REVIEW: BROK the InvestiGator on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

I was asked to take a look at BROK the InvestiGator by my good friends at CowCat Games.

If you have been following my reviews on this site, then you will know I am a fan of the old fashioned point and click adventure games made famous in the 80's and 90's, well for the first time ever (I assume, I have not actually checked), we have a point and click adventure mixed with a Beat'em Up and RPG.

You play the part of an InvestiGator, (The G is capitalised due to the character being an Alligator), you live in a world where the humans are gone, and replaced by animals, you have the privileged class and the not so privileged class. You live with the son (Graf) of your deceased wife, and you are just trying to make your way in this new world. As with all point and click adventures, you will examine a scene, pick things up, try to solve the various puzzles that come your way, but here is the big twist, your character is an ex-boxer, and as such with a click of one button, you can use your fists to help you in your travels, that might entail you beating up some bad guys harassing a friend, or destroying a panel to open a door. Either way it is a nice addition to a genre that has seen pretty much everything before.

As you play and meet new people you will have various missions and side missions to complete, puzzles to complete, some you will need to use your brains, others you might just need to beat up, the story will change depending on your choices you make, giving your different endings depending on those choices.

The Prologue which is out now gives you full access to the first chapter of the game, there will be 6 in total.

The Good

This is a well-crafted game, fantastically drawn characters, full voice acting, the puzzles are just what you would expect in such a game, and the beat em up elements are fun and really do give a tired genre a kick up the ass.

The Bad

None really, this is a fun well-made game.

Overall

The Prologue is free, so download it, play it, and I am sure if you are a fan of point and click adventure games, then you will enjoy it.

I score BROK the InvestiGator a solid 8/10

Review by Jon Donnis

The "Prologue" is available NOW on Steam and GOG : https://store.steampowered.com/app/1318790

Release date

Free prologue : December 2nd

Kickstarter : January 5th

Full game : Winter 2021 (PC), 2022 (consoles)

Platforms

PC (Steam, GOG, itch.io)

PS4™

PS5™

Xbox One

Xbox Series X|S

Nintendo Switch

Fahrenheit: 15th Anniversary Edition to Release in Early 2021

Madrid, Spain – 7th December 2020. 

Meridiem Games has contacted us to let us know that the release of Fahrenheit: 15th Anniversary Edition for PlayStation®4 will be delayed due to last minute manufacturing reasons. Although no new date has been set, the team has said that it confident for a Q1 2021 release. So hopefully in the first three months of 2021 we will get a release.

Fahrenheit: 15th Anniversary Edition will include a specially created case and sleeve, a sticker set, high quality printed artbook and a thank-you letter written by the team at Quantic Dream. This boxed edition will retail for £24.99 / €29.99 and is available to pre-order at Amazon at the following link - https://amzn.to/3glY01H

"Fahrenheit is a story driven interactive drama played in both first and third person perspectives. New York City is stunned by a series of brutal slayings that all follow the same pattern: ordinary people possessed by a supernatural force causing them to commit murder. The story follows Lucas Kane who finds himself hunted by police detectives Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles after fleeing the scene of one such murder with no memory of what happened. What follows, is a thrilling, story driven adventure where your choices have a direct effect on how the story unfolds."

For more information on Meridiem Games please visit the official site at www.meridiem-games.com

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Out Now for iOS and Android

Today, NetEase Games and ArtPlay are launching the mobile version of the successful gothic Metroidvania Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on iOS and Android. The game will be available in North America, Europe, Japan, Korea, SEA and South America for $9.99 / £9.99 on the App Store and $9.99 / £8.99 on the Google Play Store.

Aspiring demon-slayers can take fate into their own hands-on their mobile devices, starting today. The game is fully localized in Japanese, English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese and offers the beloved gameplay of the original console and PC versions of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, including a gigantic map to explore and over 120 unique mobs and bosses to vanquish. With no compromises on visual quality or gameplay fidelity, an overhauled UI and redesigned shard icons, the mobile version also includes the console version's DLC for no extra cost. This makes Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for iOS and Android the definitive edition of the game - available on the go.

To celebrate the games´ release on mobile devices, Koji Igarashi has a special video message for fans of the game:

 

Koji Igarashi said of the collaboration with NetEase Games, "We are very pleased to collaborate with NetEase Games as our co-developer and publishing partner of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Mobile Version. As a global publisher with many years of successful experience, we believe NetEase Games is fully capable of delivering the charm of Bloodstained onto mobile devices and bringing the excitement of battle and exploration to mobile gamers."

