Review: AIPD

Posted on February 3, 2016 by ChunkehMunkeh

AIPD

Cost
$9.99 / £7.99
Format
Digital only
Size
0.26GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4 & Steam

Release Date
30/01/16
Developer
Blazing Badger
Publisher
mamor games
Modes
Single player and Local Co-op

AIPD (an acronym for Artificial Intelligence Police Department) is a top down twin stick shooter in the same vein as Geometry Wars and Ultratron. Luckily, as Xbox One owners we have been spoilt for choice as far as twin stick shooters are concerned. Just how does AIPD fit in to the ever growing catalogue?

There isn’t much in the way of a story line in AIPD so I’ll dive right into the gameplay. To begin with, you need to kit out your ship. You start off with the Gatling Gun for your weapon and the Allrounder Modification. As you continue to play and rack up the points, you’ll be rewarded with new weapons and modifications to use. Personally, my favourite combination was to use the Phaser for the weapon and the Automatic modifier which activates your power ups as soon as you pick them up. You get to unlock a total of 6 weapons and 6 modifiers and they offer many ways to play the game based on what load out you choose. The game throws 15 waves at you that gradually increase in difficulty. Every few waves or so you are introduced to a new type of enemy with different weapons and attacks to keep you on your toes. If you lose all of your health, that’s game over and you have to start over from wave 1.

The calm before the storm.

Along with the main mode, there are 4 other game modes you can have a go at which have different modifiers enabled to increase the difficulty, the fourth mode being a custom mode which you can pick and choose which modifiers are enabled for the game.

Like with other twin stick shooters, you move around with the left stick, aim with the right stick and shoot with the right trigger. Enemies can sometimes drop power ups to help you along your way and you can activate them with the A button. These power ups range from slowing down time to giving yourself a shield. Lastly, you periodically have Transporters fly across the map which, when destroyed, will drop a special weapon like some missiles or some torpedoes, which can be fired using the left trigger.

There are a couple of things that make this different from other twin stick shooters I have played. Firstly, all weapons can overheat, which isn’t to much of an issue on it’s own. But when you combine that with the fact that every time you overheat your weapons, a mine comes flying out of the back of your ship ready to blow you up and take valuable HP from you, it makes you think twice about spamming that right trigger.

The second and most intriguing difference were the challenges that add modifiers to your game. After every wave you go into some kind of wormhole and you are offered up two choices. These choices are modifiers that increase the difficulty of the game in exchange for bonus multiplier. In total, there are 24 different modifiers and upon completion of a wave, two are randomly chosen for you to pick from. Some of them are almost ignorable like the leak modifier which leaves you leaking multipliers constantly throughout the wave, whereas others can be a complete nightmare to deal with. This opens up the opportunity for each playthrough to be somewhat unique depending on what modifiers you get to choose from which, I must say, was a pleasant surprise.

Decisions, decisions…

When I finished the game my first time I was a bit disappointed it was over so quickly, but upon playing it again on a harder difficulty I found it just as enjoyable (albeit harder) as my first playthrough. The random modifiers can be a bit frustrating at times though. On a few occasions during my attempts at beating the game on Hard mode, I had the distinct feeling that the game was screwing me over after having a few modifier choices that gave me a major disadvantage towards the very end. This is probably my issue and mine alone though based on how I opted to play the game.

AIPD does a great job at catering for different play styles. I opted for the run and gun option and ignored my overheating bar. With my setup I was able to easily work around overheating every now and then and avoid those pesky mines popping out of my backside. Like I said above, I did get burned a few times with the modifiers making my play style very difficult, especially when I had to choose the Short Fuse modifier which shortens the fuse on the mines that pop out when you overheat. I tried other methods as well which didn’t work so well for me but there are definitely many ways to go about AIPD.

Phaser FTW!

Something I wanted to touch on briefly that I don’t generally mention in my reviews is the graphics. I was genuinely impressed with how the game was able to portray the retro style graphics but at the same time you know it’s a brand new game using the Unreal Engine 4. I don’t think I encountered a single bit of lag or screen tear at all. I’m not going into any more detail than that because I would be pretending to know what I’m talking about.

To be honest, my only real criticism of AIPD would be the length of the game. I know I explained above that there is real replayability due to the modifiers but I would have enjoyed it more if there were more waves to contest with and a few more different enemies to destroy. Or failing that, having a boss fight every 5 waves or so. Instead you get 14 waves against the run of the mill enemies and 1 final wave against the boss.

One thing I haven’t touched upon is the local co-op aspect of AIPD. I am a huge fan of local co-op games but it would have been nice to see some online functionality other than the leaderboards (which is a nice addition). From what I got to play in local co-op, the game was as much fun as it was playing solo.

Now onto my favourite part, the achievements list. Anyone who enjoys their twin stick shooters and has a decent skill level will complete AIPD with few issues. The only achievement which can be a pain is defeating the boss in hard mode. With practice it isn’t too bad. Other achievements range from not overheating at all through all 15 waves, unlocking all weapons and modifications and scoring 1 billion points.

All in all, AIPD is a brilliant top down, twin stick shooter and I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys these games to go and buy it now if you haven’t already. The gameplay is fast paced and enjoyable and the graphics are on point. Although, the game does only have 15 waves and it doesn’t have any online gameplay, the modifiers certainly help to add replayability and the local co-op is a blast. AIPD fits into the catalogue very neatly near the top.

