Duck Detective

You take on the role of a duck called Eugene McQuacklin, a down on his luck detective whose only solace is a loaf of bread. What starts off as a simple whodunnit unravels to be an office wide conspiracy. The gameplay is fairly simple, you go around searching the environments for clues and questioning other characters for information. These then present themselves as keywords that you then can use to fill out sentences which will in turn be used to move the story forward. It can offer a good challenge but nothing that cant be solved with some trial and error and deduction skills. At its low price point its a short but sweet 2/3 hour long game that doesn’t outstay its welcome. With the cute graphics and great voice acting I’m very much looking forward to what the next case will entail

3.5/5

Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty

Now I’ve never been one of the cyberpunk cynics. Ever since launch I have absolutely adored this game with its fantastic world building, atmosphere and characters. The thing that Phantom liberty does so well is to take what they learned from the base game and expanded on every aspect to fully deliver on what was originally promised. Mechanics are reworked like the skill system and a host of new relic abilities as well as the introduction of much requested ones like vehicle combat which is fun well implemented. The new area of Dogtown is much smaller than night city but just as dense with things to do and secrets to uncover. Its packed full of personality and feels distinctly different to its predecessor with the grip of the private militia wherever you go. The new characters and interesting and complex with each one having their own personal motivations. This in turn makes every decision you make with them feel viable and meaningful, there are no right or wrong answers and the deeper down the rabbit hole you find yourself the harder the choices are to make. This all culminates in a fantastic final few hours that really shows why CD Project are best in class in what they do whilst also delivering a gut punch of an ending for characters that I have spent close to 100 hours. This goes down as one of the best expansions ever made and simple to say but if you enjoyed the base game then this truly isn’t one to be missed

5/5

Throwback Review - Max Payne 3

My video game comfort food, one that I come back to over and over again. A cinematic spectacle matched with tight and satisfying gameplay. This might be a controversial opinion but I think that Max Payne 3 is the best the series has got, no offence to the brilliant world and character building remedy had done up until now but this entry gives us a whole new perspective of Max. The graphics even now are still great, the way environments implode in slow-motion as the gunfire rains down. The controls are also perfectly worked, Max feels heavy, like a man defeated. It shows in the way he throws himself around during bullet time. He isn’t graceful like before with a thud to the ground as he lands, slow to get up, you must be purposeful with your timing and movements in order to succeed. All of that without even mentioning one of the best video game scores by HEALTH that just heightens the atmosphere ten fold. I can understand it might not be for everyone but personally I can’t recommend it enough

5/5

Children Of The Sun

What would look like a shooter at first glance is secretly a puzzle game and I’m not even mad about it. The best way I can describe it is to imagine you were Yondu from Guardians of the galaxy, controlling your arrow at will, except instead you are a sniper sent to eradicate a cult leader, killing enemies through a variety of ever increasing levels. The trick of the game is to line it up so your singular bullet can pass through every enemy in one clean motion. Your bullet can move as fast or as slow as you want allowing a great deal of precision. Time stops as you hit each target allowing you to line up each hit like a calculated chess move, knocking them off one by one until you are victorious. The levels themselves are perfectly designed, providing a perfect level of gradual challenge that keeps you on your toes. It does a great job of mixing up the formula as well with new enemies and scenarios being introduced reguarly enough so it doesnt get boring. There is replayability for high score chasers with the game having online leaderboards but I was more than happy just playing it the once over

4/5

Spiderman 2

There’s just something about playing the insomniac spiderman games that makes them so easy to play and difficult to put down. Whether that be the incredibly satisfying combat that looks slick no matter the ability of the player or the new or the improved traversal that took what was already great and added a new webbed wingsuit mechanic that allows you to zip around the city in record speed. The production level is through the roof and it really does make use of all of the tech the playstaion 5 has to offer. One mission in particular that has you fighting through portals is quite the spectacle. That being said although the main part of the game is better than its ever been its constantly bogged down with forced minigames and puzzle sections. The story also didnt resinate with me in quite the same way as the two previous entries either. Tonally it is all over the place and the stakes are taken to extreme lengths. Personally i just like it when spiderman is juggling his responsibilities both in and out of the suit and it felt like this entry was too eager to move past that stage of the story. The game started incredibly with both Miles and Peter being called from class to fight the sandman on a huge scale but instead of it only building from there it had a habit of stagnating. I also would have liked for miles to have had more to do in the main story because his entanglement with Li was a great side story one of the emotional highs. I don’t want to sound too down on it because overall I had a great time playing this game and i would highly recommend it but i just hope that wherever they take it in the next entry they aren’t afraid to go back to basics and give us a more low stakes story.

4/5

Slay The Princess

The ultimate “I can fix her” simulator, Slay the princess is a relatively short experience that leaves a lasting impression. A visual novel clocking in at around 2 hours for a first playthrough, the game is split into chapters that play out in an almost ‘groundhog day’ style format hosted by a mysterious and unreliable narrator. You are sent to kill the princess. You don’t know what she’s done or how she got there, you just know that if you don’t do it then the world will end. To explain anymore would to be to ruin the surprise of the game but it will take you to many different places with lots of endings and routes to uncover. Its not for the faint hearted but I loved every minute of this macabre adventure

4/5