Game reviews – Page 18 – Savior Gaming

Hook: Complete Edition (xbox review)

Hook Complete Edition is another game sent my way by Ultimate Games, and it is kind of an odd one for me. I don’t normally like Puzzle games. In fact, I am not exactly a fan of this one, yet I couldn’t really stop playing it. Even my 8-year-old daughter gave it a try. The concept is simple and very minimalistic. Each level has a few hooks. All you have to do is click on them to release them in order so that they all come loose without anything preventing it.

Pretty much every level you complete gives you that nice achievement sound. It starts off pretty simple. Do I mean this one first or this one first. It isn’t long, however, before you are following lines and trying to figure out if something needs to be twisted so only one half moves. It gets addictive fast.

Full disclosure, there are already multiple videos out there that will allow you to speed through this game and collect every achievement in a few hours. The game isn’t long if you want to do it that way, but there is plenty of fun to be had here if you like this sort of game. It won’t be the game that makes you fall in love with puzzle games, but if you like them or just want some quick achievement points, this is a great option. This is even more true when you see the price point is less than $5. 8/10 on this great low-price game. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Drug Dealer Simulator (Xbox Review)

Drug Dealer Simulator has been around for a while on PC, but it finally made its way to Xbox, and later this year will make its way to PS5. For now, however, Ultimate Games was kind enough to toss me a copy to check out on Xbox.

This game has a very simple premise. You are poor as hell, you want to not be poor, and you know a guy who can get you in touch with the right people to buy the drugs you need to keep the locals happy.

From the start, a typical day starts like this. Use your laptop to contact Eddie and tell him how much of each drug you want. Then go pick them up from the drop-off point and bring them home. Hopefully, you don’t get nailed by the cops and really screw yourself over. Don’t worry, early in the game, this is pretty easy to do. From here, you set up your deals again with the laptop. Use your table to split your drugs up into smaller quantities and make your deals.

This is the basic game loop, but if you want to truly succeed, you need to do more. Grab yourself some salt and mix some in with your meth to boost how far it goes, turning extra profit. Be careful, tho, while certain things make your drugs more addictive, they can also be toxic and kill your customers.

More money means you can expand your business into new areas and buy businesses that will make your income seem more legitimate. This will be important in keeping the cops and DEA from kicking your door in. Suspicious activity will bring up your risk meter, and so will depositing large amounts of money into your account. The account is needed for all your bills because in this world, Big Brother is watching.

Graphically, it is undeniable that Drug Dealer Simulator is lacking. The game doesn’t look bad, but it has been out a while on PC, and there is even a sequel (that will also be coming to consoles at some point), but the gameplay itself is top-notch. Ducking behind buildings and hopping fences to avoid police while you have a backpack filled with cash and weed is a lot of fun. I don’t suggest playing the home version, but the simulator? 8/10 must play. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Collectible Cars Shop Simulator (PS5 Review)

This is another shop game sent to me by the fine folks over at Nostra Games, and if you read my review of Collectible Card Shop Master (PS5 Review) you know exactly what to expect. This time, instead of game cards, however, you are selling toy cards.

I don’t really know how this works, but they seem happy

Also, instead of playing a card game, they somehow race them on a track, which I don’t understand how that works exactly, but they all seem happy to do it, and they pay me money, so have at it. My confusion aside on how a store would stay open or have so many clients selling exclusively toy cars and toy car paraphernalia, the game works.

The game functions well, I had no issues with shelves, customers glitching in or out, and my employees did what I wanted. Oddly, that is all I can say about the game. It isn’t a bad game. It functions well, it’s got some easy trophies to collect, and it is worth the price you pay to buy it. I just don’t understand why it exists. It seems so random to me. That being said, if it catches your interest, there’s no reason not to pick it up. 7/10, game functions, and is as much fun to play as any other shop simulator. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Farming Simulator 16 Bit Review

Yes, you read that title correctly. This is a review for Farming Simulator 16-bit. No, this is not some weird, far-too-late April Fool’s joke. My good friends at Strictly Limited Games ( that is a store link for those interested in picking this bad boy up) and GIANTS Software sent me a copy to check out, and I am grateful for that. Anyone who’s followed me for a while knows I started playing these games when I picked up Farming Simulator 15 on sale and have been hooked ever since. Some years ( like 19 and 22) have been sent to me to review, others, like 25 I bought myself happily.

I went into this with odd expectations. My first game was my dad’s Intellivision, and I played Asteroids sitting on his lap. I grew up on Sega Genesis and Nintendo systems, so I know what those systems can do, so to hear a playable version of Farming Simulator was coming out for it, I was intrigued.

Yes, it’s playable on an original Sega or anything that plays them.

Let me start by saying yes, it is clearly a scaled-back version. Don’t expect to be raising hundreds of animals and buying businesses with full-on supply chains etc.