A review code for AIPD was provided by the Developer for the purpose of this review.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1)Fast paced, entertaining gameplay
2)Modifiers really increase replayability
3)Local co-op
CONS:
1)Too short
2)No online play

8.4
EXCELLENT

Review: Cubot – The Complexity of Simplicity

Posted on January 28, 2016 by ChunkehMunkeh

Cubot – The Complexity of Simplicity

Cost
$1.99 / £1.59
Format
Digital only
Size
0.35 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4, Steam

Release Date
01/08/16
Developer
NicoplvGames
Publisher
NicoplvGames
Modes
Single player

Cubot has a very straightforward mechanic. You control a coloured block (or cube if you prefer) and you need to get it to the like coloured square on the floor. But, as the name suggests there is a great amount of complexity to the implied simplicity. See what I did there?!

The game is split up into 10 episodes each with 8 levels with varying degrees of difficulty. They start off really simple, requiring you to guide your block to the coloured square on the floor by just avoiding some obstacles. As you progress through the levels the game introduces more complicated mechanics, such as extra blocks, different coloured blocks that move differently and teleports.

These pesky blocks move two squares at a time

Cubot does a really good job at introducing a new mechanic during the beginning of each episode so you don’t feel overwhelmed by it. By the time you hit the mid levels of the episode you’re fully comfortable with how the levels work and you can really get into solving the puzzles put in front of you. By the end of some of the episodes I had some real head scratching moments…I just couldn’t figure out how to get the level done.

I’m not going to lie, I struggle with puzzle games and I did end up having to use some guides for the later levels but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the game. Anyone well versed, or even average at puzzle games would probably be able to figure them out without the need for a guide.

Blocks moving in different directions gave me more trouble than I care to admit.

If there is anything to complain about it has to be the length of the game. You could probably finish it within 2-3 hours without the use of guides, maybe even less than that depending on your puzzle skills.

As far as achievements are concerned, the list is pretty unimaginative. There are a total of 10 achievements each for 10 which unlock at the end of every episode. This game is a must buy for any achievement hunters out there without a doubt.

Initially, I was sceptical. That scepticism didn’t last long. This game is a fantastic little puzzler and will give you a few hours of enjoyment. I know I painted the length of the game as a negative, but when you consider the price of the game sits at just $1.99 it is an absolute steal. I mentioned above that this is a must buy for achievement hunters and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone who enjoys casual puzzlers to give it a go.

A review code for Cubot – The Complexity of Simplicity was provided by the Developer for the purpose of this review.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Great introductions to new mechanics
2) Excellent puzzles
3) More than reasonable price point
CONS:
1) Quite short
2) Achievement list is meh

7.9
GOOD

Review: Draw a Stickman: EPIC

Posted on September 14, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

Draw a Stickman: EPIC

Cost
$7.99 / £7.99
Format
Digital only
Size
0.41 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], Steam

Release Date
09/11/15
Developer
Hitcents.com Inc
Publisher
Hitcents.com Inc
Modes
Single Player

Draw a Stickman: EPIC currently has 30% off the above price and it will be running until 17th September

Have you ever wanted to create your own hero? Have you ever wanted to dictate who it is that needs to be saved? Well Hitcents’ Draw a Stickman: EPIC could fulfill those needs. You take control of your very own hand drawn hero either with hand gestures using the Kinect, or with the controller if Kinect isn’t really your thing.

In Draw a Stickman: EPIC you are tasked with using your created hero to rescue your friend you drew from the evil clutches of Zarp. Throughout your quest you will have to face Zombies, Dragons and massive Armakillos among other creatures trying to stop you from finding your friend. To even the odds in each level you will be able to use different pencils that will aid you in defeating enemies and progressing through each level.

Even stick zombies like brains…

There are 13 main story levels each filled with puzzles and obstacles to navigate. Each level has a hidden puzzle piece and colour buddy to find. If you find all the puzzle pieces, a bonus level is unlocked and each colour buddy gives you access to a new colour to draw with when creating your stickman (you can change your stickman drawing at any time on the level select menu).

There are 4 different pencils you can draw with in the game, each with their own ability. The first pencil is the fire pencil. Just draw some fire and use this to light things on fire such as torches, some enemies, wooden doors etc. The second pencil is the cloud pencil which can create rain to extinguish fires or fill a bucket with water for example. The cloud pencil doubles up to create lightning as well. Just draw a cloud and colour it in and you have lightning which you can use to start up anything electrical. The third pencil is the key pencil, which is pretty self explanatory. Lastly there is the Axe pencil, which again doesn’t really need explaining.

In each level, you will be given the relevant pencils you need to get you through the level and solve the puzzles. As you progress through the game the levels will begin to have several exits to different levels. To find all the exits you’ll need to solve various puzzles making use of all the pencils given to you.

As far as the controls go, they are fairly easy to use. You control your stickman with the left analogue stick, pick your pencil you want to draw with using up and down on the d-pad then confirm your choice with X and you draw by holding down the right trigger. If you are playing with the Kinect, you draw hand gestures. Now I didn’t get too much time in on the Kinect whilst playing but from what I did, I found the gestures to react really well and I didn’t really have any issues with the Kinect picking up my movements at all. But, even when playing with Kinect, you can only use it for drawing things. Regarding playing the game with the controller, every now and then I would stop moving. There is one level where you need to run away from an area to avoid an explosion and on several occasions whenever I changed direction, my stickman would just stop moving. I found using the controller to draw things became a bit tedious because of the lack of fluidity in the movement of the cursor. Trying to draw anything circular was a bit of a nightmare, but that isn’t really something that could be helped when using the controller. Freehand drawing just doesn’t lend itself well to a controller.

