Recent reviews by 6000 ANGRY BEES

A pleasant, feel-good romp through roughly half the history of one of the great survivors of Indie Prehistory, packed to the brim with wonderfully weird takes on the arcade canon. Not all of it hits (Mama Llama will continue to provoke debate and ire for centuries to come), but when it hits, it's utterly sublime. It'll make you want to pick up a keyboard and make your own.

Now, where's that All The Long-Delisted iPhone Games DLC...?

For the historical record, I logged 24+ hours on the demo. The demo. This is a game so intensely crack-like in its grip on me, even in the demo stages, that if memos were leaked revealing that the CIA was involved in development I wouldn't be hugely shocked.

Buy and play this game. I'm not asking.

A great remaster of a perhaps less-great game.

It is very silly, desperately wants to be Half-Life on a console that could never handle Half-Life, is incredibly rushed to the point where one weapon's per-character upgrade is three paces away from the weapon itself, and ends with not one, but two nonsensical cliffhangers that were never followed up on in any future game, because as far as I can tell every single subsequent game was a reboot. Like, every single time!

There are flashes of excellence therein (The "Lost Land" levels were an utter blast IMHO) and I enjoyed my time with it, but it mostly serves as a reminder of what could have been if the original dev team had like, six more months and an enhanced Dreamcast port ala Shadowman to chew on.

The lack of multiplayer is a pity, but as far as I can tell the modern audience for Turok Multiplayer is in the single digits, so, you know, whatever.

The best version of a strange game that's not for everyone. If you have the right kind of problems, though, this game has more than enough content for you to chew through, and then some.

A deviously tricky little puzzle game that's easy to get the hang of... before it introduces all sorts of interesting mechanics to keep you on your toes. Well supported, and well worth it.

Halo's is back baby. It's good again. Awoouu (wolf Howl)

A brutal and hilarious journey through a cavern of simulated particles, cruel monsters with tounge-twisting Finnish names, and reams of procedurally-generated, fully customisable magical weapons designed to explode your own torso into a crimson mist in increasingly efficient ways. Brilliant and essential.

As a long-time fan an modder of the series and someone who was very pleasantly surprised by Doom 2016's sticking the landing on its escape from development hell, I was eagerly waiting for this game pretty much from the first second of the reveal trailer. Did it stack up to my delay-magnified hype?

CONS:
First, the story, while a fun enough excuse to take you from fantasy world to fantasy world, is definitely more disjointed than in 2016. I suspect the level order was changed around during development and the Fortress of Doom was used to sandpaper over the cracks.

Secondly, the game's definitely buggier than 2016. Not to an unplayable degree, but there's definitely some rough spots that need ironing out. My favorite was the Marauder in a later level's AI turning off mid-battle, leaving him just standing there pointing his shield in one direction, leaving his lumpy butt exposed for the SSG-ing...

I think the secrets and unlockables were a bit unevenly distributed. The first couple of levels seem relatively sparse while the fourth mission practically has secrets sitting next to secrets. That's pedantic, but it's something I definitely noticed.

The toxic waste swimmy bits later on in the campaign were pretty crap. I don't think anyone can really argue for those.

Finally, I miss Snapmap :(

PROS:
I loved the level design! The dumb Mario nonsense between fights broke things up better than I thought they would, and I'm in constant awe of the seeming effortlessness with which Id tosses out fun combat arena design after fun combat arena design. Though I will say, there are some gimmicks throughout the campaign that I wish had been used more than once or twice in the entire game.

The graphics look like a million bucks, as ever, and the additional environment variety was greatly appreciated. Some of the later stages, like Phobos and Urdak, are stunning.

The boss fights were all generally really fun. They're all generally nice twists on the standard gameplay loop that test your capabilities in interesting ways, though the tutorials do tend to take away the thrill of discovering how specifically to dispose of each menace.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10
A bumpier ride than 2016, to be sure, but a way more enjoyable one.

A curious blend of twin-stick shooter and immersive sim, Streets of Rogue has grown over a lengthy Early Access period into a game that deserves to be on the shelves of anyone who prefers a big sandbox of mechanics to mess with over a more linear rollercoaster experience. Also, Chicken Nuggets are a currency in it, which is always a bonus.

A high-quality take on the much-attempted but rarely-successful genre of FPS/roguelike hybrids, Void Bastards has a killer artstyle, a great sense of humor, and a pretty lenient approach to permadeath. However, it can get a bit samey by the end, and many of the character and map variables tend to irritate more than they challenge.