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"Sometimes You" are back with their latest release Blood Waves. Released on consoles, Blood Waves is a hardcore and bloody shooter. Playing a bit like a mini game you might find in the Assassin's Creed franchise, but with a Lara Croft like character, your job is a simple one, repel wave after wave of zombies.
You start off the game with just a simple pistol and a knife, and are stuck in some kind of underground dungeon area. After dealing with the first wave of zombies, then the game opens up its main "gimmick", between waves part of the dungeon opens up and you spend a few minutes preparing yourself for the next wave. Luckily as you destroy zombies they will drop cash, you can then use this cash to buy ammo, upgrade your character or buy new weapons, but better still you can also buy and then place barricades and traps in the main fighting area. This brings in a whole extra level of tactics. Do you spend your money on more powerful weapons, do you place traps and barricades behind which you can hide, or do you spend the money upgrading yourself, giving you new abilities, more health and so on.
As you progress through the waves, just as you improve your abilities, the zombies themselves will have new and improved abilities, which in turn will need you to buy better weapons and defensives. The are even electrified zombies, zombies who can attack you from afar, some even learn how to avoid traps.
Every time you think you have the advantage, the zombies pull something new out to make you have to plan all new attacks and defensives.
When you eventually die, then you will need to start all over again, but each time you play, you will get a bit further, and you will learn to better prepare yourself using what you experienced previously as the perfect lesson plan.
Throw in a stamina bar which depletes when you run, the obvious health bar, and ammo limits, and there is something of a decent challenge to be had here.
The further your progress, the more points you will earn and the higher on the leader board you will go.
The Good
Decent graphics, even on the small screen of the Nintendo Switch Lite. Controls are decent, and the game does have a strong replayability factor.
The Bad
Firing at enemies is not that accurate, and you seem to hit them more often than not, meaning not much skill is needed there. Also from the first wave shooting a zombie in the head didn't stop him instantly, which should always be the case. Although you can later upgrade the power of headshots.
Overall
A simple idea that works well.
I score Blood Waves a fair 7/10
Out now on Nintendo Switch, and coming to all consoles by the end of the month
It has been a while since I have played a simple arcade style "soccer" game, and despite most the of the civilised world calling it Football, I thought I would check out new arcade Soccer game "Golazo 2". Now I have never played the original, nor have i heard of it, so I am coming at this game from a totally new perspective.
Since this is an arcade game, there isn't much in the way of depth, so if you have been playing FIFA then this game might seem very simple in comparison.
When you start you are given a few choices, Quick match, Street Tour, Tournaments or World League. You can play with National Teams or "Street Teams", which craftily gets around any licensing issues. 58 national teams with 10 international stadiums, 6 Street fields with 12 street teams.
When you start playing you will see that everything is very simplified, passes are basic, lobs, shots etc. You can have a quick dash with a player, which is a nice touch, and the ball sticks to your feet too.
There is no motion capture for the player animations, which do seem quick jerky, and the sound effects are terrible, you will quickly turn down the sound, trust me, after hearing the scratch sound for a slide tackle a few times, it will annoy you.
The AI for the computer controlled teams is a bit too strict, and difficulty is set way too high to make this a really enjoyable arcade game.
The Good
For an arcade soccer game, it has some nice touches, the dash is cool, and some of the player hairstyles are fun.
The Bad
If you have ever played FIFA or Evo then this will just feel empty in comparison, maybe we are spoiled, but the day of the arcade soccer game is long gone.
Overall
Very generic arcade soccer game, no real innovation, and pales in comparison to the big name footy games.
Chenso Club is a Japanese style 2D side scrolling action platformer, I say Japanese style as it is actually developed by Swedish studio Pixadome and published by Curve Games.
"The Chenso Club girls are sassy, strong and eager to show off their moves. Our heroines want any excuse to use their newfound powers. It's up to you to master their moves, increase their power and show the world the might of the Chenso Club."
As you start the game you will first be able to choose one character to play with, but as you progress more will be unlocked. All the characters are female, which is a cool touch and not something you see that often. You will start off with a character called "Blue" which is a Chainsaw wielding android, but you will soon gain access to Carmine who wields a heavy hammer. With 5 characters in total, all very unique with their own fighting style.
Once you have chosen your desired character, you can then choose between Story mode, which is exactly what you think it is, a Casual mode, a Standard mode which is for your regular platform game fan, and then the Insane mode, which is just everything like the other modes but much harder.
The levels are separated to various locations, and each location has single screen areas you need to progress through. And of course there is a boss at the end, and when you beat them, that is when you unlock a character.
Between levels there are bonus areas, where you can upgrade your character, unlock chests, but also there is a social media aspect to the game, where you need to gain followers.
