AuthorDaniel S. Liuzzi
399 stories
GamingNewsProductSci-Fi
Nightdive Studios, the masters of remastering cult classic games for modern players (and returning fans), have announced today at the first IGN Live that they’re making a remastered version of the 2002 squad-based game The Thing, based on the cult classic film by the same name. The Thing takes place after the events of the film where players take on the role of Captain J.F. Blake, the leader of a United States Army Special Forces rescue team sent to investigate the blood-curdling events that transpired in the film. Trapped by the elements and at risk of infection by a horrific entity, Blake must keep his squad together to survive by gaining their trust and ensuring that their fear and paranoia don’t get the best of them … or himself. The Thing: Remastered Features the following: Return to U.S. Outpost #31: Continue the story of The Thing and face off against terrifying monsters, from scuttling head-spiders and human-like walkers to gigantic
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviews
Growing up in the late 80s and through the 90s, we had some kick-ass toys, action figures, and our imaginations. Then growing up happened and took all that away leaving a void. Thankfully Digital Cybercherries have come to the rescue and rekindled that spark of childish wonder with Hypercharge: Unboxed, a game inspired by Toy Story and Small Soldiers. Hypercharge: Unboxed is a first and third-person shooter set in a world where toys created machines that help humans remember their fondest memories of their toys when they were children. These machines are now under threat by Major Evil, a collectible action figure who turned evil because he was never played with. Now it’s up to Max Ammo’s elite team of action figures to help protect the precious memories of humans. Now, onto the game itself! Hypercharge: Unboxed‘s controls will take a little to get used to at first but thankfully there is a tutorial level you can play that will
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms have teamed up to bring back old-school FPS games to a new generation with their Bombshell series of games featuring heroine Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison in her latest installment Phantom Fury is like Bombshell’s other games but with a touch of 3D in it. I want to thank Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms for sending over a copy to try out! Phantom Fury (for fans of the series) takes place after the events of Iron Fury with Bombshell waking up and discovering she now has a mechanical arm that will help her fight on her cross-country journey to track down a lethal artifact that threatens humanity. Now, onto the game itself! Phantom Fury does have standard FPS controls BUT there are some additions such as interaction with the environment. As a default, the crouch button needs to be held down so you stay down, this can be changed in the options. Phantom Fury is fully voice-cast
Continue reading →
GamingProductReviewsSci-Fi
Back in 1994, Looking Glass Technologies and Origin Systems changed action-adventure gaming by stranding gamers on a space station with rogue AI, mutants, robots, and cyborgs running amock in the horror cyberpunk game, System Shock. The game with its first-person perspective has not only spawned a sequel game and TV series but inspired other game series like Deus Ex and BioShock. In 2023, System Shock was given the remake treatment for modern audiences and players on PC and now has been released on consoles by Nightdive Studios, who were awesome enough to let me check out this remake, how was it? Let’s find out. System Shock puts players in the shoes of a security hacker who, after being caught hacking into security files on the Citadel space station, is brought onto the space station to hack into and turn off the morality options for the station AI, SHODAN. The Hacker later wakes up to see that all hell has broken
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviews
GUNNA Optics is the leading company making glasses for people who spend lots of time looking at screens with clients ranging from your average Joe with a laptop, and military personnel, to animation studios. It was the latter, Dreamworks to be precise, who asked for a change. GUNNAR glasses have a yellow tint to them that blocks out blue spectrum light which can cause eye fatigue, this yellow tint affects how colors look which is not good for members of Dreamworks’ Gold Team who have to go through every frame of an animated project to find any imperfections before release, this includes color palats. Ten years later, research has paid off, and GUNNAR has now developed the Clear Pro Lens. The lenses still block harmful blue light from screens, but won’t change how colors look! I want to thank GUNNAR for sending over a couple of their new glasses (Arbor Collection with Cear Pro Lens) for me to check out!
