This Is The Police 2 is a very compulsive game and if you are into games that are very hard to put down then this is the game you’re looking for. The people from Weappy Studio have furthered their story of Jack Boyd as he runs from the feds and other organizations that want him either put away or dead.
Earlier this year I had the fortunate opportunity to be a member of the Alpha and Beta testing period for Graveyard Keeper, the newest game from the iconic duo of Lazy Bear Games of Punch Club fame and tinyBuild Games who have published some of the best indie titles this year such as Garage: Bad Trip, Hello Neighbor, Outpost Zero, Guts & Glory, and of course this title.
Graveyard Keeper is a management sim in the vain of Stardew Valley or Punch Club. However, it takes the best qualities of games in its genre and mixes them together into an experience that cannot be missed. This review covers both the Steam and XBOX One versions as I was lucky enough to be provided a Steam press code as well as being a member of XBOX’s Game Pass service where the game is being hosted for subscription holders by Microsoft.
If you’ve been playing shooter video games since the days of Quake and Unreal Tournament you may be finding the likes of Call of Duty or Battlefield too convoluted by kill-streaks, character classes, perks then you may enjoy MOTHERGUNSHIP. The creator behind Tower of Guns joins up with Grip Digital and Terrible Posture Games to produce the next chapter in the bullet hell genre.
Hypergun is a fast paced, rogue-lite first person shooter that just completed its Early Access stage of development and is now available as a full product on Steam and GOG Galaxy with PS4 and Xbox One versions launching during Fall 2018.
The premise in Hypergun is that an alien invasion on the horizon threatens humanity in 2038. With a futuristic Earth on the brink of destruction, you play as a DEVtechs intern Dewey Owens who must save the world and fight through countless hoards of aliens and obstacles that cross his path.
There will be mayhem, 150 weapon modules, character classes, procedural level generation, 40+ unique abilities, and more in the latest project to come out of Toronto-based NVYVE Studios who have been around since 2013 and are also responsible for last year’s open-world title P.A.M.E.L.A. which was made using Unity.
Sudden Strike 4: European Battlefields Edition is the definitive version of the fourth title in the long running real time strategy series featuring not only the base game with its three campaigns as well as four more through the included Road to Dunkirk and Finland: Winter Storm add-ons plus a version exclusive three levels. While Sudden Strike 4 is available on other platforms, the European Battlefields Edition is exclusive to the XBOX One.
Dead Cells is a rogue-like Metroid-vania style game developed by the studio Motion-Twin. So this game features procedurally generated areas which is something new to the genre of Metroid-vania since it’s usually all about remembering the layout of the map, finding secrets in it, and back tracking to older areas to unlock newer areas. Dead Cells throws all of that on its head with making everything well randomized. Survive long enough and you can play it like Metroid, but die and it’s time to start over. Sure, some of the areas are pre-designed, but they are constantly randomized, so you will never know where to go next whenever a new life begins.
Nothing is off limits to the elites. Hobbies, jobs, relationships, even the most benign conversation are all material to be documented while weighing your allegiance to the state. In Beholder, nothing is secret and nothing is sacred. It’s someone’s job to keep an eye on everything you do. It’s all for your own good, of course…
Flat Heroes is a port of the 2016 Steam Early Access indie PC action platformer / party game of the same name, releasing to coincide with the game leaving Early Access on August 2nd, 2018. Flat Heroes may present itself as fairly minimalistic at first; it has a lot hidden under the surface.
Guts and Glory is a port of the popular PC title by HakJak and tinybuild Games. While the PC version is well-known for its vast amount of community-driven levels and being a generally good game to laugh at, this version is funny in all the wrong ways. This review serves to review the game’s base concept and the quality of the port itself, which is sadly quite poor unlike other recent tinyBuild games which have been excellent such as GARAGE: Bad Trip, Graveyard Keeper, and Outpost Zero.
The mysterious travelling sage known only as The Mooseman is capable of interacting with the world in ways most mortals only dream of. In this brief but beautiful experience, players submerge themselves within the folklore and of the native Finno-Ugric culture. Released last year for PC to positive reception among PC Gamers worldwide (currently sitting at a 92% positive rating for all time and 75% positive rating for recent reviews), this title has received many game awards and will release tomorrow for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox globally.
While it’s something more of an artistic showcase rather than a traditional game, open-minded folks definitely love it. If you’re the type of person who puts gameplay above all else though, you might want to steer clear. You’d be missing out on an educational and interesting experience, but The Mooseman isn’t for everyone.