I think my biggest issue was having to keep re-drawing axes and/or keys. For whatever reason, after using them 3 times they just disappeared. So having to re-draw them over and over became quite frustrating and that is probably the only reason I still have 200+ trees to chop down to finish the game up completely.

Getting my Paul Bunyan on!

Something I really enjoyed in Draw a Stickman: EPIC was the art style. The simple drawings used to show the environment and the enemies just work so well. It really makes you think you’re wandering around in a sketchbook.

Time for the achievements. There are handful of achievements that require to perform specific tasks throughout the levels, such as firing yourself out of a cannon. You get some for unlocking all the levels, finding all the collectibles and drawing 1000 fires, cutting down 1000 trees and opening 1000 containers. There is one achievement that is a little bit glitchy and that is the Sconce Boss achievement which requires you to light all the torches in the final level. If you do what it says you will be given 5% towards the achievement but there is a way around this. Just keep lighting them, extinguishing them, then re-lighting them and it will eventually unlock.

Overall I was left with a smile on my face after playing through Draw a Stickman: EPIC. The art style is wonderful, the puzzles will sometimes leave you scratching your head but they aren’t too difficult and being able to draw your own hero and your own take on fire, clouds etc make it a joy to play. Yes, there are small issues with the controls sometimes being non responsive and having to re-draw keys and axes can become irritating but that doesn’t take away from the overall experience Draw a Stickman: EPIC gives you as a gamer.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1)Great art style
2)Good to see Kinect being used
3)Fun puzzles
CONS:
1)Controls aren’t great
2)Having to re-draw axes and keys

7.8
GOOD

Review: Octodad – Dadliest Catch

Posted on September 9, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

Octodad – Dadliest Catch

Cost
$14.99 / £11.99
Format
Digital Only
Size
1.08GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4 & PC

Release Date
08/26/15
Developer
Young Horses
Publisher
Young Horses
Modes
Single and multiplayer

Before I dive into my review, I wanted to say upfront that I had never before experienced Octodad in any capacity before playing my review copy and to say I was a bit skeptical would be a gross understatement. Octodad is described by Young Horses as a third-person puzzle / action game and a sequel to the first Octodad game which only appeared on PC. You play the role of an Octopus, living the life of a human trying to keep his true identity a secret from his wife and kids. As the song from the game suggests…nobody suspects a thing.

On the Xbox One version of Octodad: Dadliest Catch you have the choice of single player and co-op. When playing co-op you can assign different limbs of Octodad to different controls making it a truly co-op experience. I wasn’t able to spend too much time playing in co-op but from the time I did play it was a blast!

Right off the bat you are given a thorough yet swift tutorial on the mechanics and controls of the game. There isn’t really much to the controls but to begin with they are infuriating. You lift your ‘legs’ with the trigger buttons, move your ‘arms’ up, down, left and right with the right stick and the left stick controls both arms and legs depending on what you are currently moving around. It may sound a little confusing and at first it will be. There was countless times I had the urge to throw my controller across the room and just quit, especially whilst trying to throw something. As you progress through the game the controls suddenly clicked for me and I was controlling Octodads extremities as if they were a part of my own body. Places that seemed out of reach before became easily accessible once I got used to the controls and I have to say the frustration levels were very low after the first 30 minutes.

Where did I leave that key?

Octodad is split up into 12 story levels, along with 3 extra levels each with varying every day tasks you must perform without rousing suspicion. These activities range from getting married at the alter, to mowing the lawn and going shopping with your family. I know this may sound a bit tedious and dull, but the way in which Octodad moves makes even drinking a cup of coffee a welcoming challenge. Throughout the story I found my self giggling at the characters reactions to some of the things I was doing. It may not sound like much, but I don’t generally laugh out loud at games.

Octodad even has a nemesis in the form of a chef that can see through your disguises. Throughout the game the chef will try his utmost to expose who you are. If people realise you are in fact an Octopus, then it is game over, so you need to be savvy when doing certain tasks so you don’t rouse too much suspicion, especially around Marine Biologists because they can see right through your disguises.

Who knew mowing the lawn could be so dangerous…

Now onto the achievements. Octodad provides plenty of variety on this front. The majority of them are for doing certain tasks throughout the levels, such as throwing five fish into the sea, or throwing the ring on Scarlett’s finger at the wedding. You also get an achievement for finishing the game without dying and collecting all ties (3 per level). Overall, I enjoyed my time grabbing all the achievements in Octodad and it they aren’t as difficult as they first sound.

All in all Octadad is a fun, upbeat game that makes generic tasks fun and enjoyable. Pair that with the catchy soundtrack and you will find yourself playing it with a smile. There are times when the game will rub you up the wrong way with the physics of Octodad, but that slight frustration is worth enduring for the sheer fun factor. My original skepticism was completely misplaced and I am really glad I gave Octodad the time of day.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Strong physics gameplay
2) Co-op is a blast!
3) Hilarious game all round

CONS:
1) It’s a little short

8.2
EXCELLENT

Review: BADLAND: GOTY Edition

Posted on June 13, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

BADLAND: GOTY Edition

Cost
$11.99 / £9.59
Format
Digital
Size
0.26 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4, PS3, PS Vita and Steam

Release Date
06/01/15
Developer
Frogmind, Blitworks & Frozenbyte
Publisher
Frogmind
Modes
Single Player. Local Co-op, Local Multiplayer

A lot of people will probably be aware of BADLAND before it ventured onto the Xbox One because of its huge success on the tablet platform. I am not one of those people, so I came into BADLAND with no expectations what-so-ever.

