Matthew Harwood

Beatbuddy On Tour Community Page
Beatbuddy On Tour is a casual rhythm game developed by Threaks, you play as the disc jockey and tour Symphonia through several levels and different stages with Beatbuddy, the game […]

Paper Monsters Recut Community Page
Paper Monsters Recut is an adorable platformer developed by Crescent Moon Games, recut includes additional features and details from previous instalments.

The game […]

Sniper Fury Community Page
Sniper Fury is a first-person shooter developed by mobile game developer Gameloft, while this game is similar to other games of it’s kind. It stands out on it’s own as a polished and […]

Introduction
Gods Will Be Watching is mostly a point and click game which I would say has adopted some strategic aspects. Gods Will Be Watching is focused at a mature audience which enjoys story-driven games or a […]

The popular racing game by RedLynx has sold 1 million units worldwide.
On July 24 Ubisoft announced that Trials Fusion has sold 1 million units worldwide, released back in April 16th and is available on Xbox One, […]

Introduction
Europa Universalis 4 is a grand-strategy game developed by Paradox Interactive that plays in real time, with the complexity of this series it appeals to already existing fans of previous installments […]

Nintendo Post E3 first impressions / Game previews.
I got the chance to play some of the upcoming titles shown during Nintendo’s E3 conference. these games which were all fun to play and I can see myself getting most of them.  I was also glad to see games that took full advantage of the Wii U’s hardware such as Project Giant Robot which used the tablet to see ahead through the eyes of the robot which you created, and it was even fun to play despite not being a big fan of the tablet. This game line-up was what Nintendo needed to help the Wii U off the ground.

 
Hyrule Warriors

Hyrule Warriors is a Dynasty Warrior esque game being produced by Team Ninja. This game is essentially a Legend of Zelda skin placed upon a Dynasty Warriors game, however this doesn’t make it a bad game, it’s extremely fun and combos are easy and fun to pull off.

It also introduces bosses from the Legend of Zelda world such as King Dodongo. Additionally when choosing from Link or Zelda each character could choose a different weapon, and there were a lot of blank spaces for extra characters. Link and Zelda played and felt distinctively different which is great because I felt I wouldn’t get bored of the game.

 
Bayonetta 2

If you liked the first Bayonetta, you will like Bayonetta 2. Simple as, however I should elaborate. There are a few noticeable differences from the first game and the first thing is that you’ll probably notice is that the game’s presentation took a hit as it’s on the Wii U. But this doesn’t restrain it from being an enjoyable experience.

When in water Bayonetta would automatically change form to represent a serpent, hinting at the possibility of underwater exploration. Also when you’ve done enough combos you can activate something called Umbral Climax where all basic attacks will automatically become wicked weave attacks, doing more damage. But I had incredible amounts of fun with the demo and I look forward to the final product.

The differences made to the first Bayonetta that I noticed was the new outfits which allow you to do different combos, however when asked what did I think about these changes I just didn’t really care, I enjoyed the first game and new outfits won’t change my opinion.

 
Splatoon

This is a third person shooter where two teams of six compete to cover the largest amount of areas with their coloured ink. It sounds weird but it’s an extremely enjoyable and addictive experience.

It looks hectic and it needs to be played to fully understand it, you can also destroy enemy players by shooting ink or throwing grenades at them. However this rapidly depletes ink and you need to turn into a squid and travel along your coloured ink to rapidly fill it back up and once covering enough of a single area you can bring out a super weapon which resembles a rocket launcher to fire long strings of ink and to destroy any enemy player in its way. You aim using the gyroscope and it works surprisingly well and didn’t cause any issue for me.

 
Super Smash Bros 3DS/WII U

The demo playable showed a disappointing amount of new characters to play, estimating at around about 5 new characters to play there. However Little Mac was incredibly unique due to a feature where the player is able to move rapidly across the map granted that the bar is filled. I enjoyed the fact that it was playable with the GC controllers as that is what I was used to back when I played Melee.

The 3DS version has a unique game mode where you defeat A.I opponents across an open level for upgrades, and after around 5 minutes you’re pitted against other characters which have been attempting to level up the same way as you, which is an interesting feature however it won’t be present in the Wii U version but apparently there will be other features to compensate. Finally, my favourite new character is Villager.

 Which game are you more looking forward to? Let us know in the comments section below.

Steam makes it way to handheld gaming with the SteamBoy project
The SteamBoy was announced at this years E3, it aims to take your favourite games on the go. It’s similar to the Steam Box but in a portable form, however it will not be as powerful as the Steam Boxes available, so there will be a limit to the amount of games you can store as well as what the graphics card can support. However it’s been said that the SteamBoy should be able to support most of the games on Steam.

The SteamBoy has two touch screen pads where you’d expect the joysticks to go, eight action buttons on the front, four triggers, two more additional buttons on the back and a touchscreen.

I look forward to Valve taking more of my money on the go as well as at home.

