video game review

John Wick Hex – Review

February 21, 2020 By Mat Panek

Prepare to suit up and take down your enemies in John Wick Hex from the team at Bithell Games, out now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

John Wick Hex is a fast paced turn-based strategy game centring on everyone’s favourite killer of boogeymen. While some people may feel that a property like John Wick would make a good first-person shooter, the team at Bithell Games have managed to perfectly turn the fluidity and speed that Wick is known for into a turn-based strategy game that feels action packed. Players move through levels on a hexagon based grid with their actions being noted as “time taken” on a bar at the top of the screen. Enemies also have a time bar just below the player’s which allows you to plan your approach depending on their actions. An enemy may be planning to draw his weapon and shoot Wick allowing the player not enough time to fire first but perhaps enough time to roll away or even disarm their opponent. All actions take differing amounts of time from firing weapons, reloading, healing yourself and even just standing or crouching. Once a level is completed it can be replayed back at full speed in a fluid action scene demonstrating John Wick’s skills.

Levels are diverse and stylish, leaving each one’s approach in the hands of the player and their own particular style. Slow and methodical is often a winning strategy, with players made to think always a few steps ahead just like our protagonist. Carrying out certain moves will require the use of “focus” meaning that Wick will often need to take a short break and recompose himself before he can continue. This can be done at any time but allowing your focus to drain in the middle of a fight can prove to be fatal. Patience is certainly a requirement to playing John Wick Hex as levels can often be difficult and go from bad to worse in an instant requiring multiple playthroughs to get right.

Those familiar with the John Wick lore will love all the subtle nods to the movies and expansion of the universe in general, while newcomers are in for some exciting discoveries about these popular characters. The game has a wonderful comic book styling to it, featuring bright neon lights and dark dingy alleyways, that feels perfect for this kind of action. John Wick Hex offers a lot in the way of replayability and will push a lot of players to their limits while trying to get that perfect playthrough.

Not for the faint of heart or low on patience, John Wick Hex is a fantastic game with a lot of style and charm that might just push back a little too hard for some players to fully enjoy.

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

Disclosure: John Wick Hex [EPIC Games Store] was kindly provided by Power Up PR for this review.

Renzo Racer – Steam Review

May 21, 2019 By Mat Panek

Zooming its way onto Steam is Renzo Racer, a fast and frantic kart racer with a lot of personality.

Who doesn’t love a good cart racer game from time to time, especially with friends! Renzo Racer is, as one would expect, a fairly cookie cutter style racing game. Choose from one of 16 different racers and around 20 tracks and prove your racing prowess against friends or the computer. Characters are full of charm and personality and the tracks are all interesting and diverse but the racing itself is a mixed bag. There are plenty of obstacles and hazards thrown into the tracks which add to the fun but weird AI can be a hassle when playing alone.

The physics model feels very realistic which is a little strange for a kart racing game and because of this everything feels a bit mismatched. While it does feel like a deliberate choice for the game it will throw off players thinking of a traditional kart racer. There is no easy way to slide into corners which means a more realistic driving approach needs to be taken and proper apex turns are required. Another issue is the barriers which are properly modelled not just invisible walls. Hitting a barrier at speed can cause your racer to flip or get stuck, leaving you spinning tyres for a few seconds until you eventually reset. Characters and tracks are unlocked very slowly by placing first in single race or Grand Prix modes, while a slow drip of content is nice only one character and track is available from the start.

It’s not all negatives though, the physics model definitely adds to the experience and getting used to it can reveal some nice tricks. Placing the bomb item down as a person is right behind you will give you a nice impromptu boost forwards and hitting a ramp just right can have you soar right over the competition. The character designs are all well done and it’s easy to start picking favourites depending on the kart shape and stats. There is a real charm to the whole feel of the game but it is often easy to see where other kart games have influenced Renzo Racer in its style.

A good game to try with a few friends for a good laugh as you knock each other about but single player can be a bit frustrating from time to time. From the wacky cast to the cute tracks, Renzo Racer is a game that definitely stands out from other Kart clone racers but not always in the best way.

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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

Disclosure: Renzo Racer [Steam] was kindly provided by EnsenaSoft for this review.

She Remembered Caterpillars – Nintendo Switch Review

May 20, 2019 By Mat Panek

Delve into the strange and cryptic world of She Remembered Caterpillars, a new puzzle game from Jumpsuit Entertainment.

She Remembered Caterpillars is an interesting puzzle game where it is your goal to move various little fungi creatures through a level so that each ends up resting on an exit tile. Adding to the complexity of these puzzles is the shape if the creatures casing, hard to explain but visually easy to understand. Different obstacles, activated bridges and restricting gates will allow or prevent movement depending on the specific shape of the fungi. Various mechanics are added slowly over the course of the game, leading to some real brain bending puzzles that feel very satisfying to complete.