BADLAND is described as a side scrolling adventure with physics based gameplay. You control a bat like creature called Clony. Clony has the unique ability to create clones of himself by picking up clone power-ups during the levels and without them, you wont be surviving long at all. You are tasked with getting Clony and as many of his clones through each level alive.

Save as many as you can.

You control Clony by tapping or holding the ‘A’ button by making him fly. If you let go of the A button, Clony descends. It took me a while to get used to the physics of the flying but once you’ve got it down the controls work really well giving you a surprising amount of precision, which is definitely needed later on. This really gave it a flappy bird feel with some of the obstacles, but the flying similarities is where it ends.

The single player element to the game has 100 levels to fly through and they are split up into 4 sections, Day I, Daydream, Day II and Doomsday. Each level has an element of danger involved for Clony to avoid. These dangers range from falling rocks to dangerous traps. To help get Clony through the traps, the clone power-up is essential. For the majority of traps you’re only going to be able to make it through alive by sacrificing a large number of your clones. There are many instances in the game where you have to go in two or three separate directions to progress. As an example, in one level, there is a part where you have to send clones to press two different buttons so the barriers open for the surviving clones.

Danger everywhere!

Cloning isn’t the only power-up littered throughout the levels. Other power-ups in the game that can be picked include ones that slow the level down, speeds it up, increases and decreases Clony’s size. These power-ups play a huge part in the game. If you aren’t paying attention to the upcoming obstacle or trap, there is a big chance you are going to die because you didn’t pick up the relevant power-up. Even from the beginning this is a huge part of the game. You need to increase your size to be big enough to move a stick out of your way, then small enough to fit through a tiny gap. For the most part the necessary power-ups are placed in easy to reach areas as you progress through the levels, but there are times when you have to be choosy with which ones to pick up, especially the speed up ones.

With BADLAND being a side-scroller you get an added urgency to the game. If you take too long to progress through an obstacle or trap, the screen keeps on moving and destroys your clones. No more clones on the screen equals gameover. Dying in BADLAND is a given. You’re going to die and you’re going to die a lot. This is where some of the levels can be extremely frustrating. For the majority of the game, the checkpoints given are pretty generous. If you die from a certain trap, you’ll be placed just before the trap so you can go again. However, there are several levels you have to do in one try. None of the one try levels are long, but some of them are nigh on impossible to finish in one try without a lot of trial and error. One of the latter such levels comes to mind where every obstacle I ended up dying and retrying because I kept going the wrong way. The screen moves so fast in some instances, unless you know where you need to go before you get there, you aren’t going to survive. To add to the frustration level, there are many traps that you can only get through with some pretty precise flying. If you keep your cool throughout playing BADLAND then I salute you.

Each level has three missions to complete which usually revolve around dying less than ‘x’ amount of times, saving ‘x’ amount of clones or picking up / not picking up certain power-ups. There are other types of missions, but these make up the majority. Along with these missions being tracked at the end of each level you also have a counter for the number of clones you’ve saved. You can retry each level at any time to try and increase how many clones you saved.

Something I found to be a bit strange was the lack of any sort of story to follow. I assumed there would be some sort of cutscene or something just to give the gamers some more information. I was a bit concerned that I would struggle to stay engaged with it and I’d consider it to be more of a time waster that I could pick up and play for 5 minutes. After playing it for several hours I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was pulled in by the stunning art work and visuals. As you can see from the screenshots, the environment you play in and Clony are black, like shadows and it reminded me very much of Limbo. The backdrops of each level are stunning and vibrant, which really offsets against the shadows brilliantly.

Stunninng.

Along with the single player, BADLAND also offers offline co-op and multiplayer modes for up to 4 players. The co-op mode features the same 100 levels from single player but you each control your own character, giving each level a fresh look. At first I was a bit skeptical at having the same levels in co-op, but doing them in co-op completely changes the way the levels play. Co-op play is probably the best mode BADLAND has to offer and it is a real shame there are no online capabilities because a lot of gamers simply don’t have a local co-op partner to enjoy this mode with. The multiplayer pits you against each other rather than working together. It features 27 stages for you to choose from to battle it out. Again, this mode is really entertaining but could have been so much more accessible as an online feature too.

Everything is better with friends.

Onto the achievements for BADLAND and this list is not one for the feint hearted. You’re going to need to save 3000 clones in single and multiplayer, complete 300 missions in single and muliplayer, completing 80 unique levels without dying as well as doing specific things during certin levels. After finishing all 100 single player levels, I saved roughly 800 clones, so unless you are extremely gifted at this game, you are going to be replaying the levels over and over to increase the amount of clones you have saved. I definitely wouldn’t say to avoid BADLAND because of the achievements list, just be aware of it if you are a completionist, especially if you don’t have anyone to help you out with the local co-op.

