REVIEW: CYBERSTELLAR on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

We do like a good shoot-em-up here on the Gaming Couch, and we were asked to take a look at one called CYBERSTELLAR.

The game has a pretty unique look, it is rendered in 3D Pixel (2D Rendered Voxel), which means nothing to me, but if you look at the images and trailer, you can see it is looks pretty incredible.

The game has 8 levels, of which I managed to only get to level two, and that was after a few hours of gameplay.

There are 4 weapons you can upgrade to, a single shot, a double shot, a treble spread shot, and a temporary super laser shot that just destroys everything, as well as a collectable, automatically fired bomb.

The story tells us of a distant future where a civilisation has made its way to Mars to make a home there, after some time though a planetary event happens, and a great eclipse causes storms, as well as being a cover for an alien invasion of Mars as well as Earth.

Earthlings and Martians ask for help, (not sure from who exactly?) a spacecraft has been designed for spare warfare called Cyberstellar, and you are the chosen pilot for the mission to save the lives of Earthlings and Martians.

With the slightly over convoluted story out of the way, how does the game play?

Well as mentioned earlier I have only managed to get to level 2, and that took me nearly 2 hours of repeated play.

I am not a newbie to the genre; in fact I have been playing shoot-em-ups since the 1980s. This is one challenging game, that's for sure.

Controlling the ship is easy enough, it moves well, the weapons are upgraded during play through power ups you collect, but some of the weapons are temporary and you need to collect repeated power ups, without using them, to get the most powerful weapon, and once that is used you are stuck back with the basic one, so you need to choose carefully which weapons you activate and when. The whole weapons system needs to be re-thought, it just doesn't quite work, use traditional ideas for weapons and you can't go wrong.

The ship you control is relatively large, on what is a small playing area, with alien ships also quite big, this can cause problems, you simply don't have much space to navigate in if things get a bit hectic, so what will happen is that you will quickly become overwhelmed, and if you lose a life, you have to start back at the beginning of the level.

You have your usual power bar, but make contact with a large opponent and it is instant life lost.

To get through the level on a clean run, you really need to be on top of your game, and take out your enemies as soon as you can and in the best order possible, the levels play pretty much the same each time, so you will learn where enemies will approach from and use that in your tactics.

The Good

The game looks incredible, I have never seen graphics quite like this, and although in screenshots things might look a bit too busy when an enemy explodes, it isn't actually that bad as it is only for a moment. The music is ok, if a bit dull. Gameplay is super challenging, and you really need to try, try, and try again if you hope you get through the game.

The Bad

The main ship is too big, and the playable area is too small, leaving you little room for error, I understand that the developer wants you to see the detail on the shop, the pilot etc, but that's just not that important in the grand scheme of things. The menu is poor, and some of the power ups and weapons should be much clearer, and easier to use.

Overall

The issues I mentioned are easy to fix, but I am not sure if the developer is interested in listening to criticism. (I tried).

With such a unique look, this game could hit it big in the gaming community, but I fear that the lack of compromise, as well as some basic errors might mean the game struggles to do well.

I always want to support Indie Developers, but sometimes they really are their own worst enemies.

I score CYBERSTELLAR in its current state a 6/10. A lot of potential, but a lot of work needs doing.

Currently on sale with a 50% discount for just £1.99

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853920/CYBERSTELLAR/

REVIEW: I Saw Black Clouds on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

I have reviewed a few FMV (Full-motion video) games in the past, and I am back once again with I Saw Black Clouds.

If you have never played a FMV game before, think of it more as an interactive movie, whereby you make decisions for the main character in the film, and that will result in different outcomes, meaning that once you have finished playing, you can start again, make different choices and not just see different scenes, but also a completely different ending.

I Saw Black Clouds is a story about Kristina who has just found out about the unexpected death of a close friend. She travels back to her home town to find answers, but as she does, she uncovers a string of dark secrets, and those secrets turn out to be way scarier than she could ever have imagined.

Part supernatural horror and part psychological thriller, the game plays a bit like one of those feature length dramas you get on ITV late at night. The difference of course being that you the viewer can help choose the path the main character takes.

An interesting addition to this game, as opposed to other similar FMV games is the stats screen, depending on your choices you will see a graph that covers your personality traits, honesty, strength, morality, tact and introspection, as well as relationships with other characters. And perhaps most importantly how you face the situation in front of you, with denial, acceptance, or guilt

  

Starring Nicole O'Neill as the lead character that you will help make decisions for, this game is fully filmed in the UK, and has a very British feel to it.

Acting is of a decent level, and everything is filmed in HD, so looks and sounds to a high quality.

The Good

I Saw Black Clouds has a decent story, intriguing characters, and even some jump scares. Nicole O'Neill is great, and stands out in her performance on screen.

The Bad

I Saw Black Clouds suffers some of the same problems that many FMV games suffer, when making a decision, the game needs to load the correct scene to play next, which does mean a brief bit of lag, and sometimes the music from one scene to the next, will just stop, which just makes it all the more obvious that a new scene has been loaded up. There is also very little time to read the choices and then make the decision.

Overall

One way I have learned to play FMV games over the years is to sometimes just sit back and watch it like a film. When you do not make a choice, the game will make the choice for you. You will still get to the end eventually, and you will see one ending. This just feels better than sitting up close to a computer screen, constantly waiting for the next choice to come up. Once you have seen the film this way, you can restart, and luckily you can now skip scenes you have already seen, meaning you can make different choices, and watch unseen scenes fresh. Perhaps this is not the ideal way to play the game, and not the way the makers intended, but it does solve a few of the issues I have mentioned. But then that in itself raises another question, is it still a game, if you don't play it and just watch it like a film?

I Saw Black Clouds may not be perfect, but it is a decent little low budget supernatural horror thriller, and I do like them, as you would know if you read my Movie reviews on www.beentothemovies.com and with the option to make choices, it does make things more interesting.

I score I Saw Black Clouds a fair and honest 7/10.

Worth a look if you are a fan of British made supernatural/horror thrillers.

Out Now on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1346830/I_Saw_Black_Clouds/

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