HIGH A colorful and vibrant art style.

LOW The combat system feels off.

WTF Gaining XP but not being able to spend it until finding the upgrade

The metrodvania genre has a long history, and it’s one I have an affinity for. The name is a portmanteau of two seminal titles in the genre, Metroid and Castlevania. These experiences are typically in 2D and have extensive maps that are gradually unlocked by exploring and learning new skills that open the way to previously-inaccessible places.

The sense of discovery lends a sense of reward, particularly in how the worlds often fit together, and this design style is both popular and has had a broad influence on videogames in general. There are many, many metroidvanias out there, and given the competition, sometimes being a bit too derivative can be an issue. However, a unique hook or being an exceptionally smooth experience can make one stand out. Sadly, Mars 2120 lacks either of these.

As Sergeant Anna Charlotte, players crash down onto the eponymous planet near a colony where no one appears to be alive. Instead, the facility seems to be overrun by mutants and other enemies. Once the action begins, Mars 2120 makes a decent first impression. It sports fairly attractive visuals with a clean, vibrantly-colored style and a soundtrack that does a good job of building atmosphere, though it’s typical sci-fi fare.

However, it’s not long before feelings of overfamiliarity set in, since Mars stars a female character in a metroidvania who happens to be wearing a combat suit. It’s impossible not to immediately think of Metroid, and given the general look of things, specifically Metroid Dread. This is also clear in the combat, which comes in two variations – shooting and melee.

Shooting is done with a rifle that has different states but lacks power, further let down by no discernable visual feedback. Enemies don’t react to being struck with gunfire — they just stand there or continue advancing as a tinny audio sample from the gun plays. Combos are more effective than firearms, but they’re repetitive as Anna will be doing the same combos over and over again. Additionally, most bosses maintain the same boring pattern throughout — stagger them by shooting and then use a melee combo, repeat ad nauseum. 

The other side of the expected experience is, of course, exploration, and again there’s nothing exceptional here — the environments are well-designed, with some nice graphical details such as shimmering ice in an ice cave location, but it offers the typical environmental tropes typically found in games of this type, with few exceptions. 

Ironically, Mars 2120 lacks the interconnectivity in level design that the best metroidvanias boast, yet but I still often found myself lost due to a lack of a clear indication about where to go next. There are times when Mars 2120 switches from a 2D perspective to a 3D one — which looks interesting and shakes things up — but can also lead to some confusing platforming. It already feels a bits floaty and imprecise, so this lack of clarity and direction only adds to the overall sense that this key aspect of play is unsatisfactory.

There are other issues as well. Early on, the narrative drive is absent, though this does improve later in the campaign thanks to audio logs. Additionally, the developers have chosen a perplexing level-up system, where the player accrues experience points but can’t spend them until a skill is found in the world. It turns the experience system into a pointless exercise, as I frequently racked up huge amounts of experience but couldn’t use them to customize or make choices for huge stretches of time. It was hardly different than simply finding a skill and moving on without any EXP involved, much like most metroidvanias.

All of these things (and I haven’t even mentioned the performance issues!) all add up to the fact that Mars 2120 just doesn’t have anything to make it stand out, let alone stand above the rest of the competition in this already-saturated genre.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by QUByte Interactive. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBS. Approximately 10 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 and Violence. I would definitely say that the violence depicted in Mars 2120 is on the mild side — there’s no sexual content nor any salty language. The use of violence is of the sci-fi variety and not graphic. 

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present.   

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be altered and resized. I did not notice any issues when playing without sound, though the game did have trouble with telegraphing enemy attacks, but it had nothing to do with audio. Also, the accessibility options for Mars 2120 were extensive. This game is fully accessible.

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

The post Mars 2120 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The soundtrack is genuinely excellent.

LOW Poorly designed levels. 

WTF Commiting to the bit makes it a difficult game to review!

One of the strongest (and most surprising) games I’ve reviewed for GameCritics has been Hypnospace Outlaw, which was set in a parody version of 1999’s early internet. It resonated with me in a big way due to its setting, but the developers were also commenting on the toxicity of contemporary social media — which, if anything, has gotten worse since its release. When I saw there was a recent spinoff, I had to see what they’d do with it next.

Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer is a ’90s style first-person shooter developed by Tendershoot and published by No More Robots.            

 In Slayers X, Zane, the incredibly obnoxious 15-year-old troll from Hypnospace Outlaw, is now a grown man in his mid-thirties. He’s decided to continue working on a half-done videogame he stopped making in his teen years, and “Slayers X” is that game. This game-within-a-game stars Zane, who is part of a superhero group called the Slayers. His fictional persona is seeking revenge for the murder of his mentor and mother by a rival group headed by Zane’s stepfather. 

This story hints at what one might expect from the mind of an obnoxious teenager, and in this respect, Slayer X commits to the bit. This thin plot is just a setup for a power fantasy that invokes Doom and Duke Nukem. The story is ridiculous and replete with awful one-liners where Zane mocks enemies by saying things like “I slept with your mom!” Complete with poor CG between levels, the overall quality of the experience is surely a series of deliberate choices by the developers to remain consistent with the premise.

Additionally, gameplay has a familiar smoothness and speed typical of shooters from that era, complete with exaggerated head bob. The shooting is exactly what one would expect, offering simple shooting in levels filled with enemies. The guns feel common, though the Glass Blaster shotgun packs a punch and is the exception, due to its ability to use broken windows as ammo refills.