BADLAND doesn’t really have a story to follow, but that’s okay. The strong physics based gameplay coupled with the beautifully done visuals more than make up for that. Yes, BADLAND will frustrate you and it really does need some online support because, let’s face it, not everyone has a willing buddy or family member to play with. Even taking those issues into account, BADLAND is a great side-scrolling adventure and I can see why it was so popular on the tablet platform. There might be some people moaning that another mobile game has been ported to the Xbox One and it clearly isn’t ‘next gen’, but BADLAND doesn’t play like a mobile game in the slightest. BADLAND adds to the list that gives gamers another example as to why the ID@Xbox program is so important. It really is bringing great games to the Xbox community and BADLAND is the latest great game.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Strong physics based puzzles
2) Plenty of content
3) Great artwork / visuals

CONS:
1) No online co-op
2) Very frustrating at times

8.6
EXCELLENT

Review: Beach Buggy Racing

Posted on June 5, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

Beach Buggy Racing

Cost
$9.99 / £7.99
Format
Digital only
Size
0.25 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4

Release Date
05/29/15
Developer
Vector Unit
Publisher
Vector Unit
Modes
Single player, Local multiplayer

Beach Buggy Racing is a kart racer brought to the Xbox One by Vector Unit. Originally a free to play mobile game, Vector Unit opted to charge an up front cost with everything available without the need for micro transactions. Did Beach Buggy Racing port over to the Xbox One successfully? Let’s find out.

Upon starting up Beach Buggy Racing you are introduced to the game mechanics, controls etc in a quick tutorial. Once you know how to drive, use your special and fire off the power-ups you can pick up around the track you can get into the meat of the game. Something I struggled with was how to boost off the starting line. I looked everywhere in the tutorials and controls and it isn’t mentioned, but it can be found on the main menu under the Pro Tips section (Tap A just before it says GO!).

As mentioned briefly above, you can pick up power-ups on the track in the form of question marks in floating bubbles, which is pretty much a given in most kart racers. Although this isn’t a new idea, I found it quite staggering just how many power-ups there are available in the game. I think I must have had at least 10 races before I had seen every power-up. They range from shields to protect from damage to remote controllers that lets you control another driver. In total there are 27 unique power-ups available from the beginning. No need to unlock them or buy them with coins. I was blown away by the sheer selection.

Variety is the spice of life!

The actual gameplay for a kart racer is brilliant. The graphics aren’t quite next-gen but the amount of fun to be had more than makes up for that. All 15 tracks have their own themes with several shortcuts you need to learn if you want to be able to compete in the latter stages of the game. My biggest gripe with the gameplay was the cheap AI. On countless occasions I would get spammed by homing missiles just before the finish line, or in a one on one the character I was up against would use their special ability over and over during the race. Although it can be annoying, this is part and parcel of kart racers.

Just one example of the themed tracks.

The game consists of five different modes, Career, Daily Challenges, Championships, Quick Race and Split Screen. You’ll probably be spending the majority of your time in Career, which tasks you with gaining 3 stars on every event for each cup. There are a few different events, Race, Boost Blitz, Elimination, Shooting Gallery, Stampede and Follow the Leader. Each event has specific criteria you have to meet in order to successfully gain 3 stars. The final event for each cup has you going one on one against one of the other characters. If you successfully beat them, then you unlock the next cup and that character to use.

Why is unlocking new characters such a big deal you ask? Well, each character has their own special ability which you can use once per event. As an example, Rez has the Burning Rubber special which gives you a massive speed boost and leaves behind a trail of fire that can knock your opponents of their vehicles.

Whenever you complete a race you get coins, how much depends on how well you do. These coins are then used to upgrade your vehicle. You can upgrade your Acceleration, Top Speed, Handling and Strength. If you want to stay competitive in Beach Buggy Racing, you need to make sure you keep on top of your upgrades. Once you have upgraded your stats to the max you can upgrade your HP to make your vehicle even more powerful, maxing out at 1000HP

Maxed out.

All the vehicles are unlocked from the get go, but if you switch vehicles, remember that the upgrades are only fitted to the car you bought it for. It can be rough going from a fully upgraded 1000HP vehicle to one that has only just been upgraded to 1000HP.

Onto the next mode we have Daily Challenge. Self explanatory really, each day there is a different event and if you complete it you get some coins for your troubles, which increase each day you return and complete another daily challenge.

In the Championships mode you have a number of events to complete. If you place 1st overall you get three stars and can progress to the next Championship for that car. Each car has 4 Championships, 100HP, 250HP, 500HP and 1000HP. If you want to complete all of them you are going to have to upgrade all of your vehicles to 1000HP, which is going to take some time.

Quick Race is self explanatory as is split-screen. You are able to play up to six players in split screen mode which is nice. I played a few events with my four year old son and we had a blast. The controls are simple enough for younger gamers to have fun whilst still being enjoyable for older gamers too.

Six players.

The biggest selling point for me, by far is the amount of content you get. Had this kept the free to play model, you would have been drip fed everything and it probably would have been tedious to unlock the stuff you want to use in the game, or expensive. With everything available it gives you a vast variety of things to do. With the Career mode alone you’ve got yourselves a decent sized kart racer.

For the achievement hunters out there, the achievements aren’t going to come thick and fast. You’re going to need to complete all championships for five cars, earn all three stars in every event in the Career mode and the two that really stand out are for earning 1,000,000 coins and driving 9,289km (both of which I am currently at 6%). There are also some random ones for using certain power-ups which are a bit luck based unless you can do them in split-screen. So if you are a completionist, just be aware that Beach Buggy Racing isn’t going to be a quick completion.

Beach Buggy Racing has a lot of similarities to most kart racers, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One of my all time favourites growing up as a kid was Mario Kart and although it isn’t on the same level, it’s good enough to want me to keep coming back for more and put a smile on my face when I play it. The tracks are all unique, the gameplay is immensely fun and the amount of content on offer is pretty staggering. It isn’t perfect though. The AI can be frustrating and cheap at times, the graphics aren’t really next-gen level and there is definitely a need for some online multiplayer. But these are just small annoyances which can most certainly be overlooked. If you’re a fan of kart racers, be sure to give Beach Buggy Racing a go.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Huge array of content
2) Unique tracks
3) Brilliant gameplay

CONS:
1) Needs online multiplayer
2) Graphics aren’t great
3) AI can be cheap

8.8
EXCELLENT

Trailer: Q.U.B.E – Director’s Cut

Posted on June 5, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

GripGames recently announced Toxic Games’ physics-based puzzler was heading to consoles. On the heels of the original trailer they have just released another trailer featuring gameplay of what to expect in Q.U.B.E – Director’s Cut on your way to becoming Q.U.B.E Champion.

