Video Games Archives | Page 7 Of 43

With Ironstrike VR, What’s Your Favourite Weapon to Fight With?

The ability to really immerse players in a proper fantasy world of fighting hordes of invaders in Ironstrike VR can be fun.

Ironstrike VR certainly delivers a fun mediaeval combat experience as a four player co-op roguelike adventure on the Meta Quest. It’s about what groups can do as they face off against AI opponents in a simply rendered open world environment where the elements meet. While photo-realism isn’t the goal in the design of these realms, what’s presented so far hints at the possibilities should developer E McNeill want to re-skin this game in a dungeon crawl environment.

For now, it’s limited to some stunning dawn and dusk renders, and as for the swing and parry system, I feel more work is needed. One should be able to move the body instead of shaking a joystick to dodge blows. I found that standing still to smack down enemies is an issue. I should be able to move the body around, and on the Quest 2, some of it tracked. While the authentic combat experience isn’t always there, I love the concept, and was fighting my foes in waves. The number of opponents faced steadily grows as you progress through the game. At the time of writing, I’ve encountered as many as three at one time. There may be more, but I haven’t gotten there yet!

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When Racing Through the Worlds of Wizordum Gets Fast, Is There An End in Sight?

You gotta be fast and quick to respond in all the danger coming at you in Emberheart Games’s Wizordrum!

Emberheart Games

Gamers who love to post speed runs on Twitch will find Wizordum to be the type of perfect shoot ’em up style game to parley with. While I prefer a dungeon crawl at a slow pace, this fantasy shooter is designed to be played fast and furious! That’s how most adventure games should be played. Sometimes, players spend too much time being methodical or are pouring through the books to insure encounters follow the rules, and while that’s okay in a pen and paper game, that’s not how it works in real life!

The fact players have to be on the ball in this videogame, that means being able to solve puzzles on the fly! There’s also being like Indiana Jones and escaping a room with the treasure without missing the beat of those arrows shooting at him! In this game, players better have that itchy trigger finger and nimble reflexes when blasting through a dungeon!

When there were times I wished I could pause the game to quickly sketch out a dungeon map, I suspect that would slow the game down. Thankfully, there is one provided in the game to show where the secrets lay, but it’s not as detailed as one I would make.

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Salt and Sacrifice – A Dark Fantasy Journey with Some Rough Edges

The potential for expanded world-building remains untapped, leaving players of Salt and Sacrifice yearning for a more intricate narrative.

Ska Studio‘s latest instalment, Salt and Sacrifice, follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Salt and Sanctuary. The game plunges players into a dark fantasy world, with gameplay clearly inspired by the challenging Dark Souls series. While it delivers on atmosphere and gameplay, it comes with its share of drawbacks. This game is a 2D side scrolling dark fantasy that plays out in the style of the Dark Souls series. This means pattern memorization, dodge rolls, punishing difficulty, and many MANY deaths as the adventure progresses.

From the outset, players create their character, a convicted criminal who has been condemned to hunt rogue Mages. There are several job classes available, so players can choose skills based on what kind of play style they want to tackle the game with. After immediately being thrown into an unwinnable battle, the condemned is resurrected and tasked with continuing the mage hunts as a half-alive inquisitor, unable to escape their duty even through death. These corrupted magic-users have taken monstrous forms based on whatever form of magic they had practiced as humans, and the player will need to prepare appropriately to survive these battles.

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Fighting in Ysbryd Game’s World of Horror Isn’t as Easy as Some Might Think!

To create a retro style game in World of Horror really means understanding how to push the limits of 2 bit technology, and being inspired by the right manga artist!

Although the graphic user interface in Ysbryd Game‘s latest product is fairly easy to figure out, I struggled with parts of the game. When fighting against the many monsters found in World of Horror to get me into the mood for Halloween, the ability to plan out my moves needs to be streamlined. Just how it’s organised in this early release demo is really wonky, and it’s like flipping through an old edition of Call of Cthulhu RPG just to consult various tables.

Even though the interface reveals what each icon represents with a word, I still struggled with wondering what actions can succeed each other. This system also calculates just how many points each move does, and it can’t go over 200. Therefore, planning what your best method of attack is important! Also, the option to run away is tucked elsewhere! It should be a primary action, rather than delegated into a submenu. Just like this pen and paper game, this electronic counterpart it depends more on solving the mystery and reciting the ritual to dispel the terror than fighting everything head on.

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30XX, A Modern Take on a Classic Formula

One of 30XX’s standout features is its snappy and responsive controls. Dashing, jumping, and wall-climbing are intuitive, with a helpful tutorial zone for newcomers.

Batterystaple Games
Available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch

30XX, developed and published by Batterystaple Games, is an indie action platformer that pays homage to the iconic Mega Man X series from the 90s. Serving as a sequel to 20XX, this roguelite game offers a unique experience with procedurally generated levels, two distinct characters, and a mix of classic gameplay elements with modern twists.

Gameplay:

30XX invites players to choose between two characters: Nina and Ace. Nina wields a versatile blaster and can augment her arsenal with the powers of defeated enemies, while Ace relies on his laser sword, boasting wide swings and efficient energy regeneration. The story is simple yet effective: Nina and Ace must protect Earth from rampaging robots.

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G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra Continues the Ongoing Battle!

The story behind G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra will excite some fans as will this be the final showdown?

GI JOE Wrath of Cobra Poster Image Fans of long running IPs can get a dose of what being an elite special force is like with G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra, a retro-style beat ‘em up side-scroller set in the legendary Hasbro owned universe. Developed Maple Powered Games and publisher Freedom Games, videogamers have to get ready for G.I. Joe’s biggest mission yet!

This game will be available on PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG as well as Nintendo Switch in Q1 2024, as revealed at The MIX Next, a showcase expo where indie developers can show off their works in progress.

From the Press Release:

This legendary franchise returns for arcade-style beat’em up action with Duke, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Roadblock, and other beloved franchise favourites. Navigate land, air, sea, and even space through iconic locations like Cobra Island, the Pit, Cobra’s top-secret underwater base, and more as you thwart the devious Cobra Commander’s latest scheme to take over the world.

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