New Review Rating System

The new rating system will hopefully streamline the current one. Instead of a final something/100 score, I am going to make a something/5 system instead. This will rate the game in various areas such as graphics, plot and gameplay. I will then tally up the numbers and work out the average. This should give a more representative score for each game I review. This in the hope that the scores will make more sense. I have had a lot of feedback saying that the number at the end of the review is too vague. The reviews themselves will be unchanged. See below for an example of what the new score system should look like.

Graphics - 4/5
Soundtrack - 3/5
Gameplay - 4/5
Overall - 4/5


The number of scores will vary between games. I may add in enjoyment or plot depending upon the game, but the end result of and 'overall' score afterwards that is the average of those above will not. I have yet to decide whether I will be being a decimal point and it might be something that appears rarely or something that becomes a staple. We will just have to wait and see.

Anyway, there we go the new system for reviews in all its shining glory.






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Along Came A Spider Review

Along Came a Spider is a platformer that, as you may have guessed, you play as a spider. The aim of each level is to collect the 3 flies dotted around the map and reach the end web. You have to run, climb and run your way along the thin spider web while enjoying the slightly psychedelic music and visuals. Along Came a Spider takes the standard platformer formula, of reach the exit, and runs with it. The major difference with Along Came a Spider is that you play as a spider. Using your spider-ly powers you are able to climb surfaces. In fact, the game hangs a lot of its gameplay and platforming on this concept. For example, you may need to jump, hang upside down and run along for a bit before jumping back off again. Your spider can hang on any white surface (presumably webbing). There are some other surfaces, but spiders apparently hate them. With all these white lined surfaces I keep expecting line runner to come sledging down on me at any moment.

While attempting to reach the end of each level the games asks you "please collect some flies". These are optional collectables required to unlock further levels. Bit of an oxymoron and it would have been nice if the flies unlock extras, such as different skins for the spider. Actually, Along Came a Spider doesn't have anything other than the platforming levels. I know that is what the game is all about, but I am a sucker for unlockables.

Along Came a Spider has some interesting level designs and as I said before the ‘climbing' ability can shake up the standard platforming gameplay. Unfortunately it doesn't help it that much. The game can get a bit samey, but I really enjoyed it in small chunks. Gradually playing through it over an extended period, instead of having a massive gaming session on it. One reason I had to stop playing was that; the jumping physics are really floaty, for a game based on being able to time and aim jumps well, this is an issue. Frequent checkpoints make this a tad more manageable, but it is still frustrating to miss a seemingly easy jump own physics engine. Then again, the ‘floatyness' could be intentional as it really combines well with the psychedelic soundtrack.

The game's soundtrack makes for a rather dream like experience . When you add in the glow effects and you have something that is really trippy. I may have missed a trick by not playing it while in a drunken haze. So there you go the perfect game to accompany your excessive alcohol intake. 

Score: 75/100

General Information

Game Name - Along Came A Spider
Developer - raoghard
Genre - Platformer
Bundle - Indie Bundle - Ultimate Bug Out Bundle

Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon Review

Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon is one of those games that can get away with being really cheesy and over the top games because it is madly addictive and incredibly fun to play. Throw together, blasting your way through a horde of alien invaders, that coincidently look like various insects, with massive boss fights and insurmountable odds and you have a winning combination. For lack of a better comparison think of Earth Defence Force as like Lost Planet, but without all that nonsense of fighting other humans. Combine all these features with co-op, character upgrades and replayability and you would think it would be amazing, right? Well let’s see shall we?

Firstly let’s focus on what Earth Defence Force is all about: gameplay. At its core, Earth Defence Force is an objective based third person shooter. The enemies range from ants to spiders, but they also throw space ships and giant robots at you. The game can have loads of enemies running you and your comrades down at any moment from both the air and ground. Oh, and by comrades I mean either AI players or if you jump online you can grab a buddy and charge through both campaign and survival maps.

