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Backbone – The Verdict

Backbone – The Verdict

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“So much misguided effort pursuing only the shadow of the big picture – why?”

I’d been anticipating Backbone for some time, but I didn’t go into it with an excited smile. Not quite. That isn’t because it was released to polarising reviews, but rather because of the developer’s response to that reception. It goes without saying these developers put everything into their game, and goddamn, they have every right to stand by it with confidence and pride.

I am so very behind that…

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The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark – The Verdict

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark – The Verdict

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The introduction of Detective Francis McQueen and his sidekick, Officer Patrick Dooley, in 2017’s comedy horror point-and-click, The Darkside Detective, was an unexpected delight. The strange and kooky world of Twin Lakes didn’t take the ‘horror’ bit all that seriously; it was much happier indulging obscure film references and finding innuendo everywhere.

And we were all the better for it.

The sequel, A Fumble in the Dark, is much the same, only bigger and carried off with a confidence born of its developers knowing they’ve crafted a winning duo, milking it for all it’s worth – albeit a little too much at times.

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Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part Two – The Verdict

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part Two – The Verdict

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The Ancient Gods – Part Two wants you to know that the stakes are high.

The highest, in fact. The Dark Lord is free and all of existence is in peril. All of it. You would agree that it doesn’t get much higher than that. Unless of course you count my waning interest in the franchise, brought to the brink in the fun but clunky first instalment of the DLC duology.

In the face of that the so-called ‘Dark Lord’ doesn’t amount to a whole lot, no matter how much he narrows his eyes and declares that I will burn, burn, burn.

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Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York – The Verdict

Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York – The Verdict

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Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York weaves a familiar tale. Yet it is not a tale familiar out of triteness, but rather in its bleak and despairing contemporaneity. Shadows of New York artfully depicts our 2020 hell-scape, holds it up as a mirror and doesn’t so much ask whether or not we’re fucked as yell it in our faces.

It is a tale of a debauched, grotesquely wealthy elite presiding over a city of broken, desperate people, haunted by an impending apocalypse—climate-induced, technological, viral, pick your horror—precious few seem inclined to curtail, let alone prevent.

And this apocalypse cares not a whit for whether you’re human or vampire; after all, Kindred were once human themselves, and its ruling body, the Camarilla—so intent on maintaining the status quo at all costs—a potent metaphor for a global system that refuses to change, adapt, or evolve.

Even when everything is at stake (soz).

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The Suicide of Rachel Foster – The Verdict

The Suicide of Rachel Foster – The Verdict

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The first thing that stikes me about The Suicide of Rachel Foster is the atmosphere of the old hotel. The main character Nicole has arrived under legal obligation to check the condition of the building before selling it, but unfortunately for her a blizzard hits upon arrival and forces her to spend time in a place that holds bad childhood memories. Exploring the hotel Nicole recounts stories from her childhood while wishing she were anywhere else. Every creak of a rotting floorboard and rattle of a loose tile fills me with unease and a chill that seems unnatural even considering the piling snowbanks outside.

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BPM: Bullets Per Minute – The Verdict

BPM: Bullets Per Minute – The Verdict

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BPM: Bullets Per Minute is described as a rhythm-action FPS rogue-like. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant at first either so let me explain.

If you’ve played any rogue-likes before you will be familiar with the randomness of each attempt to get to the final boss. Each try contains a different dungeon layout. Within that random layout each room contains a random assortment of enemies, shops, chests, stat and ability and health pickups, level modifiers and secrets, of which there are quite a few. On top of that is the rhythm-action mechanics meaning you can only shoot in time with the music and Awe Interactive have provided a great rock soundtrack which brings the whole game together quite nicely.

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The Persistence – The Verdict

The Persistence – The Verdict

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The world of VR gaming beyond Half-Life: Alyx isn’t really on my radar for a myriad of reasons, but what that lack of awareness means is that when a title like The Persistence comes along on the Switch, I can play it like a standard first-person horror without initially knowing that it was originally designed for both VR and standard play.

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Hardspace: Shipbreaker – The Verdict

Hardspace: Shipbreaker – The Verdict

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Hardspace Shipbreaker is certainly not the first game to concern itself with reducing spaceships to their component parts, but it is certainly one of the most methodical in its approach. The usual method generally consists of flying around high intensity combat situations, dodging missiles and lasers and to be honest, sometimes it can feel like a bit much. …

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