Geek Culture Reviews

Retro inspired console, Evercade set to see new titles... Blaze Entertainment , the creators of the incredibly successful Evercade console have announced today that not only is it releasing 5 new cartridges this year, with the  Worms Collection and Indie Heroes Collection 1  available to pre order now.    The news of these 5 new cartridges will no doubt delight fans of the retro console, and brings the Evercades cartridge collection to 19 in total. These new games consist of - Worms Armageddon, Sensible Soccer, Brawl Brothers, Cannon Fodder and Soccer Kid. When you add these to the titles already available such as - Pac Man, Earthworm Jim and, Double Dragon the Evercade is shaping up to be a brilliant choice for retro gaming fans and newcomers alike!  Japanese developer, Jaleco will be represented on the system for the first time this April. The developer who's emphasis is on brawlers, platformers and action packed sports titles will be represented in all their 8-b

Rob Lake reviews Red Colony on Nintendo Switch... Red Colony is a 2-D survival-horror title that's been developed by Shinyuden . In Red Colony , you fight through the zombie-infested colony, whilst looking for your daughter, all whilst using some pretty colourful language and wearing very little clothing.  Boobs, anime, zombies and sci-fi. What's not to like? Well, when it comes to Red Colony the real question is " what's to like ?"  The story is your typical average survival-horror affair. Set amid a zombie apocalypse our protagonist is focused on finding the cause of the outbreak, and more surprisingly her cheating husband. Yes, Red Colony is pretty much a zombie parody of The Jeremy Kyle Show (or Jerry Springer to American readers). The real objective for Maria - our character is to find her young daughter, but a massive chunk of the dialogue does infact focus on her husband's affair with their child's nanny. It's ridiculous and incr

Rob Lake checks out Space Bastards... I'm back once again with another Kickstarter Spotlight. This time in the spotlight is Space Bastards Vol. 2 by Eric Peterson and Joe Aubrey. Space Bastards Vol. 2 is a high-octane, outrageous comic, filled with murderous mailmen, angry accountants, terrible mentors, aliens, space pirates, betrayal and a whole lot of punching?  From that description alone Space Bastards Vol. 2 sounds like my sort of comic! And that's not before we see who's part of the over-sized hardcover comic book!  With included works by  2000AD Alumni Boo Cook, Colin MacNeil and Clint Langley , and backed up by co-creator Darick Robertson, Space Bastards Vol. 2 is shaping up to already be a must-have for anyone's collection. Just looking at the artwork on display on the campaign page sucks you into hitting that "Back This Project" button. So, what exactly is  Space Bastards?    " In the future, violence is everywhere. Cor

IGF-winning archeology game Heaven's Vault is out now for Nintendo Switch... Widely acclaimed archeology themed narrative game Heaven's Vault is out now on the Nintendo Switch. The sprawling open-world game features a massive branching narrative, as well as an entire alien language to decipher.  Following on from the titles PC and PlayStation 4 release Heaven's Vault won the IGF award for Excellence in Narrative, and was also recognised by BAFTA, the New Yorker, Mashable, Paste and Gameindustry.biz as one of 2019's best games.  Game developer inkle have optimised this new version of Heaven's Vault for the Nintendo Switch and now includes support for both the Switch's touchscreen and Joy-Cons In the Nebula, far-flung moons are linked by a network of rivers in the sky... but the rivers are drying up. Robots once moved freely among humans... until the robots were buried, along with their secrets. An extinct civilization foretold the fut

Rob Lake reviews Redout: Space Assault... Redout: Space Assault is a prequel to futuristic racing game Redout . Whilst the two games are vastly different in every way they do share the same universe. The folk over at 34BigThings have done a grand job in creating Redout: Space Assult and it perfectly hits that on the rails shooter itch. Whilst Redout: Space Assault doesn't revolutionise its chosen genre, there's quite a bit of enjoyment to be had. If you're a fan of classics such as After Burner or Space Harrier and even StarFox , then strap yourself in and come with me as I hyper-jump into this review... The story of Redout: Space Assault is pretty simple. You play as Leon who is an ace fighter pilot who's wrapped up in a bit of a predicament that surrounds the colonisation of Mars. Leon finds himself at the mercy of the Poseideon Security Forces, and as such he and his Bravo Squad colleagues are tasked with regularly protecting the forces assets. Sup

Boom! Studios announce 'BRZRKR' #1 - Dan Mora Variant Cover... The limited-run series envisioned by Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves , about an immortal being's eternal struggle with the truth about his hidden existence, is shaping up to be either something pretty good. Or an over-hyped mess.  Either way Boom! Studios are in hype-mode as the publisher has announced yet another variant cover design for issue #1. This time around it's over to Dan Mora . This variant cover is already shaping up to be a sort after item as its being offered as a 1-in-200 incentive to comic book stores.  This new Dan Mora variant joins the long line of other BRZRKR variants already announced. With other covers being designed by Mark Brooks, Lee Bermej o  and an ultra-rare 1-in-1000 cover by Jonboy Mayers that is also signed by Reeves !  Check out both the synopsis to the twelve-issue series below and Dan Mora's variant cover too!  ‘The man known only as B. is half-mortal and

