November2020

March2018

  • Review Tesla vs Lovecraft (PS4)

    Electricity and madness

    With a name like Tesla vs Lovecraft, you're expecting a certain tone. This is not a serious shooter; right from the outset it aims for ‘insane’ and works from there. Appropriate given the game's antagonist. The title screen blasts out a chaotic theme tune, depicting a monster-riding H.P. Lovecraft facing off against...

February2018

  • Review Time Recoil (PS Vita)

    Ain’t nobody got time for that

    Time Recoil is a top-down, twin-stick shooter from 10tons, who's well-versed in this genre with the likes of Crimsonland, Neon Chrome, and Jydge. In Time Recoil you take on the role of a rebel member that has super powers, enabling her to slow time whenever she gets a kill. Using your powers and wormholes you...

October2017

  • Review JYDGE (PS4)

    Dreddful?

    JYDGE is a top-down, twin-stick shooter not too dissimilar to Hotline Miami. You take on the role of what can only be described as a knockoff Judge Dredd, who is tasked with dishing out justice with his gavel gun. The entire game is level based: each one set in a different location where the criminals have gathered hostages or stock piles...

September2017

  • Review Time Recoil (PS4)

    Through the darkness of future past

    There’s some stiff competition for top-down twin-stick shooters these days. With heavy hitters like Hotline Miami, Nex Machina, and Mr. Shifty, studios have to deliver a very distinct and fresh experience to stand out. The developers at 10tons Ltd, are no strangers to achieving that in this genre, with the...

May2017

  • Review Neon Chrome (PS4)

    Hacked off

    Republished on Wednesday, 31st May 2017: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June 2017's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Neon Chrome is a top-down, twin-stick shooter set entirely in what looks like the Shinra Building from Final Fantasy VII given a Blade...

January2017

  • Review Xenoraid (PS4)

    Star wars

    As far as "classic video game genres" go, top-down space shooters are a bread-and-butter staple of the medium. While gems of the genre once ruled arcades and home-consoles alike, in modern times they've become dime-a-dozen, mostly relegated to portable devices and mobile phones. Within that landscape, any game of that type will have to do...

January2016

  • Review Baseball Riot (PS4)

    Bouncing balls

    Baseball Riot is a sequel to the popular physics puzzler Tennis in the Face, however this time around you won't be serving the balls – you'll be striking them. You play as the ex-professional baseballer Gabe Carpaccio, who threw his whole career down the toilet when he became addicted to the energy drink known as Explodz. Now...

June2015

  • Review Sparkle Unleashed (PlayStation 4)

    Lacking spark

    Do you remember the days when playing and collecting marbles was popular? No, we're not 100-years-old either, but even though times and technology have changed, Sparkle Unleashed has a familiar premise: you must arrange balls into order for personal satisfaction. The difference here is that your obsessive compulsive disorder isn't the...

November2014

  • Review Tennis in the Face (PlayStation 4)

    You cannot be serious

    Pete Pagassi is a tennis heavyweight with a drinking problem. The mulletted marvel is addicted to Explodz energy soda, which has put the brakes on his career. After a spell in rehab, the former Grand Slam champion decides to issue his revenge on the maniacal manufacturers of the syrupy squash, and so embarks on a tour of the...

July2014

  • Review Crimsonland (PlayStation 4)

    Don't fear the reaper

    Twin-stick shooters are like Hollywood action films. They’re violent, bold, and, while there’s plenty going around, very few are actually any good. Crimsonland is the latest entry in the once popular genre, and does very little to differentiate itself from the competition. But does this adherence to tried and tested tropes...

May2014

  • Review Sparkle 2 (PlayStation 4)

    Let it shine

    There’s a treasure in the world of Sparkle 2 that’s so well hidden that nobody has ever been able to find it. Some people have spent their entire lives trying to track it down, going mad in the process. Naturally, the only way of succeeding where others have failed is to match three or more coloured balls across dozens of levels –...

April2014

  • Review King Oddball (PlayStation 4)

    The tongue and the restless

    To say that the videogame market is saturated with physics-based puzzlers would be akin to saying that the Call of Duty series has only been mildly successful. In other words, it would be a vast and gaping understatement. To this end, indie effort King Oddball attempts to set itself apart from the competition by indulging...

January2014

  • Review King Oddball Ends the World (PlayStation Vita)

    Rock royalty

    After an extended royal tour of pretty much every mobile platform on the planet, King Oddball Ends the World has rolled onto the PlayStation Vita. Offering projectile flinging fun in the vein of Angry Birds, this puzzle game looks to usurp the throne from the long time ruler and avoid being thrown into the dungeons for treason. With a...

October2013

  • Review Sparkle (PlayStation Vita)

    Glitter bug

    The aim of Sparkle is to fling different coloured marbles at a procession of similarly styled balls that are rolling progressively closer to the centre of an on-screen maze. Put three of the same tinted spheres in a row and they will detonate, with your ultimate goal being to spontaneously combust all of the orbs as promptly as possible...