HIGH The buildup to the second boss fight.

LOW The actual second boss fight.

WTF “Little guys for big jobs” is a profoundly weird way to describe bullets.

There’s nothing slick about Blood West.  It’s a slow, lumbering thing – an exercise in patience, demanding to be taken on its own terms. 

My first forays into this stealth focused, first-person shooter were mired in frustration, while my seemingly interminable failures put the main character’s immortality to the test.  However, once I was willing to abandon my preconceived heuristics and fully lean into Blood West’s loop, I loved every second of it.

Recently resurrected by a talking cow skull of dubious origins, the player takes control of an unnamed, undead gunslinger tasked with defeating a great evil corrupting the land.  Structured as small open-worlds, players will explore haunted canyons, swamps, and mountain ranges across the American old west.  Light RPG elements allow for some character customization, but make no mistake, spirits, mutants, and gaggles of gun-toting birdmen offer stiff resistance to incautious players, and maintaining a low profile is crucial.

Impulse and quick reflexes find no purchase in Blood West – every action must be carefully considered, with a solid contingency plan in place should things go awry.  Stand-up fights netted poor results for this spooky cowpoke, and each encounter turned into a tactical calculus.

Take the simple act of equipping weapons – players are only able to swap between two at a time, one large and one small.  Is it more prudent to take the bow, able to stealthily dispatch weaker enemies from afar?  Or is it better to knife them in the back, relying on the close quarters fury of a double-barreled shotgun should that colossal wendigo stomping in the background take notice?  These questions become existential as health is fleeting, and death is severely punished on the plains of Blood West.

Each defeat (and subsequent resurrection) results in a “soul flaw” — a semi-permanent status effect that negatively impacts a core stat such as health, stamina, or sneaking ability.  These compound with each death, worsening up to three times. While they can eventually be remedied, these flaws do nothing to make the hostile world of Blood West any easier.

While Blood West is punishing when approached as a typical first-person shooter, it is immensely rewarding as a tactical stealth experience.  Its open-ended structure offers players abundant freedom in tackling objectives, and most areas can be approached from any direction.  I came to organize my play into discreet sorties, probing further into the wilderness and systematically clearing areas of enemies before returning to base camp to trade treasure with the merchant and heal up.  Defeated enemies stay dead until the player rests or resurrects, and I began to feel a measure of control over my environment when I realized I could stay alive much longer with the most important tactic of all – knowing when to cut bait. 

Eventually, I came to realize the majority of my deaths in Blood West were a result of my own hubris – deciding to take a snap headshot without properly scouting the area, accidentally alerting a horde of monsters in the process, or pressing into uncharted territory despite a depleted health bar.  Individual enemies are generally not difficult on their own, and most can be outrun should they become overwhelming.  That’s not to say that every death is the player’s fault, but I rarely felt Blood West was unfair and often found my own stubbornness and inattention to be the source of any frustration.

Careful attention is not only important for combat but also exploration.  Whether it’s a moored steamboat off the beaten track or a lonely cabin on a hilltop, there is sure to be loot worth finding.  As I began to explore the more far-flung corners of the map, I found powerful, unique items that literally changed the way I approached Blood West – a rifle that heals forty health with every headshot, or a trinket that offered a twenty percent boost to health, stamina, and experience points.  Some of these items shaped my play for hours to come, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that I might not have rolled credits in Blood West without them.

There is one area where Blood West falls short, however – the boss fights.  Each act is structured around tracking and exterminating an evil entity, and the narrative revolves around the buildup to these encounters.  Unfortunately, these battles are uniformly disappointing and rely on mechanics that stray from Blood West’s strengths.  Whether it’s dexterity-based dodging or battles of attrition, gone is the emphasis on thoughtful, strategic play that forms Blood West’s foundation.  While certainly a letdown, these criticisms amount to little more than quibbles in the wake of all that Blood West does right.

Blood West won’t be for everyone, but those willing to go along with its demanding play and deliberate pacing will find an engaging experience that celebrates the player’s wits as much as reflexes.  I won’t soon forget the feeling of being low on ammo, even lower on health and deep behind enemy lines, knowing I should turn back, but forging ahead anyway, intoxicated by what treasure could be around the next corner – because more than likely, it’s worth it.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Buy Blood West: PS5 – Xbox – PC

Disclosures: This game is developed by Hyperstrange and published by New Blood Interactive LLC. It is currently available on PC, PS5, and XBX/S.  This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 30 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the primary campaign was completed, but the DLC campaign was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence. This game is definitely not aimed at children.  While the visuals are generally low fidelity and rendered in a cartoony, non-realistic fashion, there is plenty of blood and gore.  Enemies can be killed with various firearms, knives, and swords.  When killed, enemies will spray blood out and can be partially dismembered with certain weapons.  Alcohol and tobacco can be consumed as power-ups.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game only offers subtitles in certain instances.  Primary dialogue between characters is fully subtitled, but the player’s character makes many comments throughout gameplay that are not subtitled at all. While this game offers two options for text size, this only applies to certain menus and did not impact the text in subtitled dialogue. This game relies heavily on stealth, and when playing without sound I found it more difficult to remain unseen and, consequently, died more frequently due to enemy noises that are not represented visually. The missing in-game subtitles combined with the lack of visual indicators for key contextual noises means this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Blood West Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The chain tires – snowy roads be damned!

LOW Inadvertently locking myself out of the true ending.

WTF The snow-covered frozen corpses I kept finding.

If I showed up for the first day of work and was greeted with empty city streets, caustic shopkeepers, and sub-zero temperatures that apparently send me to a bizarre void world after several seconds of exposure, I would probably turn around and go home – which is probably why I’ve never been hired by the Easy Delivery Co. 

