REVIEW: American Theft 80s on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

I have never played an open world "Thief Simulator" before, so when I was invited to check out American Theft 80s I was intrigued.

Set in the 1980s a time I remember well, the game has a pretty simple concept. You control a character, who is a thief, and well, that's pretty much it.

Ok there is actually more to it than just that. 

You start of the game about to break into a posh house, you are given simple instructions, get in through a window, pick up anything you can steal, avoid the guard. Simple right! Wrong, after hiding, the guard finds you, and you are shipped off to jail.

When no one is around, escape, and you are back in the world as a free man. Go get your car from the impound lot, and go visit a local bar where you can meet with a man, who will give you jobs to earn money. Complete the jobs, and then take anything else you steal to the local pawnshop to exchange for cash, which you can then use to buy things like flashlights, hammers, crowbars etc, all things that can help you break and enter.

When I first started playing, I thought I might be a bit overwhelmed, you need to watch the routine of people, remember their routes, what time of day they move about and so on, but the game does a really good job of walking you through things at first, and easing you into how everything works.

You have an onscreen map which really helps, you can peak through keyholes and gaps, so you don't need to just barge through a door or window.

You can sleep in your car, to pass time, you can put disguises on, and save your progress at phone booths.

As you progress through the game, you can rob pretty much everything, houses, the bank, shops, a museum, but of course you will need the right tools, the right disguise as well as understand the layout, the guard's movements and so on. The bigger jobs you do, the more your reputation grows and the better you become. You might even need to run from the police if they see you, so always make sure your car is easy to get to, and ready to drive for a fast getaway. And as you get more money, you might want to invest in a better car, and even buy and decorate your own house.

Throw in some old minigames, and you have a decent game here, with lots to do and a great learning curve.

I really was surprised how detailed this game was, and how easy it was to pick up. Call me impressed, when to be brutally honest I wasn't even sure if this would be a game I would like.

The Good

As a total newbie to this genre, I was really impressed, and this is a game I will keep playing, long past finishing this review.

The Bad

As this is an indie game, the graphics are hardly "next gen" but they are decent.

Overall

What can I say, this is a great game, go buy it. 

Out now on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1321450/American_Theft_80s/

MINI REVIEW: Slot Shots Pinball Collection Early Access on PC (Steam)

 

Pinball is BACK! Slot Shots Pinball Collection Early Access features five tables, with one more table planned to release over the coming months for a total of at least six tables playable in this collection. Also included in the Early Access is a score attack mode- a one minute multiball thriller with increased mission and slot payouts (and each mode has its own separate online leaderboard system)!

The Good

Large collection of original tables. Multiple camera views and responsive controls. Good soundtrack

The Bad

Some ball physics are a tiny bit off.

Score

7/10 

Out Now

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1886290/Slot_Shots_Pinball_Collection/

REVIEW: Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5)

Review by Jon Donnis

The largest city in Japan, Tokyo finds itself overrun with deadly supernatural creatures, the entire population of Tokyo have vanished.

Your job is to find the source and rid the city of these creatures and the evil cult that created them.

Your character Akito managed to survive this "snap" of sorts, due to a friendly spirit (KK) who gave him extra life source and elemental powers.

Akito and KK are basically the same in the game, they talk to each other which gets annoying quick. So do what I did and put the Japanese language on, just seemed better when I couldn't understand them.

As you travel around the map you will "cleanse" Torii gates, that will unlock more of the map and allow you to progress further. Don't do this and dense fog blocks your path. You will face countless waves of enemies that you have to beat, as well as have to look for certain items.

Combat revolves around you firing magic out of your fingers, breaking through the enemy's "aura" and then destroying their core. 

As your magic is elemental, your spells are the obvious Wind (fire balls of wind energy), Fire (Kinda like explosives or bombs) and Water which I dont need to explain surely? You get a bow and arrow to fire as well. As you fight with the enemies, people new to the PS5's Dual Sense controller's triggers will instantly notice some cool resistance as you slowly break down your enemy. Little things like this really do stand out if you are not used to them.

There is not much to the fights themselves, the AI is pretty poor, fire off your magic, damage the enemy until you can rip out its core, and then the same over and over throughout the game. A bit more variance would have been welcome.

The graphics are excellent as you would expect, and if you stop to look at the work put in, it is very impressive. Everything looks spooky, and fans of the supernatural will enjoy the visual aspects.

The Good

Visually everything is spot on, the battles are fun if repetitive.

The Bad

An empty Tokyo with no people, just seems wrong.

Overall

Ghostwire: Tokyo is good but not great, there is potential here, but it just lacks in certain areas where really it should shine.

It is not scary in the least, the enemies are a bit boring, and the game can be completed way too quickly.

There are parts of this game to enjoy, but perhaps not enough to demand a £50+ price tag.

I score Ghostwire: Tokyo a fair 7/10

Released 25^th March 2022

Pre-Order at https://amzn.to/3NefehR

MINI REVIEW: BubbleShot - on PC ( Steam )

 

From RetroBug comes a simple Puzzle Bobble clone.

Good:

50 levels to beat. Classic gameplay. Arcade, casual and Challenge modes. Only a couple of quid.

Bad:

Brings nothing new to the genre.

7/10

Out Now

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1955820/Bubble_Shot/

REVIEW: Summertime Madness on XBOX

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Summertime Madness is a single-player first-person puzzle game. The game starts off with a nice intro.

"The city of Prague was under siege, ravaged by war.

Buildings were falling, churches were burning, and everything was to be washed away forever.

A painter lived there, isolated from the outside world. The worse the terrors of war became, the more the artist obsessively painted beautiful landscapes as a contrast to the evil he had witnessed. One night, a mysterious figure appeared in the house seemingly out of nowhere. The stranger walked slowly around the room, inspecting the paintings. He then sat down in front of the artist; to offer him a deal.

The chance to enter one of his own creations, far away and free of war. But he would have to find his way back out before midnight, or else his soul would become trapped in the canvas forever. Feeling alone, on the edge of madness, terrorized by the scent of death creeping in from the streets, the artist shook the mysterious man's hand, accepting the deal.

A few moments later, the house was empty."

Once the intro has finished, you get a choice of how to play the game. 

Classic Mode = 6 hours to finish the game.

Advanced = 3 hours to finish the game.

Explorer = No time limit.

Once you have chosen which you prefer, your characters eyes open and you find yourself in a beautifully drawn 3D world.

You play as the painter, now inside one of the paintings, who has seemingly made a deal with the mysterious figure, basically representing the devil.

As you walk about you will need to solve puzzles and explore your surroundings.

For a puzzle game, there is a lot of walking around, which seems strange, but I understand that the game makers want to give you a peaceful experience, but then why add time limits?

The puzzles themselves involve a lot of running back and forth, and unfortunately the puzzles in general are really poorly thought out. And instead of a challenging feel, they will just make you frustrated. The first puzzle for example, run back and forth turning the wheel on a ship, open doors, close doors, pull a lever, ring a bell, it all gets a bit tedious. The exact puzzle mechanics tend to be very easy, but wrapped in ridiculous back and forth running about, that is just annoying and not much fun.

The game doesn't hold you hand either in any way, some puzzles are just confusing and make no logical sense, and since you have no real idea what you are supposed to do, the feeling to just give up and turn the game off, grows and grows as you play.

The Good

The game is beautiful, the visuals and sounds are all of the highest quality.

The Bad

The puzzles are poorly thought out, and frustrate more than challenge.

Overall

The base of a good game is there, it is just ruined by puzzles that are just terrible in their delivery.

I score Summertime Madness on Xbox, a poor 3/10