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night features a 2.5D-map, that has been perfectly adapted to be explored on mobile devices, as well as the familiar shard buff system from the console and PC version. In addition to a reworked UI and redesigned shard icons, the mobile version of the Metroidvania includes a new achievement system through which Players can check their in-game progress and challenge each other. A special surprise awaits those who unlock them all. For better usability, an Ultimate Ability Shortcut Key with unique icons and a Suit Shortcut Key have been added.

Among many highlights that will make fans feel right at home while playing the game, the mobile versions also include the original Gothic music score and original voice actors from the game, like Ami Koshimizu (Miriam) and Shusaku Shirakawa (Gebel). In a future update, the mobile version of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will get a new playable character, a boss rush mode, a speedrun mode and much more.

The new unlockable playable character is named "Zangetsu" and is available for players who have finished the story with a good ending. He fights with a Katana and can use MP to trigger a furious special attack with his blade. Furthermore, the all-new Randomizer Mode offers unending variety with each new playthrough, with missions, map areas, shop locations, mob spawn points, key item spawn points, and more.

For more information about this exciting collaboration, visit the official website

 

Official Website

https://www.bloodstainedrotn.com

REVIEW: 80'S OVERDRIVE on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

80's Overdrive is the type of racing game that was mainstream in the 1980s, and long before 3D graphics were even a thing, you had 2D Pixart graphics, which cleverly created the illusion of driving, going around corners and so on, so in 80's Overdrive we have a game that takes you back in time to when 8 Bit and 16 Bit consoles ruled the world.

Here is a quick clip of me playing the first track in the game, watch and make sure to like and  subscribe https://youtu.be/WiH9_5gWDDw

The game itself has all the usual modes, a career mode whereby you race to earn money, use that money to upgrade your car or buy new cars, and then race and try to win in harder races with tougher opponents. There is also Time Attack mode which I would call "Outrun mode" whereby you try to get as far as you can, and each time you play you will get a bit further as you will have upgraded your car, there is even a clever create your own track generator, whereby you choose how many turns a track has, how many hills, and so on, it is a clever and simple to use idea and best of all when done you get a code, which you can share with friends who have the game, they can then enter the code on their console and drive your track. There are 8 distinct visual themes for the races too. And special missions to get money if you are running low on funds. And even police that will appear and try to stop you.

The cars are your classic 80's Supercars, now unfortunately the game doesn't have the name rights, but we can all guess what they are by the way they look and the crafty names.

Just like similar games from the 1980s, you also have some classic synth style music tracks, 18 in total, 

The Good

This game is a great throwback to some of the great racing games from the 1980s, it really would fit in well with the likes of Outrun.

The Bad

I think any retro style game can sometimes be a hard sell to someone younger, the nostalgia factor is always a big thing with such games.

Overall

I like this game, it is fun, easy to play, has some cool music tracks to listen to, and has enough gameplay to keep you coming back.

I score this game a retro 8/10

By Jon Donnis

80's Overdrive is out now on all formats

Preview - Action RPG King of Seas

Preview by Jon Donnis

I got my hands on a super rare preview code for Action RPG King of Seas, and although it only gave me a limited amount of play time, I do think there was enough there to really give a good impression of the game, which is due for release early next year.

Let's start with the premise of the game. In King of Seas, you find yourself in a time of pirates, sea battles, treasure, Islands and even sea monsters.

Your father has been killed, and you have decided to avenge that death by fighting your way from the bottom of the pirating world, trying to reach the very top and becoming The King of the Pirates! (A Much better name for the game than King of Seas which is dumb)

Once you get into the actual game you will find yourself with a basic ship, to start your adventure you will complete tasks, that might be to accompany another ship and to keep it safe, or perhaps to just got out and attack other ships and steal their resources. Of course, there are things that will get in your way, whether that is much bigger and more powerful ships, changing weather conditions, or a sea monster trying to sink you. 

As you progress you will find new places to trade, upgrade your ship, you might even stop by a seemingly empty island and find yourself some treasure. Basically, there is plenty to do whether you want to follow the missions strictly, or just sail about attacking people and looking for treasure. 

There are different ships to own, different weapons and upgrades, as well as skills to help you along the way.

The graphics are simple but detailed, the sounds are perfectly fine, and control of the ship is intuitive.

The Good

Easy to play, fun to play, a lot of potential and depth could mean that this could be a great game.

The Bad

I am not sure I was able to play the game long enough to really go into depth about "the bad", at the moment the only thing that frustrated me was trying to remember which cannons I was firing and from which side of the ship when in a fight with an enemy. But the more you play, the less this would be a problem.

Overall

From the limited play time I had, I can simply say "so far, so good".
I like the game, I replayed it a few times to try to see as much, and do as much as I could.

I won't score the game since I only played the preview, but I would say it might be one to keep a close eye on in the future.

Preview By Jon Donnis

Wishlist the game at https://store.steampowered.com/app/1209410/King_of_Seas/