Rather than being told overtly, there is a narrative of love and loss interwoven between the puzzles in little text segments between puzzles. Often times it is only a brief conversation between characters but other times it can be small stories that explain the state of the world overall. There is a nice mysterious feel to what exactly the story has to do with the game you are playing but it all feels very symbiotic. The drip feed of story elements has a very moreish appeal to it and I often found myself playing entire chapters when initially only planning to play a level or two.

There is a pleasing aesthetic to the microbe and fungus style in She Remembered Caterpillars that works real well with the puzzles. Backgrounds are generally subdued and all of the important puzzle elements are quite bright and vibrant, this really helps you to identify exactly what is going on at all times. The soundtrack is quite mellow and this results in a very chilled out feel to the game which can help when puzzles start to get taxing.

She Remembered Caterpillars is a wonderful puzzle game with funky visuals and a surprisingly deep story. There is a real hidden depth in this title that is sure to win many over.

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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

Disclosure: She Remembered Caterpillars [Nintendo Switch] was kindly provided by Stride PR for this review.

Review: Western Press

July 28, 2016 By Aaron Clement

Taking you back to an era when the duel abided, Western Press is a fast-paced duelling simulator best enjoyed with a bunch of friends, or by people with super-human reflexes.

When I was growing up, one of the Commodore 64 games my circle of friends used to like playing as a group was Law of the West. A single-player only game, you were tasked with attempting to Sheriff a lawless town, but gave you the chance to start a gun duel in order to settle a discussion. We’d often sit there as a group taking turns to insult people, then try to get the draw on them to shoot first, only to suffer through a long load time when we failed for the next person to have their go. That’s probably as close as the similarities go, but for me Western Press’ pixel-art graphics and gun duelling invoked memories of this nearly forgotten retro-title.

The first release from Melbourne-based indie studio Bandit-1, Western Press calls itself “the most historically accurate frontier duelling game ever (probably)”. And to be honest? While I’m unsure if the gunslingers of the wild west needed to press 10 random buttons in order to shoot, I’m more than happy to accept this claim. Featuring 12 unique characters, several different local and online multiplayer modes for up to 16 players, Steam Workshop support (for creating your own duellists or stages), and a single player Skill Tester mode, there’s a reasonable amount of content on offer here.

Matches in Western Press play out in a fairly straightforward fashion: pick your character, select what input method you want to use, then get set to reel off 10 commands as fast as humanly possible. First person to complete their key combination in the fastest time, or with the least amount of mistakes wins. While it sounds deceptively simple, you’ll need insanely good reflexes to beat your opponent – press first, think later! One thing that is surprising is the different variety of controllers Bandit-1 have included support for. Allowing you to choose from keyboard input to XBox or Playstation joypads, and even Dance Mats (but sadly no steering wheels or Power Glove), the game will even automatically change the on-screen icons depending on what you’re using!

As with similar games in this genre, I found the most fun I had with Western Press was against other people, and not trying to outsmart the AI. My attempts to best the skill tester left me angry and frustrated, as my poor old reflexes just aren’t up to the task of beating a perfect, immortal machine! If you’re someone who digs local co-op competitive multiplayer games and wants something else to add into the catalogue of games to play with mates, you won’t go too far wrong with giving Western Press a shot.

trailer source: Bandit-1

Western Press is available now from Steam for Mac and PC. Review copy provided by Surprise Attack Games.

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Aaron Clement
Tassie based retro gaming guy. Father of 3 and married to the very tolerant Kellie Clement. Coffee powered!

Follow Aaron Clement on Twitter and Instagram

Review: Shadow Of The Beast

May 18, 2016 By Aaron Clement

Coming some 27 years after Shadow of the Beast first graced the Commodore Amiga, Heavy Spectrum’s Playstation 4 remake turns out to be a surprisingly enjoyable release that doesn’t rely solely on the nostalgia card to succeed.

The original Amiga Shadow of the Beast started life as a graphical tech demo to see what the system was capable of. Eventually this demo ended up being developed into a full game and released by publisher Psygnosis in 1989 to much fanfare. Beast’s detailed sprites, multi-layered parallax backgrounds and sublime soundtrack gave Amiga owners something to brag about to their 8-bit micro or Atari ST owning friends. The game would go on to spawn two sequels, and eventually be ported to a number of different systems creating quite a legacy in the process.

