June2019
Review My Friend Pedro - Totally And Utterly Bananas
Let's split
Devolver Digital’s latest death spectacular, My Friend Pedro, starts as it means to continue – with a masked protagonist roused into consciousness from his slumber in the basement of a murderous criminal’s hideout by his only friend, a floating sentient banana called Pedro. The pair quickly purloin a pistol and make for a quick...
May2019
Review Gato Roboto - A Charming Metroidvania Which We Wish Hung Around Longer
Paw-some
Cats are remarkable creatures, aren't they? One moment they could be curled up on your lap, peacefully dozing the day away, and the next they're donning a high-tech mecha suit and exploring vast caverns filled with monstrous creatures. At least, that's what Gato Roboto - Doinksoft's charming 'Metroidvania' - would have you believe. Joining...
Review The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse - A Roguelike Take On Zelda
Alright, let's do this again...
Those of you that go to the trouble of connecting the ‘timeline’ of the Legend of Zelda series are no doubt aware of how there’s a sort of meta-narrative at play, in which the hero and villain are locked in an endless battle that reignites when they’re both reborn in new generations. The Swords of Ditto:...
April2019
Review Katana ZERO - A Razor-Sharp Action Platformer That Everyone Should Play
A much-needed shot in the arm for sidescrollers
The '80s was a decade that modern media seems to be overly enamoured with, to the point that it becomes almost tiresome to see yet another game or movie that makes its '80s influence a big selling point. Often, these works merely pander to nostalgia, going after the low-hanging fruit in an effort to...
Review Reigns: Game Of Thrones - An Unpredictably Gripping Take On An Epic Series
You swipe or you die
For years, it seemed the only format worthy of HBO’s global TV mega-hit was a consequence-driven point-and-click adventure from Telltale Games. That prayer to the Seven was finally answered in 2014, but a second season was eventually cancelled amid internal collapse and we were soon left with nothing more than cheap mobile...
March2019
Review The Red Strings Club - A Brilliantly Told Cyberpunk Tale
Do androids dream of the perfect cocktail?
The all-wise, all-knowing barkeeper has become something of a narrative archetype. There are countless stories out there that feature an improbably wise drinks server who can get even the most uptight customer to relax and talk about their troubles. Donovan, the suave barkeeper and owner of The Red Strings...
February2019
Review Ape Out - A Short But Oh-So-Sweet Action Title That Every Switch Owner Should Play
Ape escape
It’s interesting how modern times have created something of a renaissance in game development, with more developers than ever now producing new games, yet these games, in many ways, feel like they’re becoming gradually more homogenous. Ape Out pushes back against this trend in the best kind of way, crafting a distinctive identity for...
January2019
Review Downwell - The Ultimate Version Of Everyone's Favourite Potholing Roguelike Shooter
Get down and TATE
Imagine for a moment that you’re taking a stroll in the countryside and you happen upon an old well – what do you do? At the very least, you wander up and take a peek; you might drop a pebble down there, or even a cheeky loogie if nobody’s around. Why? It’s tough to say exactly, but Downwell taps into that human fascination...
Review Pikuniku - A Small But Perfectly Formed Puzzle-Platformer That Literally Everyone Can Enjoy
Reasons to be cheerful
Dystopias – why do we love them so? We get more than our fair share of them in video games, but when the audience feels like they’re living in Blade Runner already, how do developers keep things feeling fresh? If you’re Sectordub, you ditch the grimy neon and rain for a primary-coloured 2D world and make your robots cute...
December2018
The colour of magic
The capture button is one of our favourite things about the Switch. Any time you see something impressive in a game, the ability to snatch that image and freeze it in time forever is sitting right there next to your thumb. In most games, it’s only used every now and then, but by the time we’d finished Gris our screenshot...
November2018
Review Mother Russia Bleeds - A Tepid Beat 'Em Up That's Big On Gore But Low On Gratification
Wince and repeat
Like most things from the late '80s and early '90s, the 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up is no longer particularly cool or relevant. Sure, a certain type of ageing nostalgist (guilty as charged) will get excited about Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle or Streets of Rage 4, but the kids have long since moved on to something else. And let's face...
September2018
Review Reigns: Kings & Queens - It's Like Game Of Thrones Meets Tinder
Swipe right to smite
T’was the year 600 and King James did sit upon the accursed throne and verily decree that the age of darkness was at an end; henceforth, he would steer the kingdom away from the rocks of corruption toward prosperity. Forsooth, a kind and noble sovereign was he! Unfortunately, the harvest was an absolute disaster, all his...
Review Broforce - Infectious Low-Brow Blasting Fun With Your Favourite Movie Heroes
Bros before foes!
Switch owners have binged on a rich diet of sophisticated 2D platformers of late, and sometimes what's needed is a gaming palette cleanser before you dive back in. In that regard, Broforce is like an action-platforming sorbet in between meaty courses of Dead Cells and Hollow Knight. It's big, dumb, disposable fun in the best...
August2018
Review The Messenger (Switch eShop)
Go, ninja, go!
Twenty-five years ago, a bright-eyed elementary school student whiled away time in class doodling crude pictures of ninjas in his notebook, completely unaware that such pictures would grow into a lifelong passion project. Indeed, The Messenger is the culmination of decades of daydreaming and prototyping, slowly being refined down into...
Gone in 60 seconds
There’s an old story in the literature world that Ernest Hemingway was once getting lunch with fellow authors and his signature stripped-back writing style was brought up as a discussion point. One of the other writers made a bet that Hemingway couldn’t write a story in six words, to which he replied by grabbing a napkin and...
Review Crossing Souls (Switch eShop)
Stranger things are afoot
The 1980s! It’s been 29 years since they ended and we still cannot escape them. The pop-culture power of this weird decade is such that even today we mine its essence for influence and storytelling. Honestly, this humble writer is just about to tap out on this flavour of nostalgia. The next 'Simon' toy we see is going...
Review Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition (Switch eShop)
It's time to get political
While it may be making its debut on Nintendo Switch more than three years after its original release, time has done little to dull the sharpness of Not a Hero’s pixel art blades. Repackaged as the Super Snazzy Edition - with an extra DLC campaign thrown in for good measure - Roll7’s gutsy shooter is still as bloody,...
December2017
Review Enter The Gungeon (Switch eShop)
Right to bear arms
Nintendo Switch received one of the finest roguelike indie games in the business earlier this year with The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+. Now it has another in Enter The Gungeon. Much like Edmund McMillen's reworked masterpiece, ETG takes the basic form of a top-down twin-stick shooter. Dodge Roll's game, however, has an...