Continue reading →
GamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
Russian game developer Odd Meter had to leave their home country or face prosecution or worse, as their recent release INDIKA questions societal norms and points out the hypocrisy of the Russian Orthodox Church. I thank Odd Meter and 11 Bit Studios for this reviewing opportunity. INDIKA follows our titled character, a young Nun who is sent by her convent to deliver a letter, but her journey will be that of self-discovery as she begins to question her faith, along with dealing with the voice of the devil in her head. Now, onto the game itself! When it comes to the game’s controls, INDIKA is minimal as the gameplay is that of environmental puzzle-solving to allow Indika to proceed on her mission. A mechanic of the game that is confusing me at this time of writing, is the retro pixulated point system. Collecting items and interacting with the environment (like lighting candles) earns Indika points that will allow her to
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviews
Nothing hits you in the nostalgia bone more than survival horror games on the first PlayStation. Still, as gamers, we’ve evolved from the low-poly 3D graphics, synth soundtracks, and voiceless dialogues. Now, you can experience that feeling with SFB Games’ PS1 survival horror-inspired Crow Country. Crow Country takes players to the abandoned Crow Country amusement park as Mara Forest and investigates the mysterious reasons behind the park’s abrupt closure as well as the disappearance of its owner Edward Crow. Now, onto the game itself! The controls are minimal and easy to learn and modify for your playthrough. A nice touch the devs put in Crow Country is the ability to rotate the camera, allowing you to see objects from different directions! The soundtrack is reminiscent of the old-school horror games I played on PS1 growing up. The lack of dialogue is OK in this game as the written dialogue is to the point and short. The game’s graphics are a
Continue reading →
GamingNewsParanormalProduct
MANGLEDmaw Games and DreadXP shared the news today that the short indie horror game, Amanda The Adventurer, which came out a year ago and has since taken YouTube by storm racking up billions of views, will be coming to Consoles and mobile devices this year. This escape room first-person horror puts players in the shoes of Riley Park, who has recently inherited their late aunt’s home. Riley finds a VCR and an old VHS tape with episodes from an early 2000s children’s show. The show is not the highest-budget production from the looks of it. It appears to have been made locally and features a little girl named Amanda and her loyal yet shy best friend, Wooly the Sheep. While the episode appears charming and simple on the surface, an uneasiness settles in as Riley realizes that Amanda and Wooly seem to be communicating directly through the television set. A gnawing feeling in their mind presses them to stop, but
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviews
The Growing Stones and Valkyrie Initiative came together to tell a macabre story about a village inhabited only by children. Life in this village will soon turn to death if their local pariahs, the witches, fail at an upcoming ritual. This is The Mildew Children. The Mildew Children follows Kyrphel, a young witch plagued by omens relating to the fate of the village, her fears grow after one of her fellow witches dies, bringing the number of witches in the village down to three. This would not be a problem if not for the fact that there needed to be four witches to carry out a ritual on a certain night to prevent doom from coming to the village. Now Kyrphel must find the fourth witch. Now, onto the game itself! Depending on how you plan on going about playing The Mildew Children, controls are relatively simple. The game is side-scrolling so there’s not much to the controls. The art
Continue reading →
GamingIndieNewsParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
Salt & Pixel and VoxPop Games have created a bullet hell that combines 80s and 90s comics with cosmic horror elements. This is Outer Terror, a bullet hell rogue-lite game that can be played solo or with a friend as you face hoards of otherworldly terror. When it comes to the game’s controls, they’re limited as the attacks by the characters are automatic and all you pretty much have to do is aim the crosshairs where you want to attack. It strikes me as a callback to old arcade games you played on PC (if you know you know). The sound is a bit annoying as it’s repetitive at times and depending on what weapons you are using you may end up wanting to either lower the sound volume or mute it completely. When it comes to the game’s art, it’s a bit rough. I really like the comic book look when it’s used in cinematic moments and dialogue, but
Continue reading →
More from Daniel S. Liuzzi
