Little Nightmares | Video Review

Developer: Tarsier Studios

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Released: 28^th April 2017

Cinematic platformers don't come by very often, so whenever one is released you can expect me to be trying it out. The newest addition to the genre is Little Nightmares, a game I've had my eye on for quite a while now and was looking forward to playing. You control 'Six'; a girl who explores a huge world, having to climb up bedside tables and use plates as makeshift ladders while also trying to avoid the many monsters who are out to kill her.

It's an interesting game which is worth playing if you enjoyed games such as LIMBO, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty or INSIDE. It shares a similar tone to those games and is very often compared to them by people who are fans of this style.

Samurai Lantern | Review

Developer: AdventureBit

Publisher: AdventureBit

Reviewed on: PC

Available on: PC

Released: 11^th December, 2016

Samurai Lantern is a 2D single screen platformer developed by AdventureBit. Exterior help was given with the creation of the sound effects and music, but other than that, this is the work of a one man developer. If you want to try out Samurai Lantern it's completely free with the option of supporting the developer if you enjoyed the game.

I came across Samurai Lantern while searching for lesser known indie games to review which is something I'm looking to do more often. While certain indie games are fairly bare-bones, the experience you get while playing them can be fun and reminiscent of NES games in terms of minimal and simplistic graphics and controls. The question is, is Samurai Lantern an example of a good indie game or is it not worth your time?

Mistigri | Review

Developer: Benjamin Soulé

Publisher: Benjamin Soulé

Reviewed on: PC

Available on: PC

Released: 29^th May 2016

Mistigri is a game developed using a game making toolkit called PICO-8, the toolkit offers budding game creators a few preset assets and tools they can use to affordably and easily make a short game that can be played for free in web browsers. The games all have a retro inspired pixel art aesthetic and controls can consist of only six buttons which harkens back to the days of arcade machines and the NES.

This particular game is heavily inspired by Bubble Bobble (which just so happens to be one of my favourite NES era platformers) so I was immediately drawn to it. The level structure, visual style, weapon upgrades, music and some of the gameplay elements are very similar to Bubble Bobble, but does Mistigri do enough to set it apart from the very game that inspired it?

140 | Review

Developer: Jeppe Carlsen

Publisher: Jeppe Carlsen & Double Fine Productions (Console Versions)

Reviewed on: PC

Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One & Wii U

Released: October 16^th 2013

140 is a minimalist 2D platformer created by Jeppe Carlsen who is most well known for being the lead gameplay and level designer of INSIDE (which you can click HERE to read my review of) and LIMBO which are two of my favourite games of all time. But whereas INSIDE and LIMBO both have dark themes and visual styles and focus on telling a story through symbolism and metaphors, 140 is about as simple as you could make a platformer.

140 is almost the anti-LIMBO and INSIDE, it couldn't be more colourful, it has an upbeat electronic soundtrack and it has very little in the way of story. But what it shares with the aforementioned games is how fantastically the levels are designed. At it's core 140 is about as simple as a 2D platformer can get, you move with the left analogue stick and jump with the A button (I'm playing with an Xbox 360 controller) and that's it. You would think this would mean the game is too simple right? Well no, 140 is quite a challenge to complete and despite its simple graphical style, it's more complicated than it first appears to be.

INSIDE | Review

Developer: Playdead

Publisher: Playdead

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One & PC

Released: June 29^th 2016

I want to begin this review by saying that because I've been looking forward to this game coming out for so long (basically since I first played LIMBO, which is Playdead's first game) I'm going to be slightly biased with my review in the way that I was bound to think it was good. Having said that, it could have easily swung both ways, because I love LIMBO so much, I was unsure as to whether INSIDE could live up to it and for that reason I was going to either end up feeling disappointed or loving it just as much (or more).

I would also like to say, while this review is spoiler free, it may contain minor spoilers about some environments and very vague themes brought up by the games story. So if you want to avoid any information about the game at all, stop reading now. Any major spoilers will not be mentioned in this review.

Brutal Doom: Hell on Earth | Review

Developer: Sergeant_Mark_IV

Publisher: Sergeant_Mark_IV

Reviewed on: PC

Available on: PC

Released: (v20b) January 1^st 2016

Being a big fan of the original Doom (you can read my review of the PlayStation port of Doom HERE), you would have expected me to have played some of the many mods that have been created by fans of the game, yet I haven't ever played one. For my first ever Doom mod I thought I would play perhaps the most famous of all Doom mods; Brutal Doom, a mod which changes the original Doom formula in many ways.

For those that don't know, a mod is a modification (often fan made) of a game or game engine that can add things like graphical or gameplay fixes/tweaks, or add entirely new content which can range from new weapons, new levels or in the case of some ambitious mods, they can pretty much be an entirely different game. Brutal Doom: Hell on Earth is an example of a ambitious mod which adds brand new levels, new interactive environments, better lighting, new weapons, modernised shooter controls (the ability to jump, crouch, look up and down, reload, a melee button, etc), voice acting, a new story, more blood and gore, new enemy animations and attacks and so much more. It's basically a brand new Doom game which uses the same graphics as Doom 1 and 2.

Super Meat Boy | Review

Developer: Team Meat

Publisher: Team Meat
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4
Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC, PlayStation Vita
Released: October 20th 2010

Super Meat Boy is a hardcore platformer released in 2010 by an independent developer; Team Meat. It's based on the online Flash game 'Meat Boy' (playable online and on 'The Basement Collection') and is available on most game systems including the Xbox 360, PC and is brand new to the PlayStation 4. I'm reviewing the PS4 version, despite the picture of the PC version's box at the top of this article. The PS4 version doesn't have a physical release so I had to improvise.

Although the same game mechanically, the PS4 version is primarily different because of the new soundtrack. The Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game has a soundtrack created by Danny Baranowsky (which was universally praised) however the new PS4 version of the soundtrack is completely different and was created by many other famous names including Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans (The Binding of Issac), David Scatliffe (Hotline Miami) and Laura Shigihara (Plants vs Zombies). The reason for the strange change in music is because Danny Baranowsky retained the rights to the original soundtrack and didn't allow his music to be used for the PS4 re-release.