Core Reviews Archives

After decades of cheesy "bad guy steals girl, good guy saves her" tropes in our video games, I think it's safe to say that we're in the mood for something... fresh. Nefarious dropped in our lap during PAX South, and it promises to finally break us out of our rut and poke fun at video game history along the way. It's tricky to spin a tired concept and find a fresh angle - does Nefarious manage to nail biting satire or go directly to jail? It's time to find out in my Nefarious review!

Inklings is a physics puzzler released this week by Applepine Games, and is the studio's debut game. It combines elements of physics puzzle games, Portal-style portals, and Lemmings inspired gameplay, with a few Incredible Machine twists to boot. It's bold and artistic, but is it good? Find out in my Inklings review!

Star Vikings is a sort of turn-based strategy game developed by Rogue Snail, a Brazilian studio helmed by Mark Venturelli. Mark has been active in Brazil's indie scene for several years, and worked on Relic Hunters as well as WOTS-favorite Chroma Squad. Star Vikings pits the titular spacefaring nordic heroes against a legion of relentless space-snails, with a mysterious artifact in the center of their conflict. It's billed as "casual," but just how casual are we talking? Find out in my Star Vikings review!

Burly Men at Sea is a charming, story-focused adventure game from the husband and wife team that calls themselves Brain&Brain. Inspired by Scandinavian folklore, Burly Men at Sea follows three bearded fishermen who find a magical map that leads them to great adventure.

Four Sided Fantasy is a puzzle platformer developed by Ludo Land, following a successful Kickstarter campaign back in May 2014. Two years and four months later, the game has been released on PC and PS4 with the help of our friends at Serenity Forge. The sent me a key last week to check out, and I'm happy to report this game is awesome! Find out why in our Four Sided Fantasy review.

tinyBuild has published quite a few games so far this year, and the latest in their unstoppable train of releases is this week's The Final Station, developed by Do My Best Games. The apocalypse is upon us once again, and it's up to a plucky train operator tasked with carrying mysterious cargo to save the day. Can he survive the zombie hordes and beat back the darkness? Or should we just leave this one for dead? Let's find out in my The Final Station review.

Recently I got a chance to check out Redactem - an indie puzzle platformer with rockets, gravity bending, and time rewinds. It was an interesting experience that I may have nightmares about, but I'm undecided as to whether that is a good or bad thing.

Brigador is an isometric 2D mech-combat action game, and the debut game from indie studio Stellar Jockeys. In Brigador, you stomp, bulldoze, and/or hover your way through a variety of different futuristic cities while battling enemy mechs and causing mass destruction. I snagged a key from the developers and beat the campaign, so I'm ready to present my Brigador review!

Kerbal Space Program (often abbreviated KSP) is a rocketry and space simulation game that has been available in some form or another for the last 5 years. On PCs, Kerbal Space Program has been out of Early Access since April 2015. Now a console version of KSP is available for both PS4 and Xbox One. I got a review code for the Xbox One version, and after spending some quality time with a few Kerbals, I'm ready to weigh in. Stand by for launch - here comes my Kerbal Space Program Xbox One review.

You know all those Lemmings you killed? They've risen from the dead, and now they are even more awesome in Zombie Night Terror. Find out why this puzzler is worth checking out.