REVIEW: Hell Architect on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Today we are here to review the very interesting "Hell Architect" by Woodland Games, I will say, that wouldn't Hell's Architect be a better name? Just seems more grammatically correct. Oh well.

When I started playing Hell Architect, the first thing I noticed was the similarities to Hammerting, a game I reviewed back in October 2020, same viewpoint, same general gameplay, but luckily as I started playing through the tutorial of Hell Architect, I realised that Hell Architect was an infinitely better game. So, if you had a bad experience with Hammerting, then give Hell Architect a play, as it gets right, almost everything that Hammerting got wrong.

You play as the "Architect of Hell", you play from a 2D vertical side on view point, and like other vertical mining colony sim type games, your job is to dig, craft and build, but with the twist being that you are running hell. Instead of dwarves, you have sinners and lost souls, you need to make these evildoers suffer, you can build prisons and torture devices, all while keeping your hell running smoothly. 

You have 9 levels of hell to complete in single player mode, or you can just go to work creating your own perfect hell in sandbox mode. In single player mode you will try to gain the approval of demons and even the devil himself. But running hell is not an easy task, unfortunately there is more to hell than just punishing sinners, you have to build power stations, places for your sinners to eat food, and more and more intricate torture devices. You will need to harvest resources, the usual dirt, stone, coal and so on, but also if you dig far enough you can find ancient artifacts that will give you special powers.

At its core Hell Architect is a vertical 2D management sim, but with such a nice twist, that being you are running hell.

The Good

The graphics are crisp, well animated, and I need to give a special mention to how well this game is optimized, it ran perfectly on an old laptop of mine, as well as perfectly on my fancy desktop. This is so important, since many games are released that are so poorly optimized that unless you have a £2000 setup, you can't play them, but Hell Architect really is so well made, I was pleasantly surprised by the relatively low download size, and just how smooth everything is. 

The tutorial is perfect, really helps you learn the basics of the game, everything is easy to find and navigate, you can tell that the game makers have really spent time making sure the basics of the game are perfect, and I really appreciate that, especially considering the frustrations I had with similar games I have played in this genre.

The Bad

If you like Vertical 2D management sim type games, then there is no bad. This game is almost the perfect representation of the genre.

Overall

Can you tell I like this game yet? The true greatness of any game, especially for someone like me who is in general only playing it to review it, is if after I have finished my review, if I will keep playing it, it is that simple, if I never play it again, then the game is perhaps not that great, but with Hell Architect I will definitely keep playing it. It is just so damn good.

I score the game a near perfect 9/10 Absolutely loved it.

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff.

REVIEW: Mask of Mists - Nintendo Switch

Mask of Mists is the latest game released by Sometimes You on Nintendo Switch.

A first-person perspective game whereby you play as a mercenary, your job is a simple one, to find one of the Archmages of the Academy who has gone missing, while researching in the Infected Territory!

The Infected Territory is an interesting place, after being exposed to "monstrous amounts of magic", it has become overwhelmed with evil creatures from the abyss, as the barrier between the normal world and the world of evil and chaos has broken down.

You start the game looking at a book, that explains to you the story, and gives you the context of what you are about to do, and see.

As you play you will need to find notes left by the missing Archmage to help you progress, explaining to you things he did, what he failed at, as well as where he succeeded, his notes go into your notebook for future reference. You will face puzzles that need to be solved, as you solve them, they have a direct effect on the world, new parts of the map will be revealed, areas that were previously deadly, become harmless.

But it is not just exploration and puzzles, there is an action element to the game, you will have to fight the monsters from the abyss, you have a gun and a sword, and as you play, and inevitably lose health, you can drink potions to help you recover. Potions which you can create from various magic plants you will find.

Although the game is relatively short and you will most likely complete it in about 4 hours, it is a fun experience, and despite the ending feeling a bit flat since it goes back to the same book to explain things, as a whole the game is a rewarding experience. And there is definitely a feeling of wanting to replay the game, explore more, collect everything, and try to find every single secret.

The Good

Graphically the game is very good, everything plays smoothly and the controls are easy enough to learn.

The Bad

The beginning and end and the use of simple book to explain things, seems a bit lazy, and perhaps rushed to avoid spending time creating an animated open and close.

Overall

A fun, engaging game, that despite its flaws will definitely have me making another playthrough.

I score Mask of Mists a solid 7/10

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Out now on Nintendo Switch

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/mask-of-mists-switch/

REVIEW: Deadly Days - Xbox

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Deadly Days is the latest rogue-lite game from Pixel Split Games. You play within a zombie apocalypse, because, well, why not. You are in charge of a group of survivors and you have to try to stop the catastrophe, survive and play through procedurally generated cities and missions.

The basic gameplay consists of controlling your characters around the map, looking for loot, while at the same time fighting off waves of zombies. Once you collect everything an area has to give, you return to your base to drop off everything you found.

