PC / Mac Archives : koru-cottage.com

Intel NUC11 mini PC review

May 6, 2023May 6, 2023 Gerard Campbell 315 ViewsBeast Canyon, Benchmark, Gaming PC, Intel, NUC mini PC

I’ve dabbled in PC gaming since the days of the Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum (I’m truly showing my age here).

While modern PC gamers are running graphics cards with 12 Gigabytes of VRAM (and more) and CPUs that are more powerful than anything you could imagine in 1990.

Which brings me to Intel’s Beast Canyon Intel NUC11 PC: A small but mighty gaming PC that is unobtrusive, packs a powerful punch in a small form factor – and there’s not a bit of beige to be seen!

Game Reviews Gaming PC / Mac PS5 Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Dead Island 2 Review

April 25, 2023April 25, 2023 Richard Armitt 571 ViewsBlood, Dark Humour, FPS, Gore, Melee, Zombie

Dead Island 2 doesn’t mess about, a long awaited sequel to the fondly dismembered Dead Island.

This time round you get to choose from a bunch of keen zombie slayers and make your way through the cluttered alleyways and luxury houses of L.A.

Once you’ve picked your Slayer du jour, depending on their style and skill tree, it’s clobbering time!

Game Reviews Gaming PC / Mac

Everspace 2 (PC) review

April 16, 2023April 16, 2023 Gerard Campbell 429 ViewsAdventure, Everspace, Gorgeous, PC, Space Dogfight

At its heart, Everspace 2 is an arcade shooter – and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Originally funded by a crowd-funding campaign, Everspace 2 has just come out of a two year early access phase.

It describes itself as “a fast-paced single-player space shooter with deep exploration, tons of loot and classic RPG elements.” Well, it’s all of those things wrapped up in a space faring package that will scratch that space combat itch that’s been bugging you for so long.

Gaming PC / Mac PS5 Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Destiny: Lightfall, Review

April 9, 2023April 16, 2023 Guy 175 ViewsBungie, Destiny, FPS, MMO, Raid

Destiny Lightfall, what to say, what to say.

Those who know the Cottage, know I’m the resident Destiny fiend. But over the latter part of 2022, new content was a tad light and I had been jonesing for some new Bungie goodness.

The ‘new goodness’ finally arrived in a new expansion Lightfall and it is overall, excellent.

So lets dive into some details, Guardian.

Game Reviews Gaming PC / Mac PS5 Switch Console Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Dredge review: Fishing the deep, dark depths

March 24, 2023April 16, 2023 Gerard Campbell 393 ViewsAdventure, Dredge, Fishing, indie game, mini-game, Sinister, Spooky

I usually find that when I think about a game at lot when I’m not playing it.

Trying to find solutions to mysteries, mulling over exactly what did that cryptic conversation with a character mean, then I’m usually smitten with that game.

For me at the moment, that game is Dredge, a “fishing” game from a game development studio in my home town in New Zealand, that has buried itself into my mind and I can’t stop thinking about it, I can’t stop playing it.

I’m smitten with this indie gem.

Game Reviews Gaming Hardware PC / Mac

Returnal PC (review)

March 12, 2023March 13, 2023 Gerard Campbell 321 Viewsalien planet, Hard, PC, Returnal, rogue-like

Returnal will run well on an ageing GPU like an RX580, which means it still has some life left in it. Sure, it won’t look as good as a card that can push the high frame rates and do ray tracing without breaking a sweat.

More importantly, it’s actually playable on our ageing RX580.

Feature Article Gaming Indie Game PC / Mac PS5 Switch Console Xbox Series X

Dredge developer interview: A fishing RPG with a sinister undercurrent

February 26, 2023March 21, 2023 Gerard Campbell 759 ViewsDrege, Fishing, indie game, Kiwi, Sinister RPG, Small Team

Gerard Campbell caught up with the team behind Black Salt Games.

A young development studio based in Christchurch, New Zealand, making waves with its debut game, Dredge.

Two years in the making, and coming from fledgling game development studio Black Salt Games, comprising the talents of Joel, Nadia, Mikey and Alex.

Byte Size Review Gaming Indie Game PC / Mac PS4 PS5 Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Startup Company, PS5

February 15, 2023February 15, 2023 Richard Armitt 256 ViewsBusiness Simulation, Busy Work, Commerce, Sandbox, strategy

Startup Company Console Edition brings a successful business sim to consoles after a strong outing on Steam. Danish devlopers Hovgaard Games have obviously laboured over this title with love.

Starting from the ground level with minimal investment, the aim is to manage your business empire “to the moon”. Interestingly the simulation is heavily geared towards the Social Media / Online Sales platforms we are familiar with.

On paper this game should be right up my alley, should be.

Gaming Indie Game PC / Mac

Wavetale: Surfing the seven seas

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 Gerard Campbell 254 ViewsAdventure, Aquatic, Boss Fights, Thunderful Games, Wavetale

In Wavetale, you play as Sigrid.

A young girl who lives on an island above a submerged city of Strandville that lies in an island archipelago.

Wavetale was first released on Google Stadia in 2021 but has now made its way to PC, and is predominately platforming with a smattering of combat.

Game Reviews Gaming PC / Mac PS5 Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Midnight Suns, review

January 8, 2023January 8, 2023 Dylan Burns 519 Views2k, Button Mash, Firaxis, Marvel, RPG lite, strategy, turn based, XCOM

Midnight Suns is a big game and it came to us late in the year. So we thought it was best to let Dylan and Guy have a crack over their Christmas breaks. They put their heads together and well, at the least, I feel seen…

Thanks to 2k for supplying the codes and the team for putting in the time.

Game Reviews Gaming PC / Mac

The Entropy Centre Review, by a diehard Portal fan-girl.

January 7, 2023January 7, 2023 Guy 299 ViewsEntropy Centre, Environment, FPS Puzzle, Portal, Puzzler, Stubby Games

Guest writer Nina, returns to the fray with a detailed looks at this Indie Portal wannabe, The Entropy Centre.

I need to come clean: I am an absolute diehard Portal fan. Proof of this can be found in one of my earliest Koru-Cottage pieces, where I essentially spent a paragraph riffing about how Portal 2 was one of the best narrative experiences I’ve ever had.

The announcement of The Entropy Centre, developed by indie dev Stubby Games, reawakened that Portal-shaped spark in my gamer heart that had been dormant for years.

But when I was given the chance to review it, I became apprehensive.

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