However, Slayers X is also seemingly filtered through the prism of someone lacking in the talent department when it comes to game design. The areas lack flow — I often found myself lost among many seemingly pointless areas and diversions lacking tangible rewards for exploration, aside from some predictably poor and immature visual gags. This resulted in a stop-start feeling not helped by the prevalence of monster closets and waves of spawning enemies.

Speaking of enemies, they lack interesting designs and are repeated ad nauseam. When the difficulty needs to ramp up in the final levels, the classic design mistake is made — the enemy count skyrockets and stronger enemies become too plentiful.

To make matters worse, ammo was inconsistently and haphazardly placed. I sometimes found myself with an overabundance, but at other times — especially when it was needed the most — it was hard to come across.

Again, while this was not a pleasant experience per se, I want to reiterate the admiration I had for the developers’ commitment to their concept. It is through this authenticity that Slayer X shines — it’s not really a ‘bad’ FPS, but instead a character piece reflecting the mind of a juvenile edgelord and his views of the world. This meta-concept is where Slayer X finds its humor, in exposing his illusions of grandeur and not in Zane’s terrible zingers.

While the concept behind Slayers X might spark debate, there’s no argument around the soundtrack, where the parody band “Seepage” returns from Hypnospace Outlaws. Clearly inspired by late ’90s bands like Linkin Park, tastes may vary here (and I’m exposing my own nostalgia) but I genuinely found the songs not just pitch-perfect throwbacks, but enjoyable in their own right.

Considering its premise, it would be betraying the concept to make a ‘good’ game. It’s certainly interesting, but does that lead to an enjoyable experience? Well, it’s worth playing for those who enjoyed Hypnospace Outlaw and are interested in another snapshot from that period, and it’s brief enough so that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. However, people who aren’t Hypnospace fans or those who aren’t interested in the meta-concept would probably do well to look elsewhere if they’re craving a standard FPS fix.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Tendershoot and published by No More Robots. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 3.5 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 Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Drug Reference, and Language. Whilst the graphics are deliberately primitive, the game is very violent with exploding limbs and lots of blood, although the prevalence of blood depends on whether the violence level is set to normal or extreme in the settings. There are references to suicide, drugs and crude humour such as sexual innuendo, for example, the player character saying he has slept with someone’s mom.

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 found it to be quite playable without sound, however there were a couple of issues. Subtitles did not appear when Zach made comments about why doors were inaccessible (there are color coded locks.) A bigger issue is the lack of visual cues when enemies approach from the back and the sides, and I did not see visual cues detailing where damage was coming from. As a result it is not fully accessible.

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

The post Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath – Vengeance Of The Slayer Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Kreia remains a high point of writing and voice acting in videogames.

LOW Launching without the cut content restored. 

WTF Several crashes resulting in lost progress!

I said in my review of the The Force Unleashed that certain games in the Star Wars franchise did a great job of exploring the mythos, moving focus away from the Skywalker dynasty and instead looking at how the force and the Jedi/Sith wars affect the galaxy. Knights of the Old Republic 2 is one such game. 

As a quick history lesson, the first iteration of KOTOR 2 was released in 2004 and developed by Obsidian, not Bioware, who crafted the first KOTOR. Because Obsidian was only given a year to develop a sequel, the result became known as an often-broken, unfinished and unpolished experience. For an in-depth look at the game, you can read the full GameCritics review from 2005 here.

As a result of this rushed development, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original. However, over the course of a handful of replays I grew to appreciate it, despite its flaws. After learning that this port would reintegrate cut content that was missing from the original, I figured it was a good time to revisit.

Unfortunately, this version takes the concept of ‘faithful port’ and runs with it to an almost-comic degree — much like its original release, during my time with it I found it to be crash-prone and I lost progress on more than one occasion. There were even widespread reports of players being unable to progress the story due to a bug. For a game as infamously rough as this one, releasing a port in this state is unbelievable.

There’s also a big missed opportunity regarding the original’s cut content, which has been available for the PC version via mods.

Part of the selling point of this Switch port is that this content will be included — emphasis on “will.” That’s right, it’s not actually in this port yet! The word is that it’s to be available sometime in Q3 2022, but nothing concrete as of yet. As a result, the ‘unfinished’ feeling of the original’s plotline is carried over here with notable script gaps still left unfilled.

The state of this port, both technically and artistically, is a shame because it would otherwise be a great companion piece to the original, with the story being its biggest plus.

This adventure tells the tale of the Exile, whom the player controls. They’ve been cut off from the Force for unknown reasons, and the Jedi are almost wiped out as a result of a Sith-led hunt. The Exile is then tasked with finding the last of the Jedi council and bringing order to a broken galaxy.

This is a fine start, but where KOTOR 2 truly excels are the characters. The Exile is an interesting (if typically cypher-like) representation of whoever the player decides they are, and shaped by choices that align them to the dark or the light side. However, the supporting cast soars thanks to a return of a couple of favorites, such as the homicidal assassin droid HK-47 and others serving as fascinating deconstructions of Star Wars archetypes, such as the Wookie Hanhurr, and the resentment he holds towards his life debt.

Apart from those, the true highlight has to be one of the best-written characters in the whole Star Wars saga, Kreia.

Kreia plays the role of the Exile’s mentor. However, unlike other role models who extol the virtues of the force, whether light or dark, Kreia detests the Force and its hold over people’s freedom. Via excellent voice acting, Kreia often expresses disgust to the player character if their actions land too far on either side of the light/dark side divide, and there are many times when she’ll interact with side characters without the Exile’s knowledge, manipulating them to her will. It’s refreshing to have someone openly question the Force in a way that’s rarely done elsewhere in the franchise, and because she is such a fascinating character, she had a permanent place in my active party.

Gameplay-wise, this port of KOTOR 2 retains the trademark Bethesda gameplay loop seen in the original KOTOR and many of their other titles — visit a new area, pick up side missions, continue the story and move to a new area. It’s familiar, but remains interesting due to the well-acted and well-written dialogue.

The turn-based combat involves players lining up actions such as weapon- or Force-based abilities to attack enemies. Players can also switch between characters to use different abilities. This aspect hasn’t aged as well as the story, as it feels far too simplistic (I often found myself sleepwalking through combat by spamming the “Flurry” ability) but it’s inoffensive and functional.

KOTOR 2 did move away from its prequel by introducing a system where the Exile can influence party members by carrying out actions that will appeal to certain characters while also repelling others. This serves as an interesting addition to the light/dark system by forcing the player to consider how teammates may react to their choices. Successfully increasing influence levels result in companions revealing more about themselves and their pasts, but can also result in non-Force characters becoming Jedi. Ultimately, it leads to a good degree of replayability as it’s almost impossible to gain influence over every character on a single playthrough.

Despite 18 years passing between the original and this port, it feels like not much has changed at all — it remains a heavily flawed but interesting work. Unfortunately, I was hoping that it would right the wrongs of the original version, especially in terms of the additional content, but fails to do so. That’s a bit disappointing, but even with the game being re-released in the state it is, it remains more enjoyable and refreshing than most of Star Wars‘ more recent offerings. 

Disclosures: This game is developed by and published by Aspyr.  This port is currently available on Switch but is also available on PC and Xbox. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on Switch. Approximately 50 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 and contains Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence. The official ESRB description reads as follows: This is a role-playing game in which players assume the role of a Jedi struggling to reconnect with the Force. Players explore fantasy locations, interact with various characters, perform missions, and engage in melee-style combat in a sci-fi setting. Characters use blasters, swords, and light sabers to fight enemies (e.g., droids, republic soldiers, Sith figures). Battles are highlighted by blaster fire, impact sounds, and explosions. A handful of scenes depict corpses with bloody wounds and burn marks. Some female characters are designed with revealing outfits (e.g., low-cut tops, deep cleavage, partially exposed buttocks); the dialogue also contains brief suggestive material (e.g., “No tougher than enduring your false sympathy while you’re staring at my chest.”).

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. (See examples above.) They cannot be resized. As a turn-based game during combat, KOTOR 2 does not require fast reactions or audio cues. This experience is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. This game does not offer a controller map diagram, but movement is on the left stick. Camera is the right stick. L pauses the action. R switches player characters. ZR and LR switch between non playable characters. Left and right on the d-pad switches between types of abilities. Up and down on the d-pad switches between abilities in that category. A is the action button.

The post Knights Of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (2022) Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Integrating shooting mechanics into the gameplay is interesting.

LOW It gets the basics wrong, and its few fresh ideas are flawed. 

WTF Releasing this game so close to the defining example of the genre!

I’ve sunk countless hours into From Software’s Souls games over the years. Dark Souls and Bloodborne are ranked at the very top of my favorite games, and I enjoy the style so much that I replayed Dark Souls 3 after sinking 90 hours into Elden Ring just to keep getting that fix.

Unfortunately, From Software only makes a new game every few years, so I try other entries in the Soulslike genre, but I find these often fall short. The same holds true for Dolmen.

Developed by Brazilian developer Massive Work Studios, Dolmen is a Soulslike with a sci-fi twist. The player explores a planet filled with what is described by the gaming blurb as “Lovecraftian horror”, on a mission to find and bring back samples of diamonds called Dolmen.

Upon starting Dolmen, it quickly becomes clear that like so many FromSoft imitators, Dolmen misses what makes the formula so compelling.

For example, Dolmen leans hard on the ‘difficulty’ angle, and I found myself constantly dying and making very slow progress from the start. Despite being so prominent in the marketing, From Software games are generally not difficult for the sake of being difficult — in these games difficulty reflects a theme of hopelessness, death and triumph, and this in turn is woven into meticulously-crafted gameplay and environmental storytelling. Dolmen lacks this sophistication, and is instead just a difficult game, exacerbated by a poor combat system that leads to needless deaths.

For example, in combat there’s a general lack of weight to the weapons and poor strike feedback, and this continues to be the case even after having access to larger weapons.

Dodging is unreliable due to questionable hitboxes and hard-to-ascertain enemy wind-up animations.

The stamina bar drains quickly and takes an age to refill, and the parry system is unreliable. It’s far too risky to use.

With all of these issues in mind and a character that continued to feel weak as the game progressed, I found myself trying to grind for EXP in order to get past some tricky bosses, but the levelling system rewards players with pathetically meager stat improvements. Toss in cheap enemy ambushes, and I found the combat — a key aspect of any Soulslike — to be incredibly frustrating and dull.

As Dolmen is Sci-Fi oriented, there is also ranged combat in addition to melee. It’s an interesting addition that works fairly well. The aiming system is decent and using firearms causes damage that also fills up an enemy’s stagger bar, allowing extra damage when filled.

Sadly, it’s a case of one step forward and two steps back with these guns thanks to how Dolmen uses its energy system.

Besides the genre-standard health bar and stamina bar, Dolmen has a third energy bar. This temporarily drains through weapon use, but will slowly refill. Healing is also tied to this same bar, but when used for healing, the energy spent will not refill. Instead, it must be refilled by consumable batteries. While healing is instantaneous, using a battery is time consuming and leaves the player open to enemy attacks.

I can see how tying both gun use and healing to one bar may seem like an interesting idea — on paper it will provide a mechanic that forces the player to think strategically, I’d assume. In reality, it leads to a war of attrition against bosses consisting of quick bursts of shooting followed by a period of inaction and keeping one’s distance to allow the bar to refill, ensuring that there is always enough left to heal if needed. With melee combat being unreliable and having to manage the energy bar, boss battles are long, slow and frustrating. 

Aside from these gameplay issues, Dolmen is a bland-looking run with environments that are basic and lack imagination. Character animations range from stiff to glitchy, and enemy design ranges from dull to laughable — to describe the aliens here as Lovecraftian is ludicrous.

Despite the lack of graphical complexity there is a noticeable anti-aliasing effect in certain areas, with jaggies most noticeable in the hub area. Improvements are found when turning on the optional “quality” mode, but then the framerate slows to a crawl and the minor visual improvements are rendered pointless. 

The loading times are so horrendously slow that on the rare occasion the player finds a shortcut, any potential time saving is canceled by the interminable loading screens. 

Dolmen also includes a weapon and suit construction mechanic with customizable options which would be an entertaining diversion if it wasn’t for the unworkable menus in which it is hard to tell what is highlighted. Also, some weapons and armor are gated behind grind that requires bosses to be beaten three times before the player can get the parts needed for successful crafting.

To be brutally honest, Dolmen seldom has anything to add to the Soulslike genre, and when it does, it shoots itself in the foot with how poorly the ideas are implemented. In a post-Elden Ring reality, I felt like my time was being wasted constantly — after 23 hours and repeated deaths against the penultimate boss I checked out. The Soulslike genre is a tough one to crack and offering mediocrity is simply not enough. Without nailing the basics and successfully bringing something new to the table, there’s little reason to play.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Massive Work Studio and published by Massive Work Studio, Prime Matter, Koch Media. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4/5, PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher download and reviewed on the PS4. Approximately 23 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T for Teen and contains Blood and Gore, Violence. It reads on the website:

This is an action role-playing game in which players search an alien world for samples of a unique crystal. From a third-person perspective, players search various facilities while looking for clues and battling hostile aliens in frenetic combat. Players use swords, axes, and pistols to kill insect-like enemies. Combat is highlighted by gunfire, impact sounds, and blood-splatter effects. Cutscenes occasionally depict characters stabbed through the chest, and some environments depict mutilated/disemboweled alien corpses. Alien limbs can also be seen on the floors of some environments.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

 Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Dolmen is full of unfair enemy ambushes – without audio cues these are even more unfair. Additionally, those with eyesight problems will really struggle with the poorly implemented menus and unclear highlighting. As a result I would say that it is not fully accessible. 

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

The post Dolmen (PS4) Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH It nails the power fantasy of being a Jedi or Sith.

LOW Button prompts for every single boss battle.

WTF Erm… it seems that Starkiller is the most powerful force user ever?

I have a love/hate relationship with Star Wars. 

I have no issues with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back being lauded as great films, but for such a popular and well-regarded series, there’s a large percentage of bad-to-average entries. I also feel the obsessive fandom has led to toxicity like what we saw with The Last Jedi when it actually dared to do something different with the franchise.

Despite this, I’ve often thought that Star Wars is great material for videogame adaptations — the films are audio/visual spectacles, different aspects can be lent to a variety of genres, and sometimes games can go in interesting directions that the films are too stale and safe to explore. However, The Force Unleashed is not a title that takes advantage of these angles.

The Force Unleashed was originally released in 2008, with the current Switch port developed by Aspyr. Set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, The Force Unleashed tells the (at the time, this was canonical) tale of Starkiller, a secret apprentice of Darth Vader tasked with finding and killing the last remaining Jedi.

To be fair, the adventure opens in a strong way, and it doubles as one of the best tutorials I’ve ever experienced — basically, we’re introduced to third-person realtime mechanics such as various force powers and lightsaber abilities by taking control of Darth Vader as he slaughters countless wookiees. It’s an incredibly enjoyable way to come to grips with the action as the player lets loose with the full use of the force. At the end of this tutorial Darth Vader meets Starkiller and decides to train him as his apprentice. A lot of titles struggle with openings and particularly with tutorials, but I feel The Force Unleashed nails it.

This section also shows the main strength of The Force Unleashed — namely, the combat flow and the number of powers the player can use as Starkiller.

Once beginning the game proper, it offers a steady and repetitive loop which sees Starkiller making his way through linear levels while contending with waves of enemies and finally facing off with a boss in a duel. The enemies don’t pose much challenge, but this works in its favor since it means the player has ample opportunity to employ their array of abilities. It certainly fulfills the power fantasy of being a force user.

That said, it is by no means a precise system — it can often feel messy and loose due to an unreliable lock-on system and a poor camera. However, being able to combine different abilities, such as force choking an enemy before zapping a group with force lightning, ensures that the gameplay loop remains enjoyable despite the limitations and lack of variety.

I wish I could say the same about the boss battles. Each one starts off like a normal fight, but concludes with button prompts that must to be completed in order to finish them off. Any mistake results in the boss regaining health and the player having to restart the button sequence. I’m never a fan of QTEs or button prompts like these, but their use in The Force Unleashed is infuriating to say the least.