As a fresh-faced recruit, players will brave blizzards and uncanny townsfolk as they cruise snowy mountains delivering packages and piecing together the truth behind a mysterious village.

The core loop of Easy Delivery Co. is simple enough – select a job, head to point A to pick up, deliver to point B, get paid.  Structured as a semi-open-world courier simulator, charting a route across three primary burgs is left to the player’s discretion.  Longer distance deliveries net higher payouts which, in turn, can be redeemed for gasoline, vehicle upgrades, and supplies to guard against the cold.

Weather plays a key role in Easy Delivery Co., with any time spent outdoors presenting the danger of rapid hypothermia (and a quick return to that spooky void world – Yikes!)  Purchasing items such as logs to build a fire or coffee to keep up one’s cold tolerance and speed are crucial for surviving the long, cold nights.

Aesthetics are crucial for Easy Delivery Co.’s success and, thankfully, it more than delivers with its abrasive lo-fi ‘90s styling forming a rock-solid foundation for its foreboding world.  Jagged, warping power-lines crisscross vacant streets.  Tires spin, straining doggedly against slushy terrain while kicking up chunky white pixels in their wake.  High beams click on in the waning daylight, taillights rendering as warm halos in dithering snowfall. There’s a fuzziness to the whole affair – a juxtaposition of warmth and chill that is at once disconcerting as well as curiously comforting.

The narrative is, for the most part, told indirectly through conversation with the denizens of Mountain Town and the surroundings hamlets.  The player has one ally, MK. They’re apparently the only lucid character in the area, providing context for the proceedings and also acting as the primary quest giver.  The townsfolk in Easy Delivery Co., seemingly confined to their storefronts, are generally standoffish.  Some are downright hostile, but most just seem depressed and lonely as they reveal their neuroses and desires in casual conversation.

While uncovering the secrets at the heart of the wintry town and its melancholy inhabitants becomes the primary objective, the narrative ultimately ends up feeling like a bolster for the tonal elements, as opposed to an end in and of itself.  I appreciated the pervasive unease and slow rollout of details, though I didn’t end up feeling terribly invested in the outcome, with the climax hinging on an emotional connection I never experienced.

Further buoying the stellar presentation is Easy Delivery Co.’s strong mechanical core.  Controlled from the third or first-person perspectives, players will spend much of their time in their (surprisingly nimble) mini ‘kei’ truck, but on-foot journeys across the unforgiving tundra are occasionally necessary.

The kei truck proves a faithful steed, and I relished every opportunity to manually open its tailgate as I loaded a package (dutifully closing it behind me), kicking on the headlights and puttering into the wavering dark.  There is a reactivity in its handling – bouncing on its suspension over bumps, or losing traction as I hit a patch of snow or ice. It was rarely enough to jolt me off course, but just enough to demand my attention.

For the most part, Easy Delivery Co. lives up to its titular difficulty, but there is a subtle hostility in certain aspects of its design. 

The most notable of these is the map system, or lack thereof.  There is no mini-map, and while a full map can be accessed from the menu, it contains no indicators as to the player’s whereabouts — only a waypoint for the destination.  While the level design isn’t terribly complex and a healthy smattering of road signs helped keep me on course, I couldn’t ever shake the feeling of being vaguely lost. 

Overall, Easy Delivery Co. is a resoundingly successful marriage of tone and mechanics.  The developers demonstrate a keen eye toward player engagement, offering just enough depth to require my focus, but not so much as to distract from their haunting world.  While the narrative ultimately falls a bit flat, the quiet moments of brewing tea by firelight and harrowing drives through blinding blizzards will stick with me long after I make my final delivery.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Buy Easy Delivery Co. – PC

Disclosures: This game is developed by Sam C and published by Oro Interactive. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC.  Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: At the time of this review, this game has not been rated by the ESRB.  While there is no violence, blood, or gore there is spooky imagery that might be scary for younger or more sensitive audiences. Additionally, while there is no explicit sexual content, there is mildly suggestive dialogue during conversations with certain characters. 

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. I did not experience any issues when playing this game without sound, all audio cues are accompanied by visual indicators.  This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable.  While the primary controls cannot be altered in this game, the “Accept” and “Back” buttons can be reversed in the options menu.

The post Easy Delivery Co. Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Buddy and Bag Boy are just too cute.

LOW Unimaginative use of an oversized world.

WTF The only surviving animals appear to be two miniscule cats who are real jerks.

If the machines eventually take over, I can only hope our new mechanical rulers are robots like Buddy and Bag Boy, the main characters of Misc. A Tiny Tale.

In the wake of humanity’s extinction, we have (unsurprisingly) left an assortment of junk and trash in our stead. Living amongst our refuse is a diminutive race of robots who have turned cans into homes and see couch cushions as mountain ranges. Late one evening, an explosion rocks their peaceful little world, prompting Buddy and Bag Boy (best friends forever, and the nicest little bots anyone could ever hope to meet) to venture out in search of its source — and, just maybe, learn a little something about themselves along the way.

Misc. A Tiny Tale is a third-person, 3D platformer with a heavy emphasis on collectibles. The challenge is light and there is no fail state. Buddy has just a handful of primary verbs, and most obstacles can be overcome with a standard double jump and glide.

Across its eight main stages, players are dropped into large, non-linear areas with the goal of uncovering the missing golden cogs necessary to open passage to the next level. Finding these is a matter of exploration and rendering aid to the local robot population. In addition to collecting the lost cogs, players are also asked to clean up the garbage and goo littering the world.

There is a general lack of complexity in Misc. A Tiny Tale, and most of the cogs are found through simple fetch quests. Others are tucked away behind basic platforming segments or awarded for cleaning up scattered garbage. I was disappointed that there was little evolution after the opening stages, and found myself repeating these same straightforward tasks in the final areas of Misc. A Tiny Tale.

