28 Apr 2025
Assassins Creed: Shadows Xbox Series X Review 9/10 “Sharper combat and characters make this a top target” 🗡️ @assassinscreed
Anyway, I actually became a bigger fan with the change of direction that Origins brought to the series, although I loved all the previous games, I must say that the last few have delivered some of my favourite Assassins Creed experiences, so when this was announced - combined with the fact that I really like the Feudal Japan setting - meant I was buzzing with excitement.
22 Apr 2025
Caligo Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Striking Visuals and Imagery, with Heavy Iconography" 🕯️🗼 @Krealit_team @Pinkerator #IndieGame #GameDev
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"Jane's tent was a bitch to put up but it was a hit at Glastonbury" |
16 Apr 2025
Pacific Drive Xbox Series X Review 6/10 "Now my car has a slightly stronger left door. Thrilling!" 🚘🌲@ironwoodtweets #IndieGames #GameDev
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Keith was a little disappointed that the picture on Auto Trader didn't quite match the car which was on the car salesman's forecourt... |
The game opens with you driving through a beautifully realized recreation of Washington state’s rainy Olympic Peninsula, before being accidentally tossed into the “Zone”. This walled-off area is the testing ground for mysterious technology, resulting in chaotic, dangerous, and surreal phenomena. After finding a working station wagon, you must figure out a plan of escape, aided by eccentric scientists and technicians on radio comms.
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That crack in John's windscreen was something that AutoGlass just outright refused to fix. |
15 Apr 2025
Moving Houses Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "Time to Get a Move On" 🏠 @gordlittle #IndieGame #GameDev
14 Apr 2025
Mortisomem Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Bite-Sized Brazilian Folkloric Horror"
9 Apr 2025
The Blue Prince Xbox Series X Review 10/10 "A Labyrinth of Love" 🩵 @dogubomb @RawFury #IndieGame #GameDev
28 Mar 2025
Into Death and Beyond Xbox Series X Review 3/10 “Crash Landing” 🔫 @Dolores_Ent #IndieGame #GameDev
18 Mar 2025
X-Out: Re-Surfaced Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "a little different from the other horizontal shooters of yore" ❌ @ININ_Games #Retrogaming #IndieGame #GameDev
Originally released in 1989 on the Commodore 64 before being ported to the Amiga and others in 1990, X-Out differentiates itself from other shooters of the time by being set underwater. It also allows you to spend credits on customising your craft before each run – and there will be many – which adds a layer of personalisation when deciding if you want something nippy, or more robust, as well as choosing your weapon load out, limited only by your cash flow.
The original game was well-received, and it is a bit of a lost title when it comes to other shooters from the era, so it’s great that it’s been remastered for modern audiences, but how does it stand up over thirty years on from its original release?
Quite well, it turns out. The simple, but effective customisation options ensure that you have a sense of personalising each crack at the game to suit your play style, and the visuals have received a tasteful overhaul that makes things pop and run more smoothly, but don’t lose the identity of the original design and style, which can really be a deal-breaker in instances such as this - this is still very much chunky pixel action. Good.
The audio has also been re-vamped, and I quite enjoyed the soundtrack which is energetic and engaging without being ostentatious or over-bearing. There’s also a neat option in the menu to switch between the original soundtracks on the 8/16-bit systems or the modern take on it, which was the one I went for.
X-Out is not an easy game. Whilst your ship has a health meter and can take a decent kicking from enemy fire before giving up the ghost, if you even touch the environmental obstacles or even a boss, you die in one hit, with no continues. It’s straight back tot the ship selection screen for you. It’s very clear that this is a game that will appeal to those that enjoy a serious challenge. There’s also a two-player mode for local co-op, which is a nice inclusion.
It’s a very bare-bones remaster in terms of historical content, such as design docs, artwork and interviews with the original / new developers etc. which is something I do like to see included with these remasters, but it appears that in this case these aspects are only included with the limited and special editions of the game, available from ININ.
SUMMARY
All in all, X-Out: Re-surfaced is a little different from the other horizontal shooters of yore, and this does give it its own identity. I would have liked some more content on the history of the game, but the more tasteful aspects of this remaster give it appeal, just be prepared for a serious challenge!
7/10
🆒COOL🆒
(also available on PS5, Switch, PC)
10 Mar 2025
RetroMania Wrestling Xbox Series X Review 7/10 “Going Old School” 🤼♂️ @RetrosoftStudio #IndieGame #GameDev
5 Mar 2025
Police Shootout Xbox Series X Review 5/10 "A Quirky Blend of Genres Sandbagged by Technical Issues." 🚨🚔 @GamesIncubator #IndieGame #GameDev
The game begins with your character moving from the big city to a small American town, transferred in a bid to find out what happened to his brother. Your commanding officer is a rather brusque gentleman who hints at knowing your ulterior motives for being in his neck of the woods, but initially seems to be warning you off your private quest of familial revenge.
3 Mar 2025
Firefighting Simulator: The Squad Xbox Series X Review 5.5/10 "Smouldering Embers" 🔥🚒🧯 @FirefightingSim #IndieGame #GameDev
The tutorial of Firefighting Simulator: The Squad does a decent job of laying out the core mechanics of the game, with an oddly rousing tutorial musical score, you’ll use one of your tools to smash down a door, rescue a smoke inhalation victim from their bedroom floor, and carry them to safety before returning to fight the blaze.