Back when it was first released, I recall that The Force Unleashed received a huge amount of hype as it was meant to fit into the canon of Star Wars. Playing as a Sith apprentice is an undeniably interesting scenario and it does peripherally mesh with the events of the films to a degree, but one much-advertised setpiece sees the player using the force to crash a star destroyer. Such a colossal display makes Starkiller seem like the most powerful force user in the entire franchise… which is ultimately pretty ridiculous considering how insignificant he ultimately is. After all, when’s the last time you heard anyone mention him since then? Besides that faux importance, Starkiller is a pretty bland character — he’s just a short-haired, moody white guy of the kind that was in vogue at the time, and he comes with a vocal performance that is irritatingly monotone. 

Speaking of monotone, Unleashed has a visually drab art style with uninteresting, basic level design. It couldn’t have been great back then and it isn’t great now, and this port only reveals how lacking in detail the environments are.

Other issues include Starkiller often getting stuck in level geometry, the poor camera issues that I mentioned earlier, and an inconsistent framerate. I can’t imagine that this port is the best way to play this game — it feels like some polish is still called for here.

Overall, The Force Unleashed is a fairly ordinary game that is bolstered by its IP. If not for the Star Wars connection, it would have been forgotten long ago. Going wild with force powers does have its charm, but that’s not enough to elevate it into must-play status, by any means.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Aspyr and published by Krome Studios. This specific port is currently available on Switch, and the game is also available on PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher download and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T for Teen and contains Violence. There are depictions of violence in The Force Unleashed – things like Sith powers, such as the force choke. However, it is bloodless and is no more violent than depictions of violence in the films. If you’d let your children watch Star Wars, then they’re probably fine to play this.

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. Having played the game with no sound, I feel that there are no particular issues that hinder gameplay. The story is fully shown in subtitles and there are no audio cues needed for successful play. As a result, I feel this is game is fully accessible.

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

The post Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Simple (but effective) animation with a lot of heart.

LOW Toggling between furniture/objects is sluggish.

WTF  The inhuman (and vaguely horrifying) faces of the characters.

There was a recent comment here at GameCritics asking why so many reviews were being awarded with 7s and 8s. Our editor, Brad Gallaway, pointed out that as volunteers we generally self-select what we’d like to cover, and as such, will naturally gravitate towards games that we’re interested in.

This made me reflect on my own choices and how I initially chose to write for GameCritics to broaden my gaming horizons. This has happened — to a degree — but I noticed that I was trending towards first-person shooters and narrative adventure games. I felt like my choices were getting too predictable, so I picked a puzzle game instead. However, in reality this was a ridiculous choice as I get incredibly frustrated with puzzlers and lack the patience I used to have. So here we are.

In My Shadow is a puzzle/platformer. The player character is a young woman called Bella who’s looking back at her memories and seeking some answers. The game takes place in different rooms of her family home, each with a particular theme/relationship and a set of puzzle/platform sections to complete. The player controls a 2D silhouette of Bella starting on the left side of each room, and she must try to make it to the other side by jumping, avoiding obstacles, and collecting pages of a book along the way.

For me, puzzlers live and die by their central mechanic, and In My Shadow has a novel one. Rather than being a standard platformer, the silhouette comes into play as the player must switch and rearrange various objects/furniture in each room. There’s a light source at one side, so these objects create shadows that create platforms and surfaces Bella can use to progress her silhouette through various challenges.

For example, players can increase the size of an object by moving it closer to the source of the light, or can sometimes spin them around to cast a differently-shaped shadow. In My Shadow typically starts simply but quickly becomes more complex as the player progresses by adding multiple light sources or objects that collapse after the player lands on them.

While this is a novel concept, I became quickly exasperated. I appreciated that it felt like there was more than one solution to each section, but my patience wore thin partly due to how exact the shadow adjustments have to be, and also due to how sluggish switching between Bella and cycling through the various objects feels — a problem I often come across in console ports of puzzlers where mouse controls would clearly be more intuitive.

To be fair, as I age I have less time for gaming and work a stressful job. This means that unless I’m playing something exceptional, I resent sessions where I don’t make tangible progress. When I hit roadblocks, I feel frustrated and sense my precious free time slipping away. Ironically, my engagement with the story of In My Shadow only contributed to this frustration as I wanted to rush through the gameplay segments to get to the story parts. The developers have helpfully included the option to skip puzzles, but as a reviewer I felt duty bound to ignore this option.

While the gameplay wasn’t a home run for me, In My Shadow tells an emotional story that I resonated with. Through Bella, the player looks back on her memories and how certain choices affected her relationships. There is a great pang of regret around it all, and it made me reflect on my own relationships and regrets.

The tale comes via short cutscenes featuring an art style that is simple (but often horrifying) with crudely-rendered human faces appearing alien. However, the dialogue is well-written and simple animations (such Bella bowing her head when she reaches her dog) are moments that go straight to the heart and express things that I think everyone can connect with.

This all leaves me in a tricky position with In My Shadow and I almost considered covering it as a This Is Not A Review, partly due to my current relationship with videogames in general. Overall I think it’s fine for a puzzler. However, I resonated with In My Shadow on an emotional level and walked away feeling like I got something out of it despite my frustrations with the gameplay.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Playbae and published by Playbae, Alcon Interactive Group and OverGamez and is currently available on PS4/5, PC, XBO/X/S, and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher download and reviewed on PS4. 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 E and contains Fantasy Violence. There is no official description provided by the ESRB but I feel that this is safe for kids. There are mature themes around regret that may not resonate for children and mild depictions of violence (such as Bella landing on cartoonish spikes) but these things do not feel excessive or brutal. 

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. (See example above.) In My Shadows does not use audio cues and playing with no sound didn’t change my experience. It is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls are not remappable.

The post In My Shadow Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The inspired idea to merge Norse mythology and science fiction.