In the experience provided, we will see the journey of a mysterious figure known as “The Mooseman” in legends who will journey through the Middle World (land of the living), Lower World (land of the dead), and even the Upper World (land of the old gods), learning all kinds of esoteric knowledge along the way. We are taught a number of metaphysical lessons through the tales of old which would have perhaps been lost to history if not for this game. Although a lot of what is revealed would spoil the game’s experience, and a lot of the legends are given in an unclear way as to provoke the imagination, I will briefly describe some of the characters from them.
There are many more legendary characters in The Mooseman as well, mostly represented in artistic scenes with descriptions unlocked at each idol. Though these are essentially myths that often represent metaphors to explain the unknown back in ancient times, there is also some physical evidence given to select pieces throughout the artifacts that are found hidden in the game.
The Mooseman opens up by giving players control of a silhouette character who lights idols (resembling totems) to decipher myths that are based on the real life Finno-Ugric tales. These myths become expressed by gameplay elements on the screen. At one point your player will get a bow and arrow, but this isn’t a very action-heavy title and instead focuses on witnessing the spiritual world interacting with that of the physical via 2 – 4 hours of interactive story-telling.
For example, in one myth we are told that only “The Ones Who Know” may find a bridge between the Middle and Lower Worlds, which in this ancient culture’s belief system refers to the land of the living and the land of the dead respectively. When players take control of The Mooseman and observe this myth it causes a change in the environment enabling the myth to become reality or fade as needed. This means that some areas you’ll need to cross are covered by a bridge that only The Mooseman can find.
Other sections of this title similarly enact myths that are revealed to the player through idols. While these can be seen as puzzles, the actual complexity to be deemed a puzzle often isn’t there. These are very basic, vaguely shrouded moments that are figured out rather quickly with little effort. The whole experience does feel like a very interesting story-telling piece of art, but gameplay elements themselves are disappointingly lacking. At one point I thought I was meant to help guide souls from the Middle World to the Lower World only to find out I actually just needed to walk by them a certain way and avoid their death. Missed opportunities to marry deep gameplay with cultural awareness are prevalent and will put a bit of a damper on the overall product for gameplay-centric gamers.
Visuals in this title are very abstract, mood-setting, and artistic. As discussed elsewhere in this review, the game relies more on its narrative and sense of atmosphere than traditional gameplay. In regard to graphical quality, that’s actually a positive note. The title does well to provide watercolor and smokey charcoal style graphics that feel like a painting come to life. Performance-wise, The Mooseman maintains a steady but cinematic frame rate, without any glitches observed in our play-throughs although it does stutter slightly between loading some of its scenes.
The sound effects and music are a big part of what make up the game’s emotional tone. The general vibe given by the audio in the game is that of bewilderment, although at times sad, foreboding, or creepy. Lore and legends are discovered and displayed on-screen in the hieroglyphs of native culture while being read aloud by a Komi-Permian voice actress as the cryptic text fades into English for western gamers to read. This can be changed to Russian, French, or Deutsch as well.
The one aspect of this game that provides for replay-ability beyond just showing it to a friend / loved one or experiencing it for a second time is the collection of hidden artifacts. They aren’t frustratingly hard to find but do well to reward those who are used to checking every corner of a game’s world. Once obtained, each artifact in the collection will give real life evidence to the legends depicted in The Mooseman. These are based on academic literature and given as a sort of educational accompaniment to the rest of the title’s artistic portrayal of this mythology.
It’s really tough to score The Mooseman, as the developers have certainly done a great job telling the historical folklore of a tribal culture from the native ancestors of Finland and Russia. However, by choosing to stick to the folklore of their heritage as the primary content while advertising for the title suggests more of an adventure or puzzle game seems like it will mislead some folks.
The end result feels more like an interactive visual novel than a video game. While there’s nothing wrong with that, and we are excited to see a unique method to present culture has flourished here, it stops short of being worthy of our Bronze Game status. We do hope this format is continued and expanded on by this team in future projects. The Mooseman receives a 6 out of 10 from us and we recommend potential buyers research it as an art piece rather than game before jumping in.
Also Available on iOS and Android
*File Size (PS4): 619mb (708mb with updates)
*Original Price: $6.99 USD ($6.99 CAD, €6.99 EUR)
Review Copy Info: A digital copy of this game was provided to RGN for free by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
*File Size & Original Price noted at the time of the review may not reflect current size and pricing after a while as future updates get released.