SteamBoy is going to be released during 2015, what quarter however is unknown at this moment in time which will support WiFi and 3G networks, detailed specifications are still unknown, however there has been a small amount of information released by the creators.

It’s aimed to have Quad Core CPU, 4GB RAM and 32GB storage, however this could potentially change once the final product is released. Valve has also stated that SteamBoy will strike a balance between performance and cost, but I can’t imagine this kind of hardware coming cheap. I hope more information such as battery life and expansion of the handheld console is released soon.

I was already looking forward to the idea of being able to play Steam games on my TV through Steam Box, however SteamBoy will satisfy my gaming needs when on the go. It’s a concept everyone has been waiting for, but it can’t perform worse than the Vita? It has the entire Steam library to support

Crea is an indie game developed by Siege Games which was on Kickstarter in July 2012 which had a goal of $15,000 but instead got $27,870. On first glance you may assume it’s a Terraria clone, however after playing it for a while you’ll soon learn why that’s not true. The game is targeted towards people that enjoy the idea of creating your own little base or fortress in games such as Minecraft and Terraria, however this game adds more to the adventure side of things by adding several RPG elements and nice touches which make your time playing Crea much more enjoyable.
Crea is what all early access games should be like.
 

Crea is quite creative in it’s own way, it adds many elements that games like Terraria or Starbound are missing right now, such as the streamlined use of items or having the ability to research specific materials so you can find more uses for them and many more. There is also a story behind Crea which is told through item descriptions but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find much out in-game due to limited time. However with the mod-support which this game has, players will have no issue with running out of things to do due to the up-coming support of Steam Workshop.

Crea paces like many other sandbox games, you start off designing your character which is rather limited at this point in time, and once the world loads the map you’re thrown in. Crea does offer a tutorial which does simply tell the player what button does what, it could be expanded to explain how to use certain items like the research table as it would save a bit of unnecessary fiddling about, unless I’m just horrible at the game. You’ll know what enemies are too tough for you unless you’re feeling a bit brave due to a levelling system which I adore, this is the first sandbox game where magic isn’t a pain to use and I enjoy using.

Everything you do gives you exp, but you can gain specific exp through doing certain tasks. For example, you gain magic exp for using offensive spells, or crafting exp for crafting several items. This gives the player a reason to explore and fight enemies instead of avoiding everything as enemies will come at you in more numbers if left to populate. It adds a whole new reason for me to go into caves and beat everything to a pulp and once you get enough exp in a specific tree you can spend those points on certain skills like having a better fire spell or faster mining.

The crafting and researching is another important aspect of the game, and they work together, you can’t just have crafting as you need to research some materials to actually build new items. To research an item you would have to place a material onto the on-screen box and simply hit research, this then gives you new items to craft. I was extremely surprised with the sheer amount of things to make, it gave me more of an incentive to go and explore to see what new items I can create. Crea does something that other sandbox games don’t and it’s keep me entertained and wanting to play, I’ve mentioned that Crea gives the player a lot of incentive to play and keeps me hooked to a point where I lose track of time, I could go on about the amount of things to do, but that would take me a while.

Crea has a charming appearance and style that other sandbox games don’t really provide, it’s joyful and it’s pleasant to look at and it’s a welcoming change from all the boring brown colour pallets that developers love these days. The soundtrack is also decent, it goes very well with the style of the game, there were no tracks that stood out to me but I enjoyed it regardless. The menus in-game are also easy to understand and can be moved across your screen so you can place your inventory items into the research slot. However there were some bugs that I ran into as when I launch the game it seems like clicking anything will make it crash until the menu has loaded and another where my game randomly closed, however this was just an inconvenience as the game picked up from where it crashed.
Crea is picks up the slack that other 2D Sandbox games didn’t.

When it comes to the lifespan of a game, I tend to run out after a few points, especially with early access games. However with Crea I don’t have this issue. The alpha of Crea has more than enough features to hold off current fans of the game and if the developers consistently add features and iron out the bugs then it will succeed and with the extensive mod support then Crea will end up having an endless amount of features to appeal to all players.

Crea is definitely your monies worth, it’s around £10 which is significantly cheaper than most early-access games. I enjoyed Crea because I tend to play a lot of sandbox style games but I get bored after half an hour and I was glad that I was able to play Crea without forcing myself through it. I can see Crea succeeding among other games of similar style, it manages to feel unique among other sandbox games and sets it apart from the crowd.

With the abundant amount of features, you’ll still be finding out new things by the time the key updates are released. It may start off a bit slow but once you’ve managed to craft some good gear and explore the deepest levels of the map, you’ll be glad to have purchased this game.

Introduction
Nether is an indie post-apocalyptic survival game, with it’s violence and horror aspects Nether is focused at a more mature audience who are into survival shooters with more of a focus on PvP than other games of it’s genre, it’s also for the hardcore gamer.

It’s a new entry and was released in October 2013, it’s a game with high potential and is still getting updated frequently.

 
Story/Creativity:
Nether has no immediate story, which is understandable as the game still isn’t completed and is obviously not a main focus in the game.