LOW Some save points are too far apart.

WTF How ridiculously dark it is.

It’s safe to say that there’s recently been increased interest in Norse mythology. This can be seen in the Marvel cinematic universe with Thor or with the God of War series moving from a Greek to a Norse mythology setting. It’s even been used to explore less obvious themes, such as mental illness in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Hellblade also incorporated horror (as have a few others) but I haven’t seen many take the Norse foundation and marry it to a futuristic setting — not since the infamous Too Human, at least. Apsulov: End of Gods does this now.

Apsulov, developed by Angry Demon Studio, is played from a first-person perspective and at times seems to fit into the genre of a narrative-driven adventure (otherwise known as a “walking simulator”). There are some key differences though, with the inclusion of shooting and horror elements. However, like those narrative-driven adventures, Aspulov has a heavy focus on story, which begins with the well-worn trope of the player character not remembering who they are. The main character wakes up in a dark research base full of crazed enemies, with no idea what’s happened or why they are there.

As the tropey setup suggests, Apsulov is pretty derivative. This becomes clearer as the player finds and listens to the various audio tapes (another worn-out trope) and learns that discoveries were made and scientists messed with things they shouldn’t be messing with, echoing countless games like Doom 3 and Dead Space.

There isn’t anything particularly new in the gameplay either. The elements that push Apsulov away from being a typical walking simulator — namely, the horror and the shooting – are lackluster, especially when considered on their own. For example, the shooting is slow and cumbersome, relying on a charge mechanic powered with very limited resources. 

Apsulov is also not an especially scary experience. Enemies boast basic and unimaginative character models, contributing to a lack of terror despite how quickly the player character can die. Rather, gameplay leads to situations that frustrate more than terrify, such as one instance in a corridor filled with enemies, which I was obviously supposed to sneak through. After many frustrating deaths and all sense of tension evaporated, I ended up just blindly running through the area. Blindly is an apt word – Apsulov is a very dark game.

This can give it a heavy sense of atmosphere and lend a striking appearance in places, such as one instance where the piercing glow of a giant axe cuts through the darkness. However, it can also make Apsulov an absolute chore to play. There is an augmented vision mode, that helps in some areas, but in others it doesn’t make anything much clearer. Indeed, Apsulov became nigh-impossible to play due to screen glare on a sunny day, here I found myself stumbling around in the dark, dying because I just couldn’t see. What’s worse is the spacing of the save points — sometimes too far apart, and dying between saves only added to my irritation.

While what I’ve written so far may make it sound like I didn’t enjoy Apsulov, I actually enjoyed my time with it overall.

It’s true that the elements of Apsulov ’s gameplay don’t stand out when considered on their own, but the variety did help to keep the game fresh, and this was further aided by a welcome game length of around 6 hours. Despite my frustrations with the darkness and how it combined with other factors to make it a chore, I found myself eagerly continuing to play due to the story which truly brings it all together and makes it stronger than the sum of its parts.

This may seem in contradiction to my description of the setup as derivative, but ultimately, I found the combination of science fiction and Norse mythology to move beyond surface-level integration, with a surprising level of faithfulness to the source material. This allows the story to go in an interesting direction that I won’t spoil here, and although some of this is well-telegraphed ahead of time, I still got a kick out of it. 

There is no question that Apsulov is a flawed work that can sometimes be incredibly frustrating to play, but by fully committing to marrying science fiction and Norse mythology, it ends up in a good place. I can be forgiving of gameplay faults if the overall experience is as enjoyable as it is in Apsulov and it is safe to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Angry Demon Studio and published by Digerati Distribution. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher download and reviewed on the PS4.  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 M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language. The site reads: This is a survival horror game in which players assume the role of an amnesiac woman who finds herself in a facility overrun by monsters. From a first-person perspective, players explore the facility, interact with characters, solve puzzles, and attempt to avoid monsters. Some encounters with monsters can result in players getting slashed and bitten; one sequence depicts monsters dismembering a character’s arm. Additional instances of intense violence include an impaled character’s neck getting snapped and a character drilled in the face. As players explore dark environments, they can encounter large blood stains and dismembered/mutilated corpses with exposed organs/viscera. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes:  There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered or resized. Due to Apsoluv‘s reliance on darkness, sound cues with no visual component are frequently used to reveal enemy positions. As a result, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable.

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HIGH Fast, smooth shooting that feels timeless.

LOW Burying the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack in the audio mix.

WTF Being unaware of motion controls and thinking my controller needed replacing.

Quake was a game that passed me by.

Unlike Doom, it hadn’t been released on every console in existence, and by the time I played it on PC around 2000, it felt archaic in a post Half-Life world. In fact, I’ve always seen it as Doom’s less charismatic relation and the brown color palette hinted at a lack of a clear identity which the inconsistent sequels seemed to confirm. However, Quake’s influence on gaming is not in doubt, particularly due to it pioneering fully 3D graphics and online multiplayer. Its relevance is clear, and this omission from my playlist has always felt like a gap in my gaming CV, now rectified.

Originally developed by ID Software, this remaster is handled by Nightdive Studios. Players make their way through levels filled with enemies while avoiding traps and finding colored keys for locked doors, all in first-person. It includes the original campaign, the two subsequent expansion packs, another that was developed as part of the 20th anniversary, and a brand-new one developed for this release. 

Remasters like this one can be tricky to review as they need to be faithful to the original release while having enough improvements to make them more palatable to modern audiences. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and memories become distorted with age – I would say a successful remaster should offer an experience that emulates how someone thinks they remember an old game looking and playing, and Quake does a good job of achieving this.