As one could guess from the title, size plays an important role in Misc. A Tiny Tale.  The robots are rarely more than a couple of inches tall — blades of grass are jungle thickets, a coffee table is a towering mesa, and a child’s swing set becomes a colossus amidst the arid desert of the local playground.  Unfortunately, this sense of scale is rarely utilized in a meaningful way. 

Many of the stages take place outdoors, in natural environments lacking in a standard sense of relative size. Often, the oversized objects end up feeling like set dressing. Is the process of scaling a mound of dirt in a garden meaningfully different from climbing a mountain as a human-sized character? It wasn’t until the final stages, as I was bouldering up the side of a TV stand and running along the eye-level baseboards of a mammoth living room, that I began to truly feel how miniscule these robots are in relation to the human world.

For all the simplicity in its play, I was surprised to find myself hunting down every golden cog in each of the stages, something I attribute to how endeared I was by the characters and writing. I wasn’t anticipating being so emotionally invested in Buddy, Bag Boy, and the many friends they make along the way. Of particular note are the Bro Bots, a couple of workout-obsessed beetles that have a crush on one another but are too shy to admit it. Enter Buddy, matchmaker extraordinaire, to help break the ice. Moments like these ultimately overshadowed my disappointment with the core play and, after a surprisingly affecting late-stage turn (no spoilers here!) I was fully onboard with Buddy and Bag Boy’s odyssey across the tiny robot world.

Despite its lack of complexity and failure to capitalize on its oversized world, I found it easy to like Misc. A Tiny Tale. The chunky, expressive little automatons immediately drew me in, and its earnest narrative of self-acceptance and mutual aid proved a pleasant counterpoint to the ever-growing hellscape of the real world. While these elements aren’t enough to propel Misc. A Tiny Tale into the annals of the genre giants it’s modeled after, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a smile on my face as I watched the credits roll over a saccharine song espousing the power of friendship.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Buy Misc. a Tiny Tale – PC – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Tinyware Games. It is currently available on Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Violence. This game is generally appropriate for all audiences.  The violence is minimal, with the only enemies in the game being wind-up toys, and the only weapon being a safety pin. There is no blood or gore.

Colorblind Modes: There are no specific colorblind modes available, however there is a high-contrast option for the dialogue boxes that appear during gameplay.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles for character dialogue, however there is an un-subtitled song that plays during a late-game cutscene with lyrics that are heavily referential to the narrative and themes. For this reason, this game is not fully accessible. Otherwise, the subtitles cannot be resized, although there is a high contrast option for the dialogue boxes that appear during gameplay. There are no significant audio cues utilized during gameplay, and I experienced no issues when playing without sound.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Misc. A Tiny Tale Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The level design.

LOW In the sewers again, eh?

WTF Shouldn’t it be easier to hit enemies when aiming down the sights, not harder?

Nothing good ever happens in an underground science lab — whether it’s zombifying viruses, inter-dimensional hell portals, or just plain corporate greed run amok, these clandestine facilities inevitably court disaster.  As a retro-styled first-person shooter, Kvark is the latest title to explore the consequences of subterranean scholarship.

Set in Czechoslovakia during the late ’80s, Kvark tells the tale of an energy company attempting to branch into the weapons industry.  By experimenting on their employees with a mysterious substance called Anethium, the corporation manages to prove the above hypothesis.  Awakening in a cell on the bottom floor of the facility in the aftermath of a disaster, the player must fight their way to the safety of the surface.

A slow, exploration-based shooter, Kvark is clearly inspired by the original Half-Life, and models much of its structure and play after that seminal 1998 release.  While the similarities in theme and setting are obvious, the most interesting resonance is in the structure of the levels themselves.

Many stages are constructed in a circular manner, causing areas to often be revisited from new perspectives.  This design thesis is clearly established in the opening stage — shortly after exiting their cell into the multi-level prison, players will walk through a hallway with a barred, moss-covered window near the ceiling.  A room is visible through the bars with barrels and boxes piled high.  Several minutes (and many winding corridors) later I noticed that same barred window — this time near the floor — and realized I was looking back into the first hallway from the other side. 

This structural bookending, described as The Preacher Loop by GameCritics’ own Sparky Clarkson, defines the space by removing abstraction and reiterating its logical construction.  Through recognizable landmarks and showing the same spaces from new vantage points, the player becomes keenly aware of their progress and orientation within the environment.  As Sparky points out in his article, this design technique is a major factor in why Half-Life’s Black Mesa facility feels grounded and cohesive, and the effect is similar in Kvark.

Unfortunately, this thoughtful design is let down by Kvark’s inconsistent aesthetic direction.  The opening two thirds of Kvark take place in anonymous industrial spaces, sewers, and tunnels.  Occasionally, the player will pop into offices and labs which feature a more noteworthy brutalist aesthetic with stark, chunky concrete architecture and wood paneling.  These segments offer more visual interest and complement the recursive structure with more striking spaces.  However, it seemed as though every time I entered one of these areas, Kvark was quick to direct me back into the mines and tunnels, losing much of its spark in the process.

Compounding this issue are the repetitive mechanics.  Armed with the typical assortment of shotguns, rifles, and machine guns, the player must battle through an army of robots, mutants, and evil scientists.  While the play is functional, there’s little that sets it apart — the majority of encounters consist of enemies blindly charging after the player until they are eventually gunned down.  Though there is an undeniable thrill in this and the over-the-top gore is a constant source of amusement, there are few surprises, and I quickly tired of the monotony.

To be fair, the final third of Kvark is a marked improvement, and finally delivers on the promise of the clever level design.  Gone are the claustrophobic passages and burrows, when my character finally emerges on the surface. 