The Next-Gen Pinball Experiance Is Coming Later This Year... The Pinball maestro's at Zen Studios have given us our first look at the next-generation of Pinball FX .   Pinball FX also promises to be Zen's most ambitious Pinball project to date. The longtime Pinball developer is adding a wealth of new gameplay options to entice our inner Pinball Wizard. One new edition is Pinball Royale, which promises to be a frantic exciting multi-player battle of Pinball supremacy, whilst adhering to those Battle Royale rules. Zen Studios have also revealed that the game will also come with a Career Mode, Clan Functions, Challenge Modes and more.  To go along with these additions and the new visual updates, the online Leagues, Tournaments and Online Play are also receiving an update to bring the community closer together. The community really are the heart of Pinball FX and since its original launch on the Xbox 360 back in 2007, the passion shown has shaped the game into what

Rob Lake reviews 2000 AD Prog 2216... It's Wednesday and the UK is still in its national lock down. Thankfully Tharg is back with another trip into the Thrillverse, to keep the glimmer of normality alive.  It's much the same this week as we return to the strips that have been part of the Prog since the Christmas special. It is however the finale to Desperadlands this week as Michael Carroll's tale comes to its conclusion. We also get Durham Red still going all Assault on Precinct 13 , Hershey being brutal, Sláine being Sláine , and Proteus Vex is still full of galactic weirdness. Judge Dredd: Desperadlands - Part 4 - Final Part Desperadlands has had a pretty strong Spaghetti Western vibe running through its four-part run. With the finale Micheal Caroll gives us the Law Vs. Bandit showdown as Dredd and Syan Hegedos face-off against each other.  Dispite all of this deep down Desperadlands has really been a tale of family, as both Meekins and Hegedos fight

The Beast comes in many forms... With one week to go before Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood makes its way into the wilds, Developer NACON has given us a new trailer. This new trailer - which you can view below - highlights the many forms our mysterious character can take.  The video does a grand job in highlighting one of the many gameplay mechanics of Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood , and it's easy to see that the Garou Cahal is not a beast to be trifled with. The three forms are Lupus, Homid and Crinos and each has a different speciality tied to it. Choosing the Lupus form will allow for easier exploration and infiltration. Whilst choosing the Homid form will let you become stealthy for those silent takedowns and sneaking through the enemies defences. Crinos, however, is pure Werewolf mode where you can unleash the beast within through your teeth and claws.  This unique transformation style allows for gameplay to be mixed on the fly, with the

Rob Lake previews Kaze and the Wild Masks... 90's inspired platformer Kaze and the Wild Masks is making its way onto Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Google Stadia in the coming months.  The well-acclaimed platformer has already received critical acclaim from both players and press alike, during its early development stage. Coincidentally the Xbox One demo has also achieved a 4.6 out of 5 rating, which for a demo is pretty good going! Developed by PixelHive and published by SOEDESCO , the platformer sees a blend of classic 90's action-platforming gameplay mixed with today's standards. With colourful visuals and a striking soundtrack PixelHive attempts to recreate the 90's settings, whilst taking advantage of today's Hardware and higher resolution of visuals. PixelHive have also paid attention to what gamers want and have given Kaze and the Wild Masks a charismatic character and story that's mixed with engaging and unique gameplay

Rob Lake reviews Zombie Army 4... Zombies have taken a lot of stick over the years. The undead menace has appeared in a multitude of video games throughout the last 10-15 years. They are an incredibly versatile enemy and as such can be used within both horror ( Resident Evil) and comedy ( Stubbs The Zombie, Dead Rising ) settings. One other Zombie trend is to see the shambling rotting bodies used in an alt-history setting.  Call of Duty 's Zombie mode is, of course, the heavy hitter amongst these. But publisher Rebellion has its own alternative to the World War 2 scenario -  Zombie Army.  Zombie Army started life as a " What-If  " to the developer's popular Sniper Elite franchise. In it you would fight the undead through various WW2 settings whilst completing various objectives along the way. The game would also feature the tight sniping mechanics that made Sniper Elite a hit, but rather than Nazi troops your fighting Zombie Nazi troops instead. Since

Rob Lake takes a look at the Wallop! Annual Kickstarter... These last few months I've recently found myself turning towards Kickstarter to find new comics to read. I've always been a fan of the juggernaut that is Marvel , but since the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) turned up and oversaturated everything, I decided to explore the often neglected indie scene of comics.  By doing so I've come across a few incredible independent comic publishers - and made a few friends along the way. My latest finding was Wallop! Annual , which was all due to being tagged in a tweet by Sentinal artist Ed Doyle . Upon checking out the Wallop! campaign page on Kickstarter I was instantly impressed by what creators  John Jackson and Brian Clarke  have put together.  The Wallop! Annual intends to be a homage to the Beano and Dandy that's been kicked into the 21st century. The annual will feature 68-pages of fun and laughter all within a hardback cover.  Here

Rob Lake previews Blazer!... Steve MacManus , a name synonymous with 2000AD is back with a new anthology project called Blazer!  *Edit* Since the publishing of this article, Blazer! has been fully funded in a staggering 40 minutes!  - get on backing this project before it really is too late!  During the 1980's MacManus was the Editor over at 2000AD and oversaw projects by both John Wagner and Pat Mills that went towards establishing what the long-running British serial comic is today. Under his tenure as Tharg, MacManus oversaw the creations of many characters and stories for 2000AD that many of us still talk about to this day. To a lot of us Steve MacManus is a legend, and quite rightly so! Thankfully MacManus is back and this time the veteran Editor has teamed up with The77's Ben Cullis to launch their vision of - Blazer!  So what exactly is Blazer! ? Well anyone who's read MacManus ' fictional tale -   The Sheerglam Conspiracy would of heard the