When I think about classic ID Software games, I think about fast, smooth and responsive first-person shooting. For me, this is what makes them timeless and enjoyable to this day. Quake has these qualities in spades, now bolstered with a higher, more stable framerate. Slowdown only reared its ugly head when I moved onto the first expansion pack. It also looks how I remember Quake, with grotesque-looking enemies in large (usually brown) architecture, yet appearing sharper than ever in 4k and with subtle improvements.

This is all well and good so far, but my problems with Quake Remastered are holdovers from its original release.

While the fully-3D environments were groundbreaking at the time and added verticality to gameplay, I feel these environments lack character. There is an overuse of brown in the color palette (common to games of the period – I grew tired of this ‘look’ years ago) which results in drab, plain-looking levels. The lack of a plot isn’t really an issue, but levels seem to be randomly-ordered and there’s no feeling of a progression, mechanically or narratively, though the expansion packs rectify some of this.  

There’s also a lack of enemy variety which can be attributed to the limitations of technology back then. However, the situation is made worse by Quake pulling some of the same tricks as Doom — things like spawning enemies behind the player character after grabbing up a power-up.

However, Quake does manage to stay interesting in how each enemy provides different challenges. For example, the Ogre is deadly at short range with chainsaws, but can also shoot grenades from a distance. Some enemies (such as the Vore) cross the line from challenging to irritating thanks to spamming homing missiles, but I found Quake to be a fair challenge overall. For those looking for stiffer resistance, the expansion packs increase the amount of enemies onscreen at once, but sometimes at the cost of slowdown.

Quake Remastered sees the triumphant return of the original Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, which had previously been missing due to licensing issues. As a longtime fan of the band, finally getting a chance to hear it in game was exciting. Ironically, I was disappointed early on — it sounded basic and lacked depth. However, after turning down the sound effects and turning up the music volume, I began to appreciate it. It’s a shame the default audio mix buries it, because it really is a fabulous, throbbing soundscape of disconnected audio that gives Quake more of a horror feel than Doom. Once I was able to foreground the soundtrack, the tension rose notably.  

Quake is also famous for its multiplayer, and I felt duty-bound to at least try it, despite my disinterest in playing with others. I spent two fruitless hours dying a lot, with not a single kill to my name. I was completely out of my depth, with fellow fraggers skilfully jumping around and killing me with ease. I therefore cannot give an opinion on Quake’s multiplayer aside from commenting that it is stable and I was able to be matched with others without many issues. 

Apart from being repeatedly blasted to atoms by the pros, I enjoyed my time with Quake. It doesn’t have the same nostalgic pull for me that Doom does, which may contribute to a sense that it’s Doom’s less charismatic relative. That said, it’s a remaster done correctly, feeling like the original with technical improvements that help to showcase its timeless, quick and smooth gameplay.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Nightdive Studios and published by Bethesda. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via paid download and reviewed on PS4. Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.  2 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Violence. The official description reads as follows: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a soldier that travels through time to stop an evil force from destroying humanity. Players traverse through maze-like medieval environments and use shotguns, nail guns, and grenade launchers to kill various enemies (e.g., zombies, demonic forces, scorpions, humans) in frenetic run-and-gun combat. Battles are accompanied by gunfire sounds, screams of pain, and large explosions. Large blood-splatter effects occur frequently, and several attack cause enemies to explode into bloody chunks. Some areas depict mutilated body parts on the ground or falling from ceilings.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does not offer subtitles, but has no dialogue in game. At the end of episodes, the ending is described via text. This cannot be resized and could be hard to read against the background. Playing without sound revealed that without sound cues, gameplay can be affected – for example for clues for enemy placements, being able to react to ambushes and hints at other traps. Due to reliance on audio-only cues, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. Movement is left stick. Camera is on the right stick. Jumping is X and L2. R1 is weapons wheel. R2 is shoot. Up on the d-pad switches to shotguns, down switches to projectile weapons, right to needle guns and left to melee/special weapons. Clicking left stick centers the screen.

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HIGH A ’90s throwback with fast and smooth gameplay.

LOW The uninspiring and repetitive levels.

WTF Great (but minimal) music on a constant loop.

As a gamer in my mid 30s, I have a soft spot for ’90s era of first-person shooters. I loved the quick, smooth and simplistic gameplay that sometimes gets lost in modern titles (I’m looking at you Doom Eternal!) and I’m clearly not the only one who feels nostalgic for this style since as there are now similar throwback shooters flooding the market, Exodemon being one.

Developed by Kuupa, players control a scientist in a laboratory at the edge of the universe who has been infected by a symbiotic entity. She has been able to control this entity, and as a result now sports alien claws used for melee attacks and for shooting. Players then use these claws to fight their way through 18 levels filled with enemies. 

Exodemon makes a good first impression. The play is fast and smooth, and has a slightly different feel compared to other first-person shooters due to the claws. These each have their own corresponding shoulder button and it felt intuitive to to slash with one claw and shoot with the other. Exodemon also incorporates its UI diegetically by placing the health and ammo bars on the claws themselves. I always like it when developers are creative with UI implementation, and it helps ensure that there’s a nice, uncluttered look to the proceedings.

The graphics are simple but colorful, featuring blue security bots as enemies. The laboratory setting initially looks drab as it largely consists of grey corridors. However, I was sure that as the game went on I would find more interesting enemies and levels, but sadly, that never happened. 

With a few exceptions, the entirety of Exodemon is set in the same drab and grey laboratory levels. The enemies do change, but these continue to have designs that are lacking in creativity and simple to a fault.