These sections feature much wider spaces with a broader selection of enemies, and the encounters become more dynamic. Objectives are telegraphed by distant, concrete edifices barely visible through the fog.  Airborne enemies pepper the player from above, their ground-based counterparts lobbing grenades as mutant rats charge out of the underbrush. In these late stages, Kvark finally comes into its own.

In the end, Kvark shows an enormous amount of promise.  However, its disparate elements coalesce too late in the runtime and are ultimately overshadowed by the uninspired combat and indistinct aesthetic direction.  That being said, there is a sense of momentum in the final stages of Kvark, and if the developers can focus on that quality and carry it forward, I have high hopes for their subsequent releases.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Buy KVARK – PS – XB – Switch – PC

Disclosures: This game is developed by Latest Pass and published by Perun Creative. It is currently available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S, Switch, and PC.  This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 20 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.  There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Use of Tobacco, Violence. This game is a first-person shooter where humans, zombies, rats and robots are killed with guns.  The visuals are presented in a blocky, low fidelity format, and are not photo-realistic.  When enemies are shot blood sprays out and stains the wall.  They can be decapitated, dismembered, and will occasionally explode into chunks of gore when killed. This is all presented in an over-the-top, unrealistic fashion but is still fairly graphic.  Cigarette butts can be picked up from ashtrays and smoked.  Normally this lowers the players health, but a perk can be obtained that heals the player when smoking cigarettes. There is no profanity or sexual content.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. During gameplay, none of the enemy sounds are captioned or subtitled, and while there is no dialogue with the enemies, I did find that I was more susceptible to ambushes and attacks from behind when playing without sound. As such, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Kvark Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Playing Tag.

LOW The general lack of content.

WTF Anyone that can play the first-person mode without getting sick is made of sterner stuff than I.

Rooftops & Alleys is an uncommonly focused experience.  As a third-person platformer centered around parkour, players will sprint and trick their way through obstacle-riddled urban environments to improve their free-running skills. There is zero fluff in Rooftops & Alleys, and every one of its elements works towards reinforcing the core sensation of rapid, smooth traversal.

Without any traditional narrative, movement itself becomes the motivation.  Flipping, leaping, and rolling across those titular Rooftops & Alleys is far from an intuitive act, and I was several hours in before feeling comfortable with the controls.  Actions like jumping and sliding — so simple in other titles — take on a level of finesse in Rooftops & Alleys that is at once rewarding and frustrating.

Many of the buttons serve multiple functions — the X button, for example, is used for jumping, mantling, and performing tricks, all depending on how, when, and in what order it’s pressed.  The distinction between these acts often comes down to a split-second difference in timing, and my early hours were spent flat on my face as often as not.

In all fairness, these missteps often came down to my own lack of digital dexterity, and as I became more accustomed to the complex inputs I began sailing through challenges I’d previously thought insurmountable.  Learning to smoothly transition from a stories-high leap of faith into a shock absorbing roll, then springing off a stack of pallets is a fluid and satisfying process.  These moments are hard-won, and though I wasn’t ready to shoulder responsibility for every trip and slip, the lithely-animated slides and wallruns served as catharsis for any pent frustrations.

This dogmatic adherence to the core concept in Rooftops & Alleys is compelling… yet it also works to its detriment.  With such nuanced and demanding play, it is doubly important for the underlying structure to support and motivate the player towards greater heights, and in this regard Rooftops & Alleys is unsuccessful.

The majority of the content is comprised of Time Trials and Trick Challenges.  While these straightforward objectives provide a solid instructional foundation for the mechanics, they are too limited in scope to keep pace with the sophisticated play. I enjoyed running the same courses over to shave precious seconds off in hopes of getting top marks, but these obstacles began to feel repetitive long before I had mastered the core concepts.

Furthermore, the stage design is almost entirely functional, with many levels lacking strong visual identity.  The Steel Yard and Construction Site are almost indiscernible thanks to a mixture of grey concrete and rusty girders. The container ship choked with stacked shipping crates offers endless combo opportunities, but feels compiled of assets and textures I’ve seen many times before.  The sunny streets and colorful stucco of Sunset Paradise is a welcome reprieve, but this is the exception.

While the solo content feels uninspired, Rooftops & Alleys nearly reaches its potential in its multiplayer modes.  There is a liberating Freeplay mode where players can practice together in the same space, but the real standout is Tag mode. Playing like a far more dexterous version of the playground pastime, one player is designated as “It” and must chase the others down.  The frantic pace of this mode snaps Rooftops & Alleys’ strengths into focus. 

The generic aesthetic of the stages fades as the impeccable lines and flow of the wireframe design takes over — a seemingly arbitrarily placed box becomes a springboard to outpace an opponent, inconspicuous ledges become critical footholds to outpace a pursuer.  Without the structured solo objectives, I had to rely more on instinct and skill to succeed — and though I was often in last place, these moments were by far Rooftops & Alleys’ most thrilling.  With that said, it should be mentioned that I had some technical difficulty connecting (and staying connected) to online matches, though I imagine this will improve with future patches.

Rooftops & Alleys, in part, is victim to its own ambition.  With its extraordinary mechanical strength, the majority of the content simply doesn’t measure up and found myself tiring of the experience prematurely due to a lack of variety and aesthetic interest. While this was leavened by the online modes, I still came away wishing for a more robust foundation to support its staggering mechanical heights.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Buy Rooftops & Alleys – PC – PS5 – Xbox – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed by ML Media and published by Shine Research. It is currently available on Switch, XBX/S, PS5, and PC.  This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5.  Approximately 13 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 4 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There is very little in this game that could be considered objectionable. Play consists entirely of running through environments while performing tricks and stunts, there is no violence or profanity. When falling, the player’s character will tumble about like a ragdoll, and this can lead to some gnarly looking wipeouts.  There is no blood, and these falls aren’t terribly lifelike.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is no spoken dialogue in this game, and all information is presented in text.  This text cannot be resized. I played a good portion of my time without sound and experienced no issues.  There are no audio cues that I noticed, and all on-screen visual indicators clearly stand out. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. Beyond the controls listed in the screenshots below, tricks can be performed with different combinations of the face buttons (X, Square, Triangle, Circle) and directions on the left control stick.