GamingNewsProductSci-Fi
Nightdive Studios, the masters of remastering cult classic games for modern players (and returning fans), have announced today at the first IGN Live that they’re making a remastered version of the 2002 squad-based game The Thing, based on the cult classic film by the same name. The Thing takes place after the events of the film where players take on the role of Captain J.F. Blake, the leader of a United States Army Special Forces rescue team sent to investigate the blood-curdling events that transpired in the film. Trapped by the elements and at risk of infection by a horrific entity, Blake must keep his squad together to survive by gaining their trust and ensuring that their fear and paranoia don’t get the best of them … or himself. The Thing: Remastered Features the following: Return to U.S. Outpost #31: Continue the story of The Thing and face off against terrifying monsters, from scuttling head-spiders and human-like walkers to gigantic
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviews
Growing up in the late 80s and through the 90s, we had some kick-ass toys, action figures, and our imaginations. Then growing up happened and took all that away leaving a void. Thankfully Digital Cybercherries have come to the rescue and rekindled that spark of childish wonder with Hypercharge: Unboxed, a game inspired by Toy Story and Small Soldiers. Hypercharge: Unboxed is a first and third-person shooter set in a world where toys created machines that help humans remember their fondest memories of their toys when they were children. These machines are now under threat by Major Evil, a collectible action figure who turned evil because he was never played with. Now it’s up to Max Ammo’s elite team of action figures to help protect the precious memories of humans. Now, onto the game itself! Hypercharge: Unboxed‘s controls will take a little to get used to at first but thankfully there is a tutorial level you can play that will
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms have teamed up to bring back old-school FPS games to a new generation with their Bombshell series of games featuring heroine Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison in her latest installment Phantom Fury is like Bombshell’s other games but with a touch of 3D in it. I want to thank Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms for sending over a copy to try out! Phantom Fury (for fans of the series) takes place after the events of Iron Fury with Bombshell waking up and discovering she now has a mechanical arm that will help her fight on her cross-country journey to track down a lethal artifact that threatens humanity. Now, onto the game itself! Phantom Fury does have standard FPS controls BUT there are some additions such as interaction with the environment. As a default, the crouch button needs to be held down so you stay down, this can be changed in the options. Phantom Fury is fully voice-cast
Continue reading →
GamingProductReviewsSci-Fi
Back in 1994, Looking Glass Technologies and Origin Systems changed action-adventure gaming by stranding gamers on a space station with rogue AI, mutants, robots, and cyborgs running amock in the horror cyberpunk game, System Shock. The game with its first-person perspective has not only spawned a sequel game and TV series but inspired other game series like Deus Ex and BioShock. In 2023, System Shock was given the remake treatment for modern audiences and players on PC and now has been released on consoles by Nightdive Studios, who were awesome enough to let me check out this remake, how was it? Let’s find out. System Shock puts players in the shoes of a security hacker who, after being caught hacking into security files on the Citadel space station, is brought onto the space station to hack into and turn off the morality options for the station AI, SHODAN. The Hacker later wakes up to see that all hell has broken
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviews
GUNNA Optics is the leading company making glasses for people who spend lots of time looking at screens with clients ranging from your average Joe with a laptop, and military personnel, to animation studios. It was the latter, Dreamworks to be precise, who asked for a change. GUNNAR glasses have a yellow tint to them that blocks out blue spectrum light which can cause eye fatigue, this yellow tint affects how colors look which is not good for members of Dreamworks’ Gold Team who have to go through every frame of an animated project to find any imperfections before release, this includes color palats. Ten years later, research has paid off, and GUNNAR has now developed the Clear Pro Lens. The lenses still block harmful blue light from screens, but won’t change how colors look! I want to thank GUNNAR for sending over a couple of their new glasses (Arbor Collection with Cear Pro Lens) for me to check out!