Weapons. What more could you want to devastate your foes that a massive range of weapons? Earth Defence Force comes with a range of classes in the form of armours. The armours are: Trooper, Jet, Tactical and Battle. Each one fills a role in the battlefield and the game works best if you have one person playing as each. However, if (like me) you can rarely coordinate your pals, then the game's AI takes the place of the other three soldiers and you can still enjoy the game. Like I said before, each armour has its own weapon set and play style. Such as, the Jet Armour is all about flying about and raining down fire from the skies. Whereas, the Battle Armour sits you under loads of health and a big gun on the ground. So as you can see, there is a lot to play about with in Earth Defence Force. Alongside, the ability to upgrade your suits by gaining XP and the choice to buy and equip a range of weapons before each mission. This gives you a lot of customisability. As you upgrade your armour and it becomes more powerful and better weapons become available. You are however limited to 2 weapons per hero for the mission and this means if you make a bad choice then it cannot easily be swapped.

Earth Defence Force might not be the prettiest game, but it does manage to have tonnes of enemies on screen at once without any issues. The textures are a bit flat and there isn't much in the way of detail. However, since you are about to kill hundreds of enemies in a matter of minutes you don't even get much chance to take in the details of your enemies. Most things in Earth Defence Force are destructible. This includes: buildings, cars, trees and whatever else gets in either sides way. However, they just crumble and it isn't exactly the most beautiful and lifelike demolition. Again though, the sheer scale of the maps and the amount of destruction means you don't really mind. Especially, if you are about to be overrun by ants.

Missions in Earth Defence Force set you and your squad to help clear out the city by closing ant hills and clearing out areas. The missions that do not involve the massive bosses, that make Earth Defence Force shine, can get a little boring. Go here, kill that, and activate this. It can be a little uninspired at times. As you crank up the difficulty this can make it more interesting, as the insects become more difficult to kill. Although, overall gameplay is the same apart from harder difficulties meaning you can upgrade your armour to higher levels.

Alongside the regular missions there are a wide number of survival missions that throws greater and greater numbers of enemies at you and making you try to live as long as possible. However, this doesn't differ any from the campaign except that the bugs don't run out. This mode is best played with friends because otherwise it can get stale quickly.

While regular missions can get a bit boring and repetitive, boss fights are exciting. They generally involve something that is massive and seemingly invincible. When you reach your first boss fight in Earth Defence Force it is such a massive creature. It stomps about the maps making you feel tiny in comparison and there is a great sense of achievement when you finally defeat it. This feeling is sustained through further boss fights throughout the campaign. Each boss and some other smaller enemies use 'weak spots' that must be attacked in order to do any damage to them. The fact that you can only really damage them at a certain time and only in short bursts can be irritating, but it means you need to play tactically in order to you defeat it. 

I would like Earth Defence Force to only be the boss fights, since I began to find the regular missions too repetitive. Although, when playing with other people this is mitigated because competing to get the highest number of kills is brilliantly fun. I would prefer it to have had local co-op so I could play the co-op more often. A great amount of customisability and explosive gameplay makes for a wickedly fun game, which is best played with friends.

Score: 79/100

General Information

Game Name - Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon 
Developer - Vicious Cycle Software, Inc.
Genre - Action, Adventure, RPG,
Bundle - Indie Bundle - Ultimate Bug Out Bundle

Guy Vs The Wicked and Nefarious Land Review

Guy Vs The Wicked and Nefarious Land is a very long title and, as such, shall be referred to as 'Guy', from now on. Guy is a one of those games that is chock-a-block full of video games jokes, puns and pop culture references, some of which are very old or aimed at a specific generation. This can make them very hit and miss, as well a bit grating.

Guy is mostly a Zelda-like game. You journey through dungeons, defeat monsters and bosses to reach a goal. There are 3 play styles and these are: move and attack with the mouse only, keyboard and mouse and a keyboard only build. However, the basic deal is the same. Personally I enjoy the mouse only mode myself.

Now, I'm all for funny jokes and things but Guy is full of jokes I have heard so many times before. This means that by this stage I am a bit sick of them. I thought we were done hearing "Over Nine Thousand" references. But, alas apparently not. There are some genuinely funny moments but they are few and far between and don't add to the game. This coupled with numerous spelling mistakes (I'm one to talk) make the whole story element a bit cumbersome. However, Guy isn't really about sweeping you away with a epic tale. Instead, Guy is more about enjoying a decent dungeon explorer at a more casual pace.