When it was announced in 2013 that British-based newcomers Heavy Spectrum would be developing a remake for the Playstation 4, the initial reaction was mixed. A studio comprised of 7 members, Heavy Spectrum all identified as fans of the original Psygnosis release, and wanted to bring it into the current generation to ensure the game’s legacy would continue to live on. As someone who loved the art, but never particularly liked playing the original games, I went into this unsure how I’d find it. Would it prove to be a game capable of standing on it’s own, or another release that relied on nostalgia to drive the experience? I can say that Heavy Spectrum have done a good job of bringing Shadow of the Beast into the modern era, although it’s not without a few rough spots on the way.

Shadow of the Beast is a 2D action adventure with a heavy focus on combat and exploration, along with a handful of puzzles spread throughout the game’s world. Set on the world of Karamoon, it tells of Aarbron’s quest for revenge after being kidnapped as a baby by the tyrant Maletoth, then turned into the titular beast. On the surface the story doesn’t evolve much beyond “find things, fight them, get revenge”, instead the mystery behind the Beast’s story is left in the player’s hands by way of finding hidden Prophecy Orbs. These orbs are spread across the stages as a part of the game’s item hunt, and are crucial towards getting 100% completion on each level.

Given the combat focus, Heavy Spectrum have given Aarbron a number of new tricks to go along with his upgraded appearance. In addition to his basic attack, he can stun or throw enemies, as well as block, dodge or parry incoming attacks. Once found, you can also equip your Beast with a number of Talisman that offer enhanced abilities, although sometimes with added drawbacks. Rounding out the toolset are a number of attacks that use the game’s Blood mechanic. Blood is a resource earned by killing enemies, and can then be spent for a variety of benefits, like healing or recharging Aarbron’s Wraith. Accumulate enough blood and it allows the usage of Rage Chains, which triggers a frenzy mode that give you quick-time prompts on either side of the screen to help quickly dispatch his foes.The higher the combo multiplier gets, the better your score, and with it ways to further upgrade the Beast’s abilities or unlock other special features.

While the blood resource is central to the game mechanics, it feels like there’s a touch too much emphasis on the bloodletting side of things. While not as up close and visceral as say Mortal Kombat, there are times where Aarbron ends combat bathed in blood, or finding it splattered over the screen. And it’s this last part that feels the most jarring, as I encountered several situations where this splatter effect caused distraction, or worse, rendered me unable to see an incoming enemy leading to Aarbron getting hit (and resetting my multiplier). There’s some stunning environments to explore, however there were times where I felt the overt blood thirst was a little too out of place.

The visuals have a familiar feel to them, from the opening on the Grass Plains of Karamoon, to the desert area outside the Hydrath’s Castle. During my playthrough, I spotted several nods to the original games, as well as denizens and environments inspired directly by Roger Dean’s box art. Adding to this is usage of parallax scrolling to help bring depth to the world, although there were times when it caused me some headaches. In some occasions where it ended in a mistimed jump, or other situations where moving to one side of the screen resulted in foreground objects obscuring big chunks of the playfield (and enemies!). With that said, the game moves incredibly smoothly and I never encountered a single moment of slowdown across the entire playthrough, even during some of the more hectic encounters!

Those dedicated to blowing through a game as quickly as possible will find themselves hitting the end after a couple of hours on normal difficulty, although you’ll land the worst ending in the process. On top of the different difficulties, every area has leaderboards for speed running, time to complete with 100% collection rate, and high score. There’s also a number of secret encounters in the game that need to be unlocked by performing better in combat, and completing these is key to earning gold or platinum for the stage, and in turn unlock some of the better endings.

As a bonus, Heavy Spectrum have included an emulated version of the Amiga Shadow of the Beast as an unlockable extra. Given the difficulty, they’ve kindly added an infinite lives cheat, but also a video runthrough for those who would rather watch someone else do the playing. Along with this, you’re also able to unlock David Whittaker’s soundtrack from the 1989 release to replace the modern in-game music. I have to admit that while the default music suits the game well, I found myself leaning more towards the original soundtrack the moment I could access it.

So overall, despite finding the violence a little too much at times, and wanting to see more areas like the Hydrath’s castle with an emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving, I enjoyed my time with Shadow of the Beast. Heavy Spectrum have put together a solid package that has appeal for both fans of the original, and those new to the game. Considering it’s priced less than a movie ticket and popcorn, it’s well worth taking a look at.

Shadow of the Beast is available now on the Playstation Store for $22.95. Review copy provided by Sony Entertainment. Played to completion on Normal difficulty for the purpose of the review.

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Aaron Clement
Tassie based retro gaming guy. Father of 3 and married to the very tolerant Kellie Clement. Coffee powered!

Follow Aaron Clement on Twitter and Instagram