Recent reviews by FriendlyLicense

Immortal Redneck is a "rogue-lite" FPS game released by Crema... The basic premise of Immortal Redneck is to choose one of the characters you have unlocked and then enter a randomly generated tomb. You then proceed to kill all the obscure enemies inside to collect gold, weapons, scrolls, ammo/health pickups and do some FPS platforming to traverse rooms; all with the aim of attempting to get to the top of the pyramid. In all honesty, the one element of this game that didn't feel natural to me; was all the breakable pots. They are all set dressing and are completely empty, it feels wrong to not find hidden rewards or items in at least some of them. I do enjoy the element that the scrolls bring to the game. For example, in one run I picked up a scroll that gave me unlimited ammo for the floor I was on which was great considering how long I got stuck on that floor and then in another instance, I was forced to have only one weapon and had to choose between the ones I had… Needless to say I made the wrong choice… For me this was always an interesting element of surprise to make runs feel a little more varied. I personally don’t feel this is a game I want to sit down to play for hours and hours on end (you might) but I see this as the perfect quick run and quit arcade style game and would be perfect for those who tend to want to experience a quick video game experience. Overall a decent little first person shooter with a little bit of grind work to get the upgrades…

Interestingly this game seems to be some form of asset flip using content from one of the developer’s other games. That game being; Dreamscapes: Nightmare’s Heir which even though wasn’t a very good game is infinitely better than this. In fact, this game is identical to a previous game I’ve played (also developed by Shaman) called A Plot Story, but it uses screenshots and story elements from the above-mentioned Dreamscapes game. So, it’s obviously a quickly put together puzzle game to make a few extra bucks. This game has puzzles in the realm of jigsaws, slide the vertical slice of images into the correct location and, again; much like A Plot Story, the meat of the game is being presented with a huge pile of items and then being required to match them up… Sometimes they are in pairs of 2, sometimes 3, sometimes one is big and one is small, sometimes one is in colour and the other in black and white… Honestly, the gameplay is not engaging in the slightest and to be frank even if you enjoy games in this genre; there are much more enjoyable titles… This game is just a severely dull and uninspired time!

It surprises me that this game has such positive reviews considering how truly basic it is. The object of the game is to rotate a block to match the corresponding colour of the dropping ball allowing it to hit the correct side. It really is that simple and will probably hold your interest for about half an hour at most. After 10 minutes it really does just become an achievement hunter game (then you run the clock for card drops) because that is all the gameplay goals you have to work towards! There are a variety of gameplay modes which are all very similar and all involve pressing left or right, there are; fast where dots gradually fall faster, hex where the colour wheel is a hexagon, word where you match the written word to the colour, time where you need to keep spinning the box or it times out , trip which utilises constant hue shifting, flip which occasionally flips your box to the top or bottom of the screen and also normal mode which is just a combination of all of the above modes. It feels like a casual mobile game, admittedly it does look good and has a decent soundrack, but it’s not really a game I would recommend people purchase because it’s literally a ten minutes and done kind of game (it doesn't even have a leaderboard or any challenges which surprised me)!

Remothered: Tormentented Fathers is a survival horror video game where you play as Rosemary Reed; a woman who seeks the truth about the disappearance of a girl named Celeste. She believes the answers to her questions can be discovered within the house of Dr. Felton, a man afflicted with a terrible disease, who may be harbouring even shadier secrets. The core loop of the game is to sneak around the house, collect items to use as defence weapons, find key items to open doors or solve “puzzles?” all while occasionally getting chased by a naked old man in an apron. The games inspiration clearly comes from the original survival horror trend setters like Clock Tower and Resident Evil… The puzzle elements reminded me so much of Resident Evil whereby you discover z but need to find x to get it, but you may also need to find y to get x… It just wasn’t entirely captivating! I loved the setting, the chase elements, the hiding, the concept of using items found in the surrounding areas to defend yourself and I adored the soundtrack as the perfect accompaniment for the environment, but I did want to experience a little more gameplay variation. A quick mention with regards to controls as they aren’t perfect and at times when there are multiple interactive points on the screen targeting the right one can be a little annoying. If you are looking for a game where you can sneak around a spooky house and experience that tense game of game of hide and seek then I do recommend this game… It’s tense, it’s mysterious (so mysterious I still kind of don’t fully understand the actual story) and it doesn’t outstay it’s welcome. This game has me very excited for what Stormind may bring us next.

I’m not sure what it is about this game because I think I should like it but then I play it for half an hour and then I’ve had enough of it! It’s basically a game about tidying up incredibly macabre messy environments; but I feel like the game makes it more frustrating than it really needs to be! It really does hinder my enjoyment knowing that there are going to be stains on the ceiling and I'll need to use some equipment to get up there but then the equipment doesn’t work properly or gets stuck and the bucket machine drops body parts out making more mess, and then you constantly knock dirty water buckets over because aiming your mop at the bucket just seems erratic…. I don’t know; I love tidying and organising, and I enjoy that feeling of taking something run down and turning it around; like the farm in Stardew Valley, or cleaning a house in The Sims! Simple busy work that just makes things look and feel better is interesting to me especially when you get to appreciate the end results, but there is something about this game that is unsatisfying in the overall delivery of what you do and it just never feels rewarding… It just feels boring and meaningless! It’s interesting because the first experience I had with this game was the free Shadow Warrior map and I enjoyed that map a lot, but I’ve never enjoyed playing any of the main game! I think it's one of those experience games, whereby my experience with the Shadow Warrior freebie was actually enough to get the gist of the game and the gag of it. Furthermore this is one of those FPS games that makes me feel incredibly nauseous regardless of what FOV and other option settings I turn on or off... Just a heads up for those who do occasionally suffer in this way!