Yes you’ve read that right, the 4K remaster of a classic game from the PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 era has emerged from THQ Nordic, the lovechild of Nordic Games purchasing much of THQ’s old copyrights including classic gaming franchises as well as the actual THQ name and logo. Despite harsh criticisms leveled at their later years, Nordic Games were big fans of what THQ did for gaming throughout their long journey and decided to bring the brand back to glory while revamping some of their best games.
Mushroom Wars 2 is a sequel in the award-winning mobile real time strategy series by Zillion Whales. The game itself debuted on mobile platforms as well as made appearances on both the XBOX One and PlayStation 4 in 2016 and today released on the console-handheld hybrid Nintendo Switch.
This past week the first two maps of the Battlefield 1 expansion “Turning Tides” has now released. Also a new operation, new weapons, and new assignments have been added as well. But let’s get into the meat of this latest expansion in the latest Battlefield title.
Hello Neighbor is a very different type of game than you may have expected. Then again, being different than what you’re probably used to is also likely what brought you here in the first place. The sense of curiosity that’s been known to kill the cat, or in this case the neighborhood vibe of a suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock film meets puzzle game and dash of Five Nights At Freddy’s fan conspiracy community sprinkled on top without the annoying parts. It’s like Five Nights At Freddy’s for adults, but it’s so much more.
Set in the backdrop of a martial law setting, with so many makings of a good game in place – Maximum Games manages to rush out an incomplete product for the holiday season which was perhaps just another half of a year in the oven away from a good game.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – The Master Trials DLC is the first DLC apart of the Expansion Pass. It is more of a simple DLC, giving you some armor and weapons, but the main draw here is the new Master Mode and The Trial of the Sword challenge mode. The question is, is it worth the asking price?
The latest update for the underappreciated Titanfall 2 released yesterday for free. It featured a new map, some new features, and some tweaks to the UI. First off let’s talk about the map. This was a map that was also DLC in the first Titanfall game, I liked it back then, and I really like it now. It is probably one of the Titanfall maps that takes full advantage of your mobility, plenty of areas to climb, jump, and wall run. Combat has a nice flow all over the battlefield as it is more of a medium sized map, which the base game was lacking.
Splatoon seemed like a huge risk to take when it was released. A new IP released on a platform that was not very successful, and was probably released in the worst drought of games the system had seen, the mid 2015 to 2016 stretch. Now let’s take a look back at this hit Wii U title, and see what it does right, and what it could be improved upon.
Puyo Puyo Tetris is a nice crossover of Puyo and Tetris, developed by Sonic Team of all developer teams. This puzzle game hits many different platforms, but today we will be taking a look primarily at the Nintendo Switch version. I mean hey, who doesn’t play Tetris? Or Puyo?
CAPCOM has recently brought back Street Fighter II for seemingly the final time, in Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers. An attempt to back into some nostalgia and bring back the classic that helped define the series to a new generation of Nintendo and the 30th Anniversary of Street Fighter.
Injustice 2 is the sequel to 2013’s top fighting game, Injustice God’s Among Us. Featuring a large cast of people’s favorite DC characters such as Batman, Superman, Swamp Thing, Harley Quinn, and Wonder Woman. Expanding upon some of the first games mechanics, and making iterations to the formula, does Injustice 2 offer a premiere pro fighting experience?
ARMS is the new big fighting game IP from Nintendo, featuring a fresh unique take on the genre. Featuring weird people with stretching arms that fight in huge stadiums while beating the crap out of each other. Is Nintendo going forth and keeping up it’s success with new IP and it’s games in general?
Minecraft is basically on any device you can ever think of, but I have always found the handheld versions lacking in comparison to it’s PC and Console counterparts. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition promises a modern Minecraft experience at home, and on the go, so does it deliver, and is it worth the $29.99 price tag?
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a powered up port of Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) now on the Nintendo Switch. While largely being the same title, plenty of small changes and even entirely new modes and mechanics do make the game feel more unique and different compared to its Wii U counterpart.
MLB The Show 17 came out recently and is one of the greatest baseball games in the series. The Show has been around since 2006 where developer SIE San Diego Studio has been working on the series since its inception on the PS2. They have put their feet in a few other games over the years such as: Modnation Racers, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and Kill Strain. They had some competition up until its last game in 2013 with Major League Baseball 2k13. This is also the first year that the developer has been able to create the game solely on PS4 and not have to do a copy of the PS3.