The developers are trying to iron out the present bugs to make the game as enjoyable as possible before it’s final release. However I’m extremely confident that there will be some form of story telling, hopefully through journals found in game that will hopefully answer some of my questions that I have about the Nether and what exactly happened to the city the game takes place in.
Gameplay:

Nether is a survival game, it’s gameplay can be easily compared to DayZ as you’ll end up doing the same things such as looting, hiding from potential enemies and killing every other player you see.

The game pace can change rapidly depending on the situation your in, I usually took everything slowly when I was exploring the large area you have to play in, until I heard gunfire or a scream of a Nether approaching. Then everything changes and it becomes an exciting and fast pace experience that would keep the most veteran of players on their toes.

Nether does have a tutorial, where it simply brings the basics to your attention such as courier quests, clans and the weapon shop. Then it leaves you to explore the world with your little butter knife and crafted weapon.

Nether keeps the gameplay interesting as there are different types of enemies, and are all threats and these are better off being found out by the player.

The tutorial may seem basic but with this kind of game it is a feature that is often overlooked, it allows a rather daunting game to become more friendly to players which are new to the genre as I wouldn’t of known how to craft weapons or know how to get quests if it weren’t of it.

There are several safe zones on the map, this allows players to trade, accept or hand in quests, store items in the global inventory or craft new weapons. The global inventory is essentially your bank, you can put in your valuable items in there and not lose them upon death, as when you die you have to create a new character and level yourself back up again and retrieve your gear.

The global inventory system makes the game far less frustrating and kept me playing as I didn’t lose everything because another player thought it would be funny to snipe a newbie. The safe zones aren’t always safe as there are special events where the anti-Nether devices go down and players need to activate them again prevent the zone being swarmed and this will affect everyone on the server.

The Nether all have the ability to teleport and will often teleport behind you to get the first hit in, when caught by the Nether it’s usually best to stand your ground and fight because they’ll catch up to you with ease and whittle away at your health until you drop dead. Even when you have a gun they’re still threatening because they have methods of appearing unpredictably.
Presentation:

Nether looks astounding, it aims for the realistic look which it easily achieved. The game looks dark and gritty and tries it’s best to get the player immersed into the environment, the soundtrack helps with this as you often hear nothing but the wind blowing and the steps you take. You often hear distant gunshots or Nether and it kept me absorbed into the games world, which many games fail to achieve today.

The menus of Nether are very intuitive and easy to use, there are several tabs for you to accept group invites, manage inventory space and manage whatever options you might need to change.
Lifespan:
Nether’s lifespan is very extensive, especially if you’re playing with friends. There are enough items for you to work towards if you want to get the best gear in the game to take down the strongest enemy with your friends. You can also join several groups called Tribes, these don’t do much for you unless you want to play with friends. It enables players from the same Tribe to communicate with each other, however more often than not people will kill you anyway if you’re both in the same Tribe which can make them somewhat redundant for the solo player.

You can also capture several zones and claim them for your Tribe, I didn’t feel the need to go for them because I felt the benefits it provided weren’t worth while. It’ll take a while for you to craft and loot the best weapons in the game, but once you do you may find yourself running out of things to do until new features are added.
Overall:
This game is definitely worth your while and there is little reason for you not to get it. For a game that is still early access there are an extremely large amount of features, there are updates frequently that put the most dedicated developers to shame.

With people getting so upset about Facebook buying Oculus Rift, I’d like to clear the air.
The Oculus Rift has become quite popular since it was invented in 2012 and I can see why it would be. Who wouldn’t want […]

SEGA launches Sonic Boom, this includes new games and a CG animated series, will this save Sonic?
Sonic, Sega’s mascot, the rival of Nintendo back in the day. However with all new consoles arising, such as the […]

The Disney Infinity sales are so ludicrously high that it’s made the 10th best selling game in the US
Disney had received word from The New York Times, a popular news paper read among the public of New York […]

Despite the silly name, will this game be the changing point in the Dragon Ball Z game’s success?
You can read our preview of the Console version here.

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is the latest Dragon Ball game […]

This is my top 10 games for Wii U
If you have never seen a top 10 before, then allow me to explain what the most common rules are: this is purely opinion based and I doubt this would represent everyone’s opinion […]

Another Sims 3 expansion, how many is it this time?
Sims 3 Roaring Heights adds a city called ‘Roaring Heights,’ it’s a large city nestled by the beach. But there are also a few more features such as purchasing a […]

The Gadget Show wins another world record with Pac-Man to celebrate their 250th episode!
Gadget Show presenters, Jason Bradbury and Rachel Riley broke the Guinness World Record for the ‘largest architectural […]

Release dates for Europe and screenshots have been released!
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle was developed by the acclaimed CyberConnect 2, originally released in Japan it’s finally coming to the EU […]

D3 Publishers have released Adventure Time: Explore the dungeon because I DON’T KNOW! Featuring multiplayer and your favourite characters from the show.
Adventure Time: Explore the dungeon because I DON’T KNOW is […]