Q.U.B.E. – Director’s Cut is scheduled for release later this Summer, with no set date as of yet. Be sure to keep checking GameGuideCentral.com for all the latest news and info as well as an in-depth review and achievement guide when the game releases.

Review: Ultratron

Posted on June 5, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

Ultratron

Cost
$9.99 / £7.99
Format
Digital only
Size
0.27 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Steam

Release Date
05/08/15
Developer
Carbon
Publisher
Curve Digital
Modes
Single player, Local Co-op

I’ve heard a lot about Robotron 2084 and just how amazing it is but I am ashamed to say I have never played it. When I first started to play Ultratron I was hearing it was a throwback to Robotron 2084, so that’s got to be a good thing right?

For those of you who don’t know anything (like me) about Robotron 2084 it was a top down twin-stick shooter and Ultraton fits the same mold. Ultratron is extremely fast paced and frenetic in it’s gameplay which pits you against hordes of enemy robots wave after wave.

You start off as a lonely robot with the ability to shoot. As you progress through the waves you get access to more and more upgrades to enhance your destructive abilities. These range from smart bombs and grenades to pets and drones (more on those in a minute). Every time an enemy is destroyed they leave behind dots which can be collected and used as credits to buy the various upgrades on offer at the end of each wave. Along with upgrades that make you more powerful there are defensive upgrades too. You can even upgrade your life count (shields) which have a set price based on how many you currently own.

More upgrades than you can shake a stick at!

As I mentioned briefly earlier, you can buy pets and there are three to choose from; Shooty Pet, Laser Pet and Rocket Pet. They can each be upgraded and leveled up to increase their power and once you own them they cannot die. If they get hit they just stop fighting for you until you walk over them to save them. By the time you have leveled them all up you will be feeling unstoppable. The sheer amount of rockets and bullets flying around the screen by your pets is crazy.

Along with upgrades you can buy, there are power-ups which get dropped by little spiders. Again, there’s an array to choose from and if you decide not to pick them up, they stay there until you do or they get blown up meaning you can stack power-ups making you truly unstoppable for a limited time.

Three times the fun.

Ultratron doesn’t really have a story to follow but unlike most other games, that doesn’t really detract from the experience. In all honesty, any sort of storyline would probably detract from the gameplay and serve more as a slight breather from the fast paced action.

Each chapter is split into 10 waves, the tenth wave being a boss. In each chapter you also get challenge waves to shoot all the spiders, dodge waves to dodge all enemies without shooting them and assault waves for a chance to earn some extra credits.

The boss waves start off quite tame. At the end of the boss wave a massive robot appears slowly moving around the screen shooting you. Obviously the further you go in the game the tougher the bosses get. As an example, level 100 pits you against three of them at once…and it gets manic.

Uh-oh…

The visuals for Ultratron really suit the game. The 8bit/16bit graphics do it no harm what-so-ever and remember that’s coming from a guy who didn’t play Robotron. The colors really pop and the neon purples for the eyes of the pets etc are pretty cool too. The music is just as good as the gameplay, it fits with the craziness going on screen and keeps you engaged really well.

My only real hang up with Ultratron is the lack of online multiplayer. It does feature a local co-op experience but I didn’t really have anyone to try it out with for a prolonged period of time. What I was able to play it was just as solid as the single player experience.

As far as the achievements go, there are a handful of achievements for stacking certain power ups and upgrades to make super weapons. This requires a bit of planning and careful movements so you don’t accidentally pick up a power-up. Others include beating certain bosses, leveling up your pets and maxing out your shields. There is currently 1 glitched achievement but the Developer’s are aware of this and a patch is incoming. So don’t let the achievements scare you away from this great title.

Ultratron had a lot to live up to considering it was being compared to Robotron, and as far as I am concerned it delivered on all accounts. Although online multiplayer or co-op would have been excellent, there is more than enough going for it to make up for it. Ultratron should be held in it’s own esteem as a wonderfully made twin-stick shooter and it deserves to be mentioned in the same sentences as the best ones out there.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Amazing twin stick shooter gameplay
2) Diverse upgrades
3) Regular checkpoints

CONS:
1) No online multiplayer

9.0
PHENOMENAL

Achievement Guide: Beach Buggy Racing

Posted on May 28, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

This achievement guide is currently a work in progress and I’ll be adding more information to it as I get it.

Beginner – 10gs – Earn all stars in Easy Street

Come first in every event in Easy Street

Contender – 20gs – Earn all stars in Coconut Cup

Come first in every event in Coconut Cup

Competitor – 30gs – Earn all stars in Sunshine Sprint

Come first in every event in Sunshine Sprint

Professional – 40gs – Earn all stars in Chowder Bowl

Come first in every event in Chowder Bowl

Expert – 50gs – Earn all stars in Tropical Twist

Come first in every event in Tropical Twist

Champion – 60gs – Earn all stars in Pineapple Punch

Come first in every event in Pineapple Punch

Superhero – 70gs – Earn all stars in Tidal Rush

Come first in every event in Tidal Rush

Legend – 80gs – Earn all stars in Typhoon Trophy

Come first in every event in Typhoon Trophy

Race Team – 10gs – Recruit 5 drivers

A driver is unlocked when you beat them in the final level of each cup. Beat 5 other drivers to get this.