28 Feb 2025
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Xbox Series X Review 9.75/10 "Welcome back, Henry" ⚔️🐎 @KingdomComeRPG
My point being that I pumped almost two hundred hours into Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Well, 150 in hours of actual game time and probably 50 hours of LOADING SCREENS, something that is thankfully, thankfully remedied in this sequel) over those last few months before we became parents, and the game now reminds me of a pretty special time of my life, so getting the opportunity to lose myself again in the world of Henry of Skalitz was an exiting proposition to say the least!
27 Feb 2025
Promise Mascot Agency arrives April 2025 on PC & Consoles 👹 @KaizenGameWorks #IndieGame #GameDev
Kaizen Game Works have announced that Promise Mascot Agency is coming to consoles and PC on April 10th 2025 - with a new trailer exclusively revealed at IGN Fan Fest.
From the dev team behind Paradise Killer, join ex-yakuza legend Michi and his assistant manager Pinky☆ in their epic quest to restore glory to a cursed Japanese town’s defunct mascot agency!
19 Feb 2025
Blow It Up Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "A bomb-based physics title that certainly isn’t a dud!" 💣💥@brainseal #IndieGame #GameDev
Having been a fan of Brain Seal Ltd since I was introduced to them via the wonderful Dark Quest 3, I was intrigued as to what their take on a bomb-centric physics title would be, and would it be enough to take my mind off the hope of a further Dark Quest sequel?
Yes, yes it could!
Blow It Up takes place in Bombtopia, a world populated by voxel bombs that is suddenly taken over by invaders. Your friends are captured, and you must travel the overworld, collecting enough coins to free your friends – all of whom have a special power that can aid you – all the while completing stages by hurling one (or more!) of your explosive team members into the various structures that hide the fiendish enemies in each level.
12 Feb 2025
Big Helmet Heroes Xbox Series X Review: 7.5/10 "Helmets on, it’s time to rock" 🪖⛑️ @DearVillagers #IndieGame #GameDev
With a genuinely amusing trailer that captured the imagination, the thought of a modern, tasty 3D brawler with a wordless comedic approach that focused on slapstick and absurdity very much appealed to me. Whilst there is a lot to love and as much fun as the game is, it can’t quite shake the creeping repetition that haunts the genre.
7 Feb 2025
Starbound Xbox Series X Review 9/10 "Terraria in Space" ⭐️ @ChucklefishLTD #IndieGame #GameDev
A few years ago, my partner and I were hips deep in Terraria, I genuinely think I own a copy on every system it’s been released - aside from Switch, thinking about it - and we would often spend weeks just getting back into the groove with the amazing music (which I am lucky enough to own on vinyl) and just the pure sense of wonder and relaxation that exists in the quiet exploration. To be honest, we barely bothered with the boss fights, it was all about pottering about for us.
My next – and true – love, came through the glorious Aground, and once my gaming thirst had been slaked there, I vaguely hearing about Starbound, but as it wasn’t then available on consoles, I promptly forgot about it and went on my day, a day that was bereft of crafty, pixel, action-adventure games…until now.
29 Jan 2025
Eternal Strands Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Eternal Strands That Don’t Quite Weave Wonder" 🧶🧵 @YellowBrick_Qc #IndieGame #GameDev
Eternal Strands casts the player as Brynn, a mercenary accompanying a group of travellers trying to find out the secrets of a long-lost civilisation. Your camp with the travellers acts as a hub, whilst Loomgates scattered around the land allow you to teleport to different areas of the world, each with their own biome, items, and enemies. The opening anime-style cinematic is impressive and engaging, although it hints at a slightly goofy humour that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the mostly po-faced game, where dialogue with the fully-voiced cast of characters is rich, but mostly eventless and dry. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of lore and world-building to discover and learn, more that doing so isn’t a particularly engaging aspect of the game.
27 Jan 2025
Dog Man: Mission Impawsible Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Full price? You’d be barking mad" 🐶 @MindscapeGames @F84Games #IndieGame #GameDev
Dog Man Mission: Impawsible begins with the titular character getting called back into action, and re-banding his old companions in a bid to save their town, each has their own skill to surpass certain obstacles, as well as their own weaknesses. From that moment, the game reveals itself to be a pretty standard platformer, very accessible, and with a generous learning curve for younger / newer players, but overall very much not deserving the premium price tag that is attached to Dog Man Mission Impawsible.
24 Jan 2025
Tap Wizard 2 Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Tap Wizard 2 Didn’t quite manage to cast its spell on me" 🧙♂️💥🧙 @Top_Cog #IndieGame #GameDev
Visually the game features some tasty pixel art and runs very smoothly. The chiptune audio is catchy, but on a relatively short loop, although you can flick between a few different ditties in the menu. What you cannot do, though, is turn off the rumble on your controller, this is of note as the controller constantly rumbles throughout the game, and you can’t put your controller down or it’ll rumble off the table and onto the floor. This wouldn’t normally be an issue, but as it’s an idle game with a lot of downtime, it would have been a nice feature to include.Whilst primarily an idle game, you can take direct control over your wizard as he wanders his way around the single-screen battlefield, and you’ll find that you’ll survive longer and get more pick-ups this way, as the AI-controlled wizard tends to just either move in a sweeping circle, or stay in the centre of the screen, ignoring the many chests that pop up full of goodies.
The number of various panels, inventory areas, unlockables, upgrades and bonuses etc. is laudable and certainly adds a sense of progress to your quest, but the time-locked lore / narrative reveal is so overly verbose and lengthy that I got more irritated than intrigued upon reading.