Continue reading →
GamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
Russian game developer Odd Meter had to leave their home country or face prosecution or worse, as their recent release INDIKA questions societal norms and points out the hypocrisy of the Russian Orthodox Church. I thank Odd Meter and 11 Bit Studios for this reviewing opportunity. INDIKA follows our titled character, a young Nun who is sent by her convent to deliver a letter, but her journey will be that of self-discovery as she begins to question her faith, along with dealing with the voice of the devil in her head. Now, onto the game itself! When it comes to the game’s controls, INDIKA is minimal as the gameplay is that of environmental puzzle-solving to allow Indika to proceed on her mission. A mechanic of the game that is confusing me at this time of writing, is the retro pixulated point system. Collecting items and interacting with the environment (like lighting candles) earns Indika points that will allow her to
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviews
Nothing hits you in the nostalgia bone more than survival horror games on the first PlayStation. Still, as gamers, we’ve evolved from the low-poly 3D graphics, synth soundtracks, and voiceless dialogues. Now, you can experience that feeling with SFB Games’ PS1 survival horror-inspired Crow Country. Crow Country takes players to the abandoned Crow Country amusement park as Mara Forest and investigates the mysterious reasons behind the park’s abrupt closure as well as the disappearance of its owner Edward Crow. Now, onto the game itself! The controls are minimal and easy to learn and modify for your playthrough. A nice touch the devs put in Crow Country is the ability to rotate the camera, allowing you to see objects from different directions! The soundtrack is reminiscent of the old-school horror games I played on PS1 growing up. The lack of dialogue is OK in this game as the written dialogue is to the point and short. The game’s graphics are a
Continue reading →
GamingNewsParanormalProduct
MANGLEDmaw Games and DreadXP shared the news today that the short indie horror game, Amanda The Adventurer, which came out a year ago and has since taken YouTube by storm racking up billions of views, will be coming to Consoles and mobile devices this year. This escape room first-person horror puts players in the shoes of Riley Park, who has recently inherited their late aunt’s home. Riley finds a VCR and an old VHS tape with episodes from an early 2000s children’s show. The show is not the highest-budget production from the looks of it. It appears to have been made locally and features a little girl named Amanda and her loyal yet shy best friend, Wooly the Sheep. While the episode appears charming and simple on the surface, an uneasiness settles in as Riley realizes that Amanda and Wooly seem to be communicating directly through the television set. A gnawing feeling in their mind presses them to stop, but
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviews
The Growing Stones and Valkyrie Initiative came together to tell a macabre story about a village inhabited only by children. Life in this village will soon turn to death if their local pariahs, the witches, fail at an upcoming ritual. This is The Mildew Children. The Mildew Children follows Kyrphel, a young witch plagued by omens relating to the fate of the village, her fears grow after one of her fellow witches dies, bringing the number of witches in the village down to three. This would not be a problem if not for the fact that there needed to be four witches to carry out a ritual on a certain night to prevent doom from coming to the village. Now Kyrphel must find the fourth witch. Now, onto the game itself! Depending on how you plan on going about playing The Mildew Children, controls are relatively simple. The game is side-scrolling so there’s not much to the controls. The art
Continue reading →
GamingIndieNewsParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
Salt & Pixel and VoxPop Games have created a bullet hell that combines 80s and 90s comics with cosmic horror elements. This is Outer Terror, a bullet hell rogue-lite game that can be played solo or with a friend as you face hoards of otherworldly terror. When it comes to the game’s controls, they’re limited as the attacks by the characters are automatic and all you pretty much have to do is aim the crosshairs where you want to attack. It strikes me as a callback to old arcade games you played on PC (if you know you know). The sound is a bit annoying as it’s repetitive at times and depending on what weapons you are using you may end up wanting to either lower the sound volume or mute it completely. When it comes to the game’s art, it’s a bit rough. I really like the comic book look when it’s used in cinematic moments and dialogue, but
Continue reading →