The post Rooftops & Alleys Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The Tower of No Interval.

LOW The final encounter.

WTF Not sure a broken sword is the weapon of choice entering a Demon King’s maze.

Presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio with grainy polygonal art, Labyrinth of the Demon King is a near-perfect evocation of dark corners last seen since the mid-90’s.  Played from the first-person perspective, players will hack, slash and puzzle their way through dungeons and towers as a samurai on a quest to avenge their fallen lord by slaying the titular monarch.

Caked in muddy earth tones, monsters shiver through hazy, pixelated halls.  The occasional flash of red viscera gives depth to their dismembered, barely human figures as they limp and stumble after the player.  Their howls cut through fuzzy rain-patter, creating a world that is threatening and immediate despite its ostensible lack of visual fidelity.

A dungeon crawler with a dash of survival horror, the Labyrinth of the Demon King is not a happy place, and respite is all but non-existent.  As I slowly progressed through the foreboding castle, I found my senses more important than a steady sword hand.  A foot peeking out from a corner, or a shuffling in the darkness can tip off observant players to an imminent bushwhack.  While combat is generally fair and balanced, being caught unawares by a group of enemies will quickly exhaust even the most robust health bar.

When it comes to crossing blades with the labyrinth’s demonic denizens, combat is a rhythmic affair.  A slow-motion dance of thrusts and ripostes, even the quickest weapons feel heavy and sluggish.  Frantic, panicked swings, while instinctive given the macabre trappings, will result in rapid defeat as the samurai’s stamina is easily depleted.  Victory, then, becomes a matter of patience rather than reflex. 

Most attacks can be parried, and with long wind ups, enemy blows are effectively telegraphed.  A surprisingly accommodating parry window kept most of my frustration at bay — even when I hit the block button too quickly, I often had time to reset and try again before the monster’s claws made contact.  That’s not to say navigating the Labyrinth of the Demon King is easy, but so long as I didn’t panic, I generally felt well equipped to handle whatever the sinister overlord could dish out. 

For those moments where I overreached my ability, I was pleased to find the Demon King’s rebukes to be lenient.  Falling in battle means resurrecting at the last shrine players rested at.  Enemies respawn, and any resources expended in the fight are forfeit, but beyond that all progress is retained.  That being said, the final battle didn’t feel quite as well tuned as the rest of the fights.  With a more diverse moveset and stronger emphasis on reaction time, the climactic encounter is suitably dramatic. However, with a dozen or so retries, my eventual triumph wasn’t without some exasperation.

Light RPG elements further balance the scales with character progression tied to two primary attributes — strength and stamina.  Weapons can also be improved to stand up to the hardier members of the Demon King’s army, and while the selection of armaments is probably too wide given Labyrinth of the Demon King’s brevity, I’m not one to complain about too many choices.

Martial prowess alone is not sufficient for navigating the Labyrinth of the Demon King, though, and careful exploration plays a large part in the player’s survival. 

As the title implies, each of the main areas is a complex interweaving of rooms, halls and courtyards — losing one’s way is an inevitability.  While maps can be found for each floor, these handy aids are imperfect — passages that appear clear on the map are, in fact, obstructed while hidden paths and outdoor areas go unmarked altogether.  This setup results in a keen straddling of discovery and handholding.  Players are forced to learn levels by landmark, making mental notes of unlocked shortcuts with the map acting as a flawed safety net.

Forgoing punitive mechanics, Labyrinth of the Demon King builds tension through atmosphere and narrative.  While the overarching tale of revenge is standard fare, I found the flavor text throughout the world to be quite affecting.  One highlight is a note describing, in detail, the grisly consequences of defiling a Buddhist altar.  Shortly after finding this note, I encountered a character in possession of a key I needed to progress.  They agreed to help, but only after I desecrated the very altar I had been warned about.  I won’t spoil the outcome, but the author of that note could not be accused of understatement.  This kind of foreshadowing is found throughout Labyrinth of the Demon King and adds dreadful depth to its nasty, grimy styling.

Ultimately, Labyrinth of the Demon King is a canny mixture of aggressive posturing and subtly accessible mechanics.  I was surprised at how tense my experience was, despite the relative ease with which I traversed its halls.  Labyrinth of the Demon King manages to capture the abrasive essence of titles like Shadow Tower and Silent Hill but in a compact, easily digestible package.  The developer’s ability to achieve this balance is commendable and, as the samurai sits drinking matcha tea in the labyrinth’s one refuge, I am filled with a familiar warmth.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Buy Labyrinth of the Demon King – PC – PS – XB – SW

Disclosures: This game is developed by J.R. Hudepohl and published by Top Hat Studios. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, XBO/X/S, and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, and Violence. This is a horror game and most enemies are monsters or disfigured humans.  The player attacks enemies with weapons such as swords, clubs and guns. Enemies bleed when struck, staining walls and floors and can be dismembered.  Certain enemies require the player to stomp on their head repeatedly to kill them. Disturbing and creepy imagery is found throughout this game. Beyond the violence, there are references to sexual abuse in text notes found in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is no vocalized dialogue in this game, and all character interactions are shown in text boxes. This text cannot be resized. This game makes use of audio to signal enemy presence, often when that enemy is not visible on screen.  One particularly dangerous enemy often spawns behind the player or outside of their field of view and is signaled through a specific auditory jingle.  None of these audio signals have accompanying visual cues, and I found myself taking damage more often when playing without sound. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Labyrinth Of The Demon King Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The blunderbuss!