The gameplay is where Guy shines. As I said before, personally, I prefer the mouse only controls. Only needing to use one hand really adds to the casual feel and tone of the game making it simple and accessible to play. The range of enemies that are introduced throughout the game is quite diverse and each uses different tactics to try and defeat you. This ranges from exploding goo over you slowing and stunning, to quick leaps and pounces that need to be fly countered and dodged. This makes the combat hectic and paced even if it can mean that enemies can combo you to death quite easily. Although since you can get amulets to increase your lives it means you can learn from your previous mistakes.

The live system in Guy is quite interesting. It uses an in-game item an 'amulet' that gives you extra lives. These lives are refreshed at each checkpoint on a dungeon. This can be useful if you have just had a difficult room. However, it can also make the game a bit unbalanced. This especially because it is relatively cheap to buy the more powerful amulets that give the most lives. Having a powerful amulet at the during the beginning of the game can lead it it feelings very easy, resulting in a few deaths meaning nothing as you have lots more lives. It is, however, an interesting take on the life system that works well, even if it has a few balance issues.

Along side buying amulets to buff your lives, Guy also have a range of weapons that can be upgraded. Each weapon has a different play style. For example, swords are your all-rounders, spears attack fast but do less damage and axes are your heavy hitters. Each upgrade increases their power, but there are only a few upgrades person weapon so this is a somewhat limited system. Along with weapons there are also three skills that can be unlocked and then upgraded. While these are a nice addition they are limited to three levels apiece and can be maxed out fairly easily. You can also find various rings with different benefits throughout your journey that can buff your character.

Alongside the main game you can collect relics that provide special missions with a specific objects. These missions can be highly challenging and will really test your skills when compared to the more casual dungeon of the story mode. In addition, the game also keeps track of all of the enemies you have defeated in the bestiary and you can train against these whenver you wish. This can help to understand the enemies movements when trying to finish a dungeon or relic mission.

Guy has a range of extras including its own in game achievements and statistics to track basically everything you do throughout the game. The stats include basic things like how may kills you have but goes into great death by tracking all the different ways you have died including: frozen, sliced, eaten and the ever mysterious 'other'. These are fun reminders about your journey through the game and it can be funny to see just how many times you have died even though you, I, thought the game was relievely easy. Alongside this, there are multiple difficulty modes if you want to further challenge yourself.

Overall I can say I enjoyed Guy Vs The Wicked and Nefarious Land it is a solid dungeon crawler that is best played with the mouse only option. While some, or a lot, of its jokes just make me sigh I am sure others will enjoy them. The great range of enemies and the pick up and play feel make for a fun and leisurely experience.

Scorer - 75/100

b>General Information

Game Name - Guy Vs The Wicked and Nefarious Land
Developer - Cog Monkeys
Genre - Action, Adventure, RPG,
Bundle - Indie Bundle - The Hellish Dungeons Bundle

Rogue's Tale Review

Rogue's Tale by Epixx.org is a brutal, addictive and highly punishing rogue-like game. When I say brutal I really mean it. However, it is brutal in a nurturing kind of way. It shows you what to do then throws hordes of monsters at you ask as "Why did you just die, you fool?". I'm not alway sure whether Rogue's Tale thinks I can win against the odds by doing something different, or just enjoys watching me die after moving two spaces and die to what at first seems like a fairly harmless rat. Despite being cruelly treated and dying more than 100 times, why am I compelled to keep trying?

The main reason is that against all the odds I really want to win. Maybe this is just my own stubborn streak, but I really think that the game hold a great deal of content just waiting to be unlocked. If I have to go through several hundred lives, by gosh I am going to see that content.

