Geek Culture Reviews

Could you survive the harsh environment of the Great Ursee?  Bulwark is the second title in the trilogy of games that’ll eventually make up the Falconeer Chronicles . Created by solo developer, Tomas Sala , the trilogy focuses on the inhabitants of the vast water world, The Great Ursee. A few years ago the debut title, The Falconeer took us to the skies on the back of a great falcon as we battled across various scenarios that depicted a war between the various houses that call the Ursee their home. This second game changes perspectives as we leave the skies behind to become city builders on the Ursee’s rocky archipelagos. The third game - when it’s released - will then change the perspective again, but for now, Sala hasn’t revealed much as to how.  For a bit of perspective, I’ve delved into The Falconeer before for both Geek Culture Reviews and further back, Flickering Myth. While my original review for FM is lost to the annals of time, you can check out my Nintendo Switch r...

Alison and her entourage head to London for the next stop of their tour, but someone has other plans… Dazzler is the one ‘ From The Ashes… ’ comic that surprised me. While the post-Krakoa narrative has so far centred on two separate X-Men teams, Wolverine, Mystique, and the new Sentinels, Dazzler wasn’t a character I’d have expected to steal the limelight of this new era. Even though we’re still dealing with the opening act to Jason Loo and Rafael Loureio ’s series, Dazzler has so far been the fun side to the all-encompassing ‘ From The Ashes… ’ narrative umbrella.  Taking place straight after her eventful concert in L.A., Alison heads straight backstage and wants answers from Scorpia. The wayward mutant doesn’t give up any names as to who hired her, but she does let slip that someone wants Dazzler’s concerts to fail. As Multiple Man takes Scopia off to the awaiting authorities, Alison has a catch-up with her beau, Dale, to then reveal that she’s off to London on the next stop of...

The Grey Phantom returns once again for more fiendish thrills…  With Halloween just around the corner, Dave Heeley and Andrew Richmond have been busy in the crypt of the Grey Phantom to bring us another tantalising issue full of chills and thrills. We’re also at a turning point (quite literally) as not only is this issue a jumping-on point for the horror anthology - but it has quite a twist in the middle. What do I mean? Well, come with me as we enter the crypt!  With ‘77 Publishing’s  previous issues, I will try to refrain from deep diving into each strip. I feel that these anthologies take away the overall enjoyment and mystery of what the creative team has in store.  As always there are a lot of strips included in This Comic is Haunted that outstrips its RRP of £9.94. Across this issue, we get a whopping 70 pages (not including both covers) full of spine-chilling tales, body shock horrors, and those tales that go bump in the night. For those who’ve yet to experi...

The Galaxies Greatest comic once again heads to newsstands this Wednesday, and we have the official preview for you right here… “This week sees Nightmare New York transition to a new artistic team, as David Roach and Peter Doherty join the story. They're following on from the work established by industry legend John Burns, who retired after starting the series and drawing the first four instalments. Sadly, John would pass away at the end of 2023, shortly after stepping away from the desk - so this story acts as a tribute to his pioneering work across comics. A landmark career!”   Joining Nightmare New York is ; Judge Dredd: Hater, The Out: Book Four,  Brink: Consumed, and Rogue Trooper. 2000 AD Prog 2405 is set to launch this Wednesday, 23rd October.  For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on  X ,  TikTok ,  Facebook , and  Bluesky .  

Astlibra Gaiden: Cave of Phantom Mist is the standalone expansion to developer KEIZO’s hit, Astlibra. Taking place during the middle section of the base game, Astlibra Gaiden: Cave of Phantom Mist aims to portray another side of the wider narrative.  I’ll admit now that I’ve never experienced Astlibra , so when I was greeted with a spoiler warning, it did not phase me. I had no emotional attachments to these characters, so finding out the events of the first game didn’t bother me at all. That being said, if you’re currently playing through Astlibra it’s probably best to finish it first before tackling this one. You have been warned. Taking place around the middle portion of the Astlibra Revolution , we’re placed in the role of the nameless daughter of the settlement baker. With the protagonist of the main game away on that adventure, it’s down to you to protect the village from the encroaching darkness. This standalone adventure soon entwines with the original story as you’ll soon...