LOW The second act.

WTF Who knew a 17^th century shotgun could be such a versatile tool?

I came to Sacre Bleu with little foreknowledge of musketeers.  Having now spent several swashbuckling hours beneath one of their plumed hats, I can safely say I have overlooked the deadliest fighting force in human history.  From standard swords and pistols to the more esoteric blunderbuss that doubles as a rocket propulsion system, the destructive capacity of these frisky Frenchmen cannot be overstated.  Dubious historical accuracy aside, Sacre Bleu is an excellent demonstration of the alchemical potential between flexible mechanics and (mostly) tight design.

Ostensibly a 2D action-platformer, Sacre Bleu tasks players with battling through castles, kitchens and sewers to escape the clutches of a corrupt Cardinal and his army of mercenaries.  However, the cartoony, side-scrolling trappings hide Sacre Bleu’s more tactical nature. 

Due in large part to its heavy reliance on slow motion, combat in Sacre Bleu has a unique flow.  Any time players aim one of their weapons, the action slows down, allowing ample time to plan an assault.  Building on this foundation is the blunderbuss.  Though counterintuitive, this rifle does not deal direct damage.  Instead, firing blasts of air that can launch the player skyward and move objects, this weapon becomes a tool to set up elaborate attacks with the more bespoke weapons, such as the pistol and grenades.

There is a staccato rhythm to these fights.  Snapping in and out of slow motion, bursts from the blunderbuss propel the musketeer across the battlefield lining up headshots, deflecting arrows and lobbing grenades along the way.  Measured consideration and chaotic heroism form an exhilarating union as moments of careful planning are punctuated by explosions and corpses.

Sacre Bleu reinforces this cadence in its platforming.  Many of the stages are made up of spike-filled mazes requiring quick, mid-air turns, and it is here that the blunderbuss truly takes center stage.  Whether it’s launching me up to hard-to-reach ledges, providing a quick boost to outrun spinning blades, or simply knocking obstacles out of the way, I felt as though I was constantly finding new uses for it.  With up to three bursts before touching down, freezing time mid-air to adjust the musketeer’s trajectory is a breeze.  While intimidating in appearance, even the most complex sequences rely more on keen observation and planning than pinpoint precision.

Unfortunately, these stellar mechanics are let down by Sacre Bleu’s inconsistent camera. The perspective was often either too close or too far away. It just never seemed to be where I wanted, and I found it difficult to track my character during some of the trickier platforming segments. There were also times when my character outpaced the camera, and I’d sprint headlong into a wall of spikes I couldn’t yet see.

Compounding these issues is Sacre Bleu’s underbaked middle third.  With a greater emphasis on puzzles, many of these sections require the player to stand in specific spots while using the blunderbuss to manipulate the environment.  While a nice change of pace, these segments can be overly fiddly.  Though not a deal breaker, knowing exactly what I needed to do, but being unable to execute because my character isn’t in quite the right spot is never a great feeling.

Ultimately, what I admire most about Sacre Bleu is its focus.  The developers came up with a novel core mechanic in the blunderbuss and explored its full potential.  While not every element is executed to perfection, there is nothing wasted, and Sacre Bleu never overstays its welcome.  With a little tighter fit and finish, Sacre Bleu would be unimpeachable, instead it will have to settle for just being pretty darned good.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Buy Sacre Bleu – PC – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed by Hildring Studio Inc and published by Noodlecake Studios.It is currently available on PC and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood, Crude Humor, and Violence.  While this game contains pervasive violence, it’s presented in cartoony, unrealistic fashion.  Additionally, the camera is generally pulled far enough back that the action appears small on the screen. Enemies can be killed with pistols, swords, grenades and arrows. There is a small amount of blood occasionally, and enemies cry out when killed. There is no profanity.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. There is no recorded dialogue in this game, and all conversations are represented in on-screen text boxes.  All visual cues are accompanied by on-screen indicators. About half of my playtime was without sound and I did not experience any issues or difficulties. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Sacre Bleu Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The lightning bolt effect when a ball hits top speed.

LOW The absurdly difficult third stage.

WTF The fart noise that occasionally plays when losing a ball.

I learned many things in my time with Breakout Beyond, the first of which being that I am not good at Breakout Beyond. 

I came to this realization early on, as I remained stuck on the third stage for over 30 minutes (as a point of reference, most levels take around two minutes to finish).  Thankfully, subsequent lessons were kinder.  I realized, in their reimagining of the original Breakout, that the developers at Choice Provisions were less focused on replicating the twitchy, skill-based play of the Atari classic and more interested in crafting an aesthetic journey rooted in strategy.

The basics are familiar enough — controlling a paddle on the left side of the screen, players try to keep a ball in play long enough to break through a wall of bricks on the opposite side.  The paddle only moves up and down, but can be sped up to reach snappy ricochets, and time can be temporarily slowed when things get too hectic.  Particularly skilled players can apply spin to the ball, curving it around obstacles to hit hard-to-reach bricks.

While the mechanics don’t stray far from the 1976 original, it’s the aesthetic design that immediately sets Breakout Beyond apart.  The yellow afterglow of the ball bouncing back and forth illuminates scratches, cracks, and smudges across the screen.  Crisp and vivid vector lines form the boundaries of the playfield, shimmering with every collision.  The reverberation of the ball striking the paddle is both visual and auditory as it blends with the thrumming synths to create a cohesive, reactive soundscape.  Scanlines and the simulated CRT glow round out the illusion, and despite Breakout being more than ten years my senior, I am flooded with phantom memories of hazy neon and nicotine-stained arcade cabinets.