Color Theory – 10gs – Paint a car

Simply change the color of your car in the Upgrade menu.

Metric Century – 20gs – Drive 100km

No quick way to do this, it’ll come with time, just drive 100km. You can track your progress by clicking on the graph in the top right corner

One Million Meters – 30gs – Drive 1000km

No quick way to do this, it’ll come with time, just drive 1000km. You can track your progress by clicking on the graph in the top right corner

Trans-Siberian Railway – 50gs – Drive 9,289km

No quick way to do this, it’ll come with time, just drive 9,289km. You can track your progress by clicking on the graph in the top right corner

The 1% – 50gs – Earn over 1,000,000 coins in your career

Another grinder. Simply earn 1,000,000 coins. Make sure to do the dailies every day to maximise your coin gain.

Gull Hater – 10gs – Smash 100 seagulls

Seagulls can be found all over the races in the Easy Street, just drive over 100 of them.

Crab Terminator – 10gs – Smash 40 crabs

Two crabs can be found in the Crab Cove track which is race number 2 in Easy Street. Keep driving over them.

Fire Eater – 10gs – Smash 20 lava monsters

Can be found on Death Bat Alley, they fall from the sky.

Gardener – 10gs – Smash 500 palm trees

Palm trees can be found all over the races in Easy Street, just drive through 500 of them.

Skull Go Boom – 20gs – Smash 50 death bats

Can be found on Death Bat Alley. They swoop down at you so don’t worry about hitting them in the air

Cry of the Yeti – 10gs – Smash 25 yeti

Yetis can be found on the Blizzard Vale race track. I was only able to find one to smash through though.

Unhappy Feet – 10gs – Smash 100 penguins

Loads of penguins can be found on Glacier Gulch. Just drive through 100 of them.

Reckless – 20gs – Win a 1000 HP Race without using the brake

Simply don’t touch LT and go on to win the race. Cannot be done in split-screen

Skillz – 20gs – Win a 1000 HP Race without resetting

Don’t let your car reset (go back to the middle of the track flashing). Could be obtained with Reckless but if you have to reset when going for Reckless, just take your time and play it safe. Cannot be done in split-screen.

Pure Speed – 10gs – Win a Race without using a Powerup

Easily done in the first race. Just be sure not to press A when you pickup a Powerup.

Comeback – 20gs – Go from last to first place on the last lap of a Race

Hang back in last place until the beginning of the final lap then go for first place. Easily done on 2 lap races.

Tastes Like Chicken – 10gs – Win with a chicken on your face

Either drop a chicken crate just before the finish line on the penultimate lap for yourself to drive through it or hope one of the AI does. Or if you have two controllers this can be done in split-screen.

Egg Finder – 10gs – Find 1 Easter Egg

See Egg Hunter below.

Challenger – 10gs – Beat a Daily Challenge event

Daily challenges can be found in the main menu. Simply meet the criteria for the challenge.

Super Challenger – 30gs – Beat 7 Daily Challenges in a row

Daily challenges can be found in the main menu. Make sure to come back each day and beat 7 in a row.

Egg Hunter – 30gs – Find 10 Easter Eggs

Below are the locations of 10 Easter Eggs. There is one in an earlier track but I couldn’t get the timing right.

Precision Driving – 10gs – Score 25 in a Follow the Leader event

To get this you need to grab all 25 orbs from the leader in a Follow the Leader event. If you miss any you will have to restart. The earliest opportunity to get this is event number 12 in the Sunshine Cup.

Leap of Faith – 10gs – Successfully complete the triple-jump shortcut in Death Bat Alley

Just use the shortcut in Death Bat Alley shown below.

Turtle Power – 20gs – Bounce off three different turtles in one river crossing in Dino Jungle

Just before the first bridge crossing in the final race of the first cup you will come across a sharp right turn. Keep going forward but drive quite slowly otherwise you will overshoot the final turtle. I actually missed the second turtle but you just float into it.

I’m in Your Head – 10gs – Use Remote Control to detonate a car under the Nitro effect

3-for-1 – 10gs – Take out three drivers with one Death Bat Powerup

When you get the Death Bat powerup make sure you are at the back of the pack and try to wait until some of the AI are lined up in front of you. It works like the Blue shell in Mario Kart.

Going, Going, Gone – 10gs – Use Earth Strike on an opponent who’s experiencing Low Gravity

When you see cars floating in the air they have Low Gravity. If you have the Earth Strike powerup use it whilst they are floating.

I’m Helping – 10gs – Use Fireball on an opponent who is frozen

Fire a fireball at a frozen opponent. Again, you’ll have to count on the AI to do the freezing for you.

Really I’m Helping – 10gs – Use Freeze Ray on an opponent who is on fire

Same as above just the other way around.

Long Jump – 20gs – Jump 400 meters

Dentist – 20gs – Knock the Tiki Temple’s teeth out

On the Tiki Temple race track you jump off a ramp and into the mouth of the Tiki Temple. You need to have at least a 250HP car to be able to reach his teeth and using Rez’s ability. Other characters can be used if your buggy is has a higher HP. I Tried it in split-screen and it didn’t unlock.

Giddyup – 10gs – Do a jump start

To do a jump start you need to press A between the three dots and ‘GO!’. I would say you need to press A closer to GO! than the three dots. Make sure you don’t hold down A.

