Recent reviews by h e x a g o n e

UPDATE: The developers have released a patch that addresses some of the issues mentioned in my review, including improvements to movement speed, minor improvements to combat, and a few other fixes. However, there are still no plans to implement a save system for online play, which remains a dealbreaker for me, and is not great for those wanting to experience the game for the first time online with friends. I’ll revisit the game later down the line or when the price better reflects its current state, if nothing changes.

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I want to begin by saying that I approached this game with the hope of rekindling the magic of my childhood. Back in the '90s, I would religiously watch Mighty Morphin Power Rangers every Saturday morning as it aired, utterly obsessed with everything Power Rangers. So, when I first learned this game was in development, I was ecstatic. Fast forward to its release, and it pains me to say that Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind feels like a half-baked effort that falls far short of its potential.

From the outset, the developers acknowledged challenges with the online co-op functionality, initially promising two-player co-op at launch and a later patch to enable full 5-6 player online multiplayer. However, the game launched without any online multiplayer at all—a major letdown that immediately soured the experience.

Eager to give the game another chance after the promised patch, a friend and I returned to try it out, only to be met with more disappointment. The gameplay felt sluggish and uninspired; the movement is slow, and the combat is disappointingly limited, with all rangers sharing an identical moveset and only a single super ability each. While such simplicity might have been acceptable in the early '90s, it feels woefully outdated today, especially in light of gems like Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, which have set the bar high for the genre.

What truly marred the experience was realising that our game progress hadn’t been saved after slogging through 4-5 stages, made all the more tedious by the aforementioned gameplay issues. Upon investigating, I learned that the developers had stated, “Saves are not supposed to work online due to a variety of issues, but we are working on a way to improve that situation.” While it’s commendable that they’re addressing this, such a glaring issue is unacceptable in a game priced at £30/$35.

To the developers’ credit, they’ve done a commendable job of capturing the essence of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers—to a degree. The game evokes a strong sense of nostalgia, with a mostly original soundtrack that includes some thoughtful nods to the series, along with the iconic theme song featured during key moments. However, even this aspect feels somewhat incomplete. The absence of a full morphing sequence or the ability to start as the rangers in their civilian forms and earn their morphs, as seen in earlier games, feels like a missed opportunity to truly embrace the source material. While this is more of a nitpick compared to the game’s fundamental flaws, it would have been a welcome touch for fans.

I appreciate the developers’ intention to address these shortcomings, and I sincerely hope the game improves in future updates, as I would love to revisit this game someday. For now, however, Rita's Rewind falls short of the morphinominal experience fans deserve.

Satisfactory is one of the best games I’ve played, though my first Early Access experience was rocky.

Playing with experienced friends left me feeling like a guest on a factory tour, unsure where to start. It wasn’t until I revisited the game post-release that I truly got into it. With a good friend—and another who joined briefly—we worked together to 100% this beast.

I focused on designing ambitious (and sometimes chaotic) factory layouts covering the main criteria, while my friend ensured peak efficiency, tackled solo projects, and handled much of the MAM tech tree. The game’s soundtrack is fantastic, and the world is a joy to explore, packed with resources, collectables, and unique creatures. Thankfully, unlike Factorio, factories are safe from enemy attacks, allowing you to focus purely on optimization. And yes, you can tame lizard doggos, who occasionally gift you useful items—though sometimes they surprise you with nuclear waste, which for me, lead to some funny but scary moments early on.

A shoutout to the AI companion, whose humour blends Douglas Adams' wit with GLaDOS-style snark, adding a unique charm.

At its core, Satisfactory is about logistics, problem-solving, and strategic planning—like a 3D Factorio, but more relaxed. It’s dangerously addictive, and whether solo or with friends, it’s absolutely worth your time.

Palworld is a lot of fun and really well made! It mixes core concepts from 'Pokémon,' 'Ark,' and 'Minecraft' into something totally fresh.

The crafting and automation systems are nicely balanced—complex enough to keep you interested but not so tough that you need to look up guides constantly. Another great aspect is how you can customise the world to suit your playstyle, making it way less grindy than most survival games if you prefer it as such. The Pals are beautifully animated and full of personality, while the characters you meet are kind of basic, but still charming enough, and yes, you can capture humans too!

