Starfield, we’re past reviewing it.
Starfield, it’s been a long time coming and has caused some cosmic ripples.
Given the pedigree of Elder Scrolls, Oblivion, Fallout, how could Bethesda have anything but an exciting new IP?
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Sci-Fi
Aliens: Dark Descent, Review
Set 20 years after the Aliens 3 movie, Dark Descent focusses on Tantalus Base, where a Xenomorph outbreak has occurred.
I controlled a squad of Marines, akin to “The Commander” in XCOM from the crashed command ship, The Otago.
It has some loose similarities to XCOM, except its combat which is a Real-Time Strategy game, not turn based.
It is however a Newt free zone.
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Replikator, review
Replikator had me at “Top Down Sci-Fi Shooter”. I mean what’s not to love, being a huge Alienation fan and having grown up on the likes of Alien Syndrome, and Alien Breed.
Choose a rag-tag character from a bunch of rag-tag characters, including a Space Racoon. Board some crusty Space Stations and fight your way to the Boss. Yes, we’ve been here before.
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Dead Space Remake, Review
I don’t do scary Movies, scary TV or scary Video Games. I just don’t enjoy them, never have…and never will?
Yes indeed, confusion abounds because I love the Dead Space franchise. The sci-fi setting, the stunning graphics and immersive in-game UI all sold me on this niche genre in 2008.
Making Dead Space an all-time fav of my Xbox 360 generation.
Its 2023 and in keeping with the current market trend, EA have seen fit to have Motive Studios “remake” Dead Space… and wow. It is very, very good.
So it should be though, as the bones the remake is built on are just as solid now, as they were 15 years ago.
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CHORUS, PS5 Review
Space Combat games have always been a favourite genre for me. Starting with Descent back in 1995 and most recently with the excellent Star Wars: Squadrons on the PSVR.
But the genre often struggled to get AAA quality outings. Certainly, any tangible story and world building rarely occurs within them.
BUT, Chorus has literally come out of my blind-spot and some how managed to be both an awesome arcade space combat game, with an interesting story.
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Returnal, Review (PS5)
I have always hated games from the Rogue-Like genre. The lack of progression, the severe penalty for simple mistakes and if I’m honest, the feeling of games just being unfair. It does nothing for me.
Well…the genius’s at Housemarque have found the perfect Rogue-Like recipe. Cooking up a beautifully atmospheric, AAA quality, frenetic shooter.
In fact, at this stage of the year Returnal currently sits atop my Game of the Year list for 2021.
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Observation review [PC]: When a sentient AI goes bad …
Previously posted at Gerard’s own blog GameJunkieNZ, here’s his view on Observation.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the team behind sci-fi thriller Observation – were fans of movies Alien, Event Horizon and 2001 A Space Odyssey.
The game opens aboard the international space station Observation which is above Earth’s orbit after suffering a catastrophic event. The ship’s medical officer Dr Emma Fisher eventually manages to reboot the ship’s AI Sam [System Administration Maintenance] but Sam receives a strange transmission telling him to “BRING HER”.
Fast forward a bit and after a second event, the Observation finds itself above Saturn, Sam’s core functions compromised and the rest of Observation’s crew missing. Emma tasks Sam with finding out what has happened.
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