍛 Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin | Review | PS4 | "Rice has never been this much fun" 🌾🍚🍛 @XSEEDGames #IndieGames #GameDev

I dived headlong into Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin with no preconceptions of what I was about to be in for and it didn’t take long for its charms to win me over and its depth to pull me in.

A title that pulls off quite an astonishing balancing act that all holds together and feels not only rewarding but vital to the narrative.

👥 Shady Part of Me | Review | PS4 | "great puzzles, music and visuals let down by narrative and voicework" 👥 @ShadyPartOfMe #GameDev #IndieGames

A wonderfully designed puzzle game that hits real highs in terms of aesthetic, sound and mood but the whining voicework and obfuscated narrative leak through the game and wore me down to the point that I genuinely wished the game was purely music and puzzle driven with silent protagonists.

🎧 Headset review - Gioteck HC2 Decal Edition and XH100S by Lee Manuel 🎧 @GioteckArmy #GamingHeadset

Online gaming being the huge industry it is today, most people will need a headset if only to better hear what fellow COD players did with your mum last night. 

The big players in the market, like Turtle Beach, have been around for a long time and produce a staggering range of headsets, some of which cost in the hundreds. 

If you’re a pro, or stream to thousands, the feature set in that price range might be what you need. 

For most people though, a more budget solution is perfectly adequate.

Gioteck has come to market with a couple of great budget headsets – the HC2 clocks in at under £20 and the XH100S under £15.

🦹‍♂️ Kunai | Review | PC | "Kunai might win the prize for best/worst bad guy name" 🦹‍♂️ @TurtleBlaze #GameDev #IndieGames

Kunai might win the prize for best/worst bad guy name. 

The antagonist is an evil AI named Lemonkus. 

I know!

Anyhow, Lemonkus has pretty much achieved Bender's dream of killing all humans, leaving the planet mostly populated by robots. 

Your character is Tabby, a robot ninja with a tablet for a face, giving him a big range of expressions, from the default cheery grin to a full-on nutcase glare.