I just couldn’t help myself; I had to continue my Dreamscapes journey! Here we have the sequel to Dreamscapes: The Sandman and interestingly this game seems to be less well received! The concept in this sequel is very similar and is a continuation of the original adventure but this time you are helping Laura save her husband Tim from the wraith of the Sandman! It’s literally the exact same concept but here you collect pieces that go onto an alarm clock instead of the dreamcatcher to use in your quest to defeat the sandman. The general gameplay is almost identical you go to various scenes to find inventory items and solve light puzzles. This game also introduces actual hidden object scenes; which I was expecting to be in the first. However, I do feel like this resulted in their being less straight up puzzles in the game! Generally, as this is a slightly more recent title it’s slightly easier to play due to its better resolution and somewhat better-looking visuals. Regardless of this it’s still an average casual game and the story and voice acting is still awful; in fact, it’s probably worse. Overall, I played the whole thing in a two-hour sitting and I didn’t hate my time with it, but I just can’t recommend this as an experience that people should play… It wasn’t awful, but there are so much better ways to spend your time! If you love point and click, puzzle, hidden object games; here’s another one for you!

This was actually a really fun little game! It is short; it took me 100 minutes to beat the 75 levels (and of course running the clock for card drops). Honestly; the length feels about right for the game; it could have probably pushed to 100 levels but not longer than that because there isn’t enough variation to play for an excessive length of time. The gameplay is simple you are a block and you need to traverse the level and cross the finish line. You will need to jump over obstacles and traps, shoot some obstacles, step on some points that switch the gravity or change your direction and you have the ability to switch between the platforms in the foreground with the ones in the background. The game as a whole reminds me a little bit of a cross between BIT.TRIP.BEAT & BIT.TRIP.RUNNER with an added dash of environmental switching that you could experience in the region of games like Giana Sisters (it’s just handled differently). The soundtrack is also impressive, and it suits the general visuals and aesthetic of the game well. If you enjoy your puzzle platformers, this has some challenge to it but it isn’t excessively difficult or frustrating and you may find this a little on the easier side. Overall; if you want a short enjoyable platform puzzle experience this is a good game!

Boy have I got some games hidden in the depths of my Steam library! Dreamscapes: The Sandman is a casual point and click adventure game whereby you play as a professor’s volunteer assistant who agrees to enter the dream of a young girl called Laura. As you embark on your “dreamscape” adventure you solve little puzzles, collect inventory items and gradually earn segments of a dream catcher to ultimately assemble it and then defeat the sandman and bring Laura back to life (or something like that anyway). The story is justifiably absolute nonsense! To the games credit I booted it up and thought that it was going to be dross that I wouldn’t even be able to play through… But, I kind of did because this is only a 2.5 hour experience (providing you skip the poorly voiced and animated cutscenes). If you are looking for a challenge this game isn’t for you; I was able to solve all the puzzles and I’m generally not very good at puzzle games! I had more fun finding those hidden critters on each scene than doing the actual game! It wasn’t an awful game, but it wasn’t exactly a good game either! Given the length of campaign and the generic-ness of the whole thing I wouldn’t really recommend it, but if you are a die-hard fan of this genre and want another experience… It’s alright!

If you enjoy playing a game of trivia with friends or family and you all have a smartphone at hand then you really can’t go wrong with It’s Quiz Time… In fact, it’s really quite a good game! The overall visual look of it is great and it has this really pleasing visual presentation that makes it feel like an actual gameshow of sorts. There is also the AI host who uses some form of text to speech to engage players and will continually throw shade at your oldest player; it’s just all done really well within the confines and limitations you would expect for a party game like this! There are plenty of different segments that are used throughout the rounds and they really do vary up the gameplay and you will have your favourite segments. In all honesty there isn’t really a quiz game like this on Steam (to my knowledge) and to be honest I feel like this game gets a much harsher reception than it deserves… Admittedly sometimes the questions can be a little bit generic or outright obscure and the game will often take question themes and run with them for example fastest animal between said animals, or tallest etc. But overall this is a fun game to play with friends and family in a living room setting (even the older people will get involved)! I mean, you need to find some games to make a Steam Link worth while!

After my eyes bugged out when seeing this PS1 nostalgic classic remastered and released on PC I instantly purchased the game and then I suddenly remembered that I was never the biggest Crash Bandicoot fan! Never the less this is still an amazing game! The updated versions look fantastic and regardless of how you feel about the controls or the difficulty you cannot deny that this game looks incredible and when doing a remaster of a classic title, these are the standards you should be aiming for. I never originally played Crash 2 or 3; my experiences of the PS1 era was limited to Crash 1 (which I owned), Crash Bash (which I rented many times) and CTR which I played the demo disc of over and over again! So, I don’t have the nostalgic ties to the second and third instalments and upon visiting; they are good similar games but without that familiarity of them and combined with the fact that I don’t personally love the way Crash plays I don’t think I will be completing them. (I might?) For me I find the games more frustrating than fun and while Crash does a better job of getting me to come back than other games do it’s still not something, I consider a personal favourite. If you like challenging platform sections in both 3D and 2.5D styled levels and enjoy that risk reward element of collecting those precariously located boxes and apples… You will love Crash! However, the game stayed true to its origins and kept the controls from those titles, so while everything looks crisper and sharper if you were expecting an updated gameplay experience, you’re not going to get it. To be honest that’s probably a good thing and the only way you could do a game like Crash justice!