To loot a building, a character will by targeting to enter, while other characters will remain outside to defend against the zombies. The defending and fighting of the zombies is done automatically, think of the game more as you managing a group of characters, as opposed to you actively controlling their actions. 

Did I mention apples? These are of upmost importance, you will use apples to level up your characters, keep them well fed, and so on.

As you play through the maps, you will be able to better equip your characters, this is important as the zombies get consistently harder the more you play, including kamikaze zombies and spitter zombies. Time to call in an airstrike to clear the way! The maps can be a bit small, but there is still plenty to explore and collect.

There is a nice learning curve in the game, so early on everything is quite easy as you get to grips with everything. 

The Good

Deadly Days is a nice simple, easy to play game, lots of weapons to collect, characters to meet, and even the story is probably more than what you would expect in such a game.

The Bad

As I already mentioned, the maps are a little small, and the game plays more like a management game than a classic rogue-lite, and perhaps the game is lacking in a few areas that will keep you coming back.

Overall

A fun, interesting game, with some unique and original ideas.

I score Deadly Days a strong 7/10

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Deadly Days is out now on Xbox

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/deadly-days/9P6XD4F453DG

PREVIEW: Glitchpunk Early Access

By GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Before I start let me make it clear that the game is Early Access, for those who do not know, that means it is not finished, and often nowhere near finished, it means the game is barebones, something that the developers can release that lets people play the game, and in turn help them find bugs, get ideas, improve gameplay and so on.

It is a bit like releasing the first chapter draft of a book you are writing, so please keep all of this in mind any time you play an Early Access title.

Onto the game itself, Glitchpunk is a top-down action game, think the original GTA games but in a dystopian future. I really hate the word dystopian; everything has to be dystopian these days! come on guys, be original!

In Glitchpunk you shoot, steal and drive your way around as you maim your victims, you are an android bounter hunter. You have a "glitch" in your programming which allows you to break your programming, yes, I know, not the most original idea, but we are in a dystopian future after all. Anyway, since you have broken your programming, you have decided that you want to "destabilize the tyrannical governments of the post-nuclear world", and as such you just want to cause havoc. There are gangs to kill, police to take on, and generally trouble to cause.

As you play, you will accept contracts, earn money to make upgrades, buy cybernetic modules which give you new abilities, for example the ability to hack into others and control their behaviour, make alliances, lose alliances and more.

As of writing there is only one city to play in, eventually there will be 4.

In general, this game is GTA but with modern graphics.

The Good

As with all Early Access games, the question always has to be "does this game have potential?" And Glitchpunk has all the potential in the world. Is it very cliché and full of unoriginal ideas? Yes, but still that is not always a bad thing if done well.

The Bad

I hate to say this, but as of right now, the game is pretty bad, numerous graphical errors, poor optimisation, frame drops, freezing, never ending loading screens, poor physics, I could go on, but I keep reminding myself that this is an early access game.

Overall

The game has potential, but I wonder if the game is cursed by the "punk" part of the title. We all know the disaster of the Cyberpunk release, perhaps Glitchpunk should have a name rethink?

A long, long way to go, but the potential is there. Either change the graphical style to be much simpler, or work on that optimisation, even on a decent PC the game really struggled.

By GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

REVIEW: Seed of Life on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Seed Of Life is the latest action-adventure game from MadLight, You play as Cora, the last survivor of a dying world called Lumia, your world was ravaged by aliens who are stealing the planet's life force. Your job is to activate "The Seed" a device that will save your planet and regenerate the very life force of the planet.

You play in a 3rd person viewpoint, from just behind the character, as you explore, you will come across Talisman Capsules that help you learn new abilities that will help you on your way, collect Lumium to upgrade yourself, and collect various items. You have an alien assistant called Nar. As you play you will have to solve puzzles and generally get from one waypoint to the next.

The game plays in a semi open world environment, there is plenty to explore, and you need to watch out for toxic environments that will slowly drain your health, the game does not hold your hand too much, and you will need to figure things out for yourself, that will be good for some people, and for others you may miss being told exactly what to do.

You will have a compass that will help you decide which way to go, colour coded as to tell you which waypoint will give you which power. As it is a semi open world, when you are away from the Waypoints you may find yourself losing health in the toxic environments, so before you go off exploring too much, make sure you know your way back to the previous waypoint, or find the next one first. This is especially important to make sure you do not lose your progress.

Once you get to grips with the controls and the gameplay, the game is relatively easy and you should complete it in under 10 hours, quicker on the easiest setting.

The Good

The graphics are very pretty and the soundtrack is very relaxing, the gameplay is fun, and although the game is relatively short, it is an enjoyable experience.

The Bad

The voice acting for Cora is terrible, sorry but I have to say that. There is also some issues with precision jumping, there are a few other bugs, but the developers are ironing these out and putting out updates, so these will all get fixed.

Overall

The game is fun, and despite the short play time, I enjoyed the experience. I score the game a solid 7.5/10

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff