Quick Review: Shovel Knight (Wii U)

Shovel Knight 

Nintendo Wii U
Publisher: Yacht Club Games

Developer: Yacht Club Games
Release: June 26, 2014

Upon first look, Shovel Knight just appears to be just another indie title with a retro 8bit graphic look.  This year alone there have been an insane amount of retro style games released and Shovel Knight at first doesn't seem to be any different.  To its credit however, Shovel Knight proves to be an excellent Action Adventure game akin to many of the NES greats like Faxanadu, Zelda 2, Kirby's Adventure and Battle of Olympus.  Shovel Knight barrows much from these games and runs with it making it a diamond in the rough among a sea of indie shovelware.

GVN Review: The Banner Saga (PC)

 



 

The Banner Saga

Genre: Tactical RPG

Publisher: Versus Evil

Developer: Stoic

Release: Jan 14, 2014

 

Twenty-fourteen is off to a great start already with the stellar release of The Banner Saga.  The Banner Saga is a deep choice driven tactical RPG with results that alter the outcome of the endgame.  By endgame I mean after the next two games in the planned trilogy have released of course.  The Banner Saga is also a genre mixing game that has a segment that is very similar to the classic "The Oregon Trail" where you have to travel across a vast world and must have enough supplies to make the trek and make the right decisions to keep as many of your company alive until you reach your destination.

DHGF Review: Blood of the Werewolf (PC)

"I have played some wonderful platformers these past couple of years. Among my recent favorites are the indie titles Fly’n, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams and the Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures. I can say without a doubt that Blood of the Werewolf is now among them. Blood of the Werewolf is a phenomenal action platformer that has a great balance of difficulty, gameplay variance, precision, artistic style and atmosphere. Aside from a couple of minor complaints, Blood of the Werewolf is a solid gaming experience, and Scientifically Proven did a wonderful job with the first game in what I can hopefully call a promising franchise."

DHGF Review: Blood of the Werewolf

DHGF Review: Gas Guzzlers Extreme (PC)

Gas Guzzlers Extreme

"Gas Guzzlers Extreme. The name alone should be warning enough that you are about to play a mediocre combat racing game trying to shove tons of the attitude and edgy-ness down your throat. Every kind of cliché you can image for an “extreme” racing game is here. Heavy metal music, lots of explosions, insane weaponry, ludicrously named tracks, inane one liners, and more. Despite all the cheesiness, Gas Guzzlers Extreme does offer you a decent worthwhile experience as a racing combat game but it just screams average in just about every other way imaginable."

Diehard Gamefan Review: Gas Guzzlers Extreme

Diehard Gamefan Review: Montague's Mount (PC)

"I found out about Montague’s Mount through Steam’s Greenlight program and became incredibly interested in it. Montague’s Mount appeared to offer a very interesting setting, as well as some interesting puzzle solving and spooky survival horror looking elements. I wrote up a preview of Montague’s Mount not too long ago, though I failed to mention some of the game’s shortcomings and issues there because it was so close to the game’s release. I figured that most of those issues would have been ironed out by the game’s release, yet those issues and a few more were constant throughout the game."

Diehard Gamefan Review: Montague's Mount

GVN Review: Shadowrun Returns (PC)

Shadowrun Returns (PC)
Genre - Tactical RPG
Developer - Harebrained Schemes
Publisher - Harebrained Schemes
Release - July 25th, 2013

After a very successful kickstarter campaign the wait was finally over for a new shadowrun game from the creative mind of franchise creator Jordan Weisman.  I am filled with excitement and delight to finally have a new Shadowrun game from what feels like eons of waiting since the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions.  There was a Shadowrun game that came out a few years ago, but I pretend that abomination doesn't exist.

Review: Avernum - Escape from the pit

My latest review for Diehard Gamefan has been published.  Pleae check it out. Here's a small excert from it.

http://diehardgamefan.com/2012/04/18/review-avernum-escape-from-the-pit-pc/

"Avernum: Escape from the pit is actually the second remake of Spiderweb’s first game, Exile: Escape From the Pit, from back in 1995. The first remake, released in 2000, was just simply called Avernum. The first remake completely overhauled the graphics, audio, and added more content. Exile and Avernum 2000 are point and click turn based role-playing games in the same vein as Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale. Now twelve years after the first remake, is there anything left to be added or improved upon in Avernum: Escape from the Pit?"