The primary mode, Voyage, takes full advantage of this presentation as its 72 levels evolve over time.  The visuals and soundtrack grow in intensity across those stages, peaking in the later levels with lurid, over-saturated colors that ripple along with the bassline.  In these final areas, tracking the ball’s trajectory becomes a secondary concern as the blown out, phosphorescent lines coalesce into a beautiful blur.

Beyond the stylistic elements, level design belies Breakout Beyond’s score chasing roots.  While steady hands and quick reflexes are still needed, an emphasis on creating chain reactions with power-ups introduces a strategic element to Breakout Beyond that feels at once fresh and frustrating.  Each stage is populated with static power-up bricks such as the multi-ball which spawns additional balls into play, or the shield which can help keep those extra balls on the map.  Complicating matters are the purple question mark bricks — these can be filled with any power-up the player has unlocked to that point.

Stringing these power-ups together becomes the primary means of progression, as players are unlikely to be successful through brute force alone.  I often found myself stuck on a stage, only to discover that switching my selected power-up was enough to win after a dozen failed attempts.  Sometimes this was as simple as selecting the drill to punch through the final bricks without rebounding, other times success relied on creating a domino effect of bombs triggering one another across the screen.

This emphasis on strategic choice is intriguing, and the most effective chain-reactions play well with the aesthetic emphasis — ten balls ricocheting around the level, neon light pulsing with each bounce, is quite the sight.  However, I found this solution-oriented focus didn’t always gel with more reflexive play.  Advancement often became a matter of trial and error as I cycled through power-ups waiting for the right one to carve my path to freedom.  Upon finding it, the screen would often devolve into a chaotic blur of light and sound, only to clear on the victory screen, leaving me in a state of bewilderment.  The satisfaction of seeing the bricks disintegrate in such splendor is overshadowed by the nagging sensation that it wasn’t brought on by my hand.

This blend of strategy and dexterity results in an experience that is consistently interesting to see and hear, but not always as engaging to participate in.  While the mechanics complement the aesthetics, I never felt as though these elements were as in sync in my hands as they were on the screen.  Victory often felt arbitrary in Breakout Beyond, and though my skills did develop over the course of my journey, I never felt as though they factored into my success or failure. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

— Ryan Nalley

Buy Breakout Beyond: PC – PS – XB – SW

Disclosures: This game is developed by Choice Provisions and published by Atari. It is currently available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S, Switch, PC and iOS. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 13 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 30 minutes of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E.  This game contains no violence, language or other objectionable content. The gameplay consists entirely of bouncing a ball back and forth to break blocks and should be appropriate for all players.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: While there is no traditional dialogue in this game, there are several instances where words are spoken aloud.  In all of these cases those words are also written across the screen in large text.  This text cannot be resized. All auditory cues are also represented by on-screen indicators, this game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Breakout Beyond Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Racking up a massive combo by narrowly missing trees while sailing down a hill.

LOW Seeing that combo disappear after one mistake.

WTF Why does running over a rabbit net me a new parka?

SNØ Ultimate Freeriding is an infinite runner (skier?) with an emphasis on organic movement.  Controlled from a third-person perspective, players steer a lone skier down a procedurally generated mountain with the sole objective of gaining the highest score possible. 

Watercolor trees, glowing sunsets and purple nighttime skies compose a vivid world that is immediately appealing. The painterly flora contrasts wonderfully with the crisp snow and, despite my many runs, I never tired of simply observing the environment. A failed run almost became a treat in the sense that they were opportunities to see what vistas the next incarnation might hold.

Building on this artistic styling is the diegetic soundscape — with the exception of a wooden clap that signifies a scoring combo, all sound emerges from the world itself.  The soft brush of the skis is only interrupted by the hushed winds as a skier launches from a drift, adding musicality and rhythm to the play.

These naturalistic aural elements marry nicely to the core mechanics.  Controlling the skier is a flexible, almost imprecise process of leaning and carving through rocks and valleys.  Players can crouch to gain speed, release to propel off a ramp and, once airborne, deploy a parachute to sail over rocky areas and tricky obstacles.  Each movement is heavily influenced by momentum, and learning when to come out of a lean to thread a cluster of trees is a necessary skill for success.

There are two primary methods of gaining points — performing tricks in mid-air, and closely skirting obstacles.  The more tricks and close shaves, the higher the point and combo multiplier.  The real challenge is locking that score in, as several solid seconds must pass after the last scoring maneuver for the points to count.  A single wipe-out ends a run, and this tension between building the biggest combo possible or being satisfied with a safer, smaller total forms the backbone of competitive play.  There were many times I flew too close to the sun (or tree) only to see 50,000 points go down the drain.

Despite the score chase, finding the rhythm is the real joy of SNØ Ultimate Freeriding, and as the mechanics finally clicked I found myself more entranced by the grace of my skier spinning through the air than by the points I might earn.  These moments of beauty became my motivation and, coincidentally, I began climbing the leaderboards.  When I tried thinking tactically, planning my movements in advance, scraping by every tree I could to boost my score, I was rarely successful.   Freeing myself from that drive allowed instinct to guide my slalom, and suddenly navigation became more natural, and the time between restarts got longer and longer.  The developers clearly intended this, as an appropriately titled “Zen Mode” fully foregrounds the aesthetic play by eschewing the score chase altogether.

Unfortunately, my journey towards alpine enlightenment was ultimately cut short by a lack of content.  SNØ Ultimate Freeriding bills itself as a minimalist experience, although this was a bit too literal for my taste.  Evidenced most prominently in the courses themselves, there are only a handful of templates — rocky, forested and spacious.  While this limited palette is leavened by the beautiful visuals, after a handful of runs I felt as though I had seen all that SNØ Ultimate Freeriding had to offer.