What you will get is a straightforward and simple game loop. Grow crops, harvest crops, take them to the selling point, repeat. When you get enough money, buy better equipment, at which point you can either store or sell your older stuff. Then repeat the process. You can also save up and buy another map, at which point the process continues. Your equipment can easily be moved between maps, and as you play a map, your crops will continue to grow on the others.

This means you can play each map simultaneously if you want, or just ignore them if you so choose. What is also nice is that the maps are relatively compact, so getting fuel or seeds for your tractors is super easy.

None of this means anything if the controls are bad, and honestly, I didn’t even bother hooking a controller up to my laptop. It’s 3 buttons and some arrow keys basically. That is hard to screw up, which they did not. If they made this when I was a kid, I would have wasted hundreds of hours playing instead of just a couple of dozen. As far as a 16-bit Demake of a game goes, this is as close to perfect as it can get. My only real complaint is that I wish the game explained things a little better. It, however, is nothing you can’t figure out on your own, 9/10, definitely worth picking up. Once again, I will leave the link below in case any of my collectors want to grab it. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Farming Simulator 16-Bit Edition

Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination (Steam Review)

Inhuman Resources is a dark visual novel sent to me by Indie Asylum, and man, does it get dark fast. It starts out as just a woman being woken up by a phone call from her aunt. You can choose to ignore it or not. You can choose how to react. I ended up going on a job interview that my aunt set up for me, since she is also my landlady and I owe her money.

This is pretty much the most normal part of the game. The game also allows you to check out as much detail as you want, or as little. There are extra things you can look at and click on that will give you all sorts of information on the world around you. Some are as innocent as what the building looks like, but later on, much of it is less innocent.

Fast forward a bit to the actual job interview, and yes, I am skipping a bit to avoid spoilers, and it is heavily implied that the man you are speaking to has been around for a while. What is less implied and is outright stated, the company you are interviewing for has, for a very long time, been intervening with much of human history to decide how it will flow. For example, you are listening to the only record (I do literally mean record) that exists of what was supposed to be the most famous duo in the world. Instead, we got the Beatles. This man liked the music and saved this single record. It is worth pointing out that the game takes place in modern times.

After getting the job, the game takes an even darker turn, one that I can’t truly explain without giving away the plot. Suffice it to say, if you like something a bit more mature that is happy to explore deeper and darker tones, including corporate espionage, secret cabals that control the world, and insane medical practices, this is the game for you. With multiple endings, there is plenty of reason to replay this. 9/10 for lovers of visual novels. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ixion Playstation 5 Review

It isn’t often that I get excited for a space builder on consoles, but when Bulwark Studios sent me a copy of Ixion I won’t deny I couldn’t wait to check this bad boy out. The story alone had me interested. The Earth is on the brink of extinction due to ecological collapse. A company (DOLAS) steps up with new technology to possibly save humanity in the form of a new engine that can take humanity to new heights in space travel, finding a new home. The dreamer in me loves this.

My realistic part loves where it goes from here, and I won’t go into detail. But I will say I would watch an entire TV series based on it. All of this, however, means very little if the gameplay is lacking or the controls don’t function well.

I am happy to say the game controls fantastically on PS5. At no point was I left wishing I had a mouse or that things were more precise, with one small exception. Some of the larger buildings must be built in certain spots, such as anything that leads outside. For example, probe stations. This isn’t a control issue so much as a design issue. It bothers me, and it probably shouldn’t. Aside from that, the controls are great.

The gameplay is also top-notch. The game flows nicely, from the prologue through each chapter I never felt like I was being forced to do new things I hadn’t had the chance to prepare for, and while graphically the game isn’t steller it is one of the better-looking games of its type out there.

If you enjoy this type of game, you really need to pick this 9/10 game up. This game will be in my catalog for a long time to come. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Last of Us Part II

Joel and Ellie have settled down after escaping the Fireflies but all is not well after Ellie learned the truth Joel hid from her. They have a home. Ellie is beginning to thrive, even finding love, until the unthinkable happens when Joel is viscously murdered in front of her. Traumatized and enraged, Ellie ventures off to find the young woman named Abby and her crew responsible, journeying deeper into terror and bloodshed for revenge. But why was Abby out to kill Joel in the first place? Who are the Wolves and the Scars at war? How far are the two willing to go to settle their disturbing blood feud?

