Gaming Archives - Page 26 of 76

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Review (Xbox One X)

August 28, 2020 Barrie Clarke 2413 Views Baldur's Gate, CRPG, D&D, turn based

Welcome to the Stolen Lands of Golarion. You are the Pathfinder, the Kingmaker. Under the direction of Jamandi Aldori, ruler of Restov, you have the chance to make a fair chunk of these lands yours. All you have to do is assemble some companions and get rid of the Stag Lord and his bandits. Easy enough.

I’m absolutely loving Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Even despite a few glitches it has. The biggest problem it has? Launching so close to Wasteland 3.

Gaming Hardware Hardware Reviews PC / Mac

Epos Sennheiser GSX300 external sound card

August 27, 2020 Gerard Campbell 1505 Views external sound card, Sennheiser, Sound

For those older gamers reading this, you’ll remember vividly how it used to be commonplace to have a dedicated sound card in your PC: On-board audio encoding wasn’t a thing back in the days of beige boxes, shareware and 486CPUs.

As PCs became more and more modern, motherboards started appearing with in-built sound cards offering OK but often not stellar sound. Still, it was early days and you made the most of what you had. I still remember my Creative Labs Sound Blaster sound cards with fond memories.

Fast forward to today

Gaming Byte Size Review PC / Mac PS4 Video Content Xbox One

Relicta, PS4 Review

August 25, 2020 Guy 1793 Views First Person, Portal, Puzzler, Relicta

Relicta does not make a good first impression.

The opening puzzles which serve as the tutorial feel very, “seen that sort of thing before”. The tutorial then leads into a fairly drawn out story delivery sequence told by disposable radio chatter. I will admit, I rolled my eyes and did not have high hopes for my next few hours of gaming.

But poor introductions aside, when the gameplay proper kicked off and some headscratcher puzzles where unleashed upon my brain. I completely changed my views on Relicta. It’s actually a super solid wee puzzler.

Gaming Byte Size Review Game Pass PC / Mac Xbox One

Battletoads, Byte Size Review (Xbox One X)

August 22, 2020 Barrie Clarke 1386 Views Battletoads, Gamepass, Old School, Reboot, Turtles

Rash, Pimple, and Zitz are the Battletoads. Heroes from another era, back to show gamers how we rolled in the early 1990s. Created to take on those other green anthropomorphic creatures of the 1980s and 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Battletoads first arrived in 1991 on the NES.

From there we had several games on different systems and even an attempt at an animated TV series which never saw more than a half hour pilot.

So how will our toads fare today? Will they hop to success? Or will they just turn turtle?

Horizon Zero Dawn - needs no introduction

Gaming Game Reviews PC / Mac PS4 Sony

Horizon Zero Dawn PC review: A troubled PC port

August 18, 2020 Gerard Campbell 1813 Views Aloy, corruption, Guerrilla games, Horizon Zero Dawn, robotic machines, Wildlands

There was a time where the chances of a PlayStation game coming to PC was an impossibility but Horizon Zero Dawn is the third recent Sony title, with Detroit Become Human and Death Stranding coming before it.

It makes sense (and Sony has a history of making laptops): PC’s offer higher resolutions, faster frame rates and mouse and keyboard controls.

I can’t speak for DBH as I didn’t play it on PC but the PC version of Death Stranding was a smooth, trouble free experience for me. Sadly, the same cannot be said for my time with the PC port of Guerrilla’s Horizon Zero Dawn: It’s a gorgeous looking game, but the PC version is hampered by technical issues that mar the experience.

Gaming Fitness Hardware Reviews

AZM on Fitbit – Min-Maxing your health stats IRL!

August 16, 2020 Guy 2403 Views AZM, Cardio, FitBit

In May this year, I reviewed the new FitBit Charge 4 and the overall takeaway was that it’s an excellent fitness tracker, that for a ‘Gamer’ helped formalised my training regime and even gamified my day-to-day workouts.

I admit, that at the time I didn’t fully appreciate what this wee device could do. Initially I set myself simple time goals for workouts to complete. Later I used the FitBit app to understand my workouts and in particular making the most of them by using the Active Zone Minutes (AZM) system.