There’s also a cool breeding system that lets you create new Pals or elemental versions of ones you already have. You can mix different species to make unique Pals not found in the wild, or even give existing ones elemental traits. The logic behind the breeding system is pretty cool too. The system uses a clever bit of "breeding math"—each Pal has a number, and when you breed two together, the game adds them up and divides by two and that result determines the Pal you get.

There’s a ton of content and more depth in the game than is on the surface, which is impressive.

On a side note, Nintendo is actually suing Pocketpair for patent infringement—not over Pal designs, but for gameplay features, which is ridiculous.
I really hope Nintendo loses the case because Pocketpair has created an exceptional game, something Nintendo hasn't quite managed with the Pokémon IP in a long time.

Playing Lethal Company was the most fun I’ve had in a game in 2024, and is still a game I return to when the mood strikes—one moment you’re screaming in terror, the next you’re laughing hysterically. It’s a blast with friends and still enjoyable with strangers. (Tip: Use in-game voice chat!)

The gameplay loop is simple yet satisfying: scavenge abandoned moons for scrap to meet company quotas before the ship’s autopilot leaves you behind. The balance between exploration and tension is spot-on.

Without spoiling much, the horror elements are best experienced blind. It’s really great what a single dev has achieved, and for me this game has taken Phasmophobia’s mantle and, even in early development, outshines it. I'm excited to see how it continues to evolve.

[START AT THE BOTTOM AND SCROLL UP]


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╬═╬ I'm still in a dream, SNAKE EATERRRRRRR!
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╬═╬ But you're so supreme!
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╬═╬ What a fear in my heart
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╬═╬ What a thrill
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╬═╬ With darkness and silence through the night
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╬═╬ What a thrill
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I had fun with this game over the years, and even considered playing again for old time's sake, but then I find out they've cut support for those that use linux, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up mod compatibility and pushed epic online services on the playerbase. Yeah, no thanks.

There's a long running joke that this is a dead game, and now that's going to become a reality. What a waste..

Really fun survival game to play with friends. Great crafting system, with a satisfying research system, a decent amount of customisation and freedom, and a whole lot of unlockable features as you progress through the story.

While the story kind of feels like a tacked on component, it is quite enjoyable as you progress through objectives, and unlock some really good upgrades for your raft, and tools, etc.

It is worth noting that exploration is key, as it can be quite easy to miss some collectables and such.

The only thing missing is a customisable difficulty setting, as the Hunger/Thirst system on Normal difficulty is too much of a chore (especially early game) but Easy difficulty makes the game feel trivial. The perfect balance would be Normal difficulty but with the Hunger/Thirst from Easy.

This is a must play for fans of Co-op open world survival games. Many hours of fun to be had!

"Good morning, ♥♥♥♥ breaker"

I can't unhear it. D:

The game was pretty fun to play with friends, but now they are forcing you to create an Epic Games account.

I'm not a fan of Epic's shady business practices, or their ♥♥♥♥♥♥ underdeveloped storefront, so that's it for me.

RIP

"Sir, this place is dead. Whatever happened here, I think we missed it." - Sgt. Apone (Aliens - 1986)

A great game but the playerbase is unfortunately pretty vacant.

It's worth playing with a couple of friends if you're a fan of the movie Aliens, but once you've played through the campaign once, and went for a few rounds on the survival mode that is unlocked upon the campaign's completion, it doesn't offer much else currently.

Highlights: Blasting xenos. Satisfying gameplay. Immersive sound design. Various classes along with a decent selection of weapons with a variety of upgrades. A serviceable story (Better appreciated by those that are familiar with the lore/movies/novels).

Flaws: No VoIP (Use Discord). No text chat. AI co-op partners are terrible. No Crossplay. Awful matchmaking feature that throws in AI partners after 20 seconds of no one joining. (Especially bad now that the playerbase is so low).

It's worth noting that there is a roadmap of planned gameplay updates at no extra cost, so hopefully that breathes new life back into the game. Fingers crossed.