How to solve a problem like Mystique?  Another week, and we’ve got yet another new X-Men-related release under the “ From the Ashes… ” umbrella. This time we’re catching up with Mystique as she aims to show the world why she is one mutant that should be feared. Holding Mystique’s reigns for this outing is Declan Shalvey, who takes the shape-shifting mutant into the espionage world of Nick Fury.  How it all comes together? Well, come with me as I find out… First off there’s very little story within this opening that gives away what exactly Mystique is up to. All we know is that she’s after something (or someone) called “Protozoa” and Maverick has intel on where this mysterious MacGuffin is located. As such we follow Mystique as she heads off to Germany to lure Maverick to her. Deciding to portray herself as Sabertooth, it isn’t long before Mystique and Maverick meet and a bloody - yet quick - battle ensues.   We then switch perspective to Nick Fury Jr as he’s bogged down ...

What would you do if you could experience life as someone else?  Fresh from his writing duties with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Rogue Sun, Ryan Parrott takes us away from superheroes with the dark sci-fi tale Vicarious . Set within a near-future San Francisco, Vicarious takes us to a world where Proxies exist for the entertainment of the rich and famous. Teaming up with artist Eleonora Carlini , Parrott takes us into the mind of twenty-something; Justin Bright. Down on his luck and needing a way to make ends meet Justin soon finds himself drawn into the world of Proxies - humans who are implanted with technology that allows anyone to live through them. It isn’t long before Justin is experiencing his first encounter as a proxy and it’s one that’ll open his mind up to a new form of excitement and danger.  Straight from the off Parrott throws us into Justin’s life. We see his unsuccessful attempts at gaining employment, to being chased up by his landlord for his rent arrea...

Even Angels suffer with déjà vu …  The Holy Gosh Darn is one of those rare games that utilises its comedy elements to great effect. The laugh-out-loud comedy mixes well with its time-travel gameplay loop to create a game that’ll entertain you from start to finish. With The Holy Gosh Darn , developer Perfectly Paranormal continues their journey that started with Manual Samuel and Helheim Hassle - yet refines it in every way.  Religion is at the heart of The Holy Gosh Darn as we’re thrown into the role of the angel Cassiel of Celerity. Our introduction to Cassiel shows that this isn’t a game that’s going to take religion seriously as we see the wayward Angel playing a game of “guess the dog”. It turns out that the old saying “every dog goes to heaven” is true and heaven is overrun with deceased pooches. As such Cassiel and her fellow Angel Pureil have turned the mundane crossing of the pooch into a game - a game that’s taken place across thousands of years!  After a fe...

Skynet failed in terminating John Connor, but it has a few more plans up its cybernetic sleeves…  Fresh from his stint with the Xenomorph in Marvel’s Aliens , writer Declan Shalvey takes on another icon of 80’s cinema. This time he swaps acid blood for cold, hard steel as we get a new entry in the Terminator franchise. With Skynet’s war on the Connors dead in the water, the insidious artificial intelligence has developed a new way of terminating humanity by targeting the human resistance before Judgement Day even happened. With Terminators sent through time to various time zones, the war of the future is happening in the past. With time literally on Skynet’s side, will anyone survive to take the fight into the future?  Straight off the bat, Shalvey gives us an opening narrative that throws a curveball to established Terminator lore. Taking place in 2018 we see a lush green environment that’s a far cry from the desolate wastelands that are synonymous with the series. Here, it...

The X-Men’s most fearsome foe gets an upgrade…   Sentinels is the latest story to come from the wider ‘ From the Ashes ’ X-Men narrative that’s taking mutant-kind into new territory since Krakoa’s fall. Where the majority of these new stories have placed their focus on the heroes, Sentinels follows a group of Sentinel-tech enhanced hunters who operate out of Greymalkin Penitentiary - the former Xavier mansion. With human and mutant relationships ever more strained after the events of Krakoa, can these new Sentinels keep the fragile peace?  The set-up to Sentinels is pretty simple and writer Alex Paknadel doesn’t pull any punches in telling us that we’re following the bad guys of this new era. Lawrence Trask (the son of the Sentinel creator, Bolivar Trask) is front and centre as he’s been hired to hunt down the mutant kinds most wanted. In true Trask fashion, Lawrence utilises Sentinel technology to turn injured veterans into cyborg warriors with the sole purpose of hunting ...