Staff Article Lists

Dinosaurs can be considered many things: fascinating, prehistoric, even frightening! To some though, there’s nothing cuter than a dino. That’s obviously how the development team behind Amber Isle, Ambertail Games, feels about them, because they’ve gone out and released a game that features a plethora of precious “paleofolk” to entice to your island through the creation of a burgeoning shopping empire and a blossoming town, appropriately named “Amber Isle.” Suffice it to say but if you’re thinking that sounds a lot like Animal Crossing but with dinosaurs, you’re correct. But also, you’re probably not disappointed. I sure wasn’t, and I have so far enjoyed a lot of my time with the game.

The crowdfunding campaign for "Paws and Leave" just kicked off! In it, you'll follow "Me" the fox on his final journey to rediscover his memories. By his side is a charming butterfly named Ani, who will help you, sometimes more, sometimes less. Me relies on his senses, like smelling, to locate his memories in the realm between life and death.  The Kickstarter campaign has lots of stretch goals and exclusive opportunities for backers to have some of the most treasured memories immortalized in the game itself. It looks like a wonderful little adventure, full of surprises and cute (and mysterious) critters. Check out more details below and on their official Kickstarter Page.

🦊 Play as "Me"
Experience the emotional journey of a young fox in his final tale. Get guidance from a charming butterfly named Ani, who helps you on your last journey. Use Me’s senses, like smelling, to locate memories in the world in-between.

😢 Emotional Storytelling with Fearful Elements
A deeply moving narrative that includes darker and dangerous moments to reflect the protagonist's fading life. Meet various characters, uncover their stories and retrieve hidden memories.

🎣 Unique Gameplay Activities
Engage in activities like fishing for keepsakes on the back of an ancient wise turtle.

⛄ Beautiful World with small open world zones in different seasons
While the game has a strong linear storyline, players are free to explore the breathtaking world at their own pace to uncover secrets, collect keepsakes and unravel new tales.

💬 Personal Keepsakes
Discover and collect player-submitted keepsakes, such as messages, images or videos, scattered throughout the world.

👻 Whispering Echoes (Twitch Integration)
🔒 FEATURE UNLOCKS AT €55,000
Let your community engage with your adventure using our Twitch integration to interact with you and your journey in specific zones.

Ever have a game come along that slips under your radar and ends up being one of the most fun games you’ve ever played? That’s what happened to me with Vampire Hunters; a game I recall seeing one trailer for and not hearing anything else until it was released and let me tell you something. Of all the FPS I’ve played, this one might be one of the best ones in a while.

What do you do when you’re in need of inspiration for your writing? Why, you take a much needed break and visit the creepiest abbey in town. This is the premise of Mercury Abbey. Players step into the paws of Harrod, a character based on a gray wolf who’s a struggling writer. At the start of the story, Harrod is working on his latest novel and feeling pretty pessimistic about it. Sales have been lackluster since an influx of competition from similar works have flooded the market including a cyberpunk style adventure featuring a cat as a protagonist. Harrod isn’t given any peace to work or stew as he receives a call from his sister, who tells him that she's dropping off his nephew Willie with him. It’s at this point, the game finally starts. 

I’m not the biggest fan of modern horror cinema. Sure, every so often, I watch one and I do enjoy it, like Tucker And Dale VS Evil and, surprisingly, Halloween Ends. But, most, if not all, of modern horror cinema I tend to avoid as I’m just not the biggest fan of how many horror films are going for the over the top gore and cheap, telegraphed jumpscares. In fact, I tend to gravitate towards classic horror and the more comedic ones, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Same goes with horror games as I usually tend to gravitate towards games like the Resident Evil series or the 2017 version of Prey, a game which I will always defend and I feel is better then the 2006 original. Anyway, this is where the 2018 movie A Quiet Place comes into the picture. Now, I have never seen any of the films yet, but I do know of them and have seen various clips of them, so I do have a bit of knowledge of them. Yet, it was also one franchise I never thought a game adaptation could work and yet? Here we are with A Quiet Place: Road Ahead, a game that is quite surprisingly one of the better horror games I played in a while.

I remember way back when, waking up on christmas morning and finding out Santa had brought all of my siblings a Playstation 2. To our delight it was hooked up already and sitting there waiting for us was Dragon Ball Z: Budokai. We played it to death and as the series grew we could never keep ourselves away from the newest game. That never stopped and I’m happy to share my review of Dragonball Sparking! Zero, a continuation of the Dragonball Budokai series.