I’ll Get That – 10gs – Knock the penguin off the mammoth tusk

On the Glacier Gulch race track you will come across a penguin on the top of a mammoths tusk. Just drive up the tusk and drive over the penguin.

Switcheroo – 20gs – Use B’Zorp to teleport into 1st place within 100m of the finish line

You do this against the AI if you really want to but you will need to unlock B’Zorp first by beating him then using his teleport skill within 100m of the finish line to teleport to first place. If you have two controllers, start up a split-screen game and get player two quite close to the finish line then park them up and catch up with them. Use your teleport skill within 100m of the finish line on the final lap and the achievement is yours.

1-Time Champion – 20gs – Win one 1000 HP Championship

On the main screen you need to select ‘Championships’ and win all championships leading up to and including the 1000HP championship.

5-Time Champion – 40gs – Win five 1000 HP Championships

Same as above, but you need to do it with 5 different cars.

Review: Mega Coin Squad

Posted on May 28, 2015 by ChunkehMunkeh

Mega Coin Squad

Cost
$14.99 / £11.99
Format
Digital
Size
0.88GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed],Steam

Release Date
05/20/15
Developer
Big Pixel Studios
Publisher
Adult Swim Games
Modes
Single player, local multiplayer

Mega Coin Squad, brought to us by London based Big Pixel Studios is a frenetic 2D action-platformer for 1-4 players locally. You have the option of 5 playable characters from the beginning (with another character being unlocked later in the game), each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Each character has a short backstory as to why they are on Mega Coin Island, but long story short, they all need money and Mega Coin Island is the answer.

Your goal is to make your way through Mega Coin Island collecting coins and banking them in the piggy bank on each stage. At the beginning of each stage you will be given your target number of coins to bank, which you can do at any time by returning to the piggy bank in the centre of the stage by pressing Y. If you get hit whilst holding coins, not only will you lose a life, you will also lose the coins on hand at the time. There are power ups which decrease the amount of coins lost when hit but more on that later.

Each character starts with the ability to jump, dash and shoot fireballs. The attributes that differ are Speed, Acceleration, Weight and Power. As you can see from the screenshot below based on best times, Chunk was my favourite character (quite fitting), simply because of his power.

My doppelganger minus the grey in his beard.

During each stage the landscapes will change periodically giving you new opportunities to grab coins and also bring along new traps and enemies. You really need to pick your battles depending on your current upgrades and power-ups. You don’t really want to be messing with spike pits unless you have the invincibility power-up handy for example.

In Mega Coin Squad there isn’t really an option to take your time and be cautious. Each stage has a time limit and if you don’t bank the amount of coins required, you need to restart. This keeps the gameplay fast paced and edgy. On more than one occasion I found myself on the edge of my seat trying to avoid the traps and enemies because I didn’t want to get hit with 900+ coins on hand.

Mega Coin Squad is split up into 4 different areas, each with 4 stages. In the final stage of each area you are tasked with defeating all the enemies that spawn in waves and banking the Mega Coin for that area. These final stages don’t have any challenges attached to them and they are generally a lot easier than the regular stages which I found to be a bit strange.

Each stage has 3 challenges to aim for. Don’t get hit, bank all coins needed in one go and beat the par time. For each challenge you complete, you get a Diamond to obtain a random upgrade. These upgrades range from new weapons to double jumping and power-ups you can pick up during the stages. With these being random, each play through almost always needs to be approached differently. A few times I found myself a few stages in praying for the double jump ability to be unlocked because without it, the ever changing landscapes are harder to reach.

The local co-op for Mega Coin Squad is really where the game shines. You have 4 game modes to choose from, Bank the coins, Mega coins, Death match and Hold the rainbow. Bank the coins and Mega coins works similarly to their single player counterparts, Death match speaks for itself and Hold the rainbow is like the Oddball game mode in Halo. You have to find and keep hold of the Rainbow ring whilst moving to generate coins. I played local co-op with my 4 year old son and we had a blast. It really had a super smash bros. vibe to it for me, not necessarily in gameplay but how manic it was battling to grab the most coins.

Multiplayer goodness.

Even though the soundtrack and 16-bit graphics are most definitely retro, it doesn’t feel like an outdated game. I know there’s been a big influx of retro styled games, but it really works with Mega Coin Squad. Big Pixel Studios really did a great job with the music. It keeps in sync with the frantic pace of the gameplay and it certainly kept me pumped to keep on playing.

Even though the gameplay is great, there are a couple of niggles in Mega Coin Squad. Firstly is the length of the single player. My first playthrough clocked in at around an hour, and that was with completing all challenges for every stage. This could be quite disappointing for some but if you are wanting to complete the game, achievements and all, you’re going to have to play through it at least 6 times plus bank a total of 100,000 coins.

My only other issue was the lack of online multiplayer. That would have been immense. Not everyone has 3 other people to play with at home, so online multiplayer really would have added so much more to an already fun filled game.

All in all, Mega Coin Squad is a fantastic, action packed platformer with very little single player content and lacking an online multiplayer. However, don’t let that put you off. The gameplay is intense and brilliant, the random upgrade system along with the random environments gives you plenty of variety within the small world and the local multiplayer is crazy fun.

A digital copy of Mega Coin Squad was provided by the Developers for the purpose of this review.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Fast paced platforming
2) Great upgrade system
3) Amazing local multiplayer
4) Local co-op is blast

CONS:
1) It’s over too quickly
2) No online multiplayer

8.3
EXCELLENT