I did not expect Exodemon to live up to the visual fidelity of contemporary games, and it shouldn’t, but the best shooters from the ’90s used interesting designs whilst working within the limits of the era’s hardware. I had high hopes for a visually appealing experience, but instead Exodemon ended up being an ugly game, and it’s hard to feel any kind of tension from visually boring enemies.

Like the graphics, the gameplay also fails to develop over time.

Exodemon is fast and smooth, and using the claws adds an interesting wrinkle. However, the player simply doesn’t feel powerful. Rather than offering a power fantasy, the slash attack doesn’t do enough damage and actually leaves the player prone to taking damage. As such, Exodemon encourages the player to keep their distance and play it safe. Sadly, the shooting lacks impact thanks to tinny sound effects and an absence of discernible feedback when the enemies take damage.

Surprisingly, what Exodemon does well are the platforming elements. I have never been a fan of platforming in first-person shooters, but here it feels fine. The jumping isn’t too floaty, and whenever I misjudged a jump it felt like a mistake that was my fault, and not the game’s.  

Sadly, decent platforming is not enough to save Exodemon. I was looking forward to a dose of ’90s era nostalgia offering visceral shooting at high speed, but what I got was a drab-looking project which is far too simple and greatly lacking creativity in art design. It may seem competent at first, but Exodemon lacks anything to keep it interesting past the first few levels.

Disclosures: This game is developed by and published by Kuupa. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single player mode and the game was completed.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E and contains Fantasy Violence. Whilst Exodemon is a shooter, it lacks any overly violent or explicit imagery. Overall, I’d say Exodemon is safe for kids.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Exodemon has no dialogue. Its minimal story is told between levels in text. This cannot be resized and features white letters on a black background. There is an audio advantage from being able to hear enemy fire from outside the player’s line of sight, and this fire has no visual cue.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable. There is no control diagram. Players can invert Y and can adjust sensitivity. This game does not offer a controller map diagram, but movement is on the left stick. Camera is the right stick. Jumping is X. Slashing with the left claw is R2 and shooting with the right is L2.

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HIGH The satisfaction of clearing a stage with minimal pauses.

LOW Input lag and speed of the comet make the pauses hard to time.

WTF Directing a comet towards paw prints in order to rescue a cat devoured by a black hole!?

I like big, grandiose experiences as much as the next guy. If done properly, a big-budget title with high production values can really suck me into another world. I find this level of immersion to be one of the main appeals of videogaming, but sometimes I’m simply not in the mood for something intense. I might find myself too tired after a day of studying or working, or maybe I just want to play something a bit smaller. Developed by Emil Markiewicz, Graviter is a small-sized physics-based puzzler that fits the bill for just such a mood. 

In this title, players control a comet — though in reality they have little direct control over it. Each level consists of a single screen, with the player’s goal being to hit paw icons placed around each area. Once the player sets the comet in motion, it’ll shoot quickly in a straight line. In order to change direction, the player can shrink, enlarge, jump between or move planets in each level, manipulating the trajectory of the comet via gravitational pull. The player also has a set number of pauses to stop the comet to and make further adjustments.

This may sound complex, but in practice the mechanics of Graviter are straightforward. After an effective tutorial, manipulating planets and changing the direction of the comet becomes second nature.

At times it can be challenging, as should be expected from a puzzle game. When I did hit the odd roadblock, such as one level where I had a minimal space to curve over a large block and back again, it could be very frustrating. But for the majority of the experience the solutions felt logical, engendering a sense of achievement whenever a stage is passed.

However, if it does get too frustrating, Graviter provides ways around it. At the end of each level, the game rewards the player with points that can be spent on minor cosmetic elements (such as the color of the comet tail) but they can also be spent on extra pauses or skipping troublesome levels, ensuring that Graviter remains a pleasant, casual experience. The Switch is a fantastic platform for this type of project — it feels right at home where I was able to pick up and play whenever I wanted, although using the joycons to cycle through the selection of planets can feel awkward and cumbersome.

Also, I did have some problems with the pause mechanic. As stated, the comet moves quickly once it sets off, and timing a pause can be tricky — it almost seems that there’s some input lag, and in my most frustrating moments with Graviter I found myself constantly restarting a stage due to mistiming a pause that caused my comet to repeatedly crash into a planet. This aspect feels imprecise at exactly the time when it needs to be. 

In terms of aesthetics and presentation, the developer matches the simple gameplay with a colorful art style that is both pretty and functional. (For those wanting a more striking style, there’s a black and white option.) Graviter also boasts a peaceful, relaxing soundtrack, and the paws in each level have to do with the narrative — it’s something to do with a cat getting devoured by a black hole, leaving behind prints for the comet to follow. It seems like utter nonsense and a wholly unnecessary addition, but this is a minor quibble.

Graviter offers satisfying, addictive mechanics that come in bite-sized sessions. Aside from some minor frustrations with the pause, it’s a joyful experience that proves videogames don’t always have to be audiovisual extravaganzas to be worthwhile. 

Disclosures: This game is developed by Emil Markiewicz and published by No Gravity Games. It is currently available on Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 5 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. Early on, there is a depiction of a cat being pulled into a black hole, but this is not shown in a way that means to be horrifying. Otherwise, there is nothing in Graviter that makes it an unsuitable game for children.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does not offer subtitles per se, but offers instructions with a minimal amount of  in-game text. This cannot be resized, but text is large and presented in a clear way. The game does not require the use of audio cues, so is therefore fully accessible. 

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

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