I have always loved inviting friends over to play silly platformer games like N++, Rayman Legends, Super Mario Bros. games, and the like. Of course, I also have played my fair share of mobile phone games. So a game like “Crossy Road Castle”, developed by Hipster Whale, piqued my interest quickly when I saw it was coming to consoles. I was able to get my hooves on a review copy, and I’ve spent quite a few hours exploring the procedurally-generated floors of the various castles with my wife in local couch co-op, and I’m relieved to say it didn’t let me (or her!) down!

I really enjoyed the first Starship Troopers movie, though I felt it was one of those movies that should’ve been a one and done deal. Sure, Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation was watchable, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is probably the worst sequel I’ve seen in a long time, and the CGI films I heard are OK (I personally only seen Invasion and that was decent), but I still feel that the first film is probably the best movie. Still, movies aside, you’d think a movie like Starship Troopers would be prime real-estate for games, right? I’d thought that, too, but outside of two real time strategy games and a 2005 first person shooter, there really hasn’t been much in the way of video games for the series. Until recently with the release of Starship Troopers: Extermination; a game that, no joke, is a prime candidate for my Game Of The Year, even with a few issues I have with the title. Would you like to know more?

The best way, I think, that I can describe Nikoderiko: The Magical World is that it’s essentially a Crash Bandicoot-style game. That is, you run on a 2D plane that sometimes transitions to 3D, from one end of the level to the other, collecting various items on the screen while avoiding traps and either avoiding or taking out the various enemies. Nothing really revolutionary but still a fun concept. However, Nikoderiko doesn’t really bring anything new to this genre to make it stand out from the others on the market. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, mind you, just that it could’ve been the next great mascot platformer.

I've always been interested in unique gaming gimmicks. Ones that are either using a very used function of a controller or very obviously just a way to get a headline in a gaming article to sell a big piece of plastic that you will only use for one game *coughsteelbettalionforthexboxcough*. Having a gimmick can ruin or enhance an experience, especially if it's one where you don't need any special skills or equipment to use. Enter “Before Your Eyes”. 

Before Your Eyes is an immersive story focused first person experience with a unique gimmick. If you have a webcam, you can control the experience through your eye movements by blinking. You blink to select stuff, blink to skip cutscenes, blink to draw, blink to move objects, etc. There is a mouse option if you do not have a webcam, but to get the full experience you should use your webcam, or in the case of the PSVR2, your VR headset. I played through the game twice, one with the blinking mechanic and one with the mouse. Playing with the mouse almost feels like cheating because there are certain story elements where you are asked to keep your eyes open and there's no suspension or challenge when you can just literally pull your hand away from the mouse for a few seconds. With the webcam, those holding periods feel agonizing and you have to force yourself to keep unblinking for longer then you want it to be, it feels rewarding to do so. The issue with the eye controller is that the game is VERY emotional and you'll start to feel it when you cry, having to blink and you'll see yourself skip important cutscenes because you had to wipe your eyes. So, what is the game about anyway?

You play as Benny, Who just woke up on a small boat in what seems like an ethereal land. A Cat? Fox?...Catfox? with one ear is on the boat with you. This is the Ferryman, and he tells you you're dead and on your way to see the Gatekeeper. He informs you that you will need to give the Gatekeeper a story to see if you are worthy of being brought into paradise. You are then taken to your memories to go through your story, starting from your youth to your eventual death and everything that happens in between.

The story does not sugar coat anything and this is where the premise of the eyes being the controller can falter. A lot of the scenes in this game are very emotional. To the point where you will be crying or have issues with keeping your eyes open. However these scenes are where the game will demand you to keep your eyes open for longer periods of time then normal and this can physically hurt while you play. Again, you can switch to mouse controls at any time, but then it does not feel like a full experience because the game was built around you using your eyes. So if you do play this game, please make sure to do some eye exercises beforehand. 

The visuals are very simplistic, but great at showing off the little details that the developers put in with every action. The hand drawn action commands and the pop it gives whenever you make a selection is a good touch that connects well with Benny’s story and background. The feel of the different scenes fit well with the themes as well, with all the memories being set like a play and limited visibility like you would if you had to remember specific events from your own past. The soundtrack fits well with the visuals as well, lots of piano and string music throughout with the occasional percussion and synth sounds that punctuate the memories you will encounter.

Initially I was going to go into more detail about the story of Before Your Eyes, but after writing an entire page and a half about it, I decided against it. This review was going to be a short one anyway since this is a game that you need to experience first hand and it may have a different effect on you. Much like how games like “What Remains of Edith Finch” and “Undertale”, your experience may differ from mine and I wanted to explore my feelings on the game. However, that would ruin the experience for you to go give it a shot yourself. So, I implore you, go play Before Your Eyes. It's a 2 hour experience that you won't forget.