Adrian Burrows
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Writing For
TheSixthAxis Latest Reviews
I really wanted to love God of War: Sons of Sparta. As someone who is fascinated by Ancient Greek mythology, adores a 2D Metroidvania or two, and has played and almost finished every God of War game going – curse you Ragnarök for being so long! – the shadow drop of Sons of Sparta had me very excited, giggling with glee like someone who was just seduced by a swan. Upon playing this prequel though, my excitement soon drained to a mundane ‘meh’ kind of vibe. You see, God of War: Sons of Sparta, despite carrying the pedigree of such an iconic franchise upon its burly shoulders, is merely an OK game.
I loved the original Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by comic book author and artist Bryan Lee O’Malley. Quirky, charming, funny, and surprisingly insightful on the human condition, I think I devoured the entire series on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Clearly a love-letter to video game culture, the fisticuff-filled (mis)adventures of Scott, Ramona and her seven evil exes made for a great side-scrolling beat ‘em up, Ubisoft’s Scott Pilgrim VS The World: The Game; released in 2010 and then re-released on all the main consoles of the last generation. Now, it’s the turn of nostalgia-fuelled side-scrolling beat ‘em up legends Tribute Games to have a go with the Scott Pilgrim licence. Having played both of Tribute’s previous games – TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and Marvel Cosmic Invasion – and liked them both to varying degrees, I was excited to see what they could do with a world as rich and fun-filled as Scott Pilgrim.
The core concept of Aerial Knight’s Dropshot is utterly bonkers. You and your opponents leap from a plane, circling hundreds of miles above the ground. None of you have parachutes though, and instead you willingly freefall to your doom. As you plummet, you must shoot your fellow plummeters with your magic finger gun – yes, really. Your objective is to kill them all before you hit the ground. Oh, and your player character is called Smoke Wallace. He has purple skin and magical powers because he was bitten by the same radioactive dragon that ate all of his family. You see? Bonkers.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a nostalgia-soaked love letter to nine-year-old you. A side-scrolling beat ‘em up that looks like it just stepped out of a 90’s arcade, Cosmic Invasion features the character design of Marvel’s comic heyday, pixel-art visuals that ape Capcom’s Super Hero fighting series, and a tag team mechanic that is pure X-Men vs. Street Fighter. In short, with this much 90’s nostalgia powering it, how can Marvel Cosmic Invasion possibly fail?
Lynked: Banner of the Spark is perhaps the cosiest video game I can think of. It’s like a digital snoodie. One of the one’s that’s so soft it envelopes you entirely in a cloud of comfort. But don’t let Lynked’s 3D cartoon styled visuals fool you, this game is no pushover, offering an addictive and compelling dungeon-crawler experience.
Isn’t it nice when a game comes out of nowhere and totally blows you away with its brilliance? GigaSword is one such game, a completely gorgeous nostalgia-soaked love-letter to the NES gaming era and metroidvanias.
Absolum may have its issues, but combat is definitely not one of them. This Rogue ‘em up by Dotemu, Guard Crush Games and Supamonks offers the best 2D side-scrolling fisticuffs I’ve ever experienced. Slick, responsive, kinetic, and satisfying, the combat in Absolum is utterly beguiling. If I could just have the walking and punching, and not all the roguelite stuff wrapped around it, then Absolum would be my perfect game. As it is, there is a whole lot of roguelite shenanigans, and they’re not always that successful.
I’ve always been enamoured by the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the RoundTable. I blame Disney. Ever since watching the animated classic ‘Sword in the Stone’ I was a full-on überfan. King Arthur T-shirts, a Guinevere action figure, Lancelot emblazoned underwear, a plastic Excalibur with light-up glow-in-the-dark action (AA batteries supplied separately), heck, I even wrote slightly questionable fanfiction. Well, no, not really. But I still really like the Arthurian Legends, so when the opportunity to review Sworn, a roguelite inspired by near-forgotten British legends, I leapt at the chance.
The Lego franchise has tried its tiny-clawed plastic hand at nearly every video game genre going. We’ve had platformers, shoot ‘em ups, racers, co-op adventures, puzzlers, even a Super Smash Bros clone. But, rather oddly, never a party game. That’s where Lego Party comes in, offering fun, frolics and laughter for all the family across its impressive range of silly yet satisfying mini games.
LEGO Voyagers might just be the cutest game ever. As my partner and I guided our adorable single-block Lego pieces though this co-op puzzle platformer, we emitted many a coo of ‘ooohhhh’ and ‘aaahhhh’, and thankfully it wasn’t followed by running and screaming. But is there more to Light Brick Studios’ latest LEGO adventure than looking disarmingly delightful?