Tango Gameworks is back in business after PUBG developer Krafton Inc made an offer to Microsoft. As part of the deal, the South Korean publisher will pick up the rights to the Hi-Fi Rush franchise, along with all previous staff who worked at Tango Gameworks when it was closed in June 2024.
Capcom announces Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will get a physical release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The re-remaster of the hit 2006 zombie game is a 4K, 60FPS upgrade on the last generation remaster and is set to bring Frank West's first story to modern consoles and PC this September with boxed copies rolling out later.
Codename: Ocean Keeper is a roguelike, bullet hell, dungeon crawler-type game that comes to us from the Ukrainian studio RetroStyle Games. My initial impression of the game was great, as it took me back to my days on the school computers playing a game called Motherload circa Miniclip.com. Shoutout to all those Motherlovers out there. I loved that game, so I was excited to see what Codename: Ocean Keeper had in store. The trouble is, the more I played it, the more I found fault and lack of polish. It is worth noting however that this game has only just been released in early access, and the developers are so active that mid review they brought out multiple patches that continue to address issues I have. So time to suit up, and let’s dive in.
Developers XD has launched Sword of Convallaria, a free-to-play Tactical-RPG across Steam, Android and iOS. According to XD, the game is a love letter to classic TRPGs and is set to deliver a game full of political intrigue and isometric combat encounters, wrapped up in a mammoth 120 hours of storytime.
When it comes to gaming, I’m one of those players who will take every side path before finally returning to take on the main quest, and perhaps that curious mind is what makes me enjoy Metroivanias so much. I love exploring their sprawling maps, puzzling about how to get around before finally returning with all of my traversal skills, dashing and leaping between ledges and traps as if they weren’t there. It was with great enthusiasm then that I picked up Noreya: The Gold Project, from Toulouse-based indie developers, Dreamirl, who launched their debut title in the genre in June 2024.
From watching Captain Pugwash or being bathed by Matey Bubble Bath as a kid, I’ve always felt there’s a romantic idea about pirates. As I grew up, Disney taught me that they were playful scallywags who journeyed the Caribbean looking for treasure, rum and a brothel. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as pirates were only looking out for themselves, sailing the seas to pillage and plunder what they could. While games like Sea of Thieves and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean make you play as a cheeky rapscallion, it’s up to Wild Seas to tell it like it is, that pirates are bad.
I am an absolute sucker for both pixel art and puzzle games. If you waved a boxed copy of Piczle Cross in front of me whilst my shed was on fire, my garden would be full of smouldering ashes in no time. In a more realistic turn of events, when Afil Games reached out to us to cover SokoMage, I virtually vaulted to the head of the queue and promptly downloaded this cute pixel art heavy puzzler.
What’s that old saying? Ah yes. There are three certainties in life, taxes, death and the annual Hyperdimension Neptunia entry. At any given point, the team at Compile Heart is seemingly just weeks away from releasing another entry in their dungeon-crawling RPG series and I’m all for it. Last year, we had Sisters Vs Sisters, a game that mixed up the established formula by relegating Neptunia to a supporting role. For Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution, fans will be glad to hear that Neptune is front and centre once again… kind of.
As a child of the eighties, couch multiplayer will always be my king. You can’t beat huddling around a TV, looking your poor buddy in the face as you mercilessly dismantle him at a shooter, or throw the odd elbow-dig their way when they’re not pulling their weight in a co-op campaign. But in the year 2024, it’s still possible to execute multiplayer games at the highest level online, with the chaotic culinary co-op, PlateUp!, leading the way in terms of fun. No strangers to testing the limits of our friendship with multiplayer games, I played sous to the gaffer, Chef de Cuisine, VGamingJoe, and we gave being restaurateurs a go.
I hate reviews that start with bombastic statements, but I’ve been using the Glorious D2 Wireless Mouse for about a month and during my time it has become my favourite bit of kit on my desk… a desk that has guitar picks and a slightly tepid cup of tea on it. Now I’ve got that out of the way, let me get into the review properly with a bit of groundwork.