Initially in Rogue's Tale you choose your starting stats in: strength, agility, stamina and charisma is going to be. These stats can then be upgrade when your character levels up. On top of this, every 3 levels your character gains it learns a trait by using specific objects in the game. These objects range from magic stones (which allows you to advance magically), to a campfire (that makes you more like a warrior). However, choose wisely as you cannot change this decision and can only have a certain number of traits. Once you unlock traits in a specific category such as literacy, you unlock an achievement that allows further characters to "inherit" this ability. This means that even if your hero dies you can (if you managed to progress far enough), retain some of what you battled your way through hordes of deadly enemies to gain. Rogue's Tale interesting way of linking your previous heroes to your current hero is a novel and interesting idea. The only hardship being that it is difficult to progress far enough to gain these benefits. Although, once you do it makes progression easier and enhances the chance you will live long enough to unlock further "heritage" skills.

Rogue's Tale is technically turn based with each decision, movement and attack taking a turn. Your total number of turns and a range of other statistics are provided upon your death, alongside your overall score and a short sentence that basically tells you how good/rubbish you did. When attacking and performing other interactions the game rolls two virtual six sided dice. Everything decision within Rogue's Tale is decided on the roll of a dice. This retro system works great but does mean that early and low levels monster can kill you easily because they were lucky enough to roll a six.

There are so many different types of weapons, skills and abilities in Rogue's Tale that you can play your character however you wish. Although, I have found that I need a shield. Most of my early deaths have been the result of being poorly equipped. This can leave you at the whimsy of a game that may not want to give you any armour at all. In this case you are either very lucky and find enough gold to purchase something from the shop or a merchant, or you die to one thing or another.

The main shop in the game stocks a vast range of items that steadily increase in price and power. You can also enchant, remove curses and identify items in order increase the benefits from equipping them. The main shop is directly up the stairs in which you start the game on. This can mean unless you find a merchant several floors down, you can end up having to run all the way back to make room for new items. However, it can make the whole game feel more like an adventure since dungeons don't, or shouldn't, have conveniently placed shops. On the flip side of this it can be very annoying having to run all the way back. However, I have rarely survived long enough for this to be an issue. Yet I keep playing. Curious, no?

Despite Rogue's Tale and it's rabid difficulty, it is highly addictive and has a "Oh, just one more character" feel that many games lack. This combines well with the heritage of certain traits making further character more powerful and more likely to live longer. A great blend of exploration, item collection and character development makes Rogue's Tale nothing short of brilliant. I must admit that the difficulty will turn off many people. Many people will struggle to progress and will feel it has nothing to offer since the game is so unforgiving. However, the game won't let them actually reach a point where they can see what the game offers, but it has a lot to offer the right person.

Score: 80/100

General Information

Game Name - Rogue's Tale
Developer - Epixx.org
Genre - Action, Adventure, RPG, Rogue-like
Bundle - Indie Bundle - The Hellish Dungeons Bundle

Castle Dracula Review

Castle Dracula by Gondefire Productions Inc is a point and click horror game where our hero, Luke, is off to save his wife, Grace, and unborn child from Dracula in his castle. Hence the name. Along the way he will face many trails and enemies that will try to stop him. Where as many point and click games punish you getting something wrong with "I can use that here" or "Please try again", Castle Dracula just kills you. Turned left instead of right? Well now, your dead. Chose the wrong lever? You guessed it, you're dead. It is pretty brutal. The game does steadily teach you through the trail and error, be careful or I will kill you a lot.

A pretty basic set up of husband tries to rescue wife with a rather simple if unusual interface. In Castle Dracula you switch between 3 clicking modes: move, use item or interact with and pick up. This can mean a lot of clicking on and off different modes. It can be rather tedious. When you combine this with a bug that makes items you are trying drag for an interaction stop mid-screen, then you have a game that can be a chore to play through.

The overall game is fairly short and it is likely only to stump people who just haven't seen where an item is to pick up. You can only hold 5 items at once but that isn't a problem because you never need to have any more than that. The puzzles are fairly obvious and straight forward, use the item you just found on the boss/room you just found to progress. Even the boss fights are nothing all that exciting. Merely drag an item onto them and they will die. A bit disappointing.

Castle Dracula looks gorgeous. The artwork of all the characters heroes and villains is brilliant and its sullen and tense soundtrack will make you feel like something is about to jump out on you. The voice acting on the whole is good even if there are a few cheesey lines. The game does a really good job of making you feel like you are part of a gothic epic through it's visuals and audio.