So controversies aside, I can understand some of the hate for the game. The Last of Us was a storytelling masterpiece. Last of Us 2 is a sequel that takes a lot of risks and goes to some truly depraved places as a revenge story. Personally, I loved most of what the game had to offer but I can understand why someone wouldn’t. The story, while way darker than the first (which really says something) balances it out with some pretty heartfelt and beautiful moments as did its predecessors. I was incredibly captivated by Ellie and Abby’s journeys. The beginning is much slower so you do have to stick around but once Ellie starts her revenge quest, the game not only opens up but you’re treated to some really tense gameplay. The infected take a back seat this time, though the new types combined with the vastly smarter enemy AI make some good horror- the Rat King towards the end genuinely scared the shit out of me and was one of my favorite horror bosses in a while. I love that the game adds some disturbingly realistic touches to the enemies so you feel dirty killing them. I appreciate the differences between Ellie’s and Abby’s weapons and passive abilities that add a bit in clinches. I do have have to say the game overall is way harder than the first and much less forgiving. I’ve gotten more frustrated on certain sections of this game than I have on a lot of Souls games and Alien: Isolation o give you an idea, so patience is a must. Also the slower pace does make the game feel much longer, even without the humongous death count, than I’m sure it really is. In the end, I love the game just as much as the first as a truly horrific revenge tale bordering into the waters of depravity as Blood Meridan but this game is absolutely not for everyone but well worth your time. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mafia 2

Vito Scarletta and his best friend Joe are out to make a name for themselves in 1940’s Empire City. Both grew up poor, witnessing the destitution of the Great Depression and the riches of the made men in there midsts. After Vito returns from WW2, he finds himself getting involved with a local mob head only to be sent to prison. After a shortened sentence him and Joe are back at with a new family, new opportunities and a bright future. But at what cost?

I have a weird relationship with this series that I mostly love. 2 is actually the final game of the trilogy I played, the 3rd and least loved game being my first foray into the series, then the 1st, and now 2, which many have told me is the series’s peak. In many ways, I can see why.

The game, like the other two, is great at making you feel like you’re in the time period from the clothes, to the cars, to the guns. I will warn you, there are some raunchy scenes and a fair bit of racism involved, understandable given the time period. I loved Vito’s story and I was invested in the other characters. The driving feels solid and I do appreciate being able to tune up and customize your cars as well as save them in your garages. The gunplay is solid and challenging at points, sometimes too challenging. Sometimes I’ve died out of nowhere and the checkpoints can be unmerciful as the later, more intense missions come out. The fighting damn right annoyed the hell out of me and I tried avoiding it whenever possible. The police can be a major pain in the ass, either forgetting you exist instantly or clinging to you like herpes over the dumbest crap- I had to outrun them once for 15 minutes straight just because I checked my guns on the sidewalk. In the end, Mafia 2 is a damn good game despite some annoyances and some harmless bugs but well worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alan Wake remastered

Fear is an interesting thing. As subjective as fear can be, some fears are instilled in everyone as part of our make-up, none other than the fear of the dark…

Alan Wake is a bestselling crime author in a rut with the dreaded writer’s block. Alan and his wife go to the sleepy woodland town of Bright Falls for a vacation at the picturesque lakeside cabin. Everything seems fine until Alice disappears and Alan is thrust into the dark woods where the very shadows themselves have taken over the townsfolk and turned them murderous. Alan’s only weapon is the safe haven of light. Day by day as Alan’s reality crumbles and the Dark Presence grows stronger, its up to Alan and a few found friends to battle the darkness and save Alice.

For a game that’s roughly 15 years old, this game does a damn good job of setting up an intense atmosphere. The game uses darkness, light, and sound to keep you on edge all the way through to the end. The story is very intriguing and has a cool King vibe I really enjoyed. The gameplay is solid but the dodge mechanic is a bit funky at times so definitely keep that in mind. If you like the band Poets of the Fall like I do, you’ll get a treat as they have music in game which is pretty cool. The game gives you just enough ammo and supplies to get through but you do have to conserve and be creative which I appreciate. The game does show its age at times and there’s parts I hated, namely the damn “kidnapper” escort mission but the game keeps you invested. The only other bummer I got is that the ending is anti-climatic from a gameplay perspective but you will want more. I can’t wait to play Control, which overlaps, and play 2. I highly recommend checking it out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pets Hotel PS5 Review

Pets Hotel is the next game that Ultimate Games sent me to check out, and it might be the one I enjoyed the least. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it is a bad game; it isn’t. The animals in the game are damned adorable. Running a pet hotel is pretty simple; you just build a room, decorate it the way you like, add items to it for the pets you want, and wait for the phone to ring.

Once the phone rings, you type in ( yes, literally ) the name of the pet, click some options for any special treatment they want and you wait for them to check in. From there, you do things like give them baths, trim their nails, take them for walks, feed them, pet them, and otherwise care for them.

Honestly, my lack of enjoyment with this game is on me and me alone. if you have followed this blog for any real amount of time, you know I don’t really care for decorating stuff. With a big part of this game being building rooms and decorating them, it was bound to limit how much I liked it. I also don’t care for having to type in the name of each pet coming into the hotel. Neither of these things are major issues or even issues at all for most people. The game is still a solid 7/10 and worth playing for $22. It just isn’t for me, personally. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.