Fighting is pretty simple and follows the classic arcade style, depending on the weapon your character has, general swing of the weapon, jump, dash, special moves and so on, all very easy to pick up. As you beat opponents pick up gems to boost your power and so on.
I played in solo mode, but there is also a "couch co-op" mode, which I did not have chance to check out.
Really easy to play, and a lot of fun, the graphics are retro style, as is the music. I played on a Switch Lite, and the game felt perfect on the small screen.
The Good
Fun colourful graphics, easy to pick up and play, nice layout of the levels, and as you gain characters you will want to replay earlier levels with the new characters.
The Bad
Not much to the story, and a little short. But enough to keep you interested.
Overall
Simple and fun 2D platformer, interesting characters to play with, lots of enemies to beat, what more could you want?
It has been a while since I have played a good action RPG, so when Pascal's Wager: Definitive Edition came across my desk, I just had to check it out.
Set in a world of "dark fantasy", you step into the shoes of Couriers, as they "discover the tale behind the mysterious Dark Mist."
"Centuries ago, the sun sank into the sea, leading to the Dark Mist enveloping the lands. At the same time, great, towering beings began to appear. These were the Colossus. They brought light to the areas surrounding them and in turn, humanity found its last and only refuge.
Thousands of years after the Colossi appeared, a mysterious illness beset these creatures of the light and they began to fall...
Following the trail of the falling Colossi, Terrence the Courier and his companions embark on an arduous journey. They will encounter figures benevolent and evil, seal or witness their fate, and unveil the truth behind the dark world."
Now you know the story, how does the game play, you will eventually get to control and hopefully master 5 different characters, each character has their own unique abilities and fighting styles. Now although I like a good Action RPG, I am also not the most skilled of gamers in this genre, luckily there is a casual mode available, that makes everything a bit easier, and allows the player a bit more freedom, and that is something I need. With that said, the game is still challenging in the casual mode, but there is a harder mode for the more experienced Action RPG gamer.
As mentioned, you take on the role of the Couriers, they have to find out the truth behind what has caused the land of Solas to fall into darkness once again. What happened to the giant Colossi that brough safety and light to people.
As you play you will see plenty of familiar sights if you have played this kind of game before, Altars to rest and replenish your energy as well as save your gameplay, your character will have a light and heavy attack, on the Switch these are performed by pressing the right trigger buttons, you can dodge attacks, block and so on. You also have a stamina bar that you need to keep an eye on, luckily in Casual Mode it doesn't run out too quick.
Enemies are your usual weird looking creatures, and combat is as you would expect, you can even creep up on enemies and get that first shot in. And as you progress you can buy throwing knives and other projectile weapons, to help you hit that slightly out of range enemy.
As well as your stamina, you also have a rage and a sanity meter, as you attack enemies you rage meter gets charged, and as that gets powered up it allows you to make bigger hits, now the Sanity meter, that is a whole different thing, as you fight and beat opponents you sanity meter will start to empty, eventually it will reach "abnormal" stage and finally "lunatic" stage. At abnormal you will see auras around the enemy, this will also power up your enemies and adjust their attack patterns, so you need to keep an eye on your sanity levels, and make sure to drink potions to keep it in the safe level. In the boss fights however sanity level drops faster, so you really need to be on top of your game, but Luckly when fighting bosses like this they will drop extra items, so it has its benefits too.
There are also the usual skill points for levelling up the characters, a skill tree to upgrade across 4 different branches, which might change up how much you can carry, give you new attacks and so on.
Throw in craft-able items which you can then equip which give you various advantages, the usual side quests and extra boss fights and there is plenty to keep you busy.
As mentioned, you will eventually add extra characters to your group, which you can switch between when not in a fight, or if your character dies in a fight you will automatically take control over another of the group. The different characters have different weapons and attack styles. All different and fun to master.
The story is told through people you meet, diaries you will pick up, as well as conversations with your group.
The game plays very well on a Nintendo Switch Lite, the controls are pretty easy to pick up, the in-game menu for selecting items, equipping things etc can be a bit tricky to get used to at first, but soon enough you will be getting everything the way you want.
The levels are easy to navigate, and you won't find yourself getting lost either.
As this is the Definitive Edition, you get the DLC from the PC release thrown in, the most important one being the Obsession Challenge mode, which is basically a fight against the bosses you find in the game, while starting in Lunatic mode from the start, as well as character clothing and a new area to play.
The Good
A good story, easy to learn, a fun game to play even on the small screen.
The Bad
The levels might seem a bit too linear for the more hardcore Action RPG gamer, but I found them fine.
Overall
Pascal's Wager: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch is a fun game to play, many hours of gameplay, that never gets tedious, I enjoyed playing it and highly recommend it.
I score Pascal's Wager: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch a solid 8.5/10