Unfortunately for Castle Dracula it has a pretty poor story, puzzles and overall game interaction. It's great looks and sounds do compensate a bit but not enough. The initial build up is lost when you defeat various monsters rather easily and even if you do die an awful lot, all the game does is restart you back on the screen you left. There aren't any consequences for dying aside from making you wait to be alive again.

If Castle Dracula didn't have such an awkward interface that wasn't so bugged, then it would have made the game much more enjoyable. The potential for a sequel could see all of this rectified. But, for the moment Castle Dracula is a fairly mediocre horror point and click game that does however, look and sound brilliant.

Score: 65/100

General Information

Game Name - Castle Dracula
Developer - Gondefire
Genre - Point and Click, Horror
Bundle - Indie Bundle - Point and Click DARK Bundle

Monsters! Review

Monsters! by QuadraTronGames is a twin stick shooter with a twist, the more you shoot the more you are killing yourself. Unusual concept for a genre that has built a reputation for shooting everything like crazy. For those of you that don't know what a twin stick shooter is, it is a top down shooter where you move with either the left analogue stick or WASD and shoot in different directions thanks to the right stick or up, down, left and right arrows. Basically you just run around a shoot everything till the level is emptied of enemies and move onto the next level. Monsters! is a good example of this.

Through having out ammo and health being the same thing, Monsters! makes you consider your strategy for defeating a level. Where is gams gone by I would just whizz across the screen shooting everything in range, in Monsters! I carefully place shots and dash to regain health/ammo. Crashing into enemies or being hit by one of their projectiles means a loss of health/ammo. Care must be taken but not taking down enough enemies can easily lead to being overwhelmed.

When you kill an enemy it drops a coloured heart. Each one gives our magician (he looks like a magician anyway) a different power. There are six different types of hearts and six (including basic attack) powers to use. These range from a homing attack to rapid fire to a triple fire ability. Each one has its bonuses and draw back. Take the rapid fire for example, great for designating loads of enemies really fast but it uses up a lot,of your health/ammo making it a double edged sword. Collecting a new power up will overwrite the previous one, this includes picking up basic heart so you go back to your standard attack. This adds another layer of strategy worth considering, how do you balance collecting health/ammo with using the various powers available to you?

Each level consists of various waves of enemies and once they are all defeated you continue to the next and more difficult level. The next enemy wave flashes on screen where they are going to appear and they will often appear before you have really begun to clear the previous wave. This can lead to the screen feeling very cramped and you facing overwhelming odds. As you complete each level the enemies change, growing more powerful through the use of projectiles and greater numbers. The difficulty really does stack up but it leaves you wanting to try again once you die.

Monsters! has some great pixel graphics and the various enemies definitely look like monsters. Are you progress through the game the enemies change and grown more insidious looking. This combine with a stellar soundtrack results in a game that feels engaging and will kick you in the face if you go a bit too trigger happy.

Monsters! Is now fully released and was still in development when put in the Alpha Fundle Bundle by Indie Bundle. This review is for the full game and while it is a great game there are a few things I would have liked to have seen in the full release. Firstly, multiplayer. A game like Monsters! with its tense monster dodging and ammo conservation could have done brilliantly with some kind of Co-Op. Being able to shoot my way through wave after wave and level after level of baddies with a buddy would really increase the playtime and overall enjoyment of the game. Maybe something to consider in the future. Secondly, I'm not a really wanting a huge epic but a bit of context and back story about who I'm playing as and why I'm mashing my way through legions of nasties would be nice. Finally, I could not get my wired controller to work without mapping it with 3rd party software. I hardly ever actually use my wired controller for games but in occasion I do and Monsters! seemed like a good game for me to give it a go on. Apart from these fairly minor points Monsters! is a great game and addition to a genre that was in need of spicing up and Monsters! certainly provides that.

With its sick difficulty, more tactics than some strategy games and an endless horde to fight through, Monsters! is sure to keep you busy trying to beat that high score for a long time.

Score - 85/100


General Information

Game Name - Monster!
Developer - QuadraTronGames
Genre - Twin Stick Shooter
Bundle - Indie Bundle - Alpha Fundle Bundle