Though I was left wishing for more, this hardly condemns SNØ Ultimate Freeriding.  The tactile control feels unique, and I found real joy in learning the subtleties of a successful descent.  The moments where I could get on its level — wind whistling as my skier weaves around rocks and trees I was barely aware of — were singular, and this harmony between aesthetics and mechanics was more than enough to justify my time.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

— Ryan Nalley

Buy SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding on Steam

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Gauntlet Games.  It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode. This game does not have an end state, but all modes were played. Outside of leaderboards, there are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: At the time of this review, this game has not been rated by the ESRB. The gameplay consists entirely of steering a skier through downhill, mountain courses.  There is no violence, although every run ends when the skier crashes.  When crashing the skier may spin or flop around in a ragdoll fashion, but there is no blood or gore.  The visuals are highly stylized and not particularly realistic. Beyond the crashes, there is no other content that might be considered objectionable.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has no dialogue and does not offer subtitles. All audio cues have an accompanying visual component.  The majority of my time was played without sound, and I experienced no issues during these sessions. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable.  This game offers two primary control schemes, but the buttons are not independently remappable.

The post SNØ Ultimate Freeriding Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The chainsaw leg is as awesome as it sounds.

LOW Awkward control mapping.

WTF Does the tale of Johnny Turbo really need audio logs?

The streets of Turbo Overkill are a juxtaposition of day-glo and detritus as neon signs and hologram palm trees tower over the rainy underbelly of Paradise City — a typical cyberpunk landscape, elevated by a chunky, pixelated aesthetic.

As a first-person shooter with a retro bent, Turbo Overkill puts players in the bladed boots of Johnny Turbo, a cyborg on a quest for revenge. Battling his way through an army of mercs, punks and an evil A.I.,

Loitering is a capital offense in Paradise City, but Johnny isn’t one to dawdle and earns every bit of his surname as he battles through an army of mercs, punks and an evil A.I. Split-second evasion becomes as important as a quick trigger-finger as enemies materialize out of thin air, and players are well equipped with an out-of-the-box double jump and air dash to quickly re-position.

Equally important is the lack of punishment for miscalculated leaps. Plummeting into the abyss during a high-flying fracas results in a quick respawn with zero progress lost — encouragement for increasingly drastic maneuvers.

Most noteworthy however, is Johnny’s chainsaw leg. At any point, players can transition from a sprint into a toothy slide, deploying the chainsaw to quickly carve through weaker opponents. Often enemies will charge in single file, offering perfect opportunities to hurtle through levels in a shower of carnage.

Augments can be purchased to boost firepower, expand player’s movement options, or even gain back health for every enemy mowed down by the chainsaw. Whether in mid-air or zipping up a half-pipe with his chainsaw, Johnny is fully maneuverable and the level design takes full advantage of this. While there’s hardly a bad one in the bunch, the first and third acts hold the most memorable stages.

Of particular note, the hovercar highway in the first act tasks players with navigating airborne traffic. Leaping from car to car, dodging enemy fire and landing headshots where possible is exhilarating and cinematic, all while leaving control firmly in the player’s hands. Another favorite is the late-stage, low gravity battle. With an uncanny contrast of quick dashes and lazy, floating descents, it offers a new spin on Turbo Overkill’s bedrock of movement and speed.

In a larger sense, arenas are open and organic, allowing players to deploy Johnny’s abilities in whichever way they see fit. Jump pads and magnetic walls offer suggestions, but there is no one ‘right’ path through an encounter, and finding my own perfect line through the armada of enemies never ceased to be engaging.

Unfortunately, the joys of traversal are let down somewhat by an inflexible control scheme. There’s only one configuration offered, and it is not remappable.

While I had several problems with the controls, the worst offender is the weapon wheel. Mapped to the left and right D-Pad buttons, switching weapons requires players to take their thumb off the left stick, leaving Johnny motionless on the battlefield. Consequently, I found myself favoring jack-of-all-trades guns such as the SMG and shotgun, rather than exploring more esoteric offerings.

To be fair, I was intrigued by weapons such as the telefragger (a sniper rifle that teleports the player) or the ion cannon, which calls down a giant space laser to decimate foes, but never felt as though I could spare a moment to manage the switch amidst the hectic firefights. While this may seem like a nitpick, movement is paramount in Turbo Overkill, and my experience was marred by the nagging sense that I couldn’t fully engage with the “shooter” part of this first-person shooter.

Technical foibles aside, Turbo Overkill more than earns its place in the pantheon, and frankly, the gimmick of a chainsaw leg alone was probably enough to win me over. That said, the thoughtfully crafted encounters coupled with the creative level layouts buoy Turbo Overkill beyond its simple appearance. Ultimately, the peculiar grace of navigating the violent streets of Paradise City just feels good, and every element of its design reinforces that rock solid core.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

— Ryan Nalley

Disclosures: This game is developed by Trigger Happy Interactive and published by Apogee Entertainment. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, XBO/X/S and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. The official summary is as follows: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a futuristic bounty hunter (Johnny Nitro [sic]) trying to prevent a powerful AI from taking over a city. Players infiltrate building/facilities and use a chainsaw-like weapon, pistols, and electric
shotguns to kill enemies (e.g., cyborgs, street punks). The frenetic run-and-gun combat is accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks result in dismemberment/decapitation, causing bloody chunks to stain/litter the environment. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence and blood/gore: a cyborg thug’s entrails used as a tool; a first-person view of a character’s hands blown off. The word “f**k” is heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles however, while character dialogue is subtitled, audio logs are not subtitled during normal gameplay. Audio logs can later be replayed from a menu offering a transcript. Subtitle size is relatively small and cannot be resized. Typically, dialogue does not overlap with action, but when it did I found it difficult to keep up with the small print during fast gameplay. On-screen indicators highlight which direction the player is being hit from, and a large
on-screen message appears when health is low. I did not experience major issues when playing without sound, but the missing subtitles for audio logs and small print mean this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Turbo Overkill Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.