To put it in ‘Gamer’ terms. My FitBit device and the AZM system has given me a tangible way to have stats to Min-Max, to get the best returns on my health and heart. It’s like dungeon crawling in real life!!

Gaming ATARI VCS Game News Hardware Hardware Reviews

ATARI VCS, Bluemouth confirmed as local distributor

August 14, 2020 Richard Armitt 5252 Views ATARI, ATARI VCS, Bluemouth, console, indie, PC, Steam

The back end of the year and especially November is starting to look crowded. With Sony and Xbox still unconfirmed on launch dates or pricing for their new consoles, the rebooted ATARI VCS is coming in hot.

The big news for Australasia is that Bluemouth have been secured as the local distribution partner for the new “PC/Console Hybrid”. Effective from 14th August 2020, Bluemouth will bring their 17 years of experience to supply Australia and New Zealand.

With Sony and Microsoft still unconfirmed on dates and pricing, November 20th could go either way for the ATARI VCS. It might not have the system selling AAA games that the fans want, but there’s a big enough user base for people to want to try something different.

If the market positioning is right, you’d have to admit. “A third player has entered the game.”

Gaming Feature Article Movie Reviews PS4 Switch Console Xbox One

Cinema Gaming, going large on the Silver Screen

August 13, 2020 Richard Armitt 1746 Views Big Screen, Cinema Gaming, Destroy All Humans, DOOM Eternal, Event Cinemas, Ghost of Tsushima, Maneater, Orion Springfield, Snacks, Sound, TLOU2

As a young man I had two dreams, one was to own a nice little campsite and the other was to own a boutique cinema. The second was born of a love of movies and the plan for some cinema gaming on the big screen after hours. Neither of these dreams took off, until now.

We probably have to thank Covid and 2020 for the opportunity, as traditional business finds other ways to make its assets work.

I recently spied a Facebook ad by my local Event Cinema offering gaming sessions. How could I not take it up?

For prices and details read on.

Gaming Byte Size Review PS4 Xbox One

Destroy All Humans (PlayStation 4)

August 10, 2020 Gerard Campbell 1156 Views aliens, Cold War era, furon empire, Little green men, Mars Attacks!, space invaders, space probe

THQ’s Destroy All Humans reminds me a lot of Tim Burton’s rather good movie Mars Attacks!

In both the movie and the game, aliens are out to destroy the human race, both adhere to the little green man (kind of) appearance. With many of the human victims are bumbling simpletons ready to give into the alien invasion.

Overall, Destroy All Humans is a likeable remake of a mid-2000s game, albeit it one with humour that hasn’t entire stood the test of time.

Gaming Game Reviews PC / Mac PS4 Switch Console Xbox One

Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus, PS4 Review

August 6, 2020 Richard Armitt 2034 Views #Mechanicus40K, Games Workshop, Inquisitor, Mechanicus, turn based, turn-based strategy games, Warhammer 40k, XCOM

Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus will be familiar to die-hard Games Workshop fans, the average gamer, perhaps not so much. Drawing on the very deep and very wide canon of Warhammer 40k, this game adds to a varied pedigree of stablemates.

Considering the complexity the Warhammer family its a shame that the digital versions of these tabletop adventures often fall flat.

It’s fair to say, that first couple of hours of doubt were soon demolished as I understood the systems on offer and gripped the gameplay.

Gaming Byte Size Review Indie Game Switch Console Xbox One

Carrion, Nintendo Switch reviewed

August 5, 2020 Gerard Campbell 1162 Views Carrion, Devolver Digital, monster, monster in the dark, Nintendo Switch gaming, Phobia Game Studio, reverse horror game

Carrion is a horror game with a twist: You are the monster in the dark, hunting the humans – not the other way around.

In a genre that the game’s makers have described as “reverse horror”, you control a red amorphous tentacled blob that escapes confinement in a secret research facility and must escape.

Carrion is Metroidvania in style, with the monster having to unlock doors to progress to the next location and that often involves backtracking to locations you’ve visited before and pulling levers that will unlock chambers in another area.